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vcl. 10 



LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL. 



])KVAl!T:\lliK'I Ol' THK iNTEKIOR, 

('knsus Office, 
WA.suiN(irox. I). C, September 24, 1884. 
Hon. H. M. Thller, 

Secretary of the Interior. 
Sir: 1 have the honor to transmit herewith the tenth volnnie of the quarto series comprising the final rejwrt 
ou tiie Tentli Census. Tlie volume contains three reports, viz: (1) On tlie Production, Technology, and Uses of 
Petnilenni and its Products, by S. F. Peckham; (2) 07i the JlanniaetiUf of Coke, by Joseph D. Weeks; (3) on 
the Building Stones of the United States and Statistics of the Quarry Industry, by (feorge W. Hawes et ul. 

The report ou the building stones of the United States was originall.\ coiitided to the late Dr. George ^^'. 
IJawes. curator of the de])artnient of mineralogy and litliology in the Nafional Mnycum. wliose regretted dealh 
ftrevente<l its completion by himself. After liis decease the work was conl jnicd on the general plan originally 
designed, and under tlie subsequent supervision of Mr. Henry Gannett was biiiiij;lil to completion. The names of 
the authors who assisted in its preparation are appended to sueh chapters or parts as were contributed l)y thein. 
1 have the honor to be. very respectfully, yonr olicdient servant. 

C. \N. SKATUX, 
tiuperiiilnuleTit of Cennuii. 




u 

u 

o 

si 

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Q. 



REPORT 



PRODUCTION, TECHNOLOGY, AND USES 



PETROLEUM AND ITS PRODUCTS. 



y 






TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



P»gei 

Letter of transmittai- - vii.viii 

Paet I. 

THE NATURAL HISTORY OF PETROLEUM, TOGETHER WITH A DESCRIPTION OF THE METHODS EMPLOYED IN THE 
PRODUCTION, TRANSPORTATION, AND SALE OF PETROLEUM IN THE UNITED STATES, AND STATISTICS OP 

THE PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM IN TEE UNITED STATES AND FOREIGN COUNTRIES DURING THE YEAK 
ENDING MAY 31, 1880. 

Chafter I. — History op the discovery of petroleum and the development of the petroleum industry 1-18 

Section 1. — Historical notice of bitumen prior to the year 1800 3-5 

Section 2.— Historical notice of bitumen from the year 1800 to 1850 5-9 

Section 3. — The rise op the paraffine-oil industry 9-10 

Section 4.— Historical notice from 1850 to the completion of Drake's well (August, 1859) 10,11 

Section 5. — Historical notice op the petroleum industry in the United States since the completion of 

Drake's well (August, 1859) 11-14 

Section 6. — Historical notice of the Russian petroleum industry 14,15 

Section 7. — Historical notice op the petroleum industry of Galicia 16 

Section 8. — Historical notice of the petroleum industry of Canada 17 

Section 9. — Historical notice op the Japanese petroleum industry 17 

Section 10. — Historical notice op the Peruvian petroleum industry' 17,18 

Section 11. — Historical notice of the Italian and other petroleum industries 18 

Chapter II. — The geographical distribution of petroleum and other forms of bitumen 19-36 

Section 1. — The occurrence op bitumen in the United States 19-27 

Section 2. — Geographical distribution op bitumen in foreign countries 27-36 

Chapter III. — ThK geological occurrence of bitumens .' 37-52 

Section 1. — General considerations 37,38 

Section 2. — The geological occurrence of petroleum in eastern North America 38-52 

Chapter IV.— The chemistry of petroleum 53-59 

Section 1. — The chemistry of crude petroleum 53,54 

Section 2.— The proximate analysis op petroleum 54-58 

Section 3. — The chemical action of reagents upon petroleum and its products 58,59 

Chapter v.— The origin of bitumens 59-74 

Section 1. — Introduction 59 

Section 2.— Chemical theories 59-61 

Section 3. — The theory that bitumen is indigenous to the rocks in which it is found 62-65 

Section 4. — The theory that bitumen is a distillate 65-67 

Section 5.— An attempt to include observed facts in a provisional hypothesis 67-74 

Chapter VI. — The development of oil territory 75,76 

Chapter VII. — The production op oil 77-91 

Section 1. — Primitive methods 77,78 

Section 2. — Artesian wells— The derrick «r-- 78-81 

Section 3. — The drilling-tools 81,82 

Section 4. — Drilling wells 82-84 

Section 5. — The torpedo 84,85 

Section 6. — Location of wells 85,86 

Section 7. — The oii^band 86,87 

Section 8.— The management of wells - 87-89 

Section 9. — Yield of wells 89,90 

Section 10. — Flooding 90,91 



iv TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

Page. 

Chapter VIII. — Transportation and storage of petroleum 92-102 

Section 1. — Eakly history op transportation 92 

Section 2. — Pipe-lines 93-95 

Section 3.— Concerning iron-tank fires 95-98 

Section 4.— Concerning the storage of oil and accumulated stock 98-101 

Section 5.— Statistics of the transportation of oil during the census year 101,102 

Chapter IX. — Petroleum in commerce 103-133 

Section 1. — Commercial varieties 103,104 

Section 2. — The management of pipe-lines 105 

Section 3. — Brokerage 106,107 

Section 4. — Petroleum as an article of foreign commerce 107-110 

Table op expansion of the West Virginia natural oils 111-115 

Tables for the R/Vpid and exact computation op the number op gallons contained in any given 

weight op oil or other liquid lighter than water, without measuring or g.auging 116-118 

Tables of comparative weights and measures op oil -. 118-132 

Table op the specific gravity corresponding to each degree of Baume's hydrometer; also, the 

number op pounds contained in one United States gallon at 00° F 133 

Chapter X. — Production of petroleum in the United States during the census year 134 

Section 1. — The conditions op the problem 134-137 

Section 2. — ^Wbll stocks 137,138 

Section 3. — Oil that was wasted and burned 138,139 

Section 4. — Estimate op the production op third-sand oil during the census year 139,140 

Section 5.— The accumulation of stocks 140-142 

Section 6. — Statistics of capital and labor employed in the production of petroleum during the census 

YEAR 142-148 

Section 7. — General statistics relating to the production op third-sand petroleum 148-151 

Section 8. — The production of the Pacific coast 151 

Section 9. — The foreign production op petroleum in competition with the United States 151-154 

Paet II. 

THE TECHNOLOGY OF PETROLEUM. 

Chapter I. — Mixtures of petroleum 157- 

Section 1. — Filtered petroleum 157 

Section 2. — Mixtures of petroleum 157 

Chapter II. — Partial distillation 158 

Section 1. — Sunned oils 158 

Section 2. — Eeduced oils 158 

Chapter III.— General technology of petroleum by distillation 159-168 

Section 1. — Introduction 159, 160 

Section 2. — Early methods - 160 

Section 3. — Destructive distillation 160,161 

Section 4. — Description op the apparatus used in manufacturing petroleum 161-164 

Section 5. — Description op an establishment in which the products are general 164-166 

Section 6.— Description op a manufactory where naphthas, illuminating oils, and residuum are produced. 166,167 

Section 7. — Miscellaneous processes 167,168 

Chapter IV.— Paraffine 168-178 

Section 1. — History 168-170 

Section 2. — Sources op crude paraffine , 170-173 

Section 3. — Preparation of paraffine 173-176 

Sectio.v 4.— Properties of paraffine 176-178 

Chapter V. — Subjects of interest in connection with the technology of petroleum 178-185 

Section 1. — "Cracking" 178-180 

Section 2. — "Treatment" 180-182 

Section 3.— "Sludge" 182,183 

Section 4. — Fires 183 

Section 5. — The special technology op California petroleum 184,185 

Chapter VI. — Statistics of the manufacture of petroleum during the census year 186-192 

Section 1. — Introduction 186 

Section 2. — Capital, labor, and wages 18'' 

Section 3. — Materials employed in manufacturing petroleum 187,188 

Section 4. — The products op manufacture 188-190 

Section 5. — Buildings, machinery, etc 190-192 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. V 

Paet III. 

THE USES OF PETROLEUM AND ITS PRODUCTS. 

Page. 

"Chapter I.— The use of mineral oils for lubrication 195-213 

Section 1.— Introduction 195, igg 

Section 2.— Specific gravity 190,197 

Section 3. — Content of volatile material 197 

Section 4. — The flashing point 197,198 

Section 5. — Spontaneous combustion 198 

Section 6.— Fluidity 199 

Section 7. — Cheahcal tests 199-202 

Section 8. — Practical results of the investigations of Professor Ordway 203 

Section 9.— Determination of the value of lubricating oils by mechanical tests 203-213 

Chapter II. — The uses of petroleum and its products for illumination 214-239 

Section 1. — Introduction 214 

Section 2.— Safe oils 214-223 

Section 3.— Methods of testing petroleum 223-236 

Section 4. — Petroleum legislation in the United States 236,237 

Section 5. — Burners 238,239 

•Chapter III. — Natural gas and the carburetting of gas and air 240-246 

Section 1. — Occurrence and composition op natural gas 240-243 

Section 2. — Use of natural gas in the manufacture of lampblack, etc 244 

Section 3.— Gas from crude petroleum, paraffine oil, and residuum 244 

Section 4.— Gas from naphtha 245 

Section .5.— Carburettors 245,246 

Chapter IV. — The use of petroleum and its products as fuel 247-251 

Section 1. — Theoretical considerations 247,248 

Section 2. — Petroleum as a steam fuel 248,249 

Section 3.— Petroleum and its products in the manufacture of iron 249,250 

Section 4.— Stoves 250,251 

Section 5. — Miscellaneous applications 251 

Chapter V. — The uses of petroleum in medicine 252-256 

Section 1. — The physiological effects of petroleum and its products 252 

Section 2. — Petroleum and its products as therapeutics 253 

Section 3.— Pharmaceutical preparations of petroleum 253-256 

■Chapter VI. — Miscellaneous uses of petroleum and its products 257-260 

•Chapter VII. — The influence of petroleum upon civilization 261-28# 

Chapter VIII. — The bibliography op bitumen and its related subjects 281-301 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 

Frontispiece : A Petroleum field (an original photograph). 

Map I. — Showing the distribution of bitumen throughout the world 33 

II. — Showing the areas that produced bitumen in the United States and Canada 1 

III. — Showing the developed oil fields of western Pennsylvania and New York 21 

IV. — The volcano oil region of West Virginia 51 

V. — The oil regions of Kentucky' and Tennessee 25 

VI. — Bitumen-producing localities in southern Ohio, West Virginia, and Kentucky 24 

VII. — Showing bitumen springs in Texas and Louisiana 26 

VIII. — Showing localities in Michigan and Canada that have produced bitumen 27 

-Chart I. — Showing the annual production of petroleum, and development of the individual districts in 

the oil region of Pennsylvania and southern New York 149 

II. — Proportional production of the oil region op Pennsylvania and southern New York, and that 

OF the individual districts 149 

III. — Showing the annual production of petroleum in the oil region of Pennsylvania and southern 

New York, since its discovery, with the values of the production in currency' and in gold.. 150 

j^late i.^plecb op the huronian shale inclosing the albertite vein in new brunswick 73 

II. — Portion of the surface of a horse op sandstone found inclosed in the grahamite vein, Ritchie 

COUNTY, West Virginia 74 

III. — ^Profilb through axis of West Virginia anticlinal from Ohio eivek to Little Kanawha biver .. 48 
IV. — Sections on the Ohio river above Marietta, at Horse Neck, West Virginia, and between Laurel 

Fork Junction and Petroleum, West Virginia 49 



VI 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



Y._Vbrtical section of White Oak anticlinal, West Virginia 

\l,—FiG. 1. Pumping well, 1861.— Fig. 2. Pumping well, 1868.— Fig. 3. Pumping well, 1878.— Fig. 4. Flowing 

WELL, 1880.— Fig. 5. Drilling well and full string of tools 

YU.— Generalized geological section from Black Kock, New York, to Dunkard creek, Pennsylvania.. 

yjlj_ Generalized vertical section from the top op the Upper Barren Coal Measures down to the 

Corniferous Limestone, to show the various oil horizons of Canada, New York, and Pennsvlvania. 
IX.— Section of bituminous rocks on Bigg's ranch, Santa Barbara county, California [Fig. 1, page 21] . . ■) 

Bitumen AT Selenitza, Albania [Fig. 2, page 32] 

X.— Old oil springs. Paint creek, Johnson county, Kentucky [Fig. 3, page 63.]— Section on Little Paint 
creek, Johnson county, Kentucky [Fig. 4, page 63.]— Crow's Nkst, on Paint Creek, Johnson County, 

Kentucky [Fig. 5, page 63] 

XI.— Section through Sulphur mountain and Ojai plateau, Ventura county, California [Fig. 6, page 68]. .. 
XII. —Section from Boryslaw to Schodnica, East Galicia [Fig. 7, page 72.]— Section of vein of asphaltum 

NEAR Havana, Cuba [Fig. 8, page 72] 

Bitumen IN Albania [Figs. 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, and 14, page 73] 

XIII.— Foundation timbers for rig [Fig. 15, page 79] , 

XIV.— Side elevation of derrick and engine [Fig. 16, page 80] - 

XV.— Horizontal projection of derrick and engine [Fig. 17, page 80] 

XVI.— End elevation of derrick [Fig. 18, page 80] 

XVII.— Inside view of derrick at night, showing use of temper-screw and derrick-light [Fig. 19, page 81]. .. 
XVIII.— Eight-inch bit [Fig. 20, pageSI.]- Five-and-one-half-inch bit [Fig. 21, page 81.]— Auger stem [Fig. 22, 

page 81.]— Sinker bar [Fig. 24, page 81] - 

XIX.— Jars [Fig. 23, page 81.]— Rope socket [Fig. 25, page 81. ]—Eing socket [Fig. 27, page 81] 

XX.— Temper-screw [Fig. 26, page 81.]— Wrench [Fig. 28, page 81.]— Five-and-one-half-inch reamer [Fig. 

29, page 81.]— EiGHT-mCH reamer [Fig. 30, page 81] 

XXI. — Torpedo before explosion [Fig. 31, page 85] 

XXII.— Cross-section of pumping well, 1861— wooden conductor [Fig. 32, page 87.]— Cross-section of pumping 

WELL, 1868— cast-iron DRIVE-PIPE [FiG. 33, PAGE 87] 

XXIII.— Cross-section of pumping well, wkought-iron drive-pipe, 1878 [Fig. 34, page 87. ]— Cross-section of 

FLOWING WELL, 1880 [FiG. 35, PAGE 87] 

XXIV.— SUCKBR-ROD MOVEMENT [FiG. 36, PAGE 88] 

XXV.— Lateral vertical section of cylindrical still [Fig. 37, page 162.]— Transverse vertical section of 

CYLINDRICAL STILL [FlG. 38, PAGE 162] 

XXVI.— Horizontal section of cheese-box-still setting [Fig. 39, page 162.]— Vertical section of cheese-box- 

STILL setting [FIG. 40, PAGE 162] 

XXVII.— Section of condensing drum [Fig. 41, page 162.]— Section op steam-pipe for still head [Fig. 42, page 

162.]— Diagram showing arrangement for distributing distillates [Fig. 43, page 163] 

XXVIII.— Eamdohr's paraffinb filtering apparatus [Fig. 44, page 174. ]— Eamdohr's paraffine filtering ap- 
paratus [Fig. 45, PAGE 174.]— Eamdohr's charcoal pulverizing drum or cylinder [Figs. 46 and 47, 

XXIX.- 



page 175] 



-Salleron-Urbain tester [Fig. 48, page 223.]— Tagliabue's open tester [Fig. 49, page 224.]— Saybolt's 
tester [Fig. .50, page 224.]— Abel's tester [Fig. 51, page 224. ]— Tagliabue's closed tester [Fig. 52, 
PAGE 224.]— Tagliabue's closed tester [Fig. 53, page 224] 

-Parrish's naphtometer [Fig. 54, page 224.]— Engler's tester [Fig. 55, page 225. ]— Englek's tester 
[Fig. 56, PAGE 225.]— Vertical section op Fames' petroleum furnace [Fig.57, page 250] 



LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL. 



Providence, R. I., October 6, 1882, 
Hon. G. W. Seaton, 

Superintendent of Gensv.-:. 

SlE : I herewith submit luy report as special agent for collecting the statistics of the mining and manufacture 
of petroleum for the year euding May 31, 1880. 

The statistics of miiiiug were gathered, as stated in the chapter devoted to their consideration, by personal 
interviews with those parties who handled the oil, and from a careful examiualiou of the localities producing it. 

The statistics of manufacture were obtained by means of a printed schedule of questions, which was addressed 
to each firm or corporation engaged in manufacturing petroleum. I'he answers to the questions contained in 
these schedules were consolidated into the separate items as given in the report. 

An examination of the literature of petroleum revealed a very large number of articles and references, some 
of which were of even classical antiquity, but the larger number of which had been published within the present 
century. Very few bound volumes have been devoted to the general consideration of the subject; and none 
of these, while each valuable as presenting some of its particular aspects, were to be considered as embracing 
the results of a comprehensive research with reference to all of its varied details. It was therefore thought 
advisable to make this report an authority upon the subject of which it treats, as embodying the results of a 
careful examination of the entire literature of petroleum, as weU as a careful use of all other available sources 
of information. The three aspects of the subject — the uatural history, technology, and uses of petroleum and its 
compounds — were each considered under its several appropriate divisions, these forming the subjects of separate 
chapters. Each of these several chapters, in turn, represents a special research and constitutes a separate independent 
essay. This arrangement, it is hoped, will facilitate the use of the report for all the varied purposes for which it 
may be sought. Any fiu-tlier details will, I think, be readih' apparent upon an inspection of the work itself. 

I wish herewith to express my great obligations to all of those from whom I have solicited assistance in the 
collection of the statistical material for this report. Without the cordial co-operation of the officers of the great 
corporations which produce, distribute, and manufacture petroleum, together with a very large 'number of private 
individuals, my labors would have been in vain ; and I make this statement, ai)preciating the fact that this 
assistance in a great number of iustauces involved a large amount of perplexing labor, gratuitously rendered from 
an appreciative estimate of the work upon which the Census Office has been engaged. When hundreds of persons 
throughout the country, engaged in the production, transportation, and manufacture of petroleum, uniformly 
rendered all of the assistance in their power, it is both difficult and unfair to make distinctions. I had rather 
repeat what I have said privately: that the patience, forbearance, and uniform courtesy with which I have been 
met by all parties representing the petroleum interest has been extremely gratifying. 

In securing information other than statistical I am under great obligations to Professor J. P. Lesley and his 
assistants, of the second geological survey of Pennsylvania, particularly Mr. J. F. Carll, of Pleasantville, 
Pennsylvania. Beside the obligation involved in extensive quotation from Mr. Carll's published reports, his 
personal assistance in the way of introduction to both persons and iilaces throughout the oil-producing section 
proved invaluable. I feel that whatever value the report may possess in reference to the geology of West Virginia 
is due to Mr. F. W. Minshall, of Parkersburg, West Virginia, who, in addition to furnishing the geological sections, 
rendered me further assistance in introductions and information involving a long correspondence. 



viii LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL. 

In collecting the statistics of foreign localities I am under special obligations to Mr. Boverton Eedwood, of 
London England; Mr. E. W. Binney, of Manchester, England; Dr. Ferd. Eoemer, of Breslau, Silesia; M. P.E. De 
Ferrari of Genoa, Italy; Eev. J. N. Gushing, of Prome, Burinah; Dr. James Harris, of Yokohama, Japan; and 
William Brough esq. of Franklin, Pennsylvania. To all of these gentlemen I am indebted for the careful collection 
of statistics and private correspondence. 

The extent and value of my researches upon the literature o£ petroleum have been largely due to the assistance 
that I have received from the librarians of Brown University, Harvard Gollege, the Boston Public Library, and 
the American Philosophical Society, and especially to Professor J. D. Whitney, whose valuable private library 
was o-enerously placed at my disposal. AVith the exception of a few East Indian publications, these libraries 
enabled me to verify all of the references with which I came in contact. 

Mr. J. G. Welch, of New York, whose statistics and reports bear such a deservedly high reputation for 
reliability, has rendered me much varied and valuable assistance not otherwise available. 

I wish further to express my obligations to Miss Laura Linton, who has assisted me in the preparation of this 
report and to whose varied accomplishments I am indebted for many of the translations and illustrations that 
add completeness and embellishment to the work; also to the officials of the Gensus Office, to whose uniform, 
courtesy I am indebted for assistance in a somewhat arduous and perplexing undertaking. 

Very respectfully, „ S. F. PEOKHAM, 

Special Agent. 



I^A^RT I. 



THE NATURAL HISTORY OF PETROLEUM, 



TOGETHER WITH 



A DESCRIPTION OF THE METHODS EMPLOYED IN THE PRODUCTrON. TRANSPORTATION, 
AND SALE OF PETROLEUM IN THE UNITED STATES, 



STATISTICS OF THE PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM IN THE 
UNITED STATES AND FOREIGN COUNTRIES 

DUEING THE 

TEAE ENDING MAY 31, 1880. 



P^HT I. 



Chapter I.— HISTORY OF THE DISCOVERY OF PETROLEUM AND THE 
DEVELOPMENT OF THE PETROLEUM INDUSTRY. 



Section 1.— HISTORICAL NOTICE OF BITUMEX PRIOR TO THE YEAR 1800. 

The word petroleum iiieaus rock-oil, and iu its present form it is adoj)ted into English from the Latin. Its 
equivalents in German are Urd'ul (earth-oil) and Steinol (stone-oil) ; in French and the other languages of southern 
Europe the word is Petrole — equivalent to petroleum. Within a few years the Germans have also used the word 
"petroleum". 

Petroleum is one of the forms of bitumen, and cannot be discussed historically except in connection with the 
other forms. These are : 

Solid: Asphaltum. — German, Asplialt, Erdharz, ot Erdpeck; French, Asphalte. 

Semi-fluid: Maltha. — French, Goudronminiral ; Spanish, i?re«. 

Fluid : Petroleum ; Volatile : Naphtha. — German, Naphta, from Persian Nafta or Neft gil. 

Gaseous : Natural gas. — Of burning springs. 

The word Nafta appears to have been used by the Persians, and its equivalent. Naphtha, has been frequently 
used iu European literature to designate what is now called petroleum, and not the most volatile form of iluid 
bitumen occurring in nature. Solid bitumen is to be distinguished from coal in the manner of its occurrence, and 
also by the action of various solvents, especially benzole and carbon disulphide, which dissolve asphaltum, but have 
no action upon coal. 

Bitumen has been known and applied to the uses of mankind from the dawn of history. Its very wide 
distribution has led to its frequent notice by observers of natural phenomena, and the records of such observations 
have been as widely extended as the occupation of the earth by civilized man. Herodotus wrote of the springs in 
the island of Zaute as follows : 

I have myself seen pitch drawn up out of a lake and from water in Zacyuthus ; and there are several lakes there ; the largest of 
them is seventy feet every way, and two orgyoe in depth ; into this they let down a pole with a myrtle branch fastened to the end, and 
then draw uj) pitch adhering to the myrtle ; it has the smell of asphalt, but is, in other respects, better than the pitch of Pioria. They 
pour it into a cistern dug near the lake, and when they have collected a sufficient quantity they pour it off from the cisterns into jars, (a) 

The springs called Oyuu Hit (the fountains of Hit) are celebrated by the Arabs and Persians, the latter calling 
them Cheshmeh Kir (the fountain of pitch). This liquid bitumen they call Nafta ; and the Turks, to distinguish it from 
pitch, give it the name of Mara saMr (black mastic). Nearly all modern travelers who went to Persia and the 
Indies by way of the Euj)hrates before the discovery of the cape of Good Hope speak of this fountain of bitumen. 
Herodotus mentions that " eight days' journey fi'om Babylon stands another city called Is, on asmall river of the same 
name, which discharges its stream into the Euphrates. Now this river brings down with its water many lumps of 
bitumen, from whence the bitumen used iu the wall of Babylon was brought". (6) 

The people of the country have a tradition that when the tower of Babel was building they brought the bitumen 
from hence. At the pits of Kir ab ur Susiana bitumen is still collected in the same manner as related by 
Herodotus, (c) He says : 

At Ardericca is a well which produces three different substances, for asphalt, salt, and oil are drawn up from it in the following 
manner : It is pumped up by means of a swipe, and, instead of a bucket, half a wine skin is attached to it. Having dipped down with this, 
a man draws it up^'and then pours the contents into a reservoir, and, being poured from this into another, it assumes these different forms: 
the asphalt and the salt immediately become solid, but the oil they collect, and the Persians call it Bhadinance : it is black, and emits a strong 
odor. 

aHerodotus, i, 119, iv, 105; B.S.G.F., sxv. &i; J. S. A., vu, C39. b Ibid., i, 179; J. S. A., vii, 039, 640. c Ibd., vi, 119. 

-) 



4 PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 

Strabo («) mentions the occurrence of bitumen in the valley of Judea, and describes the commerce carried on 
in this article by the Arab Nabathenes with the Egyptians for the purpose of embalming; also the manner of its 
occurrence, rising during or after earthquake shocks to the surface of the Dead sea and forming masses resembling- 
islands. Diodorus, of Sicilj-, describes the lake Asphaltites and the manner in which the savage inhabitants of the 
country construct rafts, and continues : 

These barbarians, who have no other kind of commerce, carry their asphalt to Egypt and sell it to those -who make a profession of 
embalming bodies, because, without the mixture of this material with the other aromatics, it would be difiScult for them to preserve them 
for a loug time from the corruption to which they are liable. (6) 

This bitumen, with that from the springs of Hit, on the Euphrates, of which Eratosthenes has given such 
interesting details, and which served to cement the bricks of Babylon, is also used for coating ships, (c) and is still 
used in our own time for coating boats on the Euphrates, (d) 

The semi-fluid bitumen was used in the construction x>f Mneveh and Babylon to cement bricks and slabs of 
alabaster, and the grand mosaic pavements and beautifully inscribed slabs used in the palaces and temples of 
these ancient cities, many of which were of enormous size, were fastened in their places with this material. It was 
also used to render cisterns and silos for the preservation of grain water-tight, and some of these structures of 
unknown antiquity are still found intact in the ancient cities of Egypt and Mesopotamia. The naphtha is more 
highly valued than the solid bitumen, the most fluid varieties being used in lamps. The Persians also manufacture 
dried dung in long sticks, which are dipped in naphtha and burned for lights, and it is also used for cooking and 
heating; but in order to avoid the unendurable smell a peculiar kind of chimney is carried into each room. Cotton 
wicks are also used in naphtha to some extent. The white or colorless naphtha, which is most rare, is used by 
the apothecaries, (e) 

Aristotle, Strabo, Plutarch, Pliny, and others describe at some length deposits of bitumen occurring in Albania, 
on the eastern shores of the Adriatic sea, (/) and similar notices of petroleum springs and gas wells in China occur in 
the earliest records of that ancient people. Pliny and Dioscorides described the oil of Agrigentum, which was used 
in lamps, under the name of " Sicilian oil". 

The soft bitumen in the Euphrates valley is that of which we have the earliest mention, (g) The word translated 
slime in the English version of Genesis xi, 3, is aafaXro^ in the Septuagint and bitumen in the Vulgate, and this is 
what is meant. The great abundance of petroleum at Baku, on the Caspian sea, and the remarkable si^ht presented 
by the flaming streams of oil and discharges of gas, have be6n the subject of many descriptions. The fire temple at 
Baku has had a special interest in connection with India, not only from its general similarity to that of Jawdlamuhki, 
near Kangra, in the Punjab, (h) but also from the circumstance that the Baku temple has for a long time and down 
to the present day been, like the other, a place of Hindoo pilgrimage. The great conflagrations of oil upon the 
ground have not been constant, and hence many travelers do not mention them. 

Marco Polo describes the great abundance of the discharges of oil at Baku, and says that people came from a 
vast distance to collect it. [i) Baku is described by Kaempfer, who was there in 1684. {j) In 1784 it was visited by 
Forster, on his journey from India to England, who has given an account of the place and of the Hindoo merchants 
and mendicants residing there. 

Between Kaempfer and Forster came Jonas Hanway, who gives a description of Baku, the fire temple, and the 
Hindoos, and the great quantities of oil obtained at that time, chiefly from certain islands in the Caspian sea. 
Descriptions are given by other travelers, ancient and modern, of this oil region, (A:) of the copious discharges of 
white and black naphtha, the streams of flaming oil on the hillsides, the gas and the fire temple, and the explosive 
effects of the ignition of the gas mixed with atmospheric air. (l) 

A tradition is preserved in Plutarch that a Macedonian who had charge of Alexander's baggage is said to have 
dug on the banks of the Oxus : " There came out, which difiired nothing from natural oile, having the glosse and 
fatness so like as there could be discovered no differense between them." (m) 

a Tome XVI, ch. ii. 

6 Tome I L, II., cap. sxix. 

c Strabo, I, xvi, csii. 

d Lartet, B. S. G. F., xxiv, p. 12. 

e Bitter's Erdkunde, II, 578. 

/ Strabo, VI, 763; Pliny, N. H., VII, 13 ; Josephus, B. I., IV, 8, 4 ; Tacitus, Hist., V, 6; Mandeville, Eoohon, etc. Plutarch : Life of 
SyUa; Dion Cassius, Rom. Hist. c. XLI; .Slian YarJEe Hist., XIII, 16; quoted in B. S. 6. F., xxv, 21. 

g Herod, I, 179; Philoatr. ApoU. Tyan., I, 17; D'Herbelot, Biblioth. Or. o. v. Hit. 

h G. T. Vigne, Travels in Cashmir and Little TTiibet, 1842, p. 133. 

i Book I, ch. Ill (vol. I, p. 46, Col. Yule's ed., 1871), note in Marsden's ed. 

j Amoenit. Exot., p. 224. Colburn'a Nat. Libr., i, 263. 

fc Wonders of the East, by Friar Jordanus, p. 50 (Colonel Yule's note) ; Keppel's Journey from India to England, 1824; A Journey from 
London to Persepolis, by J. Usher, 1865; Morier's Journey ; Kinneir's Persia; Some Years' Travels, by Tho. Herbert, 1638. 

I I am indebted for many of the preceding facts and references to an excellent article on "Naphtha" by M. C. Cooke, J. S. A., vii, 
638; also, Colonel E. Maclagan, on the "Geographical Distribution of Petroleum and Allied Products", P. B. A. A. S., 1871, 180. 

m Sir Thomas North's translation of Plutarch's Lives, ed. 1631, p. 702. 



THE NATURAL HISTORY OF PETROLEUM. 5 

The occurrence of iietroleum in North America was noticed by the earliest explorers, as the Indians dwelling in 
the vicinity of the great lakes applied it to several purposes, and thus brought it to the attention of those who went 
among them; but the earliest mention that has come under my notice is of 1629. A Franciscan missionary, Joseph 
de la Roche D'Allion, who crossed the Niagara river into what is now the state of New York, wrote a letter, in 
which he mentions the oil-springs and gives the Indian name of the place, which he explained to mean, " There is 
plenty there." This letter was published in Sagard's Histoire du Canada, 1032, and subsequently in Le Clerc. 

Peter Kalm published in Swedish about the middle of the last century a book of travels, in which was a map, 
on which the springs on Oil creek were properly located. This book has been translated into English, and an 
edition was published in London in 1772. 

In the first volume of the Massachusetts Magazine, published in 1789, appears the following notice : (a) 

lu the northern part of Pennsylvania is a creek called Oil creek, -which empties into the Allegheny river. It issues from a spring, on 
■which floats an oil similar to that called Barbadoes tar, and from which one may gather several gallons in a day. The troops sent to 
guard the western posts halted at this spring, collected some of the oil, and bathed their joints with it. This gave them great relief 
from the rheumatism with which they were afflicted. The water, of which the troops drank freely, operated as a gentle purge. 

The earliest records of voyages and travels among the Seneca Indians who occupied northwestern Pennsylvania 
and southwestern New York contain observations respecting the reverence paid the oil-springs of Oil creek and 
the contiguous valleys by this people, not only using it for medicinal purposes, but also in religious observances. 

The French commander of Fort Duquesne in the year 1750 writes as follows to General Montcalm : 

I would desire to assure you that this is a most delightful land. Some of the most astonishing natural wonders have been discovered 
by our people. While descending the Allegheny, fifteen leagues below the mouth of the Conewango and three above the Venango, we 
were invited by the chief of the Senecas to attend a religious ceremony of his tribe. We landed, and drew up our canoes on a point 
where a small stream entered the river. The tribe appeared unnsually solemn. We marched up the stream about half a league, where 
the company, a band it appeared, had arrived some days before us. Gigantic hills begirt us on every side. The scene was really sublime. 
The great chief then recited the conquests and heroism of their ancestors. The surface of the stream was covered with a thick scum, 
which, upon applying a torch at a given signal, burst into a complete conftagration. At the sight of the flames the Indians gave forth 
the triumphant shout that made the hills and valleys re-echo again. He^, then, is revived the ancient fire-worship of the East ; here, 
then, are the children of the Sun. (6) 

In 1765 the English government sent an embassy to the court of Ava, in Burmah. In the journal of that 
embassy, by Major Michael Symes, may be found a description of the petroleum wells in the neighborhood of 
Yenangyoung (Earth-oil creek), a small tributary of the Irrawaddy. For an unknown period the whole of Burmah 
and portions of India have been supplied with illuminating oil from this source, particularly those regions that are 
reached by the Irrawaddy and its tributaries. 

On page 261 of Symes' Journal we read : 

After passing various lauds and villages, we got to Yenangyoung, or Earth-oil creek, about two hours past noon. We were 
informed that the celebrated wells of petroleum which supply the whole empire and many parts of India with that useful product were 
five miles to the east of this place. The mouth of the creek was crowded with large boats waiting to receive a lading of oil, and 
immense pyramids of earthen jars were raised in and around the village, disposed in the sam^ manner as shot and shell are piled in an 
arsenal. This is inhabited only by potters, who carry on an extensive manufactory and find full employment. The smell of the oil is 
extrtmely oft'ensive. We saw several thouss.ud jars filled with it ranged along the bank ; some of these were continually breaking, and 
the contents, mingling with the sand, formed a very filthy consistence. * 

Late in the last century springs of petroleum were noticed in West Virginia, in Ohio, and in Kentucky, as 
explorers and settlers began to penetrate the country west of the Alleghany mountains. 

Section 2.— HISTORICAL NOTICE OF BITUMEN FROM THE YEAR 1800 TO 1850. 

In Europe, early in the present century, chemists examined the bitumen of the Val de' Travers. (c) The gas 
springs of Karamania, noticed by Ctesias more than two thousand years before, again attracted attention, [d) and 
the asphalt deposits of Albania, mentioned by Strabo and Pliny, were again described by Pouqueville. (e) 

In 1811 Dr. Nicholas Nugent visited the West Indies, and on his return to England wrote an account of the 
famous pitch lake of Trinidad, near the mouth of the river Orinoco. {/) He described the wonderful beauty of the 
tropical island, with its more wonderful lake of solid yet plastic bitumen, on which were jjools of water containing 
fish and islands of verdure thronged with brilliant birds. 

From 1820 to 1830 remarkable activity was manifested in the investigation of the nature and occurrence of 
bituminous substances. The Hon. George Knox read a commirnicatiou. to the Royal Society of Great Britain, in 
which he noticed the wide distribution of these substances in nature, and the fact that even so-called eruptive rocks 

a Am. C, iii, 174. d Beaufort: Survey of the Coast of Karamania, 1820, p. 24. 

6 Henry's Early and Later History of Petroleum, p. 11. e Voyage en Grece, 1820, 1, 271; B. S. G. F., sxv, 22. 

c De Saussure, A. C. N. P. (2), Iv, 314, 620, 308. / T. G. S., (1) 1, 63. 



6 PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 

•were rarely found entirely destitute of bitumen as an ingredient. This paper attracted much attention, {a) In 1824 
Eeichenbach discovered paraffine in the products of the destructive distillation of wood, (&) and in the following 
year Gay-Lussac analyzed it. (c) ^ 

In 1826 the British government sent a second embassy to Ava, and in the journal of that embassy the ambassador, 
Hon. John Orawfurd, again describes the petroleum wells of Eangoon, and furnishes many details respecting 
the method of their operation and the amount of their product, (d) 

Boussingault investigated the bitumen of Pechelbronn, on the lower Ehine, and compared its peculiarities 
with those of bitumens from other localities. His work on these substances became very celebrated, and has been 
very widely quoted, (e) These researches created a lively interest in France, and led to much experimenting upon 
both solid and liquid bitumens, with a view to ascertaining the purposes to which they might be applied. 

During this period the first well was bored in the United States that produced petroleum in any considerable 
quantity. As the first well bored or drilled for brine was the legitimate precursor of all the petroleum wells in the 
country, an historical account of it is introduced here, taken from a paper vreitten by Dr. J. P. Hale, of Charleston, 
West Virginia, for the volume prepared by Professor M. F. Maury, and issued by the State Centennial Board, on 
the resources and industries of the state. He says : 

It was not until 1806 tliat tlie brothers, David and Joseph Kuffner, set to work to ascertain the source of the salt water, to procure,, 
if possible, a larger supply and of better quality, and to prepare to manufacture salt on a scale commensurate with the growing wants of 
the couiitry. 

The Salt Lick, or " the Great Buifalo Lick", as it was called, was just at the river's edge, 12 or 14 rods in extent, on the north side, a 
few hundred yards above the mouth of Campbell's creek, and just in front of what is now known as the "Thoroughfare Gap", through 
which, from the north, as well as up and down the river, the buffalo, elk, and other ruminating animals made their way in vast numbers 
to the lick. » * » 

In order to reach, if i)ossible, the bottom of the mire and oozy quicksand through which the salt water flowed they (the Euffner 
brothers) provided a straight, well-formed, hollow sycamore tree, with 4 feet internal diameter, sawed off square at each end. This is- 
technically called a " gum ". This gum was set upright on the spot selected for sinking, the large end down, and held in its perpendicular 
position by props or braces on the four sides. A platform, upbh which two men could stand, was fixed about the top ; then a swape was 
erected, having its fulcrum in a forked post set in the ground oipse by. A large bucket, made from half of a whisky barrel, was attached 
to the end of the swape by a rope, and a rope was attached to the end of the pole, to pull down on, to raise the bucket. With one man 
inside the gum, armed with pick, shovel, and crowbar, two men on the jilatform on top to empty and return the bucket, and three or four 
to work the swape, the crew and outfit were complete. 

After many unexpected difficulties and delays the gum at last reached what seemed to be rock bottom at 13 feet. Upon cutting it 
with picks and crowbars, however, it proved to be but a shale or crust about 6 inches thick of conglomerated sand, gravel, and iron. 
Upon breaking through this crust the water ilowed up into the gum more freely than ever, but with less salt. 

Discouraged at this result, the Euffner brothers determined to abandon this gum and sink a well out in the bottom, about 100 yards 
from the river. This was done, encountering, as before, many difficulties and delays. When they had gotten through 45 feet of alluvial 
deposit they came to the same bed of sand and gravel upon which they had started at the river. To penetrate this they made a 3|-inch 
tube of a 20-foot oak log by boring through it with a long-shanked auger. This tube, sharpened and shod with iron at the bottom, was 
driven down, pile-driver fashion, through the sand to the solid rock. Through this tube they then let down a glass vial with a string, to 
catch the salt water for testing. 

They were again doomed to disappointment. The water, though slightly brackish, was less salt than that at the river. They now 
decided to return to the gum at the river, and, if possible, put it down to the bed-rock. This they finally succeeded ia doing, finding the 
rock at 16 to 17 feet from the surface. 

As the bottom of the gum was square and the surface of the rock uneven, the rush of outsi'de water in the gum was very troublesome. 
By dint of cutting and trimming from one side and the other, however, they were at last gotten nearly to a joint, after which they 
resorted to thin wedges, which were driven here and there as they would " do the most good ". 

By this means the gum was gotten sufficiently tight to be so bailed out as to determine whether the salt water came up through the- 
rock. This turned out to be the case. The quantity welling up through the rock was extremely small, but the strength was greater than 
any yet gotten, and this was encouraging. They were anxious to follow it down, but how? They could not blast a hole down there 
under water ; but this idea occurred to them : They knew that rock-blasters drilled their powder holes 2 or 3 feet deep, and they concluded 
they could, with a longer and larger drill, bore a correspondingly deeper and larger hole. They fixed a long iron drill, with a 2J-iuch 
chisel bit of steel, and attached the upper end to a spring pole with a rope. In this way the boring went on slowly and tediously, till on 
the 1st of November, 1807, at 17 feet in the rock, a cavity or fissure was struck, which gave an increased flow of stronger brine. This 
gave new encouragement to bore stiU further ; and so, by welding increasing length of shaft to the drill from time to time, the hole was 
carried down to 28 feet, where a still larger and stronger supply of salt water was gotten. 

Having now sufficient salt water to justify it, they decided and commenced to build a salt furnace, but, while building, continued 
the boring, and on the 15th January, 1808, at 40 feet in the rock and 58 feet from the top of the gum, were rewarded by an ample flow 
of strong brine for their furnace, .and ceased boring. 

Now was presented another difficulty: how to get the stronger brine from the bottom of the well, undiluted by the weaker brines 
and fresh water from above. There was no precedent here ; they had to Invent, contrive, and construct anew. A metal tube would 
naturally suggest itself to them ; but there were neither metal tubes, nor sheet metal, nor metal workers, save a home-made blacksmith, 
in all this region, and to bore a wooden tube 40 feet long, and small enough in external diameter to go in the 2i-iuch hole, was impracticable. 
What they did do was to whittle out of two long strips of wood two long half tubes of the proper size, and, fittiug the edges carefully 
together, wrap the whole from end to end with small twine. This, with a bag of wrapping near the lower end, to fit as nearly as 
practicable, water tight, in the 2+-inch hole, was cautiously pressed down to its place, and found to answer the purpose perfectly, the 
brine flowed up freely through the tube into the gum, which was now provided with a water-tight floor or bottom to hold it, and Irom 
•which it was raised by the simple swape and bucket. 



a P. T., 1823 ; A. C. et P. (2), xxv, 178. d Journal of an Emiassy to tlw Court of Ava, 1834. 

5 P. M. (2), i, 402. e ConstUiition of BUitmens, P. J. (2), ix, 487. 

c A. C. etP.'(2), 1, 78. 



THE NATURAL HISTORY OF PETROLEUM. 7 

Thus was bored and tubed, rigged and worked, the first rock-bored salt-well west of the Alleghanies, if not in the United States. 
The wonder is not that it required eighteen months or more to prepare, bore, and complete this well for use, but, rather, that it was 
accomplished at all under the circumstances. In these times, when such a work can be accomplished in as many days as it then required 
months, it is difficult to appreciate the difficulties, doubts, delays, and general troubles that then beset them. Without preliminary 
study, previons experience, or training, without precedents in what they undertook, in a newly settled country, without, ^teaui-i.owi^r, 
machine-shops, skilled mechanics, suitable tools or materials, failure rather than success might reasonably have been predicted. • * * 

For interesting facts in this history of the boring of the first well I am indebted to a MS. by the late Dr. Henry Enffner, and for 
personal recollections and traditions I am indebted to General Lewis Enffner, Isaac Euftner, W. D. Shrewsberry, Colonel B. H. Smith, 
Colonel L. I. Woodyard, W. C. Brooks, and others, and my own experiences for the last thirty years. * » » 

Other important improvements were gradually made in the manner of boring, tubing, and pumping wells, etc. The first progress 
made in tubing, after Ruftuer's compound wood-and- wrapping-twine tube, was made by a tinner who had located in Charleston. « » « 
He made tin tubes in convenient lengths, and soldered them together as they were put down the well. The refinement of screw joints 
had not yet come, but followed shortly after, in connection with copper pipes, which soon took the place of tin, and these are recently 
giving place to iron. 

In the manner of bagging the wells, that is, in forming a water-tight joint around the tube to shut off the weaker waters above 
from the stronger below, a simple arrangement, called a "seed-bag", was fallen upon, which proved very eflective, and which has survived 
to this d.ay, and has been adopted wherever deep boring is done as one of the standard appliances for the purpose for which it is used. 
This seed-bag is made of buckskin or soft calfskin, sewed up like the sleeve of a coat or leg of a stocking, made 12 to 1.5 inches long, 
about the size of the well hole, and open at both ends ; this is slipped over the tube and one end securely wrapped over knots placed on 
the tube to prevent slipping. Some six or eight inches of the bag is then filled with flaxseed, either alone or mixed with powdered gum 
tragacanth; the other end of the bag is then wrapped like the first, aud tlie tube is ready for the well. When to their place — and 
they are put down any depth to hundreds of feet — the seed and gum soon swell from the water they absorb, till a close fit and water- 
tight joint are made. * » » 

In 1831 William Morris, or " Billy " Morris, as he was familiarly called, a very ingenious and successful practical well-borer, invented 
a simple tool, which has done more to render deep boring practicable, simple, and cheap than anything else since the introdnction of steam. 

This tool has always been called here "slips", but in the oil regions they have given it the name of "jars". It is a long double- 
Unk, with jaws that fit closely, but slide loosely up and down. They are made of the best steel, are about 30 inches long, and fitted, 
top and bottom, with pin and socket joint, respectively. For use they are interposed between the heavy iron sinker, with its cutting 
chisel-bit below, and the line of auger poles above. Its object is to let the heavy sinker aud bit have a clear, quick, cutting fall, 
unobstructed and unincumbered by the slower motion of the long line of auger poles above. In the case of fast auger or other tools in 
the well, they are also used to give heavy jars upward or downward, or both, to loosen them. From this use the oil-well people have 
given them the name of "jars". 

Billy Morris never patented his invention, and never asked for nor made a dollar out of it ; but as a public benefactor he deserves 
to rank with the inventors of the sewing-machine, reaping-machine, planing-machine, printing cylinders, cotton-gin, etc. This tool has 
been adopted into general use wherever deep boring is done, but ont&Ide of Kanawha few have heard of Billy Morris, or know where 
the slips or jars came from. * • » 

The Kanawha borings have educated and sent forth a set of skillful well-borers all over the country, who have bored for water for 
irrigation on the western plains, for artesian wells for city, factory, or private use, for salt water at various places, for oil all over the 
country, for geological or miueralogical explorations, etc. 

Nearly all the Kanawha salt-wells have contained more or less petroleum, and some of the deepest wells a considerable flow. 
Many persons now think, trusting to their recollections, that some of the wells afforded as much as 25 to 50 barrels per day. This was 
allowed to flow over from the top of the salt cisterns to the river, where, from its specific gravity, it spread over a large surface, and by 
its beautiful iridescent hues and not very savory odor could be traced for many miles down the stream. It was from this that the river 
received the nickname of " Old Greasy", by which it was for a long time familiarly known by Kanawha boatmen and others. 

At that time this oil not only had no value, but was considered a great nuisance, and every effort was made to tube it out and get 
rid of it. It is now the opinion of some competent geologists, as well as of practical oil men, that very deep borings, say 2,500 feet, 
would penetrate rich oil-bearing strata, and possibly inexhaustible supplies of gas. 

In Ohio salt was mauufactnred at the "Old Scioto salt works", iu Jacksou county, as early as 1798, from 
brine obtained from dug wells. In ISOS, after the successful boring of the Eufiuer well on the Kauawjja, bored wells 
were substituted for dug wells very successfully, and salt- wells were soon in operation in other localities. The valley 
of the Muskingum from Zanesville to Marietta soon becauie noted, and the valley of Duck creffli, since the center 
of the Washington county petroleum fields, was first famous for its salt- wells. 

The following description is from an article in the American Journal of Science (1), xxiv, 63, by Dr. S. P. Hildreth, 
of Marietta: , 

Since the first settlement of the regions west of the Appalachian range the hunters and pioSeers have been acquainted with this 
oil. Rising in a hidden and mysterious manner from the bowels of the earth, it soon arrested.thelr attention, and acquired great value 
in the eyes of these simple sons of the forest. Like some miraculous gift from heaven, it was thought to be a sovereign remedy for nearly 
all the diseases common to those primeval days, and from its success in rheumatism, buries, coughs, sprains, etc., was justly entitled to all 
its celebrity. It acquired its name of Seneca oil, that by which it is generally known, from having first been found in the vicinity of 
Seneca lake. New York. From its being found in limited quantities, aud its great and extensive demand, a small vial of it would sell 
for 40 or 50 cents. It is at this time in general use among the inhabitants of the country for saddle bruises and that complaint called 
the scratches in horses. It seems to be peculiarly adapted to the flesh of horses, and cures many of their ailments with wonderful 
certainty and celerity. Flies and other insects have a natural antipathy to its elHuvia, and it is used with much effect in preventing the 
deposit of eggs by the "blowing fly" in the wounds of domestic animals during ;'the summer months. In neighborhoods where it is 
abundant it is burned iu lamps iu place of spermaceti oil, aflbrding a brilliant lieht, but filling the room with its own peculiar odor. By 
filtering it through charcoal, much of this empyreumatic smell is destroySil Sand the oil greatly improved in quality and appearance. 
It is also well adapted to prevent friction in machinery, for, being free ^£ .gluten, so common to animal and vegetable oils, it preserves 
the parts to which it is applied for a long time iu free motion; wheVe a^Sieavy vertical .shaft runs in a socket, it is preferable to all or 
any other articles. This oil rises in greater or less abundance in most*/ the salt- wells of the Kanawha, and, collecting as it rises, in the 
Lead on the water, is removed from time to time with a ladle. »* 



8 PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 

On tlie Muskingum river the wells afford but little oil, and that only during the time the process of boring is going on ; it ceases 
soon after the wells are completed, and yet all of them abound more or less in gas. A well on Duck creek, about 30 mUes north of 
Marietta, owned by Mr. McKee, furnishes the greatest quantity of any in this region. It was dug in the year 1814, and is 475 feet in 
depth. 

The rocks passed were similar to those on the Muskingum river above the flint stratum, or like those between the flint and salt 
deposit at McConnellsville. A bed of coal 2 yards in thickness was found at the depth of 100 feet, and gas at 144 feet, or 41 feet above 
the salt-rock. The hills are sandstone based on lime, 150 or 200 feet in height, with abundant beds of stone-coal near their feet. The oil 
from this well is discharged periodically at intervals of from two to four days, and from three to six hours duration at each period. Great 
quantities of gas accompany the discharges of oil, which for the first few years amoimted to from 30 to 60 gallons at each eruption. The 
discharges at this time are less frequent, and diminished in quantity, affording only about a barrel per week, which is worth at the well 
from 50 to 75 cents a gallon. A few years ago, when the oil was most abundant, a large quantity had been collected in a cistern holding 
30 or 40 barrels. At night, some one engaged about the works approached the well-head with a lighted caadle. The gas instantly became 
ignited and communicated the flame to the contents of the cistern, which, giving way, suffered the oil to be discharged down a short 
declivity into the creek, whose waters pass with a rapid current close to the well. The oil still continued to burn most furiously ; and, 
spreading itself along the surface of the stream for half a mile in extent, shot its flames to the tops of the highest trees, exhibiting the 
* * * spectacle of a river actually on fire. 

It is probable that wells were drilled for salt in the neighborhood of Tarentum, on the Allegheny river, above 
Pittsburgh, about 1810. These wells were all comparatively shallow, but in many of them small quantities of 
petroleum often interfered more or less with their successful operation. 

Salt-wells were bored along the Big Sandy river and its tributaries across Kentucky and into Tennessee, and 
in many of them petroleum appeared in sufl&cient quantity to be troublesome. In 1818 or 1819 a well was bored 
on the south fork of the Cumberland river, in Wayne county, Kentucky, that produced petroleum in such quantities 
that it was abandoned for brine and was almost forgotten for more than thirty years. This well has acquired 
some notoriety under the name of the Beatty well, and is still yielding small quantities of oil. Farther west, in 
Barren and Cumberland counties, Kentucky, along the Cumberland river and its tributaries, numerous salt- wells 
were bored, and in many of them petroleum appeared. In 1829 the famous American well was bored near the bed 
of Little Eennox creek, near Burkesville, Kentucky. The following account of the phenomena attending its 
completion is to be found in NiM Register (3), xiii, 4 : 

Some months since, in the act of boring for salt water on the land of Mr. Lemuel Stockton, situated in the county of Cumberland, 
Kentucky, a vein of pure oil was struck, fi:om which it is almost incredible what quantities of the substance issued. The discharges were 
by floods, at intervals of from two to five minutes, at each flow vomiting forth many barrels of pure oil. I witnessed myself, on a shaft 
that stood upright by the aperture in the rock from which it issued, marks of oil 25 or 30 feet perpendicularly above the rock. These floods 
continued for three or four weeks, when they subsided to a constant stream, affording many thousand gallons per day. This well is 
between a quarter and a half mile from the bank of the Cumberland river, on a small rill (creek), down which it runs to the Cumberland 
river. It was traced as far down the Cumberland as Gallatin, in Sumner county, Tennessee, nearly 100 miles. For many miles it covered 
the whole surface of the river, and its marks are now found on the rocks on each bank. About 2 miles below the point on which it touched 
the river it was set on fire by a boy, and the effect was grand beyond description. An old gentleman who witnessed it says he has seen 
several cities on fire, but that he never beheld anything like the flames which rose from the bosom of the Cumberland to touch the very 
clouds. 

Eeferring to this article and the well, a correspondent of the BurTcesville Courier, C. L. S. Mathews, esq., under 
date October 11, 1876, says : 

This well, from the long continued yield of oil, is one of the most remarkable wells in America. When first struck, oil flowed from 
it at the rate of 1,000 barrels per day, and for many years, in fact, until the year 1860, it yielded a plentiful supply of oil. We have been 
informed by several old citizens, who witnessed the burning of the oil on the surface of the river, that the oil burned down the river 
about 56 miles, and that for miles all the vegetation and foliage along the river bank was destroyed. Some years after this strike was 
made several individuals took charge of the well, saved the oil, and put up several hundred thousand bottles, which they sold all through 
this country and some parts of Europe as the "American Medicinal Oil, Burkesville, Kentucky". 

During the decade from 1830 to 1840 the attention of the most distinguished French chemists was directed to 
the investigation of bitumens. Boussingault continued his general researches, and in 1837 published a classical 
paper on the subject, (a) Virlet d'Oust propounded the first theory regarding the origin of bitumens in 1834, (&) and 
the asphalt of the Dead sea, (c) of Pyrmont, {d) and near Havana, Cuba, were examined, (e) Hess wrote on the 
products of dry distillation (/) and was reviewed by Eeichenbach, {g) who, with Laurent, [h) continued his researches 
upon paraffine. In 1833 Professor Benjamin Silliman, sr., contributed an article to the American Journal of 
Science (1), xxiii, 97, in which he describes the celebrated oil-spring of the Seneca Indians near Cuba, New York, 
as follows : 

The oil-spring, or fountain, rises in the midst of a marshy ground ; it is a muddy and dirty pool of about 18 feet in diameter, and is 
nearly circular in form. There is no outlet above ground, no stream flowing from it, and it is, of course, a stagnant water, with no other 
circulation than that which springs from changes of temperature and from the gas and petroleum which are constantly rising through 
the pool. 

We are told that the odor of petroleum is perceived at a distance in approaching the spring. This may not improbably be true iu 
particular states of the wind, but we did not distinguish any peculiar smell until we arrived on the edge of the fountain. Here its 

a A. C. et P. (2), Ixiv, 141. e Taylor & Clemson, P. M., x, 161. 

6 B. S. G. F. (1), iv, 372. / Pog. An., xxxvi, 417, xxxvii, 534. 

c Journal dea Savanta, 1855, 596. g Jour, fur Olconom. Chem., vlii, 445. 

d Eozet, B. S. G. F. (1), vii, 138. h Laurent, A. C. et P. (2), liv, 392, Ixiv, 321. 



THE NATURAL HISTORY OF PETROLEUM. 9 

peculiar character Ijeeomes very obvious. The water is covered with a thin layer of petroleum or nilueral oil, giving it a foul appearance, 
asif coated wiih dirty molasses, having a yellowish-hrown color. Every part of the water was covered by this film, but it bad nowhere the 
iridescence which I recollect to have observed at Saint Catharine's well, a petroleum fountain near Edinburgh, in Scotland. There the 
water was pellucid, and the lines produced by the oil were brilliant, giving the whole a beautiful ajipearance. The ditierence is, however, 
easily accounted for. Saint Catharine's well is a lively, flowing fountain, and the quantity of petroleum is only sufficient to cover it 
partiallv, while there is nothing to soil the stream; and in the present instance the stagnation of the water, the comparative abundance of 
the petroleum, and the mixture of leaves and sticks and other productions of a dense forest, preclude any beautiful features. There are, 
however, upon this water, here and there, spots of what seems to be a purer petroleum, probably recently risen, which is free from 
mixture, and which has a bright, brownish-yellow appearance, lively and sparkling; and were the fountain covered entirely with this 
purer production it would be beautiful. 

They collect the petroleum by skimming It, like cream from a milk-pan. For this purpose they use a broad, flat board, made thin at 
one edge like a knife; it is moved flat upon and just under the surface of the water, and is soon covered by a coating of the petroleum, 
which is so thick and adhesive that it does not fall off, but is removed by scraping the instrument upon the lip of a cup. It has then a very 
foul appearance, like very dirty tar or molasses, but it is purified by heating and straining it while hot through flannel or other woolen 
stuft'. It is used by the people of the vicinity for sprains and rheumatism and for sores on their horses, it being in both cases rubbed 
upon the part. It is not monopolized by any one, but is carried away freely by all who care to collect it, .and for this purpose the spring is 
frequently visited. I could not ascertain bow much is annually obtained; the quantity must be considerable. It is said to rise more 
abundantly in hot weather than in cold. 

I cannot learn that any considerable part of the large quantities of petroleum used in the eastern states under the name of Seneca 
oil comes from the spring now described. I am assured that its source is about 100 miles from Pittsburgh, on Oil creek, which empties 
into the Allegheny river in the township and county of Venango. It exists there in great abundance, and rises in purity to the surface 
of the water ; by dams, inclosing certain parts of the river or creek, it is prevented from flowing away, and it is absorbed by the blankets, 
from which it is wrung. 

The petroleum sold in the eastern states under the name of Seneca oil is of a dark brown color, between that of tar and molasses, 
and its degree of consistence is not dissimilar, according to the temperature; its odor is strong and too well known to need description. 

In an article entitled " Observations on the bituminous coal deposits of the valley of the Ohio " Dr. S. P. 
Hildreth, in 1836, notices the occurrence of petroleum on the Little Kanawha, (a) 

The decade from 1840 to 1850 was remarkable for the number of travelers who, in different parts of the world, 
noticed the occurrence of bitumen, and also for several elaborate researches upon the geological occurrence and 
chemical constitution of its different varieties. Travelers visited the far east, and even China, (&) and gave glowing 
descriptions of the naphtha springs of Persia, (c) the fire- worshiiiers of Baku, aud the fire wells of China, (d) The 
naphtha springs of Persia are nowhere else described in such detail as iu Eitter's Erdkunde, published in 1841. (e) 
Boussingault (/) continued his researches in France, and in our own country, Percival, {g) in Connecticut, aud Beck, 
(/() in iJew York, called attention to the fact that bitumen was of frequent occurrence in thin veins traversing the 
metamorphic and eruptive rocks of Connecticut, Kew York, and New Jersey. In 1842 E. W. Binney first called 
attention to the occurrence of petroleum in the Down Holland Moss, which may be said to have been the first step 
toward the great paraffine oil industry of Scotland. (/) 



"^ 



Sec:tion 3.— the RISE OF THE PARAFFLN^E OIL INDUSTRY. 



This decade witnessed the rise of the parafiSneoil industry in Europe and the United States. The success of 
the manufacture of shale oil at Bathgate, Scotland, by E. W. Binney & Co., from so-called Boghead coal, has been 
more popularly known through Mr. James Young, one of Mr. Binney's associates. The lessening supply of sperm 
and whale oils, and their consequent advance in price, led to various attempts to invent or discover a cheaper 
substitute, and as a consequence the oils manufactured at Bathgate were eagerly sought in the market, especially 
when lamps were formed that would burn them with complete success. Mr. Binney claims to have first called these 
oils paraffine oils, but those used for illumination have been more widely known as kerosene, (j) 

In the United States experimeuts were commenced in the winter of 1850-'51 by Luther and William Atwood 
near Boston, which resulted in the establishment in 1S53 of the United States Chemical Manufacturing Company at 
Waltham, Massachusetts. This company manufactured from coal-tar an oil called "Coup oil", which was used, 
mixed with cheap animal and vegetable oils, for lubricating machinery. In 1854 Mr. Joshua Merrill became 
connected with this company, but in 1855 he left it and became connected with the Downer Kerosene Oil Company 
of Boston, with which he has remained to the present time. These three gentlemen were the pioneers in the 
manufacture of paraffine oils in the United States. In 1857 the Downer Kerosene Oil Company commenced the 
manufacture of hydrocarbon oils from the Albert coal (a kind of asphaltum), obtained from New Brunswick, and 
they had works in Boston, Massachusetts, and in Portland, Maine. William Atwood had charge of the works in 

o A. J. S. (1), xxix, 121. / A. C. et P. (2), Isxiii, 442. 

ft Pottinger; W. Robinson; Ainsworth. g A. J. S. (:^), xvi, 130. 

c Kinnier: Persia. ft A. J. S. (1), slv, 335. 

d Humboldt: Aaie Centrale, ii, 519; Cosmos, 1, 232; Bohn 1, i Papers read before the MaiMjhester (England) Geological 

221. Society, 1842-'43. 

e I>ie Erdkunde von Aaien , vols, vii, viii, ix, x, and xi. j Communication from Mr. Binney to S. F. P. 
Note. — The claims of Selligue as the original inventor of paraffine oils distilled from shale are stated elsewhere. I think the 
paraffine-oil industry took its rise at this time. 



10 PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 

Portland, Joshua Merrill of those in Boston, and Luther Atwood of a large establishment belonging to the New York 
Kerosene Oil Company near Brooklyn, Long Island. Before these gentlemen left Waltham they had " experimented 
upon bituminous coals, bituminous shales, asphaltum, and petroleums— petroleums and bitumens from nearly all the 
known sources, and many different varieties of coals and shales. They succeeded in producing what they regarded 
at that time as a good lubricating oil from each of those sources". («) 

Previous to going to Portland Mr. "William Atwood spent about eighteen months on the island of Trinidad 
attempting to produce crude lubricating oils from the asphalt of the celebrated Pitch lake. 

Meantime, parties in New Bedford, Massachusetts, who had been engaged in the manufacture of whale and 
sperm oils, commenced the manufacture of paraflne oils from the Boghead mineral of Scotland, which they 
imported for that purpose. The rich cannel coals of West Virginia and Kentucky soon attracted attention, and 
works for the manufacture of paraffine oils from them were established at Oloverport, Kentucky, and at Newark, 
Ohio. On the Allegheny river, in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, the Lucesco works were the largest in the 
country in 1859, having a capacity for producing 6,000 gallons of crude oil per diem. At Oanfleld, Mahoning 
county, Ohio, was another, and at Cannelton, West Virginia, was another with refining works at Maysville, 
Kentucky. By 1859 Luther Atwood had introduced his method of downward distillation, in which a tower was 
filled with 25 tons of coal or Boghead mineral and a fire kindled on the upper surface by means of anthracite coal 
or pine wood. (&) A downward draft was created by a steam-jet in the pipe leading from the base of the tower, 
and the heated products of combustion, descending through the coal, expelled the volatile materials at the lowest 
possible temperature. 

In a recent letter, Mr. E. W. Binney, of Manchester, England, who, as before stated, was associated with Mr. 
James Young, at Bathgate, Scotland, tells me that when Mr. Young, in his celebrated patent lawsuit, testified 
that he obtained paraffine oil from petroleum before he resorted to coal, and it became known on this side of the 
Atlantic, the American firms licensed under their patent refused to pay any more royalties and went to work 
manufacturing petroleum. This is doubtless true as a statement of fact, but it conveys a wrong impression. The 
fact is that an inadequate supply alone prevented the use of petroleum in this country prior to 1859, and really 
Mr. Young and those on this side of the Atlantic were then in precisely the same situation as regards petroleum ; 
but at the end of 1859 the situation in America became revolutionized, while that in Scotland remained as before. 

Section 4.— HISTOEIOAL NOTICE PROM 1850 TO THE COMPLETION OF DRAKE'S WELL (AUGUST, 

1859). 

While Mr. Everett was engaged in making oil from cannel coal at Canfleld, Ohio, Dr. J. S. Newberry sent him 
some petroleum from Mecca, Ohio, which was pronounced " as good or better than crude oil from coal". Oil had 
been gathered along Mill creek, in Erie, Pennsylvania, since 1854, and had been sold to druggists for a dollar a 
gallon. At Oxbow hill, not far from Union City, Erie county, Pennsylvania, Mr. P. G. Stranahan and his brothers 
dug out a spring about 1845 from which oil has flowed ever since. 

WOliam C. and Charles Hyde were engaged in lumbering on Oil creek, near the present village of Hydetown, 
from 1845 to 1850. The former, being well acquainted at that time with the oil-springs near Titusville, went 
to Pittsburgh and inquired of R. Robinsoa & Co., grocers, for a cheap oil for lighting mills, and got a half-barrel 
of amber oil, called " rock-oil", which was used in a vessel resembling a tea-kettle, the wick projecting from the 
nozzle, and burned much better than the green oil of Oil creek. The latter had long been collected from curbed 
pits, in which the oil arose and floated upon the water. Blankets were spread upon the water, which absorbed the 
•oil, which was then wrung from them. Mr. J. D. Angler contrived a series of pits, one above another, and allowed 
the water to flow out from beneath the oil, and in this way he obtained what was then considered a large amount- 
six gallons a day. 

From 1845 to 1855 parties were actively engaged in manufacturing salt at Tarentum, on the Allegheny river, 
above Pittsburgh, among them a Mr. Kier, whose son, Samuel M. Kier, was a druggist in Pittsburgh. Mr. Kier 
bored a well for brine afTarentum and obtained oil that looked hke brandy with the water, and this was allowed to 
flow into the canal leading to Pittsburgh. Mr. Samuel M. Kier's wife was sick, as was supposed, with consumption, 
and her physician prescribed " American oil". It helped her, and her husband was led to compare it with that 
obtained from his father's well. Concluding, as they possessed the same odor, that they were the same thing, he 
submitted them to a chemist, who pronounced them identical. Mr. S. M. Kier soon after commenced to bot'.le 
American oil for sale, and after a few years, supposed to be about 1855, iu company with Mr. McKuen, he first 
refined petroleum from his father's wells at Tarentum. The oils were treated like the crude oils obtained from coal, 
and were made into burning oils and heavier oils, that were sold to the woolen factory at Cooperstowu for cleansing 
wool, for which they were found very valuable. This refinery created a demand for crude petroleum, and led people 
to reflect upon the possibility of procuring it in larger quantity. 

While Kier was at work in Pittsburgh, the firm of Brewer & Watson were engaged in a large lumbering 
and general merchandise business at Titusville, on Oil creek. In the summer of 1854 Dr. F. B. Brewer, whose 

a Testimony of William Atwood iu case of Merrill vs. Youmans. 6 AntiseU, page 135. 



THE NATURAL HISTORY OF PETROLEUM. 11 

father was at tlie head of this firui, \isited relatives at Hauover, New Hampshire, and carried a bottle of petroleum 
to Professor Crosby, of Dartmouth College, of which institution the doctor -svas a graduate, and Mr. A. H. Crosby, 
a son of the professor, and now a physician in Concord, Xew Hampshire, became greatly interested in his 
representations respecting the petroleum and the oil-springs. At this time 3Ir. George H. Bissell, also a native of 
Hanover, and a graduate of Dartmouth, was on a visit to his old home, and was induced by the others to join an 
enterprise for forming a stock company for procuring petroleum ou Oil creek. Mr. Bissell was then engaged in the 
liractice of law in Kew York as a member of the firm of Eveleth & Bissell. After some time spent in negotiation, 
during which Dr. Crosby had visited Oil creek and advised boring as a means of obtaining the oil in larger 
quantities, an arrangement was effected with Messrs. Brewer & Watson, under which Messrs. Eveleth & Bissell 
proceeded to organize a company. 

Under date of Xovember 6, 1854, these gentlemen informed Dr. Brewer that they "had forwarded several 
gallons of the oil to ^Mr. Atwood, of Boston, an eminent chemist, and his report of the qualities of the oil and the 
uses to which it may be applied was very favorable. Professor Silliman, of Yale College, is giving it a thorough 
analysis, and he informs us that, so far as he has yet tested it, he is of opinion that it contains a large proportion 
of benzole and naphtha, and that it will be found more valuable for purposes of application to the arts than as a 
medicinal, burning, or lubricating fluid". 

The first deed from Brewer, Watson & Co. was dated November 10, 1854, and conveyed to George H. Bissell 
and Jonathan G. Eveleth, of ifew Y'^ork city, 105 acres of land on what was known as the "Watson flats''^ 
embracing the island at the junction of Pine and Oil creeks. It was ou this island that Mr. Angler's pits were 
dug, and also where the first well was drilled five years later. • 

As a result of this purchase, the Pennsylvania Eock Oil Company was incorporated on the 30th of December, 
1854, under the laws of the state of Kew York. In order to satisfy several residents of New Haven who took an 
interest in the enterprise in consequence of Professor Silliman's report, which was made in April, 1855, the property 
of the comijany was jmrchased by Jlessrs. Ives & Pierpout, and was leased bj- them to a new company bearing the 
same title and organized under the laws of Connecticut, the official residence of the company being transferred to 
the city of New Haven. By the 23d of March, 1857, the Pennsylvania Eock Oil Company had leased the property 
on Oil creek to the New Haven stockholders, who organized under the name of "The Seneca Oil Company", and 
E. L. Drake was engaged the following spring to go out to Titusville and drill an artesian well for oil. 

Mr. Drake, called Colonel Drake on Oil creek, arrived in Titusville about May 1, 1858. At that time Titusville 
was a lumbei'ing village, and the nearest point at which tools and machinery could be obtained was Erie, Pennsylvania, 
nearly 100 miles north, or Pittsburgh, still farther south. Drake commenced operations bj- attempting to sink a shaft 
in one of the old timbered pits once supposed to be of prehistoric origin, but hatchets of French manufacture have 
been discovered in or about these pits. His idea appears to have been at first to sink a shaft or ordinary well bj' 
digging; but water and quicksands continually thwarted him, and he finally resorted to the expedient of driving an 
iron pipe from the surface to the solid rock. This device is supposed to have been original with Drake ; but if it was, 
he never attempted to reap any advantage from it, although it has been of great value ever since in artesian boring. 

He appears to have prepared for boring during the season of 1858 by driving hi.s pipe 36 feet to the rock and 
getting his engine, tools, and pump-house in order; but the men he had engaged to drill early in the season had 
secured another job, and the work was suspended until the following season, when Mr. William Smith and his two 
sons werct engaged, they having had large experience on salt- wells. These men arrived at Titusville about the 
middle of June, bringing with them all the necessary tools for drilling. After many vexatious delays, they were 
fairly under way by the middle of August and had drilled 33 feet, when, on the 2Sth of August, 1859, the drill 
struck a crevice, into which it fell six inches. The following day being Sunday, Smith visited the well in the 
afternoon and found the drillhole full to within a few feet of the top, and on fishing up a small quantity m a tin cup 
it was found to be petroleum. Such is the story of the first petroleum well, (a) 

As soon as Mr. Watson heard the news he sprang upon a horse and hastened down Oil creek to lease the farm 
on which the McClintock spring was situated; but Drake telegraphed to Mr. Bissell, who thereupon bought up all 
the .stock of the Pennsylvania Eock Oil Company that he could get hold of, and, immediately vi,siting Oil creek, 
leased large tracts of land that afterward yielded abundantly. 

Section 5.— HISTOEICAL NOTICE OF THE PETEOLEUM INDUSTEY IN THE UNITED STATES 
SINCE THE COMPLETION OF DEAKE'S WELL (AUGUST, 1859). 

The territory over which operations were conducted was for a long time confined to the valleys of the 
Allegheny river and its tributaries, on the supposition that the present configuration of surface was related to the 
strata containing the oil. For this reason wells were drilled in the valley of Oil creek from Titusville to Oil City, 
on French creek from Union City to Meadville and Franklin, and on the Allegheny at Tidioute. Although the 
coal-oil manufactories all over the country, with scarcely an exception, commenced to work petroleum instead of 

a I am indebted to Henry'a Early and Later Eistory of Petroleum, -which is indorsed by Mr. Bissell, and to many conversations with 
residenta of Titusville and the vicinity, for the facts contained in the above narration. 



12 PRODUCTION OF PETEOLEUM. 

•coal, the production was so enormous, as compared with the demand, that the market was soon ghttted and the 
price fell to almost nothing. An extended demand, and the partial exhaustion of the territory then being worked, 
led to better prices in 1865, and the immediate result was the boring of wells over an immense extent of country, 
from Manitoulin island to Alabama, and from Missouri to central jSTew York. In Europe companies were also 
formed, and wells were put down wherever an oil-spring existed. In the United States the result was the permanent 
•development of a small territory in southern Kentucky, another still larger in "West Virginia and in Washington 
county, Ohio, and another in Trumbull county, Ohio, at Mecca. In Pennsylvania oil was found at Smith's Eerry, 
•on the Ohio river, in Beaver county, and the hill region lying in the angle formed by Oil creek and the Allegheny 
river from Tidioute across to Titusville was explored and several localities of great richness were opened up. 

Henry, in Early and Later History of Petroleum, pages 109 and 110, says: 

The total daily product of all the •svella in June, lti60, ■was estimated at 200 barrels. By September, 1861, the daily production had 
reached 700 barrels, and then commenced the flo'vping-'well period, ■with an addition to the production of 6,000 or 7,000 barrels a day. The 
price fell to 20 cents a barrel, then to 15, and then to 10. Soon it -was impossible to obtain barrels on any terms, for all the coopers in the 
surrounding country could not make them as fast as the Empire well could fill them. Small producing 'wells were forced to cease 
operations, and scores of operators became disheartened and abandoned their ■wells. The production during the early part of 186.3 ■was 
scarcely half that of the beginning of 1862, and that of 1864 -was still less. In May, 1865, the production had declined to less than 4,000 
barrels per day. 

Commencing at Titusville in 1859, the tide of development swept over the valley of Oil creek and along the Allegheny river above 
.and below Oil City for a considerable distance ; then Cherry run, in 1864. Then came Pithole creek, Benninghoff and Pioneer run ; the 
Woods and Stevenson farms, on Oil creek, in like succession, in 1865 and 1866 ; Tidioute and Triumph hill in 1867, and in the latter part 
■of the same year came Shamburg. In 1868 the Pleasantville oil-iield furnished the chief center of excitemeni. 

While this great activity was being displayed in Pennsylvania, the old salt and petroleum region in the valley 
•of the Muskingum, in Ohio, and on the Little Kanawha, in West Virginia, was bored for petroleum, and several 
wells of great productiveness were obtaioed. In 1860 an old brine well at Burning Springs, West Virginia, that 
had yielded petroleum, was cleaned out, the water tubed off, and about fifty barrels of oil per day secured. In the 
following winter the Llewellyn well was struck at about the depth of 100 feet, and it flowed over 1,000 barrels a 
<lay. Several other good wells were secured, when, during a confederate raid, the property was destroyed and the 
operators were driven away. In 1864 operations were resumed, deeper wells producing a large amount of oil, and 
speculation and excitement ran to a high pitch. In 1865 operations were successfully undertaken at White Oak, 
which resulted in developing the most extensive and best known West Virginia territory. From 1860 to 1865 wells 
were successfully drilled on Cow run and at other localities in Washington county, Ohio. 

For more than a century bitumen had been known in southern California between Santa Barbara and Los 
Angeles, and had also been observed floating upon the sea in the Santa Barbara channel between the islands and the 
mainland. Early in 1864 this region was visited by an eminent eastern chemist, who was so far misled by false local 
representations and by gross deceptions practiced upon him as to induce him to make a report upon this as a petroleum - 
producing region of great richness. This report, and others of a similar character, led to the formation of mining 
companies representing stock to the value of millions of dollars, all of which, it is needless to add, was lost to the 
■bona fide investors. Several hundred thousand dollars were spent in boring wells, but few of them produced 
sufficient petroleum even to serve as a specimen, and none, so far as I am informed, paid the cost of boring. A 
few years of effort found the companies with depleted treasuries and no oil, and with a large amount of land and 
apparatus on their hands. On one estate 5,000 barrels in shooks, shipped from New York, were rotting down in a 
huge pile before a drop of petroleum had been obtained from beneath its surface. While these magnificent enterprises 
were becoming magnificent failures, more humble efforts were achieving a measure of success in driving tunnels 
into the steep mountain sides upon the petroleum-bearing rock. The total production of this region, however, never 
reached above a few thousand barrels of inferior quality per year, and the San Francisco market continued to be 
supplied almost exclusively with Pennsylvania petroleum shipped around cape Horn, (a) 

From 1870 to 1880 the region between Tidioute and Oil creek has constantly become relatively of less importance 
when compared with the entire area of producing territory in Pennsylvania. At the beginning of this decade the 
production of this region had considerably lessened, and a number of new and very successful wells farther down 
the Allegheny river were attracting attention in that direction. Wells had been put down near the junction of the 
Clarion and Allegheny rivers as early as 1863 and 1864, but very little notice had been taken of them at the 
time; and it was not until 1868 that a successful well on the hill above Parker's lauding attracted the attention 
■of the bolder operators and led to the development of what is termed the "lower country", lying in Butler, 
Armstrong, and Clarion counties. In 1867 Mr. C. D. Angell had developed a very productive oil property on 
Belle island, in the Allegheny river, 25 miles below Oil City. While carrying forward his work he was busily 
investigating the occurrence of petroleum by studying the relative position of the most productive wells. He had 
observed in the " upper country " that a narrow belt extending across from Scrubgrass, on the Allegheny river, to 
Petroleum Center, on Oil creek, included many of the best wells in that region. In the "lower country" he 

a Advices from the Pacific coast indicate that during the years 1880 and 1881 a petroleum interest that promises some local value has 
ibeen developed in a portion of the state further north than that here referred to. 



THE NATURAL HISTORY OF PETROLEUM. 13 

projected a similar belt, lying in a direction nearly parallel with the first, and extending from Saint Petersburg, 
in Clarion county, through Parker's landing, to Bear creek, in Butler county. A glance at the map (III) 
accompanying this report will show how Angell's so-called "belt theory" corresponded to the facts as shown by 
subsequent developments. As is usually the case, the majority of operators scoffed, while a few listened, and, after 
listening, weut to work. The results have shown that the oil rock lies in belts or in long and narrow areas, having a 
general northeast and southwest extension, often not more than 30 rods in width, but several miles in length; that 
the sand rock is thickest and most productive along the axis of the belt, thinning out toward its borders, the npper 
surface being level and the under surface curved upward from the center ; that the present configuration of the 
surface has no relation to the form, extent, or direction of the "belt". These facts established, and their successful 
application abundantly demonstrated by the remarkable success attending Angell's operations, have given a certain 
degreo of accuracy to the development of oil territory that it never possessed before. On the other hand, they 
have led to very exaggerated views, some enthusiasts affirming their belief that the line of north 16° east, upon 
which Angell achieved his first success, governed the direction and extent of territory containing oil from Canada 
to Tennessee. I shall again refer to the facts upon which Angell's theory is based in my chapter on the " Origin 
of Bitumens", (a) 

Angell kept his own counsel at first, and obtained a suflticient number of leases on favorable terms to insure 
his financial success ; but the plan upon which he worked became apparent from the character of his operations, 
and others followed, or attempted to follow, his example, and wells were drilled across the country to the southwest 
of Parker's landing into Butler county, and often miles in advance of any territory hitherto proved profitable, 
until a tract was more or less clearly outlined about five miles in breadth and thirtj'-five miles in length, the 
principal axis of which lay in the general direction north 22° east. Other less extended belts lying generally 
parallel to this will be noticed by glancing at the map (III). 

During the early years of this decade, when Angell's eflbrts and sagacity were being rewarded in the lower 
country with success in a most substantial form, other operators struck out from the "upper country" of Oil 
creek in a general northeast direction, some on a line north 10° east, others north 224° east, and others on still 
other lines, often traced over the forest-covered hills of that region with a compass, and located their wells in the 
expectation of finding other sandbars of the ancient sea from which the oil would rush to the surface. They 
finally reached the town of Bradford, in McKean county, a locality which some thought could never produce oil. 

It was not the first attempt at well-drilling that obtained oil in the neighborhood of Bradford. In 1802 the 
old Bradford well, since known as the Barnsdall well, was drilled to a depth of 200 feet with a spring-pole and 
then abandoned. In 1866 the citizens of the village of Bradford concluded to club together and sink the Barnsdall 
well deeper, and it was drilled to a total depth of 875 feet, or to within 150 feet of the Bradford producing saud. 
In 1865 F. E. Dean and brothers drilled a well in the valley of Tuna creek, on the Shepherd farm, near the present 
site of Custer City, 160 feet of drive-pipe being used, and the hole being drilled to 900 feet, but it was abandoned 
when over 200 feet above the top of the oil-sand. 

The next well was drilled by the Dean brothers on the Clark farm, at Tarport, and drilling was stopped at a 
depth of 605 feet, or over 400 feet above the top of the oil-sand. All of these wells were drilled with the expectation 
of finding the Venango county oil-sand at about the .same depth below water-level as at Oil City, but they were all 
failures. 

The first well sunk to the Bradford sand was drilled by Mr. James E. Butts and others, under the name of 
the Foster Oil Comjiany, on the Gilbert farm, 2 miles northeast of Bradford. " Slush oil " was found at a depth 
of 751 feet, and in November, 1871, producing sand was struck at 1,110 feet. The daily production was 10 barrels, 
and from the time this well was struck to December, 1874, no wells were drilled to ainonnt to anything. On 
December 6, 1874, Messrs. Butts and Foster struck the oil-sand on the Archy Buchanan farm, 2^ miles northeast 
of Bradford. This well started oft' with a daily production of 70 barrels, and was really the first that attracted 
attention to the possibility of finding a profitable oil district in the county. In December, 1878, four years from the 
completion of the Butts well, the average daily jiroductiou of crude oil was 23,700 barrels, or about four-sevenths 
of the total daily production of the state of Pennsylvania, while in December, 1880, two years later, and six years 
from the completion of the first well, out of a total average daily production for the Pennsylvania oil- fields of 72,214 
barrels, 63,000 barrels were yielded by the Bradford field alone. 

During the year 1879 there were 475 wells drilled to the Venango sands in the counties of Warren, Venango, 
Clarion, and Butler. Of this number 122 were dry holes, orprodiTced no oil, being 25.7 per cent. 

In the Bradford or northern district there were during the same year 2,536 wells drilled to the Bradford oil- 
sand, of which number but 76 were dry holes, or only 3 per cent., being nearly 23 per cent, less than in the 
Venango or western district. 

The average daily production for the first month of the wells drilled in the Bradford sand was about 20 barrels, 
while for the wells in the Venango sands it did not attain that amount. Some of the wells drilled to the Venango 
third-oil sand have produced from 2,000 to 3,000 barrels of oil per day, while the largest well ever found in the 

a See page 70. 



14 PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 

Bradford district has not exceeded as many hundred. The largest individual wells have been located in the western 
district ; the largest average wells in the northern district. Since the beginning of the year 1875, when the Bradford 
oil horizon was discovered, there have been 6,249 wells drilled in the district, of which 236 were dry holes, or 3.77 per 
cent. From the most authentic statistics which I can gather in the western district, about one-fourth of the wells 
that have been drilled in the Venango sands, since their discovery in 1859, have proved dry. When we take these 
facts into consideration, we can readily understand why there should have been 2,536 wells drilled in the northern 
district to only 475 in the western in 1879. {a) 

During 1880, as undrilled territory became more scarce in the Bradford field, what are termed "wild-cat" or 
test wells were drilled both to the northeast and to the southwest of Bradford, and the result has determined two 
areas, one near the city of Warren, and another around Stoneham, both in Warren county, Pennsylvania. To 
the northeast an area not yet outlined has been determined around Eichburg, Cattaraugus county, New York. 

Forty-five years ago M. 0. Bead, esq., now of Hudson, Ohio, lived in Mecca, on the east side of Mosquito creek. 
It had been observed for a long time that petroleum gushed out when stones were removed from their places along 
the bank of the creek, and as it frequently appeared in wells it was considered a nuisance. In the spring of 1860, 
when there was great excitement in eastern Ohio over the oil in Pennsylvania, Mr. Bead mentioned to some persons 
what he knew about the oil-springs in Mecca, and it was only a few days thereafter before property was being 
leased in that place on a royalty of from one-tenth to one-quarter, and in a year all available property on the west 
side of the creek and some on the east side had been taken up. 

Wells were bored rapidly, yielding from 10 to 20 barrels, and in some cases were so near together that one sucked 
air from the other when pumped. Thousands of barrels of oil were taken out yearly for a few years, when a large 
part of the wells became exhausted, many of them were abandoned, and the excitement subsided. In 1864 it was 
renewed for a short time, and Pennsylvania parties bought up all the land on the east side of the creek and obtained 
a few good wells, but they soon failed. Since that time a few persons have been engaged in drilling new wells and 
pumping the old ones, for the most part spending what they got on good wells in drilling others which produced 
nothing. In the opinion of those best qualified to j udge, Mecca oil operations have netted nothing, or more probably 
have resulted in a loss. The operators now make a living, all money earned over and above being spent in putting 
down new wells. 

Near Power's Corners there was in early times an old shaft which tradition credited as the work of a prehistoric 
race. Such an origin is not probable. 

At Belden, in Lorain county, Ohio, it is reported that one Eeuben Ingersoll sunk a well for salt in 1818 or 1819 
on the Boot farm, but so much oil came witli the brine that the well was soon abandoned. The Oil for a long time 
was skimmed off and sold as a medicine. Many years afterward, in sinking a hole for the post for a flood-gate to 
a mill, petroleum appeared at the bottom, and occasionally it appeared in other excavations. 

It is claimed that the first well was bored here for oil in 1858, but on what authority I do not know. It is said 
to have been bored 500 feet deep by a Mr. Harper and to have struck oil at 50 feet. In 1860 a Mr. Gardener sunk 
Harper's well to 1,200 feet and abandoned it. 

Other wells were put down soon after, and one of them — the old Crittenden well — in 1862 pumped by hand, 
wind-mill, and steam-power 65 barrels. A few wells at Liverpool have a similar history. 

A Mr. Thoms in 1850 gathered oil from holes dug in the sand on a bar of the Ohio river near the mouth of 
Little Beaver creek, Beaver county. The first well was the Fenton well, drilled in 1860, close to the mouth of Dry 
run. This well was 170 feet deep, and yielded 14 or 15 barrels of heavy lubricating oil. They then went down 
along the river 575 feet and on Island run 600 feet, and reached a fine, close sand. Some wells were carried down 
1,100 or 1,200 feet to the second sand, yielding a little oil. Wells in this section have never been drilled 1,500 to 
1,600 feet to the third sand. This territory is between three and four miles square. Some oil has also been 
obtained at Beaver creek and Bochester, in the same county ; but the principal development in this section is 
confined to a small territory immediately north of Smith's ferry, and has occurred since 1878. 

Section 6.— HISTOEICAL NOTICE OP THE EUSSIAN PETEOLEUM INDUSTEY. 

There are five foreign oil-fields that have attracted attention and that have produced more or less oil in 
commercially valuable quantities. They are the region of the Caucasus, Galicia, Canada, Japan, and Peru. Of 
these, the first mentioned is altogether the most important so far as present information indicates. Next may be 
placed Canada ; but as regards the relative importance of the others it would be diiBcult to decide. 

The Eussian fields lie in two districts, one at either extremity of the Caucasus. The western, on the Black sea, 
is the Kouban, on a river of the same name; the eastern is the Baku district, on the peninsula of Apscheron, 
extending into the Caspian sea, and on which the city of Baku stands. 

The Kouban district is situated on the northwestern slope of mount Oshten, which is the most western peak of 
the Caucasus, 9,000 feet in height. Its area is about 250 square miles. Operations were commenced here in 1864 

o I am indebted for the major i^ortion of this statemeut in reference to tlie Bradford field to tveo papers by Charles A. Ashburner, 
esq. — the first read at the Baltimore meeting of the American Institute of Mining Engineers, February, 1879 ; the second read hefore the 
American Philosophical Society, March 5, 1880. P. A. P. S., xviii, 419; T. A. I. M. E., 1879; P. A. P. S., 1880. 



THE NATURAL HISTORY OF PETROLEUM. 15 

by the Eussiau colouei Novosiltsoff, who had a monopoly of the petroleum iudustry of that region for more than 
twelve years. He sunk his first well at Peklo, near the coast of the Black sea, and after many borings, with varying 
success, in different parts of the district, he became so heavily involved that to save him from bankruptcy the 
government placed the petroleum interests under a curatorship. 

From these exploitations of varying depth, large quantities of excellent petroleum of specific gravity from 38° 
to 48° Baum6 have been obtained. 

The most remarkable -well was obtained at Kandako in 1866. At a depth of only 40 feet from 10 to 12 barrels of oil per day were 
yielded. At a depth of 123i feet the first flow of oil appeared and yielded 125 barrels of oil per day, throwing it 14 feet high. The well 
was mismanaged and choked, and when finally reopened and sunk to 182 feet, a flow of oil rose to 40 feet high, and gave 250 barrels per 
day. It was again choked .and finally deepened to 242 feet, when the oil again flowed with great power and violence, yielding several 
thousand barrels per day, and continued its sijontaneous action for eighteen months, (a) 

This management came to an end in 1877, on the breaking out of the last Eusso-Turkish war, when the whole 
district of the Kouban was abandoned. In 1879 the larger portion of the district, amounting to 1,500,000 acres, 
was leased to Dr. H. W. C. Tweddle, with private estates amounting to 90,000 acres additional. During the years 
1879 and 1880 great activity has prevailed in preparation for an extensive development of oil with all of the appliances 
in use in Pennsylvania for obtaining, handling, and refining petroleum. 

Concerning the history of petroleum production at Baku, Consul Dyer wrote, on August 10, 1880, as follows : 

From time immemorial oil has been known to exist at Baku, and for generations the natives have taken it for greasing their vehicles, 
preparing skins for wine, etc., and for use in the southern countries for embalming the dead, and even in some cases for illuminating 
purposes. Their wants were, however, small, and the surface production was suiiicient. 

The wells were rather receptacles for the surface oil than otherwise, as they were simply holes dug a few feet deei) in the earth. 

From the time of the Russian occupation of the country in 1723 down to 1825 this industry remained almost neglected. From 1813 
something was done, but nothing of importance, and the total revenue to the government arising from it was less than $40,000 per year. 
From time to time private persons took the privilege, and at times the crown worked them to some extent. The price charged for the oil 
was as high as 4 rubles per pood, and thus the industry was destroyed. (6) 

It was about 1332 that the industry began to assume anything like business proportions ; but even then it was managed so badly 
that it remained very insignificant. A few wells were dug (as wells for water are dug), and the government even refused permission for 
an enterprising lessee to work with any kind of boring tools, the ofincer replying that such things had been tried, but that they had not 
succeeded, and consequently could not be tried again at Baku. 

In 1850 the government gave a monopoly and limited the selling price of crude oil to 45 kopecks the pood, and received the sum of 
200,000 rubles for the privilege. This monopoly was farmed out every four years to the best • • * bidder. In 1868 a commission was 
formed to take into consideration the industry. In 1872, in pursuance of i*s recommendations, the territory upon which there were surface 
indications was divided into plats of 25 acres each, and sold to the highest bidder by sealed proposals. By this time the field had attracted * 
much attention, and the parcels were dispose* of in some instances for enormous prices. In most cases, purchases were made by persons 
who had not the means to work their possessions, nor the experience had they possessed the capital. They, however, held on to their 
lands, and capital and experience were thus kept away, and the iudustry was worked in the most crude and unsatisfactory manner. 

The product of the refineries was so bad, and the market so small, that there was not energy enough engaged to bring on a crisis in the 
industry. The government had placed an excise tax, which, under the circumstances, was unbearable, and for a time previous to 1878 the 
operators were upon the verge of ruin. No work was done except to fill contracts previously made. At Nishni-Novgorod there was in store 
more than one and a half millions of poods, almost 200,000 barrels, unsold, and the price had gone down from 3.50 to 1.30 rubles per pood. 
The government then removed the excise tax, and now there remains ouly a small tax collected by the town of Baku. 

The real birth of the industry may be said to be the year 1872, when the lands passed into private hands. There have been since that 
time great but insufficient energy and activity displayed. The operators have no relations with each other. • » » 

Many sniiiU owners, for want of means to work their property, have been obliged to sell, and some capitalists have entered simply as 
refiners, buying the crude oil for that purpose. Some of these refineries have grown to large proportions, and the principal ones are now 
making such improvements and changes as to make them first-class establishments, capable of enormous and thorough work. 

He states further, as follows : 

The territory now worked does not exceed six square miles. The principal field is at Balaxame, 9| miles northeast of Baku, 
covering a territory of, say, 3+ by li miles. Two miles south of Baku is a small field at Bebeabat, on which there are some 25 wells. 
This is a very small territory, say three-fourths of a mile square. Ten miles southeast from Baku is an island. It is certain that oil exists 
there, but in what quantities is uot known. Within a radius of 50 miles there are constant surface indications, and even some small wells. 

In 1850 there were in all 136 wells. In 1862 there were 220, and in 1872 there were 415. These were wells dug as water wells are. 
In 1871 the first well was hored. In 1872 there was 1 ; in 1874, 50 ; in 1876, 101 ; in 1879, 301 bored wells in the district. The other wells 
had entirely ce.ased to be worked. During the year 1879, and so far in 1880 (August), there has been very much work done, but the exact 
figures are not attainable. The business is in a most confused condition now, in consequence of the changes that are being made. Many 
new wells have been commenced, and a very large number of those previously worked are being drilled deeper. If the figures given may 
be relied upon, that is, 301 wells up to 1879, it may now, perhaps, be said that on the 1st of July, 1880, about 500 wells had been 
commenced. Many of them are not completed, and some have been abandoned. 

I have purposely omitted reference to the more or less highly colored accounts of the Baku " field of fire" 
and the "Per.sian fire-worshipers and their temples". The "field of fire" is described by Gruner (c) "as a broad 
expanse filled with fissures, from some of which inflammable gas escapes, and from others naphtha". Another 
speaks of it as a " wonderful sight ; of greeu fields and waving corn, in the midst of which the removal of a foot or 
two of earth will reveal a jet of gas that will raise an enormous blaze if set on fire", (d) 

o Consular Reports No. 1, October, 1880. cAnn. Oe'nie Civil, iv, 845. 

b Ruble, $0.56; pood, 36 pounds. d Churchill, British consul to Resht, Persia. 



16 PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 

Section 7.— HISTOEICAL NOTICE OP THE PETROLEUM INDUSTEY OP GALICIA. 

The petroleum fields of Wallachia, Moldavia, and Galicia lie upou tlie southern, eastern, and northern flanks 
of the mountain system that incloses Hungary from Eussia and the plains of the Danube. This system embraces 
the Transylvanian Alps, the Siebenblirgen, and the Carpathians. 

Oil springs have flowed in this region from time immemorial, and the oil has been collected and used by the 
inhabitants of the country and devoted to many of the rude and uncultivated wants of a people remote from the 
centers of civilization. In 1810 Josef Hecker and Johann Mitis obtained petroleum in Drohobycz district, and made a. 
trial of the distilled and crude oil, which was obtained from dug wells and afterward treated in stills ; but having worn 
out their still in ISIS, their works were closed. In 1840, in the Stanislow district, there were 75 dug wells and & 
establishments for the manufacture of wagon-grease. In 1853-'64 Schreiner boiled down petroleum and made a 
very superior article of grease, and his successor condensed the distillate and used it for illuminating purposes. 
The industry since that time, although conducted in a small way, had steadily increased until 1860-65. {a) 

Since 1860 a great deal has been written on the Galician oil-fields, and several spasmodic attempts have been 
made to find remunerative employment for capital in their development. This was especially the case in 1865, when 
the expansion of the production of Pennsylvania led to so many enterprises of a more or less experimental nature 
all over the world. 

There are three localities particularly noted for their petroleum product. These are the neighborhood of 
Sandecer, in west Galiciaij that of Bobrka, near Dukla, Sanoker, and Samborer, in middle Galicia; and Boryslav, in 
east Galicia. The latter locality is also celebrated for its production of ozokerite. The localities in Eoumania that 
are now principally associated with petroleum are Sarrata, Bacan, Dimbovitsa, Prahova-, Burzen, Moniezta, Plojezti, 
and Baikoi. 

The oil was originally collected, as in other localities, from the water of the springs, Avith which it flowed from 
the crevices in rocks. It was afterward obtained from wells or shafts that were dug, and in Galicia and Eoumania 
it is at present obtained in that primitive manner. Later the shafts were connected by galleries, forming what are 
called " complex mines" (complex Gruben) in Galicia. 

The exploitations for oil at Mraznica consist of about 70 shafts in the upper part of the valley of Tiesmienka,, 
the lowest row of shafts lying on both sides of the declivity of the Bachspiegels, with a second and a third row above 
them. They consist of the "old" complex mines, consisting of about 40 shafts, and the "new" complex mines, 
consisting of about 30 shafts. The older "complex mine" is going on 12 years old, having originated when the oil 
fever agitated Galicia. The first shafts were sunk by a Jewish company near an oil-spring to a depth of 100 meters 
(328 feet) with very satisfactory results, in consequence of which, and in order to control the production, they 
sunk many other shafts in the immediate neighborhood as soon as possible, and thus copied the Boryslav method of 
operation in the most destructive manner. The consequence was that they finally obtained from about 40 shafts 
the same quantity of oil that they could have had from 10 exjiloitations. A second oil-level, not yet reached, is 
supposed to exist, but the shafts have only penetrated 100 to 150 meters (328 to 492 feet). The largest yield from 
a single shaft is said to have amounted to 40 barrels of crude oil per week. Through ten years the most of the 
shafts have had an average flow of about 4 barrels per week ; yet a single shaft is said to have yielded a net profit 
of 200,000 gulden ($100,000), and has yielded petroleum for ten years up to 1878. 

After a period of ten years the yield of oil decreased to such an extent that the enterprise became 
unprofitable. This caused the projector of the Jewish enterprise to attach the new " Gruben complex", consisting 
of 30 new-dug shafts, v.'hich likewise lay near each other in a compact mass, to the immediate upper half of the 
old shafts. In ISTovember, 1878, these shafts were sunk 20 to 50 meters (65 to 164 feet) ; yet they yielded no traces 
of petroleum particularly worthy of note. The extensive development of gas of the "old complex" was also 
entirely wanting. This failure is explained by assuming that the new shafts happened to lie within the circle 
already exhausted by the "old com2)lex". Hence the petroleum industry in Mraznica must come to an end ; yet, 
toward the close of 1S7S, 5 shafts still yielded about 14 barrels weekly. The long duration of the flow from these 
shafts is remarkable (ten years), while other springs in Galicia only flow an average of five years. (&) 

Mraznica is in east Galicia. The facts set forth by Herr Walter explain why Consul-General Weaver reports 
December 30, 1880, that, of the yearly product of 100,000 barrels, produced in Galicia, two-thirds are at present 
obtained in west Galicia, in the vicinity of Grybow, where, during the census year, Mr. James Corrigan succeeded 
in establishing an American refinery. In a letter dated October 9, ISSl, Mr. Corrigan states that a new well, yielding 
75 barrels daily, had been struck at Slaboda, near the boundary of Bukowina (east Galicia), and that consequently 
great excitement prevailed. 



a Ost. Zeit. f. Berg- und Hiitten'n'esen. 

i> Abstract of a portion of an article by Bruno Walter on " The chances of a petroleum production in Bukowina". J. K. K. G. K.;^ 
£, 115 (1880). • 



THE NATURAL HISTORY OF PETROLEUM. 17 

Section 8.-H1ST0EICAL NOTICE OF THE PETEOLEUM I2fDUSTET OF CAlfADA. 

The productive oil -fields of Canada lie in the county of Lambertou, in the western part of the province of 
Ontario, and principally in the township of Enniskillen. From the earliest settlement of the region "a dark oily 
substance had been observed floating ou the surface of the water in the creeks and swamps. No matter how deep 
the wells were dug, the water was brackish and ill-smelling, and in some localities totally unfit for use ; while a 
surface of black, oily slime frequently arose an inch thick, as cream rises on new milk. Here and there iu the 
forest the ground consisted of a gummy, odoriferous tar-colored mud, of the consistence of putty. These places 
wore known by the uame of 'gum-beds', and iu two or three instances were of considerable extent". (Henry's 
IJarly and Later History of Petroleum, p. 130.) 

Operations were commenced there as early as 1857 by one Shaw, who dug an ordinary well, as for water, and 
after .several days of digging struck a tremendous flow of oil, which ran in a stream into the creek. The usual 
phenomena attending such a discovery followed; land was bought and leased, more wells were dug, and oil flowed ; 
they gathered what they could and wasted the remainder; fortunes were made and lost, and after a time, iu 1864, 
the town of Oil Springs contained 3,000 inhabitants. 

Flowing wells were struck here in 1862, and some of them proved the most prolific on record, rivaling those of 
the region around Baku. These great wells were exceptional, and the average yield has been comparatively small. 
The region over which borings have proved the existence of oil in paying quantities is about 50 miles north and 
south by 100 miles east and west, and within this range Petrolia, Bothwell, and Oil Springs have produced nearly all 
of the oil. The latter had the largest wells, though the former now produces more than nine-tenths of the amount 
at present obtained. Petrolia is about 16 miles southeast of the outlet of lake Huron, Oil Springs 7 miles south of 
Petrolia, and Bothwell about 35 miles from Oil Springs. 

The petroleum of Canada contains sulphur and is difficult to refine, but its production has been fostered, and 
it supplies a large demand throughout the British provinces. 

Section 9.— HISTOEICAL NOTICE OF THE JAPANESE PETEOLEUM INDUSTEY. 
The knowledge of rock-oil in Japan is of great antiquity. In B. S. Lyman's reports (1877) appears the following: 

It is said in tlie Japanese history called Kokushiriyaku (I am told) that rock-oil (or "burning water") was found in Echigo (in 
Niphon) in the reigu of Tenjitenno, which was 1,260 years ago, or about A. D. 615; and that was probably at Kusddzu, where there are 
very old natural exposures as well as dug wells. The name of the place, Kus6dzu, is the name given in the country to rock-oil, and 
means stinking water ; and the very fact that the word is by contraction so much changed from its original form, Kusai midra, shows of 
Itself considerable antiquity. 

In the MiyOhflji and Kus6dzu oil region there are (beside a much larger number of old, abandoned wells) about 178 productive wells, 
which altogether yield alx)ut 4 J barrels a day, making an average of about 1 gallon a day for each well. The best well is at Machikata, 
and yields about half a barrel a day. The best of the former wells was at Ritakata, and for fourteen days (in 1871) it yielded a daily 
average of 19 barrels, but after that only about 8 barrels a day. The deepest productive well of the region is 122 fathoms deep. 

Reviewing all the Echigo oil-fields, we find that there are in all 522 productive wells, of which the deepest is 122 fathoms (732 feet) 
deep, the greatest yield is about 1.2 barrels a day, and the total yield about 26 barrels a day, giving an average of about 2 gallons a day 
for each well. Such a yield, if kept up through the whole year, summer and winter, would amount for all the wells together to 9,500 
barrels a year, worth, at 12 gallons to the dollar, $31,650. 

At Shinano, on the ether hand, the yield is far smaller. There are in that province, in spite of the numerous traces of oil and gas, 
only 22 productive wells, of which the deepest is 57 fathoms (342 feet) deep, and the best has a yield of 2^ barrels a day ; and the total 
yield is a little over 5 barrels a day, or an average of 9^ gallons a day to each well ; or, in a year, 1,900 barrels altogether, worth 
about $6,250. 

The whole yield of the two provinces, then, is about equal to that of two average Pennsylvania oil-wells. Yet two or three cases 
have occurred in Echigo of a yield of 15 to 19 barrels a day for a few days when the wells were new. At Miy6h6ji they talk of having 
had a profit of $70,000 to $80,000 from a single well ; and the general estimate of the yield of that field has been high. 

Such was Mr. Lyman's (geologist of Japan) estimate of the product of the most fruitful oil-fields of Japan in 
September, 1876. Many other localities have been explored for petroleum with similar results ; but the introduction 
of American refined oil at present prices has nearly destroyed the domestic trade, and has completely arrested the 
production. 

In the very elaborate report made by Consul-General Van Buren in 1880 no mention is made of any domestic 
production of petroleum, although Consul Stahel, of Hiogo, shows that the imports of American refined petroleum 
into Japan have increased from about 1,000,000 gallons in 1872 to nearly 18,000,000 gallons in 1880. Hiogo has 
been one of the most importaut centers of the native petroleum trade, it having had a refinery. 

Section 10.— HISTOEICAL NOTICE OF THE PEEUVIAN PETEOLEUM INDUSTEY. 

Previous to the outbreak of the war between Chili and Peru the prospect of a large development of petroleum 
in Peru was very flattering. The following statement of operations there has been widely coi)ied, but I cannot 
vouch for its accuracy, as I have not been able to veiify it : 

Mr. Prentice, the Pennsylvania oil operator, in 1867, paid Peru a visit. A well was put down near Zorritos. At the depth of 146 feet 
a volcanic formation was reached by the drill, and oil was found. The well pumped 60 barrels a day. A second well was put down. Oil 
was reached at a depth of 220 feet. The yield rapidlv declined from 12 barrels to 7 barrels a day. Mr. Prentice was satisfied that the 
VOL. IX 2 



18 PEODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 

region would prove productive, but he held his own counsel. In 1876 he succeeded in securing the control of the entire estate for the 
purpose of producing oil. In that year the second well mentioned above was drilled to the depth of nearly 500 feet. The tools struck a 
vein of oil-bearing sandstone, and immediately sank 10 feet. This was the first finding of the sandstone. The strike was followed by a 
column of oil that filled the 6-inch casing and was thrown 70 feet in the air. In attempting to control the great flow by inserting tubing 
in the well the inexperienced employfe let the tubing drop to the bottom. The side caved in soon afterward and stopped the flow. The 
well is still plugged. Mr. Prentice says its capacity will be 1,000 barrels a day. Another well of his near the above has been in use for 
three years. It has never yet been torpedoed or recupped. It yields 600 barrels a day. Mr. Prentice's experiments have proved that the 
deeper the wells are sunk the larger the yield is. At 600 feet he declares that a well in his Peruvian regions will pump 5,000 barrels a day. 
Back in the mountains some of his men have struck a vein of petroleum by merely digging a pit 28 feet deep. Several of these pits have 
been dug. Oil accumulates in them in paying quantities. Mr. Prentice has a refinery at Zorritos. Its capacity is 200 barrels ; this he is 
now enlarging. There were shipped from the Pennsylvania oil regions in 1870, 1,085,615 gallons of oil to Peru, Chili, and Ecuador. Refined 
oil brings 25 cents a gallon in Peru and its neighboring states. 

^ I have been informed that since the outbreak of the war nothing has been done in reference to this industry. 

Section 11.— HISTOEICAL NOTICE OF THE ITALIAN AND OTHEE PETROLEUM INDUSTEIES. 

I am indebted to Professor P. E. DeEerrari, C. E., of Genoa, for the following statement concerning the 
petroleum interests of Italy. His letter was dated Iglesias, Sardinia, December 22, 1881, and in it he says : 

There are in Italy two large districts with petroleum-bearing strata : one in the north, on the southern borders of the Po valley ; the 
other in the south of Italy. Unfortunately, in spite of extensive workings and a considerable amount of money employed in searching 
for mineral oil, no satisfactory result was obtained. 

The chief localities where petroleum and its allied products are met with are — Po valley : Rivanazzano, province of Voghera ; Riglio, 
province of Piacenza ; Miano, in the Caro valley of Parma ; Sapuolo, in the Secchia valley of Modena. South Italy : San Giovanni 
Incarico of Caserta ; Coco, in the Pesoara vallej' of Chieti. 

In the first district the oil is of a very good quality, very pure, largely diffused in the rook, but occurs in strata chiefly of clay and 
argillaceous sand, which, because of their little permeability, do not permit the free exit of the oil when wells are dug in the ground. The 
geological range of the strata is the Miocene and Pliocene jjeriods. Some geologists believe that below the above-mentioned strata there 
may be other strata which would yield large quantities of petroleum when pierced through with wells. It must be stated that these 
strata have not been found, even in those places where borings of 250 and even 400 meters have been opened (820 to 1,312 feet). 

Six different societies have worked the petroleum springs of North Italy from the year 1866 to 1874, but without success. Several 
wells reached the depth of 200 meters (656 feet), but no large veins of petroleum were met with, and the works were abandoned. In the 
valley of Pescara, South Italy, there are also petroleum springs, with bituminous products. At Coco borings of great depth have 
shown the existence of some oil veins, but of little importance. At San Giovanni Incarico several veins of some hundred liters every 
twenty-four hours were found, but they have no industrial importance. Lately an Italian and French society, with large capital, and 
Canadian workman and machinery, explored the ground at Rivanazzano and at Coco. They opened four wells 200 meters deep in the 
north ; one 400 meters in the south (Coco) ; but the working was given up for deficiency of money. The whole product of petroleum in 
Italy does not exceed 300 tons a year, and it is chiefly collected in large and shallow wells by the country people, and used on the spot. 
No machinery worth mentioning, but small pumps, are used, and in most places the work is done simply by hand. 

At Sapuolo and Salsomaggiori the gas which comes from crevices in the ground is collected and burned for industrial purposes. 
In the south of Italy bituminous clay is distilled and petroleum condensed in small quantity. The annnal importation of petroleum into 
Italy is 50,000 tons, and its value is 14,500,000 francs. 

This letter states the condition of the petroleum industry as related to modern methods of exploitation, and 
prices as governed by the enormous supply furnished at present by the United States; but petroleum has long 
been known in the valley of the Po, and many of its smaller towns have been lighted by it. The exceptionally fine 
quality of the petroleum of that region made it possible to use it without refining. 

The earliest mention of petroleum from this region is by Frangois Arioste, who cured men and animals afflicted 
with itch with petroleum which he had discovered in 1460 at Mont-Libio, in the duchy of Modena. (a) Agricola 
also mentions it in the middle of the sixteenth century. (&) 

Many other localities will be enumerated in the succeeding chapter as furnishing petroleum, but those 
mentioned are the only ones that have furnished petroleum to the commerce of civilized nations. 

The historical development of the petroleum industry may be summed up as follows: In many regions, and for 
immemorial periods, petroleum gathered from natural springs and dug wells has been used in medicine, and in a 
rude way as an illuminating agent. In China artesian wells have been bored for brine and for natural gas, and 
the latter was used to boil brine for centuries before the Christian era. In the United States artesian borings 
made for brine had furnished petroleum in enormous quantities thirty or forty years before any use was known for 
snch a supply. The development of the coal-oil industry between 1850 and 1860 led to experiments upon petroleum 
as a substitute for the crude oil obtained from coal, and with the success of those experiments (1859) came a demand 
for petroleum that led to Drake's attempt to procure the oil directly by boring. 

The success attending the oil industry in Pennsylvania during the first four years of its existence led to the 
organization of companies all over the world for the purpose of drilling test- wells wherever springs of petroleum 
were accessible. In some localities they were successful; in others only partially so; while in the majority of 
instances they were failures, or were found inferior to the primitive dug wells. The continuously increasing and 
enormous production of the United States, and the consequent depreciation in value of all the products manufactured 
from petroleum, has led to the almost complete control of that trade by American manufacturers, Galicia and the 
Caucasus at the present time being their only competitors, and they only to quite a limited extent. 

a His book was published in 1690 by Jacob Oliger; Comptea-Sendiis, ix, 217. b Comptes-Sendus, ix, 217. 



THE NATURAL HISTORY OF PETROLEUM. 1'9 



Chaptee IL— the GEOGEAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF PETROLEUM AND 
OTHER FORMS OF BITUMEN. 



Section 1.— THE OCCUEEENCE OF BITUMEN IN THE UNITED STATES. 

The following chapter has been prepared for the purpose of showing the localities upon the earth's surface at 
which bitumen occurs, and great care has been taken to secure the most accurate information regarding the United 
States. For this purpose letters of inquiry have been addressed to the state geologists of all the states with 
which I am uot persoually acquainted, and to the geologist in charge of the geological survey of the United States. • 
To these official sources of information has been added a large amount of personal inquiry and correspondence. 

The map of the world (I) has been prepared to show the location of the areas producing bitumen. These areas 
are unavoidably exaggerated in size, and many localities of minor importance are omitted. 

The map of the United States (II) shows the localities within the United States that have produced bitumen 
of any kind. Many of these areas are also unavoidably exaggerated in size. 

The large map (III) shows the ai-eas in Pennsylvania and New York that have proved commercially valuable. 
This map has been prepared from actual surveys, many of which were undertaken expressly for parties engaged 
in producing oil. The areas tinted yellow are believed to be substantially correct as regards both location and 
outlines. The streams were plotted with every attention to accuracy, and are believed to indicate the water-shed and 
lines of greatest elevation. The dates beneath the names of towns indicate the period at which the locality was 
yielding its maximum production. The red lines indicate the main pipe lines, and the broken blue lines indicate in 
a general way the outline of territory over which wells or natural springs have yielded petroleum or gas, but in 
most instances not a sufficient amount of petroleum to be profitable. 

Map IV represents the areas at tbe White Oak district, West Virginia, drawn from actual surveys. 

Map V shows the location of oil-wells in the valley of the Cumberland river in Kentucky and Tennessee, drawn 
from actual surveys. 

Map VI represents in a general manner the localities in southern Ohio, West Virginia, and Kentucky that have 
produced bitumen. 

Map VII represents in a general manner the localities in Louisiana and Texas that have produced bitumen. 

Map VIII represents the localities in Michigan and Canada that have produced bitumen. 

STATES AND TERRITORIES FROM WHICH NO BITUMEN HAS BEEN REPORTED. 

Maine. Maryland. Mississippi. Montana. 

New Hampshire. Virginia. Arkansas. Idaho. 

Vermont. North Carolina. Iowa. Washington. 

Massachusetts. South Carolina, Wisconsin. Oregon. 

Ehode Island. Georgia. Minnesota. Nevada. 
Delaware. 

.STATES -tND TERRITORIES IN WHICH SOLID BITUMENS OCCUR. 

Connecticut. — In the valley of the Connecticut river solid bitumens have been observed filling thin seams 
and veins in eruptive rocks, (a) 

New York. — In the eastern portion of the state, in the region of eruptive and metamorphic rocks, veins occur 
similar to those reported from Connecticut, (b) In some of the cavities of the New York limestones the crystals 
which Hue them are covered with a substance, black and sMuing, with the fracture and appearance of anthracite. 

New Jersey. — Veins are reported in the trap of New Jersey filled with a bituminous mineral, (c) 

West Virginia. — In Eitchie county, West Virginia, on McFarland's run, a small tributary of the south fork 
of Hughes' river, which enters the Little Kanawha, is found a vein of bituminous material, called asphaltum, 
whifh is without doubt closely related to petroleum and other forms of bitumen, but in precisely what manner 
has been a subject of much controversy. This vein cuts the nearly horizontal sandstone almost at right angles 
and stands vertical to the horizon. Very extensive mining operations were commenced upon the vein, but the 
mass was soon worked down to the lower level of the sandstones, and was found to pinch out in the shales 
beneath. It presented all of the appearances of an eruptive mass. The material was found to be exceedingly 

o J. C. Percival on "Indurated Bitumen", Geol. of Conn., A. J. S. (3), xvi, 130. 
6 L. C. Beck, A. J. S. (1), xlv, 335. 
c J. C. Russell, A. J. S. (3), xvi, 112. 



20 PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 

valuable for enriching gas, for which it was chiefly used ; but a thickness of several hundred feet of shale, in which 
it was almost entirely wanting, prevented continuous working. Other smaller but otherwise similar veins occur in 
the neighborhood, (a) 

Texas. — Near the mouth of the Brazos river and in other parts of Texas beds of asphaltum occur, evidently 
resulting from the decomposition of petroleum ; but so far as I have been able to learn they have no commercial value. 

New Mexico and Arizona. — In these territories beds of asphaltum are reported. They have no other than 
a local value. 

Utah. — In this territory, in the Sani^ete valley, southeast of Salt lake, is said to be a deposit containing 
ozokerite similar to that found in Galicia. Also on the banks of the Green river veins are said to occur resembling 
the grahamite found in West Virginia. Although I have seen specimens which were said to have come from both 
of these localities, I have never met any detailed description of them. Neither deposit has yet any commercial 
value. 

Califoenia. — This state includes a large area which furnishes asphaltum, much the larger proportion being 
the product of the decomposition of petroleum, while the remainder occurs in veins that are evidently eruptive, (&) 
the former occurring in beds of greater or less extent on hillsides or gulch slopes below springs of more fluid bitumen. 
These deposits are scattered over the country between the bay of Monterey and San Diego, but are chiefly observed 
west and south of the coast ranges between Santa Barbara and the Soledad pass. In the aggregate there are 
thousands of tons of asphaltum scattered over this region of every possible degree of purity ; but it is so difficult 
to handle, and so little is concentrated in one place, that little use has thus far been made of it. 

The case is quite different, however, with the deposit at Hill's ranch, on the coast above Santa Barbara. 
Here eruptive masses that have been very fully described by Professor J. D. Whitney and myself (see note b] 
occur in such quantity that it has been obtained in cargoes for use in San Francisco. The asphaltum of this locality 
is solid and homogeneous in appearance, but it really contains 50 per cent, of sand, so fine and in such complete 
admixture as to make the material superior for pavement to any artificial mixture that can be produced. I have 
never been able to obtain even an approximate estimate of the quantity that this locality has furnished. 

Kentucky. — Asphaltum is reported in Johnson county, on the tributaries of the Big Sandy river. I have never 
seen any of this asphalt, but I am inclined to think it is also more closely related to the gum beds of Canada, 
above mentioned. 

Tennessee. — ^Asphaltum is reported in cavities and prisms in the Trenton limestone in middle Tennessee in 
small veins rarely an inch in thickness. The amount is insignificant. 

Othee localities. — Asphaltum is also reported from other localities, in Missouri and Kentucky, but I have 
never seen any of the material, and from all that I have been able to learn regarding the deposits they resemble 
the so-called gum beds of Canada, which really consist of a mass of mud or soil saturated with petroleum, rather 
than of pure and solid asphaltum. Such mixtures of oil and mud are often met around oil-wells in any of the 
productive districts where the waste oil has soaked the ground about the derricks. 

STATES AND TEREITOEIES IN WHICH SEMI-SOLID BITUMEN (MALTHA) OCCURS. 

This material issues from so-called tar-springs, and is found almost or quite exclusively within the southwestern 
portion of the country. I have seen but a single specimen from one of the interior counties of Texas. A letter of 
inquiry, addressed to the secretary of state of Texas, was referred to Mr. N. A. Taylor, who replied : 

The tar-springs in Burnet county discbarge a good deal of petroleum. Tlie wagoners gather it to grease their tvagon wheels. It 
is prohable that borings there would geb a good supply of oil. It appears on the surface of nearly all the springs at Sour lake. In days 
past it has evidently exuded from the ground at that place in great quantity, for there are some acres just below the lake almost 
completely covered with the consolidated stuff, or asphalt, the thickness of which I don't recollect, but no doubt it is very thick in some 
places. An attempt was made there to bore for the oil, but after penetrating the ground to some distance a great explosion occurred, 
and the fellow was afraid to try it again. I think some borings have also been made in Nacogdoches county. There is also a small lake 
in Marion county, where oil covers the water, and where there is also a good deal of asphalt. These counties are in northeast Texas. 
Burnet county is in the southern central portion of the state. 

These tar-springs, which yield a semi-fluid maltha, are often called oil or petroleum springs by those who do 
not understand the difference in the value of these different although in some respects similar substances. 

In New Mexico, not far from Albuquerque, tar-springs are reported; also in Arizona and southern Utah; but 
the exact localities I have been unable to learn or verify. 

In southern California, throughout the same region in which asphalt is found, maltha occurs in great abundance, 
oozing from springs on the hillsides and in the beds of water-courses in canons, and after exposure to the elements 
becoming hardened into asphaltum. In consistence it passes by insensible gradations from a material scarcely to 
be distinguished from heavy petroleum to solid asphalt. It varies in specific gravity from 0.9906 to i.lOO, the heavier 
material, though heavier than water, still remaining i>lastic like mortar. Springs near the old stage-road between 

a Lesley, J. P., P. A. P. S., ix. 183; A. J. S. (2), xU, 139 ; H. Wurtz : Report, 1865 ; S. F. Peckham, A. J. S. (2), xlviii, 362, Nov.. 1869; 
A. G. J., xi, 164. 

6 J. D. Whitney : Geology of California. Geology, I, 132 ; S. F. Peckham, A. J. S. (2), xlviii, 368. 



THE NATURAL HISTORY OF PETROLEUM. 21 

the Gaviota pass and the old missiou of San Miguel (if my memory is correct) yield a quicksand cemented by 
maltha that oozes out and accumulates in great masses upon the side of the hill, becoming rigid as the maltha 
changes to asphalt. At Rincou point, about half way from Santa Barbara to San Buenaventura, a bed of sand 
overlying the shales, which there stand at a high angle, is saturated with maltha for about 20 feet in thickness over 
many hundreds of acres. The formation is exposed in the ocean bluff for at least a mile. Fig. 1 shows the manner 
in which the sand overlies the shale. («) 

Early in 1S6G, when trial-borings for petroleum were being conducted upon the San Francisco ranch, in the 
Santa Clara valley, Ventura county, maltha was found at a depth of 117 feet too dense to pump and without 
sufficient tenacity to admit of being drawn up with grappling hooks, yet sufficiently firm to clasp the tools and 
prevent furtber operations. On the plains northwest of Los Angeles an artesian boring that penetrated sandstones 
interstratified with shale to a depth of 460 feet yielded maltha. 

In this region there are vast quantities of this matei ial, which has not hitherto been found valuable, but which 
will no doubt at some future day be found useful in the arts. (6) 

Maltha is also reported at the Shoshone springs, in Wyoming territory, and in cavities in the limestones of 
middle Tennessee. In the latter locality it occurs in small quantities, and has no commercial value. 

STATES AND TERRITORIES IN WHICH LIQUID OR GASEOUS BITUMEN OCCURS. 

Xew Toek. — In 1S65 Jonathan Watson drilled a well in Ontario county, 5 miles east of Canandaigua lake, 
and found there a good oil-rock, plenty of gas, and a production of about 5 barrels of oil daily. A line drawn from 
this point west to lake Erie, and another south to the Pennsylvania line, would include all of the territory in the 
state of jl!few York over which oil or gas has been obtained by boring (see map III), and along the shores of lake 
Erie, from the state line to Buftalo, at almost any point natural gas may be obtained from artesian borings. Fredonia, 
in Chautauqua county, a few miles south of Dunkirk, has been lighted by natural gas for more than forty years. 

A great many wells have been bored along the lake shore and for some distance inland, and at a number of 
localities in Chautauqua and Erie counties they are reported to have produced small quantities of oil. In the 
southeastern portion of Chautauqua county, and that portion of Cattaraugus county north and west of Salamanca, 
the indications of a productive oil territory become more pronounced, but I have not been able to learn definitely 
that any wells in that region have yielded oil enough to pay their cost. The larger number of these wells were 
drilled many years ago, and detailed statements concerning their exact locality and the results afforded by them 
are now very difBcult to obtain. 

South and east of Salamanca the Bradford oil-field of Pennsylvania extends into New York, and has proved a 
very certain and valuable territory. The statements that are made in this report respecting the Bradford field 
apply equally to that portion lying in Xew York and in Pennsylvania. The field in New York lies south of the 
Allegheny river. (See map III.) 

The next county east of Cattaraugus is Allegany, and at Cuba, in the southwestern part of that county, is the 
oil-spring described in 1833 by Professor Benjamin Silliman, sr. (c) Through the southern townships of this county 
the Kichburg field has been recently opened with much promise. A few wells have been drilled in the southwestern 
part of Steuben county, but with what promise of commercial success has not yet been determined. 

The weUs in this region are from 1,600 to 2,000 feet in depth ; the oil is of a dark amber color and of a specific 
gravity of 4A° Baum6, very closely resembling that of the Bradford field. 

Pennsylvania. — A number of test wells have been drilled in the western part of Potter county, Pennsylvania, 
contiguous to Allegany county, New York, and some are reported to have yielded oil in small quantity, but most of 
them are understood to have been entirely unproductive. 

The next county west is McKean county, and the greater portion of the Bradford field occupies that portion of 
the county embraced in about one-half the townships lying west and north of Smethport. As may be seen from 
the map (III) accompanying this report, the outline is irregular, with a smaU but detached portion lying to the 
southwest of the main body. This field has been developed since 1874, and while it has been very completely outlined 
by dry holes and wells of small production, there are many wells in dtfiferent portions of the county outside the 
field that have yielded more or less oil. At Smethport a well yielded a "small quantity" of very dense amber- 
colored oil, while at Kane, in the southwestern part of the county, on the Pittsburgh and Erie railroad, is one of the 
most remarkable gas- wells on record, {d) The wells here are from 1,600 to 2,000 feet deep. 

The next county west of McKean is Warren, and in it there are two well-defined productive fields of small 
extent. These are the Warren field, lying around the town of Warren, and the Clarendon and Stoneham field, 
lying to the south a short distance, yet entirely distinct from the former. These fields yield an amber oil of a 
specific gravity of 48° Baum^. The wells are from 800 to 1,100 feet deep. 

o Report cf Geological Surrey of California : Geology, II. Appendix, p. 51, Fig. 2. 
b S. F. Peckham, A. J. S. (2), xlviii, 370; Am. C, iv, 6. 
c A. J. S., (1) xxiii, 97. 

d C. A. Ashbnruer, J. F. L, cviii, 347 ; P. A. P. S.,xviii, 9, 419 ; T. A. I. M. E., 1879, 1878, 316 ; A. J. S. (3), xvi, 393, xvii, 69, xix, 168; 
J. F. Carl), P. A. P. S., xvi, 346. 



22 PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 

In the central, southern, "and southwestern portions of "Warren county, from Tidioute, on the Allegheny river, 
southwest into Venango county, the territory known as Triumph hill was opened in 1868. Some weUs were bored in 
1860 by the Economites in the river opposite Tidioute, and later upon the high land on the south side of the river. 
But this territory is small. On the north and west side of the river (which makes a bend just below Tidioute) a 
narrow belt of territory that has been very productive extends across the hills into Venango county. Northwest of 
this belt, in the southwestern corner of the county, a small territory around Enterprise proved very productive. 
Other noted localities in this section are Fagundus, southeast of Tidioute, and New London and Colorado, southwest 
of the same pla«e. 

The wells in the Warren and Stoneham fields are in a horizon which lies in depth between the Bradford and 
Venango county fields. Those on the island in the Allegheny river, first drilled by the Economites in 1860, were 
120 feet deep ; on the hills they are from 560 to 570 feet deep. The oil produced here is dark green by reflected 
light and of the color of brandy by transmitted light, resembling in this respect the oil of the so-called Oil creek. 
At Sheffield, in the southeastern part of this county, is another remarkable gas-well. 

Erie and Crawford counties lie west of Warren county, and have both been pretty well drilled over. At 
Erie, on the lake shore, a number of gas-wells has for many years furnished gas to dwellings and manufacturing 
establishments, and a few wells sunk 600 to 700 feet in the shale have yielded a few barrels of heavy green oil, 
suitable for lubricating machinery. The most successful of these wells (the Demming) did not, so far as I could 
learn, pay the cost of drilling. The oil has a specific gravity of 26° Baum^. At Union City, in the southeastern 
part of Erie county, wells have also been drilled in shale which yielded a small quantity of very dense oil for a very 
long time. The first well was drilled in 1859, soon after Drake struck oil, to a depth of 52 feet, and has yielded a 
small quantity of oil ever since. Several other wells have been drilled here, but none of them, so far as I could 
learn, have ever proved profitable. 

Mr. J. P. Stranahan, of Union, informed me that he and his brothers dug out an oil spring thirty-five years 
ago at Oxbow hill, a few miles northeast of Union, and that it had flowed oil ever since. The boys set the gas 
from the spring on fire and boiled eggs in the flame. 

In 1879 a well was drilled 2 J miles west of Union, that struck oil in "paying quantities" at 18 feet. In going 
deeper to get more oil the well was spoiled, and was afterward abandoned; but I conclude that at better prices Erie 
county can be made to produce a considerable amount of heavy oil. At Girard and other points near the lake 
shore gaswells are productive. 

Crawford county, excepting in the southeast corner, along the valley of Oil creek, has about the same record 
as Erie county. Along the valley of French creek and its tributaries, above and below Meadville, many wells have 
been bored, some of which produced oil, but none in quantities that proved remunerative. 

Titusville is near the line of Venango county, in the southern part of Crawford county, and north of Titusville 
is Church run, a locality that for a time proved very productive. This neighborhood has yielded oil from the 
date of Drake's well (1859) up to the present time. Drake's well was 69^ feet deep, and penetrated only to the 
first stratum of sandstone yielding oil ; but after the wells were drilled deeper a second and a third sandstone 
were reached, and a much greater yield was obtained. The valley of Oil creek has been drilled all over, and nearly 
everywhere south from Church run it has proved productive. The portion, however, that lies in Crawford county 
is comparatively small. 

South of Crawford county lie Mercer and Venango counties. Mercer county has been well drilled over with 
test wells, particularly the eastern portion, but without developing any territory of value. Venango county has 
proved one of the four most productive counties in the state, and if complete statistics from 1859 were to be had it 
would probably head the list. Oil creek enters near the middle of its northern boundary and runs a little east of 
south until it enters the Allegheny river near the center of the county, at Oil City. The Allegheny river enters 
the county near the middle of its eastern boundary, receives Oil creek at Oil City, and, fiowing southwest, receives 
French creek at Franklin, from which point it flows southeast, and leaves the county at its southeast corner. The 
valley of Oil creek, the triangle between that creek and the Allegheny river, and the region below Franklin, on 
the same river, is crossed at intervals by long and narrow belts of territory, often from an eighth to a quarter of a 
mile wide and several miles in length, which have produced and are still producing oil in enormous quantities. 
These belts occuijy long troughs or depressions, level on their upper surface, and curved upward from the center 
on the under surface from side to side. In a few instances the productive territories have been found to resemble 
pools in their outline and dimensions, but the major portion of this whole county is crossed by a great number ot 
these belts which have yielded enormously productive wells in the center and less productive ones on parallel lines 
along the sides, until at a distance in some instances of 20 rods on either side the drill failed to reveal the presence 
of either sand or oil. The oil of this section has been quite uniform in character, excepting that ijroduced in the 
neighborhood of Franklin, a small territory in the angle formed by French creek and the Allegheny river. In 
color it is for the most part green, although a considerable quantity has been obtained that is decidedly black. 
The specific gravity has varied from 42° to 48° Baume. 



THE NATURAL HISTORY OF PETROLEUM. 23 

The Franklin district has furnished a lubricating oil of very superior quality from shallow wells. These wells 
are almost all in Cherrytree township, Venango county; but a few are in Franklin on the high bluffs south of 
the city. 

Forest county lies east of Venango county. Here several belts extend from one into the other, and several 
independent areas of small extent have been developed within its limits. West Hickory, Foxburg, and Balltown 
have been the principal centers, but the county, on the whole, has not proved to be very important for oil 
production. 

The next county east is Elk, but as an oil-field is of less importance than Forest. A few wells have been 
drilled in its northwest corner, and others in the neighborhood of Wilcox have produced oil; but the production, 
as a whole, is unimportant. Near Wilcox is a noted gas-well. 

Jeflerson county, lying south of both Elk and Forest, has received some attention, but is without reputation. 
I have not learned that any of the wells reported to have been drilled there have yielded oil; they certainly have 
not in valuable quantity. 

A glance at map III, accompanying this report, will show a large belt of oil territory having a general northeast 
and southwest direction lying in Clarion, Armstrong, and Butler counties. This belt begins in the southwest 
corner of Clarion county, passes through the northern part of Armstrong county, and extends nearly to the center of 
Butler county. The wells are from 900 to 1,300 feet in depth, becoming deeper as they approach the southwest 
extremity of the belt. This belt has been exceedingly productive throughout its entire area, and furnished the 
bulk of the oil production of Pennsylvania from 1869 to 1877. Small areas in each of the three counties have been 
developed outside the principal belt that have yielded in the aggregate a large amount of oil, but their importance 
has been so overshadowed by the main Butler and Clarion fields that they have been but little noticed. At Petrolia, 
in Armstrong county, gas-wells have jiroved very productive, and at Leechburg, on the Kiskiminitas, this gas has 
been used for manufacturing iron. 

In the lower part of Armstrong county petroleum was obtained in 1839 in salt-wells, and was used for derrick 
lights. 

West of Butler county, in Lawrence county, many wells have been drilled, with varying success. In the 
southeast corner of this county, on Slippery Rock creek, a belt has been developed that has been moderately 
prolific ; but outside of this small area the county may be said to possess but little value for oil purposes. 

South of Lawrence county, in Beaver county, a very valuable field has been opened up in the neighborhood of 
Smith's Ferry, on the north side of the Ohio river. This territory is between 3 and 4 miles square, and the oil is 
uniformly different from that produced in other portions of Pennsylvania and the adjoining states of Ohio and 
West Virginia. Being of a light amber color, resembling pale sherry wine, though not transparenl:, and having 
a specific gravity of 50° Baumt?, it will burn in a lamp in hot weather without refining. This oil is much more 
valuable than the average of Pennsylvania oils. 

Allegheny county lies east of Beaver, and near its center is the city of Pittsburgh. Along the Allegheny river 
above Pittsburgh, particularly near Tarentum, in the northeast part of the county, petroleum has been observed 
for 40 or 50 years, and it was here that Mr. Kier obtained the first oil that he refined at Pittsburgh. This county 
has never been regarded as valuable for oil purposes. 

Oil suitable for lubrication has been obtained at Greensburg, in Westmoreland county, and many wells have been 
drilled in Washington county; but the production of oil has been practically nothing. In the southeast corner of 
Greene county, which is the southwest county of the state, an area on Dunkard's creek has produced a few thousand 
barrels yearly for several years, but the territory is small, and has been comparatively unimportant. 

Ohio and West Virginia. — There are three localities in Ohio that have yielded petroleum from an early date. 
These are the neighborhood of Mecca, in Trumbull county, the neighborhood of Beldeu, in Lorain county, and 
Washington coauty. 

Mecca is near the center of Trumbull county, which lies directly west of Mercer county, Pennsylvania. The oil 
produced here is from shallow wells, less than 100 feet in depth, is of a specific gi-avity of 26° Baum^, and of very 
superior quality as a lubricator. The territory is about 4 miles in length, north and south, by 2i miles wide, and 
lies upon the west bank of Mosquito creek, with the village of Power's Corners near its center. Large sums of 
money have been expended in boring for oil in the valley of the Cuyahoga, where there are numerous springs; but 
none of the wells proved profitable, although a small quantity of oil was obtained in nearly aU of them. 

The Belden district, in the southeast part of Lorain county, is of about the same dimensions (4 by 2J miles), 
but lies with its longer axis east and west. Several varieties of oil are produced here from wells of different depths. 
The more dense is black, and has a specific gravity of from 26° to 28° Baumd, while the lighter is green, and has a 
specific gravity of from 28° to 36° Baume. It is supposed that this territory is larger than present developments 
would indicate, as wells have produced oil at Liverpool and at Medina, in Medina county, both of which are several 
miles east and southeast of Belden. 

In the southeast portion of Columbiana county, a short distance west of the Smith's Ferry district, in 
Pennsylvania, many wells have yielded in the aggregate quite a large quantity of petroleum, although, as compared 
with other localities, the yield is unimportant. 



24 PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 

The Washington county district extends into Noble, Morgan, and Athens counties, and for the most part lies 
in the valley of the Muskingum and its tributaries. Petroleum -was obtained here in brine wells as early as 1814, 
and was noticed by Dr. Hildreth, of Marietta, in 1833, and again in 1836. («) 

The white oak anticlinal, or so-called " oil-break" of West Virginia, extends from Newell's run, a tributary of 
the Little Muskingum river, in Newport township,Washington county, Ohio, to Eoane county, West Virginia, passing 
through Pleasants, Eitcliie, Wood, and Wirt counties, of the latter state, reaching its highest point at Sand Hill, 
where the axis crosses Walker's creek, the rocks here being raised about 1,500 feet above their normal level. The 
crest is about one mile wide from side to side (east to west), in which the rocks are practically level, the stratification 
being as uniform as in the rocks outside of the anticlinal ; but along its axis it is not level, forming there 
undulations, in which the whole depth of the formation shares. This brings the entire series in three elevations: 
the first one north at Horse Neck, in Pleasants county; the second at White Oak, in Wood county; and the 
third at Burning Springs, in Eitchie county. Oil is found under these three elevations, and consequently there 
are in West Virginia three contiguous districts that yield oil. (h) A few wells have yielded oil at the northern 
extremity of the uplift on Newell's run, in Ohio. 

The territory of" Cow run" is situated in Lawrence township, Washington county, Ohio, about 3 miles west 
of the northern extremity of the white oak anticlinal. Here the rocks for about three-quarters of a mile square are 
raised 350 feet above their normal level, di])ping off gradually on all sides. 

The Macksburg territory is of limited extent, and is situated in Aurelius township, in the extreme northern 
part of Washington county. 

At Olive, in Noble county, where the brine well of 1814 was located, petroleum has been obtained, and also in 
the Scioto valley, but not in paying quantities. (See Map VI.) 

At Blue Eock, southeast of Zanesville, in Muskingum county. Buck run, in Morgan county, and Federal creek, 
in Athens county, a few wells have proved profitable. At Eutland, near Pomeroy, in Meigs county, near Gallipolis, 
in Gallia county, and on Tug fork of the Big Sandy river, in Wayne county. West Virginia, oil-springs have been 
observed. These localities lie in an almost direct line from Blue Eock to Tug fork, and are supposed to indicate a 
line along which wells will ultimately prove profitable. 

There are several horizons in this region lying at different depths that yield oil of different specific gravities. 
The facts relating to this subject will be elucidated in Chapter III. (c) 

Along the lake shore, at Ashtabula, Painesville, Cleveland, Eocky river, and other localities, gas-wells have 
yielded profitable supplies for heating and lighting dwellings, (d) At Liverpool, Columbiana county, Ohio, and 
across the river, at New Cumberland, Hancock county, West Virginia, gas-wells have yielded very large amounts 
for a long time, (e) the gas from which is used for lighting dwellings and factories and for the manufacture of 
lampblack. In Knox county some of the most remarkable gas- wells on record have been discovered in boring for 
oil. This gas is also used for the manufacture of lampblack. A further description of these wells will be given in 
the chapter devoted to natural gas. (/) At Burning Springs, Eitchie county, West Virginia, the escape of natural 
gas was noticed by the earliest settlers, {g) 

At the salines, in the valley of the Great Kanawha, above and below Charleston, petroleum has been observed 
for at least fifty years, and for a time the natural gas which arose with the brine in nearly all of the wells was 
largely used for evaporating purposes; but while the aggregate production of this locality has no doubt been many 
thousands of barrels, it was for the most part obtained before petroleum became an article of large demand, and 
much of it was doubtless wasted. (See Map VI.) 

Kentucky and Tennessee. — The oil and burning springs that mark the line from Blue Eock, in Ohio, to the 
Tug fork of the Sandy river, in West Virginia, is continued in outcrops on Paint creek, Johnson county, Kentucky. 
This creek is a tributary of the west fork of the Big Sandy, and has been described by J. P. Lesley in his report 
published in 1865. (h) Springs are also met with near Saylersville, in Magotfin county. In Lincoln, Eockcastle, 
Pulaski, Casey, Green, Adair, Eussell, and Metcalfe counties oil-springs are found, and oil-wells have been drilled at 
different times. Some of these wells in Lincoln and Casey counties are old salt-wells, drilled fifty or sixty years 
ago ; others are oil-wells drilled during the excitement of 1865 and 1878. The oil sand in Lincoln county lies at a 
depth of about 300 feet. A number of wells have been drilled in this county in the neighborhood of Stanford, all 
of which are reported to have reached oil, but the wells have not been piped or pumped, and none of the oil has 
been put upon the market. In Wayne county the oldest well in the country is still flowing oil. It was drilled for 
brine on the little south fork of the Cumberland river, in the southeast corner of the county, in 1818. The oil is heavy, 
black lubricating oil. Wells have been drilled near Monticello since 1865 that yield a heavy oil of a dark-green color, 
specific gravity 25° Baum6, that has a high reputation as a lubricator. ' In Clinton county oil was obtained in 1866 ; in 
Cumberland county the old American well was bored for brine in 1829 and flowed oil till 1860 ; and in 1865 a large number 
of wells were drilled along the Cumberland river and the creeks flowing into it, and they probably gave the most 

a A. J. S. (1), xxiv, 63 ; xxix, 87. d J. S. Newljcrry, Geo. Ohio, i, 161. 

b See sections, Plates III and IV. e Hid., in, 118. 

c For many of the facts stated in this report respecting this / Geo. Ohio, 44. 

region I am indebted to F. W. Minshall, esq., of Parkers- g S. P. Hildreth, A. J. S. (1), xxix, 87, 121. 

burg, West Virginia. A P. A. P. S., x, 33. 



THE NATURAL HISTORY OF PETROLEUM. ^25 

certain and largest yield of oil that has ever been obtained for the same cost in any locality. At the same time, 
probably a larger proportion of the oil produced was wasted than has been the case anywhere else in the United 
States, as it is supposed that 50,000 barrels from the American well ran down the Cumberland river before any 
attempt was made to save it. The oil near Burkesville, Cumberland county, has a peculiar, offensive odor and a 
specific gravity of 37° Baume. Amber oil of a lower specific gravity was obtained from other wells in small quantity, 
and a larger amount was yielded by wells on Oil fork of Bear creek (east of Burkesville), which was of a black color, 
with a specific gravity of 26° Baum6. The oil here appears to be in a sort of marble at 90, 190, and 380 feet from 
the surface. . .^_.- 

On Boyd's creek, near Glasgow, Barren county, Kentucky, oil has been obtained for several years in 
commercial quantities, the wells being in the bed of the creek and on the adjoining hills. A few thousand barrels 
per year are obtained here. Wells have also reached oil on Beaver creek north of Glasgow. A well is also 
reported to have yielded "considerable quantities" of oil near Bowling Green, Warren county, and another near 
the Mammoth cave, in Edmonson county. (See Map V.) 

Directly north of these counties, on the Ohio river, wells have reached oil at Brandensburg, in Meade county, 
at a depth of 9*00 feet ; but those who drilled them afterward concluded that they were not deep enough. Three 
wells were also drilled near Cloverport, which yielded a small quantity of oil. Another well is reported in Bourbon 
county, and still another at Henderson, in Henderson county. This latter well is reported to have yielded a very 
valuable lubricating oil. Over at least one-third of the state scattering wells have yielded petroleum, some of 
which have been among the most remarkable in the country. 

Springs of natural gas are common throughout the region just outlined ; but I have not learned that the gas 
is anywiiere used for any purpose, or that more than one well has ever been bored for gas, that at Bristow 
station, Warren county. Cumberland, Clinton, and Wayne counties, Kentucky, border Clay and Fentress counties, 
Tennessee, which, with Overton, Jackson, and Putnam counties, are drained by the east and west forks of Obey's 
river and other smaller tributaries, with Eagle and Spring creeks, all of which are tributaries of the Cumberland 
river. Many oil springs are found in the valleys of these streams, and during 1S67, 1868, and 1877 a number of 
wells were bored, almost uniformly producing oil, the larger part of which ran to waste for want of means of 
transportation. Trousdale, Macon, and Sumner counties, lying west of Jackson county and north of Nashville, 
also have oil-springs along some of their streams. To the west of Nashville about 40 miles another group of 
counties has oil-springs in the valleys of their streams, the principal field of operations being in Dickson county. 
Several wells drilled here from lS66-'69 to 1877 to a depth of between 400 and 600 feet yielded oil of a specific 
gravity of 44° Baume. 

In Hickman, Montgomery, and Maury counties there are springs, from one of whicb oil has been oozing since 
1830, when it was opened by blasting for the foundation of a mill. 

During the year 1863-'64 McMinnville, in Warren county, was the center of some activity in exploring for oil. 
A well sunk about forty years before for brine was sunk deeper for stronger brine. Oil flowed upon the creek, 
which took fire and destroyed the forests for 10 miles along its banks. Mr. M. C. Read visited this region in 1804, 
and found the agents of a Chicago company putting down five or six wells. These were located by witch-hazel 
men, at $500 each, to be paid when they struck oil. Mr. Bead asserted that there were several bottomless pits of 
petroleum beneath an intensely hard, cherty limestone, very difficult to drill. The company spent the first 
assessment before they got through that stratum, when, the price of oU falling, they pulled out their tools and left. 
Cannon county, adjoining Warren county on the west, has been examined during the last season and many springs 
of heavy oil have been discovered. Oil has also been reported in a well near Chattanooga. The counties that I 
have enumerated cover about one-sixth the area of the state. (See Map V.) 

Alabama. — Jonathan Watson, esq., of Titusville, Pennsylvania, drilled wells in northern Alabama in 1865 
and got oil in two of them. 

Florida. — It is reported to me that there are no petroleum springs in Florida. A. A. Eobinson, commissioner 
of the board of immigration, Tallahassee, Florida, in a letter, says : 

There is in the midst of an impenetrable cypress swamp near the coast, in Jefferson county, and about 35 miles southeast of 
Tallahassee, a mysterious column of black smoke, which has been rising for twenty years. At night it emits light, fitful and irregular, 
frequently lighting the sky so as to be seen miles away at sea. It is supposed to be a petroleum spring on fire. Much time, money, and 
enterprise has been expended to explore the swamp. Xo one has ever succeeded. It must be petroleum or a volcanic eruption. Some 
data may be found on the subject in the records of the United States coast survey. 

Michigan. — Oil and gas springs have been noticed on and near the shores of lake Huron and the entrance to 
the Saint Clair river. They are situated in several townships of Saint Clair county, not far from the city of Port 
Huron. A number of wells were bored near these springs in 1865, but none of the enterprises proved remunerative. 
(See Map VIII.) 

Illinois. — A well was bored at Chicago in 1865 that passed through strata that yielded petroleum both near 
the surface and at considerable depths, (a) The well was drilled for water. Recently a well has been reported as 
having been drilled in Montgomery county, a little north of east of Saint Louis, which yields a very heavy black 
oil, valuable as a lubricator. 

a A. J. S. (2), xl, 388. 



26 PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 

Indiana. — Wells drilled for water at Terre Haute in 1870-'71 showed petroleum, and afterward a well drilled 
purposely for oil yielded 25 barrels a day of a heavy green oil. In Crawford county, *' during the oil excitement " 
from 1864 to 1868, ten wells were bored, and almost every one yielded " a show " of oil ; but in no case could a yield 
of more than a pint a day be heard of, and in some cases only a few oily drops upon the surface of thousands of 
Ijarrels of water were found. 

The oil-supply rocks of this vicinity are so limited that there is hardly a possibility of striking a paying well, 
and some of the white-sulphur fountains now running from wells bored for oil are more valuable than any oil-well 
possible in the county. More than 20 oil-springs have been noted in this county, (a) B. T. Cox, in the Geological 
Survey of Indiana for 1872, page 139, says: 

Curing the great oil excitement of 1865-'66 quite a number of -w^ells were drilled in the northern part of this (Perry) county, on the 
-waters of Anderson and Oil creeks. These wells were generally carried to a depth of 700 feet, and in one or two of them was found a little 
•oil and gas. Though it is extremely doubtful if oil in pa.ying quantities can be found in the county, still I do not believe that these wells 
were carried to a sufficient depth to reach the comiferous and Niagara limestones, from whence the oil is obtained in the Terre Haute well. 

Perry county joins Crawford county on its eastern border, and also contains oil-springs. In Lawrence county 
indications of petroleum have also been noted. Perry and Crawford counties, Indiana, are north of •and opposite 
Breckinridge and Meade counties, Kentucky. 

Missouri. — Some wells were drilled in this state about 1865-'68. A letter from Professor G. C. Swallow says : 
A well was sunk on Mr. Boyd's land in Sec. 21, T. 33, E. 33, Barton county, 130 feet, without obtaining any considerable quantity 
of oil. Another well was sunk in Sec. 35, T. 34, K. 32, to the depth of 525 feet, principally in sandstone and shale ; very little oil was 
found. In Barton and Bates counties oil often rises on the water of many springs in small quantities. In La Fayette county a well was 
sunk to a depth of some 600 feet through sandstone, shale, coal, and limestone. Very little oil was found, and none was saved. It 
appeared on the surface in a sandstone, and this led to the work upon the well. Another well was sunk in Kay county, from which small 
quantities were obtained. In Kay county oil often rises with the spring water and consolidates into asphaltum ; in fact, there is no 
prospect of ever finding any oil in paying quantities in Missouri; though it comes to the surface in springs in hundreds of places in the 
region of the coal measures. 

Eay and La Payette counties are on either side of the Missouri river near the western boundary of the state; 
Bates and Barton counties are farther south, and are drained by the tributaries of the Osage river. Oil-springs 
are also reported in Cass county, north of Bates, 

ELiNSAS. — Miami county, Kansas, is west of Bates county, Missouri, and is also drained by the tributaries oi 
the Osage river. Oil and tar springs abound in this county, and oil was obtained in the salt-wells at Osawatomie, 
Paola, and other places. I» 1860 a well was bored 275 feet defep on Sec. 15, T. 17, E. 23, and " they got oil all the 
way down". It is supposed it would yield one barrel a day. Another well was bored in 1865 on Sec. 11, T. 17, E. 
24. Oil-springs are also reported in Linn county. The oils are all black and heavy, and are fit only for lubrication, (b) 

fjOiTisiANA — In the low lands bordering on the Calcasieu a^d Sabine rivers there are numerous springs of 
petroleum, (c) (See Map YII.) 

Nebraska. — In a communication to S. P. Peckham from Professor Samuel Aughey appears the following : 

No petroleum springs, as such, are known in Nebraska. No wells have been drilled purposely for oil. In boring for coal at Ponca, 
Dixon county, a small amount of oil rose to the surface from a depth of 370 feet. I obtained only about a spoonful by saturating woolen 
•cloths. Don't amount to anything. The same traces of oil have been obtained this season in boring for coal at Decatur, Burt county. I 
have observed genuine petroleum floating in the north Platte river above the mouth of Willow creek, in extreme western Nebraska. Thus 
far 1 have failed in my efforts to trace it to its source. 

Dixon and Burt counties are on the west bank of the Missouri river, in northeast Nebraska. 

Montana, Wyoming, Dakota, Colorado, and New Mexico. — A letter addressed to the director of the 
United States geological survey, July 6, 1881, in which inquiries were made regarding the occurrence of petroleum 
in the territories, was referred to the different geologists in charge of those regions, and in reference to those 
named above S. P. Emmons replied as follows : 

Certain horizons of the cretaceous sandstones in the Eocky mountain region are more or less impregnated with hydrocarbons, and 
when sufficiently and systematically examined will be very likely, in favored" localities, to yield merchantable petroleum in considerable 
amount, if the conditions are such as to make it pay. As yet, however, but little has been done, and the returns of my experts, who were 
instructed to report on any petroleum wells that they could hear of, contain no schedules on this industry. The only information I can 
give you, therefore, is of the most general description. * « * Actual springs of petroleum I have not seen, though I have occasionally 
heard of a little oil on the surface of water. Considerable thickness of sandstones was observed by me on the southern slopes of the Uinta 
mountains, notably in Ashley creek basin, which were black with carbonaceous matter. The weathered surfaces, however, had lost all of 
their volatile ingredients, and doubtless suffered thereby some chemical change ; so that it was more of an asphaltic material that was left. 
In the neighborhood of Bear Eiver City, on the Union Pacific railroad, near the boundary of Utah and Wyoming, and also about 15 miles 
•cast of there, in the hills, wells were sunk, from which a few barrels of petroleum were obtained, but I fancy it never proved a pecuniary 
success. The sujiply was small, and the product of too little value to pay for working. This was nine or ten years since. 

I heard of a man who claimed to have a petroleum well somewhere between the south end of the Wind river and the Big Horn mountains 
from which he was obtaining an excellent lubricating oil, and which he sold at a high price. Some excitement wasspoken of in the papers 
a, year or two since about petroleum on the west slopes of the Black hills of Dakota ; and there has been talk of some out on the hills to the 

a Geological Survey of Indiana, 1878, p. 520. 

6 Report of Geological Survey of Miami county, Kansas, by G. C. Swallow. 1865. Kansas City, Missouri. 

c Prefessor William M. Carpenter, A. J. S. (1), xxxv, 345. 




<l 

H 
H 



isKu^:e' "^iii. 




THE NATURAL HISTORY OF PETROLEUM. 27 

northeast of the same, though I hear nothing of them lately. All these points would strike the same cretaceous rocks, hut are too far 
away from lines of communication to encourage capital to develop at present. Within the past year some coal company " struck oil" in 
a well on their property a few miles south of Canon City. 

In brief then as far as I know, there is no actual production of peti^oleum in my district ; it exists, however, in the cretaceous rocks 
which extend over the greater part of it along the eastern slope of the Rocky mountaius from British Columbia to Mexico aad in many of 
the interior valleys. Blake's map, published in the Ninth Census, will give you a rough general idea of the extent of this formation. 
"V\'hetheT the petroleum thus existing can be made to pay, whether it is concentrated in sufficient quantity, or is of good enough quality, 
can only be satisfactorily proved by practical experiment. I think myself it will probably do so in time, locally, at any rate ; but, owing 
to low price, it may be some years yet before labor and other conditions favor the development. 

An artesian well at Yankton, Yankton county, Dakota, 300 feet deep, is reported to have struck blue sliale 
-which is saturated with petroleum. 

Eeturns have been made to the Census OfiBce from two parties in Wyoming. The first is located 75 .miles 
north of Point of Eocks station, on the Union Pacific railroad, and south of the Shoshone Indian reservation, in 
Sweetwater county. This property is reported to consist of ten or twelve springs and a well 60 feet deep. The oil 

is very heavy 19° Baume. The second locality is southwest of the Black hills, in Laramie county, near the Dakota 

line 25 miles northwest of the junction of the east and west forks of Beaver creek. This property consists of 
springs of water, from the surface of which the oil is collected and strained, and supplies a local market. 

Califoknia.— Bitumen is distributed very generally throughout the coast ranges from San Francisco bay 
south to Los Angeles county, and petroleum is reported to have been obtained in a well on Tunitas creek, San Mateo 
■county. The extensive operations of the Pacific Coast Oil Company are reported to be located in Lexington township, 
Santa' Clara county, but I have been unable to learn any particulars in reference to the production of their wells. 
Tar-springs are found through Monterey, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Ventura, and Los Angeles counties. In 
the Santa Clara valley, in Ventura county, and in the hills on both sides of it, mtich money has been expended during 
the last seventeen years, and some oil has been obtained, the principal localities having been in the caiions of the 
Sulphur mountain that border the Ojai ranch on the south, at the mouth of the Sesp6 caiion, further east, and 
both east and west of Petrolia, near the upper end of the valley; but it is impossible at this distance to express an 
opinion respecting the real value of the operations or the product obtained. The opinion that I expressed in 1866, 
in a report that I at that time submitted to Professor J. D. Whitney, then state geologist, I believe has been justified 
in every particular, so far as the Santa Clara valley is concerned. 

In the Report of the Geological Survey of California (Geology, II), appendix, page 73, it appears as follows: 

The expectation of extraordinary results, that will admit of comparison with those that have been produced in Pennsylvania, must 
be set aside. The expectation of a fair return and a permanently profitable investment may be reasonably entertained ; and the application 
■of capital on this basis to this interest will make it of great importance to the state, and especially to that particular section in which 
the bituminons outcrops occur. 

Section 2.— GEOGEAPHICAL DISTEIBUTIOX OF BITUMEN IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES. 

The notices of bitumen in foreign countries do not admit of very exact classification, as the name petroleum 
has been from early times applied indiscriminately to nearly every form of bitumen by writers but little acquainted 
wath the subject. 

Beitish America. — Bituminous minerals, often solid when they appear upon the surface, but more frequently 
semi-fluid or fluid, occur at many localities in British America. Petroleum has been almost without exception 
obtained by boring. • 

Bituminous schists, called petroleum schists, have been observed on the banks of the Mackenzie river; (a) also 
near fort McLeod, 260 miles north of fort Benton. Montana, and at another point 36 miles southwest of the same 
point, near the 114th meridian, on the Taylor farm. (6) In the valley of the Elk river that empties into Athabaska 
lake " there is a peaty bog, whose crevices are filled with petroleum, a mineral that exists in great abundance in 
this district. We never observed it flowing from the limestone, but always above it, and generally agglutinating 
the beds of sand into a kind of pitchy sandstone. Sometimes fragments of this stone contain so much petroleum 
as to float down the stream", (c) The occurrence of petroleum or bitumen on the Athabaska was recorded by Sir 
Alexander Mackenzie in 1789, and again by Sir John Eichardson in 1851. The first-named author states, on page 
87 of his narrative, alluding to the forks of the Athabaska or Elk river, that "at about 24 miles from the forks are 
some bituminous fountains, into which a pole 20 feet long can be inserted without the least resistance. The bitumen 
is in a fluid state; heated, it emits a smell like that of sea coal ". Sir John Richardson says: " The whole country 
for many miles is so full of bitumen that it flows readily into a pit dug a few feet below the surface." 

On the Abittibi river, south of Hudson's bay, petroleum is reported, occurring in strata resembling those just 
mentioned, (rf) 

a E. Heibert,B. G. S. F. (3), iii, 87. 

b J. C. Nelson, of the Dominion surveyor-general's office. 

c Account of the route to be pursued by the Arctic Land Expedition in search of Captain Ross, by Captain Back, R. N., Jour. Soy. 
Geog. Soc, iii, 65, 1833. 

d Descriptive Catalogue of the Minerals of Canada at the Philadtlphia Exhihitiov, page 63. 



28 PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 

A number of localities are mentioned where petroleum occurs in Newfoundland, among tliem "West bay, Port-au- 
Port bay, Piccadilly, and a point between Bonne bay and Saint John's island, to the north of Cow harbor, (a) A.t 
lake Ainslee, on Cape Breton island, petroleiim springs occur, and a number of borings have been made without 
success. At Kempt, Nova Scotia, limestone occurs, in which petroleum is found of a honey- yellow color in small 
cavities which are lined with crystals of calcite. (&) Petroleum is also reported at Hillsborough, New Brunswick- 
Here also occurred the deposit of albertite which for a number of years, like the grahamite of West Virginia, was 
very famous. It is of eruptive origin, filling a vertical fissure in shale. It was at first extensively used for the 
production of coal-oils before the introduction of petroleum, and afterward, like grahamite, for enriching gas coals. 
The deposit is practically worked out and the mine is abandoned. 

Petroleum springs were first mentioned at Gasp6, near the entrance to tbe gulf of Saint Lawrence on the south,, 
in 1844, by Sir W. B. Logan. They have since been noticed in successive reports of the Canadian geological 
survey, and were in 1865 made the subject of a special report by Dr. T. S. Hunt, in which he mentions a number 
of localities in the neighborhood of Tar Point, Douglastown, and other places in the neighborhood of Gasp6 bay, 
along a line of 20 miles, where the rocks are impregnated with solid, semi-solid, and liquid bitumens, which ooze 
from them at many points. Several wells were drilled here, but in none of these localities do the springs yield any 
large quantities of oil, nor have the borings which have been made in two places been as yet successful, (c) 

In reply to inquiries made in June, 1881, Dr. A. E. 0. Selwyn, director of the geological survey of Canada,, 
says : 

As regards Gasji^ and Cape Breton, the question is easy. Petroleum has heen found, but never in sufficient quantity to be commercially- 
available . 

Wells were drilled near Wequamikong, Great Mauitoulin island, in lake Huron, in 1865, and oil was obtained,, 
but not in remunerative quantities. 

The productive oil-fields of Canada lie in the county of Lamberton, in the western part of the province of 
Ontario,- and principally in the township of Enniskillen, around the village of Petrolia. In the Descriptive Catalogue 
of the Minerals of Canada at the Philadelphia Exhibition, page 61, appears the following: 

The whole oil-producing region around Petrolia has an area of about 11 square miles, with its longest diameter running about north- 
northwest. The bluish clay of the surface has a pretty uniform depth of about 100 feet, and beneath it borings penetrate an average 
thickness of 380 feet of interstratified bluish-gray dolomites, shales, and marls (the last being locally known as " soapstone ") to the most 
productive stratum, or 480 feet in all. At first many of the wells both at Oil Springs and Petrolia flowed spontaneously, but now they 
all require to be pumped. The oil is accompanied by sulphurous saline water, and has an offensive odor. The difficulty in getting rid of 
this odor at first stood much in the way of the successful competition of the Canadian petroleum with mineral oils from other countries ^ 
but since the refineries have been able to thoroughly accomplish this, it has been acknowledged to be a very superior burning oil. 
Theo. D. Band, J. F. L, LXXX, 59, says: 

In 1861 numerous wells were sunk, many through the surface clay only, others one or two hundred feet in the rock, and oil was 
everywhere obtained in fair quantity. During the winter of 1861-'62 and the following spring the great flowing wells which have made- 
this region so famous were struck one after another. The yield from these wells was enormous, ranging by estimate from 1,000 to- 
7,000 barrels a day. 

Mexico. — A vein resembling albertite is reported in the state of Guerrero, 170 miles from the city of Mexico, and 
petroleum of a beautiful light-straw color and a density of 32Jo Baum^ is reported from near the city of Mexico, {d} 
It is also reported from laguna Tampamachoco, on the north side of the Tuxpan river, on the gulf of Mexico, 20- 
miles from Tuxpan. Tar-springs are reported to rise in the gulf of Tampico, and their products float ashore. 

About 20 miles from the bar of the river Coatzacoalcos, that rises on the isthmus of Tehuantepec and empties 
into the bay of Campeche, and half a mile inland, the "laguna del Alquitran", or lake of Tar, is thus described: 

It is surrounded by tall grass, and measures up-ward of an acre in extent. The exterior crust is a compact layer, sufficiently solid to- 
enable one to walk around its border ; but the center is soft, and under the rays of a vertical sun the surface shines like polished jet. In 
many places there are diminutive ponds of water tinged with iridescent colors, while in others the fluid bitumen bubbles up as if in a 
constant state of ebullition. Sometimes these bubbles are aggregated so as to form small cones three and four feet high, which evolve 
vapors, burst, and overflow. As a proof that the petroleum springs of the isthmus are subterraneously connected, I may mention that 
whenever an ebullition or a spontaneous conflagration occurs in the lake of Tar it is at the same time repeated in all the others, although 
widely separated. At rare intervals, about once a year, the lake of Tar is spontaneously ignited, and the whole surface is covered with 
a sheet of flame, which is accompanied by voliimes of dense smoke, impregnating the air with powerful bituminous odors. On the day 
of our visit one of these spontaneous conflagrations took place, and continued to bum until after sunset. The heat arising from the 
flames was very great, and the sky was darkened by clouds of black smoke that arose above the lake, recalling the descriptions given of 
the Caspian "field of fire". I learned that within aleague and a half, in a southeasterly direction from the right bank of the Coachapa^ 
a tributary of the Coatzacoalcos, there are six smaller lakes, clustered together within a space of 300 acres, (e) 

Other localities less remarkable were visited in the vicinity, and immense quantities of asphaltum are said to 
occur along the shores of the Gulf of Mexico above and below the mouth of the river. 

a Geological Survey of Canada, 1877-78, c. a4 ; John Milne, F. R. S., J. G. S. L., sxs, 738. 

6 D. Honeyman, A. J. S. (3), i, 386. 

c Geol. Canada, 1862, pp. 788, 769. 

d Am. C, ii, 290. 

e Bepori on Petroleum in Mexico, by John McLeod Murphy, 1865. 



THE NATURAL HISTORY OF PETROLEUM. 29 

The West Indies. — lu 1837 Professor E. C. Taylor described a vein of solid bitumeu that occurs at Casualidad, 
three leagues east of Havana, Cuba. He describes the mass as a wedge-shaped vein "filled with carbonaceous 
matter, as if injected from below ". He calls the substance coal, but shows that it is very unlike ordinary coal, 
both in its specific characteristics and in the mode of its occurrence, and says : 

In whatever way we may account for the origin of this remarkiihle coal deposit, wc must be led to view it in some measure iu 
connection with the petroleum which is found in the rocks of this region. The petroleum springs which rise from fissures in the Serpentine 
at Guauahacoa have been known for two centuries. Nearly contemporaneously with the discovery of the coal of Casualidad, it has been' 
observed about midway between the cities of Matanzas and Havana, not far from the sea-coast, (a) ' 

The strike of the Casualidad vein is nearly north and south, conforming to the local range of stratification, although the general 
range is east and west, following the general direction of the island. At the outcrop the vein is scarcely a foot thick, but at the depth of 
30 feet it is enlarged to 9 feet, descending nearly vertically. Other positions iu the neighborhood of the principal mine of, this substance 
show its prevalence in the country. We have examined and reported upon some excavations two leagues from Havana, on the road to 
Tapozte. (6) 

Even in the bay of Havana the shore abounds with asphalt and bituminous shales in sufBcient quantity for the paying of vessels, 
as a substitute for tar. It is stated that iu buccaneering times signals used to be made by firing masses of this chapapote, whose dense 
columns of smoke could he recognized at great distances. It is matter of history that Havana was originally named by the early settlers 
" Cariuc " ; " for there we careened our ships, and we pitched them with the natural tar, which we found lying iu abundance upon the 
shores of this beautiful bay." Petroleum leaks out in numberless places in this delightful island from amid the fissures of the 
Serpentine, and perhaps has deeply-seated sources. We are acquainted with abundant springs of petroleum between Holquin and Mayari 
in the eastern part of the isrand, and we possess notices of others in the direction of Santiago de Cuba. In fact, the entire chain of the 
West India and Windward islands present similar phenomena of petroleum springs, (c) 

The reputation of Cuba asphaltum, or chaiiapote, is too well known to require commelit, as it is exported from 
the island both to the United States and to Europe. Petroleum has never been found there in such quantities as 
to be commercially important. 

Petroleum was reported as occurring in San Domingo by William M. Gabb, esq., who made a geological 
reconnaissance of the island in 1872. It occurs about three miles from Azua, in the southwestern part of the 
Dominican republic, on a stream called El Agua Hediondo, or Stinking Water. An unsuccessful attempt was 
made to bore here in 1865-66. The product of the springs is a thick maltha, of a density of 22^° Baum6 = 0.945, 
•which does not yield parafSue. (d) 

The petroleum of Barbadoes was described iu 1750 by Griffith Hughes, in a work entitled Natural History of 
the Island of Barbadoes. He says : 

The most remarkable fossils of bituminous kind is green tar. It is obtained by digging holes or a trench, and it rises on the water. 
It issues from hills, and is gathered in the months of January, February, and March, and serves to bum iu lamps. Munjack is dug 
out of veins. It is stated that one of these veins was fired by a negro, who built a fire on a hillside to roast potatoes, and it continued 
to burn for five years. 

The heavy, dark-green or black petroleum was an article of commerce, under the title "Barbadoes tar", for 
many years prior to the introduction of petroleum for illuminating purposes. 

The Pitch lake of Trinidad is the most extensive known deposit of asphaltum. It was described by Dr. Nugent 
iu 1811, (e) by G. P. Wall, esq., in 1860, (/) and by Professor T. Eupert Jones in 1866. (g) The lake is about three 
miles in circumference, and is described as a mass of asphaltum, sloping to the northern sea-coast. Although firm 
€UOugh to bear a team of horses, it is still somewhat plastic, and appears to be in motion toward several points 
that act as vortices, as the trunks of trees disappear and after a time emerge at some distance from the point at 
which they sunk. Small lakes and streams of water abounding in fish are described as distributed over the surface, 
with numerous islands covered with tropical verdure. The asphaltum is exported from the island to the United 
States and Europe, where it is used for the preparation of roofing materials and iu the preparation of mastic 
pavements. It does not yield parafflne on distillation, aud has not, therefore, been proved valuable in the arts for 
the purposes to which albertite, grahamite, and other similar substances are applied. In lS57-'58 an attempt was 
made to manufacture illuminating and other oils from the pitch, aud Mr. William Atwood spent more than a year 
there superintending oijerations on the island; but that aud all other attempts to use the material for such purposes 
Lave failed. It is, however, applied to other uses in the arts in enormous quantities, and the supply appears to be 
practically inexhaustible. 

" South of caj)e de la Brea is a submarine volcauo, which occasionally boils up and discharges a quantity of 
petroleum. Another occurs on the east side of the island, which throws up on the shore masses of bitumen." {h) 

South America. — Humboldt mentions in his personal narrative the occurrence of petroleum springs in the 
bay of Cumana, where the oily fluid rises and spreads upon the surface of the sea. {i) Wall mentions the 
occurrence of asphaltum in the province of Maturin, on the mainland opposite Triuidad, and observes that other 
districts of the Llanos are generally affirmed to furuish it, although he did not examine them, {j) Ou the northern 
shores of the United States of Colombia aud along the ilagdaleua river asphaltum is reported iu immense quantities. 

a Philosophical Magazine, x, 161-167. e T. G. S. (1), i, 63. h Taylor's Stalistics of Coal, p. 584. 

b Taylor's Statistics of Coal, p. 573. / Q. J. G. S., xvi, 467. i Travels, Bohu's ed., i, 198; 'ii, 113. 

c Ihid., page 579. g Hid., xxii, 592. j Q. J. G. S., xvi, 467. 
d E. Waller, Am. C, ii, 220. 



30 PRODUCTION OF PETEOLEUM. 

Under date of August 10, 1880, Commercial Agent Plumacher, of Maracaibo, gives a very elaborate description 
of the petroleum deposits of Venezuela, from which I infer that the slopes of the Cordilleras that inclose the lake- 
of Maracaibo abound in asphaltum, maltha, and petroleum. It is difQcult, however, for one locally unacquainted 
to eliminate reliable details from the report. 

Petroleum is reported in Ecuador at Santa Elena, along the sea-shore, and Henry, in his Early and Later History 
of Petroleum, page 144, says: 

Pits from 10 to 13 feet deep are dug inlte the eand till clay is reached, and, ■when the oil which oozes from all sides has filled them, 
it is dipped out. Near the wells are primitive furnaces, built with sun-dried clay, on which are open iron hollers. The bituminous matter 
is thrown into these vases and cooked until all the volatile products disappear and leave a thick pitch. 

A. well-known region in northern Peru near Payta, on the Pacific coast, is undoubtedly very rich in petroleum. 
The existence of this material was known in Peru before the conquest, as a mummy of date prior to that event in 
the Peabody Museum of Archaeology of Harvard University has been prepared with it. The pitch was also used 
for coating earthenware on the inside, particularly liquor jars. 

Several wells have been bored here, one of which produced several hundred barrels daily, and it is claimed by 
those who are conducting the operations that flowing wells may be obtained with great certainty over an area many- 
miles in extent. A refinery has been built at Callao, but the recent war between Peru and Chili has caused a 
suspension of operations. The Peruvian oil does not yield any paraffine, nor a considerable amount of naphtha. 

It is reported that in Bolivia the three principal springs of Cuaruzute, Plata, and Pignirainda form an oil 
stream 7 feet wide, (a) This wonderful story lacks confirmation. 

England. — In reply to a letter of inquiry in relation to the occurrence of petroleum in England, E. W. Binney,. 
F. E. S., the distinguished geologist, wrote, November 14, 1881, as follows : 

I am in receipt of yours, wherein you ask me if petroleum has been found in quantity in Great Britain. It was found about one- 
hundred years since in making the Duke of Bridgewater's tunnel at Worsley, at Wigan and W^est Leigh in the Lancashire coal-fields, at 
Coalbrookdale and Wellington in Shropshire, and Eiddings in Derbyshire, two other coal-fields; also in a peat bog at Down Holland,, 
near Ormskirk, in Lancashire, but none to my knowledge in commercial quantities. The greatest supply that I have ever seen has not 
been more than 50 gallons a day, and even that soon diminished. When I went down Mr. Oakes' pit at Kiddings in 1848 the petroleum 
came out of the black shale roof dripping, and not as a spring. The coal is a gas-coal in the lower part of the middle coal measures. 

In a paper read before the Manchester Geological Society, March 30, 1843, Mr. Binney, in company with Mr- 
John Hawkshead Talbot, described the manner in which the petroleum occurred at Down Holland moss, northwest 
of Liverpool, on the north bank of the Mersey, near its mouth : 

The whole of the moss is in cultivation either under the plow or in grass, and has been so for at least forty or fifty years, and all 
or the greater portion of it lies at a lower level than the high- water mark of the sea at Formby. On approaching the place where the 
peat containing petroleum occurs, from Down Holland, the authors soon became aware of its presence by an empyrenmatic smell,, 
resembling that yielded by Persian naphtha, and the water in the ditches was also coated with a thin film of an oily, iridescent fluid that 
floated upon its surface. In walking over some oat-stubble fields, and thrusting their heels through the black decomposed peat forming 
the soil, they felt a hard, pitchy mass, of 3 or 4 inches in thickness, which yields no smell unless it is burnt. On exposure to the- 
atmosphere for a time the pitchy matter lost the greater part of its inflammability, and was finally converted into black mold. This; 
substance also occurred under the roots of the grass in old sward fields, bnt it then yielded an odor similar to the petroleum that floated 
on the surface of the water, and pervaded the moist peat. (J) 

I remember to have once met a lady who spent her childhood in New Hampshire, where she recollected a peat 
bog presenting similar phenomena to that above described. 

Arthur Aiken, esq., in 1811, described the occurrence of petroleum in the great coal-field of Shropshire. He- 
says the thirty-first and thirty-second strata are coarse-grained sandstone, entirely penetrated by petroleum ; they 
are both together 15^ feet thick, and have a bed of sandy slate clay about 4 feet thick interposed between them.. 
These strata are interesting as furnishing the supply of petroleum that issues from the tar-spring at Coalport. (c). 
In 1836 it was still further described by Dr. Preistwich, who says : 

The well-known tar-spring at Coalport, which had its rise in one of the thick sandstones of the central series, formerly yielded 
nearly 1,000 gallons a week, but it now produces only a few gallons in the same time. In sinking a shaft at Priorslee the 20-yard rock, 
was so charged with petroleum that the shaft was converted into a tar-well. It formerly yielded 2 or 3 gallons a day. In a pit at the 
top of the same dingle petroleum exudes in so great abundance from every crevice in the " little coal ", and from the shale forming the 
roof, that the colliers are obliged in the latter case to have large plates of iron suspended over them. More rarely petroleum is fovmd. 
in cavities of the Pennystone nodules, (d) 

Dr. Eichard Bright described in 1811 a liassic limestone in the neighborhood of Bristol, containing " claws of 
crustacese, corallines, and millions of the stalks of encrinites. They were first noticed by Mr. Miller surrounding 
calcareous concretions in the black rock, which are penetrated with petroleum. Petroleum sometimes exudes from^ 
the rock in small quantity", (e) A correspondent of Iron describes, in 1875, the occurrence of petroleum in a coah 

a Deutsche Industrie Zeitung, 1868, p. 400. 

b Papers read before the Manchester Geological Society in 1842-'43, p. 17. 

c T. 6. S. (1), i, 195. 

d T. G. S. (2), v, 438. 

e T. G. S. (1), ii, 199. 



THE NATURAL HISTOEY OF PETROLEUM. 31 

pit at Longton, in North Staffordshire, the first discovery being made in a seam of coal that seemed to be saturated 
•with it. Five or six tons a week are collected : a valuable addition to the output of coal. The coal is used for the 
manufacture of illuminating gas, and is rich in hydrocarbons. («) 

France and Switzerland. — There are three sections of France from which bitumen is reported. Petroleum 
floats on the water of springs, and the rocks in the neighborhood are saturated with bitumen at Saint-Boez, Basse 
Pyr^n^es ; (6) it has not been found anywhere, however, in the Pyrenees in quantities commercially valuable, in 
the hills that skirt the highlands of Auvergne, at Gabian, near Beziers, petroleum is reported. At Ard^che and 
Autun asphalt occurs, and in the neighborhood of Alais and at Bastenne aspbaltic limestones are obtained and 
used in large quantities in the preparation of the asphaltic pavement so largely used in Paris and other French 
cities, (c) The third district is in Savoy, and extends into Switzerland. In the Val de Travers the celebrated 
bituminous limestones of Pyrmont and Seyssel occur in the department of Ain. This asphaltic stone is not 
stratified, but is crossed with fissures in all directions, and consists of cretaceous limestone, calcareous schists, and 
molass, the latter a sort of asphaltic breccia. The porous limestones are saturated with bitumen, and the siliceous 
pebbles and fragments of the molass are cemented with the same material, as has been repeatedly proved on 
comparison. The limestone is quarried and pulverized and is then heated, and while hot it is thoroughly mixed 
with asphalt extracted from the molass by repeated boiling in water. This asphalt rises to the surface of the water 
and is skimmed off. The mastic thus prepared is used in enormous quantities in Paris and other French cities. 
A similar material is reported from the Tyrol, in eastern Switzerland. 

Germany. — In Alsace, on the lower Ehine, at Schwabweiler, Pechelbronn, and Lobsan, petroleum has been 
obtained for many years and has been employed for local uses, but it has never been introduced into commerce. 
Several wells have been drilled at different points, and a small yield of oil has been obtained in some of them, 
but the enterprises, on the whole, were not remunerative. Petroleum is also reported near Carlsruhe, in the grand 
duchy of Baden, but concerning it I have no particulars. In Hanover, on the Llineburger heath, south of Hamburg 
and east of Bremen, the occurrence of petroleum has been known for at least a century. Since 1863 several 
attempts have been made to procure petroleum near Oberg by boring, and at different times, particularly within 
the last two years, the reports have been such as to encourage an expectation of a production rivaling that of 
Pennsylvania. 

In 1876 it was stated that at Oberg the source of the petroleum was supposed to lie at a depth of 700 or SOOi 
feet, and that it had been obtained at Edemissen and Oedessen by the re-establishment of mines having but a 
single shaft. In Kline Eidessen the sand is permeated with petroleum to such an extent that it is found on the 
water that collects in foot-tracks. At the village of Weitze, in the northern part of the district, is found an 
extensive stratum of sand of about 1,000 meters long, 600 meters broad, and 75 meters deep, which corresponds 
to 45,000,000 cubic meters, the upper strata of earth containing about 10 per cent, of petroleum. The owner of this 
tract, which has been penetrated to 125 feet, has often bored and obtained petroleum in a very primitive way through 
the gushing of oil trom the sand, {d) 

In March, 1880, a company was organized in Bremen for the purpose of deep boring, with the expectation of 
obtaining at greater depths than had hitherto been penetrated a lighter variety of oil, that previously obtained 
from wells 220 feet deep having had a specific gravity of 28°, and commenced operations on the southern border 
of the Luneberger heath, at a point 25 miles east of Hanover, on the railroad to Brunswick. A refinery has- 
been estabUshed at Peine, 20 miles from Hanover, and a pi]}e-line, has been laid from the wells. 

Mr. William C. Fox, United States consul at Brunswick, reports that traces of petroleum have been found in 
belts or spots commencing in the village of Klein Schoppenstate, in the ducby of Brunswick, and running west 
in a direct line for 40 miles to the village of Wietze, on the river Aller, a navigable tributary of the Weser. Two- 
of these belts are at present known: the Oelheim, near Peine, and another 8 or 10 miles to the northwest. The 
former contains about 25,000 acres, and embraces the villages of Edemissen, Odessa, Windesse, and Steterdorf. 

At present, borings are confined to about 20 acres, and there are 12 pumping wells, yielding 1,250 barrels a 
week. A flowing well, struck last July, caused great excitement, the petroleum having a specific gravity of 0.888,. 
and producing, when refined, about 40 per cent, of illuminating oil of very superior quality, 40 per cent, of lubricating 
oil, and 5 per cent of naphtha, (e) For barreling, American barrels are preferred. While this field may be said 
to be one of the most promising fields, it cannot be said yet to promise any considerable competition with the 
fields of Pennsylvania. 

Denmark and Sweden. — At Holle, near Heide, in Ditmarschen, over an immense bed of petroleum, there is 
a layer of light diluvial sand 20 feet deep, saturated with tar, which may be cut like cheese. There is also found, 
here an important bed of asphaltic limestone, similar to that of Seyssel. (/) 

a San Fran. Min. and Sci. Press, ssi, 184. d Archiv fiir Pharmacie, ccix, 461. 

i> M. Thor^,L'ann6eSci.et Ind., 1872, p. 251. e Report, October, 1881. 

c S. P. Pratt, Q. J. G. S., ii, 80. / Dr. L. Meyn, J. S. A., xxi, 12. 



32 PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 

At Nullaberg, in the northwestern district of Wermland, west Sweden, metamorphic strata of gneiss and mica- 
scliist have been observed. Bituminous matter is distributed everywhere throughout the whole mass of these 
strata, so as to be present even in the smallest fragment, giving them a black color closely resembling gunpowder, (a) 

Italy.— Petroleum wells have been dug and bored along the southern borders of the valley of the Po, in the 
provinces of Voghera, Piacenza, Parma, Modena, and others, and in the provinces of Ohieti, east of Rome, on the 
Adriatic sea, and of Oaserta, on the gulf of Tarentum. Small quantities of petroleum have been obtained in these 
localities for centuries ; also in the province of Girgenti, on the island of Sicily. Asphalt occurs at Marsiconnova 
and in the valley of Pescara, and asphaltic schists or bituminous clay have been observed in many places in 
southern Italy. 

Professor Silvestri described, in 1S77, parafflnes and homologous hydrocarbons, which he obtained in lava about 
13J miles on a direct line from the great cfentral cone of Etna, (b) The gas-springs of the Apennines have been 
many times noticed as of scientific interest, but have never been made of economic value. 

The petroleum interests of Italy have been for many years locally valuable, but do not promise to become of 
greater importance. 

Dalmatia and Albania.— On the island of Brazzo, on the coast of Dalmatia, and also at Ragusa, on the 
mainland south of Brazzo, extensive deposits of asphaltum are reported. This island is nearly opposite the valley 
of Pescara, on the Italian coast. 

Farther down the coast of the Adriatic lies the island of Zante, where a petroleum spring occurs in a marsh 
near Chieri that was mentioned by Herodotus in the fifth century before Christ. One well was drilled 300 English 
feet, and produced about half a hogshead daily, which progressively diminished ; another was drilled later that 
at the same depth struck a black, hard, and fetid limestone ; and another was at the side of the marsh, and struck 
oil at 70 feet, yielding 5,000 liters in seven hours. The latter afterward became completely sterile, and was 
abandoned, and borings made near the spring in 1865 were not successful, (c) On the mainland east of Zante lies 
the coast of Albania. There, in the neighborhood of Selenitza, occur some of the most extensive and remarkable 
asphalt deposits in Europe. Strabo remarks that "in the country of the Apolloniates there is a place called 
Nymphseum. It is a rock which emits fire, at the foot of which flows a spring of warm bitumen, which probably 
proceeds from liquefied bitumen, because on a neighboring hill there is a mine of bitumen, where, as related by 
Posidonius, the earth, from the excavations from which the bitumen has been exhausted, converts itself into that 
substance", ((i) 

Vetruvius also mentions the same springs, and says: "Around Dyrrachium and around Apollonia are springs 
which emit great quantities of pitch with water." (e) Durazzo, in Albania, occupies the site of the ancient 
Dyrrachium, and the convent of Pollina is built upon the ruins of Apollonia, both of which are found near the 
emboucheur of the Vojutza (Aous of the ancients), about six hours to the northeast of Avloua. "It appears that 
the curious phenomena which these springs manifest to-day arrested the attention of the Greek and Roman 
naturalists, because they are mentioned in the works of Aristotle, Pliny, ^lian, and Dion Oassius." (/) Setting aside 
some erroneous ideas, due to the ignorance of the ancients regarding natural phenomena, recent studies of the 
bituminous deposits of Epirus confirm in a remarkable manner the observations made by these early writers, and the 
testimony of moremodern authors is less abundant and exact than that furnished by the ancient historians. Recently 
the bitumen from this section has been employed in Trieste, Naples, and Marseilles as a substitute for rosin in 
calking ships. 

Between Durazzo and Avlona the coast of Epirus is level, and consists of plains formed by the alluvium of the 
rivers Usoli Komobln (Senussus of the ancients), Beratino (Apsus), and Vojutza (Aous), which drain Albania 
throughout its length, and which have their sources in the high mountains of Macedonia. It is in the hills at the 
foot of these precipitous and almost inaccessible mountains that the deposits of asphalt occur in great variety of 
detail. M. Coquand, to whose elaborate article I am mainly indebted for the facts here stated, {g) regards the 
exploitation as very rude and of very great antiquity, probably extending from a period long prior to the Christian 
era to the present time, but destitute of any general system. This want of method, while compromising the future 
interests of the deposit, has opened it up at many points, and has admirably exhibited the manner in which the 
mineral lies in the formation. It is easy to perceive that it does not lie in regular beds or veins, but in irregular 
masses in the midst of sandstones and conglomerates, of the form of which no general description will give an idea, 
except that a sort of parallelism may be observed among them, and that each mass consists essentially of a central 
portion of considerable thickness, which gradually thins out in all directions to zero. In no case does the bitumen 
penetrate the roof above the mass, but was evidently injected from below. The following illustration (Fig. 2) shows 
at a glance a deposit that has furnished an enormous quantity of bitumen. A depth of 3 meters (9.84 feet) is not rare 

a L. J. Englestrom: The Geological Magazine, iv, 160. 

i Gazetta Chemica Italiana, vii, 1 ; B. D. C. G., 1877, 293 ; C. N., sxxv, 156. 

c LesMouSes, Octolier, 1865. 

d B. S. G. F., XXV, 20. Translated from Frenoli rendering. 

e Ibid. 

f Thia passage and the others gi-'en above can be found in the original in Bui. Soc. Geo. de France, xxv, 20. 

g B. S. G. F., xxv, 20. 




Map showing tlie Disti'il)utioii 



50 40 30 




Bihuiien tlu-oii^houl tlieANorld. 



THE NATURAL HISTORY OF PETROLEUM. 33 

in the thickest places. Tlie bitumen is almost always of very great purity, and generally consists of compact, very 
homogeneous masses, very black, brilliant, tarnished upon the surface, very friable, with a resinous fracture, softening 
by percussion or heat, and with a pronounced asphaltic odor. 

The ancient workings have caved in, making their exploration no longer possible. It ajipears, to judge bv 
tradition, and, above all, from the ancient workings, now overgrown with oaks many centuries old, that the 
exploitation reaches back to a time anterior to Strabo; because we read in that author that, following Posidonius, 
the bituminous earth, which he calls ampelites, was a remedy against the worms that eat the vines, the worms by 
this means being destroyed before they had ascended the trunk to the young sprouts. This method appears to 
have been practiced until lately, and perhaps it is to-day, because the greater part of the bitumen of Albania was 
exported to Smyrna, where it was used for the preservation of vines, and more frequently for the calking of ships. 

Some of the springs of water rising from the formation containing the bitumen of Albania are accompanied 
with maltha, but in insignificant quantity. 

EoTiMANiA. — The Eoumanian oilfields lie in the northeast part of Wallachia and the southern part of Moldavia, 
in the vallej'S of the streams that drain the eastern slopes of the Siebenbiirgen. 

The Wallachian oil district lies on the southern slopes of the Transylvanian Alps, and is more extensive than 
that of Moldavia. The wells are from 6 to 12 miles north of Plojeschti, a station on the Eoumanian railroad. In 
Bakoin the inhabitants use the inflammable gas which issues from the ground to cook their meals. The manner of 
obtaining the oil is very primitive, the wells being dug as for water, the landlord receiving a tenth of the net 
produce as rent. A part of the crude petroleum is refined at Sarati and Plojeschti, and part is sent by rail to 
Vienna, Pesth, and Odessa. 

The Moldavian petroleum fields occupy a triangle bounded by the rivers Taslen and Trotusch, not far from 
Adschud station, on the Eoumanian railroad. The wells near Morneschti do not exceed 120 meters (.39-4 feet) ; those 
near Salante and Comonesti .TO to 70 meters (164 feet to 230 feet) in depth. Like the Wallachian wells, they are 
worked in the most primitive manner, and the proprietors here receive as rent one-third of the gross produce. The 
cost of the petroleum at the well's mouth does not exceed 4 francs per 100 kilograms (20 cents per 220 pounds). 

The Moldavian petroleum is darker than that of Galicia, and remains fluid at a temperature of 20° Celsius— 4° F.(a) 

Galicia. — Petroleum is found in many localities on the Hungarian side of the Carpathians, but its exploitation 
is of little or no importance. In Galicia there are three principal localities that yield petroleum and ozokerite: 
the tegion around Sandecer, in west Galicia; that around Bobrka, near Dukla, in middle Galicia; and that around 
Boryslaw, in east Galicia, and Basco, on the confines of Moldavia. This region is said to be in general outline 400 
miles long by 40 miles wide. Although ozokerite is found associated with petroleum wherever it occurs in both 
Galicia and Eoumania, its production is principally confined to the east Galician district, in the neighborhood of 
Boryslaw and Stanislow. It appears from statistics that I have met with that the fields of east Galicia were at first 
much the most important; but while the total production of Galicia has decreased, the relative production of west 
Galicia has increased. The exploitation has been conducted in a very rude manner, largely by Polish Jews, who 
occupy that country, and all attempts at innovation by the introduction of machinery, both for boring and for 
refining, have been resisted with great pertinacity. 

The development of oil territory by shafts has been encouraged by the amount of ozokerite that almost 
everywhere accompanies the oil and that cannot be obtained by other methods of exploitation. Wells have been 
bored, however, which in some instances have been productive and in many others have failed. The great importance 
of the ozokerite industry, which will be referred to in detail in a subsequent chapter, will prevent the complete 
substitution of borings for shafts. 

EussiA. — Petroleum is reported to have been observed in northern Eussia, in the province of Archangel, on a 
streamlet that runs into the river Betchora; also at "some distance from Orenburg", on the Ural river, but the 
exact locality was not given. 

In official reports the Eussian petroleum fields are divided as follows : 

Government of Tiflis. — Mirsanski, Schirorski, Eldarski. 

Government of Baku. — Bakinski, Derbentski, Kaitags-Tabarsaranski. 

Kuban district. — Kadygenski, Kudako. 

Terel djs^ncf.— Gronenski, Maisha-Kajevski, Karabulakaki, Brajimavski, Benojevski. 

Baghestan.—E&nk&ki, Djernikentaki, Naflutanski, Bashlinski, Tupsu-Kutanski, Ghiak-Salgav, Kukinski, 
Napkutanski. 

A reference to map I will show that these districts are embraced in a triangle, the apex of which is at the mouth 
of the Kouban river, near the entrance to the sea of Azof, extending eastward to the Caspian sea, and embracing 
that portion of its western coast lying between the mouths of the rivers Terek and Kura, and embraces the flanks 
of the Caucasus and the valleys of the principal rivers that drain them. There are also indications of peti'oleum 
across the Crimea that have attracted some attention. 

The Kouban oil-fields proper begin at Taman, situated on the strait which connects the Black sea with the sea 
of Azof, and extends along the foot-hills of the western extremity of the Caucasus mountains to the river Balah, a 
distance of about 250 miles. 



o Dr. H. E. Ginth, Oetter.UonaUchrif'tf. d. Orient, 1878; John FretweU, jr., J. S. A., xxvi, 481. 



34 PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 

The Apscheron oil-fleld as at present worked lies within a radius of 20 miles of the cit^ of Baku ; but the larger 
portion of the oil has been obtained at Balachany, 12 miles north of Baku, where naphtha has been produced from the 
most ancient times, and from Sabonutchi, which was explored in 1873. This first part contains (1880) forty-seven 
wells, of which twenty-eight are productive, yielding 6,192,000 pounds daily of an average specific gravity of 0.8675, 
while the second part yields 6,622,000 pounds per day of the specific gravity of from 0.820 to 0.860. The specific 
gravity is very variable in the same well, and in general diminishes with the depth, being greatest near the surface, 
from loss of gas. The light oil contains volatile products of a specific gravity of 0.62, of which no use is made. The 
illuminating oil varies from 15 to 85 per cent., the average being between 35 and 40 per cent, (a) On the outskirts of 
the field a colorless oil is obtained that can be burned without refining. This oil soon thickens and becomes asphalt. 

The oil seems to lie in a sort of quicksand, irregularly interstratified with clay, as fine, loose sand rises with the 
oil and collects around the wells so that it has to be shoveled away. This oil has been known to spout from an 8-inch 
hole from 50 to 60 feet high ; yet there is no regular stratum of sand yielding the oil, and no particular depth at 
which it may be struck. One well in the Kouban yielded oil of 46° at from 8 to 10 feet in depth. This oil does not 
contain j)araffine. 

The Bebeabat field is below Baku on the coast of the Caspian sea, and produces oil resembling that of Baku; 
but it deteriorates by keeping, and is often run up on a salt lake near by and set on fire. On the island of Tchillekin, 
or Naphtha island, on the eastern shore of the Caspian sea, a well was drilled which produced a small quantity of oil 
of a better quality than that of Baku, and one well at about 140 feet yielded oil, and at 200 feet yielded hot water. 
Ozokerite and "living earth", which is a mixture of soft asphalt and pulverized shells, abounds along this shore, (b) 

The Caspian sea is dotted with numerous islands, which produce yearly a large quantity of naphtha (petroleum), 
and it has been no uncommon occurrence for fires to break out in the works and burn for many days before they 
could be extinguished. In July, 1869, owing to some subterranean disturbances, enormous quantities of petroleum 
were projected from the wells and spread over the entire surface of the water, and, becoming ignited, notwithstanding 
every precaution, converted the sea into the semblance of a gigantic flaming punch-bowl many thousands of square 
miles in extent; but the fire burnt itself out in about forty-eight hours, leaving the surface of the water strewed with 
the dead bodies of innumerable fishes. Herodotus mentions a tradition that the same phenomenon was once before 
observed by the tribes inhabiting the shores of the Caspian sea. 

There is i^ractically no limit to the amount of oil to be obtained at Baku, but with the exception of the Caucaso- 
Carpathian region the- petroleum production of Europe is only of local importance. The production of maltha is 
insignificant, but the deposits of asphaltum and asphaltic limestone are of great and increasing importance. ZJTo 
region except the Caucasus has made any approach to rivalry in European markets with the petroleum products of 
the United States. 

Asia Minor. — Many of the localities furnishing bitumen in Asia are extremely difficult to locate with exactness ; 
but gas-springs are said to occur on the coast of Karamania, {<■) which is that portion of Asia Minor borderiug the 
northeast portion of the Mediterranean sea. Bitumen is also reported in Armenia near lake Baikal, and in southern 
Siberia near Derabund ; {d) asphaltum near Iskardo (e) and near Cashmere ; petroleum in Assam (/) and Pegu ; (</) also 
near Kohat. (A) Gas-springs accompanying mud volcanoes are also reported in Kerman. {i) The authorities for 
these localities are nearly all to bo found in works published in India, to which I have not had access. 

"The asphalt of the Dead sea and its vicinity has been noticed by Strabo and other ancient writers, and many 
conjectures have been made by both ancient and modern authors resjjecting its origin. It seems to be a well- 
established fact that the asphalt rises in such large masses during or aftei' earthquakes as to remind one of islands 
floating on the sea. While this asphalt, having a density of 1.1040, floats on the water of the Dead sea, which has a 
density of 1.1162, it would sink in the water of the ocean. The rocks in the neighborhood of the sea are often 
bituminous cretaceous limestones, containing a large quantity of asphaltic material. This is particularly to be 
observed in several of the ravines that border it, where the dolomitic limestones are highly charged with bitumen, 
and, being broken up and carried down into the sea by the winter torrents, the bitumen becomes disengaged, and 
is cast upon the shore." ( j) 

In one of these ravines, on the eastern borders of the sea, M. Lartet describes pebbles of silex cemented into a 
pudding-stone by bitumen and stalactites of asphalt produced by the liquid bitumen slowly dripping from the 
bituminous cretaceous limestones. This, too, is washed into the sea and cast on shore. The amount received by the 
sea in this manner, however, is not sufficient to account for the islands of bitumen seen floating on the surfact. (h) 

On the western border of the valley of the Jordan similar deposits occur at the same level, and in many 
localities throughout Judea and Arabia Petrsea from immemorial periods asphalt and maltha (slime) have been 
obtained from springs and shallow pits. 

a M. Goulichambaroff, Jour. Kits. VhijH. and Chem. Soc, xii, 5 ; Nature, sxiii, 42. / Report Geo. Surv. of India, I, pt. 2, p. 55. 

6 Commmiication from J. R. Adams, of Oil City, Pennsylvania to S. F. g Lt. Duff: Pegu oil gas. Jour. As. Soc. Bengal, 1861. 

Peckham. h E. Thornton: Oil-spring near Kohat, Cfase(tero//?MJia, 1862. 

c Beaufort : Survey of the Caatt of Karamania, 1820. i H. Poltinger: Petreleum of Kerman, 1S40. 

d G. T. Vigiie : Rock Oil, near Derabund, Kabul 1842. j Lartet, B. S. G. F., xxiv, 12. 

G. T. Vigne : Traaelt in Kashmir and Utile Thibet. 1842. * Jbid. 



THE NATURAL HISTORY OF PETROLEUM. 35 

Deposits of bitumen have been described as occurring near Zaho, in Kurdistan, ■140 miles above Bagdad, on 
the Tigris. From the description I should conclude that this matei'ial is asphaltum. It was used successfully in 
187-t-'75 on the steamer Mosul for making steam, and also for the manufacture of gas. Several other outcrops of 
bitumen occur nearer Bagdad, and liquid petroleum occurs at many points upon the road from Eibamich to Bagdad, 
and also between Bagdad and Mosul, in the valley of the Tigris, (a) 

Persia. — Persia abounds in bitumen springs, which have been noticed and described by travelers and 
historians from Herodotus to the present time. One of the most noted springs of water yielding bitumen is situated 
five German miles from Suza, at Ardericca. Others are located on the plateau of Iran, near Durr, in the valley of 
of Jei'abi, and also at Chusistan, not far from a volcano that was active in the second century. The bitumen wells 
Kerkuk or Tuzkurmati, four days' march southward from Arbela, are also celebrated. They may be known at a 
great distance through their odor, their sulphur vapor producing headache, on which account they are unendurable 
in summer time. Other localities of minor importance in the mountains that separate Persia from Kurdistan and 
the valley of the Tigris are mentioned. The naphtha springs of Van Kalesi were inclosed in the walls of a castle, 
where they flowed from a niche. Another castle is described as belonging to Sassanite times, situated upon a crag 
above a naphtha spring that was arched over with great blocks of freestone — perhaps from very ancient times. 

Bitumen in its various forms has been used in the valley of the Euphrates and adjoining regions from the 
earliest times, (b) 

HiNDOSTAN. — Natural gas furnishes the material burned in a number of Hindoo temples in Thibet and northern 
India. Petroleum wells are reported in Cashmere and Thibet, but I have been unable to learn anything concerning 
their exact localities. A locality occurs in the Punjab that has attracted some attention, but it has not yet been 
proved to be of importance. It lies in the corner between Cashmere and Cabul, and is nearly 100 miles by 90 in 
extent, being mostly between the Indus and Jhelum, in what is called the Sind Sagur Doab (two rivers), and is 
mainly in the mountainous or hilly part (Kohistan) of the Doab. The oil-springs are in the northern slopes of the 
Salt range that lie upon the southern border of this region, or in the Choor hills that lie upon its northern border. 
Oil, maltha, and asphaltum occur at these springs. Borings have been made at Gunda, and yielded at first 50 
gallons a day, which gradually decreased. This oil is dark-green in color, is of a specific gravity of 25° Baum^, and 
has been used by the natives for bnrning with a simjjle wick, resting on the side of an open dish, (c) 

BuEMAH. — In a letter from Eev. J. N. Gushing, dated Toungoo, September 14, 1881, appears the following in 
relation to the wells in this country: 

There are ouly two places in all Bunuah where petroleum is produced to any extent, viz : Arracan and Yenangyoung, in upper Burniah. 
The production of the wells in Arracan is very small. Within a few years a company has been formed to work them as an experiment, 
but I have never Seen any statement of the results, and think they must be inconsiderable. Yenangyoung (Earth-oil river) is a large 
town on the Irrawaddy about 400 miles north of Rangoon, and the oil-wells lie about 3 miles east of the town, among some low and very 
barren hills, the chief vegetation of the unproductive soil being several varieties of cactus. There seemed to be a good deal of light, soft, 
sandstone, through which here and there ran layers of a dark rock resembling granite. The roads were in some places worn into the hills 
to a depth of 10 feet, the fierce torrents formed during the rain washing out all loose soil. 

When I visited the wells they were about 200 in number, although some were not yielding oil. These were upon ground as highly 
elevated as any, and occupied an area of about 100 acres. They were of various depths, the deepest being about 160 cubits (240 feetl. I 
do not think that the number of wells has greatly increased since my visit, for before that petroleum had been found only iu that locality, 
although search had been made for it in adjacent localities. What might be found by the skilled labor of the far West using the scientific 
knowledge which gives it success I do not dare to say. 

China. — There do not appear to be any wells in China that are made for the purpose of procuring petroleum ; 
but from the communications made by M. Imbert to the French Academy, and also by L'Abbe Hue, it appears that 
petroleum is obtained in wells bored for salt, as it often is in this country, and that the oil is often accompanied by 
inflammable gas. The Chinese call the latter Ho-tsing (fire-wells), and use the gas for a variety of purposes, such 
as boiling brine and for domestic fuel, the gas being conveyed long distances in bamboo tubes, terminating in a 
clay or porcelain burner. In his Travels in the Chinese Empire, chapter vii, L'Abb6 Hue says : 

When a salt-well has been dug to the depth of a thousand feet, a bituminous oil is found in it that burns in water. Sometimes as 
many as four or five jars of 100 pounds each are collected in a day. This oil is very foetid, but it is made use of to light the sheds in which 
are the wells and caldrons of salt. The mandarins, by order of the prince, sometimes buy thousands of jars of it, in order to calcine 
rotks under water that render navigation perilous. 

Specimens of this petroleum sent to France were submitted to a committee of the French Academy for 
( xaiiiination.(d) 

The weUs are described by L'Abb6 Hue as occurring in the province of Sse-tchouen, which is the largest 
province of China, and borders upon Thibet. Petroleum is also reported from the northern province of Shansi. 

ffl L. Mongel: Ann. dea Mines (7), vii, 85; Proc. Inst, of Civil Engineers, 1875, p. 307. 
b miter's Erdkunde, is, 147, 177, 519, 555 ; xi, 191 ; x, 142. 
c B. S. Lyman, Trans. Am. Phil. Soc, xv, 1. 
d Conifitea-Iiendua, xxii, 667. 



36 PEODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 

Japan. — The petroleum fields of Japan lie in tLe southern part of Yesso and tlie northwestern iiart of Niphon, 
and have already been noticed in chapter I, page 17. 

Java. — Mineral oils are found in many of the islands of the Indian archipelago, and are there known under the 
name of Minjak Lautoeng at Java, or Minjak Linji at Sumatra; and as they are much used by the natives, they 
are regularly collected and sold in the markets of the principal tillages and towns. The localities where these 
oils rise spontaneously in natural fissures or artificial excavations are ordinarily surrounded by warm or saline 
mineral springs. 

A specimen of oil from Palantoengan, in the residency of Samarang, has the consistency of tar and a density 
of 0.955 at ICO q. a specimen from Tjiakijana, in the district of Porbolingo, in the residency of Banjoemas, is as 
liquid as water, with a deep green color by reflection, and has a density of 0.804 at 16° C. Spontaneous evaporation 
produces a mass of the consistency of yellow batter ; distillation yields 40 per cent, of paraffine. (a) 

Von Baumhauer, the distinguished chemist, examined and reported upon six sj)ecimens of jjetroleum from as 
many different localities in the Dutch East Indies: from Amonchay, in Borneo; Bodjoinegoro, in Eembang; 
Madjalengka, in Cheribon; in Soerabaga; Lematang-Ilir, in Palembang, Sumatra; and Iliran and Banjoesin. His 
examination shows that the petroleums of Eembang and Cheribon are of very excellent quality, while the others 
are of a viscous consistency. He remarks that petroleum in this region is very abundant, and is easily obtained 
at a depth of 250 meters (820 feet), and recommends boring, considering the oil as of great importance to the 
country. (&). 

AtrsTEALiA. — Petroleum is reported as occurring in Australia and New South Wales, and crude paraffine near 
Gisborne, in New Zealand. 

Africa. — Petroleum is reported from Egypt, as examined by Frederick Weil, with a density of 0.953, but on 
distillation it did not yield naphtha or illuminating oil with a density of 0.800. It was considered a superior 
lubricator, and is especially adapted to heating marine boilers and in the manufacture of gas. (c) It is also reported 
as having been discovered in Algeria, in the Dahra-oraisaic, the region occupied by the tribe of Beni-Zarouel, in 
that part of the chain that overlooks the plain of Chilift'. A spring of glutinous petroleum here indicates a 
suitable place for exploitation, the product having the ordinary properties of maltha, {d) A more complete 
examination of Africa wiU doubtless reveal other localities which yield bitumen. 

An examination of map I will show that bitumen occurs on the American continent along a line extending 
from Point Gasp6, in Canada, to Nashville, Tennessee, and in Europe- Asia along a line extending from Hanover, 
on the North sea, through Galicia, the Caucasus, and the Punjab. These are the principal lines. In America it 
also occurs on the Pacific coast from the bay of San Francisco to San Diego; again from northern Nebraska to the 
mouth of the Sabine river, on the Gulf of Mexico ; again from Havana near the western end of Cuba, through San 
Domingo and the circle of the Leeward and Windward islands, to Trinidad ; thence westward on the maialand to the 
Magdalena river, and southward from that point to cape Blanco, in Peru. In Europe- Asia bitumen occurs on the 
lower Ehine and in the valley of the Ehone; from northern Italy, following the Apennines, to southern Sicily; along 
the eastern shores of the Adriatic, through Dalmatia and Albania, into Epirus ; again along the depression in which 
lies the Jordan and the Dead sea ; again along the mountains that border the valley of the Tigris in the east ; 
again from western China through Burmah, Pegu, Assam, Sumatra, and Java; and lastly in Japan. It will be 
observed that these lines are for the most part intimately connected with the principal mountain chains of the 
world. 

u Bleekrode, Rep. de Chem. Appl. ; C. N., v, 158; Le Teclinologiste, xxlii, 402. 
i Arcli. Neerland, iv, 299; Mon. Sci., 1870, p. 53; W. B., 1878. 
c Mon. Sci. 1877, p. 295. 
d Les Mondes, xxxvi, 318. 



THE NATURAL HISTORY OF PETROLEUM. 37 



Chapter IIL— THE GEOLOGICAL OCCURRENCE OF BITUMENS. 



Section I.— GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS. 

The relation of geology to the occurrence of bitumens has been very liberally discussed during the last half 
century. In attempting to review the literature of this subject one is impressed with the fact that for the most 
part the opinions expressed may be said to be provincial, inasmuch as they are based on observations made over a 
comparatively limited area, and from these limited observations generalizations are often made to include all of the 
varied conditions under which bitumen occurs in diiferent parts of the world. My intention has been to compile 
this chapter from the papers of professional geologists who have directed their attention to the subject, and it is while 
attempting this work that the provincial character of the materials that I have to compile and the great lack of 
uniformity of opinions among eminent geologists who have written upon the subject have been most forcibly 
impressed upon me. Again, when comparing the earlier and the later authors, there is a lack of uniformity in 
nomenclature that renders the task of one seeking information extremely difficult. Deposits of bitumen iu different 
parts of the world have been described by persons whose knowledge of geology is often of an extremely elementary 
character, yet almost every author who has mentioned a tar or petroleum spring endeavors to inform his readf^rs 
respecting the age of the rocks from which it issues and discusses the origin of bitumens. 

A clearer comprehension of the geological occurrence of petroleum can be had without particular reference 
to the political divisions of the earth's surface, and I shall therefore consider the subject only with reference to 
geological sequence. It has been frequently remarked that petroleum occurs in all geological formations from the 
Silurian up to the Tertiary, and while this is true as a general statement, it is misleading, for bitumen is not 
uniformly distributed through all formations, but occurs principally in two epochs of geological history, the Silurian 
and the lower half of the Tertiary. The vast accumulations along the principal axis of occurrence in the western 
hemisphere are found in Silurian and Devonian rocks; but the most productive axis in the eastern hemisphere lies 
in the Eocene of the Carpathians and the Caucasus. An examination of the geographical occurrence of bitumen 
east of the Mississippi river shows that it has been reported from localities which describe an ellipse upon the border 
of the Cincinnati anticlinal, which is really an elevation of Silurian rocks extending from central Kentucky to lake 
Erie, with Cincinnati nearly iu its center, and sloping beneath the newer formations in all directions. Starting with 
Great Manitoulin island on the north, petroleum is reported at Port Huron, Michigan; Chicago, Illinois; Terre 
Haute, and in Crawford county, Indiana; Henderson, Cloverport, Bowling Green, and Glasgow, Kentucky; and in 
the region around Nashville, Tennessee, extending southeast to Chattanooga, where the Silurian rocks again reach 
the surface. Turning northward, the line extends almost unbroken from Burksville through the eastern counties 
of Kentucky into Ohio and West Virginia, and into Pennsylvania and New York, but how far has not yet been 
determined. The ellipse is completed by the petroleum fields of Canada. A portion of this territory is covered 
with the carboniferous formation, beneath and within which ijetroleum has often been found. 

) At Great Manitoulin island petroleum was obtained in the Trenton limestone. At Chicago and at Terre 
Haute the drill penetrated the Niagara limestone before reaching oil. The failure of the wells to reach oil in 
southern Indiana is attributed by Professor E. T. Cox to the fact that they were abandoned before they reached 
the corniferous and the Niagara limestones. («) Professor Shaler appears to regard the great Devonian black shale 
as the source of the oil of Kentucky. (&) The oil iu that state is found saturating sandstone at Glasgow, and in 
crevices nt Burksville and other points on the Cumberland, in many instances, as I am informed bj^ those who 
reside in that vicinity and are familiar with the subject, beneath the black shale. In the neighborhood of 
Nashville, where the Lower Silurian rocks reach the surface, petroleum occurs within geodes that are inclosed 
within the solid mass of the blue limestone »inder such circumstances as to admit of no question as to whether the oil 
originated in the rock where found. As the occurrence of petroleum is studied in localities lying northeast of 
Nashville, the present location of the oil is found to be in rocks that lie in a continually ascending series. Around 
Burksville it is found in crevices, in a so-called marble in the Upper Silurian, immediately beneath the Devonian 
black slates. Further north it lies in the Devonian and subcarboniferous sandstones, and is held in the region in 
Johnson county partly in rocks that are now above the drainage level of the-country. (c) In Professor J. P. Lesley's 
elaborate report upon this region he says : "A conglomerate age or horizon of petroleum exists ; this is the main 
point to be stated." (d) ' 

Leaving Kentucky and entering Ohio, we find the so-called oil break of West Virginia and Ohio furnishing 
petroleum in sandstones that lie within the coal measures. . Still further to the northeast, in Pennsylvania and New 
York, the oil sands are all found beneath the coal measures in the Upper Devonian, and in Canada they again 
descend to the Lower Devonian. 

a Geological Surrey of Indiana, 1872, p. 139. b Geological Survey of Kentucky, N. S., iii, 107. c Lesley, P. A. P. S., x, 33. d Fbid. 



38 PEODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 

At Belden, Ohio, the oil is found in crevices in the Berea grit which covers a wide expanse of country in 
Lorain and Medina counties. 

At Mecca, iu the neighborhood of Power's Corners, the oil saturates the Berea grit, which lies within 80 to 100 
feet from the surface. Water is pumped Irom the wells, bringing the oil with it. These wells are often used for 
water at the same time that they yield petroleum. 

The geology of the trans-Mississippi localities producing petroleum has never been studied in any comprehensive 
or satisfactory manner. Professor G. C. Swallow says the petroleum of western Missouri and eastern Kansas comes 
from the coal measures, the well in La Fayette county, Missouri, passing through "sandstone, shale, coal, and 
limestone", and Professor Aughey reports the oil in the well at Ponca, Dixon county, Nebraska, .as coming at a 
depth of 570 feet from the Lower Carboniferous. "The boring passed through the Cretaceous (Dakota) group, then 
through the Upper Carboniferous into the Lower Carboniferous, and obtained only a very small quantity of oil." 
Mr. S. F. Emmons says: "It (petroleum) exists in the Cretaceous rocks which extend along the eastern slope of the 
Eocky mountains from British Columbia to Mexico, and in many of the interior valleys." The outcrops mentioned 
in the last chapter as occurring in Wyoming and Colorado arise probably from the Cretaceous. 1 have no information 
respecting the geology of the outcrops in Texas. 

The bitumen of the Pacific slope of Mexico, the West Indies, and South America is doubtless Tertiary Miocene 
in California and Eocene in Trinidad. In England the small quantity of petroleum that has been observed has 
sprung from the coal measures. In the valley of the Ehone and Savoy the bitumen is in Jurassic limestones. 
The bitumen of the Apennines, of Dalmatia and Albania, issues from rocks that.are Eocene; also that of Eoumaaia, 
Galicia, and the Caucasus. But little is known respecting the geology of the bitumen of Syria, Judea, and Persia. 
The Punjab is Eocene, and the little that is known of the deposits yielding petroleum in Burmah and the East 
India islands indicates that they are of the same age. 

Fi'om these statements it will be seen that there is a vast area in the valley of the Mississippi, estimated at 
200,000 square miles, over which petroleum has been obtained, the formations of which are nowhere newer than the 
coal measures. Another vast area, extending from California through Mexico to Peru, and including the West 
India islands, yields petroleum from Tertiary rocks, while on the eastern continent a belt of country extends from 
the North sea to Java., the bitumen-bearing rocks of which, so far as is known, are Tertiary. I shall have occasion 
to refer to many of the details of these localities in the fifth chapter. At present the bulk of the petroleum produced 
issues from rocks older than the Carboniferous, while the formations in by far the greater number of localities yielding 
bitumen are of Eocene age. 

Section 2.— THE GEOLOGICAL OCCUEEENCE OF PETEOLEUM IN EASTEEN NOETH AMEEICA. 

The geological occurrence of petroleum in the United States has been discussed with reference to whether it has 
aU ijrimarily issued from the Silurian limestones and has accumulated in the crowns of anticlinals. This view has 
been forcibly argued by Professor T. Sterry Hunt, of Montreal. The question has also been discussed with reference 
to whether petroleum, having originated in deep-seated strata, has not collected in crevices which have resulted from 
faulting and movement of the overlying strata. The late Professor B. B. Andrews was perhaps the leading exponent 
of this view. Again, it has been urged that the oil, having originated in the lower rocks of deeply-seated strata, is 
held neither in crevices nor beneath the crowns of anticlinals but by capillary attraction in the interstices and 
cracks of porous sandstone. This view has been advocated by Professor J. P. Lesley. Dr. Hunt observed in 
Canada, Professor Andrews in West Virginia, and Professor Lesley in Pennsylvania and Kentucky, and from a 
careful examination of the facts to be observed in a summer's trip through the oil region from Olean, New York, to 
Nashville, Tennessee, and also from a careful collation of statements made by many oil producers and others, I 
conclude that each of these gentlemen is correct as regards his own locality. There is no question but that 
petroleum has originated in the Silurian rocks, and that the finding of oil in the Niagara limestone at Chicago and 
at Terre Haute was a strong confirmation of the opinions expressed by Dr. Hunt in his famous essay on the history 
of rock-oil, when he says, referring to a previous paper reported in the Montreal Gazette : 

I asserted that the source of the petroleum -vras to he sought iu the hitumiuous Devonian and Sihirian limestones. Beside the 
corniferous limestones (Devonian), we have shown that hoth the Niagara and Trenton (of Upper and Lower Silurian age) contain 
petroleum, (a) 

There is no question that petroleum occurs in West Virginia along an anticlinal, as has been advocated by 
Professor Andrews. The hypothesis that petroleum occurs in huge fissures or cavities which have been represented 
by sections, in which water, oil, and gas are arranged according to their specific gravities, has not been sustained 
by later and more careful study of the subject. It is beyond question that the oil of Pennsylvania does not occur 
beneath anticlinals, nor in crevices, nor is it anywhere near the Silurian limestones ; yet there is no doubt that at 
Gaspe and iu Ontario the springs of petroleum occur along the crests of gentle anticlinals, as so carefully described 
by Dr. Hunt. 



a C. N., Ti, 5, 16, 35; C. Nat. (1), vi, 24,''); A. J. Ph. (3), x, 527. 



THE NATURAL HISTORY OF PETROLEUM. '69 

In 1867 Professor C. H. Hitchcock contributed an article to The Geological Magazine, -which hr.s been very 
widely quoted, particularly as to the conclusions therein reached. These conclusions appear to have been obtained 
from a collation of the writings of Professors Hunt, Andrews, and Lesley ;(«) and an address given by Dr. Hunt at 
a meeting of the Societe Geologique de France, in which he made a general application of his views, based on his 
Canadian experience, to the occurrence of petroleum in the United States, appears to have been very widely quoted 
in Europe, (b) 

In the article above mentioned Professor Hitchcock enumerates fourteen different formations from which 
petroleum has been obtained in North America (exclusive of the West Indies), and generally in commercial 
quantities. These are : 

n. Plioceue (c) Tertiarj- of California. This lias been known for a century. 

b. Cretaceous in Colorado and Utah, near lignite beds. Xot yet explored. 

c. Trias of North Carolina and Connecticut, in small amounts, (rf) 

d. Near the top of the Carboniferous rocks in West Virginia. Most of the producing wells of this state are from this horizon. 

f. Shallow wells near Wheeling, West Virginia, and Atheus, Ohio, not far from the Pittsburgh coal. 
/. Four hundred and twenty-five feet lower, near the Pomeroy coal-beds. 

g. At the base of the coal measures, in conglomerates or millstone grit. 

k. Small wells in the Archimedes limestone (Lower Carboniferous) of Kentucky. 

i. Chemung and Portage groups — certainly three different levels — in western Pennsylvania and northern Ohio. 

j. Black slate of Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee, or the representatives of the New York formation from the Genesee to the Marcellus 
elates. This is near the middle of the Devonian. 

k. Corniferous limestone and the overlying Hamilton group in Canada West, extending to Michigan. This is largely productive. 

J. Lower Helderberg limestone at Gasp^, Canada East. This is Upper Silurian. 

m. Niagara limestone near Chicago, and awaits development, (e) 

n. In the equivalents of the Lorraine and Utica slatu and Trenton limestone of the Lower Silurian in Kentucky and Tennessee. One 
well in Kentucky in these rocks was estimated to have yielded 50,000 barrels. (/) 

Developments since 1867 have added little, if anything, to the above as a general statement. With particular 
reference to the three localities in Canada, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia, which practically yield the petroleum 
product of North America, I shall endeavor to show the manner in which nature has stored and yields such vast 
acCTimulations of material, and to present the ascertained facts without bias for any theory. Dr. Hunt has been a 
frequent contributor to the literature of this subject during the last twenty years, and from his articles in the 
American Journal of Science for March, 1863, [g) and November, 1868, (h) I make the following extracts, which 
embody his views upon the geological occurrence of petroleum in Canada: 

The natural oil-springs which occur in various parts of western Canada are upon the outcrop of the corniferous limestone or of 
the overlying Hamilton shales, and are along the line of a broad and low anticlinal, which runs nearly east and west through the district. 
In the townshiji of Dereham, where small quantities of oil rise to the surface in several places, the corniferous formation is overlaid by 
about 40 feet of clay and sand, after sinking through which the limestone was bored to the depth of 36 feet. From this opening a few 
barrels of petroleum were obtained. Oil-springs abound for several miles along the Thames about 60 miles to the westward of Dereham, 
and borings into the limestone beneath have furnished considerable quantities of oil, although not sufficient, perhaps, to be of great 
economic importance. The principal oil-wells of Canada occur in Enniskillen, about 20 miles to the northward of the last. Here 
numerous oil-springs are found, and the thickened petroleum, mixed with earthy and vegetable matters, forms layers of considerable 
extent at the surface of the ground and around the roots of growing forest trees. Two of t hese layers have together an area of more than 
two acres, and a thickness which varies from a few inches to 2 feet. They are locally known as gum beds. In sinking a well in the 
vicinity of an oil-spring in this region there was found beneath a depth of 10 feet of clay and reposing upon 4 feet of gravel a layer of 
bituminous matter like that just described from 2 to 4 inches in thickness. It is casUy separable into thin laminae, which are so soft as to 
be flexible, and show upon their surfaces the remains of leaves and of insects which have become imbedded during the slow accumulation 
and solidification of the bitumen. This little deposit, which is mingled with a considerable proportion of earthy matter, is instructive as 
showing the manner in which beds of bituminous rock may sometimes be produced from previously-formed sources of petroleum. 

The corniferous limestone in Enniskillen is overlaid by about 200 feet of marls and soft shales, abounding in the characteristic fossils 
of the Hamilton formation. To this succeed from 40 to 60 feet of Quaternary clays and sands of fresh-water origin, through which the 
scanty natural oil-springs rise. On sinking wells there is generally found reposing immediately upon the shales a layer of coarse gravel 
holding large quantities of petroleum, which is the oil of the so-called surface wells, and has accumulated beneath the clays. It is 
darker and thicker than that obtained directly from the rock below, on boring which fissures orseams are met with, from which petroleum 
issues iu abundance, and often with great force, sometimes attaining the surface and often rising above it, constituting the flowing wells. 
These oil-bearing veins are met with at depths varying from 40 to 100 and 200 feet in the rock, and in borings near together the oil 
is oft«n met with at very unequal depths. Adjacent borings sometimes appear to be connected with the same vein and to afi'ect each 
other's supply. The deepest well in this region was estimated to yield, when first opened, 2,000 gallons in twenty-four hours, and, at 
present, where it is allowed to flow for some time, the supply in many of the neighboring shallower wells is found to fail. Tbe facts 
observed iu this region seem to show that these veins are fissures running obliquely downward to the great reservoir of petroleum, which 
is probably in the underlying corniferous limestone. The oil-wells in this township are confined to two districts, the more abundant one 
being about (i miles south of the other. From the results of an unsuccessful boring made on an intermediate point, it appears that these 
two districts are on two slight anticlinals subordinate to the great axis already mentioned. This anticlinal structure appears to be a 
necessary condition of the occurrence of abundant oil-wells ; the petroleum, being lighter than water, accumulates in porous strata, or in 
fissures in the higher part of the anticlinal, and, in obedience to a hydrostratic law, rises through openings to heights considerably above 

a C. N., fi, 5, 16, :Vi; C. Nat. (1), 6, 245; A. J. Ph. (3), 10, 527. e Since shown in Niagara limestone at Terre Haute, Indiana. 

I B. S. G. F., xxiv, .570. / The Geo}. Mag., iv, 34. 

c Since determined to be Miocene. g A. J. S. (2), xxxv, 169. 

d Professor Kerr, stat* geologist of North Carolina, reported that h Hid (2), xlvi, 356. 
no petj-oleum was known in that state. 



40 PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 

the water level of tlie region. Large quantities of light carbnretted hydrogen gas are found in the palseozoilr rocks of the vicinity, and 
seem to he in many eases accumulated in the subterranean anticlinal reservoirs, since horings sometimes yield hoth gas and oil, or gas alone. 
Water sometimes, but not always, more or less saline often accompanies the petroleum, and frequently replaces the latter in wells that 
have been for some time wrought. I do not conceive that the gas has any necessary connection with the oil, since large quantities of it 
are found in rocks which underlie the corniferous limestone. If, however, as is not improbable, portions of it were generated and now 
exist in a condensed state in the oil-bearing strata, its elasticity would help to raise the petroleum to the surface. 

The accumulation of the petroleum along lines of uplift, and its escape through the fissures accompanying this disturbance, must 
evidently date from a remote geological epoch. Porous beds, like the Devonian sandstones or the Quaternary gravels, have, however, 
served as reservoirs in which the oil has accumulated, while argillaceous and nearly impervious strata, like the marls of the Hamilton 
group and the fresh-water clays which overlie the gravels in western Canada, have in a great measure prevented its escape. 

Hence it would appear that the Devonian sandstones of Pennsylvania and northeastern Ohio are filled with oil which has risen from the 
limestone beneath, while over a great portion of western Canada this limestone was ages ago denuded, and has lost the greater part of its 
petroleum, (a) 

There exists in southwestern Ontario, along the river Saint Clair, an area of several hundred square miles underlaid by black shales 
in the counties of Lambton and Kent, of which only the lower part belongs to the Hamilton group. These strata are exposed in very few 
localities, but the lower beds are seen inWarwick, where they were many years since examined by Mr. Hall, in company with Mr. Alexander 
Murray, of the geological survey of Canada, and were by the former identified with the Genesee slate forming the summit of the Hamilton 
group. They are in this place, however, overlaid by more arenaceous beds, in which Professor Hall at the same time detected the fish 
remains of the Portage formation. The thickness of these black strata, as appears from a boring in the immediate vicinity, is 50 feet, 
beneath which are met the gray Hamilton shales. » » » * xhe Hamilton shale, which in some parts of New York attains a thickness 
of 1,000 feet, but is reduced to 200 feet in the western part of the state, consists in Ontario chiefly of soft, gray marls, called soapstone 
by the well-borers, but includes at its base a few feet of black beds, probably representing the Marcellus shale. It contains, moreover, 
in some parts beds of from 2 to 5 feet of solid gray limestone holding silicified fossils, and in one instance impregnated with petroleum, 
characters which, but for the nature of the organic remains and the underlying marls, would lead to the conclusion that the Lower 
Devonian had been reached. The thickness of the Hamilton shale varies in different parts of the region under consideration. 

From the record of numerous wells in the southeastern portion it appears that the entire thickness of soft strata between the 
corniferous limestone below and the black shale above varies from 275 to 230 feet, while along the shore of lake Brie it is not more 
than 200 feet. Further north, in Bosanquet, beneath the black shale, 350 feet of soft gray shale were traversed in boring without reaching 
the hard rock beneath, while in the adjacent township of Warwick, in a similar boring, the underlying limestone was attained at 396 feet . 
from the base of the black shales. It thus appears that the Hamilton shale (including the insignificant representative of the Marcellus 
shale at its base) augments in volume from 200 feet on lake Erie to about 400. feet near to lake Huron. Such a change in an essentially 
calcareous formation is in accordance with the thickening of the corniferous limestone in the same direction. 

The Lower Devonian in Ontario is represented by the corniferous limestone, for the so-called Onondaga limestone has not been 
recognized, and the Oriskany sandstone, always thin, is in some places entirely wanting. The thickness of the corniferous in western 
New York is about 90 feet, and iu southeastern Michigan it is said to be not more than 60 feet, although it increases in going northward, 
and attains 275 feet at Mackinac. In the townships of Woodhouse and Townsend, about 70 miles west from Buffalo, its thickness has 
been found to be 160 feet; but for a great portion of the region in Ontario underlaid by this formation it is so much concealed that it is 
not easy to determine its thickness. In the numerous borings which have been sunk through this limestone there is met with nothing 
distinctive to mark the separation between it and the limestone beds which form the upper part of the Onondaga salt group or Salina 
formation of Dana, which consists of dolomites, alternating with beds of a pure limestone, like that of the corniferous formation. The 
saliferous and gypsiferous magnesian marls, which form the lower part of the Salina formation, are, however, at once recognized by the 
borers, and lead to important conclusions regarding this formation in Ontario. In Wayne county. New York, the Salina formation has 
a thickness of from 700 to 1,000 feet, which, to the westward, is believed to be reduced to less than 300 feet, where the outcrop of this 
formation, crossing the Niagara river, enters Ontario. » * » * 

Apart from the chemical objections to the view which supposes the oil to be derived from the pyroschists above the corniferous 
limestone, it is to be remarked that all the oil-wells of Ontario have been sunk along denuded anticlinals, where, with the exception of 
the thin black band sometimes met with at the base of the Hamilton formation, these so-called bituminous shales are entirely wanting. 
The Hamilton formation, moreover, is never oleiferous, except in the case of the rare limestone beds already referred to, which are 
occasionally iuterstratified. Reservoirs of petroleum are met with both in the overlying Quaternary gravels and in the fissures and 
cavities of the Hamilton shales, but in some cases the borings are carried entirely through these strata into the corniferous limestone 
before getting oil. Among other instances cited in my geological report for 1866 may be mentioned a well at Oil Springs, in Enniskillen, 
which was sunk to a depth of 456 feet from the surface, and 70 feet in the solid limestone beneath the Hamilton shales, before meeting 
oil, while in adjacent wells supplies of petroleum are generally met with at varying depths in the shales. 

In a well at Botbwell oil was first met with at 420 feet from the surface and 120 feet in the corniferous limestone, while a boring 
at Thamesville was carried 332 feet, of which the last 32 feet were in the corniferous limestone. This well yielded no oil until, at a 
depth of 16 feet in this rock, a fissure was encountered, from which at the time of my visit 30 barrels of petroleum had been extracted. 
At Chatham, in like manner, after sinking through 294 feet of shales, oil was met with at a depth of 58 feet in the underlying corniferous 
limestone. 

We also find oil-producing wells sunk iu districts where the Hamilton shale is entirely wanting, as in Maidstone, on the shore of 
lake Saint Clair, where, beneath 109 feet of clay, a boring was carried through 209 feet of limestone, of which the greater part consisted 
of the water-lime beds of the Salina formation, overlaid by a portion of the corniferous. At a distance of 6 feet in the rock a fissure 
was struck, yielding several barrels of petroleum. Again, at Tilsonburg, where the corniferous limestone is covered only by Quaternury 
clays, natural oil-springs are frequent, and by boriug fissures yielding petroleum were found at various depths in the limestone down 
to 100 feet, at which point a flowing well was obtained, yielding an abundance of water, with some 40 gallons of oil daily. 

The supplies of oil from wells in the corniferous limestone are less abundant than those in the overlying shales and even iu the 
Quaternary gravels, for the obvious reason that both of these offer conditions favorable to the retention and accumulation of the petroleum 
escaping from the limestones beneath. 

» » • « rpi^g conditions under which oil occurs in these limestones in Ontario are worthy of notice, inasmuch as they present 
grave difficulties to those who maintain that petroleum has been generated by an unexplained process of distillation going on in some 

a A.J. S. (2), XXXV, 169. 



THE NATURAL HISTORY OF PETROLEUM. 41 

underlying hydrocarbonaceons rock. Numerous borings in search of oil on Manitoulin island have been carried down through the Utica 
and Lorraine shales, but petroleum has been found only in fissures at considerable depths in the underlying limestones of the Trenton 
group. The supplies from this region have not hitherto been abundant, yet from one of the ivelis just mentioned l;iO barrels of petroleum 
were obtained. The limestone here rests on the white, unfossiliferous, chazy sandstone, beneath which are found only ancient crystalline 
rocks, so that it is difficult to avoid the conclusion that this limestone of the Trenton group is, like those of the Upper Silurian and Devonian 
age already noticed, a true oil-bearing rock, (a) 

Although the discussion of the .subject as presented in these two extracts proceeds in a somewhat disconnected 
manner, the opinions held by Dr. Hunt are plain, viz : that the oil comes from the limestones at the base of the 
Devonian formation, that it is indigenous in those rocks, and has accumulated under the crowns of anticlinals. 

According to the latest published researches, I conclude that the geological formations in western Pennsylvania 
from which petroleum has been obtained belong to the Chemung and perhaps later groups of the Upper Devonian, 
and consist of shales and marls, interstratified with sandstones. The sandstone varies in character from a coarse- 
grained, uncemented sandstone to a pebble conglomerate, composed of worn pebbles of white or slightly-colored 
opaque quartz overlaid by marls and slates, often highly silicated, forming very hard and impervious crusts. This 
pebble conglomerate consists of two varieties, occupying separate horizons, in one of which the pebbles are nearly 
spherical, and in the other flattened. Between these beds of sandstone or conglomerate that contain the oil are 
beds of shale, often of great thickness, with which are thin beds of sand and " shells". The latter are thus described 
by Professor J. P. Lesley : 

The hard " shells" or crusts of white flint found at ditierent depths in this and many other wells, and broken with the auger-bits 
only with extreme difficulty, are deserving of particular investigation. They seem to form impervious sheets of precipitated silica 
efiectnal barriers against any general movement, upward or downward, of the underground drainage. (6) 

The sandstones and conglomerates are of quite uniform structure over wide areas ; for instance, the Venango 
third sand consists of smooth, rounded pebbles, while the Bradford third sand is a porous sandstone. The latter 
has been examined microscopically by Professor C. W. Hall, of the University of Minnesota, who, in a private 
communication, says : 

The sandstone in the flame turned to a light gray, almost white, color through the burning out of the bituminous matter. Thin 
sections disclose the presence of numerous fluid cavities in some of the grains. Small as these grains are, they protected intact the fluid 
contents of the cavities from the penetrating eflects of the petroleum which had percolated through the m.-tss of the sandstone. 

A bed of shale several hundred feet in thickness and very rich in remains of fucoids outcrops along the shores 
of lake Erie through Erie county, Pennsylvania, and Chautauqua county, New York, and wells drilled at Erie, 
Pennsylvania, to a depth of over 600 feet in this shale have yielded petroleum, but have failed to reach the 
underlying formation. These shales dip toward the southwest. 

At Union City, in the southern part of Erie county, sandstone overlies the shale in the summits of the hills 
and furnishes the quarry rock for the valley of French creek. This sandstone often exhibits traces of bitumen, and 
when freshly quarried and exposed to the sun becomes covered with an exudation of thick oil. Farther south and 
east the rocks alternate between shales, sandstones, and pebble conglomerate, each of which dips south and west, 
and disappears under newer and higher members that succeed them on the surface. In the neighborhood of Titus ville, 
Crawford county, the shales of Erie county have passed far below the surface, and new sandstones have appeared 
on the hills which border the deep and narrow valleys through which the Allegheny and its tributaries flow. 

No clearer statement has been made of the relations of these rocks than that given by Mr. J. F. Carll in his 
reports to the geologist in charge of the second geological survey of Pennsylvania. He says : 

In the first oil development by artesian wells nothing was known about the sands. Wells were drilled until indications of oil 
appeared, without regard to the character of the strata pierced. But experience soon proved the sand rocks to be its source, and then 
commenced deeper drilling for other sands, which, in the valley of Oil creek, resulted in the discovery and classification of " three sands" — 
these being all the oil-bearing sands found in that locality, even after several wells had been sunk much deeper in quest of others. 

In the progress of development locations for wells were selected on higher ground. The drill passed now through four or five other 
and higher definite sand rocks before reaching the geological horizon of the first sand of Oil creek, and when this fact was made clear it 
became customary among drillers to throw out these ujiper sands from their well records. They were called the "mountain sands", and 
were also numbered 1, 2, 3, etc. The drillers commenced their count of the oil-rocks with that one which they found at the depth .at 
which they supposed the first sand of Oil creek to lie; but in so doing many errors occurred, resulting from a want of accurate 
observation, first, as to the surface elevation of the wells drilled on high ground, and, second, as to the dip of the oil-bearing strata, 
which materially alfected the comparison of elevations, even when these were accurately known. A third source of error may be found 
iu the fact that a thick stratum of sand lying single and solid in one place is often split into two, or, in other words, is represented by an 
equivalent of two sands with shales intervening in another place, perhaps only a short distance from the first. 

For several years after the discovery of oil the drilling of wells was almost exclusively confined to the " flats " bordering the 
principal streams. The impression prevailed that there was some connection, some parallelism, between the streams on the surface and 
the " oil veins" beneath; but many failures to strike oil along the streams gradually led to locations on higher ground and upon lines 
between good wells. This method has been pursued so long and so thoroughly that we can now affirm that the drill has traced the great 
oil leads of the country from point to point regardless ofani/ and all topographical features of the surface, (c) * * * 

\Ve use the word " belt", not as employed by some to designate a narrow, continuous line of sand rock, which may be >inerringly 
traced for miles with an instrument on a certain degree of the compass circle, but only as a convenient term for expressing the general 
trend of the oil-bearing rocks from point to point, even although interrupted by " diy " and unproductive intervals. 

a A. J. S. (2), xlvi, 356, el seq. h P. A. P. S., x, 68. c Report I, p. 10. 



42 PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 

The base-line rim from Pleasantville to Tidioute — from the commencement of the Colorado district to the Allegheny river — passes 
throiT^h what has been one of the best and most continuous oil-producing belts of the region. Along and contiguous to this line, and to 
the north of it, the deeply-eroded valleys of Pine creek and Dennis run expose the basset edges of the -whole series of slightly-inclined 
rocks (uplifted toward the north) underlying the Great Conglomerate (No. XII, the base of the productive coal measures) to a 
(geological) depth of 850 feet, bringing us down to within about 100 feet of the third or lowest oil-bearing sands, (a) 

This exposure (along Pine creek and Dennis run), taken in connection with the well records along the route, enables us to form a 
tolerably correct idea of the stratification of the rocks to that depth. The whole series is found to consist of bands of sandstones and 
conn-lomerates and sandy and muddy shales and slates, varying locally in character, composition, and relative order, when studied in 
detail, but, as a whole, lying one above another in nearly horizontal parallel planes. The local variability of stratiiicatioii is particularly 
noticeable (at least in the southeastern part of the district) in the strata next beneath the Conglomerate No. XII, and to a relative depth 
of from 600 to 650 feet. These strata have never produced oil in Venango county. We may therefore call them the "barren oil- 
measures" of Venango, or the "mountain-sand group". 

Beneath the division of mountain sands another series, with a thickness of from 350 to 400 feet, and siniUar to the above in structure, 
but rather more regular in stratification, will include the three sands of Oil creek ; and, as we believe it can be shown that no oil ha& 
ever been obtained in the district except from rocks of this series, it may properly be called the "petroleum measures " of Venango, or 
"division of the three sands". 

Some of the first wells drilled evidently obtained their oil above the first sand, and the old oil-pits of French and Oil creeks and 
Hosmer run were above it also. But the oil, without doubt, came really from the first sand, its close proximity to the surface in these 
places having admitted of the percolation of surface water into its crevices, which, by hydraulic pressure, forced the oil upward. 

It is a noticeable fact that any first sand below the surface is generally full of water veins, whether it be an oil-bearing or a 
mountain sand. If the oil sands lie deep, they seldom (especially in new territory, before the water is let down by the drill) contain much 
water. 

In the shallow wells at Tidioute, along the Allegheny river, and on French and some parts of Oil creek, considerable water was 
always pumped with the oil ; but in the deep wells at Pleasantville there was not found at first one per cent, of water, and that, being 
salt, must have come commonly from the second sand. As the oil was exhausted the water increased. (6) 

A comparison of records of wells on Oil creek, where the three leading sands of the petroleum measures lie with considerable 
regularity, both as to their thickness and the intervening distances between them, results in an average record about as follows : 

First sand, 40 feet thick; interval, 105 feet. Second sand, 25 feet thick; interval, 110 feet. Third sand, 35 feet thick. Total , 315 feet. . 

In addition to these three regular sands, there is found in many of the wells a fine-grained, muddy, gray sand, known among drillers 
as the '" stray third ". This lies from 15 to 20 feet above the regular third, and is from 12 to 25 feet thick. In some localities this rock 
assumes a pebbly character, and produces oil which is always darker than the third-sand oil, sometimes being nearly black. 

At different points on Oil creek — at East Shamburg and other places — wells inclose proximity to each other have produced, some of 
them black oil, some green, and some a mixture of both. 

The "black oil" of the Pleasantville district has all been derived from the " stray third ", which, in this district, is universally called 
the fourth, or "black-oil sand". But here the character and composition of the two sands (third and stray) are reversed. The stray is a 
coarse pebble or conglomerate ; the third, a fine, micaceous, muddy, gray sand, only 15 to 20 feet in thickness, but always showing traces 
of green oil, and sometimes furnishing an abundance of gas. 

We believe it can be shown also that Pithole, Cashup, and Fagundue, although producing an oil of a lighter color than Pleasantville, 
drew their supply from the same stray sand, and the proof will be offered farther on. 

A noticeable peculiarity of these two sands (stray and third) is that on the northwestern outline of the oil-field, where the third 
shows itself in greatest force, the stray is seldom an oil-producing rock. As we proceed southeastward the stray begins to get its pebbly 
constitution and to yield oil over broader areas than the third, the latter becoming more fine and compact and gradually thinning away. 

A marked difference will be noted also on comparison of specimens of the two sands. In the oil-producing stray the pebbles are of 
a yellowish-brown color, and in shape generally spheroidal. In Ihe third the pebbles are white, often brilliant, and in shape lenticular. 
These distinguishing characteristics, we believe, hold good universally. 

On the northwesterly line above mentioned the second sand lies in a massive stratum, 30 feet or more in thickness. Toward the 
southeast, as in a part of the Pleasantville district, at Bean farm, Pithole, Cashup, and Fagundus^ it is split into two well-defined sands, 
with from 15 to 30 feet of slates or shales intervening. It is this that has given rise to the erroneous appellation of fourth-sand oil at 
Pleasantville. The drillers began to number rightly on the first ; and called the split (second) sand next below it second and third, and 
then called the stray the fourth. This, of course, made the third sand of the Oil creek wells, which was still lower, fifth in the series. 

In some localities they went still farther in their zeal to prove their territory better than Oil creek, by showing a greater number of 
sands. Finding the stray and third iii three divisions, instead of two, they announced at once the discovery of a sixth sand. 

The first sand, as far as we have examined it, appears to lie with more uniformity than the second, but further investigation may 
show changes of character and of level similar to the others. 

Little oil has been produced from the first and second sands in the particular field under review. Their best development as oil- 
bearing rocks is along the Allegheny river from West Hickoi-y to the Cochran farm, and on French creek and Two-mile run, near Franklin, 
to which our detailed survey of 1874 did not reach. We speak of them above as they are found on the green-oil range, and without a 
closer knowledge of the peculiar structural differences which they may be found to exhibit in the places above named on the Allegheny 
river and French creek. 

Assuming, then, that all the oil from this country has been deduced from the " group of the three oil sands", consisting of the first, 
second, stray, and third, with their intervening slates, shales, and mud rocks, and that the trend of the oil-producing belt is marked by no 
surface indications to point out its direction or drift, we will proceed, on the principle of a general parallelism of strata, to trace the sands 
by means of the levels run, combined with the records of wells, through some of the main oil centers of the district, with a view of 
ascertaining the direction of the dip of the series and the fall, in feet, per mile. 

The Venango petroleum district, or "upper oil belt ", as it is now generally called, in contradistinction to the Butler county district, 
may be said to commence a short distance east of Tidioute. From thence southwestward it is marked by an almost unbroken band of ' 
wells through Dennis run. Triumph, the^Jlapp farms. New London, the Ware farm, and Colorado, a distance of aboirt 9 miles. 

Between this, its southwest end, and the commencement of the Shamburg district, near the National wells, no paying third-sand 
wells are found, except, perhaps, within a limited area on the Benedict farm, west of Enterprise, the exact geological relations of which 
to the Colorado "lead" has not been fully determined. 

a Report I, p. 11. J Ibi4., p. 13. 



THE NATURAL HISTORY OF PETROLEUM. 43 

Beneath this unproductive district the third sand is found in all the wells drilled, having a thickness of from 30 to 45 feet, hut 
apparently too fine-grained and closely compacted with mud to produce oil. 

Between Shamburg and Petroleum Centre, on Oil creek, occurs another unproductive interval ; but from Petroleum Centre the oil- 
belt has been traced with considerable continuity, crossing the Allegheny river at Reno, again at Foster's, and terminating at Scrubgrass. 
This line of development, it will be noted, leaves Tidionte in a direction of about south 80° west, gradually sweeping around 
toward the south, and ending with a bearing of only about south 20° west. 

The belt above described, it .should be understood, is the green-oil or third-sand belt. It appears to be much narrower and more 
sharply defined than others. At many places a distance from the center line toward the north or toward the south of merely a few rods 
suffices to guarantei; a " dry hole". 

From levels taken along the surface line above described, combined with such records of wells as were obtained, the elevation of 
the top of the third sand in the several localities named is ascertained to be as follows : 

Feet above tide. 

AtTidioute 995 

At Colorado 840 

At Pleasantville 755 

At Shamburg 710 

At Petroleum Centre 640 

At Rouseville 545 

Distance from Eousevillc to Tidioute, 20.7 miles; diii'erence in elevations, 450 feet; dip per mile, 21.7 feet, (a) 

lu the report made subsequently, and published in 1880,Mr. Carll continues the discussion of this subject. 
Want of space forbids my quoting more liberally from this report, but the following extracts present the relation 
and stratigraphy of these formations : 

The designations first, second, and third mountain sands, used provisionally in 1874, answered very well for the purposes of that local 
report ; liut to adhere to the use of these ordinal numbers still, after the comparison of oil-well and surface sections has been extended 
southwestward to the very borders of the state of Ohio and northeastward into the southern counties of the state of New York, would 
only perpetuate confusion in our geological nomenclature. 

The first mountain sand appears to occupy the horizon of the Connoqnenessing sandstone of Butler county 
and the Kenzua creek sandstone of McKean county, and may as well be spoken of when occasion requires under 
one of those two names. 

In the Reports of the Pennsylvania Survey, vol. Ill, page 83, appears the following in relation to this subject: 

The second mountain sand cannot, indeed, be robbed entirely of its name ; but whenever it is thus spoken of the name must be 
accounted as a mere synonym for theGarlan(J^conglomerate, and not at all as au index to the numerical position of the rock in relation to 
other sands in the series. But it will always be the Garland-Olean-Sharon-Ohio conglomerate. 

The third mountain .sand will receive in this report a new name, the Pithole grit. This rock was first recognized as a persistent 
sandstone in the Pithole oil-wells, being well developed in all that country, and making conspicuous outcrops along the Allegheny river on 
the south, and along Oil creek on the west. The term grit sufficiently designates it as a sandstone ; but, what is more important, will serve 
to associate it in the reader's mind with the Berea grit of Ohio, which seems to have been a contemporaneous formation, although the 
two rocks have not been traced across the country toward eaeh other to a common place of actual meeting. 

Neglecting for the present the mountain 6.ands as separate numbers of a small series, and grouping them and their intervals together 
as a whole, I must now show that they constitute one (and the upper) member of a larger series. The vertical section of rocks in the oil 
belt, as exhibited by the well records, show these characteristic subdivisions: 

1. Mountain sands, so called by the oil- well drillers. 

2. Crawford shales, a group of shales and mud rocks, in the midst of which is the Pithole grit. 

3. Venango oil-sands, a group of sandstones and shales interleaved. 

These names will be useful in defining those features of hardness and softness by which the driller classifies the rocks through which 
his well passes downward ; but they must not be taken by the geologist to signify formations of these successive and distinct ages, plainly 
and absolutely separated from each other; for such dividing planes cannot be satisfactorily established from the imperfect records of oil- 
wells alone. 

It is important to state the fact clearly at the outset that throughout the whole area which has afforded the Venango oil— that is, 
along the entire length of the oil-producing belt (or belts) of country— the structure of the oil-sand group is virtually the same. On the 
other hand, the moment we leave the oil-producing area to the right or to the left the internal constitution of the oil-sand group becomes 
quite different. All the wells that pierce the oil-producing belts exhibit remarkably the .same group of oil sands. All wells put down 
outside of these belts exhibit quite a different kind of deposits when they reach the plane of the oil sands, (ft) 

From data too voluminous to quote here, Mr. Carll concludes that "the Venango oil sands as a group not only 
thin away, but disappear, and are wanting in the Slippery Eock country". Farther to the southwest, in Beaver 
county, he concludes that " not only is the oil group cut out, and also the red rock over it, but the sandstone 
deposit occupying the horizon of the Pithole grit is enlarged ; the .shaly interval above the sandstone becomes 
sandy ; and thus the true base of the mountain-sand series becomes sotnewhat obscure ". He further concludes : 

It follows from this study of onr sections that the Ohioville (Smith's ferry) amber oil must be derived from the horizon of the Pithole 
grit, which also furnishes amber oil in small quantities on Slippery Eock creek. It follows as logically, also, that the Slippery Rock heavy- 
oil is found in one of the lower members of the monntoin-sand series, an horizon which also produces heavy oil in many wells at Smith's 
ferry, (c) 

Continuing the discus.sion, Mr. Carll states: 

No direct connection has yet been discovered between the upper or Tidioute-Bullionoil belt and the lower or Clarion-Butler oil belt. 
The present southern termination of the line of productive wells on the upper belt is near Clintonville, in Venango county. This is 
about 12 miles northwest of Columbia hill, in Butler county, which is the nearest point of development in the lewer belt. The lower belt 
a Rfport Second Geological Surrey Pennsylrania, I. 1874, p. 18. h Ibid., Ill, p. 83. c Reports, III, p. 90. 



44 PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 

is known to extend south-southwesterly from Columbia hill into Summit township, Butler county, some 20 miles, and northeasterly into 
Elk township, Clarion couuty, some 15 miles. The area of country between the belts has been tested in hundreds of places with results 
in most cases quite unsatisfactory. Nevertheless several good pools of oil have been discovered. These, however, do not establish a 
connection between the belts, for the stratification is somewhat irregular throughout all this district as far as is known, and the continuity 
of the oil-producing rocks seems to be here interrupted. We cannot, therefore, speak of the upper belt as being directly connected by a 
line of paying wells with the lower; yet the main structural features of the group in the upper belt are observable across the interval) 
and the rocks themselves reappear with their characteristic aspect as soon as the lower belt is reached. 

That the deposits of the lower belt have been subjected to more vicissitudes of water level than those of the upper belt, resulting in 
a greater number of alternating bands of sandstone and shale within the vertical limits of the group, seems evideirt ; yet it cannot be 
doubted that the deposit in the two belts were being laid down at one and the same time. They occupy the same geological horizon ; 
they are associated with similar strata ; and they exhibit a like parallelism of structure. Geologically, therefore, the two belts may be 
viewed as one, and may be studied and described accordingly, (a) 

Concerning the geological age of the oil-sand group, Mr. Carll remarks : 

Previous to our present survey the Venango oil-sands were universally regarded as of Chemung age. In the summer of 187.5 evidences 
began to accumulate pointing strongly toward the probability that they were of more recent date ; hut the idea seemed then so heterodox, 
and the facta to support it were at first so meager and questionable, that no definite conclusion on the subject could be immediately arrived 
.at. Even now their relative place in the paleozoic column of eastern Pennsylvania cannot be precisely and positively indicated. We 
can only say there are reasonable grounds for inferring that they do not belong to the Chemung formation, as represented in New York state 
and eastern Pennsylvania. (6) 

A comparison of the structure and depth of sediment belonging to the Catskill, the Pocono, and the Mauch Chunk periods in eastern 
Pennsylvania with those of the same ages in western . Pennsylvania leaves little room to doubt that the former represent deposits in a 
much broader and deeper sea than the latter : a sea perhaps whose bottom was undergoing a steady depression in the east while it was 
alternating between depression and elevation and gradually shallowing, in the west. An elevation of the ocean bottom near the close of 
t-he Chemung period seems to me to have thrown off the waters from a large portion of its former bed in the west, leaving submerged in 
that direction only a narrow arm of the sea, representing perhaps some old submarine valley. This comparatively contracted and shallow 
basin must necessarily, from the very nature of the case, have been the repository of immense deposits of reworked Chemung sediments, 
rapidly brought into it from the newly emerged mud-land, to be interbedded with the Catskill reds, which were intermittently swept in 
from the east to greater or less distances as circumstances directed. We might then expect to find in this basin precisely what the drill 
discloses: alternations of Catskill red and Chemung gray argillaceous shales occupying the deepest part of it, and more sandy deposits 
lying around its edge.s. (c) 

Concerning the structure of the oil-sand group, Mr. Carll insists that the integrity of the Venango oil-sand group 
must be kept in clear view, as it is a group in the strictest sense of the term, and has a well-defined top and 
bottom, (d) The sandy layers at the top of the Crawford shale are of no moment in the present discussion. The 
sole fact here insisted on is this : 

1. That over the oil-sand group lies a distinct soft formation, 300 or 400 feet thick, in allparts of the oil regions of western Pennsylvania, 
which, for the present, we call the Crawford shale, in the middle of which appears, in some parts of the region, a massive sand deposit, 
called in this report the Pithole grit. 

2. That the well-sinker will find an abrujjt change of character when he gets through this soft formation and strikes the top of the 
oil-sand group. The transition from the soft Crawford shales or slates to the first oil sand is sharply defined, and the geologist is obliged 
to see here the close of one period of deposits of one kind and the beginning of another period of deposits of a very different kind, (e) 

Mr. Carll continues : 

Under the oil-sand group again lies a perfectly well-marked different formation. The driller having gone through the Venango oil 
sands and their separating shales and reached the base of the group, suddenly, by as abrupt a transition as that he encountered at its top, 
enters a different set of rocks. Wherever the group is normally developed the drill passes at once from sandstone into shale, and continues 
from that point in the well to go steadily down through shales for hundreds of feet without encountering any sandstone layers like those 
above. 

A large majority of oil-wells were never drilled below the third sand or base of the groiip, for experience had convinced operators that 
it was useless to expect another sand layer below that horizon along the whole line of the Venango and Butler belts. Several hundred 
wells, however, were put down to depths of from 100 to .'jOO feet bene.ath the lowest Venango oil sand. Their numbers, and the extent of 
ground over which they lie scattered, afford conclusive evidence that the measures beneath the oil-sand group have everywhere the same 
clay characters. The universal testimony of their records is, soft drilling and no coarse, massive sand rock after leaving the productive 
oil measures. Occasionally, indeed, a "sand "has been reported, andsomefiue-grainedsandstonelayers were to be expected, for they are not 
unknown in the Chemung series; but it is now conceded that such layers do not resemble the oil sands, and that they occurred so rarely, 
and the reports of them are so vague and questionable, that we are warranted in treating them as mere local variations of some of the beds 
of the Chemung shales. (/) 

The Venango oil-sand group itself is a mass of sandstone deposits from 300 to 380 feet thick, with layers of pebbles and many local 
partings of shale and slate. These figures may be varied somewhat, but it will be found as a general rule that a thickness of 350 feet 
will, in nearly evgry case, embrace all the sands belonging to the Venango group, even the fourth, fifth, and sixth sands, as the lower 
members of the group in some localities have been called. It is wonderful how the group maintains its total thickuess with such 
uniformity for a distance of 62 miles in a straight line from Tidioute, in Warren county, to Herman station, in Butler county. The top 
sand is sometimes 10 feet thick, and sometimes 85 feet ; the bottom sand may be 5 feet thick, or it may be 120 feet ; and so either one of 
these members may individually vary in thickness about as much as the whole group is found to vary, (g) 

a Reports, III, p. 100. e Ibid., p. 130, § 318. 

b Ibid., p. 119, } 297. / Ibid., p. 132, $ 320. 

c Ibid. p. 122, § 302. g Ibid., p. 136, } 323. 
d Ibid., p. 128, J 315. 



I^ennsyLvama. . 



Plate FIT. 



NswUrk 



Greene Co. 

' \ Oil rl — - 



Wa^mk^lmi Co 



.Alleghany Co. 
Pittsburg . 



J^nan^o Co. 






% 

Warren ondM^Entm Coxoi^^^ 



3^l^stown.Pet^olia. Far/Cer. 



Dayton. CoITm\mtjns Creek. Sxonbvtrg. IBhuJcRo^. 

taro 625 



''^^li^mMfMiliiklkkmat^'--''^ 



BoydMS 



Brady >>J.i^n.fA/i{<rh„->/ . 




^Wl'lin&ef: m-U. ITotOk Warren 
JhtJcvon Sta. 



Sirams Bell . 
Erie. 



Br.A.CK ROOK, 



CANADA, NEW YORK AND PENNSYLVANIA, 

AND THEIR RELATIVE POSITIONS IN THE 
F.A.LCEJOZOIO m'TTB.TTniJL. 



jVote. 
Pufojwa undtTTuun^s ofUnvna J^noT^ eUvation ot'H.HJDepots. 
Figures alavr wells, ch^nota elevation of MU Months. 
Figures helow wells, denote ilfpth below ocean level. 
The tcp and hoUant ti^urrs addi^d, qive depth of J^lt. 



Format3/fns . 
a-Comiferoas Limestone . 
h.BroMrd 3^ Sand. 
l.Warrm on Group. 

m%7wn^o ^roup indndin^ Sutler, Clariorh and T^ian^o Oil Sands 
n. Crawford Shales. 

o. Cmalomeralel&aanres rnclndin^ Oil on SUpperi, RocK andMountain Sands. 
f. . Lov)erProdadiiy CoalMeaatires . 
s.Lou'^Bart^^. CoalMeamfres. 

r. Upper Coal Measures inebidbi^'Pimburt^ CoalJSed." 
C- Z^p'T Barren , 
p. Miduminij Sa/tdt^ime 



Fr 



AUynmtnr of Section . 

Black;R(,ck.Eru;Co.,N.Tu,PittslmrgPaJZ5MaesS.20'W. 
j.iomPimT>wg (oDunJaud Cree/C, Greem Co..Pa..60Maes S. 3'J}. 
EoruommaI,7'y/oMJLas It /inch =J/ 0560 ft. 
Scale: f^-lwalSOOOn.Uj-uu-h . 
BcMo.Horizanud to firtical. about W/ . 



Newliark 



Dayton. Cattorcajbgns Creek . Scaribiirg. Slack Moefc. 

13T0 636 




5S0 
'JisWeU. 
nOe. 



V7Z 
Jameefaun ft^H , 
Steams Well. 
JErie. 



760 



Cobam Well. 



.AJi^nmerti: of Section, . 

FromMae^Itoc/cSrie Co.,]Sr.YtoPittsbvrqPajr5Maes S.20'"W: 
FrorriPiJitsbvrgtoJIDunkard CreeK, Greene{)o.,Pa.,50Miles S.3°.E. 
Sorizam7aaI,7^//oMUes tb lin^ =^0660 ft. 
ScaJU.T^ticaL2000ft.toJijich. 
jFta&o,Sarizoraal to J^Uceil, dbovutWi . 



THE NATURAL HISTORY OF PETROLEUM. 



45 



The following table, compiled from those prepared by Mr. Carll, shows the elevation above tide-level, the fall, 
distance, and rate of fall per mile of the top of the third oil-sand in Warren, Venango, Clarion, and Butler counties. 
Dogtown is at the same level above tide-water as Clintonville, one mile northeast of Turkey City (see map III): 



Feet, i 
1.008 '' 



Along axis of VenaBgo Ijelt : 
Tidioute to — 

ClintonvUle along line of development 

Ditto, bee-line 

Along axis of Butler-Clarion belt : 

pogtown to — 

Herman station along line of development. 

Ditto, bee-line 

Shippenville to — 
Herman station — 

Tidioute to 

Herman station (*) 



42.23 


18.42 


39.50 


19.70 


29.83 


21.72 


28.25 


22.94 


37.49 


21.02 


62.00 


23.00 



* Reports, lU, p. 144. 

These figures show that the top of the third Veuango oil-sand dips to the southwest in the 62 miles between 
Tidioute, in Warren county, and Herman station, in Butler county, at the average rate of 23 feet to the mile. 

The first paying oil--n-ell ou the Butler- Clarion halt was obtained on the Allegheny river at Parker's landing in the fall of 18(18, and 
operations spread out hut a short distance from that point during the years 1869 and 1870. 

In 18W the somewhat unexpected measure of success attending the test wells, which were advancing toward the northeast into 
Clarion county, and also those toward the southwest into Butler county, led to developments in both these directions which resulted 
in pretty thoroughly outlining within the next three years the main or central belt. 

Subsequently side lines of development were run, and the district was found to widen out in many places and to contain side belts and 
pools, with oil sometimes in the fourth sand, sometimes in the third, and in some localities even in rocks above the third sand, all of which 
aided very materially in augmenting the production. • « * 

In 1874 the maximum development of this district was reached during the great fourth sand or " cross-belt " excitement, (a) 

At Parker's landing the oil came from the lowest member of the oil group, the representative of the Oil creek third sand, and so the 
rock was very properly called, not the fourth sand, but the third. In Clarion county, however, and likewise in Butler, the oil first obtained 
came from a rock higher in the series. But the drillers of the early wells did not notice the change from one horizon to another, and 
consequently supposed that they were still getting the oil from the Parker third sand. After the development had reached Modoc and 
Petrolia, it began to be suspected that there might be two oil horizons, Instead of only one, and then commenced the experiment of deeper 
drilling at Petrolia and elsewhere, which finally resulted in the development of the "cross-belt", which was also called the "fourth-sand 
belt". (6) , , , 

When Bradford first began to give signs of promise as an oil-field, the map of western Pennsylvania being consulted, the embryo 
development was found to be on a nearly direct continuation of the Clarion county oil belt. Immediately several transit lines were 
started by difl'erent parties and run through from the old to the new ground. Each surveyor had his own particular angle of deviation 
from the meridian to run by ; and each one, as far as possible, carefully kept the exact bearing and location of his line a secret. 

A statement was published at that time and much quoted as a proof of the unerring exactness of this method of tracing an oil belt, 
provided the bearing of the "lead " had been properly calculated. As the story went, a " belt-line expert " ran one of these lines 65 
miles through an almost unbroken forest, employing an engineer who had never been over the country before, and who knew absolutely 
nothing about the work beyond the bald fact that he was traveling by a designated degree of the compass. Nevertheless the line thus 
run conducted its fortunate projector out of the woods, down the mountain side, into the valley of Tuuangwant creek, to a station within 
a few feet of the largest well at that time known in the Bradford district. And this termination of the line was considered by many as 
a conclusive proof that all the lands through which that line passed were " on the oil belt ". 

The profile section (Plate VII) and the vertical section (Plate VIII) have been prepared for the purpose of exhibiting the fallacy of 
such views, and to enable the reader to see at a glance what some of the fundamental features of the sedimentary structure of the oU 
region especially are. 

The profile section (Plate VII) follows a line upon the map drawn from Black Rock, on the Niagara river, in Erie county. New 
York, to Pittsburgh, and thence to Dunkard creek oil-field, in Dunkard township, Greene county, Pennsylvania, close to the West Virginia 
state line. From Black Eock to Pittsburgh the bearing of this line is S. 20° W.— distance about 17.5 miles. From Pittsburgh to Dunkard 
creek its bearing is S. 3° E. — distance 50 miles. 

Starting at Black Eock, the line crosses the foot of lake Erie and strikes the southeasterly shore at Lakeview, in Erie county, New York. 
Thence it runs through, or very near to, the following places : Jamestown, New York ; Youngsville, on Broken Straw creek, in Warren 
county, Pennsylvania ; Tidioute, on the Allegheny river, in Warren county ; President, on the Allegheny river, in Venango county ; Foxburg, 
on the Allegheny, in Clarion cotmty ; Parker's Landing, on the Allegheny, in Armstrong county ; and Petrolia, Millerstown, and Great 
Belt City (or Summit), in Butler county. Thus it may be said to follow the Butler oil belt very nearly along its line of best development. 

It is evident that, as this alignment of the profile section coincides geographically so nearly with the trend of the Butler and Venango 
oil-sands, there can bo no trouble in properly locating upon it the Venango oil-sand group. 

The Warren oil development, however, lies some 8 miles to the east-southeast of our line, and the Bradford oil development some 30 
miles from it, in the same direction. 



o Reports, III, p. 146, 5 336 and 337. 



6 Ibid.f^. 147, ^340. 



46 PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 

Now, it is a remarkable and important fact that in no boring in Pennsylvania has the Wairen group of oil-rocks (mimistakably 
de\ eloped) been seen directly beneath the Venango group. It is equally a fact that in no boring has the Bradford "third" sand been 
seen directly below the Warren group. In other words, we have not a single direct oil-well measurement between these several groups, 
aud therefore we must trust to some pretty nice and difficult calculations when we try to determine the thickness of these intervals ; 
that is, when we attempt to place the Warren and the Bradford oil-rocks in their proper places in our profile section. But whatever 
inaccuracies of detail may thus creep into the section, it will still suffice to show the relative positions of such oil horizons as have been 
profitably worked in different parts of the country. It will certainly demonstrate the folly of drilling on so-called belt lines, run from 
one producing district to another, regardless of the age or equivalence of the rocks to be connected. 

The lowest horizon in our country from which oil in paying quantities has been obtained is that of the corniferous limestone formation, 
the home of the Canadian oil. 

This rock can be unmistakably identified at Black Eock, in New York ; and therefore Black Kock has been selected as the northern 
end of our profile section (Plate VII). The nest and only other point at which the elevation of the corniferous limestone can be fixed is in 
the Coburn gas-well, at Fredonia, Chautauqua county. New York, for in our own state, as far as is known, it has never been reached by 
the deepest borings. 

The average pitch of the corniferous limestone toward the southwest can be calculated from its elevation at Black Kock and at 
Fredonia, allowing us to judge approximately of the thickness of the measures between it and the Venango oil group. At Black Eock, 
as shown by the quotations below, the exact thickness of the rock is not known. We have assumed the top to lie about 52 feet above 
the surface of lake Erie, or 625 feet above ocean level, which cannot be far wrong. In the Coburn well at Fredonia it is said to have 
been struck at a depth of 1,050 feet, which (the elevation of the well mouth being 735 feet) puts it 315 feet below ocean level at that 
place. The distance from Black Eock to Fredonia is about 38 miles in a direction S. 35° W., and this gives an average slope or dip 
of about 25 feet per mile. But along our section line (S. 20° W.) the average dip of the limestone ought to be stronger than 25 feet per 
mile, because the line runs more nearly in the direction of the line of greatest dip, as calculated from other strata which admit of more 
accurate tracing; and this inference is strengthened by the fact that no limestone is reported in Jonathan Watson's deep well near 
Titusville. 

The distance from Black Eock to Watson's well is about 100 miles; direction, S. 20° W.; elevation of well mouth, 1,290 feet above 
ocean ; depth of well, 3,553 feet. On an average slope of 25 feet per mile the limestone should have been found at 1,875 feet below ocean 
level, or 3,165 feet from the surface ; but as no limestone was seen in the well, we must conclude either that it is absent in that locality 
(which is hardly probable), or that it has a greater average dip slope than 25 feet per mile in that direction. As the well stopped at 2,263 
feet below ocean level, an average of 29 feet per mile would put the limestone at 2,275 feet, or 12 feet beneath the well. A hard rock was 
reported, however, just as the utmost limit of drilling cable forced a suspension of the work at a depth of 3,553 feet from the surface. A 
number of other deep wells are shown on the profile, but it will be seen that none of them have gone deep enough to reach the corniferous 
limestone. The Watson well is not only the deepest boring ever made in western Pennsylvania, but it is also deeper geologically than 
any other. It is greatly to be regretted, therefore, that so little can be known of its history. 

A person unacquainted with the laws of sedimentary deposition and with the methods of preparing a profile section might 
inadvertently be led to suppose, from an examination of the profile section (Plate VII), that the different strata represented there spread 
out continuously and universally in every direction under the oil regions ; that a well failing to produce oil in the Venango group might be 
put down 400 or 500 feet deeper and pump oil from the Warren group, and then 500 feet deeper and renew itself in the Bradford "third" 
sand ; but such has not been the experience of oil producers. The several groups of oil-producing rocks are locally well defined under 
certain areas ; but they have their geographical as well as their geological limits, and as far as at present known the geographical limit 
of one group never overlaps that of another. If we take a map and outline upon it the limits of the Smith's Ferry and Slippery Kock 
oil-producing district, and then the Butler, Clarion, and Venango, and then the Warren, aud then the Bradford, we shall see that each has 
its own particular locus, and that the different districts are separated from one another by areas (of greater or less extent) which have 
been pretty thoroughly tested by the drill and proven to be unproductive. It must have been true in all ages that every deposit of 
sandstone in one locality must have been represented by contemporaneous deposits of shales in other localities. Hence it happens that in 
tracing rocks long distances the sandstones disappear and shales come in at the same geological horizou. It may not then be presumed that 
ejach particular sandstone, or its oil, will be found in every locality where its horizon can be pierced by the drill, or that a measured 
s'ection of the rocks in one place can be precisely duplicated in detail in another. The vertical section (Plate VIII) is intended to show 
that oil has been produced from ten or twelve diiferent geological horizons in the earth's crust, ranging through a thickness of about 4,500 
feet of sedimentary strata ; and the most skillful oil producer, the most expert geologist, canuot tell how many other oil horizons may exist 
at intermediate depths beneath the surface (i. e., in the scale of the formations), but which, being good only within certain geographical 
limits, have as yet escaped the oil-miner's drill (see Plate V). 

VEETICAL SECTION. 

Summary sketch of the formations exhibited in the vertical section (Plate VIII). — This generalized section extends from the 
surface rocks iu the upper barren coal series of Greene county, Pennsylvania, down to the corniferous limestone, the Canadian oil -rock, 
and will enable any one to distinguish aud locate the several oil horizons thus far discovered and profitably worked in these measures. It 
is in fact an enlarged representation of the features presented in the profile section. (Plata VII.) 

GKOUP No. 1. 

' Upper barren coal measures B. — " Greene county group ;" fhickness, 600 feet. 

Vertical range. — From surface to top of Washington upper limestone. 

Composition. ^Shales, sandstones, thin beds of limestone, and coal. 

Exposures. — The highlands of central and southwestern Greene county, Pennsylvania. 

Authority. — Professors J. J. Stevenson, Keport K, p. 35, and White and Fontaine, Report PP, Pennsylvania Survey. 

Upper barren coal measures A. — "Washington county group;" thidiuess, 350 feet. 

Vertical range. — From top of Washington upper limestone to top of Waynesburg sandstone. 

Composition. — Shales, sandstones, limestones, and thin beds of coal ; but carrying also the " Washington coal-bed", from 7 to 10 feet, 
thick. In Washington county six beds of limestone compose about one-third of the mass, but in Greene the limestones are thin and less, 
fil^qneut. 

Exposures. — In the highlands of Washington and Greene counties (see Report K, p. 44, Pennsylvania Survey). 



Pla^e Vm. 



W-zshiiif/Ctm uppt^ Lone^ton, 










000 ' Ppp^ Barren Coal Mfef 



/ pSO Piiptr Bcirrm Caal Ap„i 



't/'S Tapper ProdiicAiv Coal Meafui 



■3 poo Loum- Bartfti Ct,„/ Mm, 



WO Low^ PrcJacOit CmiI Mra.tt. 



6 Mtiuntfim fiajui* 



\S0 lf,..mv» O,/ ,s,»,rf' ri„„, 



]ao'y ,«/^/,... .,„,/ 7'/,„, s,„„/^„,.. 



Wcun-ii 0,l ,J,r,„, 



OO fl,„U onj ri„„ >„-MtJ S.m.U,.,,^^ 



y*<l' Bnidfonl •f-' Oil fiand 



(^•mrToIiMd, Urticnl Section 

from (hg («p of the 

Upper Barren Coal A^asu/efs 

down ttt e^e 

(.'orru/Srous Jjimearoti/' 

to show the /.'tinoijts 

Oil Horizonei 

or 
C ^anittlii. New York and Peraisyivajua, 

Compiled by 

J.F.CaH 

tor the 

»,;nn,l Cleoloefica/ Survey of Pennsylvania, 

draiiTi hi' 

Louira Jjinton 



/<* )/<iOa Dai/orMTi -Sla&v <ifi</ KSha/'f" 



Ca/iiuta Oil ll.,.jr\ 



Total 6360 fk-t 



THE NATURAL HISTORY OF PETROLEUM. 47 

GROUP No. 2. 

Upper productive coai. measures. — Thicknfss, 475 feet. 

Veeticai, range. — From top of Waynesburg sandstone to base of Pittsbui-gh coal. 

Composition'. — Sbalcs and sandstones, with three thick bands of linaestoue and several thick coal-beds, of which the Waynesburg 
aud the Pittsburgh are the most important. 

Exposures. — Throughout Washington, Greene, and Allegheny counties (see detailed section in Professor Stevenson's Report K, 
p. 57). 

GROUP No. 3. 

Lower barren coal measures — Thickness, 500 feet. 

Vertical range. — From base of Pittsburgh coal to top of Mahoning sandstone. 
Composition. — Shales and sandstones, with some thin beds of limestone and coal. 

Exposures. — Partially seen in Washington and Allegheny counties and in the highlands of southern Butler, but better developed 
in Beaver county, where Mr. White's detailed section of these measures was taken (see Report K, pp. 75, 76). 

GROUP No. 4. 

Lower productive coal measures. — Thickness, 400 feet. 

Vertical range. — From top of Mahoning sandstone to top of conglomerate No. XII. 

Composition. — Sandstones and shales, with several good and persistent coal seams and two important beds of limestone — the 
"Freeport'' aud the "Ferriferous". 

Exposures. — This series is exposed over a large extent of country in Butler, Armstrong, Clariou, Beaver, Lawrence, and Venango 
counties (see Mr. Chance's detailed section. Report V, p. IB). 

Professor Stevenson states (Report K, p. 'S92) that the Mahoning sandstone, the top member of this group, is the central and principal 
oil-bearing rock of the three sands found in oil-wells on Dnnkard creek, Greene county. It also appears to be an oil-producing rock in 
AVestmorelaud county, where a number of oil- and salt-wells have been sunk through it. 

The Ferriferous limestone of this group is the great limestone of Butler, Armstrong, and Clariou counties, and the oil-miner's "key- 
rock " in sinking oil-wells in these sections. It is from 5 to tio feet in thickness, aud lies from 30 to 80 feet above the Homewood sandstone, 
the top member of conglomerate No. XII. 

GROUP No. 5. 

Mountain sand series, including the Pottsville conglomerate No. XII, and probably in some localities some of the sandstones 
belonging to the Upper Pocono sandstone No. X (No. XI being either thin or wanting) ; thickness from 350 to 425 feet, say .375 feet. 

Vertical range. — From top of Homewood sandstone to the base of the Olean-Garlaud-Ohio conglomerate, or second-mountain sand 
of the Venango oil-wells. 

Composition. — A group of variable conglomerates and sandstones interstratified with shales and inclosing sporadic beds of iron-ore 
and coal, two of the coal-beds, the Mercer and Sharon, being of great importance. It also carries in some localities two thin bands of 
limestone (the Mercer Upper and Lower). 

Exposup.es. — In the highlands of Mercer, southern Crawford, Venango, Forest, Warren, aud McKean counties. The lower members 
of this group produce heavy oil at Smith's Ferry, in Beaver county, and on Slippery Rock creek, in Lawrence county, and the upper 
conglomerate is said to be the source of some oil in Kentucky (also In Johnson county, Kentucky). 

GROUP No. 6. 

Crawford shales. — Thickness, from 400 to 500 feet, say 450 feet. 

Vertical range. — From the base of the mountain-sand series to the top of the Venango oil group. 

Composition. — Shales and slates, inclosing the Pithole grit, near the center of the mass. In some localities 100 feet or more of the 
lower part is composed of red shale; in others no red appears. The upper part in some sections contains quite important beds of 
sandstone. 

Exposures. — Only favorably seen in clift's bordering the streams in parts of Forest, Venango, Mercer, Crawford, Warren, and 
McKean counties, its northern outcrop being always obscured by drift. 

The horizon of the Pithole grit appears to furnish, the light-gravity amber oil at Smith's Ferry and Ohioville, in Beaver county, 
with traces of the same on Slippery Rock creek, in Lawrence county. It also jjrobably yields the heavy lubricating oil of the Mecca 
district, in Trumbull county, Ohio. 

GROUP No. 7. 

Venango oil group.— Thickness, from 300 to 375 feet, say 350 feet. 

Vertical range. — From the top of the first oil-sand (the "second sand " of the driller in Butler county) to the bottom of the third 
oil-sand (called the "fourth sand" in Butler, Armstrong, and Clarion, and the " fifth sand" in some parts of Venango county). 

Co.MPOSiTioN. — A group of variable sandstones, in some places conglomeritic, and locally divided into several members by irregular 
beds of slates and shales, some of which are red. 

Exposures. — These rocks, as a group, lie with a remarkable uniformity of slope and general strncture in a comparatively narrow 
belt, from Herman station, in Butler county, to Tidioate, in Warren county. They make no conspicuous outcrops to the northwest, but 
appear to lose their sandy characteristics before reaching the surface. 

At Tidioute tlie deep gorges of Dennis run and the Allegheny river expose the firtt and second oil-aavda, and as far up as Warren 
it is quite i)robable that we see the upper portion of the group exposed in the river hills. These are the only localities where a portion 
of the group in even an approximately normal condition may be seen above water-level. Its horizon is cut through by many of the 
ravines of McKean county, but it has there become so changed in its physical aspects that it disappears or becomes unrecognizable when 
the proper range for its outcrop is reached. These are the oil-sands of Tidioute aud Colorado, Warren county ; Fagundus, Forest county; 
Church run and Titusville, Crawford county ; and of all the well-known oil centers in Venango, Clarion, Armstrong, and Butler counties. 
They produce oil in different localities from the members of the group, ranging from 30° to 52*^ in gravity, and varying greatly in color: 



48 PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 

green oil from the third sand on Oil creek ; black oil from the stray sand at Pleasantville ; amher oil from the second sand in many 
places ; and dark, heavy gravity oil from the first sand at Franklin. There are also occasional local deposits of oil, shading from a light 
straw color to almost a jet black. 

GROUP No. 8. 

Interval between the Venango and the "VVakren oil group.— Thickness, 300+ feet. 

Vertical range. — From the base of the Venango third oil-sand to the top of the Warren oil group. 

Composition. — Soft shale of a bluish-gray color, but containing some beds of green, purple, and red, with irregular bands of thin- 
bedded bluish- gray sandstones. 

The wells at Warren, even when favorably located, do not pass through the Venango group in its normal condition, nor do the 
wells on tho Venango belt, -^hen sunk to the proper depth, as many of them have been, find the AVarren oil shales and sands with oil ; 
consequently no direct measurement of this interval can be made in oil-wells. In the section we have assigned a thickness to the mass 
which places the Venango and Warren oil groups as near as may be in their proper relative positions vertically at Warren. 

GROUP No. 9. 

Warren oil group. — Thickness, about 300 feet. 

Vertical range and composition. — This group may be viewed as including the so-called second, third, and fourth sands of Warren ; 
but its composition is so variable in different parts of the district that it does not afford any persistent bands of sandstone by which to 
define either its upper or its lower limit. At North Warren the upper part is shaly, and the largest wells, it is claimed, flowed from these 
shales, while others got their oil from the "third sand". At Warren the " second sand" is fairly developed, but the oil generally comes 
in the "third saud". At Stoneham a lower sand, the "fourth", produces the oil. Thus the North Warren shales are represented at 
Stoneham by more sandy measures which contain no oil, and the Stoneham " fourth sand " is poorly developed at North Warren, and is 
unproductive. The group, then, may be said to extend from the top of the North Warren shales to the bottom of the Stoneham sandstone, 
covering an interval, as nearly as may be calculated, of about 300 feet. 

GROUP No. 10. 

Interval between the Warren oil group and the Bradford "third sand". — Thickness, from 400 to 450 feet, say 400 feet. 

Vertical range. — From the Stoneham oil-sand to the Bradford oil-sand ("third"). 

Composition.— Slates and shales, generally of a bluish color, but sometimes inclined to red or brown, interstratifled with thin bands 
of bluish-gray micaceous flaggy sandstones. The sand pnmpings show this interval to be very fossiliferous. 

Similar difficulties are encountered in estimating the thickness of this group to those mentioned in No. 8. A large number of wells 
have been sunk between Bradford and Warren, but the rocks are so variable in composition and the well records have been so imperfectly 
kept that no completely satisfactory identification of the rocks of the Warren oil group, with their equivalents at Bradford, or of the 
Bradford "third sand", with its corresponding stratum at Warren, can yet be made. The interval between the two oil horizons, 
however, appears to be in the neighborhood of 400 feet, as above given. This interval holds the Bradford " second sand", which has 
yielded oil in many of the McKean county wells, and also the sandy shale horizon producing "slush oil" along the Tuna valley. 

GROUP No. 11. 

Bradford third sand. — Thickness, from 20 to 80 feet. 

Composition. — A fine-grained, light to dark brown sandstone, containing pebbles the size of pin-heads in some localities, while in 
others it is little more than a sandy shale. It appears to be rather thin and irregularly bedded, is frequently interstratified with thin 
layers of gray, slaty sandstone, and contains many fossil shells and fish bones. The constitutional peculiarities of the rock, its color, its 
composition, and its structure, insure its ready recognition by the driller in any locality where he may find it in even an approximately 
normal condition. But this rock, like all others, has its geographical limits, outside of which its geological horizon can only be traced 
by the exercise of the greatest of care and the best of judgment in keeping and studying the well records. 

It is seldom, however, that good records of wells on debatable territory are kept. The well-owner always starts the drill on the 
presumption that the oil-rock will be found. He calculates in his own way its approximate depth from the surface, and makes a contract 
to drill so many feet. Confident of success, he urges ou the drill, making no particular note of the character of the upper rocks ; but 
when the supposed horizon of the sand is reached, and the evidences of its presence do not appear as anticipated, he discovers, too late, 
that he has nothing to check by to ascertain whether the oil-rock is actually wanting or only so changed in character as to be scarcely 
recognizable, or whether there may not have been some mistake in calculating its position in the well. Thus it often happens that wells 
of this class are abandoned after drilling iuidoubt for a few days without having been sunk to the proper depth, while others are carried 
on down many feet below the horizon of the saud they are in quest of, and much valuable information is lost which a little prudent 
foresight might have secured. 

The Bradford ' ' third sand " may be satisfactorily located in the Wilcox wells, near the southerly line of McKean county. At Tidioute, 
in Warren county, 35 miles nearly due west from these wells, the base of the Venango group is well defined. Between these two points, 
the nearest geographical approximation that can at present be made, both groups evidently undergo rapid and radical changes in 
composition, and the well records are vague and unreliable ; hence no absolute determination of the thickness of the mass of shales lying 
between the two groups can here be made. 

Somewhat better facilities are afforded for a study of these measures by carefully tracing the rocks from Tidioute to Warren (15 
miles), and then from Warren to Bradford (25 miles) ; but even along these lines the structure is so obscure that mistaken identifications 
are quite likely to be made. 

These facts are stated to explain why there is yet some uncertainty regarding the thickness of the vertical interval between the 
Venango oil group and Bradford "third sand". The figures cannot differ materially, however, from those given in the vertical section, 
Plate VIII. 





LITTLE KAN 



ich. 




'A'.,. AXTlCI.INALfroin OHIO KIVKH [..LITTLK KANAWHA KIVER. 



rVollli- Ihroiiyli AXIS n\' \V. 

Uy\V.KMin.shiall. 

Horizontal SmIo Im.lcio l,Ki^'. Vertical Scote 600 ft.lo linch. 




un/^/>uudi I/O 






o 



•j I ^ I 

■g K b S 

(i !^ tt o 

!§ ^ i? ^ 



2 I 5 

ill 

S (q B, 



8 6 t^ 




THE NATURAL HISTORY OF PETROLEUM. 49 

GROUP No. !•>. 

Interval between the Bradford "third sand" and the cornifbrous limestone, commencing in the Chemung and including 
the Portage and Hamilton groups of the New York geological survey. Thickness, 1,600+ feet. 

Composition. — In the imperfect records of wells that have been sunk into these measuies in various parts of the country we simply 
find recorded "shales, slates, and soapstone, with occasional sand shells". The upper part for 200 or 300 feet appears to contain 
considerable sandy material, and some of these sand-beds produce oil along the Tuua valley, in the vicinity of Limestone, Cattarauo-us 
county. New York. Below this the drillings show principally slate and soft-mud rocks. No important bands of sandstone and no oil hare 
been reported. 

The thickness of this interval iQust be left questionable for reasons previously stated. We have no means of tracing the comiferous 
limestone south of Fredouia, Now York, except approximately by its slope. 

The distance from Fredonia to Bradford is about 48 miles ; direction about south 45° east. A dip of 20 feet to the mile would be 
required to place the limestone at Bradford as shown in our section. 

GROXJP No. 13. 

The coiiNiFEROUS limestone, probably shown in the vertical section, Plate VIII, in conjunction with the Onondaga limestone. 

The composition of this group has already been referred to in the quotations given from Geology of New Tork. It is the oil-produciu"' 
rock of the Canadian oil regions, but at Fredouia, New York, yields neither oil nor gas. We may not presume, therefore, that it will ever 
be found to be an important oil horizon in Pennsylvania, and even if it should prove to be productive here the great depth at which it 
lies beneath the surface must be a very serious obstacle in the way of its development, (a) 

An illustration of the iiersistence of the Venango oil group as a geological formation is found in the 
circumstances attending the drilling of well No. 1 by the Brady's Bend Iron Works Company in 1865. Professor 
J. P. Lesley was asked to give an opinion upon the probable depth at which oil would be reached on their property, 
and as he was familiar with the rocks of that locality, and had made a careful study of their dip and superposition, 
he readily made the computation and reported that "if the Venango sand extended under ground as far as Brady's 
bend it ought to lie at 1,100 feet beneath water-level". The well was drilled and struck the oil stratum at 1,120 
feet. 

During 1877 the so-called grasshopper excitement occurred near Titusville, occasioned by the discovery of oil 
in a layer of superficial gravel beneath a sheet of clay. The wells were simple pits or shafts, from which the oil and 
water were pumped. The area was comprised within a few acres, but was quite productive for a time, yielding 
several hundred barrels of oil. The oil evidently arose from deeper sources with water, and accumulated in the 
gravel beneath the impervious crust of clay. 

The geology of the ''West Virginia Oil Break" has been recently subjected to a very careful study by F. W. 
Minshall, esq., of Parkersburg, West Virginia. Mr. Minshall has been connected with the petroleum indu.stry 
of this region for many years, and has carefully collated the records of many wells located along the line of 
development in Ohio and West Virginia. His sections are considered accurate by those most familiar with the 
facts and best qualified to judge of their value, and are found to conform strictly to such observations as I was able 
to mak-e during a hurried trip through the region. I introduce here in illustration a series of sections compiled 
and drawn by Mr. Minshall and generously placed at my disposal for use in this report. The section on Plate iii 
extends along the axis of the anticlinal from the Ohio river opposite Newport, in AVashington county, Ohio, to the 
Little Kanawha river, in Wirt county. West Virginia. Section 1 on Plate IV crosses section on Plate III at a point 
on or near the Ohio river in Washington county, Ohio. Section 2, Plate IV, crosses section on Plate III at 
Horseueck, Pleasants county, West Virginia. Section 3, Plate IV, crosses section on Plate III on the line of the 
Baltimore and Ohio railroad from Laurel Fork Junction to Petroleum, Wood county. West Virginia. Plate V is 
a vertical section of the rocks yielding petroleum along the anticlinal. Map IV shows the territory that has 
produced oil in the White Oak district which lies along the anticlinal between Goose creek and Walker's creek, 
Wood county. West Virginia. 

The following description of the occurrence of the formations along the line of the White Oak anticlinal is 
taken from a series of articles published by Mr. Minshall in the summer of 1881 in the State Journal at Parkersburg, 
West Virginia : 

In Wood, Pleasants, Ritchie, and Wirt counties the rocks, from the river level to the tops of the hills, belong to the upper barren 
measures, excepting only the line of territory known as the "oil break ", which passes through these counties. Although we are very 
nearly in the center of the great Allegheny coal basin, we have no workable veius of coal above drainage in the above-named counties. 
The Allegheny basin is a veritable basin in form, which not only contains many valuable veins of coal, ore, and potter's clay, but also 
vast quantities of natural gas, petroleum, and brine. 

On account of our situation near the center of the Allegheny basin, all the mineral wealth of its rocks is sunk beneath the river 
level. Here at Parkersburg, barely above the river, may be seen a thin vein of coal with an underlying vein of gray limestone. This 
we will call coal No. 11, and take it for our dividing line between the upper barreu and upper productive coal measures. From the river to 
;he top of fort Borenian, at the mouth of the Little Kanawha, we have an cxjiosure of about 300 feet of the upper barrens. Examining 
them in detail, we will find them composed of alternate layers of red shale and compact, fine-grained sand rocks. The sand rock is of 
considerable value as a building-stone, being the same ledge as that which is extensively quarried between Belpre and Harmar, some 
parts of it furnishing grindstone grit and others the "Constitution" buiUling-stoue. 

If, commencing at our coal No. 11 (see Plate V), we should sink a well, we would pass through the following strata: At about 150 
feet we would reach the level of coal No. 10, the first vein of the upper productive measures, which has a thickness of from 4 to 6 feet 



a Reports, III, p. 15G. 



50 PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 

on Duck creek, in Washington county, Oliio ; at 250 feet we should find coal No. 9, the limestone vein of Duck creek, and the equivalent 
of the Sewickly vein of Pennsylvania; at 350 feet we should pass the level of coal No. 8, the Federal creek vein of Athens county, Ohio,, 
and the Pittsburgh vein of Pennsylvania, which is the last vein of the upper productive coal measures. 

"We next pass through the red and variegated shales of the lower barren meaeures, un til at 500 feet we reach the crinoidal limestone. 
At 600 feet we will pass into a soft, pebbly sand rock, the first oil-rook of Cow run, Ohio ; at 700 feet we should strike a hard, black, flinty 
limestone, several feet of very black shale, with white fossil shells and coal No. 7 ; at 730 feet, coal No. 6 ; at 800 feet, coal No. 5 ; at 850' 
feet another oherty limestone, probably the " Putnam hill " of the Ohio survey ; at 880 feet, coal No. 4 ; at 900 feet We find another soft 
pebbly sand rock, the second oil-rock of Cow run, Ohio ; at 1,000 feet, coal No. 3 ; at 1,070 feet, coal No. 2 ; at 1,200 feet coal No. 1 ; and 
at 1,300 feet, the top of the carboniferous conglomerate — the oil-rock of Lick fork and Tate run, in the White Oak district, (a) 

These are the rocks through which we ought to pass in our Parkersburg wells. This prediction is based upon the fact that the uplift 
of the ' ' oil break " brings this whole ssries of rocks above the level of the Ohio river in su ch a way that any one can examine them at his- 
leisure and verify the intervals for himself. 

Going back to our coal No. 11, with its underlying gray limestone, we will cross over into Ohio and trace it up the river on that side. 
At Marietta we find it coming up from the bed of the Muskingum near the " Children's Home ". Keeping back from the Ohio river about 
two miles we see it in the bed of Duck creek at the old Eobinson mill, in the bed of the little Muskingum at the mouth of Long run. 
We find very little change in the level of the stratum we are tracing till we are opposite the mouth of Cow creek. Here we find it 
gradually rising higher above the river as we go up the Ohio until, at the mouth of Newell run, on the Ohio side, we find it at the summit 
of the hill. Since it is evident that a farther rise will take it away from us, we must take our barometer and measure down the hill to- 
coal No. 10 ; but instead of the 6-foot vein of Duck creek, we have here barely 2 feet ; in fact, this vein thins rapidly southward from the 
maximum thickness at the upper line of Washington county, Ohio. 

Having at the mouth of Newell's run substituted coal No. 10 for No. 11, we will go a little farther east until, opposite the mouth of 
French creek, we find coal No. 10 on the summit of mount Dudley. On mount Dudley we are standing on the axis of the anticlinal 
called the West Virginia oil break. Measuring down the face of the hill 100 feet from coal No. 10, we find coal No. 9, the limestone vein. 
Measuring again from coal No. 9 down the hill about 100 feet, we will find the proper horizon of coal No. 8, the Pittsburgh vein oi 
Pennsylvania and the Pomeroy vein of Ohio. It is true that we will not succeed in finding any coal at this point; the overlying sand 
rock, a little fire-clay, and the underlying gray limestone are all we can find here ; but before reaching the end of our journey we will 
find the coal putting in an appearance. The horizon of this vein is exposed from the Ohio river to the Little Kanawha along the axis ot 
this anticlinal for a distance of about 30 miles, in which distance the coal increases from nothing to 20 inches. Measuring down from No. 
8,150 feet, we will find the crinoidal limestone of the lower barren measures lying about 40 feet above low-water mark. To show that 
we are upon the axis of the anticlinal, we will trace the limestone eastward along the face of the hill. For about a quarter of a mile we' 
will find it running level, then dipping gradually to the. east, until it disappears beneath the river. Eeturning, we trace it westward, 
and, after running level for the same distance, it dips to the west and goes under the river. At no other point in Washington county can 
this limestone be seen. (See Section 1, Plate IV.) 

Having thus satisfied ourselves that we have reached the axis of " the break ", our purpose is to follow this axis to the point where 
it crosses the Little Kanawha above Burning Springs, West Virginia. 

Starting out from mount Dudley (see Plate III), we bear several degrees west of south, cross the Ohio a little below French creek, 
in Pleasants county, cross McElroy run at Ned Hammett's, and strike the north hillside of Cow creek near the residence of Hugh. 
McTaggart, esq. In a hollow north of the house, and about on a level with it, we find the crinoidal limestone. Continuing our course, 
but bearing more nearly south, we cross Cow creek below the old " Willard " mill, the head of Calf creek, near William Nash's, and reach 
a high point on the north side of Horseneck. On the very summit, by searching carefully, we will find, as though it had been placed there 
for our especial benefit, the crinoidal limestone about 580 feet above the river. To satisfy ourselves that the anticlinal maintains its form, 
and that we are still upon its axis, we trace the limestone westward till it dips beneath the bed of Calf creek, near the new school-house, 
and eastward into the bed of Sled fork of Cow creek; and we notice that the dipisgettingsteeperon the sides as the axis rises, but no signs of 
faulting or displacement of the strata are to be found. (See Section 2, Plate IV.) Our crinoidal limestone, which was 500 feet below the 
river at Parkersburg, is now-o80 feet above, having risen 1,080 feet, and, like coal No. 11, having reached the summit of the highest hills, 
will soon be beyond our reach if the axis continues to rise. We will therefore take the precaution to measure down to some of the lower strata. 
One hundred feet below the crinoidal lime we find another massive sand rook similar to the one which lies over coal No. 10. Like that, it 
is a true conglomerate, with layers of quartz pebbles somewhat similar and whiter than those of No. 10. It is the first oil-sand of Cow 
run and Macksburg, in Washington county, of Buck run, in Morgan county, and of Federal creek, in Athens county, Ohio, easily identified 
by the interval being about 100 feet in all of the above-named places. At its outcrop at the head of Calf creek it forms a bold ledge, which 
at one point is broken into huge cubical blocks of about 30 feet in thickness, forming a ' ' rock city " similar to the one near Olean , in New 
York. 

Below this sand rock, and about 200 feet below the crinoidal lime, we find coal No. 7. Although the coal is only 18 inches thick, this- 
vein becomes interesting because of its surroundings. Just over the coal is a stratum of very black shale, about 10 feet thick, filled with 
fossil shells. Over the shells is a black, flinty limestone, which we will find increasing in thickness southward until it becomes the well- 
known flint vein of Hughes river and Flint run. 

From Horseneck we resume our course, crossing Bull creek near the celebrated mineral well of Judge Borland. In the bed of the 
run, a short distance above Judge Borland's well, we find the crinoidal limestone. Careful inspection shows us that we are still following 
the axis of the anticlinal, and that it has come down on the south of Horseneck even more rapidly than it had risen on the north. This 
will, when examined, prove to be a regular dip along the axial line, without any indications of faulting, and the dip continues until the 
gray limestone of No. 8 is brought down to the bed of the run ; then the dip is suddenly reversed, and the axis rises again to the 
southward. From this point to Sand hill, on Walker's creek, the rise is very rapid, bringing to the surface in regular succession the 
rocks above described down to the yellow limestone. This we follow in its upward course till it reaches the top of the high point near 
the Saint Ronan wella of White Oak district. Looking around us from this vantage-ground we will notice that although the distant hills 
preserve their graceful outlines the surrounding hills are mostly cone-shaped peaks, bristling with an unnatural kind of timber, the rig 
timber of the oil-seeker. In prosperous times, when clouds of smoke were pouring forth from hundreds of sooty craters and the clang of 
tools rivaled the din of old Vulcan and his cyclopic helpers, some genius, in a moment of inspiration, christened the place Volcano. 

On the top of the high peak near Saint Eonan's well we will examine the limestone, which lies within 25 feet of the summit. We 
have assumed this vein to be the equivalent of the " Putnam hill" vein of the Ohio survey; it is also the only vein we will find whicb 
might be taken to represent the "Ferriferous limestone" of Pennsylvania; it lies here a few feet above coal No. 4. Examining the- 

a Also of Johnson county, Kentucky. 



JPlate V 



CrirhotdaL J^i?7testoTze ■ 



cuM^ahoning Sandstone. 

Yields OilatMac/tshtirg.) 

{CowMuTL p«-'% 
rVtl SandLvewe/isJiun) ^° "^ 

iFeAercUCr^tTvenxCo 



6. JPeh He Sa.nd. 

Z^OilSanAjCowRtirL rWashff 
iMacKsiTZr<i\ Co.O. 
iffor-se necTi- 

[Hughes Mivr^"- 

Z ""^011 Sa^fxd- cL^Murrt-iri^ Spr. IV. Va 



d. CoccZ ^eUiiU.7^cCotu/lc>fn£raXe 
I" Oil Sarcd aJ: W)\Tte OaX W.Va 



e. Vespertine Conc/lomercLte 
/^'Otl Sana at Sand Bill. } 



Z" ; 



r 



White OaX. 



J^elUe Sand 



2"' Oil Sand, at Sartd Hill.) , 

^ (Wh.i.te Oa/t]^^-^" 

-*' OUSand '^c^cfzshvLT-g . Wo.sKg Co.O. 
Ou3 Dexter, JTohle. Co.. O. 




Fj.gu.r-es cLenote CoaZIBeds. 
Sea.le 300/i.to-the. inch 



VERTICAL SECTION 

OF W^ITE q.'\I^ ANTICLINAL 

^VEST VTRGmiA. 

Compiled by KW MirtshalL. Marietta O. 




MAP 

OF THE 

VOLCANO OIL REGION 

OF 

WEST VIRGINIA 

SHOWING 

THE DEVELOPMENTS UP TO THE YEAR 



THE NATURAL HISTORY OF PETROLEUM. 51 

structure of the veiu, we find that it is ileposited in large, round bowlders, from one to three feet in diameter. The upper layers are 
heavily charged with iron, showing, when exposed to the weather, a very rusty yellow. A peculiar feature of the ore-bearing bowlders ia 
their formation in regular concentric layers. If one of them be broken through the center you may see, from center to circumference the 
rings as regular as the rings of a cross-section of a tree. As the bowlder becomes oxidized these rings peel ofl' successively leavin" its form 
unchanged. The identification of this vein as the equivalent of the "Ferriferous" would be of great value to us for the purpose of 
comparing the geological level of our oil-bearing rocks with those of Pennsylvania. 

ResTiming our measurements from this limestone downward we will find, 30 feet below it, coal No. 4; 160 feet below the lime coal 
No. 3 ; and 230 feet below the lime, coal No. 2. With this vein is a hard, black slate, about a foot thick, which is always piled in masses 
around the mouth of the mine, and is sometimes called " bone-coal". These measurements can be made to the best advantage by goini' 
down the south side of the hill into the hollow on the Saint Ronan lease, in which coal No. 2 is mined, all the points of exposure being on 
the central axis and as nearly vertical as is possible to tind them. 

In order to get a good exposure of the limestone for examination, we came beyond the highest point in the axial line. yVe will 
therefore retrace our steps for about a mile northward. This will bring us to " Sand hill". Here we find coal No. 2 about 170 feet above 
Walker's creek, and the horizon of coal No. 1 about 40 feet above the bed of the stream. In lieu of coal we shall have to content ourselves 
with the thick bed of fire-clay, which is a persistent accompaniment of it in Ohio. Assuming the bed of Walker's creek at this point to 
be 250 feet above the level of the Ohio river, we have, from the river level up to coal No. 1, 290 feet, plus interval from coal No. 1 to yellow 
limestone, 360 feet, plus interval from yellow lime to crinoidal lime, 350 feet, plus interval from crinoidal lime to coal No. 11 350 feet 
equal to 1,500 feet, the total amount of uplift to the highest point. Add to this 500 feet of the upper barren measures, which may be seen 
in the surrounding hills, and deduct the 250 feet which lie below the bed of Walker's creek, and we have 1,750 feet of coal-measure rocks 
fairly exposed within an area of a few miles, which any student of geology may study at his leisure. 

We will now go back to Sand hill and resume our journey southward (see llap IV). Crossing White Oak fork of Walker's 
creek above Volcano, we keep along the ridge, with Coal Bank run and Rogers gulch on our right .and Oil Spring run, with its branches 
on our left, till we come to the dividing ridge between Lick fork and Tate run ; here we halt and look around us. From Sand hill to this 
point we have passed through the center of the White Oak producing territory, a strip along the central axis of the break about four 
miles long and <me mile wide, on which there are something like 600 weUs now working. The southern end, at which we have stopped 
is now the busiest part. 

Glancing down at our feet we will see that we are standing upon a soft, yellow sand, filled with pebbles about the size of a pea ; 
some of them have a delicate blue tinge, but most of them are of a very clear white, almost translucent. This is the second oil-sand of 
Cow run, Ohio, from which a single well has produced §200,000 worth of oil. 

Here there is j ust as much attention paid to the oil-rock proper as in any other territory. The only peculiar feature about the 
territory is the fact of its being located on the crest of a well-marked anticlinal, and whether you will find an accumulation of gas, oil 
or water in the rock depends upon the comparative level of the point at which you strike a fissure. The statement which Professor 
Stevenson makes concerning the form of the -'break" at Hughes' river along the Staunton pike is accurate and true for the whole length 
of the line ; " there is no evidence of faulting on either side. The succession from the inner portion of the abruptly-tilted strata outward 
to the horizontal strata is unbroken and perfectly clear. Within the ' break ' the rocks are almost horizontal and not much broken. 
They describe a flattened anticlinal". That this statement is true of the most disturbed portion of the whole line we may see for 
ourselves. Starting from the point at which we halted, we will go down on to Lick fork. From this point the stream runs nearly west 
to its junction with Laurel fork. About 40 feet above the bed of the stream we will find coal No. 2 lying horizontal. FoUowiu" it 
westward down the run, we find that it soon begins to dip gradually, and in the course of a few rods comes down to the bed of the stream. 
Just before it disappears we see that it is beginning to dip at a much steeper angle, but shows no displacement. As we continue down 
the stream we find that we are passing over the upturned edges of the strata, but everything is in its proper place. Coal No. 3, the 
pebbly sand-rock that lies above it, the yellow limestone, the black flint, the crinoidal limestone, and the gray Umestono of the Pittsburgh 
veiu, each is seen in its legitimate position, the intervals being comparatively the same as when we measured them vertically. Laurel 
fork, from the mouth of the Lick fork to the Baltimore and Ohio railroad, runs very nearly parallel with the axis of the break. Placing 
the compass upon the upturned edge of the crinoidal limestone, where it is exposed in the bed of the run, we see that it runs straight as 
a line S. 10^ W. Being only 18 inches in thickness, it serves us admirably as an indicator of the course of the break. The black flint 
and the gray limestone, when tried by the compass, show the same course. From the mouth of Lick fork to the railroad this gray 
limestone of the upper productive coal group may be traced. Standing almost vertically, it crosses the railroad in the bed of the stream 
between Laurel junction and the first cut to the west. In this cut the double vein of coal No. 9 of the upper measures shows dipping 
at a .sharp angle to the west. At the west end of this cut the dip becomes more gradual, but continues until the rocks of the upper coal 
group, including our No. 11, are brought down to the level of the railroad. If we should go eastward from Laurel junction to Petroleum 
we should find the same state of facts existing that we have just enumerated ; in the beds of Oil Spring run and Goose creek all of our 
well-known rocks, from coal No. 2 to coal No. 11, dipping to the east complete the symmetry of the anticlinal. (See Section 3, Plate IV.) 
From the head of Lick fork the axis of the break commences to dip southward. Following the axial line we cross the northwestern 
branch of the Baltimore and Ohio railroad about midway between Laurel junction and Petroleum, cross the head of Ellis run and along 
Dry ridge to William Sharpneck's, on the north side of Hughes' river. Near the school-house on Dry ridge may be seen a fine exposure 
of the crinoidal limestone, here 350 feet above the bed of Hughes' river, showing a southern declination of about 580 feet between this 
point and the highest point of the axis at Sand Hill. About 200 feet below the crinoidal limestone is the flint vein. The same black 
shale, filled with white fossil shells, that underlies it at Horscneck is found here, affording a snre means of identification. 

Resuming our journey southward, we cross Hughes' river near the old Walton Wait well, climb the steep hill on the south side, and 
keep along the ridge with the waters of Island run on the west and of Flint run on the east, until we come to the head of Wilson's branch 
of Parish fork. From Dry ridge to this point we find the crinoidal limestone lying about level ; from this point it conuuences to dip 
southward. We follow the course of Wilson's branch down to within a few rods of the old Parmenter well, then over the ridge, cross 
Parish fork .above the residence of Mr. Fred. Bailey, cross oil-rock near the old ' ' Orchard " well and the main branch of Standing Stone creek 
at the Fisher farm. Here we find the crinoidal limestone just 30 feet above the bed of the creek. Total southern dip from Sand hill to 
Standiug Stone, 850 feet. The dip has now been sufiicient to bring the soft pebbly sandstone which lies over coal No. 10 into the hiUs. 
Going westward down the creek, we may see this ledge of rock, about 40 feet thick, running like a wall from the bed of the stream to the 
top of the hiU. 

At Standing Stone the south dip is reversed and the axis rises. Following the line, wo cross Dover's fork at David Dover's, where 
we find the crinoidal limestone 150 feet higher than at the Fisher farm. Continuing our course, we cross the head of Chestnut run, keep 
alongthe ridge with the headwatersof Upper Burning Spring run to the east and Nettle run to the west of us, and strike Lower Burning 



52 PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 

Spring run near the Newberger and Braidou well. Here we find the crinoidal limestone 125 feet above tlie Little Kanawha river, makinfj 
800 feet in geological level between this point and the head of Walker's creek at Sand hill. The bed of the stream at Walker's creek being 
200 feet higher than the bed of the Little Kanawha makes the difference in drilling for any given rook about 600 feet. * « * 

At Burning Springs the axis again commences to dip southward, and at the point where it crosses the Little Kanawha, a short distance 
above the mouth of Spring creek, the crinoidal limestone is 60 feet below the bed of the river. 

Our investigation shows that the White Oak anticlinal or "oil break" is a fold or wrinkle in the bottom of the great trough called 
the "Allegheny coal basin", extending from a point about 4 miles north of the Ohio river to a point about the same distance south of the 
Little Kanawha at Burning Springs ; that there are undulations in the axial line which divide the line into three sections, which, had there 
been no erosion of the surface, would have presented three peaks of different altitudes ; that of Herseneck would have been about 500 feet 
higher than that of Burning Springs, and that of White Oak about 300 feet higher than that of Horseneck, and the summit of the White Oak 
peak would have been about 2,000 feet above the level of the Ohio river. Under each of these peaks the rocks lie in the form of a table, 
say four miles long and from three-fourths to one mile wide. From the ends and sides of these tables the rocks dip at certain angles. 
Taken as a whole, the rocks form inverted baains, with flat bottoms and sloping sides. In these inverted basins nature for thousands of 
years had been collecting gases as the chemist collects them in inverted bottles over the pneumatic cistern. At Burning Springs the 
accumulation of gas became so large that it forced its way through the fissures of the overlying rocks to the surface, forming a natural 
gas-spring, which often, became ignited and burned for days on the surface of the water through which it was escaping. 

All of the work done in this region prior to 18(54 was dona without recognizing the fact that the territory was confined to the crest 
of an anticlinal, and large sums of money were expended in the purchase of territory and drilling of wells along the margins of other 
streams in the neighborhood. The operators also remained ignorant of the fact that two of the producing rooks of White Oak lay beneath 
the conglomerate. The escape of the gas at the summit of the other inverted basins drew the attention of operators to Horseneck and 
■White Oak (from Burning Springs). About the year 1865 General A. J. Warner and Professor E. B. Andrews, of Marietta, became interested in 
White Oak territory, and these gentlemen soonbegan to draw geological inferences whichled to an abandonment of the old policy of following 
the beds of the streams and to a recognition of the fact that the oU was confined to the crest of an anticlinal ; hence the White Oak section, and 
that alone, has been thoroughly and systematically worked. After it had been clearly recognized that the oil territory was confined to the 
crest of the anticlinal, it was somewhat hastily inferred that the crest would be valuable territory for its entire length, and many test 
wells were drilled on the strength of this inference. These test wells showed such a large percentage of failures that, three years ago, the 
writer undertook to account for them by making a careful level along the entire length of the axis. The undulations of the rocks shown 
by the profile (Plate III), taken in connection with the known laws of hydrostatic pressure, satisfactorily account for the failures, and 
show that part of the crest of the anticlinal is filled with an accumulation of water, and also what part must contain the accumulation of 
oiPand gas. 

Taking into consideration our position in the trough of the Allegheny basin, and the fact that on all sides of us the conglomerate is 
filled with brine, as on the Allegheny river above, at Pomeroy and Charleston below, on the Big Muskingum to the west, and the head 
of the Little Kanawha to the east, at all of which points it lies at a higher level than it does in the counties through which we have passed, 
we may safely conclude that the productive oil territory of West Virginia must be confined to the summit of the anticlinala or local rolls 
similar to the White Oak line. 

The question has been raised by some of the Pennsylvania geologists as to whether rocks lying below sea-level can be expected to 
contain an accumulation of oil. In 1878 the writer drilled a well at Dexter, Noble county, Ohio, in which he struck a sand-rock about 
700 feet below sea-level, containing a large accumulation of dry gas, and in the succeeding year George Kice, esq., obtained at M.acksburg, 
Ohio, a flowing well from the same rock at the same level. The writer's well at Dover's fork, in Wirt county, also contains a large 
accumulation of gas and some oil in the Vespertine sandstone 300 feet below sea-level. This question is mentioned here because all of 
the Pennsylvania oil-bearing sands, if here at all, would lie several hundred feet below tide-water, even on the crest of our White Oak 
anticlinal. 

COH^OLUSIONS. 

1 have quoted Mr. Minshall's work in great detail, and have introduced all of his sections, for the purpose of 
showing the facts from which his conclusions have been drawn. His facts were ascertained after many a mile of 
tramping and careful barometrical measurement ; a work far more laborious and valuable than that of collating 
the records of wells,, which, though sometimes correct, are more often defective through ignorance or inattention. 
]Mr. Carll has tramped over the hills and through the forests of northwestern Pennsylvania to gain personal 
knowledge of the region, and his work has high value in the eyes of the oil producers. Both Mr. Minshall and 
Mr. Carll have learned the geology of petroleum at the edge of the drill, barometer in hand, both of them seeing 
and handling what they describe. 

Assuming that Messrs. Hunt, Carll, and Minshall have observed correctly and stated their observations 
correctly, petroleum occurs in crevices only to a limited and unimportant extent. It occurs saturating porous strata 
and overlying superficial gravels ; it occurs beneath the crowns of auticlinals in Canada and West Virginia, and 
does not occur iu Pennsylvania; but in the latter region it occurs saturating the porous portions of formations that 
lie far beneath the influence of the superficial erosion, like sand-bars iu a flowing stream or detritus on a beach. 
These formations or deposits, taken as whole members of the geological series, lie conformably with the inclosing 
rocks, and slope gently toward the southwest. The Bradford field in particular resembles a sheet of coarse-gTained 
sandstone, 100 square miles in extent by from 20 to 80 feet deep, lying with its southwestern edge deepest aud 
submerged in salt water and its northeastern edge highest and filled with gas under an extremely high 
pressure. 

It is further to be concluded that, from whatever source the petroleum may have originally issued, it now 
saturates porous strata, not of any particular geological age, but runs through a vast accumulation of sediments 
from the oldest to the newest rocks, iu Pennsylvania and West Virginia embracing all of the rocks between the 
Lower Devonian and the Upper Carboniferous. 



THE NATURAL HISTORY OF PETROLEUM. 



53 



Ohaptee IV.— the chemistry OF PETROLEUM. 



Section 1.— THE CHEMISTET OF CEUDE PETROLEUM. 

The wide distribution of bitumen in nature has already been noticed. As early as 1823 the Hon. George Knox 
called attention to its prevalence in rocks and minerals, and showed that, along with lithia and fluorine, it had been 
overlooked in their analyses, (a) The following year Vauqnelin published a notice, with an analysis of the bitumen 
contained in the sulphur of Sicily. (6) In 1837 Boussingault published the results of an examination of the bitumen 
of Pechelbronn and other bitumens of sonthern Europe, which for many years was considered a classic upon the 
subject, (c) In 1853, Dr. C. Volckel examined the asphalt of the Val de Travers. ((Z) Thes* analyses of solid 
bitumens were mainly attempts to determine the constitution of these materials by ultimate analysis, and were 
very valuable at the time they were made. 

The first research upon fluid bitumen or petroleum was made by Vauquelin in 1817 upon the naphtha of 
Amiano, which at that time was used in street lamps in the small towns of the duchy of Parma, (e) In 1857, 
Engelbach examined the petroleum sand of the Luneberger heath, in Holstein, which has lately been attracting 
so much attention; (/) and "Warren de la Rue and Hugo Miller worked on several tons of Rangoon tar or Burmese 
petroleum, and distilled the oil with steam at 100° C. and with steam superheated to 200° 0., and examined the 
distillate, {g) 

American petroleum was examined by Professor Benjamin Silliman, sen., in 1833, [h) and by Professor B. 
Silliman, jr., in 1855, who published his results in his celebrated report on the petroleum of Venango county. (?) 
Since petroleum became an article of commerce innumerable examinations from all parts of the world have 
been made for technical purposes. These examinations have been chiefly made with reference to determining the 
amount of distillate available for illuminating purposes. In the earlier period of the commercial production 
it was assumed that petroleums from different localities were identical, except in specific gravity, and that 
therefore the distillate of the same specific gravity possessed the same properties. Professor B. Silliman, jr., 
and myself examined the petroleums of California ; (j) H. St. Claire Deville and others those of Java, 
Pennsylvania, and Russia ; Qz) Raveset examined Trinidad pitch, (?) Waller the petroleum of Santo Domingo, (m) 
and Silvestri the petroleum-like constituents of the lavas of Etna. (») The distillations essential to these analyses 
were often conducted in an ordinary glass retort, or with an alembic. Of the two, the alembic is very much to be 
preferred, as its use prevents the cracking of the oils. In 1868 Dr. H. Letheby contrived an apparatus for this 
purpose, which is described in the London Journal of Gas Lighting, xii, 653. In 1866 Dr. John Attfield published 
a description of another, (o) and the following year I described an apparatus of my own invention for the technical 
analysis of i^etroleums or solid bitumens, either with or without pressure, {p) 

The ultimate analysis of petroleum early showed it to consist of carbon and hydrogen. It was for a long time 
assumed that crude petroleum contained an equal number of atoms of these elements, but my own examination of 
Californian and other petroleums in 1867 and 1868 (q) showed that the first named variety contained from 0.5645 
to 1.1095 per cent, of nitrogen; that Mecca (Ohio) oil contained 0.230 per cent., and oil from the Cumberland 
well. West Virginia, 0.54 per cent, of the same element. Determinations of the hydrogen and carbon in several 
samples of petroleum showed that the proportion of carbon increases with the density. The following table shows 
the percentage of composition of the several different varieties : (r) 



Scioto well, West Tirginia , 

Comberland well, West Virginia 

Mecca, Ohio 

Hayward Petroleum Company, Califdmia. 

Pico Bpring, California 

Cafiada La^, California 

Maltha, Ojai ranch, California 



12.929 
13.359 
13. 071 
11.819 



86.622 
S5.20O 
86. .n6 
8^934 



0. 54M 
0.2300 
1.1095 
1.0165 
1. 0855 
0.5645 



a Phil. Trans., 1823; Phil. Jour., ix, 403; A. J. S. (1), xii, 147. 
b Ann. de Chim. ft de Phys. (2), xxv, 50. 
c md., lxiv,'41; New Ed. Phil. Jour., 1837. 
d Ann. der Chem. u. Pharm., Ixxxvii, 139. 
e Ann. de Chim. et de Phijs. (2), iv, 314. 
/ Ann. der Chem. u. Pharm., ciii, 1. 
g Phil.Mag. (4), xiii, 512. ^ 

h Am. Jour. Sci. (1), xxiii, 97. 
i -Am: C, ii, 18. 

j A.. J. S. (2), xxxix, 341; (2), II, xliii, 242; C. N., xvii, 257; 
Geo. Sum. of Cal.: Geology, ii, Appendix, p. 49. 



k L'A. S. et Ind., 1871, 146. 

I Jour, de VE. au gas, 1872; A. Chem., ii, 316. 

m Am. Chem., ii, 220. 

«- Gas. Chim. Hal., vii, 1. 

Chem. Netcs, xlv, QS. 

p A. J. S. (2), xliv, 2.30; C. N., xvi, 199. 

q Sep. Geo. Surv. Cal.: Geology, II, Appendlix, pp. 84, 89. 

r Ibid., p. 89; Am. Chem., Tii, 327. The methods of analysis 
used to meet the peculiar difficulties presented hy these 
substances is fully described in both the ivorks referred 
to.— 8. F. P. 



54 



PEODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 



Delesse notes 0.15 1 per cent, of nitrogen in elalerite and 0.256 per cent, in the bitumen from tlie pitcli lake 
of Trinidad, (a) 

O. Hesse has shown the presence of sulphur in Syrian and American asphalt to the amount of 8.78 and 10.85 
per cent., respectively, and one sample of California petroleum examined by myself contained a suflOicient amount 
of sulphur to form a deposit in the neck of the retort. It is well known that Canada petroleum contains sulphur, 
but the Pennsylvania and West Virginia oils are remarkably free from it. A qualitative test for sulphur in 
petroleum is described on page 181. An oil is described from the Kirghish steppe said to contain ,1.87 per cent, 
of sulphur and to be purified with great difficulty. According to Mr. John Tunbridge, gold may be found in the 
ashes of crude petroleum and in the refuse of petroleum stills, and he is reported to have extracted $34 worth of gold 
from a ton of residuum, the source of which is not given. (6) 

In general, it may be stated that the ultimate analysis of petroleum shows it to consist of carbon and hydrogen, 
with a very small proportion, in some instances, of nitrogen, sulphur, and perhaps oxygen. Metallic arsenic is said 
to condense in the* goose-neck of the retorts in which the bituminous limestones of Lobsan are distilled, (c) 



Section 2.— THE PEOXIMATE ANALYSIS OF PETROLEUM. 

In 1824 Eeichenbach published his researches upon paraffine and eupion, {d) and ten years later published a 
paper upon petroleum or rock-oil; (e) and he appears to have been the first chemist who attempted a separation of 
the definite chemical compounds that are mixed together in petroleum and similar liquids. Further attempts were 
made at their separation by Laurent, (/) but, as might be expected, they were only partially successful, as the eupion 
and other liquids obtained by Eeichenbach and Laurent were for the most part mixtures still. 

In 1863 Schorlemmer, in England, and Pelouze and Cahours, in France, published researches upon American 
petroleum, which were really the first successful attempts to isolate any number of the constituents of this complex 
mixture of substances. Schorlemmer showed that American ijetroleum contained in the portion boiling below 
1 20° C. the same hydrides as are obtained from the distillate from cannel coal, [g) but Pelouze and Cahours determined 
American petroleum to consist of the homologues of marsh-gas. The lowest determined by them was hydride of 
butyl, CjHio, which boils a little above 0° C, while the highest had a composition of C30H32. They considered 
paraffine a mixture of still higher terms, and regarded the small quantity of benzole and toluole alleged to have 
been obtained by Schorlemmer to have been due to destructive distillation of the petroleum, {h) 

At the same time that the researches just mentioned were being carried on in Europe, 0. M. Warren, alone and 
associated with F. H. Storer, was engaged on a similar research in this country, (i) The results obtained by them 
were published in 1865 and 1866, and while in the main confirmatory of those previously obtained, they were in many 
respects superior in point of deflniteness and accuracy, from the fact that Warren used an apparatus for 
separating his material greatly superior to any hitherto employed, (j) In discussing the identity of the 
compounds obtained by himself and MM. Pelouze and Cahours, Warren remarks that he considers vapor density 
and analysis as corroborative evidence with boiling point ; but aside from such evidence, he regards the superiority 
of his process of distillation as a paramount means of securing pure products for analysis, and therefore entitled 
to great consideration, (k) 

Warren succeeded in isolating fourteen different liquids in quantities of several hundred cubic centimeters, 
and so pure that the whole quantity might be distilled from an ordinary tubulated retort within a range of 
temperature of 1° C. He was consequently enabled to determine their boiling points with great accuracy, and 
hence the difference in their boUiug points, to analyze them and determine their vapor density and establish their 
formulae. The composition assigned by him to the fourteen compounds is given in the following table: 



FIEST BEEIES. 


SECOND i^EElES. 


THIRD SERIES (not Completed). 


rormnla. 


Boiling 
point. 


Pormnla, 


BoiUng 
point. 


Formula. 


Boiling 
pomt. 




Degrees. 
0.0! 
30.2 
61.3 
90.4 




Degrees. 
8-9 
37.0 
68.5 
98.1 
127.6 




Degrees. 
174.9 
195.8 
216.2 
















C7H16 








C9H20 

1 


150.8 





a De V Azote et dea Matures dans VBcorce Terreatre. 

Paris, 1861, pp. 172, 173. 
6 J. F. I., cix, 175. 
c Ann. dea Mines (4), xix, 669. 
d P. Mag. (2), i, 402. 
e Sohweig. Seid. Jour., ix, 133; P. Jour., xvi, 376. 



/ Ann. Ckim. et de Phi/a. (2), Ixiv, 321. 

g Proc. Mancliester Phil. Soc, March 11, 1863; A. J. S. (2), xxxvi, 115. 

h Ann. C. et P. (4), i, 5. 

i Mem. Am. Acad., N. S., ix; Am. J. Sci. (2), xl and xli. 

j Mem. Am. Acad., N. S., ix, 121 ; A. J. S. (2), xxxix, 327. 

k A. J. S. (2), xlv, 262. 



THE NATURAL HISTORY OF PETROLEUM. 55 

I have changed the atomic value of 12 given in Warren's memoir to that of carbon=6, as at present used, in 
order that these formula may be more readily compared with others. Warren does not give the specific gravity of 
his compounds, nor does he give any hint regarding the relative proportions of these compounds in crude petroleum, 
and his work was qualitative as regards the crude oil. Messrs. Warren and Storer also examined Eangoon petroleum, 
with the following result : 

D6g.C. 

Eutylene, CioHjo boiling at about 175 

Margarylene, CuHj;, boiling at about 195 

Laurylene, CioHj4, boiling at about 215 

Cocinylene, CisHm, boiling at about 235 

Naphthaliu, CioHg — 

Also, probably, pelargonene = C9H18, boiling at about 155°, and members of one or both the series of hydrides (from American 

petroleum), it being a fair presumption that we have had in our hands hydrides of ojnanthyl (CtHis), of capryl (CsHia), and of pelargonyl 

•(C9H20). Our experiments also indicate the probable presence of xylole and isocumole. (o) 

The latter, with naphthaline, are found in coal-tar. 

It will be noted that these researches were had only upon the more volatile portions of the petroleum, without 
regard to the more dense portions with high boiling points, and that they established the fact that the more 
volatile portion of American petroleum contained principally the homologues of marsh-gas, with the general formula 
CnH2u+2i and also the homologues of oletiant gas, with the general formula CnH2n, and that the corresponding 
portion of Eangoon petroleum contained principally the homologues of olefiant gas, the benzole series, and probably 
sonse of the higher members of the marsh-gas series. 

An examination of paraffine and its chemical relations showed that it was one of the higher homologues of 
7uarsh-gas, hence the English chemists have called the whole series parafiBnes, including the solid, liquid, and 
gaseous members. 

During 1805 E. Ronalds isolated butyl hydride from American petroleum and described it as a liquid with a 
specific gravity of 0.600 at 32° F.; vapor density, 2.11, colorless, and of a sweet taste and agreeable odor. Alcohol 
•of 98 per cent, dissolves from eleven to twelve times its volume, (b) The same year Tuttschew discovered the 
homologues of olefiant gas (CnHjn) in illuminating oil from Galiciau petroleum, (c) 

Since ISGo up to 1880 the parafiines of American petroleum have been the subject of a vast amount of research, 
particularly by English chemists. Goldstein, (d) Stenhouse,(e) Odling, (/) Herman, {g) Morgan, and Schorlemmer (/») 
have all contributed to the mass of knowledge relating to this subject that is now the possession of chemists. 
Pre-eminent, however, among these investigators is the name of Schorlemmer; but it would be impossible to give 
here a resume of his results that would be understood by the general reader ; in fact, many of his most elaborate 
researches are of a purely scientific nature. His numerous papers will be found in the Philosophic Transactions and 
the Journal of the Chemical Society. 

Very little has been done upon Canadian petroleum. Schorlemmer has shown that the benzole series is 
present in it. (() Eussian petroleum has been examined by Beilsteiu and Kurbatow (j), and they found that the more 
volatile i)roducts of Caucasian petroleum consist of the additive compounds of the benzole series, having a higher 
specific gravity for the same boiling point than the compounds constituting American petroleum and containing 
more carbon. Further experiments, undertaken to ascertain if American petroleum contained these bodies in 
small proportion, yielded negative results, all of the derived compounds showing the presence of the alcohol 
radicals (CnH2o+o), and not of benzole or its additive compounds. The relation which these additive compounds 
sustain to benzole may be inferred from the following formulre: 

Benzole C'eHe Hesahy dro benzole CeHu 

Toluole C,Ha Hexahydro toluole C,Hn 

Isoxylole CsHio Hexahydro isoxylole CsHis 

Schiitzenberger and Jouine having also examined Caucasian petroleum, (A-) found a notable fraction of the 
light oil to consist of the isomers of ethylene {CnH2n). Their results confirm in a general way those obtained by 
MM. Beilstein and Kurbatow. 

The liquids which form the heavier portions of petroleum, from which paraffine crystallizes, have not as yet 
been very fully examined. For some time it was questioned whether paraffine was a constituent of Pennsylvania 
petroleum, and those who maintained that it was not accounted for the fact that it sometimes crystallized from crude 
petroleum by assuming that such petroleum had been heated since it escaped from the wells. The phenomena 
attending the occurrence of petroleum in the Bradford district has, however, removed this question from all future 

a Hem. Am. Acad., ix. g Eep. B. A. A. S., 1875. 

6 J. C. Soc. (2), iii, 54; Bui. de la S. Chim., 1866, 135. * J. C. Soc, xxviii', 3011. 

c Joar.f. Prak. Chem., xciii, 394; Bui. de la S. Chim. 1865, f4,^229. i C. N., xi, 255 ; Trans. Boy. Soc. (5), xiv, 168. 

d J. C. S., xxxvi, 765; B. D. C. G. B., xii, 689. J B.D. C.G. B., xiii,1818 aud 2028 ; A. J. S. (3),xxi, 67 and 137. 

e B. S. C. de P., 1878, 189; Ann. der Client., clxxxviii, 249. fc B. D. C. G. B., 1880, 2428 ; Bui. S. C. P., 1830-2, 673. 

/ Proc. Bdy. Inst., viii, 16. 



56 PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 

controversy, as there paraffine is shown to he susceptible of fractional condensation, the extremely low temperature, 
consequent upon the removal of the enormous pressure, causing the more dense parafflnes to condense in the pipes, 
leaving a large content of those with higher melting points still dissolved in the oil. It now appears to be firmly 
established that paraifine as at first isolated is not a homogeneous body, but a mixture ef several homologous, 
perhaps isomeric, bodies having similar properties, but different boiling points. For the history of the discovery 
of paraffine and a description of the principal researches that have been conducted upon it, see the chapter on 
ParafiQne in Part II of this work. 

Eecently the constituents of residuum have been made the subject of careful study. Professor Henry Morton, 
of the Stevens Institute of Technology, first called attention to these substances. Speaking of the distillation of 
"residuum" for the production of paraffine and lubricating oils, he says : 

At the end of this operation, when the bottom of the etill is already red-hot and some coke has been formed, there runs very slowly 
from the condenser a thick, yellow-brown tar, which is almost solid in cold weather, and in summer is only semi-fluid. * * » This thick 
tar, prior to 1873, was only used as a .lubricant for the necks of rolls in rolling-mills, its great tenacity securing its adherence under the 
very unfavorable conditions to which it was there eisposed. About March, 1873, however, Mr. John Truax, of Pittsburgh, wrote me as 
follows, referring to this tar : " Within a few months we have found a new use for it in the manufacture of a lubricating oil." * * * 
Ketnrning to the production of what may be termed "thallene tar", I cannot do better than quote part of a letter received from Mr. 
Truax: "This material (referring to the thallene tar) drains or drips from the end of the pipe forming part of the condenser after all the 
tar has been distilled, and is in reality the product of the distillation of the petroleum pitch remaining in the still. Tar of petroleum 
(residuum), which we use exclusively, of gravity 20° Baum6 (specific gravity 0.936) or thereabouts is distilled in cylindrical stills or 
retorts set vertically. These are 9 feet in diameter, and from 3 to 4 feet high. The condensation is effected in the usual manner. The 
stills are inclosed in brick work all around the sides, forming a flue, through which all the products of combustion in the furnace are 
obliged to pass. After firing the retorts, the first thing to come over is what we call ' light oil ', though the man who made your kerosene 
would not call it so. This is from 35' to 40° Baum6, or 0.850 to 0.830 specific gravity, and we cut this off to return to the kerosene 
manufacturers. The balance of the charge begins now to fall rapidly in gravity (Baum€), and continues falling or getting heavier till the 
end of distillation, at which time the ' stuff' begins its exit and drops lazily into the trough. At this time the bottom of the still is red- 
hot, and has on it as residue from the charge a covering of coke from 8 to 10 inches thick. This coke is very porous and spongy, and veiy 
light, but is good for fuel, and makes little or no smoke." Farther on, in reference to the same thing, Mr. Truax says : "After several- 
hours the stream, after having reached its maximum, begins to darken in color, and soon ceases altogether. Then your 'stuff' drags its 
slow length along. At this time everything is furiously hot ; the bottom red-hot; the fire-brick of the furnace glowing like fire itself, and 
luminous as the fire, and the little oil remaining with the coke has a heat so great as to make its elements interchange in such a way as to 
make a large quantity of carbon unite with the very small quantity of hydrogen that is left behind the general exit so as to form your 
stuff. Several times in my experience, owing to some accidents, we have had to draw the fires before your stuff came over, and on opening 
the still or retort we found regular pitch, resembling in nearly every way pine-pitch or coal-tar (for roofing) pitch, except in absence of 
odor and taste, and in not being quite so plastic, but nevertheless a true pitch. Now the distillation of this pi tch makes your stuff, that 
is, under favorable conditions." 

I agree with Mr. Truax in his theory here expressed, that the thallene does not exist ready formed in the petroleum, or even in the 
petroleum tar, but is, like anthracine for example, a product of destructive distillation at something like a red heat, (a) 

In a previous paper Professor Morton thus describes the preparation of thallene : 

The crude tarry matter is well washed with benzine (petroleum naphtha), then with alcohol, and is lastly dissolved in benzole (coal- 
tar naphtha), filtered hot, and crystallized out on cooling. It is then obtained as a mass of very minute, needle-like crystals of a greenish- 
yellow color and pearly luster in the mass. » * * This I described under the name of Viridin in a paper read before the American 
Institute in New York, and drew attention to the very remarkable spectrum which its fluorescent light yielded, which resembled in a 
striking manner that of anthracine, while the crystalline form, solubilities, and fusing points of the two bodies were decidedly unlike. (6) 

Hemillian also obtained petrocene in 1877 (J. 0. S.^ xxxii, 867). 

In 1879 MM. L. Preunier and E. David published a paper " Upon the nature of certain accessory products 
obtained in the industrial treatment of Pennsylvania petroleum", (c) which was followed and continued in another 
paper by M. Preunier, entitled " Study upon the unsaturated carbides derived from American petroleum", [d) In 1876 
Dr. H. W. C. Tweddle exhibited at Philadelphia a greenish substance that he called "petrocene", from which he 
obtained a yellowish-green substance which he called "thallene". This was the raw material of this research, 
the few kilograms which were exhibited being obtained from 50,000 barrels of petroleum. The density of petrocene, 
that is to say, the crude material, is about 1.206. It was separated into lighter parafSnes having a density of about 
0.990, and heavier hydrocarbons of about 1.27, bromine and sulphuric acid separated from 5 to 15 per cent, of 
parafQue having a very high melting point, 70°, 80°, and 85° C, ordinary parafSne melting at 65° 0. The 
unsaturated hydrocarbons, anthracene, phenanthrene, chrysene, chrysozene, andpyrene were recognized. Organic 
analysis showed a hydrocarbon containing from 88 to 96 per cent, of carbon, which is a larger percentage than 
is found in coal, even anthracite rarely attaining 95 per cent. 

The following year (1880) MM. Preunier and Eug. Varenne published another paper " Upon the products 
contained in the cokes of petroleum", (e) They obtained a compound giving on analysis a mean of 97.9 per cent, 
of carbon, which corresponds to the theoretical compound (C)6H2)n, requiring 97.95 iier cent, of carbon. These 
results, say the atithors, conform perfectly to the general views of M. Berthelot, and confirm their own previous 
researches. 

In 1873 MM. Le Bel and A. Muntz examined the black coloring matter of the semi-liquid asphalt of 
Pechelbronn (Bas. Ehin). (/) It is obtained in brittle, black scales from solution in carbon disulphide, and its coloring 

a Am. Chem., vii, 88. c B. S. C. P., xxxi, 158; B. D. C. 6. B., 1879, 366. e Ibid., xxxiii, 545, 567; Ibid.; 1880, 1141. 

* Ibid., iii, 162, 106. d Ibid., xxxi, 293; Ibid., 1879, 843. / B. S. C. P., xvii, 156. 



THE NATURAL HISTORY OF PETROLEUM. 57 

power compares with aniline. They gave it the name " a«i)haltine ", first given by Boussingault to a similar 
substance, and compare the analysis of this componnd with that of a China bitumen as follows : 

Pechelbronn. China. 

Carbon 86.2 86.8 

Hydrogen 8.8 8.7 

As it is not volatile, the authors conclude that the asphalt is not a product of distillation. 

In 1874 MM. Hell and Mendinger examined the organic acids of crude petroleum, («) but the examination 
was not conducted in such a manner as to determine whether the acids obtained were an educt or a product of 
petroleum. They agitated the second running (specific gravity 0.857) of heavy Wallachian petroleum with caustic 
soda, and treated the flocculent precipitate with sulphuric acid. The result was a mixture of oily acids very difficult 
to separate, as they were decompo.sed bj- distillation. They finally succeeded in separating a colorless fluid, feebly 
acid, that produced a flocculent body with sodium or potassium, resembling soft soap, and they believisd it belonged 
to a new series of fatty acids. 

While these researches have been undertaken abroad, in this country Professor Samuel P. Sad tier, of the 
JJniversity of Pennsylvania, has been conducting a series of experiments upon petroleum and associated substances, 
with results that are embraced in the following extract from a letter dated Philadelphia, November 4, 1881, 
addressed to myself: 

ClaBsifyin;; the subject under the three heads of : 1, Gaseous products accompanying crude petroleum; 2, Crude petroleum; and, 
3, Solid products accomp.anying .and derived from the i>etrolonm, I started with the first. I made analyses of some ten lots of "natural 
gas" taken from wells in different parts of the oil-field, and representing diff'erent geological horizons as far as possible. As there was 
some doubt as to whether the results of eudiometric analysis could indicate the presence of the higher members of the paraffine series, I 
supplemented these analyses by a series of absorption tests made on the spot. Thus I passed acuiTent of natural gas for a time through 
absolute alcohol, which, while it does not dissolve hydrogen, absorbs marsh-gas slightly, ethane, propane, and the higher hydrocarbons 
in increasing amount. The hermetically-sealed flasks of t'le alcohol were then examined in my laboratory, and the gases absorbed 
driven out by heat and collected over mercury and analyzed. They proved to be chiefly ethane and propane. I also jiassed a current of 
the gas through bromine, both pure and alcoholic, so as to absorb the olefines. On after examination in my laboratory, by neutralizing 
the free bromine with soda and diluting, I succeeded in separating out colorless oily drops of etheue dibromide, and presumably, though 
not certainly, propene dibromide. These results were read in part befois the American Philosophical Society, and were reported in its 
proceedings. (6) 

In the study of the liquid crude oils, after classifying the oils from the different geological horizons (with information supplied to 
me by Mr. John F. Carll), and noting gravities, color, and other physical properties, I proceeded to classify them by filtration (as far as 
possible in the cold) with anim<al charcoal and with mineral materials, like clay, alumina, etc. I did this with a view of examining 
chemically and miscroscopicaUy the coloring impurities thus withdrawn. My results with these portions withdrawn by filtration are 
very incomplete; still I think they are largely made up of the members of the higher and more condensed hydrocarbon series, like 
anthracene, etc., and not simply amorphous carbon, as supposed by some chemists. In corroboration of this view I may say that in the 
crude oils picric acid will strike a deep blood-red color, like the color of its compound with authracene, fluorine, etc., whereas in the 
yellow oil clarified in the cold by animal charcoal no such result is gotten. I also verified with a number of crude oils Schorlemnier's 
observation that olefines are present, capable of being withdrawn by bromine, and in small quantities members of the benzole series, 
capable of yielding nitro-derivatires like nitro-benzole and nitro-toluole. Indeed, taking several distinct fractions, gotten from Bradford 
oil, I got notable quantities, in the lightest fraction light-yellow nitro-benzole, and in the higher fractions reddish-yellow nitro-toluole and 
probably higher products. I also extracted paraffine from a number of the crude oils by mixing several volumes of ether with the oil and 
then chilling, when almost all tbe dissolved jiarafBue will separate and can be filtered off. 

I commenced a study of the spent acid from a refinery in Titnsville that had been running for several weeks exclusively on green oil 
from Petroleum Centre, hoping to get a class of sulpho-conjugated oils from it for study.' I did not get further, however, than to separate 
them from the free sulphuric and sulphurous acids, and so have them yet. 

Lastly, of the solid products which accompany petroleum I examined the paraffine of buttery or firmer consistence which separates 
out on the tubing or derrick-frames in Bradford oil-wells. This was dark in color, looking like the crude ozokerite of Galicia, but not so 
firm. It had all the chara<;t«rs of a paraffine mixture. I had also collected a whitish buttery mass from several flowing wells near 
Warren, Pennsylvania. This, on examination, proved to be a very perfect emulsion of oil and water, one which would stand for months, 
but separated into distinct layers of oil and water when warmed. I also took up for examination the solids gotten from Pennsylvania 
petroleum by pyrogenic formation. Of this character were i)etrocene and allied products first mentioned by Dr. Herbert Tweddle, and 
from which Professor Henry Morton extracted thallium. I had worked with it some months when Preunier published an account in the 
Ann. de Chim. et Phye. of an examination of the same substance. I then published in Remsen's American Chemical Journal an account of 
my results, showing the presence of several new hydrocarbons, (c) 

In an article published by Professor Sadtler in 1876, he well shows the unsatisfactory condition in which the 
chemistry of petroleum stands at present, {d) After speaking of the various researches had up to that date, he says : 

What was the material used for these investigations ? Were the crude petroleums examined by these difierent authorities exactly 
the same, or if by chance they might have been, are they to be compared with all other petroleums now known f Those familiar with the 
crude oils as produced in the different sections of Venango, Clarion, and Butler counties, and very recently in Warren and McEean 
couuties also, will know that these oils vary in color from a light amber to a dark black, and in gravity from 30° to 55^ Baum(;— from thick 
lubricating oils to nearly pure benzine. Moreover, they come from very difiirent strata, or " sand rocks ", as they are termed. « • * 

It will thns be seen that if we wish to study the chemical composition of petroleum thoroughly we have a considerable body of 
material to choose from. This material must be carefully assorted, too, before any satisfaetorj' study of the petroleum can be made. The 
great bulk of the crude petroleum that is sent to the refineries or is exported is shipped by the pipe-line companies, who have their 
network of pipes ramifying through whole districts, collecting the entire yield of a district and storing it in their immense tanks. To 
study such crude petroleums would be like analyzing the sweepings of a mineral cabinet. 

a B. D. C. G. B., vii, 1216. b P. Am. P. S., xviii, 44. c Am. Chem. Jour., i, 30. d Am. Chem., vii, 181. 



58 . PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 

With perhaps a few exceptions, these remarks apply as forcibly to the work that has been doue upon all other 
petroleums as to those of Pennsylvania. 

The various attempts to produce by synthetic processes the oils that constitute petroleum will be noticed 
in detail when treating the chemical theories regarding its origin. They may be briefly stated as follows: 
Commencing in 1876 with Berthelot's synthesis of these liquids through the reaction of alkali metals, calcium, 
carbonate, and steam, we next have, in 1871", Byasson's successful experiments with steam, carbonic acid, and iron 
at a white heat ; then, in 1877, Friedel and Craft's synthesis through the action of chloride of aluminum ; then the 
same and the following year the reaction produced by M. ClcBz upon carbides of iron and manganese by diluted 
sulphuric acid and boiling water; and finally, in 1878, Landolph's complex synthesis through the action of 
fluoborates. (a) M. Adolph Wurtz has shown that hydride of amyl (found in petroleum) and othei? hydrocarbons 
can be produced by the action of zinc ethyl on iodide of allyl. (6) 

These oils have also been produced by the destructive distillation of the animal fats through the use of super- 
heated steam. Warren and Storer fractionated the distillate from a lime soap of menhaden oil and obtained the 
members of the parafQne series, the homologues of olefiant gas, and the benzole group, (c) Cahours and Demarcay 
fractionated an oil boiling below 100° C, obtained by distilling fats by superheated steam, and found it contained > 
pentane, hexane, and heptane. Another oil having a higher. boiling point contained heptane, octane, nonane, 
decane, undecane, and a small quantity of dodecane, and probably cetane (hexdecane), all members of the parafBne 
series. {(I) 

Section 3.— THE CHEMICAL ACTIOS" OF EEAGENTS UPOIJ^ PETEOLEUM AND ITS PEODUCTS. 

In attempting to classify the work that properly falls into this section I find it in a very fragmentary condition. 
The residues from gas works where petroleum is used have been studied by S. Cabot, jr., and he found them to 
contain the benzole compounds, but neither phenol nor cresol. (e) A. Leutz notices that the residues from gas, 
whether it is made from wood, coal, or petroleum, are identical, viz: aromatic hydrocarbons and phenols, 
naphthaline, anthracene, and phenanthrene, all of which are likewise obtained by passing petroleum through red-hot 
tubes filled with charcoal. Leutz experimented withEussian petroleum. (/) J. Tuttschew passed the vapor of an 
American naphtha through a red-hot tube filled with pumice and obtained gas and tar. One gram of the naphtha 
yielded a liter of gas having the following composition : {g) 

Per cent. 

Acetylene 1-77 

Elayl and homologues -. 20.51 

Marsh-gas and hydrogen 77. 72 

The effects of oxidation upon petroleum and its compounds have been quite widely studied. I succeeded in 
converting California petroleums into asphalts, which were lustrous black and brittle, soluble in carbon disulphide 
and fusible at 212° F. ; but 1 have never examined either the asphalt or the gaseous products of the decomposition, {li) 
Walter P. Jenney has very carefally studied the effects of oxidation upon heavy petroleum distillates. He placed 
these distillates in a metallic still and aspirated a current of air through the oil continuously for from four to six 
days, maintaining the oil at the same time at a temperature of from 140° to 155° C, and as a result the volume of 
oil was greatly reduced, not by oxidation into water, but by cracking into lighter oils and gases and the conversion 
of a portion of the oil into oxidiaed residues, soluble in chloroform, but not in petroleum naphtha. He says: 

These four substances, formed from one sample of oil, bear a peculiar relation to each other. The resin D, which is in solution in the 
hot oil, has the composition expressed by the formula C46H4606. Becoming oxidized, it precipitates as the brown powder CwHioOs, and, 
settling on the bottom of the still, becomes heated to a higher temperature, changing into the solid asphalt CwHsaOs, or by a longer 
action of air CwHasOv. (i) 

These interesting and suggestive experiments bear an important relation to the technology of petroleum. 

Hell and Btendinger oxidized the acid that they obtained from crude Wallachian petroleum by the action of 
nitric and chromic acids, and obtained acetic acid and a new acid having the formula CgHieOz. (j) Berthelot has 
shown that the action of chromic acid on ethylene and its homologues at a temperature of 120° produces aldehyde 
and its homologues. (7;) In 1870 E. Willigk treated parafflne at a high temperature with nitric and sulphuric acids, 
and obtained products that belonged to the series of the fatty acids. {I) In 1873, M. Champion subjected parafliue 
for sixty hours to the action of nitro-sulphuric acid, hypouitric acid vapors were given off, and an oil having been 
formed with an acid reaction, combining readily with alkalies, of which the formula is C26H26NO10, he proposed for it 
the name parafBnic acid, (wi) In 1874 M. A. G. Pouchet published a paper in relation to the action of nitric acid upou 

a. For references see page CO et seq. li P. Am. P. S., x, 460 ; Geo. Surv. of California : Geology, 

b C. Mendus, liv, 387. Appendix II, 86. 

c M. Am. Acud., N. S., ix, 177; A. J. S. (2), xliii, 250. i Am. Chem., v, 359. 

d Jour. Pharm. Chem. (4), xxii, 241. j B. S. C. P., 1877-'82, 385 ; B. D. C. G. B., x, 451. 

e C. N., xxxvi, 140. h J. C. S., xxxvi, 907. 

/ Rus. Chem. Soc, June, 1877. ? B. D. C. G. B., 1870, 138. 

g J. f. P. C, xciii, 394. in J. de Pharm. et de Chimie, Aug., 1872. 



THE NATURAL HISTORY OF PETROLEUM. 59 

paraffiue aud tbe divers products that result from it. («) He obtained in solution the fatty acids, chiefly caproic, 
but also butyric, caprylic and capric, and i^araffinic acid insoluble. He regards parafBnic acid as having the 
formula C48H4,03,HO, and parafiine as a definite comi^ound with the formula C48H50, and not a mixture of diflereut 
carbides of hydrogen, a conclusion that does not follow, unless he has shown that parafQues from all sources have 
the same composition and produce the same paraffinic acid. 

In 1868 M. Grotowski, of Halle on the Saale, studying the effects of sunlight on illuminating oil, (b) exposed 
various kinds of oils in glass flasks to the rays of the sun for a period of three months, and found that they 
invariably absorbed oxygen and converted it into ozone. The air was ozonized even in well-corked vessels, the 
effect being, however, in some degree dependent upon the color of the glass. The respective results of these 
experiments were noted after a lapse of three months. Americivn kerosene from petroleum, which had been exposed 
to the light in white uncovered glass balloons, had become so strongly ozonized that it scarcely burned, and the 
original bluish-white oil had assumed a vivid yellow color, the si)ecific gravity being found to have increased 0.005 ; 
but American kerosene which had been kept in the dark for three months did not show any ozone at all, and burned 
satisfactorily. The oils were exposed from April to July, 18G8. Those oils which had become strongly ozonized 
had also suffere<I a distinct change in odor, and the corks were bleached as if attacked by chlorine, while the others 
had remained unchanged in these particulars. These results are fully confirmed by the experience of the consumers 
and dealers in these oils, who all avoid obtaining "old oil", as it is called. It appears that redistillation with 
quicklime and clean iron nails restores the oils to their original state and i)roperties. It is well known that the 
best illuminating oils, when allowed to stand for a long time in unused glass lamps, become yellow in color, less 
mobile, and of greatly impaired quality. 

Dr. Stevenson Macadam, having investigated the action of petroleum on metals, concludes that it exerts a 
solvent action upon lead, zinc, tin, copper, magnesium, and sodium, (c) Engler refers to these experiments, and 
maiutains that these metals are attacked by petroleum only under the influence of air or oxygen, when acid 
compounds are formed. Petroleum washed iu caustic alkalies apd distilled in carbonic acid has no solvent action 
on metals, (d) 



Chapter V.— THE ORIGIN OF BITUMENS. 



Section 1.— INTRODUCTIO:^". 

The origin of bitumens has been a fruitful subject of speculation among scientific men during the last half 
century. These speculations have been pursued along several quite different lines of investigation, and have been 
influenced by several different classes of experience. Generally speaking, they fall into three different categories, 
embracing those who regard bitumen as a distillate produced by natural causes, those who regard bitumen as 
indigenous to the rocks in which it is found, and those who regard bitumen as a product of chemical action, the 
latter class being subdivided into those who regard bitumen as a product of chemical change in natural products, 
of which carbon and hydrogen are constituents, and those who advocate a purely chemical reaction between purely 
mineral or inorganic materials. I propose to examine these theories in the inverse order la which they have just 
been stated. 

Section 2.— CHEMICAL THEORIES. 

The argument for a purely chemical origin of petroleum was first brought to the serious attention of scientific 
men through the publication of a somewhat noted paper by the distinguished French chemist Berthelot in 1866, 
whose conclusions are stated as follows : 

If, in accordance with an hypothesis recently announced by M. Daubr^, it be admitted that the terrestrial mass contaius free alkali 
metals in its interior, this hypothesis alone, together with experiments that I have lately published, furnishes almost of necessity a 
method of explaining the formation of carbides of hydrogen. According to my experiments, when carbonic acid, which everywhere 
infiltrates the terrestrial cruet, comes iu contact with the alkali metals at a high temperature, acetylides are formed. These same acetylides 
also result from contact of the earthy carbonates with the alkali metals even below a dull-red heat. 

Now the alkaline acetylides thus produced could bo subjected to the action of vapor of water ; free acetyline would result if the 
j)roducts were removed immediately from the infl,uence of heat and of hydrogen (produced at the same time by the reaction of water 
upon the free metals) and the other bodies which are found present. But iu consequence of the diifercut conditions the acetylene would 
not exist, as has been proved by my recent experiments. 

a C. Rendus, Ixxix, 320; Dingier, ccxiv, 130 ; C. N., xxx, 154. c T. P. S. E. (3), viii, 463; J. C. S., xxxiv, 355. 

b N. Jahrbuchf. Pharm., xxxvii, 187; Chem. C. Bl., 1872, 588. d B. D. C. G. B., 1870, 2186; C. N., xli, 284. 



60 PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 

In its place we oTatain either the products of its condensation, whioli approach the bitumens and tars, or the products of the 
reaction of hydrogen upon those bodies already condensed ; that is to say, more hydrogenated carbides. For example, hydrogen reacting 
upon the acetylene, engenders ethylene and hydride of ethylene. A new reaction of the hydrogen either upon the polymeres of acetylene 
or upon those of ethylene wonld engender formenio carbides, the same as those which constitute American petroleum. An almost 
unlimited diversity in the reaction is here possible, according to the temperature and the bodies present. 

We can thus imagine the production by a purely mineral method of all the natural carbides. The intervention of heat, of water, 
and the alkali metals, together with the tendency of the carbides to unite with each other to form matters more condensed, are sufficient 
to account for the formation of these curious compounds. Their formation could thus be effected in a continuous manner, because the 
reactions which give birth to them are continually renewed. This hypothesis is susceptible of further development, but I prefer to dwell 
within the limits authorized by my experiments without wishing to announce other than geological possibilities, (o) 

Continuing the same line of experimentation and argument, in 1869 M. Berthelot thus concludes another 
article : 

In the preceding experiments wood, charcoal, and coal are changed into petroleum. » » * If one accepts either origin for petroleum 
that I have just mentioned, he is led to conceive the possibility of an indeiinite formation of these carbides, whether they be relcated to 
an organic origin, and in consequence to the enormous mass of (Ubris buried at an inaccessible depth, or whether they be relegated to a 
purely mineral origin, and in consequence to the incessant removal of the generative reactions. (6) 

He further applies this hypothesis to the origin of the carbonaceous matter in the meteorite of Orgueil and 
other meteorites, (c) 

In 1871 M. H. Byasson read a paper before the French Academy, which he concludes as follows : 

The question of the origin of petroleum has already produced four or iive different theories. In a research that certain considerationB 
have led us to undertake, we have, by causing carbonic acid and water to react under very simple conditions, obtained a small quantity 
of an inflammable liquid nearly indifferent to sulphuric acid, and with an odor analogous to that of the carbides of petroleum. * » » 
The substances that we cause to react upon each other being widely distributed upon the globe, it will perhaps be possible to formulate 
a new theory of the formation of petroleum, to correllate it with the elevation of mountains and volcanic eruptions, and to group 
together several important facts prominent in the history of the earth, (d) 

M. Byasson causes steam, carbonic acid, and iron at a white heat to react upon each other, and provides the 
requisite conditions in nature by assuming that sea-crater penetrates the terrestrial crust and comes in contact with 
metallic iron at a white heat and at great depths beneath the surface. 

In 1877 Messrs. Friedel and Crafts produced the hydrocarbides and acetones by a complex, reaction, in which 
chloride of aluminum performed the essential part, (e) 

On the 25th of February, 1877, M. Jlendeljeff read a paper on the origin of petroleum before the Chemical 
Society of Saint Petersburg, which has been very widely noticed. I give below a translation of a resume which 
appeared in the correspondence of the Chemical Society of Paris, and which is printed in its bulletin : 

The appearance of springs of petroleum at the surface of the earth shows the tendency of those mineral oils to traverse by infiltration 
the different strata of the earth in reaching the surface, a natural consequence of their lower density as compared with water. The place 
where petroleum originates ought then to be situated beneath the strata where the springs themselves are found. The beds furnishino- 
the mineral oil belong in general to several very different formations of the earth's strata. Thus in the Caucasus the petroliferous zone 
is formed in the Tertiary ; in Pennsylvania, in the Devonian, and even Silurian. The place of the formation of the petroleum ought then 
to be sought in older strata. The sandstones impregnate* with petroleum have never exhibited the carbonized remains of organisms. In 
general, petroleum and carbon are never found simultaneously ; but it is difficult to suppose that petroleum resulted from the decomposition 
of animal and vegetable organisms, because it would be then impossible to represent the origin of petroleum without a corresponding 
formation of carbon. On the other side, it is impossible to imagine the existence of great quantities of organisms in the epoch preceding 
the Silurian and Devonian. These reflections have led the author to the supposition that petroleum ia in no place of organic origin. In 
speaking of the hypothesis of La Place upon the origin of the earth, in applying Dalton's law to the gaseous state in which all the 
elements cos stituting the terrestrial globe ought to be found, and taking into consideration their relative densities, M. Mendeljeff recognizes 
the necessity of admitting a condensation of metals at the center of the earth. Among these it is natural to presume iron would 
predominate, because it is found in great abundance in the sun in meteorites and basalt-s. Admitting further the existence of metallic 
carbides, it is easy to find an explanation not only for the origin of petroleum, but also for the manner of its appearance in the places 
where the terrestrial strata, at the time of their elevation into mountain chains, ought to bo filled with crevices to their center. These 
crevices have admitted water to the metallic carbides. The action of water upon the metallic carbides at an elevated temperature and 
under a high pressure has generated metallic oxides and saturated hydrocarbons, which, being transported by aqueous vapor, have 
reached those strata where they would easily condense and Impregnate beds of sandstone, which have the property of imbibing great 
quantities of mineral oil. ^ 

This explanation of the origin of petroleum finds support from the following facts: The predominance at the surface of the earth of 
element* having a small atomic weight ; the appearance of petroleum in directions corresponding to great circles; the relation remarked 
by several naturalists, particularly by M. Abicb, between petroleum and volcanic manifestations. 

In order to make this question clear, it is indispensable to study the different transformations of petroleum, its decomposition into 
marsh-gas and non-saturated hydrocarbons ; of determining the chemical nature of mineral oils of different origin; also that of the saline 
water that ordinarily accompanies petroleum. Eesearches of this kind, in connection with profound geological studies, can alone render 
justice to the hypothesis stated above. (/) 

In 1877 Mr. Cloez succeeded in obtaining hydrocarbons resembling certain constituents of petroleum as a 
result of the action of dilute sulphuric acid on a carbide of iron and manganese (spiegeleisen). The nest year, by 

a Ann. de Chim. H de Phi/g., Dec, 1866. c C. E., Ixvii, 849. e C. K., Ixxxv, 74. 

ft B. S. C. P., xi, 278. d C. E., Ixxiii, 609. / B. S.C. P., 1877,501. 



THE NATURAL HISTORY OF PETROLEUM. 61 

using a carbide richer in manganese, he succeeded in producing the reaction with boiling water and obtained the 
oils as before. In concluding his paper on the subject he regards his results as a sufficient basis for an hypothesis 
by which to account for the origin of petroleum, (a) 

In 1878 M. Fr. Landolph succeeded iu obtaining these oils by an exceedingly complex process, in which he used 
fluoborates, afiBrmiug that " it is the great energy (affinity) of boron for the elements of water that ought to 
provoke those classes of reaction and permit us to obtain synthetically a great number of carbides of hydrogen with 
great facility ". (b) 

These chemical theories are supported by great names, and are based on the most complete and elaborate 
researches ; but they require the assumption of operations nowhere witnessed in nature or known to technology. 

I quote here a passage which I wrote in 1867, soon after M. Berthelot's original article, above quoted, first 
appeared : 

The theory of JI. Berthelot appears to me to derive less support from observed facts than any which has been proposed. It was 
doubtless formed with reference to the petroleums of Pennsylvania, which are among the purest mineral hydrocarbons of any found in 
large quantities. The very small proportion of nitrogen existing in these oils might perhaps be accounted for as an accidental constituent 
of the limestone, or as being mechanically mingled with the watery vapor. Neither supposition is at all probable, since nitrogen possesses 
such slight affinities. It adds nothing to its support to admit that the .tlkali metals do exist in the interior of the earth in the free 
state, (r) The very great diflerence observed between the varieties of petroleum (d) cannot be explained upon any hypothesis that 
regards them as the results of the same process acting upon like materials; neither should it be expected that a process yielding an almost 
" unlimited diversity " of products, under slightly varying circumstances, would furnish a uniform result over a very wide area. Samples 
of Pennsylvania petroleum of the same density, when gathered from widely separated localities, furnish identical (e) results upon analysis ; 
so, too, do California petroleums, though gathered from localities 50 miles apart; andyetthe two varieties of oil are exceedingly unlike. "It 
is, moreover, altogether erroneous to attempt to explain the causes of geological facts by the aid of supposed analogies with the complex 
apparatus of physical cabinets, whose existence in nature could scarcely be conceived by the boldest and most unrestrained imagination." (/) 

The moat conspicuous advocate of the theory that petroleum is a product of chemical reaction, by which marsh- 
gas is couverted into more condensed hydrocarbons, appearing as fluid, viscous, and solid bitumens, is M. Coquand, 
who has so fully written upon the occurrence of bitumen in Albania and Roumania. He found mud volcanoes 
associated with the occurrence of petroleum in Sicily, the Apennines, the peninsula of Taman, and the plains of 
Eoumania, and concluded that mud volcanoes produced petroleum and other forms of bitumen by converting marsh- 
gas into more condensed hydrocarbons. The following passage gives a summary of his opinions : 

If the Carpathians have snown me ouly mineral oils in the st.ate of naphtha more or less charged with tarry matters, and sometimes, 
but rarely, glutinous bitumen, that is to say, iu the first stage of its existence aud transformation, Seleuitza ought to show me the same 
phenomena brought to the extreme limit of exhaustion; that is to say, bitumeu reduced to a solid substance, incapable of spontaneous 
decomposition and of engendering new derivative products. It is rational to conclude that the history of that substance consists of two 
distinct evolutions, of which the first has for the principal theater of its active life North America and the Carpatho-Caucasian region, 
and the second the coasts of the Black sea aud lower Albania, and as occupying an intermediate position between the two extreme states, 
which represent birth and death, we will mention glutinous bitumen, an intermediate and unstable substance through which petroleum 
passes, having lost its primitive fluidity and acquired that consistence which ought always to preserve it, which might be called the 
period of old age and decrepitude. (3) 

M. Grabowski, in an article on ozokerite, having advanced similar opinions with reference to marsh-gas, says : 

Veiy little is known about its formation. It appears to me to be very probable that it has to be considered as a product of the 
oxidation and condensation of the petroleum hydrocarbons. » * » By this hypothesis the formation of petroleum may be reduced to 
an oxidation of marsh-gas, and thus the close connection between ozokerite, petroleum, and coal be explained in the most simple manner, (h) 

'So adequate representation of the reaction is given. C. H. Hitchcock has supported similar views, (i) 
It may be said, in reference to this theory, that, in so far as it expresses the fact that maltha represents an 
intermediate stage in the transformation of petroleum into asphaltumand recognizes the chemical relation existing 
between marsh-gas and the petroleum compounds, it is entitled to consideration; but in the chemical processes of 
nature complex organic compounds pass to simpler forms, of which operation marsh-gas, like asphaltum, is a resultant, 
aud never the crude material upon which decomposing forces act. 

a C. R.,lxxxv, 1003, Ixxxvi, 1248; J. C. S.,xxxiv,4Sl,716. 

b C.R., Ixxxvi, 1267. Professor A. Wurtz has produced some of the constituent hydrocarbons of petroleum by the action of zinc ethyl 
on iodide of allyl, bnt with great forbearance he refrains from assuming that these reagents are found in the interior of the earth. C.R., 
Iiv,387. 

c This statement is equally true of spiegeleisen, etc. 

d See Chapter IV. 

e The word identical will not apply to the present condition of the Pennsylvania region as it did in 1867, hut should be replaced by 
Hmilar. ' 

f P. A.P. S.,x,445. Quotation from Bischof: Chemioal and Physical Geology ; Cav.Soc.ed., 1,243. 

<7 B. S. G. F., xsv, 35. 

h Hubner's Zeitachrift, 1877, 83; Am. Chem., vii, 123. 

« The Geo. Mag., It, 34. 



62 PRODUCTION OF PETEOLEUM. 

Section III.— THE THEOEY THAT BITUMEN IS INDIGENOUS TO THE EOCKS IN WHICH IT IS 

FOUND. 

The opinion that petroleum is indigenous to the rocks in which it occurs has l»een maintained with great vigor 
by Dr. T. S. Hunt and Professor J. P. Lesley, these gentlemen basing their views upon their observations in 
Canada, West Virginia, and Kentucky. Dr. Hunt, having found the fossiliferous limestones impregnated with 
petroleum, which is particularly abundant in the fossils themselves, therefore concludes : 

The facts observed in this locality appear to show that the petroleum, or the substance which has given rise to it, was deposited in 
the beds in which it is now found at the formation of the rock. We may suppose in these oil-bearing beds an accumulation of organic 
matters whese decomposition in the midst of a marine calcareous deposit has resulted in their complete transformation into petroleum, 
which has fouud a lodgment in the cavities of the shells and corals immediately near. Its absence from the unfilled cells of corals in 
the adjacent and interstratified beds forbids the idea of the introduction of the oil into these strata either by distillation or by infiltration. 
The same observations apply to the petroleum of the Trenton limestone, and if it shall hereafter be shown that the source of petroleum 
(as distinguished from asphalt) in other regions is to be found in marine fossiliferous limestones a step will have been made toward a 
knowledge of the chemical conditions necessary to its formation, (o) 

In a paper published some years later the same gentleman says : 

In opposition to the generally received view, which supposes the oU to originate from a slow destructive distillation of the black 
pyroschists belonging to the middle and upper divisions of the Devonian, I have maintained that it exists, ready formed, in the limestones 
below. All the oil-wells of Ontario have been sunk along denuded anticlinals, where, with the exception of the thin black band some- 
times met with at the base of the Hamilton formation, these so-called bituminous shales are entirely wanting. The Hamilton formation, 
moreover is more oleiferoup, except in the case of the rare limestone beds, which are occasionally interstratified. Reservoirs of petroleum 
are met with both in the overlying quaternary gravels and in the fissures and cavities of the Hamilton shales, but in some cases the borings 
are carried entirely through these strata into the corniferous limestone before getting oil. A well was sunk at Oil Springs to a depth of 
456 feet from the surface and 70 feet into the solid limestone beneath the Hamilton shales before meeting oil. (ft) 

He says further, in support of this opinion : 

In this (the Trenton) we meet for the first time with petroleum, though in much less abundance than in the higher rocks. In th^ 
township of Packeuham, the large orthoceratites of the Trenton limestone sometimes hold several ounces of jietroleum in their chambers, 
and it has been met with under similar conditions in Lancaster. It has also been observed to exude from the fossil corals of the Birdseye 
limestone at Kivi^re ^ la Rose (Montmorency). The limestones of this group, which are generally more or less bituminous to the 
smell, are peculiarly so in some parts of the county of Montmorency, and not only give off a strong odor when struck, but when burned 
for lime evolve an abundant bituminous vapor on the first application of heat. The litholftgical represe:.-tative of the Trenton group 
next appears in the corniferous formation, composed, like the former, of pure limestones, with chert beds, silicified fossils, and petroleum. 
» * * It is in the Lower Devonian limestone, or corniferous formation, that the greatest amount of petroleum occurs, although 
Mr. Hall observed that the dolomites of the Niagara formation in Monroe county, New York, frequently contain mineral pitch, which is 
sometimes so abundant as to flow from the rock when this is heated in a lime-kiln. Concretionary nodules holding petroleum have also 
been observed in the Marcellus and Genesee slates, while the higher Devonian sandstones in New York and Pennsylvania are often 
impregnated with petroleum, and from these and from still higher str.ita issue the oil-springs of those regions. It is probable, however, 
that the source of the oil in these superior strata is to be found in the corniferous limestone, from which the petroleum of western Canada 
is undoubtedly derived. * « * In the township of Rainham, on lake Erie, the shells of Pen/aments araius are sometimes found 
to have an inner cavity, lined with crystals of calcite and filled with petroleum. Coralline beds impregnated with petroleum are found 
at Wainfleet and in WalxJole, in the latter instance immediately beneath a layer of chert; but I have more particularly examined them 
in the township of Bertie, which is on the Niagara river opposite Bufl'alo. Here in a quarry are seen massive beds, slightly inclined, 
composed of a solid, crystalline, encrinal limestone, which appears not only destitute of petroleum, but, from the water by which it is 
impregnated, to be impermeable to it. In some of the beds are large corals of the genus Heliophylhim, the pores of which are open but 
contain no oil. Two beds, however, one of 3 and one of 8 inches, which are interstratified with these, are in a great part made up of 
species of HelioxAyllum and Favoaites, the cells of which are full of petroleum. This is seen in freshly-broken masses to be absent from the 
solid limestone, which forms the matrix of the corals, and resembles in texture the associated beds. As the fractured surfaces of the oil- 
bearing beds become dry, the oil spreads over them, and thiis gives rise to the appearance of a continuous band of dark oil-stained rook, 
limited above and below by the lighter limestone, from which, however, it is separated by no planes of bedding. The layer of 3 inches 
was seen to be twice interrupted in an exposure of a few feet, thus presenting lenticular beds of the oil-bearing rock. Beside the 
occasional specimens of Heliophyllum without oil disseminated in the massive limestone, a thin and continuous bed of Favosites is met 
with, which is white, porous, and free from oil, although beds above and below are filled with it. It was in the weathered outcrop of one of 
these that was obtained the specimen in the cells of which was found the infusible and insoluble product of the oxidation of petroleum. 
When the oil-bearing beds are exposed in working the rock the oil flows out and collects on the water of the quarry. The facts observed 
in this locality appear to show that the petroleum, or the substance that has given rise to it, was deposited in the bed in which it is now 
found at the formation of the rock. 

In the easternmost part of North America, and at the extremity of the peninsula of Gasp^, petroleum is again met with issuing from 
sandstones which belong to the base of the Devonian series. Beds of thickened petroleum, like those of Enniskillen, are here met with. 
Near to cape Gasp6 there is a remarkable dike of amygdaloidal trap, 10 or 12 yards in breadth, the cavities of which are often lined with 
chalcedony or with crystals of calcite and quartz. Many of these cells are filled with petroleum, which in some cases has assumed the 
hardness of pitch, (c) 

Petroleum occurs saturating a stratum 35 to 40 feet thick about midway iu the Niagara formation at 
Chicago, Illinois, the rock being* so filled with petroleum that blocks of it which have been used in buildings are 
discolored by the exudations, which, mingled with dust, form a tarry coating upon the exposed surfaces. Though 
thus discolored, when freed from the bitumen, this rock is a nearly white, crystalline dolomite. An illustration of 
the effect of this exudation was to be noticed in one of the largest churches in Chicago before the great lire. 

a A. J. S. (a), XXXV, 168. 6 Ibid., (2), xlvi, 361. c A. J. S. (2), xxxv, 157. 



THE NATURAL HISTORY OF PETROLEUM. 63 

Dr. Hunt estimated the amount of oil held in the Niagara limestone of Chicago, and found it to be 4.25 per cent., 
an amount rather beneath the average. He continues : 

A Layer of this oleiferoua dolomite, 1 mile (5,280 feet) square and 1 foot thick, will contain 1,184,832 cubic feet of petroleum, equal to 
8,8o0,060 gallons of 231 cubic inches, and to 221,247 barrels of 40 gallons each. Taking the minimum thickness of 35 feet assigned by Mr. 
Wortheu to the oil-bearing rock at Chicago, we have in each square mile of it 7,743,745 barrels, or, in round numbers, 7,750,000 barrels 
of petroleum. * » * With such sources existing ready formed in the earth's crust, it seems to me, to say the least, unphilosophical 
t<) searcli elsewhere for the origin of petroleum, and to suppose it to be derived by some unexplained process from rocks which are 
destitute of the substance, (a) • 

In reply to a letter of inquiry, Professor James M. Safford thus writes regarding the occurrence of petroleum 
in the neighborhood of Nashville, Tennessee: 

lu the limestone rocks of Nashville, representing those of the Silurian basin of middle Tennessee, and of course Silurian (lower), 
gcodes or geode cavities in certain horizons are quite common. They are mostly caleite geode.', or cavities lined with crystals of calcite. 
Sometimes there is nothing but the calcite crj'stals within; then we have a lining of calcite crystals with dolomite, gypsum, anhydrite, 
often cleavablc, and occasionally fluorite within. I have seen all of these minerals in one. Imperfect quartz geodes lined with quartz 
crystals occasionally occur. Barite and celestite and baryto-celestite occur together, and sometimes fluorite occurs with these. In a 
certain horizon there are many geode cavities lined with calcite crystals aud containing within beautiful crystals of celestite, white and 
beautifully blue. Cavities occur containing celestite which are not lined with calcite crystals, and it is not uncommon to meet with geode 
cavities in our limestones lined with calcite crystals and containing more or less petroleum. I have seen as much ae half a piut or even 
more in them. 

There appears to be little room to doubt that the petroleum in these geodes is indigenous to the Nashville 
limestone. 

The Clinton limestones of Ohio, lying immediately above the Cincinnati group and over the whole northern 
border of the Cincinnati anticlinal, contains petroleum in small quantities, but nowhere sufficient in amount to be 
of economic value, (b) 

In the description of the method of "the existence of the petroleum in the eastern coal-field of Kentucky" 
Professor J. P. Lesley says : 

At Old Oil Springs, on the south fork of Paint creek, a black reservoir of tar-like oil here occupies the center of a sloping bog, and is 
kept always full from a spring at its upper limit, near the top of the slope and foot of the cliffs, about 20 feet above the level of the 
stream. Fig. 3 shows the conformation of the ground, a the spring, J the reservoir, c the bed of Paint creek, d conglomerat* No. XII. (c) 

A mile farther down the stream, Hut on the opposite or right bank, aud apparently 35 or 40 feet above the water, on a steep slope 
close under the projecting cliffs, is a similar siiring, which has not produced any extensive bog for want of a level receptacle, but 
has yielded "large quantities" of oil in past years, and from which petroleum continues to run slowly all of the time. Fig. 4 shows 
the contour of the ground and the overhanging cliffs at two places near the spring. Three miles farther down the stream, and within a 
mile or less of its junction with the north or Ojien fork at Lyon's well, the oil is to be seen coming from the edge of the coal and ore-sh.ale9, 
jnst under the cliffs, which here tower to an amazing height. Fig. 5 represents in a formal manner this section and a pile of conglomerate 
crag called the Crow's Nest, between 100 and 200 feet high. There are here, immediately underneath the lowest plate of conglomerate 
(20 feet thick), 5 feet of shales, then 2 feet of yellow sandstone, then 1| to 3 inches of ball ore, then black and blue slates to the creek 
level. A mile or two a\> the creek there are in these black slates two distinct beds of coal, 6 feet apart, the upper 10 inches, the lower 
24 inches thick ; and oil flows from them continually in small quantities. At Davis, where the road crosses Paint creek, jnst below the 
mouth of Little Glade run, the conglomerate being here 230 feet thick and the streams flowing from the bottom of it between straight 
vertical walls, the black petroleum is perpetually welling out, not only from under the conglomerate, but from crevices in the bare faces 
of the rocks, .accompanied, as elsewhere, by yellow peroxide of iron. 

It is evident from the description given above — and the same description will answer for a large number of similar siirings in the 
numerous gorges through which the Licking waters find their way westward into the Blue Grass country of middle Kentucky — that the 
petroleum of the oil-springs of Paint creek (rf) has had its home in the great conglomerate at the base of the coal measures ; still has, we 
may say, for it is still issuing in .apparently undiminished quantities from the same. A conglomerate age or horizon of jietroleum exists. 
This is the main point to be stated, .and must be kept in view, apart from all other ages or horizons of oil, whether later or earlier in order 
of geological time. The rock itself is full of the remains of coal plants, from the decomposition of which the oil seems to have been made. 
I noticed in the great rock pavement .at Lyon's well, over which the creek water flows, many sections of tree branches and stems 
mashed flat, each section being, s.ay, 6 inches long by one-eighth of an inch wide in the middle, and when a jaek-kulfe was thrust down 
into the slit, so as to clear it of mud, the black tarry oil would immediately exude and spread itself over the water. A pointed hammer 
spalling off flakes of the rock on each side showed not only that the slit itself was full of thick oil, but that the whole rock was soiiked 
with it, except along certain belts (an inch or less wide and very irregular), which for some unexplained reason remained free from oil. 
Some of the great blocks of rock that have fallen from the clifl' too recently to be as yet decomposed are literally full of the marks of the 
broken macerated driftwood of that period. For hundreds of square miles this vast stratum of ancient sea sand is a thick packed 
herb.arium of coal-measure plants. If the loose sands of the bank of Paint creek, derived, as they are, from this sand-rock, can at the 
present day receive and retain vaat quantities of petroleum in spite of the perpetual washings to which they are subjected, we can easily 
conceive of the wide, flat, sandy shores of the coal islands of the ancient archipelago of the coal era becoming completely charged with 
the decomposed and decomposable reliquiae of both the plants of the land and the animals of the sea. (e) 

It is as yet beyond our ability to distiuguish the several original sources of the petroleum obtained at different depths from any one 
well. The specific gravities of the oil, decreasing with the increase of depth, is a fact which shows conclusively that a chronic evaporation 
or distillation of the whole mass of oil in the crust of ttie earth (within reasonable reach of the surface) has always been, and is still, 
going »n, converting the .animal and plant remains into light oils, the light oils into heavy oils, the heavy oils into asphalt or albertite, 
the process being accompanied at every stage with the liberation of gas. Therefore the quantities of lubricating oil coming out from the 

a A. J. S. (3), i, 420. d Professor Lesley appears to regard the name "Paint creek", as suggested 

I Professor Edward Orton in a communication to S. F. by the iridescent film of petroleum floating on the water. 

Peckham. e P. A. P. S., x, 39. 

cP. A. P. S., X, 39. 



64 PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 

conglomerate along the valleys of Paint creek prove the existence of immense quantities back from the cliff in the rock itself under all 
the highlands. And for the same reason the heavy oils obtained first from Lyon's and Donnell's and Warner's wells, followed by 
Ijchter oils from a greater depth, prove the existence of yetiincalculated quantities of still lighter oils at still greater depths, and of a 
world of gas-pressure which ought to make its presence known whenever there have been rents in the crusts, down-throws, fallings-in, or 
serious elopings of the stratification ; in a word, any sort of natural vent, (a.) 

The paper from which these extracts are taken was read before the American Philosophical Society, April 7, 
1865. It expresses the opinion of which Professor Lesley has been one of the strongest advocates, that the 
petroleum of the Appalachian system is indigenous to the rocks in which it is found. It is to be inferred, however, 
that his views as related to the origin of the petroleum found in northwestern Pennsylvania have become somewhat 
modified, although in precisely what manner is not clear. In the introduction to Eeport III of the Second 
Geological Survey of Pennsylvania, p. xv, Professor Lesley says : 

The origin of petroleum is still an unsolved problem. That it is in some way connected with the vastly abundant accumulations of 
Paleozoic sea-weeds, the marks of which are so infinitely numerous iu the rocks, and with the infinitude of coralloid sea animals, the 
skeletons of which make up a large part of the limestone formations which lie several thousand feet beneath the Venango oil-sand group 
scarcely admits of dispute, but the exact process of its manufacture, of it* transfer, and of its storage in the gravel beds is utterly 
unknown. That it ascemled rather than descended into them seems indicated by the fact that the lowest sand holds oil, when those above 
do not, and that upper sands hold oil when they extend beyocd or overhang the lower. 

If I understand Professor Lesley, these later statements, as well as that quoted regarding the chronic 
distillation that has always been, and still is, going on, express his opinion respecting the changes that convert the 
original petroleum content of the rocks into the different varieties of iietroleura now met with, rather than the 
origiu of the petroleum itself. 

Professor T. Ruiiert Jones examined the asphaltic sand or rock of Trinidad, and found that when it is boiled 
several times in sj)irits of turpentine " it loses its bitumen and resolves itself into loose orbitoides and nummulsnffi, 
with a few other foraminifera, and (when cleaned by acid) a small proportion of green-black sand and a very 
few rounded grains of quartz ". (6) 

In a paper on the "Geology of a part of Venezuela and Trinidad" Mr. G-. P. Wall describes the occurrence of 
bitumen as follows : 

The asphalt of Trinidad is almost invariably disseminated in the upper group of the "Newer Parian ".(e) When in situ it is confined 
to particular strata, which were originally shales containing a certain proportion of vegetable d4bris. The organic matter has undergone 
a special mineralization, producing bituminous in place of ordinary anthraciferous substances. This operation is not attributable to heat, nor 
to the nature of distillation, but is due to chemical reaction at the ordinary temperature and under the normal conditions of the climate. 
The proofs that this is the true mode of generation of the asphalt repose not only on the partial manner in which it is distributed in the strata, 
but also on numerous specimens of the vegetable matter in process of transformation and with the organic structure more or less 
obliterated. After the removal by solution of the bituminous material, under the microscope a remarkable alteration and corrosion of 
the vegetable cells becomes apparent, which is not presented in any other form of the mineralization of wood. A peculiarity 
attending the formation of the asphalt results from the assximption of a plastic condition, to which property its frequent delivery at the 
surface is partly referable ; where the latter is hollow or basin-shaped, the bitumen accumulates, forming deposits such as the well known 
Pitch lake. Sometimes the emission is in the form of a dense oily liquid, from which the volatile e'.ements gradually evaporate, leaving a 
solid residue. Mineral pitch is also extensively diffused in the province of Maturiu, on the main (the other districts of the llanos were 
not snfficiently examined to determine its existence, which, however, is generally affirmed), and in still larger quantities near the gulf 
of Maracaibo, on the northern shores of New Granada and in the valley of the Magdalena, where it probably is a product of the same 
Tertiary formation, (d) 

In England petroleum has been observed in a peat bog, and the lower layers of the peat were compacted into 
a sort of bituminized mass, which has been described by B. W. Binney as follows: 

The only remarkable feature connected with the upper bed of peat at Down Holland Moss is the western portion of it being 
covered up with a bed of sand, and being probably sometimes subject to an infiltratiou of sea-water. * * * These circumstances, 
added to the fact of petroleum being found most plentifully at the edge of the sand, lead to the conclusion that it is produced by the 
decomposition of the upper bed of peat under the sand. 

The chemical process by which such singular effects have been produced is a subject more fitted for the consideration of the 
chemist than the geologist, but the author supposes that petroleum is the result of slow combustion in the i>eat, and has been produced 
by a process partly analogous to that which takes place in the distillation ef wood iu closed vessels, when, owing to a total absence of 
oxygen, the combination of hydrogen and carbon in the form of hydrocarbons is effected, (e) 

Petroleum has also been observed dripping from shales overlying a highly bituminous coal; (/) also in limestone 
containing remains of Crustacea, {g) 

Concerning the origin of the petroleum of Shropshire, Arthur Aiken says : 

The thirty-first and thirty-second strata are coarse-grained sandstone entirely penetrated by petroleum ; are, both together, 15-J- feet thick, 
and have a bed of sandy slate-clay about 4 feet thick interposed between them. These strata are interesting as furnishing the supply of 
petroleum that issues from the tar-spring at Coalport. By certain geologists this reservoir of petroleum has been supposed to be sublimed 
from beds of coal that lie below, an hypothesis not easily reconciled to present appearances, especially as it omits to explain how the 



a P. A. P. S., X, 53. e Proc. Manchester Lit. and Phil. Soc, iii, 136. 

J Q. J. G. S., xxii, 592. / T. G. S. L. (2), v, 438. 

c A South American Tertiary group. g Ibid. (1), ii, 199. 
d Q. J. G. S., xvi, 467. 



THE NATURAL HISTORY OF PETROLEUM. 65 

petroleum in the uiiper of these Ix-ds eouUl have passed tbrougli tlie interposed bed of claj- so entirely as to leave no trace behind. It is 
also worthy of remark that the nearest coal is only 6 inches thick, and is separated from the above beds by a mass 9G feet in thickness, 
consisting of sandstone and clay strata, without any mixture of petroleum. («) 

The observations of Wall iu Trinidad appear to establish beyond a doubt that the bitumen of tbat locality lias 
been and is being produced from a peculiar decomposition of woody fiber. Bright and Priestwich both regard the 
petroleum of England as indigenous in the limestones and shales, and the testimony of Biuuey is conclusive as to 
its production from the decomposition of peat on Down Holland Moss. 

Professor A. Wiuchell says : 

It seems to have become established from recent (1866) researches that the petroleum of the Northwest not only accumulates iu several 
difl'ereut formatious, but also originates from materials stored up iu rocks of difterent geological ages from the Utica slate to the coal 
•conglomerate, and perhaps the coal measures. (6) 

Professor J. D. Whitney has suggested that the infusoria, the remains of which are so abundant iu certain 
sedimentary rocks, are the original source of the petroleum occurring in them, and says : 

In conclusion, it may be remarked that the marine infusorial rocks of the Pacific coast, and especially of California, are of great extent 
^lud importance. They occur in the coast ranges from Clear lake to Los Angeles. They are of no little economical as well as scientific 
interest, since, as I conceive, the existence of bituminous materials in this state, in all their forms, from the most liquid to the most dense, 
is due to the presence of infusoria, (c) 

Section 4.— THE THEORY THAT BITUMEN IS A DISTILLATE. 

Humboldt, in 1804, observed a petroleum spring issuing from metamorphic rocks iu the bay of Cumana, and 
remarked : 

When it is recollected that farther eastward, near Cariaco, the hot and submarine waters are sufficiently abundant to change the 
t;emperature of the gulf at its surface, we cannot doubt that the petroleum is the effect of distillation at an immense depth, issuing from 
those primitive rocks beneath which lie the forces of all volcanic commotion, {d) 

The researches of Keicheubach led him to suggest, in 1834, that "when we remember that coal is so filled 
with the remains of plants that its origin has been attributed entirely to the destroyed vegetables of an early 
period, it must appea-r probable that petroleum was formed from such plants as aftbrd these oils, aud, in one word, 
that our mineral oil is nothing but turpeutine oil of the pines of former ages; not only the wood, but also the 
Jieedle-like leaves, may have contributed to this process, which is not a combustion, but is, I believe, simply the 
result of the action of subterranean heat." (e) 

French writers generally have expressed their conviction that bitumens have resulted from the action of heat 
•on strata containing organic matter. 

In 1835 M.Eozet read a paper before the Societe Geologique de France, in which he discussed the occurrence of 
a.sphaltic limestone at Pyrmont. He represents it as a mass of limestone not stratified, but crossed with fissures 
in all directions, aud contains to 10 per cent, of bitumen aud pure carbonate of lime. The limestone is accompanied 
by a molass or a sort of breccia, consisting of gravel of quartz and schistose rocks cemented with asphalt. The 
molass contains from 15 to 18 per cent, of asphalt, but the bitumen extracted from the limestone aud molass is 
identical. He continues : 

The bituminous matter is found equally iu the calcareous rock aud the molass that covers it. It is evident that the action that 
introduced it into the two rocksisposterior to the deposition of the latter. The manner in which it disistributed in great masses, which throw 
their ramifications in all directions, joined in such a-manner that the superior portions contain generally less bitumen than the remainder 
-of the mass, indicate that the bitumen has been sublimed from the dejrths of the globe. » « • The nature of the bituminous rocks 
(molass, cretaceous limestone, and calcareous schist) admit jierfectly of this sort of actiou. The molass and the limestone are so porous 
that they easily absorb water and the calcareous schist sticks to the tongue. Thus these rocks could ha%-e been easily penetrated by the 
bituminous v.apors. which probably penetrated all three of them at the same time. 

The epoch of the introduction of the bitumen iuto the preceding rocks being necessarily posterior to the deposition of the molass, it 
ouay be presumed that it eoiTCspouds to that of the basaltic eruptions which many facts prove to have been often accompanied with 
bituminous material. • • ■» 

It may be objected that such basalrtc rock does not appear in all the extent of the Jura. To that I reply that they are found in the 
neighborhood, in Hurgundy aud iu the Vosges ; and further, that in the changes in the surface of the soil, whether occasioned by fractures 
or by the disengagement of vapors, the jdutonic rocks do not necessarily appear at the surface. Perhajis in the deep valleys of the Jura 
the basalts are at a very slight depth. * ' * In the Val de Travers, near Neufchatel, similar phenomena are observed. (/) 

In 1840 Mr. S. W. Pratt described the occurrence of bitumen at Bastenee, a small village in the south of 
France, 15 miles north of Orthez. The surrounding country is formed of small conical hills 200 oi 300 feet high, 
separated by a coarse sandy limestone belonging to the cretaceous system. The upper part consists of variously 
colored sands and clays from 50 to CO feet thick, the whole covered by gravel and .sand, which in all directions 

a T. G. S. L. (1), i, 195. 
h A. J.S. (-2), xli, 176. 

e Bui. Acatl Set. San Francisco, iii, 324. Dr. J. S. Newberry has latelv erroneously attributed this theory to S. F. Peckham, Ann. X. 
T. Acad. Sci., ii. No. 9. 

d HnmboMfs 'Travels, III, 114, Bohn's ed. 
e Schweijiger SeldeVs Jahrtuch. ix, 133; Ph. Jour., xvi, 376. 
/B. S. G. F. (I), vii, 138. 
VOL. IX 5 



66 PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 

extends for many miles. These sands and clays are usually horizontal, but are occasionally disturbed and highly 
inclined. This is occasioned by the protrusion of igneous matter, which is there found in connection with them. 
The bitumen is worked in three localities near each other, and occurs in beds from 5 to 15 feet thick, which vary 
much in character, the upper part consisting of looser and coarser sand, with a less proportion of the bitumen, while 
the lower part is more compact, containing finer sand, and being chiefly composed of bitumen. The sands and 
clays contain no fossils except occasional pieces of lignite and bitumen, and are generally free from extraneous 
matters, except in two localities, where numerous shells are found which may be referred to the Miocene period. 
In one of these localities, where the bitumen bed is from 10 to 12 feet thick, the shells are disposed in numerous 
layers a few inches apart, those of the same kind generally forming distinct layers, though sometimes, where the 
layer is thicker, many species are found together; and where the mass has been cut through vertically the appearance 
is very striking, bright, white lines appearing on a black bed of bitumen. The shells are neither broken nor 
disturbed, but are perfectly preserved, nor are the valves separated ; but, owing to the loss of animal matter, on 
being exposed to the air they fall into powder. Perfect casts may be readily procured, as they easily separate from 
the sandy mass. The bitumen has evidently been forced into them when in a soft or liquid state, as the smallest 
cavities are filled, and this must have taken place after their deposition in the sands in which the animals lived.. 
The date of this formation, as indicated by numerous species, may be referred to the Miocene era ; and as the 
eruption of bitumen is evidently connected with the appearance of the ophite, an igneous rock which has produced 
such great changes in the Pyrenees, a limit may thus be obtained for these changes, (a) 

In a notice upon the occurrence of asphalt in the environs of Alais, published in 1854, M. Parran makes th& 
following statements : 

Whatever he the origin of these sulistances, whether they be due to interior emanations from fissures of dislocation or to 
circumstances exterior and atmospheric, it is eTident that there was during the Tertiary period an asphaltic epoch (^jpoque asplialtique) 
in relation to "which it is convenient to recall the numerous eruptions of trachytes and hasalts which characterize that period and have- 
probably acted by distillation upon the masses of combustibles hidden in the bosom of the earth. 

He further remarks that asphalt occurs between Mens and Auzon, and continues : 

The lacustrine formation, of which we have studied the bituminiferous part, is deposited in a vast depression of the secondary 
formation {terrains), represented here by the lower cretaceous and chloritic formations {■niocomienne et chlorite^s). 

M. Parran concludes as follows : 

Emanating by distillation from beds of combustible material inclosed in the inferior Cretaceous {n&)comienne) formation or perhaps in. 
the Carboniferous, if, as is probable, they extend to that place, the bitumen is raised in the midst of the fresh-water limestones {calcaires: 
d'eau douce); there it is fixed by imbibition. Hot springs and sulphur springs abound in the vicinity. (6) ' 

In 1868 M. Ch. Knar published an article on "The theory of the formation of asphalt in the Val de Travers,. 
Switzerland ". His conclusions are : 

1. Asphalt (limestone impregnated with bitumen) is due to the decomposition in a deep sea of beds of mollusks, the decomposition 
taking place under a strong pressure and at a high temperature. 

2. The free bitumen is formed also by the decomposition of certain mollusks or crustaceans in a sea of little depth, atahightemperature^ 
but under an insufficient pressure to make this bitumen impregnate the oyster shells {pour former ce hitume a impr^gner lea coquilles' 
d'huitre). 

3. Petroleum is due to the decomposition under water of mollusks, a decomposition which has taken place at a temperature too low 
to transform it into bitumen (asphalt), but under a pressure more or less considerable. 

4. The beds of white limestone formed also by the accumulation of fossil oysters, and which contain neither asphalt nor petroleum,, 
have been formed under such conditions that the products of the decomposition of animal organic matter have been evaporated. 

5. Finally, combustibles only, or pyroschists {litumes fixes), have been formed by the decomposition of plants, while all the 
preceding are of animal origin, (c) 

In 1872 M. Thor6 published a paper on the " Presence of petroleum in the water of Saint Bo6s (Basses- 
Pyr6n6es)", in which he says "petroleum floats on the water of the springs, and the rocks are saturated with it",. 
and continues : 

The comparison of observations seems to indicate in the department of the Basses-Pyr^n^es between the lower and middle Cretaceous, 
formations a considerable impregnation of petroleum, due probably to igneous action or an eruption of ophite. The more this origin is. 
examined the more one is convinced, because the greater part of the deposits of petroleum which prove valuable to the countries in which- 
they are found are evidently related to the rocks of igneous origin, which may be considered as being the principal cause of its formation, 
or, at least, of the appearance of mineral oil. (d) 

In 1837 M. Dufrenoy showed that the change from colored to white marble in the Pyrenees was due to the 
expulsion of bitumen by heat, (e) It is also maintained that jet is a distillate. (/) 

a Q. J. G. S., ii, 80. 

b Ann. dee Mines (5), iv, 334. (C„S04)2 -f- Cs = (CoCOa)^ + CO2 + Sj. The hydrogen of the bitumen also becomes oxidized and HjS. 
is formed. 

c Man. Sci., 1868, 381. 

d L'Annee Sci. et Ind., 1872, 251. 

e B.S.G.F.(l), ix, 238. 

/ Simpson. San Franciso Min. and Sci. Press, 1874, 246. 



THE NATURAL HISTORY OF PETROLEUM. 67 

One of the most noted papers ou petroleum tbat Las appeared in the United States was published by Dr. J &V 
ISTewberry in 1859. In this paper he s.ays : 

The precise process hy which iictroleiim is evolved from the carbonaceous matter contaiued in the rocks which furnish it is not yetf 
fnlly known, because we cannot in ordinary circumstances inspect it. We may fairly infer, however, that it is a distillation, though* 
generally performed at a low temperature. 

We know that veget.able matter — and the same maybe said of much animal tissue when the conservative influence of life has ceased' 
to act — if exposed to the action of moist air, is completely disorganized by a process which we call decay, which is in fact combustion of' 
oxidation. This change takes place slowly, and without evolution of light and heat, the usual accompaniments of combustion,- ia- a> 
degree appreciable by our senses. 

When, however, carbonaceous organic tissue is buried in moist earth or submerged in water oxidation docs not at once ensue, or 
at least takes place to a limited extent, measured by the amount of oxygen present. In these circumstances bitumiuization takes place. 
This process consists mainly in the union of hydrogen, from the tissue itself or its surroundings, with a portion of the carbon, to form 
carbureted hydrogen, which perhaps escapes, and the hydrocarbons constituting the bitumen, which usually remains as a black, pitch- 
like m.ass, investing the fixed carbon. By this process peat, lignite, and coal are formed, which are solids, and doubtless some liquid and 
gaseous hydrocarbons which escape. Kow, when we heat these solid bitumens artificially at a sufficiently high temperature, if in contact 
with oxygen, combustion ensues, and water and carbonic acid are formed from them. At a lower temperature they are converted into 
gaseous hydrocarbons ; still lower to oils. («) 

In an article published by Professor E. B. Andrews in 1S61 he calls attention to the fact that the town of 
Newark, Ohio, has been for several years lighted by the uncondensed gas from the coal-oil manufactories, and infers 
that in the -spontaneous distillation of bituminous substances a large amount of gas must be generated along with 
the oil. He refers to the theory which had been recently brought forward by Dr. Xewberry, and says: 

The chief objection to it is the fact that the coal, cannel and bitnmiuous, in our oil regions gives no evidence of having lost any of 
Its full an.l normal quantity of bitumen or hydrocarbons. For example, at Petroleum, Kitchie county, Virginia, where strata have been 
brought up by an uplift from several hundred feet below, seams of canuel and bituminous coal appear, which, if judged by the standard 
of Nova Scotia or English coals, have lost none of their bituminous properties. » • • 

The other theory, that the oil was produced at the time of the original bitnminization of the vegetable or animal matter, has many 
difiicnlties in its way. If the oil were formed with the bitumen of the coal, we should expect that wherever there is bituminous coal 
there would be corresponding quantities of oil. This is uot so, in fact ; for there is no oil, except in fissures in the rocks overlying the 
bituminous strata. » » » Again, upon this theory, it will he difficult to explain the large quantities of inflammable gas always 
accompanying the oil. If it is generated exclusively from the oil, then we should expect to find the quantity of the oil least where the 
gas-springs have for ages been most active, but at such places the oil, instead of being wasted, is most abundant. (6) 

The distinguished French geologist, Daubree, had published the previous year his Studies upon Metamorphism, 
in which he had discussed the relation of bituminous substances to metamori^hism as follows: 

Bitumens and other carbides of hydrogen, according .as their state is solid, liquid, or gaseous, whether impregnating beds, flowing 
as petroleum, escaping from the soil, as iu salses, mud volcanoes, burning springs, etc., are in general only the vent-holes (fevents) of 
deposits of bitumens. The difl'erent deposits of bitumen present as general or at least remarkably frequent ch'aracteristics : 

1. Association with saline forniiitious. 

2. Being situated in the neighborhood of deposits of combustible minerals, or strata charged with vegetable delris. 

3. Being associated with igneous accidents, ancient or modern; that is to say, with volcanoes or irruptive rocks, or with dislocated 
strata. 

4. Frequently accompanying thermal springs, often sulphurous, and deposits of sulphur, (c) 

Several of my experiments account for these relations. In submitting fragments of wood to the action of superheated steam I have 
changed it into lignite, coiil, or anthracite, according to the temperature, audi have also obtained liquid and volatile products resembling 
natural bitumens and possessing the characteristic odor of the petroleum of Pechelbroun. It is thus that the presence of bitumen in 
certain concretionary metalliferous veins is accounted for; as, e. i/., Derbyshire, Camsdorf, and Raibl, in Carinthia. 

Finally, bitumens are probably derived from vegetable substances; as it appears uot to be a simple product of dry distillation, but to 
have been formed with the concurrent action of water, and perhaps under pressure, graphite being only the most exhausted {epuw4) 
product of these substances. These divers compounds of carbon are incident, then, to certain transformations which take place in the 
interior of the rocks, apparently under the influence of an elevated temperature. The activity and even the violence, at times capable 
of producing slight earthquakes, with which carbureted hydrogen has sometimes been associated in the Tauride, on the borders of the 
Caspian sea, and in the environs of Carthageua, in South America, prove that the action that has sometimes disengaged bitumen continues 
to the jiresent time, (rf) 

Section 5.— AN ATTEMPT TO INCLUDE OBSERVED FACTS IN A PEOVISIONAL HYPOTHESIS. 

The studies which I have made upon petroleum, extending now over a period of more than twenty years, and 
especially those which I have made iu preparing this report, lead me to the conclusion that as yet very little is 
known regarding its chemical geology. As no one has studied the chemical properties of different varieties of 
petroleum in relation to their geological occurrence in any efl'ective manner, it would be extremely rash for any 
one to dogmatize with reference to the origin of bitumens. I am, however, led to state the conclusions that a 
careful survey of our available knowledge of the subject has enabled me to reach. I am convinced that all bitumens 
have, in their present condition, originally been derived from animal or vegetable remains, but that the manner of 
their derivation has not been uniform. I should therefore exclude both classes of chemical theories ; the first as 

a Rock Oils of Ohio : OUo Ag. Bep., 1859. 
b A. J. S. (2), sxxii, 85. 
c I have omitted the numerous illustrations. 

d Etudes sur le Milamorphisme, p. 73. M. Daubree adds iu a note : " Graphite and bitumen are associated in Java in proximity to 
volcanic formations and a Tertiary lignite, from which jets of carbureted hydrogen escape." 



68 PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 

impossible, tlie second as unnecessary. Tliere remains the hypotliesis that bitumen is indigenous in tlie rocks ia 
which it is found and that which regards all bitumens as distillates, but whichever of these hypotheses be accepted, 
the modifying fact remains that there are four kinds of bitumen : 

1. Those bitumens that form asphaltum and do not contain parafQne. 

2. Those bitumens that do not form asphaltum and contain parafftne. 

3. Those bitumens that form asphaltum and contain parafflue. 

4. Solid bitumens that were originally solid when cold or at ordinary temperatures. 

The first class includes the bitumens of California and Texas, doubtless indigenous in the shales from which 
they issue. It is also probable that some of the bitumens of Asia belong to this class. 

I have described the conditions under which bitumens occur on the Pacific coast of southern California in great 
detail in the reports that I have made to the geological survey of that state, (a) the forms found there being almost 
infinite iu gradation, from fluid petroleum to solid asphaltum; but I have been unable to obtain any information 
from the parties who are operating in Santa Clara county other than that contained in newspaper reports, which 
are too unreliable to be used in this connection. In Ventura county the petroleum is primarily held in strata of 
shale, from which it issues as i^etroleum or maltha, according as the shales have been brought into contact with 
the atmosphere. The asphaltum is produced by further exposure after the bitumen has reached the surface. These 
shales are interstratified with sandstones of enormous thickness, but I nowhere observed the petroleum saturating 
them, although it sometimes escaped from crevices in the sandstone; nor was the bitumen held in crevices of large 
size nor under a high pressure of gas, as the disturbed and broken condition of the strata, folded at very high 
angles, prechided such a possibility. 

The relation of the asphaltum to the more fluid materials became a question of great importance to those engaged 
in prospecting for petroleum in that region in 18C5 and later, and having made the solution of this problem a constant 
study for months, I finally came to the conclusion expressed above. My opinions were based on the following facts : 
a quantity of jietroleum from the Cai3ada Laga spring remained iu an open tank for fifteen months fully exposed 
to the elements, and increased 0.035 in specific gravity. Maltha has been obtained in wells so dense as to lead to 
their abandonment. Three attempts were made by the Philadelphia and California Petroleum Company to drill a 
well on the San Francisco ranch, and the greatest de^ith reached was 117 feet ; but at that depth the maltha was so 
dense that it could not be pumped out, nor could it be drawn out with grappling-hooks, and was so tenacious as to 
clasp the tools so firmly as to prevent further operations. These wells were located near an asphalt bed on a gently 
sloping hillside, where the strata were very much broken and easily penetrated by rain-water. The Pico spring, 
yielding petroleum issuing from shales, overlaid with unbroken bands of thick sandstone, was only a short distance 
beyond in the same range of hills, and still further were several other localities, all yielding more or less fluid 
malthafrom natural springs, wells, and tunnels. The density of the bitumen, however, was in every case in direct 
proportion to the ease with which rain-water could percolate the strata from which it issued. On the plains northwest 
of Los Angeles an artesian boring that penetrated sandstones interstratified with shale yielded maltha at a depth 
of 4G0 feet. 

Perhaps that portion of the sulphur mountain lying between the Hayward Petroleum Company's tunnels in 
Wheeler's canon and the Big Spring plateau on the Ojai ranch furnishes the most striking illustration of the 
occurrence of bitumens iu this region. A section of the strata at this point is given in Fig. 6. From this section 
it will be perceived that there is a synclinal fold in the shale forming the mountain, and that the strata dip into the 
mountain on both sides. The belt of rock yielding petroleum on the south side, in which the tunnels are driven, is 
fully protected by from 700 to SOO feet of shale, while the mountain side is nearly perpendicular. On the opposite 
side, however, the belt comes to the surface, presenting the upturned edges over a nearly horizontal area. These 
tunnels yielded the lightest petroleum at that time obtained in southern California, while the maltha in the Big 
Spring that issued from the detritus covering the shale was so dense in December, 1865, that it was gathered and 
rolled into balls, like dough, and removed in that condition. (&) 

The topography and stratigraphy of the coast ranges of Santa Barbara, Ventura, and Los Angeles counties are 
very complex. The Santa Barbara islands are volcanic, and lava-flows are described as having formed cascades 
over clifl's of sedimentary rocks as they descended into the sea. On the mainland no lava appears to have 
reached the surface, although between Las Posas and Simi, along the stage-road leading from San Buenaventura 
to Los Angeles, on an eroded iilateau surrounded by low mountains, fragments of scoriae ai'e scattered over the 
ground. The coast ranges here appear to have been produced by parallel folds, each successively higher, by which 
enormously thick beds of sandstone, interstratified with shale, were thrust up at an angle of aboiit 70°, producing 
parallel anticliuaJs. These anticlinals were subsequently eroded in such a manner as in many instances to produce 
valleys and plateaus, where the sandstones are broken through to the softer shales beneath. This is the case with 
the western extremity of the fold which, commencing at point Concepcion, extends eastward to Mount San 
Beniardiuo. West of the Sesp6 the sandstone crest has been completely removed and the shales cut away, until, at 
the Eincon, east of Santa Barbara, the erosion reaches the sea-level, and beyond, to the westward, the upturned 
edges of the shale forin the bed of the ocean. The narrow plain on which Santa Barbara stands, lying between the 



a lieport Geological Smreij of California: Geology, II. Appendix, pp. 48-90. 1> S. F. Pcckliam, Am. C, iv, G. 



THE NATURAL HISTORY OF PETROLEUM.- 69 

Santa Iilez mountains and the sea, consists of Pliocene and Quaternary sands and gravels resting upon the eroded 
shales. East of the Kincon and mount Hoar the tablelands lying in the trough of the anticlinal gradually ascend 
until at the Sespe the sandstone caps the high mountain to the eastward, said to be the highest in that region. 
This range extends eastward, occasionally broken by transverse canons, until, near the headwaters of the Santa 
Clara river, at the Soledad pass, it becomes merged in the San Rafael range, beyond the Sau Fernando pass. 

Between point Concepciou and point Eincon, where the stratum of sand occurs saturated with maltha, («) the 
latter has risen and floated on the sea and attracted the notice of travelers ever since that coast was known to 
Europeans. At point Riiicon, where the auticliual recedes from the coast, maltha rises and saturates the Quaternary 
sands. As the ascending plateau passes farther inland, we tind in the line of hills east of mount Hoar and in the 
Santa Inez mountains a line of outcrop of the bituminous strata on the east and west sides of the basin. East of 
the San Buenaventura river the local synclinal fold in the shale forming the sulphur mountain gives four liuea 
of bituminous outcrop, shown on the section. Fig. 06. In the caDons east of the Sespe, wherever the bituminous 
strata have been reached by erosion, tarsprings and asphalt beds are the result. The deeply eroded narrow 
valleys which cover the country east of Santa Barbara and south of the coast range present in a distance of a few 
miles the greatest lithological variations, and expose the bituminous strata under the greatest possible diversity 
of conditions. For this reason we meet here every possible form of bitumen in every possible degree of admixture, 
with pure sand, soil, detritus, and animal and vegetable remains. 

The exceedingly unstable character of these petroleums, considered in connection with the amount of nitrogen 
that they contain and the vast accumulation of animal remains in the strata from which they issue, together with 
the fact that the fresh oils soon become filled with the larvaj of insects to such an extent that pools of petroleum 
become pools of maggots, all lend support to the theory that the oils are of animal origin, {h) 

The second classof petroleums includes those of New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia. These oils 
areundoubtedlydistillates, and of vegetable origin. The proof of this statement seems overwhelming. Pennsylvania 
petroleum was examined in 1805 by Warreu and Storer (c) in this country, and in 1803 by Pelouze and Cahours 
in France, {d) who found the lighter portion to consist of a certain series of hydrocarbons, identical with those 
obtained in the destructive distillation of coal, bituminous shales, and wood when the operation was conducted at low 
temperatures. Messrs. Warren and Storer also discovered that the same series of hydrocarbons could be obtained 
by distilling a lime soap prepared from fish-oil. (p) The experience of technology has shown that if coals orpyroschisis 
are distilled at the lowest possible temperature, particularly in the presence of steam, a black tarry distillate is 
obtained, along with a considerable quantity of marsh-gas and very volatile liquids, that cannot be condensed 
except at low temperatures. If these distillates are redistilled, the second distillate may be divided into several 
different materials, beginning with marsh-gas and ending with very dense oils, heavily charged with paraflEine. It 
is impossible to conduct this primary or secondary distillation without producing marsh-gas, but the amount 
and the density of the fluid produced will depend on the temperature at which the distillation is carried on and the 
rapidity of the process. The use of superheated steam is found to increase the quantity of the distillate, and to 
prevent overheating and the formation of other hyilrocarbons than those belonging to the paraftine series. 

The section compiled by Mr. Carll shows the Devonian shales above the corniferous limestone and below the 
Bradford third oil-sand to be 1,000 feet in thickness. This shale outcrops along lake Erie, between Bufl'alo, New 
York, and Cleveland, Ohio. It is for the most part the surface rock in the neighborhood of Erie, Pennsylvania, and 
southward to Union City, and no one can examine it without noticing the immense quantity of fucoidal remains 
that it contains. Professor N. S. Shaler discusses in much detail the extent and character of the Devonian black 
shale of Kentucky, and estimates it to cover 18,000 square miles at an average depth of 100 feet, and to yield on 
distillation 15 per cent, of fluid distillate. It is not necessai-y to follow him in his calculations of the enormous 
bulk of this distillate as represented in barrels; the important point in this connection is that it is a very persistent 
formation, being revealed by borings over a very wide area, and doubtless extends beyond the boundaries of 
Kentucky, eastward beneath the coal measures which contain the petroleum. (/) 

If, however, the Devonian b'ack shales are inadequate, both on account of extent and position, as a source of 
.Mipply, we may descend still lower in the geological ^eries to the Nashville limestone and other Silurian rocks that 
underlie that region. Professor Saflbrd, in a recent letter, writes : 

The Lower Silurian limestone in the basin of middle Tennessee is about 1,000 feet thick. I have divided it in my Geological Reporl into 
the Lebanon limestone (or division) and the Nashville, each about 500 feet, the Nashville being the upper division. Including, the Upper 
Silurian limestones, the whole thickness of the limestones, in which are found occasionally little pockets or geodes and cavities of 
petroleum, is not far from 1,'200 feet. 

Upper Silurian oqo 

Lower .Silurian (Trenton) ; 

Nashville limestones -,00 

Lebanon limestones 500 

The most of the petroleum has been found in the upper part (the Nashville) of the Lower Silurian, as, for example, the larger cavities 
near or on the upper Cumberland river, in the neighborhood of the Kentucky line, both within Kentucky and Tennessee. 

a See page 21. c J/m. Jm. Jcfl(!.N.Si.,ix, 176; A. J. S.,(2),xli, 139. e Mem. A. A. N. S., ix, 177. 

t S. F. Peckham, P. A. P. S., x, 452. d Ann. C. et P. (4), 1, 5. / Sep. Geo. Survey, Kentucky, N. S., iii, 109. 



70 PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 

These limestones underlie the whole petroleum region of southeastern Kentucky and middle Tennessee. 

The objection urged by Professor Andrews, that the coals in the measures of West Virginia and Ohio among 
■which these oils occur have lost nothing of their Tolatile content, is without force liere. Professor Shaler [Report 
of the Geological Survey of Kentucky, new series, iii, 171) says : 

The condition of tlie beds tliat lie below the black shale in the Cincinnati group or in the Niagara section show that there has been 
no great invasion of heat since the beds were deposited. Clays, which change greatly under a heat of 1,000° F., are apparently exactly 
as they were left by the sea, and beds retain their marine salts just as when they were deposited. Any great access of temxierature in 
this deposit of the Ohio shale would have been attended by an almost equal rise of temperature in the coal-beds which lie within a few 
hundred feet above ; but these coal-beds are free from any evidences of distillation or other consequences of heat. We have already seen 
reasons for supposing an erosion of some 3,000 or 4,000 feet of strata from this section ; if we could reimpose this section we should 
probably bring up the temperature of these rocks by the rise in the isogeothermals, or lines of equal internal heat, about 60". * * » 
We are not able to suppose that the acciimulation of strata would have elevated the temperature above the boiling point of water. 

The hypothesis which may be found to account for the formation of this coal-oil must take into consideration the impossibility of its 
generation at another point and its removal to this set of beds and the impossibility of supposing that it has been.in any way the result 
of high temperatures. 

The range of temperature between "the boiling point of water" and "1,000° F.", which is here allowed, is 
ample for all purposes of explanation. 

Mendeljefi" objects that '• the sandstones impregnated with petroleum have never exhibited the carbonized 
remains of organisms. In general, petroleum and carbon are never found simultaneously ". These three objections — 
first, that the supply of organic matter is inadequate ; second, that there are no evidences of the action of heat 
uj)ou the rocks holding the oil ; third, that there are no residues of fixed carbon observed in the rocks holding the 
oil — are those which have appeared to satisfj' those who do not accept the hypothesis that regards petroleum as a 
distillate. I think the first has been already answered. The second and third I shall now examine. 

It is not the effects of heat, as represented by volcanic action, that have produced petroleum, although in one 
notable instance i^arafiine and other constituents of petroleum have been found in the lava of Etna, (a) A comparison 
of the analyses of the gaseous emanations of volcanoes with those of gas and petroleum springs shows that the 
former consist mainly of carbonic acid and nitrogen, while the latter consist mainly of marsh-gas. Bitumens are 
not the product of the high temperatures and violent action of volcanoes, but of the slow and gentle changes at 
low temperature due to metamorphic action upon strata buried at immense depths. 

The extent of the Paleozoic formations of the Mississippi valley and the general conformation of the bottom 
of the ancient seas has been fully described by Professor James Hall, who says : (b) 

In all the Lower Silurian limestones we trace the outcrop to the west and northwest from the base of the Appalachians, in New York 
or in Canada, to the Mississippi river, and thence still in the same northwesterly direction. * * « Instead of finding the lower Helderberg 
(Upper Silurian) strata in lines parallel with those of the preceding rocks, the relative direction of the main accumulation and the 
Ijrincipal line of exposures is diagonally across the others. * * * The line of outcrop and of accumulation has been from northeast to 
southwest, and they occur in great force far to the northeast in Gaspd, on the gulf of Saint Lawrence. * * * The greatest accumulation 
of material in the period of the Hamilton, Portage, and Chemung groups (Lower and Middle Devonian) lies in the direction of the 
Appalachian chain. * « » In Gasp6 there are 7,000 feet of strata, * * * while in western New York the whole together would 
scarce exceed 3,000 feet. We have therefore the clearest evidence that the strata thin out in a westerly direction. * * * In 
considering the distribution of the masses of the formations which we have here described we find that the greatest accumulations 
have been along the direction of the Appalachian chain. The material thus transported would be distributed precisely as in an ocean 
traversed by a current like our present Gulf Stream, and in the gradual motion of the waters during that period to the west and 
southwest the finer material would be spread out in gradually diminished quantities, till finally the deposit from that source must cease 
altogether. * * « j Jiave long since shown that * * * the portion of the Appalachians known as the Green Mountain range is 
composed of altered sediments of Silurian age. » » * The evidences in regard to the White mountains, to a great extent, are of 
newer age than those of the Green mountains, or Devonian and Carboniferous. * * * The statements of Sir William Logan in 
regard to the great accumulation of strata in the peninsula of Gasp^, together with the observations of Professor Eogers in the Axipalachians 
of Pennsylvania, lead to the inevitable conclusion that the sediments of this age miist everywhere contribute largely to the matter 
forming the metamorphic portion of the Appalachian chain, as well as to the non-metamorphic zone immediately on the west of it. 

Eeference to Mai) HI shows the manner in which the outlined areas that have yielded petroleum correspond 
to the trend of these deposits of sediment as described by Professor Hall. 

It is not necessary here to discuss the nature or origin of metamorphic action. It is sufficient for our purpose 
to know that from the Upper Silurian to the close of the Carboniferous periods the currents of the jirimeval ocean 
were transporting sediments from northeast to southwest, sorting them into gravel, sand, and clay, forming gravel 
bars and great sand-beds beneath the riffles and clay banks in still water, burying vast accumulations of sea weeds 
and sea animals far beneath the surface. The alteration, due to the combined action of heat, steam, and i^ressure, 
that involved .the formations of the Appalachian system from point Gaspe, in Canada, to Lookout mountain, in 
Tennessee, involving the carboniferous and earlier strata, distorting and folding them, and converting the coal into 
anthracite and the clays into crystalline schists along their eastern border, coidd not have ceased to act westward 
along an arbitrary line, but must have gradually died out farther and farther from the surface. 

a Silvestri, Gaz. Chim. ItaL, vii, 1; Chem. Xews, sxxv, 156; B. D., C. G., 1877, 293. 
h]fat. Mist. N. Y., Paleontology, iii, 45-60. 



THE NATURAL HISTORY OF PETROLEUM. 71 

The great beds of sliale and limestoue contaiuing fucoids. animal remains, and even indigenous petroleum, 
must have been invaded by this beat action to a greater or a less degree, and that "chronic evaporation" of Professor 
Lesley must have been the inevitable consequence. 

Too little is known about petroleum at this time to enable any one to explain all the phenomena attending the 
occurrence of petroleum on any hypothesis ; but it seems to me that the different varieties of petroleum, from 
Franklin dark oil, near the surface, to Bradford and Clarendon amber oil, far beneath the surface, are the products 
of fractional distillation, and one of the strongest proofs of this hypothesis is found in the large content of paraffins 
in the Bradford oil under the enormous pressure to which it is subjected. So, too, the great pools of oil in southern 
Kentucky are without doubt distilled from the geode cavities beneath and concentrated in superficial fissures of the 
rocks near the surface. The oil of the American well is very different in many respects from Pennsylvania oil ; and 
that from the Phelps well, on Bear creek, Wayne county, Kentucky, has an odor identical with that of the petroleum 
of southern California, in that respect totally unlike the petroleum of West Vii-ginia, and evidently an oil of animal 
origin that has not been subjected to destructive distillation. 

If this hypothesis, which embraces all the facts that have thus far come within my knowledge, really represents 
the operations of nature, then we must seek the evidences of heat action at a depth far below the unaltered rocks 
in which the petroleum is now stored. We ought to expect to find the coal in its normal condition. We should not 
expect to find the carbonized remains of organisms in the rocks containing petroleum. As the metamorphic action 
took place subsequent to the carboniferous era, we should expect to find the porous sandstones of that formation 
in certain localities saturated with petroleum. We should expect a careful observer like General A.J. Warner to 
write concerning them : 

Now, while these several sand rocks wheu tbey come to the surface contain calaniites, stigmaria, and other fossil plants of the 
lower coal measures, they contain nothing from which petrolenm could possibly have been derived, (a) 

Moreover, we should expect to find these coal-measure sandstones and conglomerates on the western border 
of the heated area, where the thinning out of the deposits brought down the coal measures nearer the Devonian 
shales and Silurian limestones, first saturated with petroleum, and then, through ages of repose, gradually cut down 
by erosion into the canons of Johnson county, Kentucky, and exhibiting all of the ])henomena described by 
Professor Lesley. 

The inadequacy of the scattered remains of plants in the coal-measure sandstones as a source of the petroleum 
that saturates them is shown by the following calculation : 

Should the Mississippi send down one tree a minute for a century, with an average length of 40 feet and a foot in diameter, and 
these be laid together side by side at the bottom of the sea in a single stratum, they would only cover a space of 200 acres. Were it possible, 
which it is not, to compress and crystallize these lignites into one stratum 6 feet thick, they might then constitute a coal-bed covering 20 
acres. All the forests of the Mississippi valley could not furnish to the sea from their river spoils during a hundred thousand years 
one of the anthracite coal-beds of Schuylkill county, (b) 

M. Coquand gives the following restnne of the geological formations represented iu Eoumania : 

Tbe Tertiary formation in connection with the clays of the steppes constitutes a continuous and concordant system, in which may be 
distinguished at the base the nummulite beds representing the great Paris limestone. 

1. The Superior Eocene, composed at its base of rock-salt, gypsum, saliferous slates, bituminous schists, and marls with menilites; 
and above of the "Flysch formation" properly speaking, consisting of alternations of micaiferous sandstones (niacigno). of limestones 
{albirhe), and of argillaceous schists (gahstri), this superior part being characterized by Chondrites Targioni, intricatus, furcatus, and by 
alreoliiius, the ensemble corresponding to the fncoidal Flysch of Switzerland, the Apennines, Algeria, Sicily, the gyjisums of Montmartre, 
and the saline and sulphurous gypsum of Sicily : also the rock-salt of the high plateau of Algeria. 

2. The Miocene stage, which is the first level of petroleum in the Carpathians. The inferior part comprises at its base sandstones and 
saline slates, with Cyreiia convexa and sandstones corresponding to those of Fontaiuebleau, the superior part of sandstones, slates, and 
limestones corresponding to the molass of Carry and Syracuse ; also to the gypsum and rock-salt of Volterra, in Tuscany, and the province of 
Saragossa, to Jlnrinen Tegel iitid Sand (neogoeneot'il. Haidinger) ; to the terrain tertiaire miocenemarin of M. Abich ; to the terra in tertiairc inf^rieur 
of M. de Vemeuil. The superior part comprises slates and the gre's a congeries with lignites, amber, and asphalt, and is characterized by 
Paliidina, Achati/ormis, Congeria suhcarinata, Cardium, Souri^ti'iS, etc., corresponding to the Congerientschisten of MM. Haidiuger and Hauer 
(partie supirieiirt de leiir terrain tertiaire neogene), to the terrain tertiaire snpe'rieur of M. de Verneuil, and to the Pliocene of M. Abich. 

3. Pliocene stage, which is the second level of petroleum in the Carpathians. It comprises conglomerates and pudding-stones at its base, 
and above black slates, producing the steppe formation of Moldavia and Wallachia. It corresponds to the superior marine .sub-Apenuine 
formation, to the steppes of tbe Crimea and the Caucasus, to the desert of Sahara, and the marine deposits of Kertsch with Ostrea lamellosa, 
Srocclii; Chama grxjphina, Lani ; Cah/ptrea sinensis, and Linni. 

4. The recent formations comprising the earthy deposits in the environs of Bus<So and the recent alluvium of the Danube. 

It is noted further, according to M. Coquand, "that the petroleum of Wallachia is in the inferior Tertiary, with 
mud volcanoes and rock-salt ; that the "Flysch a Fucoids'''' is the horizon in ^Moldavia corresponding to the formation 
in which it occurs in the Crimea, Transylvania, Galicia, Volterra of Tuscany, the Apennines, Sicily, and Algeria, 
being everywhere rich in fucoids ", who further remarks " that it is only in the slates that it preserves its liquid state, 
and wheu it had been brought in contact with permeable rocks, such as sandstones, those rocks imbibed the mineral 
oil and were changed into asphalt. He accounts for this by assuming that in the porous strata the oil loses by 
evaporation its volatile principles. He further remarks that the petroleum is not in the rock-salt, but in the slates 
contiguous to it, rich iu fucoids and the remains of marine animals, (c) 

a A. J. S. (3), ii, 215. i J. P. Lesley : A Maiiuat of Coal and its Topography, page 49. c B. 8. G. F. (2), ssiv, 505. 



72 PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 

In Galicia the petroleum is found saturating coarse and fine sandstones in zones or horizons, the lighter oils 
being found deepest. 

This sandstone is abundantly permeated with limestone; yet in all fissures and oq .almost all surfaces the products of dry distillation aro 
plainly recognizable, as also earth-was and tough black maltha, and particularly asphalt. These products of distillation in many places 
extend even up to the surface, particularly in the northwestern part of the oil-bearing formations. The cavities of asphaltum were known 
in ancient times, and the thick fluid earth-oil which oozed out upon the surface was sometimes used as a lubricant for the axles of wheels, (a) 

The largest yield of petroleum has not been found in the neighborhood of asphalt beds, but farther east, where 
gas-springs called attention to the probability of reaching petroleum below the surface. It was remarked that the 
harder the sandstone the greater the pressure of gas and the deeper the source of the oil. 

Fig. 7 gives a section from Boryslaw, in east Galicia, to Schodinca. It exhibits a synclinal of schists, standing, 
where exposed, nearly perpendicular and flanked with sandstones. The wells are sunk in the schists. It resembles 
a section of the sulphur mountain in California. (See Fig. 6, page 68.) 

The conclusions reached by geologists regarding the occurrence of petroleum in Galicia show that the central 
core of the Carpathians consists of metamorphic rocks, on the flauks of which lie the members of the cretaceous 
and tertiary formations, consisting of limestones, sandstones, and shales, the latter being, for the most part, rich 
in organic matter, both vegetable and animal, such as fossil fucoids and fish. In east Galicia and Bukowina. 
heavy beds of black bituminous shales are particularly noticeable. (6) These formations lie in folds, the petroleum 
occurring under the arches of anticlinals rather than in the troughs of the synclinals. 

The facts to be obtained regarding the occurrence of the petroleum of Asia are very few. It appears to be 
generally conceded that the formation from which the iietroleum in the neighborhood of the Caucasus arises is 
Tertiary, but so far as I can ascertain it issues rather from erratic beds of sand in superficial clays than from any 
well-defined formation. Lartet appears to regard the bitumen of the Dead sea as of volcanic origin, (c) The 
petroleum of Java lies in the Tertiary beneath alluvium, which flanks the volcanic core of the island, (d) 

Granting that the petroleum of the Niagara limestone at Chicago is indigenous, the invasion of that limestone 
by steam under high pressure would cause the petroleum to accumulate in any rock lying above sufficiently porous 
or fissured to receive it. The mingling of oils that contain paraffine and oils that produce asphaltum, and the 
occurrence of paraffine in large masses in porous strata filled with the remains of fucoids and marine animals that 
flank the core of crystalline metamorphic schists in Eoumania and Galicia, offers the strongest support to this 
hypothesis. The fact that the eruptive rocks of lake Superior and the metamorphic rocks farther east prevail to 
such an extent that that vast inland sea has been supposed to be the crater of an extinct volcanic lake lends the 
strongest support to an hypothesis that regards the vast accumulations of petroleum in western Canada as due to- 
the invasion of strata on the borders of this heat-center, in which the petroleum is indigenous, by a suflBiciently 
elevated temperature to cause its distillation. 

It appears to me that mud volcanoes and hot springs are properly regarded as the phenomena attending the , 
gradual subsidence of metamorphic action in the crust of a cooling earth, and that petroleum or maltha is but the- 
accident of such phenomena, when strata containing organic matter are still invaded at a great depth by a 
temperature sufficient to effect the distillation of their organic. content. Gas-springs may also own the same origin,, 
or the gas may escape from deep-seated reservoirs, the product of a distillation long since completed. 

The fourth class of solid bitumens occur in great variety. The universal distribution of bituminous material 
in rocks was noticed in 1823 by the Hon. Geo. Knox, in a paper read before the Eoyal Society of Great Britain, (e) 
The occurrence of disseminated bitumen in metamorphic rocks at Jfullaberg, in west Sweden, supposed to be 
Laurentian, has been described; (/) also in the Lower Silurian of south Scotland, (g) in Trap, near Xew Haven, 
Connecticut, {h) and in northern Ifew Jersey, {i) all of which are manifestly the result of the action of heat upon, 
the organic matter in stratified rocks. The occurrence of bituminous limestones in France and the valley of the 
Ehone, and the almost unanimous opinion of the French geologists that they are the result of igneous or 
metamorphic action, has already been mentioned. 

There remain the phenomena attending the occurrence of large veins of solid bitumen in Cuba, West Virginia, 
and Ifew Brunswick, for which no adequate explanation has been proposed that does not i-egard them as a 
product of distillation from deep-seated strata, which has been projected into a fissure formed by the sudden 
rupture of the earth's crust. Dr. R. C. Taylor examined the vein which occurs in metamorphic rocks near Havana, 
and gives a section (Fig. 8) of the vein as it is exposed in the working of the mine. He says : 

It was evidently originally an irregular open fissure, terminating njiwards in a wedge-like form, having various branches, all of 
■which have been subseciuently filled with carbonaceous matter, as if injected from below, and that not by slow degrees, but suddeuly 
and at once, (j) 

a J. K. K. G. R., sviii, 311. / L. J. Inglestrom : The Geo. Mag., iv, 160. 

6 Bruno Walter, J. K. K. G. R., ssx, 115. g Quar. Jour. Geo. Soc, xi, 4G8. 

c B. S. G. F., xsiv, 12. h A. J. S. (1), xxxvi, 114; (3), xvi, 112. 

d Bleekrode, C. N., v, 188. i A. J. S. (3), xvi, 130. 

e Phil. Trans., Ib23. j PUl. Mag.,-s., 161. 



PI. I. 




i> 



r-f.^^ 







'":^-'^/i 











DRAWING OF A PIECE OF THE HURONIAN SHALL ENCLOSING THE A;_SERTiTE VEIN IN HL^ BRUNSWICK, 
SHOWING THE MANNER IM WHICH THE ALBERTlTE CLEAVES FROM THE ENCLOSING ROCK. 



THE NATURAL HISTORY OF PETROLEUM. 73- 

lu I86fl I made the origin of albeitite ami allied substauces thesubjectof a paper, («) iu whicli I discussed the views 
held by others regarding it and compared them with the observations made in New Brunswick and West Virginia 
by Jackson, Wetherell, Lesley, Wurtz, aud others, with my own observation of a veiu on the coast of California. 
This latter vein is exposed on the coast west of Santa Barbara, and stands vertical, cutting the Pliocene and 
recent sands. With this vein are associated lenticular masses, extending horizontally, from which a sort of talus 
projects vertically into the sands beneath. The eruptive origin of these deposits is beyond question. 

Similar deposits are described by M. Coquand as occurring in Albania, as follows: 

The bitumen at Seleuitza does not lie in regular beds, but in masses, iu the midst of the sandstones and conglomerates that preserve 
a sort of parallelism, each mass consisting essentially of a central portion of considerable thickness, which gradually thins out in all 
directions to zero. In no case does the bitumen penetrate the roof above the mass, but was evidently injected from below. Fig. 2 (6) 
shows a deposit that has furnished an enormous quantity of bitumen. These deposits occur as if during the sedimentation of tba rocks 
at the bottom of the tertiary area the bitumen in a viscous state had filled the depressions in which it has accumulated, rem.aiuing pnre or 
being incorporated with the slaty materials with which it is contaminated. A section of the mass corresponds in many cases to a flask 
filled with solidified water. The aligned basins appear to have been filled successively from the overflow of one into the other. It is 
evident that the masses, iu spite of their irregularity, are parallel with the stratification. Geuerally the bitumen consists of compact, 
very homogeneous matters, and next to this variety the bituminous breccia should be mentioned. This consists of beds of gray slate of 
varyin" thickness, inclosing angular fragments of bitumen, separated from each other, but which are easily obtained by soaking in water 
the slate which serves to cemeut theiu. This breccia is represented by Fig. 9, often overlying a bed of asphalt, into which it passes by 
insensible gradations, and seems to form the upper portion of a liquid bath, into which the slate pluuged and afterward regained the 
surface before its entire solidification. Exactly as in a blast-fnmace, the slag becomes mingled with the metal in the last products of 
the tapping, producing a species of magma. More rarely the bitumen rolls itself upon itfelf (Fig. 10), thus producing spheres analogous to 
those which invest viscous matters when rolled in water or dust. The structure of them is concentric, resembling i)ea-stone, but is destitute 
of any nucleus so far as observed. These envelopes might result from progressive desiccation, the result of which leaves the bitumen 
divided into thin pellicles, like certain basalts, iu which, on cooling, spheres of variable volume are produced composed of concentric 
coats. The globules are for the most part isolated in the midst of the slate, and are about one-third of an inch in diameter. Another 
curious form is shown in Fig. 11. It consists of an infinite number of threads crossing each other iu all directions, producing a sort of 
Btockwork. Fig. \2 shows a form which difters from the preceding iu that the threads instead of lieing scattered in a cajiricious plexus are 
vertical and parallel. The contraction of the sandstone having opened these vertical and parallel vents, the bitumen following filled 
them, but from above downward. Sometimes the liitumen, as indicated by Fig. 13, is molded in cup-like depressions, which are 
terminated by a capillary tube. At other times ellipsoidal masses are introduced, some of which are as large as a cannon-ball. They are 
aligned in positions iiarallel to the plane of the beds in which they repose. Masses of sandstone are sometimes met inclosed within 
the bitumen. Such are sometimes observed in beds of coal. 

It is to be observed that the threads that sometimes connect the masses of bitumen spring from the side and not from the top of 
them — a fact that is explained if we assume the ascending mass overflowed horizontally in this particular locality. 

A great many bivalves, especially C'ardium, were observed filled with bitumen. He also discovered a very large Planorbis aud other 
species with the interior filled with bitumen. After showing that the material could not have entered the rocks in a fluid state, he 
says: '"It is then iu the conditionof glutinous bitumen that the maltha primarily entered the formation at Seleuitza. There is no 
evidence of the phenomena of salses, nor solfataras, nor volcanoes, which distinctively characterize the occurrence of petroleum properly 
80 called." 

M. Coquand states that there exists at present at one point iu the ancient excavations a sort of crater that 
emits smoke and a great heat, but he assumes that the fire was lighted by the hand of man, which, as in burning 
collieries, slowly pursue their work of destruction. The clays from which the volatile products are expelled become 
a sort of brick, sonorous and red, and the sand.stones are converted into porcelainites aud quartzite, and break 
at the least shock into a thousand fragments. Fig. 14 represents a section of the rocks in which the bituminous strata 
occur. 

M. Coquand mentions in connection with the bituminous strata solfataras and mud volcanoes, both active 
and extinct, with which was associated more or less fluid maltha, which is at first very liquid, but soon becomes 
sirupy, aud is finally added to the accumulations of the bituminous cone. The volcanic phenomena assume three 
forms : First, when inflammable gas escapes through the soil ; second, when they escape with water aud petroleum, 
forming craters of bitumen ; third, volcanoes emitting hot water {rolcan ardent), (c) 

From the foregoing it will appear that solid bitumen occurs iu great abundance, filling variously -formed cavities 
iu the Pliocene strata of Albania, and that maltha accompanies the water of springs from deep-seated strata, often in 
close proximity to active or extinct volcanic action of the mild forms observed as solfataras, mud volcanoes, or salses. 

The great similarity in the occurrence of intruded tertiary bitumens in Albania and California is very 
remarkable. 

No hint is given by Dr. Taylor respecting the age of the rocks inclosing the bitumen vein iu Cuba, as at the 
time he wrote (1837) all metamorphic rocks were called primary. There is little doubt, however, that the vein in 

a A. J. S. (2), xlviii, 362. 

6 See page 32. 

c IJ. S. Q. F., (1), XXV, 35. The precise volcanic phenomenon designated by M. Coquand as volcan ardent is not clear. In one case it 
appears to be an ordinary volcano emitting lava, and in the present case a hot- water volcano; but he afterward remarks that the 
Tertiary formations in the vallej- of the Vojutza do not contain the least trace of volcanic action, nor is there a volcanic or thermal 
spring iu the whole country. I presume he refers in this latter sentence to outflows of scoriie and lava, and does not include in the 
phrase volcanic action the mud volcanoes and solfataras, which he describes at some length. 



74 PEODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 

2few Brunswick and in "West Virginia originated at nearly the same time and subsequent to the Carboniferous 
era, and it is certain that subsequent to that era a great convulsion caused an upheaval that in collapse produced the 
White Oak anticlinal. Very near the southern end of this anticlinal the vein of grahamite occurs, cutting the 
horizontal sandstones of the coal measures vertically, but those who mined the vein declare that the material must 
have welled up from beneath into the fissure the instant it was formed, numerous fragments of the wall-rock 
being found imbedded in the asphaltum only 12 or 15 feet below the cavities from which they fell, with all their 
•edges and angles sharp and exactly fitting each other. Curious curved lines, resembling those produced when a 
stone is dropped into mortar, are formed on these horses, suggesting the probability that they fell into a plastic 
mass that rolled upon them, producing lines of unequal pressure and adhesion that remain after the asphaltum 
lias cleaved from them or the inclosing walls. Moreover, these walls of porous sandstone have not absorbed the 
bitumen to the thickness of a piece of paper. The significance of these facts was more forcibly impressed upon my 
mind when I found among a set of specimens from the albertite vein of New Bru.nswick a piece of the inclosing 
^hale, marked with the mineral in forms almost identical with those observed on the sandstone in West Virginia. 
Plates I and II are very carefully drawn from specimens from the two localities. 

It should be borne in mind that while this subject is one of speculation, pure and simple, it is one that has 
its valuable consideration outside the domain of scientific inquiry or curiosity, as affecting the sources and duration 
■of supplies of petroleum, its profitable development, and commercial permanence. 

If petroleum is the product of a purely chemical process, we should not expect to find Paleozoic j)etroleums of 
a character corresponding with the simple animal and vegetable organisms that flourished at that period, and 
tertiary i>etroleums containing nitrogen, unstable and corresi^onding with the decomi^osition products of more 
liighly organized beings, but we should expect to find a general uniformity in the character of the substance, 
wherever found, all over the earth. 

A mass of polypi imdergoiug decomposition upon a beacli would doubtless saturate the sand with about the same kind of decomposition 
products as au eqvial bulk of algie; but when a mass of animal matter, consisting not only of the muscular tissue, but of all the non- 
nitrogenous substances entering into animal organisms, was thus subjected to decomposition, submerged in water, the product could not 
fail to be a nitro-hydrocarbon, which upon exposure to atmospheric oxygen would undergo a second decomposition into a greater or less 
number of the following-named products: carbon, hydrocarbons, ammonia or free nitrogen, carbonic acid, and water. The petroleums of 
southern California, issuing primarily from Miocene shales, are of precisely this unstable character, {a) 

The advocates of the chemical theory affirm that they provide for a process the conditions of which are 
perpetually renewed. It is thus continuous and at present active. On the contrary, if petroleum is the product of 
metamorphism, its generation is coexistent only with that of metamorphic action ; an action which we have no reason 
to believe has been prevalent on a large scale during the recent period. If we accept this hypothesis, the generation 
•of petroleum is then j)ractically ended. 

M. A. Eiviere has published a paper on the origin of combustible minerals. (6) His opinions are based on his 
observations of the efi'ect on soil and organic matter in the soil of the leakage of illuminating gas from the pipes 
in which it is conducted.. The effects which he attributes to marsh-gas are, however, due to the condensation of the 
tarry matter that is dissolved in the escaping gas, the coal-tar i^roducts produced at a high temperature not being 
constituents of petroleum to any great extent. The experiments of Professor Sadtler indicate the iwesence of 
minute quantities of benzole in the Bradford oil of Pennsylvania, (c) but it was not found by Warren and Storer in 
the Oil creek oils, its presence in the Bradford oil furnishing an additional reason for supposing it to be a fractional 
■distillate produced under great pressure, and consequently at a comparatively high temperature. 

a S. F. Peckham, P. A. P. S., x, 453. J C. E., xlvii, 646. . c Communication to S. F. Peckham. 



H./I. 





DRAWING OF A PORTION OF THE SURFACE OF A HORSE OF SANDSTONE FOUND ENCLOSED IN THE 6RAHAMITE VEIN 
RITCHIE CO. W.V* SHOWING THE MANNER IN WHICH THE GRAHAMITE CLEAVES FROM THE ENCLOSING ROCK. 



THE NATURAL HISTORY OF PETROLEUM. 75 



Chapter VI.— THE DEVELOPMENT OF OIL TERRITORY. 



In 1858 and 1859, just before Drake obtained oil in liis vrell, the region now known as tbe " oil region" was an 
^almost unbroken forest. Here and there along the valleys of the Allegheny and its tributaries the bottom-lands 
liad been broken into farms, but on the hills, excepting in the neighborhood of the larger towns, there were but few 
cultivated tracts. The landscape along these winding streams was very beautiful. The towns were but little more 
than lumbering camps and t-rading stations, with few churches or school-houses, and the stores were for the most 
part kept by those engaged in the lumbering business, who employed nearly the entire population. This population 
traded a large proportion of the value of their earnings at the stores, and when the yearly settlements came they 
found a small balance due them. Those who were not engaged in rafting the lumber to Pittsburgh worked their 
small farms in summer and raised the small amount of produce required in the country, but in the winter lumbering 
was the engrossing occupation. Off the valleys of the main streams the roads were few and wretchedly poor. A 
few farms on the bluff southwest of Titusville had been occupied since 1798, and yet no public road had been built 
until some time after 1860. 

After Drake's well was drilled, a demand arose for barrels and teams to haul the oil to points of shipment. 
This quiet and secluded region was invaded by adventurers from every direction, and the production of oil increased 
in volume so much more rapidly than the means of gathering and transportation that, although the production for 
the whole year of 1861 was only 1,035,668 barrels, less than the production of two weeks in 1880, the price fell in the 
fall of that year to 10 cents per barrel, and sales were reported as low as 6 cents per barrel. The influx of such an 
immense population into the villages and hamlets of this region taxed its agricultural resources to the utmost, and 
the construction of countless derricks, and the towns that were springing up Uke mushrooms along Oil creek and 
■the Allegheny river, the making of tanks and thousands of barrels for storing and transporting the oil, gave 
a home market for the lumber of the country and stimulated an activity in business before unknown. Laud along 
the creek supposed to be favorable for drilling purposes commanded fabulous prices; everybody had an interest 
in an oil-well ; fortunes were suddenly made in one day and recklessly lost in another; and although railroads were 
pushed toward Titusville as rapidly as possible, the oil reached the surface faster than it could be disposed of, and 
was lloated down the Allegheny river to Pittsburgh in bulk barges, many of which were broken up in the accidents 
•of such navigation and the contents poured upon the stream. The valley of Oil cieek became filled with derricks, 
and by 1863 the oil territory was supposed to be defined, when a daring prospector, ha\ing drilled a " wild-cat" well 
on the hills that border the valley, got oil, and wells were then spread over the hill country between Titusville and 
Tidioute. Meantime trunk hnes had reached the valleys of the Allegheny and Oil creek, and the oil was moved 
■out of the country. 

The development of oil territory had mean time acquired a habit which has become well defined, and has been 
repeatedly exemplified during the last fifteen years. Commencing with the sinking of test or "wild-cat" wells 
outside the limits of any proved productive territory, the progress of such wells is eagerly watched, not only by 
those who pay for them, but also by many others who hope to profit by the experiment. While the experiment is 
in progress frequently all sorts of devices are resorted to to deceive others, not only to enable those engaged in the 
experiment to secure all the adjacent territory at favorable prices or leases, but also to prevent others from doing 
the same thing. 

The striking of oil in a new well is the signal for a grand rush, as those who have territory to dispose of express 
extravagant opinions regarding the yield of the wells and the extent of the territory. A quiet country village at 
once becomes the center of a large business. Teams come pouring in with oil-well supplies, lumber, and provisions ; 
a narrow-gauge railroad is projected and built with astonishing rapidity; corner lots are sold at fabulous prices; a 
speculative populatiou floats into the place, the individuals of which come and go ; and a common laborer to-day 
becomes a month hence a foreman, and in six months the owner of a well, and after a year is a gentleman of fortune. 
The quiet country town, too, with its modest school-houses and churches, takes on metropolitan airs and vices, and 
farmers become money-changers, the lucky ones who "sti'ike ile" and do not lose their heads usually gathering 
together their thousands and leaving the overgrown village for Xew York or some other city. Some few remain 
and help to permanently improve the home of their childhood. Titusville, Oil City, Tidioute, Franklin, and Bradford 
are all examples of such towns. After a time the speculative phase is succeeded by that of settled and steady 
development, and the oil territory becomes outlined, the sagacious having secured control of the profitable tracts, and 
the floating population having by this time passed on to a new field, while their places have been filled by a more 
solid element, largely the moderately successful, because less reckless, who have come to stay. The influence of 
the floating and unsettled class is seldom salutary. In one instance that has been brought to my notice the most 
a-eckless system of public improvements was undertaken. School-houses greatly larger and more expensive than 



76 PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 

Avere necessary were built, aud instead of beiug paid for by taxes levied on the oil tbat was tlieu being taken from.', 
the ground, bonds were issued, payable at some future day, and left as a burden upon a community the extraordinary 
resources of which have long since been removed. 

The development of the oil territory proceeds, after its existence has been demonstrated, without regard to any 
other interest. The derrick comes like an army of occupation. In the towns a door-yard or a garden alike 
surrender its claims. The farms, fields, orchards, or gardens alike are lost to agriculture and given to oil, aud on 
the forest-covered hills the most beautiful and valuable timber is ruthlessly cut and left to rot in huge heaps 
wherever a road or a derrick demands room. Pipe- lines are run over the hills and through the valleys, through 
door-yards, along streets, across streets and railroads, and here and there the vast storage-tanks stand, a per[)etual . 
menace to everything near them that will burn. Nothing that I ever beheld reminded me so forcibly of the dire 
destruction of war as the scenes I beheld in and around Bradford at the close of the census year; and nothing else but 
the necessities of an army commands such a complete sacrifice of every other interest or leaves such a scene of 
ruin and desolation. 

But the wave of desoiatiou passes over, and nature chauges the scene in the same manner as she gathers and 
restores the ruins of battle-fields. Along Oil creek, for the most part, the derricks have disappeared, and the- 
brambles and the young forest are fast removing even a trace of their former presence. A visit to the famous- 
Pithole City, which in 1865 was, next to Philadelphia, the largest post-office in Pennsylvania, showed a farmer 
l^lowing out corn where the famous Shearman well had been, a waving field of timothy where the Homestead well 
had been, the site of the famous United States well hardly to be found by one who had known it all through 
its career, and of the city there remained but fifteen or twenty houses, rapidly tumbling to decay, but not an 
inhabitant. The country around this scene of so much activity fifteen years ago is growing up to forest, and is 
not now valued at an amount equal to a year's interest on the valuation of that time. 

Between the period of active development and absolute exhaustion comes the period of decay, when the 
derricks are rotting and falling to wreck, when property that has ceased to be productive has been sold at an 
extravagant price, and after accumulating debts has been abandoned. iSTo one dares to claim the engine, boiler, 
and other tools, for fear he may become liable for the debts. Fine-engines go to ruin, and boilers are eaten with 
rust; small boys and idle men throw tools and pebbles in the well, and finally the vender of old iron comes along 
and carries off the junk to the foundery. At other times the owners of the well have made strikes somewhere else; 
and the well is then " pulled out " and all the machinery is carried to another field. Enormous quantities of material 
were carried from Oil creek to Clarion and Butler counties, and from there to the Bradford district. 

The Oil creek region has now returned to the condition of an agricultural and manufacturing community, 
in which the production of oil is no longer the absorbing topic of conversation and the paramount interest. 
On the lower Allegheny, in Clarion and Butler counties, the production of oil has become much lessened iu 
importance, and the wreck of abandoned derricks in many localities presents a dismal picture. The Bradford field 
is now iu fully developed activity, and the destructive subordination of every other interest, and of all other 
considerations of ordinary value, is everywhere painfully apparent. With all this there is an evidence that so- 
called public improvements are only of a temporary character. The towns that are the result of the production of 
oil are scarcely more substantial than a military camp, and from lack of orderly arrangement, neatness, and 
sanitary regulations are tar less inviting in their appearance. The railroads remind oue forcibly of those built 
around Petersburg during the war, although they possess the elements of permanency to a greater degree, and the 
destruction of so much valuable timber produces a melancholy aspect. 

The Allegheny district in S"ew York is just opening up around Eichburg, and all the phenomena peculiar to the 
first stages of an oil excitement are to be observed there. 

It is not to be inferred, however, that any of the sections into which the oil regions have been divided have 
ceased to produce oil. There are wells now producing in sight of the spot where Drake drilled the first well; but 
large tracts of country cease to be the centers of speculative investment, and old wells to be remunerative, and the 
new wells no longer hold the possibilities of a grand lottery ijrize. It is the opinion that large areas in the Oil 
creek district will be redrilled and will produce iu the aggregate large quantities of oil if the price ever reaches $2 a 
barrel. At present prices, the pumping wells of that district cannot successfully compete with the flowing wells-. 
of McKcau county. ~ 



THE NATURAL HISTORY OF PETROLEUM. 77 

Chapter VII.— THE PRODUCTION OF OIL. 



Section 1.— PKIMITIVE METHODS. 

Oils and malthas appear to have been obtained in Persia from a very early period, but the methods employed 
were extremely simple. Most frequently the basin of the spring appears to have been surrounded by a stone coping, 
and sometimes it was covered with some sort of a niche or building, but often the oil was simply skimmed from the 
surface of the water which it accompanied. Herodotus describes the numner in which, by means of myrtle branches, 
the bitumen was obtained from the springs in Zacynthus, now Zante. It is, however, by means of dug wi-lls or shafts 
that petroleum has been usually obtained in regions where the art of drilling artesian wells was unknown. 

In Japan from a very remote period wells have been dug and tunnels have been run into hillsides for oil. 
Some of these abandoned drifts have caved in and large trees are growing upon them. 

In relation to the manner of working these wells, B. S. Lyman, in his Reports on the Geology of Japan, 1877, says: 

The present mode of working is very simple, a method that has probably grown into its present form m the course of centuries of 
experience, and is now apparently practiced in all the oil regions with little or no variation. The digging is all done by two men, one 
of whom digs in the morning from nine o'clock until noon, and the other from noon until three. The one who i» not diggiug works the 
large blowing machine or bellows that continually sends fresh air to the bottom of the well. The blowing apparatus is nothing but a 
woodeu box about 6 feet long by o wide and 2 deep, with a board of the same length and widtii turning in it upon a horizontal axis at 
the middle of each long side of the box, and with a vertical division below the board between the two ends of the box. The workman 
stands upon the board and walks from one end of it to the other, alternately pressiug down first one end aud then the other. At his 
first step on each end he gives a smart blow with his foot, so as to close with the jerk a small valve (0. 3 foot square) beneath each 
end of the board, a valve that opens by irs own weight when the end of the board rises. The air is therefore driven first from one 
end of the box, then from the other into an air pipe about 0.3 foot square, provided at top, of course, with a small valve for each end of 
the blowing-box. made of boards in lengths of about 6 feet, and placed in one corner of the well. The well is, besides, timbered with 
larger pieces at the corners and light cross-pieces, which serve also as a ladder fry going np and down, though at such a time, in 
addition, a rope is tied around the body under the arms aud held by several men above the month of the well. The earth or rock dug up 
is brought out of the well in rope nets by means of a rope that passes over a wheel 1 foot in diameter, hung just under the roof of the 
hut, about 10 feet above the mouth of the well, and is pulled up by three men, one at each corner of one side of the well, and the third 
in a hole two or three feet deep and a foot and a half wide dug along side of the well. • » • Wells are dug in this manner 
to a depth of from 600 to 900 feet, a depth at which great difficulty is experienced in securing sufficient light to carry on the work, which 
is often prosecuted only from nine a. m. to three p. m. These wells are dug about 3+ feet square. One will 900 feet deep is reported to 
have cost only about $1,000. The oil is skimmed from the surface of the water and drawn up in buckets. 

In a letter dated Toungoo, British Burmah, September 14, 1881, Rev. J. N. Gushing, D. D., says: 

At Yenaugyouug the construction of the wells is after the most primitive method. The wells are dug about 5 feet square. A native 
spade for loosening the soil and a basket for conveying it from the well are the implements used. As fast as the well is sunk it is planked 
up with split, not sawed, planks. There are generally three or four men engaged in the work of digging, each one taking his turn. A 
man remains below with a large rope fastened about him. A small rope attached to a basket is used to draw up the earth, which is 
saturated with oil, and is often quite wami to the touch. Sometimes the gas is so strong as to prevent a person from remaining below more 
than a couple of minutes, and occasionally a man is drawn up quite insensible The usual time of remaining down is about twenty 
minutes, when the man gives the signal that he wishes to be drawn up by jerking the rope. The yield is seldom very rapid, as I have 
never heard of any petrolenm rising to the surface. Still some of the wells yield a large amount and then dry up. A windlass is built 
upon a frame over the well at a height of about 5 feet from the mouth. Overthis windlass a rope is placed having a bucket at one end. 
The rope is not much longer than the depth of the well. The other end is fastened around the waist of a uian or a woman, who generally 
has two or more half-grown boys or girls to help pull. As soon as the bucket fills, these persons start on a run down a well-beaten path 
until the bucket has come up so that the person standing by the well can empty it. The work is done by a class of people whose families 
have been allotted this work from time immemorial by the royal law. They are not slaves, but do not have permission to remove, and 
are considered as bound to work for the production of the royal monopoly. 

In Galicia wells were dug as for water, and in some instances congeries of wells were united at the bottom by 
gidleries, into which the petroleum filtered from the rock. The digging of these wells and shafts was frequently 
attended with considerable danger of suffocation with gas. M. Coquand mentions that at Damanostotin, in 
Moldavia, the pits or wells were dug iO meters (131.2 feet) deep, and lined with sticks, woven in a manner resembling 
a military gabion. The petroleum is obtained in a bucket, to which a stone is attached for a sinker. This backet is 
drawn up by a rope, (a) Petroleum was also obtained for many years iu the valley ot the Po from wells that were dug. 

In the United States several diflerent methods for obtaining oil were employed before wells were drilled. It is 
reported that shafts were found in the Mecca (Ohio) oil district, of the sinking of which all record or tradition has 
been lost. Since the curbed pits on Oil creek, Pithole creek, and other tributaries of the Allegheny have been 
proved to be of French origin, it is not unlikely that the old shaft at Mecca was also made by the French. An 
unsuccessful attempt to obtain oil in this way was made at Mecca about 18G4, aud another attempt to sink a shaft to 
the Venango oil-sand was made iu 18IJ5 in the bend of the AUegheny river, on the east side, below Tidioute. 

It was about 16 feet square and a little over ](J0 feet in depth. It was a failure in respect to obtaining oil, for just before it was 
deep enough to reach the third sand, or oil-producing rock, an accident occurred which resulted in its abandonment. The foreman, who 
was au experienced miner, was seated over the month of the shaft, which was covered, in company with one or two of his laboring men, 



a B. S. G. F., xxiv, 518. 



78 PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 

eatiug their tlinuer. As tliey lighted their pipes it was suggested that a lighted X)ai)er be dropped into tLe shaft to see if auy gas was 
there. It was doue, and an explosion followed which killed the foreman and some of his men. It [the well] was immediately closed, 
and work was never resumed, (a) 

OtLer shafts were snuk on Oil creek, but as none of them were successful in reaching the Venango third sand, 
they were abandoned. 

Professor Silliuian, sr., in 1833, thus described the method em^jloyed for obtaining Seneca oil at the famous 
spring at Cuba: 

A broad, flat board, made thin at one edge, like a knife ; it is moved flat upon and just under the surface of the water, and is soon covered 
by a coating of petroleum, which is so thick and adhesive that it does not fall oft', but is removed by scraping on the edge of a cup. (6) 

Near Burning Springs,, West Virginia, the oil was collected early in this century "by digging trenches along the 
margin of the creek down to a bed of gravel a few feet below the surface. By opening aud loosening with a spade or 
sharpened stick the gravel and saiid, which is only about a foot thick, the oil rises to the surface of the water, with 
which the trench is partially filled. It is then skimmed off with a tin cup and put up in barrels for sale. In this 
way from 50 to 100 barrels are collected in a season", (c) 

Professor J. P. Lesley thus describes the method employed for collecting oil on Paint creek, Johnson county, 
Kentucky : 

Here are to be seen (he old "stirring places", where, before the rebellion broke out and put an end to a'l manner of trade in Kentucky, 
Mr. George aud otliers collected oil from the sands by making shallow canals one or two hundred feet loug, with an upright board and a 
reservoir at the lower end, from wliicli they obtained as much as 200 barrels per year by stirring tlie sauds with a pole. ((/) 

J. D. Angier, of Titusville, worked the springs on Oil creek for some years prior to 1859. He found the 
springs logged up to 8 feet square and as many feet dee]i. He arranged a sort of sluice-bos, with bars, that held 
the oil while the water tlowed on beneatli. In this way he obtained from 8 to 1(» gallons a day of 36° s])ecific gravity, 
which he sold at Titusville for medicin • and for lighting saw-mills and the derricks of salt-wells. 

Seneca oil was obtaiited lor many years and in many localities by saturating blankets with oil and wringing it 
from them. 

Section 2.— AKTRSIAJST WELLS— THE DERRICK. 

AETESIAN "WELLS. 

The Jesuit- missionaries to China found there artesian i;\ells in full operation. These wells were drilled for brine 
and natural gas, the latter being frequently accompanied by petroleum. The following extract fi'om L'Abbe Hue's 
celebrated travels in China describes their method of drilling very deep wells: 

They [the wells] are usually from 1,500 to 1,SOO (French) feet deep, and only .'') or (^ inches in diameter. The mode of proceeding is 
this: If there be a depth of 3 or 4 feet of soil on the surface, they plant in this a tube of hollow wood,surnioun1ed by a stone, in which an 
orifice of the desired size of 4 or 5 inches lias been cuf. Upon this they bring to worlv in the tube a rammer of 300 or 400 pounds weight, 
which is notched aud made a little c(mcave above and convex below. A strong man, very lightly dressed, then mounts on a acaftblding, and 
dances all the morning on a kiud of lever that raises this rammer about 2 feet and then lets it fall by its own weight. From time to 
time a few pails of water are thrown into the hole to soften the mater al of the rock and reduce it to xiulp. The rammer is suspended to 
a rattan cord not thicker than yourfingei-, but as strong as our ropes of catgut. This cord is fixed to the lever, and a triangular piece of 
wood is attached to it, by which another man, sitting near, gives it a half-turn, so as to make the rammer fall in another direction. At 
noon this man mounts on the scaftbld and relieves his comrade till the evening, and at night these two are replaced by another pair of 
workmen. When they have bored 3 inches they draw up the tube, with all the matter it is loaded v,Uh, by means of a great cylinder, wliich 
serves to roll the cord on. In this manner these little wells or tubes are made quite perjiendiiMihir and as polished as glass. * » » 
When the rock is good the work advances at the rate of 2 feet in twenty-four hours, so tliat ;il out tlin e ,\e!irs are required to dig a well, (e) 

The first artesian well drilled in the United States, in 1809, has already been described, as also the gradual 
improvements in tubing wells and in stopjjing off the surface water with a seed-bag (i)age 0). Prior to 1858 a great 
majiy wells had been drilled for brine in the valley of the Ohio and its tributaries, with such additioiitil improvements 
as rendered them very effective for this purpose. Steam-, horse-, and hand-power had been employed in drilling 
with equal success, the tools tiiid general manipulation of the well being essentially the same. The drilling of wells 
with hand-power was accomplished by means of :i spring-i^ole. For this purpose a straight tree, forty or fifty feet in 
length, was selccti'd. After the branches were removed, the butt was secured in the ground in such a position that 
the pole extended at an angle of tibout 30° over the spot at wliich the well was to be bored. To the suiaber end 
the tools were iittached, iind by the elasticity of the pole, as it was alternately ]ndled down and tdlowed to spring 
back, they were lifted and made to strike at tlie bottom of the well. 

The drilling of wells for oil has long since outgrown the spring-jiole age, the figures on Plate VI showing the 
successive steps by which this has been accomi)lished. 

THE DERRICK. 

When the location of ti well lias been decided upon a derrick or "rig" is built. This consists of the demck itself 
and a small hou.se for an engine, with the necessary foundation for both. For this purjiose masonry is not used, but 
iiisteiul a very lieavy foundation of timber. The owner of the well owns the rig, boiler, and engine. The 
(iontracttn' who drills tlie well owns the ctible, bit, blacksmith's aud other tools, and supplies fuel for the engine and 
the blackMiiitli. 



<i Letter of \V. W . Hague, of 'lidionte, to S. F. Peckham. d P. A. P. S., x, 40. 

i A. J. S. (1), xxiii, 99. e Ti-avela in ike CImiese Jumpire, 1,300, Harper's ed., 1S55. 

a S. P. Hildreth, A. J. S. (1), xxix, t(j. 



THE NATURAL HISTORY OF PETROLEUM. 79 

Tlie following list of rig-timbers embraces, first, the foiindation timbers, -whicli are frequently bewn, and, second,^ 
sawed timber. The plan of foundation timbers (Fig. 15) is drawn for square timber, but in a region like the northern 
field, where the wells are chiefly located in forests, these timbers are often hewn from the trees around the well: 

HEWED KIG-TIMBEES. 

Inches. Feet Iods- 

2 derrick-sills, spotted 1'2 '21 

2 derrick-sills, spotted 10 21 

2 derrick-sills, flatted 12 21 

2 derrick-sills, flatted 10 21 

3 mud-sills, faced 16 20 

5 mud-sills, faced 16 12 

1 maiu-sill, squared 1.? by Ic) 30 

1 sub-sill, squared 18 by 18 14 

1 cross-sill, squared * 12 by 12 12 

1 samson-post, squared 18 by 18 14 

Ijack-posf, squared 16 by 18 14 

2 bull-wheel posts, squared 10 by 10 10 

1 engine-block, squared 20 by 20 8 

1 walking-beam, squared ." 12 by 26 26 

1 bull-wheel shaft, squared 14 by 14 14 

2 pulley-blocks, squared 12 by 12 6 

4 braces, squared 6 by 8 14 

1 lerer, squared "by 9 7 

Equal to 7,800 feet board measure. 

SAWED RIG-TIMBER. 

Inches. Feet. Feet. 

8 pieces 2 by 10 by 20= 267 

Spieces 2 by 8by20= 133 

6 pieces 2 by 12 by 18= 2ie 

4 pieces 2 by 10 by 18= 120 

7 pieces 2 by 8 by 1S= 168 

8 pieces 1* by 8 by 18= 144 

4 pieces li by 12 by 16= 96 

18 pieces 2 by 10 by 10= 480 

18pieces 2 by 8 by 16= 384 

6 pieces 2 by 6byl6= 96 

25 pieces 2 by 4byl0= 267 

4 pieces 2 by 6byl4= 56 

20 pieces 1 by 12 by 16= 320 

20piece8 1 by 8byl6= 21.3 

20pieces 1 by 7byl4= 245 

2-iuch plajik, 20 feet long 800 

1-iuch boards, 14 feet long 500 

1-inch boards, 16 feet long 4, .500 

9, 005 

The foregoing dimension timbers may be either pine or hemlock, the latter being used almost exclusively at the 

present time : 

HARD-WOOD LUMBER (OAK OR MAPLE). 

Inchee. Feet. Feet. 

7piece3 2 by 8 by 16 = 149 

1 piece 2 by 12 by 12 = 24 

17.! 

Hewed timber 7, 800 

Sawed lumber , 9, 005 

Hard lumber 173 

16, 97.- 

Total, 17,000 feet of lumber for a rig. 

To put the rig together requires — 

Ponnds. 

10-penny nails 150 

20-penny nails 25 

30-penny nails 125 

40-penny nails 10 

310 

Bolts IS 

Strap-hinges pair.. 1 



80 PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 

If the wheels for reeling the cable and saud-pump rope are not purchased separately, but are made with the 
■derrick, there will be required: 

32 arms for 2 bull-wheels. 

104 cants of 3 feet 9 inches radius for 2 buU-wlieels. 
32 cants of 4 feet 6 inches radius for band-wheel. 
8 cants of 3 feet 3 inches radius for tug-jniHey. 

HARDWARE (RIG-IRONS). 

1 walking-beam stirrup, 2| inches by f inch. 

4 bolts for securing the same by a wooden cap to the walking-beam. 

2 boxes for band-wheel shaft, babbitted, and each with 4 bolts. 

1 band- wheel shaft 4 feet 6 inches long, 3| inches diameter, with 1 crank, 14 to 46 inches stroke, G holes; 1 wrist-pin, 2| inches 
diameter; 2 flanges, 24 inches diameter; 2 flanges, 20 inches diameter; 12 flange-bolts, 7 inches long, f inch diameter; 5 steel 
keys for flanges and crank; 1 collar and set screw (not always used). • 

1 saddle for walking-beam. 
4 bolts for same. 

2 side irons, boxes and bolts for samson-post. 
1 derrick-pulley, 20 inches in diameter. 

1 walking-beam hook, to hold temper-screw. 

1 sand-pump pulley. 

2 gudgeons, with bands, for bnll-wheel. 

The derricks require each about thirty days of skilled and ten days of ordinary labor. During the census 
year they cost from $325 to $400, according to the cost of getting the materials to the place where the rig was to 
be built. At the same time a set of "rig-irons" cost from $75 to $100. A rig for winter use must be closed in, 
and therefore requires a larger outlay for 1-inch lumber. The increased expeu.se, however, amounts to only a small 
sum. 

Figs. 16, 17, and 18 represent plans and elevations of a fall oil-well rig. As originally drawn, they were prepared 
l)y H. Martyu Chance from working plans furnished by J. F. Carll. They exhibit in great detail the construction of 
a, "rig" suitable for drilling a well from 2,500 to 3,000 feet in depth. The following description is abridged from 
the report of the Second Geological Survey of Pennsylvania, Eeport III: 

The mud-sills a (Fig. 15) are generally sunk in trenches where the uature of the ground admits of its being 
done. They have gains cut into them to receive the main'sill d and sub-sills e and e'. After all have been put 
in place and leveled up, the keys or wedges h are driven, and the whole foundation is thus firmly locked together. 
The samson-post 1i and jack-posts I, s, and r are dovetailed into the sills and held by properly fitted keys, h, as seen 
in the side elevatiou (Fig. IG). The braces are all set in gains and licyed up, no mortises and tenons being ttsed 
in the structure, the advantages of which are (1) greater strength ; (2) the keys can be driven to compensate 
shrinkage; (3) the posts and braces are easily put in line and kept there; (4) the whole is easily taken apart for 
removal. 

Eeferriug to the horizontal projection (Fig. 17), it will be observed that the samson-post is placed flush with 
one side of the main sill, and the band-wheel jack-jjost is put flush with the other side. In this way the walking- 
beam will run parallel with the main sill. If the main sill is less than 24 inches wide, these posts must, in order to 
get a bearing upon it, be set toward the center of the sill, the eftect of which will be to throw the derrick end of the 
v^alkiug-beam to one side of the center of the derrick, and thus throw the engine and running-gear out of line with it. 

If, therefore, the main sill be less than 24 inches wide, it should be placed in position and the point marked on 
it where the center of the samson-post is to come ; then mark also the point on which a perpendicular will fall from 
the center of the wrist-pin. The dimensions of samson-post and baud-wheel irons, with the length of the walking- 
beam, easily furnish these points, through which a chalk-line should be snapped, and all the work squared to this 
liue. This throws only the main sill out of square with the other work. On this account a slightly crooked stick 
is found serviceable for a main sill. 

A great variety of boilers are used, but the one in general use is a tubular boiler constructed very nearly ou the 
plan of a locomotive boiler. Formerly the boiler was set up in the engine-house, frequently with the engine bolted 
on the top or .side of it, or the whole thing was mounted on wheels ; but the heavy drilling tools emjjloyed in the 
deep wells now drilled render a stationary engine necessary.' The plan of drilling dry wells, now so itniversal, has 
been accompanied with so many fires and explosions by the ignition of gas at the boiler that prudence has caused the 
boiler to be lemoved to some distance from the engine and well. When near the oil-rock, it is now customary to 
remove both boiler and forge from near the derrick until the gas and oil are under control. A large boiler, centrally 
located, is sometimes used to .supply steam to the engines of several wells that are being drilled simultaneously. 

A 12 or 15 horse-power engine, h', with a reversible movement, is bolted to the engine-block h (Fig. 16), and by 
means of its driving-pulley carrying-belt, o o, communicates motion to the band-wheel m, and through it to all parts 
of the machinery. Th(! throttle-valve I I is operated by a groove vertical pulley. From this pirlley an endless cord, 
called "the telegraph", extends to the derrick and passes around a similar pulley, w n, fixed uiionthe headache-post 
», within easy reach of the driller. The driller has thus an easy control over the throttle-valve, and can stop and 



THE NATURAL HISTORY OF PETROLEUM. 81 

.start the eugiue or iucrease or decrease its speed without leaving his position (Fig. 16). The reverse link pp is also 
operated from the derrick bj- the cord q q, which passes over two pulleys, one of which is fixed in the engine-house 
and the other on the derrick. A slight pull raises the link and reverses the motion, which is restored as soon as 
the cord is released and the link drops back. 

The band-wheel m receives its motion direct from the driving-pulley of the engine, to which it is connected by 
the belt o o. On or near the end of its shaft o is the bull-rope pulley n, and upon its other end is the crank o'. 
This crank has six holes to receive an adjustable wrist-pin p, which is easily moved from one hole to the other to 
regulate the length of stroke required in drilling or pumping. As the band-wheel communicates motion through 
the pitman q to the walking-beam while drilling ; to the bull-wheels, by the bull-rope r r, while running up the 
tools; and to the sand-pump reel, by tlie friction iiulley w, while sand-pumping, all of which movements are used 
separately, the machinery is so constructed that the connections may be rapidly made and broken. The sand-pump 
reel ?c is put in motion by pressing on the lever v, which is joined by the connecting-bar u to the upright lever 
f. Tliis brings the face of the beveled pulley w into contact with the face of the band-wheel. The sand-pump 
descends by gravity and is checked in its motion by pressing the lever v back in such a manner as to throw the 
friction-pulley w against a post, which acts as a brake. The sand-pump line is a cable-laid rope, seven-eighths of 
an inch in diameter, and is coiled ujjou the shaft x, from which it i)asses over the pulley i i, and thence to the 
well mouth. The most common sand-pump is a plain cylinder of light galvanized iron, with a bail at the top and 
a stem-valve at the bottom. It is usually G feet long, but is sometimes 15 or 20 feet in length. As the valve- 
stem projects downward a few inches beyond the bottom, it is only necessary to let it rest on the bottom of the 
waste-trough in order to empty it. Other forms of sand-pumps are more complicated in construction. 

The walking-beam connections cannot be interrupted without stopping the engine. When disconnected, it is 
tipped at an angle of about 25°, which thidws the derrick end back about a foot from its perpendicular over the 
well, and thus removes it from interference with cables, tools, sand-pumps, etc., as they are run up and down. The 
headache-post receives the walking-beam in case the wrist-pin should break or the pitman lly off. It is about 8 
inches in section, and is placed on the main sill, directly under the walking-beam, in such a manner that in case of 
accident the walking-beam can fall only a few inches, (a) Fig. 19 shows the interior of a closed derrick at night, 
with the use of the temper-screw and derrick light. , 

Section 3.— THE DRILLING-TOOLS. 

The illustrations given in this report are only those of the ordinary drilling-tools. The tools used for "fishing'' 
other tools, broken or lost anywhere from 100 to 2,000 feet from the surface, are too numerous even for mention. 
These tools are of all kinds, from the delicate grab, designed to pick up a small piece of valve-leather or a broken 
sucker-rod rivet from the pump-chamber, to the ponderous string of "pole-tools" containing tons of iron, which, 
at a depth of 1,500 feet or more, can unscrew a set of "stuck tools" and bring them up piece by piece, or cut a 
thread on the broken end of a sinker-bar or an auger-stem, to which tools cau be screwed fast, so that it may be 
loosened by the use of " whisky jacks" at the surface, {b) 

A string of drilling-tools is represented together in Fig. 5, Plate VI, and separately in Figs. 20 to 30. The 
.string weighs about 2,100 pounds, and consists of two parts, separated by the jars. The lower portion, or di-ill, that 
delivers its blow downward and cuts the rock, consists of the bit (Figs. 20 and 21), the auger-stem (Fig. 22), and 
the lower half of the jars (Fig. 23). The upper portion that delivers its blow upward consists of the upper portion 
of the jars (Fig. 23), the sinker-bar (Fig. 24), and the rope-.socket (Fig. 25). The upper link of the jars, by delivering 
an upward blow upon the auger-stem and bit, prevents the bit from sticking and remaining fast, while the elasticity 
of the cable permits the motion of the walking-beam. The "jars" therefore become the center of importance as 
well as of action. They were invented in 1831 by Billy Morris, but were never patented. Fig. 23 shows a pair of 
jars closed and another opened, with cross-sections. They are made like two flat links of a chain, with a male screw 
attached to one link and a female screw attached to the other. The slots in the links are each 21 inches long, and 
the cross heads 8 inches deep ; there is, therefore, 13 inches of "play" to the jars. 

J. F. Ca^, in Eeport III, Second Geological Survey of Pennsylvania, page 299 et seq., says: 

The manner in wliieh the jars perform their work may he heet cxiilained, perhaps, in this w.ay : Suppose the tools to have heen just 
run to the bottom of the well— the jars closed as in a, Fig. 23— the cable is slack. The men now take hold of the bnll-wheels and draw 
up the slack until the sinker-bar rises, the "play" of the jars allowing it to come up 13 inches without disturbing the auger-stem. 
When the jars come together they slack about 4 inches, and the cable is in position to be clamped in the temper-screw. If, now, the 
vertical movement of the w.alking-heam be 24 inches when it starts on the up-strokc, the sinker-bar rises 4 inches and the cross- heads 
come together with a smart blow, then the auger-stem is picked up and lifted 20 inches. On the down-stroke the auger-stem falls 20 
inches, while the sinker-bar goes down 24 inches to telescope the jars for the next blow coming up. A .skillful driller never allows his jars 
to strike on the down-stroke. They are only used to "jar down" when the tools stick on some obstruction in the well before reaching 
the bottom and in fishing operations. An unskillful workman sometimes "looses the jar" and works for hours without accomplishing 
anything. The tools may be standing on the bottom while he is playing with the slack of the cable, or they may be swinging all the 
time several feet from the bottom. If he cannot recognize the jar, he is working entirely in the dark ; but an expert will tell you the 

a J. F. Carll, Rep. Ill, Sec. Geo. Surv. Penna., chap. svii. b Ibid., p. 298. 

VOL. IX — a 



8^ PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 

moment he puts liis hand upon the cable whether the drill is working properly or not. As the "jar works off", or grows more feeble, by- 
reason of the downward advance of the drill, it is "tempered" to the proper strength by letting down the temper-screw to give the jars 
more play. 

The temper-serew, Fig. 26, forms the connecting link between the walking-beam and cable, and it is " let out" gradually to regulate 
the play of the jars as fast as the drill penetrates the rock. When its whole length is run down, the rope clamps play very near the well 
mouth. The tools are then withdrawn, the well sand-pumped, and jireparatious made for the next "run". With the old-fashioned 
temper-screw a great deal of time was spent in readjustment, for it had to be screwed up by tedious revolutions of the clamps. But this 
delay is now obviated. The nut through which the screw passes is cut in halves, one half being attached to the left wing of the screw- 
frame, the other half to the right wing. An elliptical band holding the set-screw a passes around the nut. It is riveted securely to one 
of the halves, and the set-screw presses against the other half to keej) the nut closed. The wings b 6 are so adjusted that they spring 
outward and open the nut whenever the set-screw is loosened. To ' ' run up " the screw the driller clasps the wings in his left hand and 
loosens the set-screw ; he then seizes the head of the temper-screw in his right hand, and, relaxing his grip upon the wings, the nut opens, 
when he quickly shoves the screw up to its place, again grips the wings and tightens the set-screw. 

The dimensions of the different tools required to make up a set are given in the figures that represent them. 
The lengths of the different parts are given below : 

Feet. InoheB. 

Rope-socket 3 6 

Sinker-bar 18 

Jars 7 4 

Atrger-stem 30 ' 

Center-bit 3 3 

62 1 

The wings of the temper-screw are 1§ inches by f inch, and 4 feet 6 inches long. The screw is If inches in 
diameter and 4 feet long, with two square threads to the inch. The weight of the string of tools is as follows.: 

Fonnda. 

Fig. 25. — Rope-socket 80 

Fig. 24.— Sinker-bar, 3i-i"ch 540 

Fig. 23.— Jars, 5i-inch 320 

Fig. 22.— Auger-stem 1,020 

Fig. 21.— Bit 140 

2,100 
The other tools weigh as follows : 

Poniide. 

Fig. 2G. — Temper-screw 145 

Fig. 23.— Jars, 8-inch 565 

Fig. 20.— Two bits, 8-inch 320 

Fig. 30.— Reamer 18(t 

Fig. 21.— Two bits, 5i-inch 280 

Fig. 29. — Reamer, 5i-inch 140 

Fig. 27.— Ring-soeket 50 

Fig. 28.— ^Two wrenches 210 

1,890 

Total weight of set 3,990 

Total cost of set $700 

Driller's complete outfit, includiHg cable, costs about 900 

These tools are made of the best of steel and Norway iron. 

Section 4.— DRILLING WELLS. 

By reference to Chapter I, page 6, it will be observed that the Euffner Brothers "provided a straight, well-formed, 
hollow sycamore tree, with 4 feet internal diameter, sawed off square at each end". This was placed on end, and 
by digging out beneath it was gradually sunk to the bed-rock. This device was in time replaced by a smaller 
conductor, that was placed in the center of a sort of shaft or well that was dug (when practicable) to the bed-rock. 
This conductor was made of two-inch jilank spiked together, 6 or 8 inches square on the inside, and placed in 
position vertically beneath the center of the derrick floor, as shown in Fig. 1, Plate VI, and Fig. 31. When the 
bedrock is below a depth to which it i.s practicable to dig. an iron pipe is driven to the rock (shown in Fig. 3, Plate 
VI, and Fig. 33). When the " drive pipe" is to be inserted a "mall" and "guides" must be provided. This mall is 
made of any tough, hard log that will dress 15 to 18 inches square and 10 or 12 feet long. Two sides only are 
dressed, one end being encircled by a heavy iron band, to prevent its splitting, the other having a strong staple 
driven into it, in which to tie the cable. Two pairs of wooden pins ^e jjut into each of the dressed sides, one pair near 
the top, and the other near the bottom. They are two inches apart and two inches long, the guides fitting between 
them. The guides consist of two 2-inch i>lanks, placed perpendicularly upon a line drawn through the center of the 
well at right angles to Hie walking-beam, and 15 or 18 inches apart. They are securely stayed and strengthened 
by having narrower plank nailed on both sides of them, leaving their e<lges projecting 2 inches toward each other, 
to enter between the pins on the m 




PUMPING WELL. 1861 



OWI^G '"LL 1880. DRILLING WELL AND FULL STF iiNG or TOOLS. 



THE NATURAL HISTORY OF PETROLEUM. 83 

The well is started by spuddins:. To do this a short cable is run up over the crown pulley iu the top of the 
derrick. Oue end is attached to the ring-socket (Fig. 27) and screwed to the auger-stem ; the other is passed around 
the bull-wheel shaft two or three times and the end left free. The bull-rope is now put ou and the engine stai-ted. 
A man in front of the bull-wheels seizes the free end of the rope coiled around the shaft, a slight pull causes the 
coils to tighten and adhere to the revolving shaft, and the auger-stem rises in consequence, until it hangs suspended 
on the derrick, when it is swung over the spot where the well is to be started. The engine is kept running and the 
bull-wheels continue to revolve, but the man holding the shaft-rope has full control of the tools. When he pulls 
on the rope the coils at once "bite" the revolving shaft and the tools rise; but when he gives his rope slack they 
fall, and so long as the coils remain loose ujjon the shaft it revolves smoothly within them and communicates no 
motion. Thus, by alternately pulling and slacking the rope, this animated substitute for a walking-beam raises aud 
drops the tools as much or as little as may be required, while the driller turns the drill to insure a round hole. 

After spudding awhile to prepare the way for the drive-pipe, the drill is set aside, and the pipe to be driven, 
armed at the bottom with a steel shoe, as shown in Fig. 3, Plate VI, is put iu place. 

The following graphic description of the drilling of a well is given by J. F. Carll, in Eeport III, Second 
Geological Survey of Pennsylvania, page 30C: 

The mall is attached to the spudding cable and let down between the guides, where it is alternately raised and dropped upon the 
casing or drive-pipe by the man at the bull-wheels, precisely the same as in spudding. The casing used is of wronght-iron, screwed 
together in thimbles the same as tubing. A heavy cap of iron is screwed iu the top when driving, to prevent its being injured by the 
blows of the mall. 

When two or three hundred feet of pipe are to be driven, as is frequently the case in some of our northern valleys, it requires a great 
deal of skill aud judgment to put it in successfully. In these deep drivings, after a sufficient depth has been reached to admit of the 
introduction of a string of tools, they are put in and operated by the walking-beam in the usual way ; the cable (a short one, furnished 
for the purpose) being coiled upon oue end of the bull-wheel shaft, while the other end is left free to work the mall-rope on. 

To facilitate the necessary changes, which must be made every time the drill is stopped and pipe driven, the lower part of the guides 
are cut and hung on hinges some 10 or 12 feet above the derrick floor, and when not in use may be swjing up overhead out of the way of 
the workmen. 

When a sufficient depth has been reached by spudding to admit of the introduction of a full " string of tools", the spudding machinery 
is abandoned. 

Now the coil of drilling cable is rolled into the derrick and set upon end. The free end in the center of the coil is tied by a connectiug 
cord to the rope just detached from the ring-socket, and by it drawn up over the crowu-pulley and down to the bull- wheel shaft, where it 
is fastened ; the bull-rope is put in place, the engine started, and the men carefully watch aud guide the cable as it is wound, coil after 
coil, smoothly and solidly upon the shaft. When this is done the end of the cable depending from the crown-pulley is secured to the rope- 
socket, and the full set of tools is attached and swung up in the derrick. After carefully screwing up all the joints (the bull-rope having 
been unshipped), the tools (Fig. 5, Plate VI) are lowered into the hole by means of the bull-wheel brake ce, shown in Fig. 16. The band-wheel 
crank is then turned to the upper center; the pitman is raised and slipped upon the wrist-pin, where it is secured by the key and wedges; 
the temper-screw is hung upon the walking-beam hook ; the slack in the cable is taken up by the bull-wheels until the jars are known to 
be in proper position ; the clamps are brought around the cable (after a wrapper has been put on it at the point of contact) aud securely 
fastened by the set-screw ; the cable is slacked oil' from the bull-wheels, and the tools are now held suspended in the well from the walking- 
beam instead of Irom the top of the derrick, as before. Some fifteen or twenty feet of slack cable should be pulled down and thrown upon 
the floor to give free movement to the drill. When the drill is rotated in one direction for some time the slack coils around the cable at 
the well mouth : if it becomes troublesome, the motion is reversed and it uncoils. Only by this constant rotation of the drill can a round 
hole be insured. 

Having now made all the necessary connections, it only remains to give the engine st«am, and the drill will rise and fall with each 
revolution of the band-wheel and commence its aggressive work upon the rock below. From this point downward the daily routine of 
the work is very monotonous unless some accident occurs to diversify it. Day and night the machinery is kept in motion. One driller and 
one engineer and tool-dresser work from noon until midnight (the " afternoon tour"), and another pair from midnight until noon (the 
" morning tour"). Up and down goes the walking-beam, while the driller, with a short lever inserted in the rings of the temper-screw, 
walks round and round, first this way, then that, to rotate the drill. He watches the jar, and at proper intervals lets down the temper- 
screw as the drill penetrates the rock. When the whole length of the screw has been " run out ", or the slow progress of the drill gives 
warning that it is working in hard rock and needs sharpening, he arranges the slack cable upon the floor so that it will go up freely 
without kinks, and informs the engiueer that he is ready to " draw out". 

After attending to the needful preliminaries, the driller throws the bull-rope upon its pulley, and quickly steps to the bull-wheel 
hrak«, while the engineer commands the throttle of the engine. The walking-beam and the bull-wheel are now both in motion, but at 
the proper moment one man stops the engine and the other holds the bull- wheels with the brake just when all the slack cable has been 
taken up, and the weight of the tools is thus transferred from the t«mper-8crew to the crown-pulley. 

This is a performance requiring experience and good judgment, for should any blunder be made a break-down must certainly result. 
To loosen the clamps on the cable and unlock the pitmau from the wrist-pin and lower it to the main sill is but the work of a moment. 
Propping the pitman raises the end of the walking-l)eam with the temper-screw attached to it and throws them back from their former 
perpendicular over the hole, so as to allow the cable and tools to rnn up freely without interference with them. Steam is now turned on 
again, and the tools come up. When the box of the auger-stem emerges from the hole the engine is stopped. A wrench is slipped on the 
square shoulder of the bit, and the handle dropped behind a strong pin fixed for that purpose iu the floor; another wrench is put ou the 
shoulder of the auger-stem ; a stout lever is inserted iu one of the series of holes bored in the derrick floor in a circle having a radius a 
little less than the length of the wrench-handle, and it is brought up firmly against the upper wrench-handle, thus making a compound lever 
of the wrench and greatly increasing its power. Both men give a hearty pull ou the lever, which "breaks the joint", or, iu other words, 
loosens the screw-joint connecting the bit with the auger-stem, so that the bit can be unscrewed and taken off by hand .iftcr it has been 
brought up above the derrick floor. The wrenches are then thrown off, steam is let on again, and the bit rises from tlic hole. Now the 
driller throws off the bull-rope by operating a lever with one hand, while with tlie other he catches the bnll-wheel with the braie, holding 



84 PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 

the tools suspended a few inches above the derrick floor. At the same instant the engineer shuts off the steam, or else, suddenly relieved 
of its heavy work hy unshipping the bnll-rope, the engine would "run away" with lightning speed. It only remains now to hook the 
suspended tools over to one side of the derrick, and the hole is free for the sand-pump. 

While the driller is sand-pumping the engineer unscrews the worn bit and replaces it by one newly dressed, so that there may be 
no delay in running the tools into the well again when sand-pumping is ended. 

The "line " to which the sand-pump is attached (as before described) passes up over a pulley near the top of the derrick, and thence 
down to the sand-pump reel, which is opertited from the derrick by means of hand-lever r and connecting levers it and t. While sand- 
pumping the pitman remains disconnected, the bull-rope lies slack on its pulleys, and the band-wheel is kept constantly in motion. A 
slight pressure on lever v brings the friction-puUey ui in contact with the band-wheel, and the pulley immediately revolves, the slack 
sand-pump line is quickly wound up, and the sand-pump, which is usually left standing at one side of the derrick, swings out to the 
center and commences to ascend. Just now the lever is thrown back, and the connection between the friction-pulley and the band-wheel 
being thus broken, the sand-pump commences to descend into the well by its own gravity. If it be likely to attain too great speed in its 
descent, a movement of the lever to bring the pulley either forward against the band-wheel or backward against the brake-post will 
quickly check it, and thus the speed may be regulated at will. 

As soon as the pump strikes bottom additional steam is given to the engine, and the lever is brought forward and held firmly, while 
the sand-pump rises rapidly from the well. The sand-pump is usually run down several times after each removal of the tools, to keep 
the bottom of the hole free from sediment, so that the bit may have a direct action upon the rock. 

After the hole has been sufficiently cleansed, the sand-pump is set to one side, the drilling tools arc unhooked, and, swinging to their 
place over the well mouth, are let down a short distance by the brake, the wrenches are put on, and the lever is applied to " set up" the 
joint connecting the replaced bit to the auger-stem. Then removing the wrenches, the tools are allowed to run down to the bottom 
under control of the bull-wheel brake. Connections are now made as before, the driller commences his circular march, the engineer 
examines the steam- and the water-gauges and the fire, and then proceeds to sharpen the tool required for the next "run", and thus the 
work goes on from day to day^, until the well is completed. 

The derrick and other apparatus here described is that employed in the oil regions of Pennsylvania, where the 
wells are deep and the tools required for drilling thein are heavy. In the Franklin, Mecca, and Belden districts 
the shallow wells require a comparatively simple and inexpensive apparatus, the derricks being often not more than 
30 feet in height, and the entire cost of a well only about $300. In West Virginia and southern Ohio the "light 
rigs" of the early time are still largely used, but are gradually being replaced by the higher derricks, in which 
heavier tools and long lengths of pipe can be conveniently handled. 

Section 5. -THE TOEPBDO. 

In 1862 Colonel E. A. L. Eoberts, then an offlLcer in the volunteer service, conceived the idea of exploding 
torpedoes in oil-wells, for the purpose of increasing the production. Having applied for a patent, in the fall of 1864 
he constructed six torpedoes, and early in 1865 he visited Titus\'ille to try his first experiment. The risk of damaging 
the wells prevented their owners from allowing the tests to be made ; but Colonel Roberts finally persuaded Captain 
Mills to allow him to operate on the Ladies' well, on the Watson flats, near Titusville. The explosion of two 
torpedoes caused this well to flow oil and parafline. This result produced great excitement, and led to the filing of 
several applications for patents and as many lawsuits for infringement, which were all finally decided in favor of 
Eoberts. The complete success of the torpedo was not established, however, until December, 1866, when Colonel 
Eoberts exploded one in the Woodin well, on the Blood farm. This well was a " dry hole", and had never produced 
any oil. The first torpedo caused a production of 20 barrels a day, and the second raised it to 80 barrels. This 
established the reputation of the torpedo on a firm basis, (a) 

The following notice of the decision of Judge Strong, sustaining the patent of Colonel Eoberts, explains the 
method of using torpedoes and the opinion of the inventor regarding their action : 

The patent consists in sinking to the bottom of the well, or to that portion of it which passes through the oil-bearing rocks, a water- 
tight flask, containing gunpowder or other powerful explosive material, the flask being a little less in diameter than the diameter of the bore 
to enable it to slide down easQy. This torpedo or flask is so constructed that its contents may be ignited either by caps with a weight 
falling on them or by fulminating powder placed so that it can be exploded by a movable wire or by electricity, or by any of the known 
means used for exploding shells, torpedoes, or cartridges under water. When the flask has been sunk to the desired position, the well is 
filled with water, if not already filled, thus making a water tamping and confining the eifects of the explosion to the rock in the 
immediate vicinity of the flask and leaving other parts of the rock surroimding the well not materially aflected. The contents of the 
flask are then exploded by the means above mentioned, and, as the evidence showed, with the result in most cases of increasing the flow 
of oil very largely. The theory of the inventor is that petroleum or oil taken from wells is, before it is removed, contained in seams or 
crevices, usually in the second or third stratum of sandstone or other rock abounding in the oil regions. These seams or crevices being of 
different dimensions and irregularly located, a well sunk through the oil-bearing rock may not touch any of them, and thus may obtain 
no oiljthough it may jiass very near the crevices ; or it may in its passage downward touch only small seams or make small apertures into 
the neighboring crevices containing oil, in either of which cases the seams or apertures are liable to become clogged by substances iji the 
well or oil. The torpedo breaks through these obstructions and permits the oil to reach the well. 

Judge Strong, iu delivering the opinion of the court, said : 

While the general idea of using torpedoes for the purpose specified is not patentable, the particular method of employing them 
invented by Mr. Eoberts is patentable ; therefore he is entitled to protection. 

a Abridged from Henry's Early and Later History of Petroleum, p. 257. 



THE NATURAL HISTORY OF PETROLEUM. 85 

The material used uowin the Pennsylvania oil regions is nitro-glycerine, which is mauiifactmed for the puriiose 
by the ton. This was iirst used in quantities of from 4 to 6 quarts (13i to 20J pounds, equal to from 108 to 1 62 pounds 
of gunpowder). This amount was gradually increased to 20, 40, 60, SO, and even 100 (piart-s. When the well is ready 
to 1)6 " shot", word is sent to the torpedo company, and the cani.sters are prepared in sections of about 10 feet in 
length and 5 inches in diameter. These sections are made conical at the bottom, so that they will rest securelv on 
top of each other. The nitro-glycerine is earned in cans that are ]daced in padded compartments in a light spring 
wagon, which is often driven over the roughest mountain roads with great recklessness. Arrived at the well one 
of the sections of the cani.ster is suspended by a cord that passes over a pulley and is wound upon a reel. The 
nitroglycerine is poured into the canister until it is filled, and then it is lowered by the cord to the bottom of tlie 
well. Another section is filled and lowered in like manner until the proper amount is put in place. Then the cord 
is drawn up and a piece of east-iron weighing about 20 pounds, and made of such a form that it will easily slide 
down the bore, is allowed to dro)) down upon the caji, which is adjusted to the last section that was lowered. At 
a depth of 2,000 feet no sound reaches the surface, although 80 quarts of nitro-glycerine, equal to 2,160 pounds of 
gunpowder, may have been exploded by the hammer. After from three to ten minutes has elapsed a gurgling 
sound gradually approaches the surface, and the oil, welling up in a solid column, fi\ling the bore-hole and mountin"- 
higher and higher, falls first like a fountain, and then like a geyser, and forms a torrent of yellow fluid, accompanied 
by the rattle of small pieces of stone and fragments of the canister, in a shower of oil-spray 100 feet in height. In 
five or ten minutes it is all over ; 2.5 or 30 barrels of oil have been thrown to the winds, and the derrick has been 
saturated with it, so that in a short time it becomes as black as ink and as combustible as tinder. In some instances 
but little oil escapes from the well, and sometimes none at all. The position of a torpedo just before explosion is 
shown in Fig. 31. 

While not disputing that in some instances the theory of the action of torpedoes formulated by Colonel Roberts 
may explain such action, I am forced to the conclusion that when a torpedo is exploded in such rock as the Bradford 
oil-sand the crushing effect of the explosion is comparatively limited. The generation of such an enormous 
volume of gas in a limited area, the wails of which are already under a very high gas pressure, and which is held 
down by a motionless column of air of 2,000 feet (the use of water tamping has been abandoned), must be followed 
by an expansion into the porous rock that drives both oil and gas before it until a point of maximum tension is 
reached. The resistance then becomes greatest within the rock, and, reaction taking place, oil and gas are driven 
out of the rock and out of the well, until the expansive forces originally generated by the explosion are expended. 
By this reaction the pores of the rock are completely cleared of obstructions, and the pressure of the gas within the 
oil-rock continues to force the oil to the surface until it is no longer sufficient for that purpose. 

It is found that in shallow wells of only a few hundred feet in depth, like those of West Virginia, nitro-glycerine 
is not as efficient as gunpowder, the violent action of the nitroglycerine throwing the column of air or water out of 
a well of that depth, while gunpowder is held down. 

The expense incurred by using torpedoes in wells under the Roberts patent has led to many attempts to escape it, 
and many parties manufacture nitroglycerine in the oil regions and explode it in wells by stealth. Such torpedoes 
are called " moonlighters ". Another and more safe method is to purchase two-thirds or three-fourths the amount of 
nitro-glycerine required of outside parties, say 40 quarts for a 60-quart charge, and then engage the torpedo company 
to put in the other 20 quarts and fire it off, thus avoiding the payment of the royalty on the 40 quarts. These are 
called "• setters ". 

The value of torpedoes in individual cases is unquestioned ; but, as a whole, their value to the oil interest is 
doubtful. Some very remarkable instances are on record where the yield of a well has been greatly increased by 
their use. The Mathew Brown well No. 6, in Fairview township, Butler county, Pennsylvania, is said to have 
yielded an increased production of 300 barrels the first twenty-four hours, and this from a charge of only 4 quarts. 
Another instance is on record where a torpedo in one well increased the flow in a second well 80 rods distant so 
that the yield did not run down to its former amount for six months. It is, however, the opinion of those whose 
long experience well qualifies them to judge that, especially in close sand, torpedoes are of very little use. By 
some they are no longer employed. It is manifestly a destructive method of operation that yields quick results, 
attended with great waste. 

. Section 6.— LOCATION OF WELLS. 

The production of petroleum is in a general sense a speculative business. It may, however, be conducted as a 
regular business, involving the sagacious use of capital in such a manner as experience and judgment would 
dictate, with due account as to its elements of uncertainty. Conducting their aflairs on such a basis, there are 
large corporations and individuals who command large capital and who control large tracts of proved productive 
territory either in fee or under leases. There are also many adventurers, who, either alone or in company with 
others, drill wells as they might purchase lottery tickets, losing little if they prove dry and reaping a rich reward 
if they prove valuable. This latter class operate almost exclusively under leases. It would be impossible to 
give details of the varied conditions incori)orated in leases, as they are cunningly drawn in favor of the lessee or 



86 PKODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 

lessor. The lease generally provides that the lessee shall drill a certain number of wells within a certain time 
and pay to the lessor, as a royalty, a certain proportion of the oil obtained, varying, according to circumstances, 
from one-tenth to one-fourth. As the reputation of territory improves, the undeveloped portion of a tract held 
under lease is subleased for a larger royalty or on a bonus, sometimes both. A tract originally leased on a royalty 
of one-eighth is subleased on a royalty of one-fourth, with perhaps a bonus of $300 an acre in addition. 

The location of wells upon a given piece of land will depend upon circumstances ; but I think it may be safely 
stated that, as a general rule, wells will be drilled along tie border of a tract, rather than toward the middle. 
This is often to be regarded as a measure of protection, because if A does not draw as much as possible from B's 
territory, B is quite sure to drill a line of wells and draw from A. Wells have in many cases been located with a 
total disregard of all prudential considerations. In the valley of Oil creek, just above Oil City, leases of only a 
quarter of an acre were taken and wells drilled on them, thus insuring about twenty times as many wells as there 
ought to be, and reducing at the same time in a corresponding ratio the possibility of both continued yield and 
profit. On the Olapp farm, at the northeast end of this tract, good wells were struck, one of which, drilled in 1863, 
was pximping one barrel per day in 1881. Here the wells were not drilled close, but nearer the city six and even 
eight wells were drilled on an acre, and as a result nearly one-half of them were soon abandoned. Experience has 
proved that one well to five acres is as close as they should be drilled. The man who owns a lot has no safety but 
in getting his oil to the surface; for as long as his land remains undeveloped he is constantly exposed to the risk 
of having it sucked dry by the wells of his more energetic neighbor, and that is equivalent to disaster and financial 
ruin. If all the operators in a given district could be persuaded to enter a movement for suspending drilling, it 
would in the end be mutually beneficial; but in many instances lease-holders are compelled, either by the terms of 
their leases or by their own pecuniary embarrassments, to go ahead with development and realize as promptly as 
possible upon their investments. 

Section 7. -THE OIL-SAND. 

The character of the oilsand has been easily studied from specimens thrown out by torpedoes. The Venango 
sand, extending from Tidioute to Herman station, in Butler county, is a conglomerate of small pebbles with large 
interstitial spaces. The depth or thickness of this sand varies from 10 or 12 to 125 feet at Triumph. When this 
great thickness was observed, the wells were drilled into the sand from 15 to 20 feet and pumped for a while, when 
it was discovered that they had not passed through the sand. On drilling through to the bottom the wells 
continued to produce for a long period. The Warren sand is fine-grained, bluish in color, and is inclined to be 
muddy, while the Bradford sand is a friable sandstone, somewhat coarse-grained, and is of a brown color. 

The opinion formerly held respecting the occurrence of oil in fissures has been noted elsewhere (see page 18). 
It was not only held as a scientific hypothesis, but it exerted a very important practical influence on the methods 
employed for obtaining oil. At one time an instrument was very widely used for indicating the point at whicli 
a crevice occurred in a well, and torjiedoes were introduced at such points. It cannot be denied that near the 
surface oil-bearing rocks do contain fissures. The Berea sandstone, where it comes to the surface at Berea, and 
the different members of the Yenango oil-sand when they reach the surface, are fissured. The experience gained 
in drilling wells also shows the presence of fissures below the surface. Wells are sometimes started, and after 
passing through several strata reach one where, in spite of all attempts to remedy the evil, the hole will go crooked, 
the drill glancing from the rock on one side of the fissure, and the well, in consequence, has to be abandoned. At 
the same time the extent to which fissures exist in the deep beds of oil-sands is now believed to have been very 
much overrated. The experience gained in sinking deep wells leads rather to the conclusion that in them the drill 
penetrates a homogeneous solid sandstone, in the pores of which the oil is held under great pressure. Although oil 
is sometimes found in the joints of fractured slate or shale, the solid shale is nearly impervious, often to both oil 
and water, and is separated from the sandstone by a hard and wholly impervious shell or crust, which prevents 
the escape of the oil and gas. Sometimes, however, this crust is absent or is thin and soft, in which case oil is 
found in the sand-rock above ; in other words, where oil is found in the second sand the crust of the third sand is 
not impervious. 

The motion of oil laterally through the oil-sands is illustrated by numerous phenomena attending the drilling 
and operation of contiguous wells. It is observed that the wells and springs of water in the superficial strata fail 
when these strata are penetrated by deep wells. Even artesian wells sunk for water to the second sand are often 
drained by contiguous oil-wells sunk to the third sand in consequence of the lateral movement of the water through 
the second sand to the oil-well. It is asserted that the swampy section around Power's Corners, in the Mecca 
district, has been greatly improved by surface drainage through the numerous oil-wells that have been sunk in that 
neighborhood. 

The capacity of a porous sandstone, or even of the coarse pebble conglomerate constituting the Yenango third 
sand, to hold the vast quantity of oil that has poured forth from some wells has been questioned ; but when we 
consider (1) the strong attraction existing between oils and dry surfaces, (2) the powerful capillary attraction 



THE NATURAL HISTORY OF PETROLEUM. 87 

exerted iu consequence, ami (3) the enormous pressure under which the oil is held in the rock and forced out when 
the reservoir is perforated, there seems to be no reasonable ground for doubting the sufficiency of such a source of 
supply. This opinion receives further confirmation from the large content of oil proved by Dr. Hunt to exist in the 
Chicago limestone (see page 03). 

J. F. Carll has shown by experiment that the pebble sand will absorb from one-fifteenth to one-tenth of its bulk 
of oil, and, further, that "the aggregate sum of the pores or interspaces of a sand-rock of this kind, as exposed in 
the walls of a well of 5i inches diameter, is equivalent to the area of an open crevice one inch wide, extending 
from top to bottom of the gravel bed, whatever its thickness may be". He further shows that "on Oil creek there 
is generally from 30 to 50 feet of third sand, and also from 15 to 30 feet of stray sand, both locally producing oil. 
Of this total, suppose only 15 feet is good oil-bearing pebble, we shall then have a producing capacity of 15,000 
barrels per acre, or 9,600,000 barrels per square mile, which is adequate to the requirements of the most exceptional 
cases known", (a) 

While the Warren and Bradford sands are quite dissimilar from the Venango sand, their porosity is sufficient 
to hold their content of oil. 

The occurrence of so-called slush oil at Korth Warren and at Limestone, in the Tuna valley, has been 
attributed to Assuring of the sandstones and shales in such a manner as to allow the oil to rise Into the fissures in 
the shales. These cases are local and exceptional, and are therefore not to be regarded as tyj)icalof the manner in 
which oil occurs generally. 

Section 8.— THE MANAGEMENT OF WELLS. 

Having shown how the oil-well is carried down upon a reservoir of sufficient capacity to contain a remunerative 
quantity of oil, it will next be shown how the well is managed after it is drilled and torpedoed. The present methods 
of management are the result of an historical progressive development, which will be best understood if discussed 
chronologically and in connection with the figures in Plate VI and the sections. Figs. 32, 33, 34, and 35. Figs. 1, 2, 
and 3, Plate VI, and Figs. 32, 33, and 34 were originally drawn by H. Martyn Chance, to accompany Mr. Carll's 
report, and were afterward redrawn by Miss Laura Linton, with some changes, to bring them into conformity with 
Fig. 4, drawn by Mr. Opperman. An examination of these figures shows the well divided into four sections, viz : 
the surface section, the bottom of the drive-pipe section, the bottom of the casing section, and the bottom section. 
These different sections show the arrangements at the derrick floor, at the bottom of the drive-pipe, at the bottom 
of the casing or seed-bag section, and at the bottom of the well. Fig. 1, Plate VI, and Fig. 32 show a well as 
arranged in 1861. It is the direct descendant of the well of the Eufl'ner Brothers, and was then in use around 
Tarentum and elsewhere for salt-wells. From the well-head at the derrick floor to the bed-rock was a plank 
conductor or drive-pipe, which held the loose sand or gravel of the drift. From the bottom of this conductor to the 
bottom of the well the rocks through which the drill had cut formed the walls of the bore, which was 4 inches iu 
diameter. Within this 4-inch hole a 2-inch pipe was inserted, with the pump-barrel screwed to its lower end. At 
a point estimated to be below that at which the water infiltrating the surface rocks entered the well the "seed-bag " 
was fastened in such a manner as to stop off this water from entering the bore of the well below. The pump-barrel 
being securely screwed to a length of pipe, it was lowered into the well, and piece after piece connected, until the 
point at which the seed-bag was to be introduced was reached; then a bag of calfskin or buckskin was securely tied 
to the pipe immediately below a thimble to prevent it from sliding. This bag was filled with flaxseed, and the upper 
end was so insecurely tied that if the tube was raised the bag would turn and empty itself. It was then lowered 
and the pipe added joint by joint until the required amount was put in. Beneath the thimble, at the end of the last 
joint, clamps were placed and securely fastened above the head-block, which rests upon the derrick floor. As the 
seed-bag absorbs moisture it expands and fills the 4-inch hole so completely that ail of the water above the bag is 
held and prevented from passing below. Of course this well is diilled wet, that is, full of water, no attempt being 
made to stop off' this water until the oil is reached and the well is prepared for pumping. If for any reason it became 
necessary to withdraw this tubing, the seed-bag came with it, and the water flowed into the bottom of the well. 

Fig. 2, Plate VI, and Fig. 33 show the well of 1808. At this time it had become customary, after sinking the 
conductor or cast-iron drive-pipe to the bed-rock, to commence a SJ-inch hole, which was continued to the bottom. 
The position of the seed-bag was then determined, and it was securely fastened to the lower end of a section of 
casing-pipe 3^ inches inside diameter. This was lowered to the proper depth. The 2-incli tubing, with the pump 
attached, was then lowered to the proper depth and secured at the top with the proper clamp. This well was of 
course drilled full of water, as the water was not stopped oft" until the tools were drawn out and the casing inserted. 
Instead of the ordinary seed-bag, a patent packer was sometimes attached to the casing iu place of it. This packer 
was formed by pressing a sort of leather cup over an iron ring that was a little smaller than the drill-hole and was 
fastened to the outside of the casing. The pressure of the column of water above held the leather firmly to the 
drill-hole when the oil was pumped from below. Sometimes, as is represented in the figure, both the cup-packer 
and seed-bag were used at the same time. A casing-head was screwed on, usually with one or two outlets for gas, 



a Eep. Sec. Geo. Siiir. Penna., Ill, p. 25'i. 



88 PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 

and the gas that escaped iuside the casing and outside the tubing could thus be utilized as fuel : at the lauie 
time the casing-head took the place of the head-block and formed a support for the tubing. In this way the casing- 
was made a permanent fixture, efl'ectuallj' stopping off the water and permitting the tubing to be introduced or 
taken out at pleasiire. 

Although this methed of drilling and casing wells was a great improvement over those previously employed, 
it still presented two very grave defects: First, the well must be drilled full of water, and, second, the hole was 
larger than the casing, and accidents sometimes occurred, which made it necessary to draw the casing and let the 
water into the well. To remedy these defects the plan was adopted that is shown in Fig. 3, Plate VI, and Fig. 34. 
According to this plan an 8-inch iron pipe is driven to the bed-rock. An S-inch hole is then carried down below the 
surface water. The drilling-bits are then made smaller, and the hole is contracted to o-g inches. A second tube, armed 
with a steel shoe, is then carried down inside the drive-pipe, and ground in the tapering drill-hole to a water-tight joint. 
This casing thus effectually cuts off the water. The 8-inch jars and drills are exchanged for 5i-inch tools, and the 
hole is carried down from that point of the same diameter as the interior of the casing to the bottom of the well, with 
only water enough introduced to sand-pump properly. The buoyancy imparted to the tools and cable by 1,000 to 
1,500 feet of water is thus avoided, and the presence of oil in any of the strata penetrated is immediatelj' manifested 
by escaping gas and soiled tools, and sometimes by a gush of oil that fills and overflows the well before the tools 
can be withdrawn. 

Mr. Carll (Report III, Second Geological Survey of Pennsylvania, page 320) estimates that "the average cost of 
drilling cased wells (especially if we take into account the reduced liability to accidenis from tool-sticking, etc.) 
is probably little, if any, greater than it would be if they were drilled wet. Quite an item in the cost of fuel is 
sometimes realized, for a vein of gas may be struck several hundred feet from the bottom of the well, which will 
fire the boiler until the work is finished". 

The advantage of having a hole of the same diameter all the way down is very great when fishing operations 
are necessary, and also when the packers which are now used are to be inserted. These are used in preparing the 
well for flowing, and their use is represented in Fig. 4, Plate VI, and Fig. 35, where a cased well, with tube and 
packer, are indicated in full operation. These packers are of rubber, and are so constructed that the tube within 
them moves in a sliding joint. The lower piece of pipe enters the bottom of the mass of rubber, and the upper 
section, being securely fastened to the upper portion of the mass, slides in the lower section in such a manner as 
to press with its whole weight against the rubber and force it against the sides of the drill-hole. A well prepared 
for flowing as rejjresented in Fig. 4, Plate VI, and Fig. 35, and properly connected with a tank, will operate with 
very little attention for months. The flow will finally run down either from the exhaustion of the supply or the 
clogging of the pipes with parafBue. 

The clogging of pipes with paraffine occasions a great deal of trouble in the Bradford district. This is occasioned, 
first, by the much larger percentage of paraffine in the Bradford oil, and, second, from the condensation of the less 
volatile and soluble paraflines, due to the very intense cold jiroduced by releasing the oil from the high ])ressure 
under which it exists in the rock, and consequently rapid evaporation of the more volatile portions. No attempt 
has been made to ascertain accurately this temperature, but many incidental facts indicate that it is very low. 

After a well has ceased to flow, and in those localities where the gas pressure is not sufficient to cause the oil to 
flow, the well is pumped. In the method of pumping represented in Fig. 1, Plate VI, and Fig. 32 the sucker-rods 
were introduced immediatelj' after the pipe and seed-bag, and, after the seed-bag had had time to swell, (lonnection 
was made with the walking-beam, and the water pumped out below the seed-bag. After this water was removed 
and its pressure taken from the rock the gas and oil entering the well were brought to the surface. With the 
adoption of the first method of casing wells (Fig. 2, Plate VI, and Fig. 33), the water was removed from the space 
between the casing and tubing, and the oil-rock being quickly relieved of its pressure, the oil and gas rushed in to 
supply its place, and after the removal of the water was brought to the surface. With the drilling of dry holes 
the method of pumping represented in Fig. 3, Plate VI, and Fig. 34 has been adopted. In this well there is no 
water to pump, and the oil is brought to the surface as long as any will enter the well. Sometimes so-called gas- 
])umps are applied to wells that have ceased to yield oil and a partial vacuum has been created, with the result of 
causing the oil to flow laterally into the well through the rock. 

In some localities, where the oil is valuable and the yield of the wells small, as among the heavy-oil wells of 
the Franklin district or in the older portions of the Oil Creek district, a method of pumping wells by sucker-rod 
connections has been adopted. The use of sucker-rods was no doubt adopted on account of the fact that old rods 
were suitable, numerous, and cheaii. An engine is attached to a circular horizontal table by an elbow-joint in such 
a manner that it is made to perform a quarter revolution and return to its former position. To the circumference 
of this table from two to a dozen or fifteen connections are made, in such a manner that each connection is given 
an equal stroke sufficient to move a pump connection, such as is represented in Fig. 3C. The pull of the engine 
comes on the down-stroke of the pump, and the up-stroke of the pump is balanced by the stones or other heavy 
material placed in a box on the arm, a. The rods by which these connections are made for long distances are 



THE NATURAL HISTORY OF PETROLEUM. 89 

supported by light frames, wbicli have a swinging motion as the i-ods move slowly to and fro. In the Franklin 
district, where the wells are shallow, the rods are made of strips of ash 2^ inches square, nailed together by 
wooden straps. From thirty to forty wells are thus sometimes attached to one engine. In the White Oak district 
of West Virginia, where the ground is too uneven to admit of wooden connections, motion is communicated to a 
dozen or more wells by an endless rope, usually of wire, that is supported on wheels and runs up one hill and down 
another and along the valleys to a convenient site for the engine. By this method wells can be profitably pumjied 
that would otherwise have to be abandotied. 

At the Katie Hough well, on Mud run, in the White Oak district. West Virginia, in the summer of ISSl, the 
curious phenomenon was exhibited of pumping two kinds of oil from the same well. In this region there are 
several oil horizons, and at the point penetrated by this well the tirst White Oak sand produces oil of 27° specific 
gravity, and third White Oak sand beneath it yields oil of 45° specific gravity. The well was in 1865 put down 
255 feet to the first White Oak sand, and was pumped at intervals for 15 years; it was then reamed to an 8-inch 
hole, and a 4i-inch hole sunk to the third sand. A tube, with a seed bag at the bottom of the 8 inch hole, was 
inserted, and the heavy oil stopped o&". From this tube amber oil of 45° specific gravity is pumped from the third 
sand. A second pump and tube was then inserted in the 8-inch hole beside the other tube and proper connections 
made with the walking-beam, every stroke of which pumped dark, heavy oil of 27° specific gravity from the first 
sand, worth $7 per barrel, and amber oil of 45° specific gravity from the third sand, worth $1 per barrel. The 
Shaw well, on Gales' Fork, also in the White Oak district, said to have produced $80,000 worth of oil, pumps oil 
of 25° specific gravity from a depth of 100 feet and an oil of the specific gravity of 40° at a point between 000 
and 700 feet. 

It has been the custom around Titusville and Pleasantville, when the production of a well ran very low, to 
introduce into it five to ten barrels of crude naphtha (benzine), and after allowing it to remain for a few days to 
resume pumping, an increased production being the result. 

The large amount of oil that has at difierent times and in certain localities run to waste upon the streams has 
been due to unavoidable waste, to the bursting of pipes and tanks, the sinking of barges, and to oil which has 
escaped destruction during extensive fires. On the Allegheny river at Oil City may always be seen a thin film of 
oil often sufficient to produce iridescence. The quantity of oil required to produce this effect, although apparently 
very small, is in the aggregate quite large. Where booms are stretched across such streams the floating oil is 
arrested and may be pumped from the surface with water into settling tanks and collected. In this way the 
collection of oil has been made a profitable business, as occasion might warrant, thousands of dollars' worth having 
been gathered in a single season that would otherwise have gone to waste. In 1862, 4,000 barrels were dipped from 
the Allegheny river and was used for lubricating oil and for making lampblack. 

The occurrence of oil in the drift gravels beneath the superficial clays south of Titusville has already been 
mentioned (see page 49). The oil here was pumped from shallow wells, dug only a few feet into the gravel, (a) 

Section 9.— YIELD OF WELLS. 

The average duration of the profitable production of an oil-well is very uniformly estimated at five years, 
but this period is subject to very great variations. The wells in the Colorado district, northeast of Titusville, have 
been pumped about twelve years, and have yielded constantly enough to more than pay expenses. In the White 
Oak district of West Virginia the Scott and Scioto wells, drilled in 1865, were being pumped in 1880. On the 
contrary, the Cole creek portion of the Bradford field had all been drilled over since 1879, and some of the wells were 
abandoned before June 4, 1881, while at the same date wells were flowing near Tarport, in the same field, that were 
drilled in 1875. As a general rule, it may be said that the nearer the wells are to each other on a given piece of 
property the sooner they will become unprofitable. 

As an illustration : On Triumph hill eight wells were drilled in a group, two on the edge of the belt and six 
nearer the center. As each well was drilled it commenced to yield at the rate those previously drilled were .yielding 
at that time. The first well was drilled in 1866, and yielded an average daily production for the first six months of 
70 barrels, the second six months 41 barrels, the second year 35 ban els; it then fell off gradually until it reached 5 
to 7 barrels, where it remained for two or three years ; it then continued to fall, until for the three years preceding 
1881 the yield was only about 1 barrel a day. The eight wells were pumped with sucker-rods by one engine. The 
six central wells were 9 or 10 rods apart. The sand in the center of the Triumph belt is more than 100 feet thick. 

The Eeonomites drilled two wells on their tract upon the hill east of Tidioute 300 feet apart. They started at 
100 barrels a day and held it three months, then ran down to 25 barrels iu two years, and during the two years 
following ran down to 200 barrels a week and held about that yield for two years. Two wells were drilled in 

a In tlie snnimer of 18ril quite an excitement was occasioned in Titusville by the discovery of oil saturating gravel beneath the 
soil of gardens along the creek. Several hundred barrels were pumped and dipjied from holes or pits dug over au area of several acres. 
It was supposed to have been the leakage from loadiug racks during the Pithole development. 



90 PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 

positions a and h. They started at 125 barrels each, and in eighteen months ran down to zero. The rigs were 
then changed to the other side of the engines at a' and b' and the wells were redrilled. They were 

a a' drilled deeper into the sand the second time, and were cased with 5^-inch instead of 3^-inch casing. 
These second wells started oif at 75 barrels a day and lasted ten years. The first wells were drilled 

b' 6 by a man who had a hobby that 10 feet in the sand is sufficient, but the second wells were drilled 
through 25 or 30 feet of sand. 

The yield of some single wells has been enormous. One half of the Empire well was sold for $900, and it 
afterward yielded $12,000 in six days. Its owners saved 3,500 barrels a day and sold it for 10 cents a barrel. The 
owners of the land were unable to furnish barrels, and the royalty was put into pits dug in gravel. Well No. 4, on 
the Jacob and John Hemphill farm, Donegal township, Butler county, Pennsylvania, struck bj' McKinney Brothers 
in September, 1873, has produced about 110,000 barrels, and is still (1881) producing six barrels daily. The farm 
upon which this well is located is among the most prolific oil properties ever developed, twelve wells thereon 
producing over 750,000 barrels. The Divner well, No. 1, Divner farm, Butler county, Pennsylvania, has yielded 
about 200,000 barrels, and six years after being struck produced 13 barrels a day. The Boss well, on the J. A. 
Parker farm, in Armstrong county, Pennsylvania, produced about 80,000 barrels. The amount yielded by any one 
well in the Bradford district is much smaller, from 20,000 to 25,000 barrels being probably the highest yield. 

' Section 10.— FLOODING. 

The proximity of other outlets appears to determine the duration of the flow of oil-springs or wells. The spring 
in the island of Zante is known to have flowed two thousand years. The Beatty well, in Wayne county, Kentucky, 
drilled in 1819, is still flowing, there being no other well near it. The American well yielded oil in large quantities 
from 1830 to 1860, but after the drilling of other wells in the neighborhood the yield fell off, and finally ceased altogether. 
It is therefore impossible for any producer controlling a small area to preserve his oil beneath the surface. The 
lateral flow of oil and water through the oil-sand has been repeatedly demonstrated. Jonathan Watson, in his 
experience, had known water to run into a well when the seed-bag was removed from another one-half mile distant, 
and in another instance red paint was put into one well and pumped out of another at about the same distance. 

J. P. Carll, in Eeport III, Geological Survey of Pennsylvania, page 258, says : 

The National well No. 1 was struck in February, 1866. It was very near the northwesterly edge of a large and well-stored pool, and 
passed through rather an inferior oil roclt as compared with that afterward found on the axis of the belt. Still it had a sufficiently free 
connection with the supplying reservoir to furnish a delivery of about 85 barrels per day, and it maintained its production with wonderful 
coustancy for two years, having only declined to about 60 barrels in that time. In the summer of 1868 wells were drilled on the center of 
the deposit from which it had been deriving its supply. Some of these wells produced as much as 150 barrels per day. The effect on the 
National was immediately apparent. Its production dropped off rapidly and dwindled down to 10 barrels or less a day. » » * 
Harmonia well No. 1 was on the thriving northerly edge of the Pleasantville belt. The main body of oil and the best sand-rock, as 
afterward demonstrated, lay to the south. It started with a small yield, and at the end of a fortnight was pumping about 30 barrels per 
day. Gradually increasing its production, as if enlarging and cleaning out the passages leading into the supplying reservoir, it finally 
commenced to flow, and ran up to 125 barrels, where it remained until wells of larger flow were drilled on the center of the belt and relioverl 
the gas pressure, when pumping had to be resumed. After this it soon fell down to an unremunerative production and was abandoned. 

The early method of drilling with the well full of water prevented the escape of the oil and gas until the water 
was pumped out; when the rock is pierced with a hole drilled dry "the effect is similar to the sudden liberation of 
the safety-valve of a boiler under a full head of steam, * * * "the boiling, foaming mass is driven upward against 
the forces of gravity", and sometimes shoots high above the top of the derrick. The equilibrium which had been 
maintained for ages throughout the communicating portions of the rock is suddenly destroyed in the immediate 
proximity of the well by this sudden rush up the drill-hole, and material gaseous at the ordinary temperature and 
pressure, but fluid under the enormous pressure maintained in the oil-rock, expands and evaporates as it rushes to 
the surface. This action goes forward, slowly reducing the pressure upon all the communicating portions of rock, 
until the pressure on the oil filling the rock is only equal to that of the column filling the drill-hole. The pump is 
now u«ed to lift the fluid from the drill-hole, the oil being still under the pressure of the gas ascending between the 
tubing and casing. The rock is still full of oil, and the pumping goes on until the pressure of the gas is scarcely 
sufficient to send any of it to the surface, when a gas-pump is applied at the casing-head to one of the lateral tubes 
and the pressure of the atmosphere removed. Still, after all this has been done, there is oil remaining in the rock. 
As before intimated, the oil and gas mutually dissolve each other and form a homogeneous mass, " the gas being as 
thoroughly incorporated with the oil as gas is with water in a bottle of soda-water." The effects of "flooding" or 
allowing water to enter the rock partiallj' exhausted of its oil has been the subject of much controversy. Some 
producers imagine that if the rock is properly flooded the oil can be driven toward certain points and removed to 
advantage, but experience has proved such operations extremely hazardous. 

J. F. Carll has discussed this subject in great detail, and I am greatly indebted to his report and private 
conversations for information on this subject. He says : (a) 

The first intimation of the flooding of a district is given by an increased production from the wells affected by it. Old wells improve 
gradually, running up from 5 to 10 or 20 or even 50 barrels. After pumping in this way for some time, the oil quickly fails, and they yield 

a J. F. Carll, Eeport III, p. 265. 



THE NATURAL HISTORY OF PETROLEUM. 91 

only a few barrels of salt or brackish water. * * 'In some districts the movement is quite rapid, and wells are invaded and ' ' watered 
out" in quick succession ; in others it is so slow that large quantities of oil are obtained from those which are favorably located to receive 
a " benefit ". Flooding a well is sometimes a very profitable way of closing up its career, inasmuch as it thus yields more in a few months 
than it otherwise would in years, and whea the water reaches it the owner knows at once what it betokens and stops work, thus saving 
the time and money usually expended in fruitless efforts to reclaim a well failing through natural decline. * * * In judging of the 
probable effects of the introduction 6f water into any particular oil district several things are to be considered. (1) The time offloading, 
whether early in the progress of development, while yet a large percentage of oil remains unexhausted, or at a later period, after the 
supply has suffered from long-continued depletion. ('2) The structure of thf rock, whether regular and homogeneous thronghout, or composed 
of fine sand interbedding and connected and irregular layers of gravel, sometimes lying near the top and at others near the bottom. (3) 
The shape of the area being flooded. (4) The positicm of the point at which water is admitted in relation to the surrounding wells still pumping 
oil. (5) r/i6 7ieij/it (which governs the pressure) o/(Ae column o/uio((r obtaining admittance, (li) The duration of the tcater supply. Itwill 
readily be seen that a temporary flooding of comparatively /resi territory, such as frequently occurred in early days along Oil creek, from 
the drilling of new wells without casing or the overhauling of old oaes when the seed-bag was attached to the tubing in the primitive 
way, must necessarily be quite a different affair from one caused by a. permanent deluge through unplugged and abandoned wells in nearly 
exhausted territory. In the former case the flood may be checked before much water has accumulated in the rock, and then the oil-flow can 
be reclaimed after a few days of persistent pumping ; in the latter, the recovery of the oil is very uncertain, because from its long-continued 
extraction a greater capacity has been given to the rocks for storing water, and this being supplied from scattered and obscure sources, 
there is little probability that it can be shut off, although the most thorough and systematic attempts may be made to check it. 

The effect of flooding upon adjacent wells is illustrated by the following incident related of the Oil Creek district : 
A and B owned wells 200 feet apart. A's pumped about 10 barrels a day and B's 30. B wished to pump his, but 
A thought his would not pay and stopped, when B soon found he could get only water. B offered A $10 per day 
to pump his well ten days. At the end of ten days A refused to pump, then B offered him S25 a day for twenty- 
flve daj'S, at the end of which time B offered A $30 a day to pump his well an indefinite period, and A consented. 
In the mean time the oil in B's well increased gradually until it reached 75 barrels a day, and the operatiou proved 
profitable. 

This flooding of oil territory has been proved of such importance that the legislature of Pennsylvania has 
affixed a penalty to any neglect to " plug " abandoned wells. The plugging consists in filling them with sand. A 
moment's reflection will show that the owner of oil territory must have it drilled or it will be exhausted by his 
neighbors drilling a cordon of wells around his property. After it is drilled, the wells must flow until the pressure 
of gas is exhausted, or, as has been known in several cases, the casing and tubing will be thrown out of the well. A 
case is on record where the casing-head was anchored down with chains and the flow of oil arrested, yet the gas 
pressure tore away the fastenings and threw the casing out through the top of the derrick. After the oil has stopi)ed 
flowing, if the well-owner does not pump, his neighbor's pumps will drain his territory, and if be " pulls out", the law 
compels him to fill his well with sand and ruin it forever, to prevent the public injury resulting from letting down 
surface water into the oil-sand. There is therefore no other alternative presented to the unfortunate possessor of 
oil territory but to drill and produce, whatever the price of oil may be. 



92 PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 



Chapter VIII.— TRANSPORTATIOJ^T AND STORAGE OF PETROLEUM. 



Section 1.— EAELY HISTOEY OP TEANSPOETATIOK 

But few facts have come within my notice respecting the transportation of petroleum among the primitive 
peoples that have used it. In Burmah it is placed in jars and transported in them about the country. The breakage 
of the jars and muck occasioned by the leakage is mentioned by Major Symes as one of the disagreeable adjuncts 
of the production in the neighborhood of Eangoon. 

In this country the Seneca oil of the early days was transported in barrels or packed in bottles. Dr. Haggard, 
of Burkesville, Kentucky, very graphically described to me the incidents attending the trip which he took to 
Louisville with the first barrel of oil that was ever sent away from the American well. The odor of the oil was so 
pronounced that it attracted a great deal of disagreeable attention along the road, and many criticisms more emphatic 
than elegant were made by the passers-by and inhabitants along the route. 

During the first years of the excitement oil was transported in 40 and 42 gallon barrels, made of oak and hooped 
with iron. Its penetrating character led those interested to coat the barrels on the inside with a stiff solution 
of hot glue, which forms a continuous lining, is elastic, and is not attacked by the oil. («) Great diflftculty has always 
been experienced in the transportation of crude oil in barrels, due to the fact that such oil invariably contains a 
trace of water, usually as much as 1 per cent., which, acting on the glue, causes the barrels to leak, and consequently 
a loss of oil. To remedy this diflQculty, and also to decrease the labor of handling the oil, early in 1866, or possibly 
in 1865, tank-cars were introduced upon railroads entering the oil regions. Those first introduced consisted of an 
ordinary flat car, upon which were placed two wooden tanks shaped like tubs, each holding about 2,000 or 4,000 
gallons to a car. 

While this change in methods of transportation was taking place on the railroads, a corresponding one had 
grown up in river carriage. The difficulty of moving sach enormous quantities of material by teams was almost 
insurmountable. Aside from its enormous weight and bulk, the very magnitude of the transportation, carried on 
as it was over roads badly and recently constructed, left them during a large portion of the year in an almost 
impassable condition. The mud was often limitless in extent and depth, through which waded the long trains of 
teams to Oil City and other points of shipment. 

The following appears in Henry's Earhj dnd Later History of Petroleum, page 287: 

Arrangements were made with the mill-owners at the headwaters of Oil creek for the use of their surplus water at stated intervals 
The heats were towed up the creek by horses — not by a tow-path, but through the stream — to the various points of loading, and when ladeu 
they were floated off ui)on a pond-freshet. As many as 40,000 barrels were brought out of the creek on one of these freshets, but the 
average was between 15,000 and 20,000. At Oil City the oil was transferred to larger boats. At one time over 1,000 boats, 30 steamers, 
and about 4,000 men were engaged in this traflSc. Great loss occurred from collisions and jams. During the freshet of May, 1864, a jam 
occurred at Oil City, which resulted in the loss of from 20,000 to 30,000 barrels of oil. 

Bulk barges were also introduced on the Allegheny and Ohio rivers. These were constructed with more or less 
care, many of those first employed being of inadequate strength and too easily broken up in the vicissitudes of 
river travel. As now constructed, they are made 130 by 22 by 16 feet, in eight compartments, with water-tight 
bulkheads, and hold 2,200 barrels. They are still used to convey oil from the lower Allegheny to the refineries at 
Mingo, Wheeling, Marietta, and Parkersbarg, and also to float the i>roduction from Burning Springs down the 
Little Kanawha to Parkersburg. 

In 1871 the wooden-tank car gave place to the boiler-iron cylinder car of the present time. These are now 
used in transporting crude, illuminating, and lubricating oils and other petroleum products ; also residuum and 
spent acid. They are much safer and stronger than wooden tanks, and the railroad companies require shippers to 
use them. The tanks are of different sizes, holding 3,856, 3,873, 4,568, and 5,000 gallons each. The heads are 
made of ^^-inch flange iron, the bottom of |-inch, and the top of -j-„-inch tank iron, and they weigh about 
4,500 pounds. They are about 24 feet 6 inches long and 66 inches in diameter. Those made at present hold from 
4,500 to 5,000 gallons each. 

Light iron tanks on wheels are used for carting the petroleum from Boyd's creek to Glasgow, Kentucky, where 
it reaches a railroad. 

a The baiTels are first thoroughly washed, usually with a jet of steam, dried, and heated. Hot glue is then put in and distributed over 
the whole surface. Then by a tube a pressure of about 20 pounds per square inch is applied through the bung, and the glue is forced into 
the pores of the wood. — Chem. News, xvi, 221. 



THE NATURAL HISTORY OF PETROLEUM. 93 

Section 2.— PIPE-LINES. 

A wonderful revolution has taken place in the transportation of petroleum through the use of pipe-lines. The 
Bradford Era gives the following account by C. L. Wheeler : 

He said in substance that the first suggestion of a pipe-line for transporting oil, so far as he knew, was made to him by General .S. 
D. Karns at Parkersburg, West Virginia, in November, 1860. Mr. Karus said that as soon as he eould raise the money he would lay a six- 
inch gas-pipe from Burning Springs to Parkersburg and let the oil gravitate to the Ohio river, a distance of 36 miles. For some reason 
this line was never laid. Some years after, Mr. Wheeler was unable to recall the exact date, a Mr. Hutchinson, iuventorof the rotary pump 
which bears his name, conceived the idea of forcing oil through pipes, and explained his plan to John Dalzell and the narrator in the 
latter's office in Titusville. Subsequently Hutchinson's plans became a reality, the first pipe-line being laid from the Sherman -n-ell to 
the terminus of the railroad at Miller farm, a distance of about 3 miles. The inventor's idea of the hydraulic pressure of a column of 
that leiigth was certainly very exalted, and he took elaborate pains to prevent the breaking of pipes. At intervals of 50 or 100 feet 
were air chambers like those on pumps, 10 inches in diameter, for the purpose of equalizing the pressure. These queer protuberances gave 
the line the appearance of a fence with ornamental posts and excited great curiosity. The weak point, however, was the jointing, which, 
as the pipes were of cast-iron and imperfectly finished at their ends, was very defective, and the leakage from Ihis cause was so great 
that little, if any, oil ever reached the end of the line. It was a success theoretically, but a mechanical failure. Thus the expectations 
of easy and cheap transportation for crude oil raised by the building of the first pipe-line were ruthlessly dashed to the ground and the 
inventor discontinued his experiments in despair. 

The first successful pipe-line was put down by Samuel Viiu Syckle, of Titusville, in 1865, and extended from 
Pithole to Miller's farm, a distance of four miles. In the fall of 1865 Henry Harley began the construction of a pipe- 
line from Benuinghoff run to Shaffer farm, and finished it the following spring. Meantime the firm of Abbot & 
Harley had secured control of the Van Syckle line, and they afterward purchased enough of the Western 
Transportation Company's stock to control the charter and organized under it. The two lines thus consolidated 
were brought into successful oiieration under the name of the " Allegheny Transportation Company". 

After the doubters were silenced by the prospect of success, the enterprise met with the most determined 
opposition from the army of teamsters and roustabouts, who supposed their interests were invaded by the use of 
pipe-lines. Mr. Harley was threatened with personal violence, his oil-tanks were burned, attempts were made 
to destroy the pipe-line by breaking the joints, and personal violence was offered to the men employed \\\}0W it. ■ 
A few detectives, employed as teamsters, soon effected the arrest of the ringleaders, and the opposition ceased, {a) 

At the present time the pipe-lines not only form a complete network throughout the oil regions, but there are 
trunk lines which extend from the oil regions to Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Buffalo, New York, and Williamsport. These 
trunk lines transport the oil of large areas to those cities under a high pressure, delivering thousands of barrels 
daily. They are laid for miles through the forest-covered hills and valleys of northern Pennsylvania and southern 
New York, across hills and rivers, on the surface of the ground or only slightly covered. These main lines 
are 6-inch pipe tested to a i>ressure of 2,000 pounds to the square inch and joined with couplings, into which the 
lengths of pipe are screwed, as are ordinary gas or water pipes. 

Each well has a tank, usually of wood, holding an average of perhaps 250 barrels. With these well tanks are 
connected 2-inch pipes, converging toward a central point, to which there is fall enougli to cause the oil to descend. 
Occasionally wells are so situated that the oil has to be forced by a pump over a hill. 

The lines are provided with cocks and gates for opening and closing connections, and the large coriiorations 
constantly employ a corps of men in laying and taking up pipe as connections are made with new wells or broken 
with others. It is impossible to compute or estimate accurately the vast length of these 2-inch pipe connections. 
Wells are connected and left to flow for months or years, with only an occasional visit of the owner or agent. Only 
that proportion of the producing interest controlled by firms or corporations of strict business habits really know 
approximately how many miles of pipe they own, and therefore an accurate enumeration was found to be impossible ; 
but it is safe to say that there are thousands of miles of 2-inch pipe laid for transporting oil not owned by the pipe- 
line companies. These lines run everywhere through the streets of towns, across fields and door-yards, under and 
over and beside roads, and terminate at pumping stations, at racks, or in storage-tanks. There are also racks and 
storage-tanks on the main lines. 

The pumping stations are located at central points in the valleys. These stations consist of permanent 
buildings, a boiler-house and a j»ump-house, which contain the necessary steam-power and a steam- and oil-pump 
combined in one. Many of these pumps are of the Worthington pattern, and are very powerful machines, forcing 
the oil rapidly through great distances and in vast quantities, not only over the hills that are encountered in 
the course of the line, but against the friction of the pipe conveying the oil; an element in the problem of vast 
importance when it is remembered that the friction increases enormously as the flow of the oil is increased in rapidity. 
The friction on the 108 miles of 6-inch pipe between Eixford and Williamsport, Penn,s}dvania, is found to be equal 
to a column of oil 700 feet in height ; that is to saj', if the pipe were laid on a uniform descending grade of 700 feet 
between the two points and filled with oil, the friction or the adhesion between the oil and iron would prevent the 
oil from flowing For these reasons the pressure carried on these pumps is frequently from 1,200 to 1,500 pounds 
to the square inch. 



a Henry's Early and Later Siatory of Petroleum. 



94 



PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 



The racks are used for loading oil from pipe-liaes into tank-cars, and are so arranged that any number of 
cars from one to au entire train, can be loaded at the same time. They are constructed after the following general 
plan : The line is brought alongside the railroad track, and perpendicular branches are brought up just as far apart 
as the length of a tank-car. A platform is erected of a convenient height, and each perpendicular branch-jjipe is 
provided with a stop-cock and an elbow above it. To this elbow is attached an adjustable pipe, usually of tin, long 
enough to reach the man-hole of the tank-car as it stands upon the track. To load a train it is run upon the track 
in front of the rack, the man-hole plates are all removed, the adjustable pipes placed in position to discharge the 
oil into the tanks, and the oil turned on. In this way as many cars as the rack will hold, perhaps 20, holding 2,000 
barrels of oil, can be loaded in an hour and a half. 

The storage-tanks are situated at convenient points for construction and use in filling and emptying. Standing 
on the hill south of Kendall, and looking north up the Tuna valley toward Limestone, I counted about 60 of these 
huge storage-tanks in sight. They are placed upon the ground without any foundation, the surface being carefully 
leveled to receive them. The following table shows the relative capacity, dimensions, and weight of the different 
sizes : 



Capacity. 


Diameter. 


Height. 


Weight and value. 


Sizes of iron. 


Barrels. 


Feet. 


Feet. 






37, 065. 66 


95.4 


29 


90 tons; value, $9,000; 
5 cents per pound. 


54 plates, No. 6, sketch. 
34 plates, No. 00, rectangular. 
68 plates. No. 0, rectangular. 
34 plates, No. 3, rectangulax. 
34 plates. No. 4, rectangular. 
34 plates, No. 5, rectangular. 
200 plates. No. 6, rectangular. 
34 plates. No. 7, rectangular. 


31,000.00 


86.0 


30 


80 tons; value, $8,000; 
5 cents per pound. 


48 plates, No. 6, sketch. 
32 plates, No. 0, rectangular. 
32 plates, No. 1, rectangular. 
32 plates. No. 2, rectangular. 
32 plates. No. 3, rectangular. 
32 plates. No. 4, rectangular. 
32 plates, No. 5, rectangular. 
165 plates, No. 6, rectangular. 


28,000.00 


87.0 


24ft 


66 tonaj value, $7,260; 
6| centa per pound. 


46 plates. No. 6, sketch. 
31 plates, No. 1, rectangu;ar. 
31 plates, No. 2, rectangular. 
31 plates, No. 3, rectangular. 
31 plates. No. 4, rectangular. 
31 plates, No. 5, rectangular. 
169 plates, No. 6, rectangular. 


22,000.60 


85.0 


22 


B3 tons; value, $5,830; 
5i cents per pound. 


54 plates. No. 7, sketch. 
26 plates. No. 2, rectangular. 
26 plates, No. 3, rectangular. 
26 plates. No. 4, rectangular. 
26 plates, No. 5, rectangular. 
26 plates. No. 6, rectangular. 
156 plates. No. 7, rectangular. 


18,000.00 


70.0 


24 


45 tons; value, $5,400; 
6 cents per pound. 


38 plates, No. 7, sketch. 
50 plates. No. 3, rectangular. 
25 plates. No. 4, rectangular. 
25 plates, No. 5, rectangular. 
25 plates, No. 6, rectangular. 
82 plates, No. 7, rectangular. 
25 plates. No. 8, rectangular. 


10, 000. 00 


60.0 


20ft 


38 tons; value, $5,320; 
7 cents per pound. 


38 plates, No. 6, sketch. 
40 plates, No. 4, rectangular. 
40 plates. No. 5, rectangular. 
80 plates, No. 6, rectangular. 
20 plates. No. 7, rectangular. 


8,900.00 


45.0 


20 


15 tons; value, $2,100; 
7 cents per pound. 


20 plates, No. 8, sketch. 
15 plates. No. 5, rectangular. 
30 plates. No. 6, rectangular. 
15 plates. No. 7, rectangular. 
44 plates. No. 8, rectangular. 



THE NATURAL HISTORY OF PETROLEUM. 95 

The following specifications, used by the United Lines in making contracts, will give a very good idea of their 
construction : 

UNITED PIPE-LINES.— SPECIFICATIOXS FOR :i5,000-BAKREL TANKS. 

Dimensions. — Tank to he 93 feet iu diameter aud 30 feet high, and be composed of 7 rings. 

Sheets. — The first ring to be of No. 00 (Birmingham gauge), weighing 13.64 pounds per square foot. The .second ring to be of No. 
(Birmingham gauge), weighing 1'2.04 pounds per square foot. The third ring to be of No. 1 (Birmingham gauge), weighing 11.40 pounds 
per square foot. The fourth ring to be of No. 2 (Birmingham gauge), weigliing 10.40 pounds per .square foot. The tifth ring to be of 
No. 3 (Birmingham gauge), weighing 9.55 pounds per square foot. The sixth ring to be of No. 4 (Birmingham gauge), weighing 8.83 
pounds per square foot. The seventh ring to be of No. (3 (Birmingham gauge), -weighing 8.15 pounds per .square foot. The bottom to be 
of No. G (Birmingham gauge), with 5 sketch plates, weighing 8.15 pounds per square foot. 

Angle-iron. — The bottom angle-iron to be 4 by 4 by i. The top anglc-irou to be ii by 2 by f. 

RiVET-s. — The bottom angle-iron aud first ring to be riveted with J-inch rivets; the second and third rings with ^-iuch rivets driven 
hot, aud the remaining rings with |-inch rivets driven cold. The vertical seams of the first, second, third, and fourth rings to be double- 
riveted. 

Roof. — The roof to be conical, with a rise of at least 5 feet 6 inches to the center (1.2 inches to the foot), and to be covered with 
No. 20 iron, painted on both sides, and riveted to the top angle-iron. The ends of the rafters supporting the roof must not rest on the 
angle-iron, but upon posts placed next to the shell of the tank inside. 

Man-hole. — The man-hole to be of wrought-iron throughout, and 20 inches in diameter, and be placed 10 inches from the bottom of 
the first ring iu the sheet adjoining that in which the outlet-valve is placed. 

Hatches. — There shall be two hatches in the roof, each 2* by 3 feet, provided with suitable covers. One of the hatches shall be 
directly over the outlet-valve ; the position of the other to he det«rmined by the superintendent of the United Pipe-Lines. 

Swing-pipes. — There shall be two swing-pipes, one of 6i-iuch casing, for oil, and one of 1^-inch pipe, for water ; each pipe to bo 30 
feet long, and to have 50 feet of chain fastened to it by clamps ; the chain for the (>^inch pipe to be -fVinch, and the chain for the l^-inch 
pipe to be J-inch. 

Flanges. — The flange for the pipes to be of wrought-iron, aud securely riveted to the tank; the flange for the 6J-inch pipe to be 
at least IJ inches thick where the thread is cut. 

Valves and connections. — The oil-valve to be a 6-inch iron body, braes-mounted, flanged gate-valve. The connections for the oil 
swing-pipe to consist of one 6-inch nipple (8 threads to inch), with 10 inches of thread on one end and ordinary thread on other end. 
One 6-inch elbow (8 threads to inch). One 6- inch elbow (8 threads to inch) on one eud, and 6^ casing-thread on other end. One 6-inch 
nipple 18 inches long, ordinary threads both ends (8 threads to inch). The water-valve to be a l^-inch iron body screwed gate-valve. 
The water connections to be one l^-inch nipple, with 6 inches of thread on one end and ordinary thread on the other. One IJ nipple 6 
inches long, with ordinary thread, both ends. Two li-inch elbows. 

Windlass. — There shall be a windlass over one of the hatches to raise the swing-pipes. 

Stairs. — The stairs to be substantially constructed and furnished with a gate. The tank to be carefully painted with red paint, 
and to be completed in every part in a thorough and workmanlike manner. 

The Standard tiiuk adopted by the United Pipe-Lines is the .second on the list, practically holding 30,000 barrels 
of oil, and over 130,000,000 barrels of oil are stored in these tanks of various sizes, (a) The oil is subject to 
depreciation in value from evaporation and by leakage through the roof of the tank, by which it is converted into 
an emulsion locally known as " B. S. ", from which the water will not .separate until the emulsion is heated. These 
tanks are also constantly exposed to danger of fire from lightning aud other accidental causes. 

Section 3.— CONCERNING IKON-TANK FIRES. 

The following discussion of the subject of tank fires is maiuly abridged from an elaborate discussion of the 
subject by William T. Scheide, superintendent of the United Pipe-Lines: 

A few of the tanks have roofs of No. 12 iron riveted and calked, but the majority have a conical, wooden roof, 
covered with No. 20 iron. The plate-iron roofs are more expensive, and do not remain water-tight. Iron roofs, 
when sunken and covered with water, are especially bad, owing to changes in the form of the shell, due to 
changes in the temperature, and also to filling and emptying the tank. The roof adopted is wooden, with a pitch 
of 1.2 inches to the foot from the center, si^iported on posts set inside the tank and covered with No. 20 iron, nailed 
to the wood and securely riveted to the shell. 

Such a tank, containing 80 tons of iron, and resting upon 5,800 square feet of earth, upon which it is pressed by 
more than 4,000 tons of oil, would seem to be safe from lightning. The danger comes from the liability of the gas 
that is continually rising from the oil to be lighted from the bolt. Mr. Scheide thinks the roofs are tight enough to 
prevent the escape of gas, and that the firing takes place inside ; but this is scarcely possible from the manner 
of their construction, and it is probable that the tiring is due to the ignition, either within or without the tank, of an > 
explosive mixture of gas and air. Mr. Scheide considers that the introduction of the spark can take place by 
following the pipes and leaping across some air .space, as the tanks and pipes of the whole region are connected in 
a network. 

These pipes are connected with the tanks in either of two ways : 

1. They run up the sides and over the top of the tank, bending into the hatchway, in which case they are 
held to the shell of the tank by an iron band, fastened to the roof (making a connection), and extending 12 or 15 
inches through the hatch into the tank. If such a pipe were struck, and the entire bolt was not conducted to the 
earth through aud over which it passes, the residue would leap through the mixed air and gases over the oil and 

a April, 1882, 27,000,000 barrels. 



96 PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 

fire them. To j)rovicle against this sucla pipes are now being bolted to a flange on the shell, and do not project 
through it. This arrangement is necessary for station tanks, ^yhere it is required to see the flow of oil in order to 
judge whether the pipe is intact. 

2. As the majority of tanks are storage rather than station tanks, they are not so arranged. Oil is pumped 
into these through a pipe that enters through a flange at the bottom. To provide against the collection and freezing 
of water which settles from the oil about the outlet valve, the pipe is continued tlirough the shell by what is called 
a "swing-pipe", the end of which is intended to be constantly above the surface of tlie oil. In this case, as in the 
other, the residuum of a charge might leap from the pipe to the shell and fire the tank. This swing-pipe is raised 
and lowered by a chain, one end of which is fastened to the pipe, and the other to a windlass placed above one of 
the hatches, the chain i^assing through the roof. Mr. Soheide suggests that such tanks be disconnected from the 
pipes, but remarks that the ground becomes very dry beneath them, and hence they are not in as complete 
connection as might at first be supposed. At the same time no such isolated tank has ever been burned. 
Continuing, he says : 

The great majority of tanks lost by lightning have been station tanks with pipes running over the roof; but there have been tanks 
burned where the only x^ipe connection was through the shell near the bottom, the spark evidently going from the end of the swing-pipe. 
Well tanks of wood(usually 16 feet in diameter and S feet high) are quite fre<iuently destroyed, though not more frecjuently in proportion 
to their number than iron tanks. There is always a 2-inch pipe leading over the top of these tanks and resting against the derrick over 
the well. This derrick, being 70 or 80 feet high, is very liable to be struck. The noteworthy point about these fires is that the iiipe that 
leads to the tank has its other end connected with the tubing and casing in the well, and is thus afforded the most perfect earth connection 
conceivable. The firing in these cases is due, first, to the presence of an explosive mixture formed by the mingling of the gas from the 
fresh oil and the air; and, second, to the residual discharge from the end of the pipe. Either the mixture without the discharge or the 
discharge without the mixture would be harmless. 

When a tank is fired, the roof is always blown off if there are several feet of gas space between it and the oil. There have been 
instances where this explosion was sufBciently intense to blow the tank to pieces. When, as has been the case this year, the tank is 
practically full, the explosion only starts the roof, and the tire may be, and occasionally is, extinguished by covering the rents with wet 
blankets, or by turning in steam. Usually, however, a tank once fairly aflame has to burn, and attention is directed exclusively to saving 
adjoining property. In a country as broken as this it is difficult to find sufficient grouuil to separate the tanks widely without going to 
unwarranted expense, so that from 200 to 300 feet is considered a fair interval between them. Very many are much closer than this. 

A tank once fairly on fire will bnrn from 6 to 8 inches an hour, and will not endanger neighboring tanks (unless high wind carries 
the flames over them) for several hours. The danger comes usually from the " overflow " — the most extraordinary phenomenon attending 
an oil fire. After a period varying, in a full tank, from 5 to 12 hours, or even a little more, and when the oil has burned down about 5 feet, 
the tank suddenly and without any previous notice throws out in a grand flow from 8 to 12 feet (8,000 to 12,000 barrels) of burning oil. To 
prepare for this flood all our energies are directed until it comes. Ditches are dug and embankments thrown up lietween the burning 
tank and other property, and, if possible, the ditches are made to open into fields, where the oil can burn rapidly and without further 
damage. 

The oil bums on the ground or on water with incredible rapidity, and will not run very far from the tank. When the flow ceases, 
it loses its limpidity, as its lighter parts are consumed, and when carried forward by water the flames die out in a comparatively short 
distance, leaving the surface covered with thick, dark-green, nnconsumed oil. 

At certain intervals after the first flow there will he smaller flows, and in from twenty-four to thirty-six hours the tank will he quite 
burned out. 

The cause of these overflows is uncertain. They are probably owing, in part at least, to the heating of the subjacent oil, but not 
•wholly. 

At the Custer fire our superintendent went completely around within five minutes of the flow, and as far as he could reach the tank 
■was quite cool to the hand. 

The theories oftered to accountfor the overflow are chiefly, first, heating the sides of the tank causes the oil to boil ; second, currents 
of air caused by the tire itself; and, third, that, as the more volatile parts of the oil burn tirst, the burning surface will, after a time, 
become thick enough to seriously impede the free flow of gas from the oil beneath, and this obstruction becomes sufficient to permit or 
cause the accumulation of a quantity of gas so considerable as when it is suddenly relieved to cause the overflow. It is certain that the 
force excited is very great. At Custer the flow was made with such vehemence as to extinguish the flames in the tank, and for several 
minutes the oil left in the tant was not burning, only catching again from the fire outside. 

To shorten the time during which the tank burns we "shoot" it with small cannon or rifles. Through the holes thus made a 
considerable quantity of oil escapes, and though the area and intensity of the fire is increased the time of danger is lessened. When 
spouting from holes made by rifle-balls the oil burns with an exceedingly brilliant, pure white flame, almost comparable to the electric 
light. Another object in shooting is to lessen the overflow by reducing the volume of unburuod oil in the tank. The flames of a burning 
tank take a whirling motion, tending toward the center of the tank ; when there is no wind the column of flame and smoke covers about 
two-thirds of the surface of the tank, the strong rotary movement drawing the flames from the circumference. The combustion is 
naturally very imperfect, and the column is chiefly dense black smoke, through which the flames, in great brilliant jets of fire, burst 
continually. 

In a private communication of later date Mr. Scheide says : 

1. We think lightning-rods are an advantage ; we rodded nearly all the tanks last summer, and the result (if it was the result) indicates 
the adviintage. Seven tanks were fired ; three had no rods, and four had. But one of the four was a station tank undergoing repairs to 
the roof, and we think the evidence is that the discharge came from the pipe. As at least 90 per cent, of the tanks were rodded, the 
showing of last summer we think favorable. The rod is an inch-round iron rod 25 feet long, screwed into two iron bands (4 inches by 
■Jr inch), which cross each other at the apex of the roof and run radially to the circumference, where they are carefully riveted to the top 
angle-iron, and so to the shell. The idea is that the shell may helji discharge itself as far as possible above the roof, and the spark thus 
kept out of the vicinity of the escaping gas. The bands are further fastened to the roofing iron (previously scr.aped and cleared) by screws. 

2. All recent tanks have been built without swing-pipes. An arrangement devised by one of our men keeps the water out of the 
gate-valve, through which the tank is filled and emptied. We are now lowering the swing-pipes in all other tanks on the bottom of the 
tank, there to remain until fall. I think this is quite important. 



THE NATURAL HISTORY OF PETROLEUM. 97 

3. The ground (electrical) counections of the tanks we tind on test to be very much better than expected. We hare had every tank 
in the field tested for Its electrical connection with the earth and with the rods. Owing to the extreme difficulty ia obtaining a ijerfect 
" ground " to test to, our results are ouly approximate, but a vast majority of the tanks show an average earth resistance of not exceeding 
6 ohms. Their true resistance is probably much less. We were uuable to get any resistance in the rod connections. We were prepared 
with no less resistance coil than one-hundredth of an ohm, and none of the rod connections gave as much resistance as that coil. 

4. W^e have increased the distance between the tanks: 350 feet from shell to shell is now the minimum distance, and the average 

is 400 feet. 

5. We are confident we can prevent the overflow if we can draw the oil out of the burning tauk fast enough. A 3i-inch cannon seems 
about the best instrument for the purpose, but we are experimenting with a machine that seems to promise well, which will cut a 6-inch 
bole without any jar to the tank, and be operated by power from a safe distance. About a dozen 3^inch shots will empty a tank fast 
enough to prevent an overflow. 

6. We have given a great deal of thought to the matter of extinguishing fires. We conclude thus far that this can only be done 
while the roof Is yet comparatively whole (it is often several hours before the roof disappears), and by steam or carbonic acid. We think 
steam the surest, as it can be generated more steadily. We have a large "gas-engine", with a capacity of 2,000 cubic feet per charge, but 
experimental tests have not encouraged us. We tried it also at an actual fire, but it was not in first-class order, having been partly broken 
in transit. We have built a number of 30-horse boilers and fitted them for rapid steaming with oil fuel, which we think will prove 
effective. We expect to have at least two of tliese boilers at a burning tauk, with steam on, iu an hour and a half at most from when it 
was struck having organized very thoroughly a fire department at each of our tankage points completely supplied with every tool and 
machine necessary at an oil fire. 

The burning of a large oil-tank at night is described as one of the grandest spectacles that can be witnessed. 
Considering the fact that whenever a thunder-storm passes over the oil regions it is quite probable that one or more 
tanks will burn, and also the seeming recklessness with which these vast reservoirs of combustible material are 
located iu and near large towns, escape from terrible disaster seems providential. There have been several serious 
warnings. Eed Rock station, on the Olean and Bradford narrow-gauge railroad, was burned in November, 1S79. 
A wooden 2o0-barrel tank having taken fire from a lantern, the oil from this small tank ran down the valley and 
struck a large iron one. The flames being as high as the tank, soon set its contents on fire. The tank of oil began to 
burn about 7 p. m., and continued to burn quietly until 4 a. m., when it overflowed. The burning oil streamed over 
the sides, and, running down the main street, set the town on fire. The tank fire at Summit City was witnessed by 
a large company on the hill above, who were waiting for the overflow. A man fired into it with a Winchester rifle, 
around the circumference and at about the same height from the ground, making a fountain of fire as the jets 
ignited successively. Finally the oil poured over the sides all around, and a column of flame ascended at least 300 
feet in height, and spread out in a horizontal sheet, like an umbrella. A gentleman beneath this sheet of flame and 
several hundred feet from the tank had his hat scorched. 

Hair-breadth escapes from destruction are often recorded. A tank near Tarport was fired by lightning in the 
summer of 1880. The explosion split the cover across from side to side and set the oil on fire, the flames streaming 
out of the man-hole in the cover. "Wet blankets were placed over the hole at first without success, but finally, by 
doubling them and putting wet carpets along the crack iu the cover, the flames were smothered and the tank saved. 
On another occasion a 250-barrel wooden well tank, 16 feet in diameter and 8 feet high, nearly full of oil, and 
covered with loose boards, was fired by a thunderbolt. A workman near by wet his coat and thrashed out the 
flames. His employer gave him $50, but told him not to risk his life another time for so small a ^alue. These may 
be taken as examples of hundreds of similar incidents. 

It may not be out of place here to remark that very disastrous fires have sometimes resulted from the ignition 
of gas at the well head when the oil-rock is perforated. One of the most disastrous fires of this kind on record 
occurred in 1861 on the John Buchanan farm, on the east side of Oil creek. The well was at the mouth of a small 
ravine formed by the waters of a spring, which, spreading out, had formed a small marsh. The well had first been 
drilled to the first sand and afterward put down deeper, and must have poured forth a stream of 3,000 barrels a 
day, as the marsh was immediately flooded with oil. The catastrophe is thus described by an eye-witness : 

Just after supper on the evening of April 17, 1861, Mr. H. K. Rouse, Mr. Perry, Mr. Buel, myself, and others were in the sitting- 
room of Anthony's hotel, when a laborer on the fatal well hurried into the room to say that a monstrous vein of oil had been struck and 
barrels were wanted to preserve it. All ran to the well with the exception of myself, and I, not seeing the man who attended to the 
distribution of barrels, started in the opposite direction for teams to haul the necessary packages. I had completed my errand, aud was 
on a full run for the well, with less than 20 rods to make, when an explosion occurred which nearly took me from my feet. On the instant 
an acre of ground, with two wells and their tankage, a barn, and a large number of barrels of oil were in flanes, and from the 
circumference of this circle of fire could be seen the unfortunate lookers-on of a moment before rushing out enveloped in a sheet of flame 
that extended far above their heads, and which was fed by the oil thrown upon their clothing by the explosion. « » * The well 
burned three days before it conld be extinguished, which was finally done by smothering it with manure and earth. Its appearance while 
burning was grand. From the driving-pipe, 6 inches in diameter, to the height of 60 or 70 feet arose a solid column of oil and gas, 
burning brilliantly. Above this hovered an immense cloud of black smoke, which would seize sections of the ascending flames, and 
rolling over and over, first exposing to the view cloud and then flame, would rise a hundred feet higher before the flame would fade 
out. From the main column below millions of individual drops of oil would shoot oft' at an angle, and then turning the arc of a circle 
drop burning to the ground, presenting all the hues of the rainbow, making a scene like enchantment, the whole accompanied by a roar 
hardly inferior to that made by Niagara Falls, (n) 

Mr. Henry E. Eouse, one of the owners of this well, was among those fatally burned. On other occasions a 
fountain of oil projected high into the air has burned continually for weeks before the flames could be smothered. 



a Henry's Earhj and Later Hhlary of relrohiim.p.S^. 



98 



PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 



Oil in transit in tank-cars has also occasioned terrific fires. Travel stopped ten hours on the Central railroad 
of iSTew Jersey in 1876 by the burning of oil cars. The following telegraphic dispatch illustrates the extent of 
such disasters : 

Port Jbrvis, New Yokk, Octoter 5 — 3 p. m. — The fire broke out at 1.40 p. m., and ia burniug fiercely. There are fifteen cars in the 
train, which are exploding one after the other. No one dares approacli within a hundred feet of the train. Rails will have to be laid 
for a distance of nineteen car-lengths before trains can pass. 

The following is from StowelVs Petroleum Becorder, June, 1880 : 

The greatest oil fire on record occurred in Titusville, Pennsylvania, on the 11th of June, 1880. It continued three days, and wa* 
caused by lightning striking a large iron tank filled with crude oil on a hill south of the city, from which the burning fluid rolled down 
the declivity, consuming refineries, tanks of crude oil, tanks of benzine, tanks of distillate, houses, stables, and bridges ; burning some 
200,000 barrels of oil, 8 or 10 iron tanks, 2 refineries, 2 bridges, 20 or 30 dwellings, and everything that could he burned in its resistless, 
course to the creek below. The estimated loss was $.'i00,000. 

The United Pipe- Lines mutually insure their patrons against losses by fire and other accidents. The following 
notice will illustrate the manner in which the assessments are made after any accident which involves a loss of oil :. 

General Office United Pipe-Lines, 

Oil City, Pennsi/lvania, August 30, 1880. 
The patrons of the United Pipe-Lines are hereby notified that all credit balances upon the books of the United Pipe-Lines at the- 
close of business August 28, and all outstanding acceptances issued on and before that date, are subject to an assessment of twenty-one 
one-hundredths {-^^a) of 1 per cent, in plpeage paid oil, on account of loss by fire, on August 28, 1880, of tank United register No. 738, 
located at Babeock, on the Erie railroad, McKeau county, Pennsylvania. 

WILLIAM T. SCHEIDE, Gene7-al Manager. 

Section 4.— CONCERNING THE STOEAGE OF OIL AND ACCUMULATED STOCK. 

The legislature of Pennsylvania has required the incorporated pipe-lines whose certificates are negotiable paper 
to publish a monthly statement of their condition. The following abstract of a report made in conformity to the 
requirements of that law affords a sufficient illustration of its operation : 

STATEMENT OP THE TIDE-WATER PIPB COMPANY, LIMITED. 

(Made in compliance with the act of assembly approved May 22, 1878.) 

First. Quantity of crude petroleum which was in the actual and immediate custody of said company at the beginning of the month 
of March, 1881, 1,594,900.68 barrels. 

Quantity of crude petroleum which was in the actual and immediate custody of said company at the close of the month of March, 
1881, showing where the same was located or held, describing in detail the location and designation of each tank or place of deposit, and 
the name of its owner, viz: 



Designation of tank. 



Name of owner. 



Barrels and 
hundredths of 
barrels of 42 
gallons each. 



Iron . 
Iron . 
Iron . 



Tide- Water Pipe Company, limited . 



Tide- Water Pipe Company, limited. 
Knapp'e Creek Oil Company, limited . 
Hoyt& Emerson etal 



"Wood. 
Iron .. 
Iron . . 
Iron .. 



-do. 



Tide-Water Pipe' Company, limited .. 



Contained in 138 tank-cars in transit. Capacity, 106.66 barrels each . 
Contained in 28 tank-cars in transit. Capacity, 106.66 barrels each . 
Contained in 41 tank-cars in transit. Capacity, 106.66 barrels each. 



Miles of pipe. Inside diameter. ' Capacity per mile. Total capacity. Estimated contents 



27.68 
14.93 
108. 24 
2.04 
0.62 



Inches. 

2.067 
3.067 
4.026 
6.065 
7.982 
12. 025 



Barrels. 

21. 914 
48. 247 
83.137 
188. 672 
326. 790 
741. 077 



Barrels. 

2, 058. 82 
1, 335. 48 
1, 241. 24 
20, 421. 86 
G66. 65 
459.84 



Barrels. 

1,029.41 

1, 335. 48 

1, 241. 24 

18, 379. 67 

666. 65 

459. 84 



otto township, McKean connty, Pennsylvania. . 



Gibson's Point, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania . 
do 

Thurlow, Delaware county, Pennsylvania. . . 



Total fluid in tanks. 
Less sediment and snrplui 



Net amount of oil in tanks. 



Between "Williamsport, Pennsylvania, and Bayonne, 

New Jersey. 
Between Williamsport and Philadelphia, Pennsyl- 

Between Philadelphia and Thurlow, Pennsylvania. 



Total 

Total barrels . 



25, 238. 86^ 
23, 803. 26 
25, 608. 63. 
,459,695.10- 
438.29 
3, 119. 68 
29,884.66 
28,114.48 



1, -595, 902. 86 
33, 903. 97 



1, 561, 998. 89' 
14, 719. 08 

2, 986. 48 

4, 373. 06 



THE NATURAL HISTORY OF PETROLEUM. 99 

Second. Quantity of crude petroleum which was received by said company during the mouth of March, 1881, 159,874.51 barrels. 

Third. Quantity of crude petroleum which was delivered by said company during the month of March, 1881, 145,699.68 barrels. 

Fourth. Quantity of crude petroleum for the delivery or custody of which said company was liable to other corporations, companies, 
associations, or persons at the close of the mouth of March, 1881, 1,607,189.80 barrels. 

Fifth. Amount of such liability which was represented by outstanding certificates, accepted orders, or other vouchers, 1,3'25,400 
barrels. 

Amount of such liability which was represented by credit balances, 281,789.80 barrels. 

Sixth. All the provisions of the act above referred to have been faithfully observed and obeyed during the said month of March, 1S81. 

No refined petroleum was in the custody of said company daring the mouth of March, 1881, nor was said company liable during the 
month for the delivery of any refined petroleum. 

D. B. STEWART. 
B. F. WARREN. 
Commonwealth of Penxsylvaxia, 

County of Crawford : 

Before me, a notary public within and for said county, duly authorized by law to administer oaths, personally came D. B. Stewart, 
having charge of the books and accounts of the Tide-Water Pipe Company, limited, and B. F. Warren, having charge of the pipes and 
tanks of said company, who, being each duly sworn, depose and say that they are familiar and acquainted with the business and condition 
of said company and with the facts set forth in the above report, and that the statements made therein are true to the best of their 
knowledge, information, and belief. 

Subscribed and sworn before me this 9th day of April, 1881. 

JOHN O'NEILL, Xotary PiihUc. 

At tbe close of the census year the accumulation of gross stocks iu the tanks of the United lines, according to 
their published statement, was 10,306,078.79 barrels, and of this 454,193.73 barrels was estimated to be " sediment 
and surplus". At the same time the tide-water pipe-line report gross stocks in tanks at 978,183.30 barrels and 
18,657 barrels "water and sediment". Concerning this surplus Mr. Scheide writes : 

Our "surplus '' is the amount in which our gross stocks exceed our liabilities of all kinds, and we estimate that it is large enough 
to enable us to deliver all the oil we owe with a safe limit. We keep it at from ;ij to 4 per cent, of our liabilities by monthly purchases. 
Every year we make a careful inspection of the contents of our tanks. By an instrument called a "thief" we can take samples from 
any depth in the tank through four gange-hatches in the roof. These samples, when not clearly merchantable oil, are carefully heated 
in white-glass bottles having leveled bottoms. The heat completely separates the oil from the water, dirt, and paraffine, which last 
settles in time into a compact mass at the bottom. There being a clear line of separation, the percentage of oil in the sample is thus 
readily obtained. In our calculations of the value of our "B. S." we usually make a further reduction of from 10 to 50 per cent, to 
cover the expense of the separation. This can only be determined by experts. In addition to the aunual inspection, there are two 
experts engaged every day in inspecting the tanks to see whether the water or " B. S." is accumulating, which is about the only way we 
have of finding small leaks in the roof. ■ It is impossible to give any idea as to how fast " B. S." is formed. The quantity formed difters in 
the widest manner in adjacent tanks ; with rain carefully excluded, its formation, after that naturally in the oil (there is a small percentage 
in almost all fresh oil) had settled, would be commercially insiguiticant. We have euormously reduced its formation by the careful 
attention we have for two years been giving our tank roofs. I think that 3 per cent, is an ample surplus on a stock exceeding 20,000,000 
barrels, but the percentage would have to increase rapidly if the stock was materially reduced. 

The total net stock in tanks June 1, 1880, was estimated to be 11,737,890 barrels, exclusive of the Franklin pipe- 
line, the Smith's Ferry Transportation Company, and the West Virginia Transportation Company, all of which handle 
oils that do not enter the general trade, and also exclusive of the oil iu well tanks throughout the Pennsylvania 
region. The condition in which much of this vast quantity of oil actually is can only be determined when it is 
drawn out of the tanks, iu which some of it has been stored for j-ears, although the larger portion of it is not allowed 
to remain more than two or three years without being changed. Oil soon loses the more volatile i)artion by 
evaporation, and increases in density, becoming more difficult to refine, but iu other respects remains unchanged in 
quality. " Formerly, when stills were run slowly, and the product desired was the greatest possible percentage of 
illuminating oil, age was an advantage, and for many ye.ws oil of 45° gravity and under was worth one-half cent 
a gallon more than lighter oil ; indeed, by a rule of the New York produce exchange, no oil of over 47° was 
merchantable except at a cut. For several years the greatly hicreased value of the other products of distillation 
has completely changed this rule." The oils in the tanks are therefore kept as new as possible. 

William T. Scheide, in a private communication, says : 

Oil is steamed in winter to free it from snow and ice and in cases to make it more limpid, as oil from very "gassy" territory thickens 
rapidly in the cold and will not run through any long line without warming. Orders are that the oil shall not be heated above 80° or 
90° F., and not run warmer than 65° to 70° ; but these figures are, no doubt, frequently exceeded. There is a great loss in this steaming, 
both to the producer because of the evaporation and to the pipe-line because of the condensed steam held in the oil. Many merely blow 
steam in and do not usually heat with a coil, as they should. The United Lines deduct from the amount shown by the gauge one-tenth of 
1 per cent, for each degree F. that the temperature of the oil run stands above the temperature of the oil in three iron tanks at either 
Tarport or Oil City (according as the run is made in the upper or lower country), which are held untouched for this purpose. 

B. F. Warren, of the Tide- Water Pipe Company, has made a very careful study of the effects of steaming oil, 
and has reached some conclusions, which are embraced in the following communication : 

Inclosed find a tabulated statement of some results which I obtained in experiments iu the field with steamed oil. You will notice 
some wide variatipns and apparent discordance in the results. These are mainly due to the imperfections of the tanks. You will 
understand that the tanks are of wood, and the action of steam is apt to make them leak, so much so that we almost invariably are 
obliged to "drive hoops" on tanks at the end of the steaming season. Some careful laboratory work gave me a rate of increase for each 
degree of heat from 40° to 80° F. at 0.000465 ; below 40° the rate of increase or decrease was noticeably less, although not measorably so, 
with the facilities which I was possessed ; above 80° the rate seems to increase rapidly. 



100 



PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 



COMPARATIVE RESULTS OF STEAMING OIL, FROM TESTS MADE IN THE BRADFORD OIL-FIELD. 



M 


Owner. 


District. 


COLD. 


STEAMED. 


a 
1 




Gauge. 


Is 
aj 


Gauge. 


ew 
H 


Increase 
of volume 
in barrels. 


"Water 
and B. S. 


Net 
increase. 


Bate of 

increase for 

each 

degree. 


292 




Bradford 

"West Branch . . . 


Deg. F. 
30.7 
37.8 
26.0 
31.0 
28.0 
26.0 
40.0 
33.0 
34.0 
30.0 
32.0 
40.0 
32.0 
40.0 
40.0 
28.0. 
30.0 
34.0 
34.0 
40.0 
42.0 
40.0 


Ft. In. 
6 lis 
6 Hi 

6 H 

5 6 

7 2 
7 1 

14 6i 
4 lOi 
10 7 
10 8i 

6 7§ 
6 9i 
6 11 
6 8| 

6 9§ 

7 4i 
7 Oi 
7 li 
7 3i 
6 3 

6 3 

7 3i 


Barrels. 
235.52 
229. 59 
223.58 
181.58 
236.92 
229.72 
761. 36 
169. 91 
549.59 
537.34 
214. 80 
216. 03 
199. 76 
209. 97 
243.62 
263.12 
252. 66 
255. 77 
259. 88 

222. 75 

223. 23 
260.36 


Deg.F. 

n.o 

103.8 
86.'o 
80.0 
85.0 

100.0 
63.0 
94.0 
84.0 
90. 
82.0 
85.0 
85.0 
90.0 
85.0 
85.0 

100.0 
83.0 
80.0 
85.0 
90.0 
92.0 


Ft. In. 
7 4J 
7 1 
7 4 

5 9i 
7 6 
7 7 

14 lOJ 

6 1 
11 Oi 
H 4 

6 Hi 

7 Oi 

6 3 

7 Oi 
7 
7 9 
7 7 
7 3i 

7 ei 

6 6 

6 6J 

7 7i 


Barrels. 
248.91 
234.41 
235.91 
190. 66 
246.90 
245. 70 
778. 13 
176. 89 
571. 38 

665. 10 

224. 11 
223.22 
210. 22 
218. 29 
250. 32 
277. 71 
271.96 
262. 50 
269.44 
231, 66 
234. 37 
271.27 


Deg. F. 

46.3 
66.0 
60.0 
49.0 
67.0 
74.0 
23.0 
61.0 
50.0 
60.0 
50.0 
45.0 
53.0 
50.0 
45.0 
57.0 
70.0 
54.0 
46.0 
45.0 
48.0 
52.0 


13.39 
4.82 
12.33 
9.08 
9.98 
15.98 
16.77 
6.98 
21.79 
27.76 
9.31 
7.19 
10.46 
8.32 
6.70 
14.59 
19.30 
6.73 
9.56 
8.91 
11.14 
10.91 


9.62 
9.41 
1.25 


1.64 
4.82 
10.08 


Deg. F. 

0. O0O2O 
0. 00036 
0. 00072 


811 




30 




48 




....do 


380 


Knapps Creek Comp'y . 




9.26 
2.50 
19.51 


0.72 
12.52 


0. 00006 
0. 00074 


459 




077 


D.A.Wray 


Coleville 

....do 


703 








740 


Evans & Thompson 

do 


Bordell 


5.94 
11.95 
5.68 


15.85 
18.71 
3.73 


0.00058 
0. 00055 
0.00035 


838 


....do 


969 




...do 


970 


do 


....do 


1025 


do 


....do 


4.57 
2.38 


5.99 
5.94 


0.00056 
0.00060 


1027 


do 


....do 


1059 


do 


....do...'. 


1060 


do 


....do 


2.87 
0.75 
4.48 
0.63 
1.49 
3.71 
0.70 


H.72 
18.55 
2.25 
8.88 
7.42 
7.43 
10.21 


0.00078 
0. 00106 
0. 00020 
0. 00074 
0.00074 
0. 00064 
0.00075 


1064 


do 


. do 


1065 


do 


....do 


1074 


do 


. . do 


1075 


do 


....do 


1076 


do 


....do 


1076 


do 


....do 




























































M 


Owner. 


District. 


COOLING. 


Gauge 
when run. 




1 

;§ 


P 


Gauge. 




Decrease 
of volume 
inharrels. 


Bate of 

decrease for 

each 

degree. 


Eemarks. 


292 




Bradford 

"West Branch... 
Dallas 


Deg.F. 
43.0 
90.7 
68.0 
66.0 
70.0 
68.0 
60.0 
70.0 
70.0 
71.0 
62.0 
65.0 
67.0 
68.0 
60.0 
58.0 
72.0 
54.0 
60.0 
64.0 
66.0 
78.0 


Ft. In. 
7 2 

6 nil 

6 Ui 
5 8i 

7 1 
7 B 

14 lOi 

5 

10 11 

11 2 

6 10} 
6 Hi 
6 2 
6 11 

6 Hi 

7 7i 
7 5i 
7 Oi 
7 5i 
6 4i 

6 5i 

7 6i 


Barrels. 

241.88 
230. 08 
224.83 
188. 07 
234.41 
239.72 
776. 28 
174.10 
665.45 
557.84 
221. 63 
221.43 
207.61 
215.32 
248.09 
272.69 
267. 61 
251.28 
266. 50 
227. 21 
230. 60 
268.48 


Deg.F. 
34.0 
13.0 
18.0 
14.0 
12.5 
32.0 
3.0 
24.0 
14.0 
19.0 
20.0 
20.0 
18.0 
22.0 
25.0 
27.0 
28.0 
34.0 
20.0 
21.0 
24.0 
14.0 


7.03 
4.33 

11.08 
2.59 
2.51 
5.98 
1.85 
2.79 
5.93 
7.26 
2.48 
1.79 
2.61 
2.97 
2.23 
5.02 
4.35 

11.22 
2.94 
4.45 
, 3.71 
2.79 


Deg. F. 
0. 00085 
0.00150 
0. 00273 
0. 00096 
0. 00085 
0. 00078 
0. 00081 
0. 00066 
0. 00075 
0. 00070 
0. 00050 
0. 00042 
0. 00070 
0. 00060 
0. 00040 
0. 00067 
0. 00060 
0.00130 
0. 00060 
0. 00090 
0. 00066 
0. 00060 


Ft. In. 
7 2 
7 1> 
6 11 5 

5 8i 

6 9i 

7 4 . 
14 5 

5 
10 9i 
10 11 

6 8i 
6 Hi 
6 Oi 
6 10 

6 Hi 

7 6i 
7 6i 

6 lOi 

7 5i 
6 4 

6 4i 

7 6 








f The small increase and large decrease of 

< these tanks would seem to indicate a 

( leak in tank. 

Water not drawn. 

Contained an. excessive amount of water.' 














Knapps Creek Comp'y. 


Eixford 




Dallas 






Coleville 

....do 








"Water not drawn. 




Evans & Thompson 

do 


Bordell 




....do 








..do 






do 


do 






do 








. do 


do 






do 








.. do 


. do 






do 


....do 






do 


...do .. 


Tank probably leaked some. 




do 


do 


1075 


do 


do 






do 


do 






do 


....do 
























0.00085 





































ITOTE.— The quality of tlie oil doea not appear to be aflfected by steaming. Except in two cases the gravity was not sensibly changed; in one case the gravity 
was increased from 43 to 40°, in the other decreased from 40 to 42.5° Banmfi. The variation between tho apparent increase and decrease is due to the fact that all oil 
at temperatures below 40° F. contains varying proportions of water when it comes from the weUs, and will not settle until the temperature is raised. There is also 
a portion of the oil destroyed by the action of steam, forming so-called B. S. 

The problems in hydraulics presented in the construction and management of pipe-lines, particularly those 
lines that may be denominated trunk lines out of the oil regions, are many and intricate, and required great courage 
on the part of those who projected the first line to meet and surmount them. These men had only the quite different 
problems and experience met in laying pipes for water to guide them. These problems dealt with a homogeneous 



THE NATURAL HISTORY OF PETROLEUM. 101 

fluid, flowing through pipes, laid permanentlj' on curves of hirge diameter, flowing slowly under a low pressure 
and delivered slowly. This water pressure seldom exceeded from 40 to 50 pounds per square inch. The pipeline 
problems dealt with a fluid varying in density with the temperature, flowing easily in summer and with difficulty 
in winter through pipes of small diameter, laid hurriedly and frequently changed, often on sharp curves cj: at 
right angles, for rapid movement and delivery, and at high pressures to compensate in part for the friction due 
to long distances and rapid transmission and small diameter of pipe, as well as at much greater elevations than are 
found in water-mains. The pipes used in pipe-lines are all tested to 2,000 pounds per square inch. The small sizes, 
2-iuch, 3-inch, and 4-inch, are worked under a pressure of 1,600 pounds, and the 5-inch and 6-inch at 1,000 pounds 
per square inch. 

Elaborate governmental and other experiments have been made in Europe with reference to the storage and 
transportation of petroleum and its products. These have been mainly directed toward storing the oil under 
water, either in barrels or submerged cisterns, or toward a method of solidifying the petroleum or its products. 
The most successful plan for storing oil in submerged cisterns appears to be that of Ckiandi, an engineer of Marseilles, 
and consists of a cistern of masonry, provided with an inverted bell resembling a gasometer, beneath which the 
oil is held over water, (a) At Saint Ouen, near Paris, floating reservoirs of iron of an approximate capacity of 100 
barrels have been nsed for a long time. Fourteen of these reservoirs were constructed in 1877, with a total capacity 
of 900,000 gallons. They were made of ^- to ^inch iron, and weighed in the aggregate 151 tons, (b) 

The so-called process for solidifying petroleum has been very widely noticed. It consists in producing with the 
petroleum a little water and saponaria root, an emulsion which is considered harmless for transportation. To 
recover the oil a little pure carbolic acid or strong acetic acid is added, and the constituents again separate. As 
saponaria is a product of the Levant and a drug of considerable value, this and other similar methods are rendered 
too expensive if their inconvenience was not an insurmountable obstacle to their emjiloyment. Such experiments 
furnish curious but impracticable results. 

Concerning the proposed transportation of oil in bulk, the following from the Oil and Drug Netvs presents the 
latest aspect of the question : 

The report from Philadelphia that the steamer Vaderlaud, of the Red Star line, had heen purchased by a number of capitalists 
for the purpose of transporting petroleum in bulk has attracted considerable attention at the various commercial exchanges. The 
transportation of oil in bulk is not entirely an experiment. A number of sailing vessels have already been fitted up for this purpose, and 
have, to a certain extent, demonstrated the practicability of the idea. This is the first time, however, that a steamer has been constructed 
solely with the view of transporting safely large quantities of petroleum in bulk. The advantages of the system are, first, that it enables 
a steamer to carry a much greater amount of petroleum than it could if stored in barrels ; and, second, it saves the expense of the barrels, 
each one of which costs exactly as much as the refined oil it contains. Not only this, but it also saves the expense of returning the 
barrels from Europe for use again. 

Inquiry among petroleum men and shipping merchants in this city elicited the general opinion that the idea is not considered 
practicable. Said one well-known oil inspector : " It is my opinion that the system will not work. It has been tried three times on 
sailing vessels during the past eight years, and e.och time the vessel was lost. The captain of one of them, who was saved from the 
wreck of his vessel, said to me that the difficulty was that the oil seemed to move quicker than water, and in rough weather, when the 
vessel was pitched forward, the oil would rush down and force the vessel into the waves much the same as improperly stored bulk grain 
does sometimes in stormy weather. It may be that by slowing the oil in small compartments it could be transported with safety, but I 
doubt it. Besides, what is the advantage of the system any way ? The vessel must return in ballast, and it might as well bring back 
barrels, which under the present system are used over and over again, but under the proposed method would not be needed in the export 
trade." 

Messrs. Slocovich&, Co., the well-known shipping merchants, state that about eight years ago one of their vessels was fitted up with 
tanks for transporting oil in bulk. She proceeded on her journey and was never heard from. Her loss was undoubtedly due to her mode 
of carrying petroleum. Another shipping merchant stated that he believed the idea to be impracticable. It might be possible to make 
the tanks strong euongh to prevent the escape of the vapor of the oil, but all previous experiments had proven failures, and there was 
no reason to suppose that this would succeed. An experiment to transport molasses in bulk has been tried within two or three years, 
and two vessels were fitted up for the purpose to run between Cuba and Boston. The experiment, however, proved a failure, and the 
project had been abandoned. The Vaderland is an iron screw steamship, built at Yarrow-on-Tyne, in England, in 1872, and was 
extensively repaired last year. Her capacity for cargo is 2,001 tons. She is owned in Antwerp. 

The " oil in bulk" movement does not meet with favor among practical exporters. Theysaythat it cannot be carried out successfully. 
It would seem, liowever, that oil might be transported in vessels in that way as well as grain, and the day will no doubt come n-hen a 
means to that end will be devised. 

Section 5.— STATISTICS OF THE TRANSPORTATIOif OF OIL DURING THE CENSUS YEAR. 

Statistics have been received from the following-named pipe-lines that were engaged in business during the 
whole of the census year : 
United Pipe Lines. 
Tide- Water Pipe Company, limited. 
West Virginia Transportation Company. 
Franklin Pipe Line. 

Smith's Ferry Transportation Company. 
Octave Oil Company Pipe Line. 



a Engineering, xv, 279. i London Inst. Civ. Engineers, 1, 200. Nouv. Ann. de la Construction (3), ii, I 



102 PEODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 

Fox Farm Pipe Line. 

Shseft'er and Charley Euns Pipe Line. 

Tidioute and Titusville Pipe Line. 
^ T. C. Joy. 

There were also four- other pipe-line companies doing business at the beginning of the census year that went 
out of business during that year, of which such statistics are incorporated with those of the other lines as can be 
obtained from their printed statements. These lines are : 

Pennsylvania Transportation Company. 

Church Euu Pipe Line. 

Cherry Tree Kun Pipe Line. 

Emlentou Pipe Line. 

Beside these lines, there were a number of small private lines, particularly in the lower country, of which no 
reports are published, and from which it was impossible to obtain statistics, except at an unwarranted expenditure 
of time and labor, if, indeed, they could be obtained at all. These statistics, if obtained, would not materially 
change the significance of the figures here presented. 

The total amount of capital invested in the ten pipe-lines above mentioned was $6,347,930, and the total 
amount paid in wages during the year was $769,641. The greatest number of hands employed by them during the 
census year was 1,381 ; the average number 1,107, of whom 1,098 were males above sixteen years, 6 were females 
above fifteen years, and 3 were children. 

The hours of labor constituting a day were in general ten, but some of the operations of pipe-lines require 
constant oversight, and therefore in some instances the labor is performed by men who work in "tours" of twelve 
hours each, extending from twelve o'clock at midday to twelve o'clock at night, and from twelve o'clock at night to 
twelve o'clock at midday. 

The ten lines in operation at the end of the year were in operation throughout the year. 

The average wages of skilled workmen varied from $1.75 to $3.33 per day and from $70 to $75 per month; 
that of ordinary laborers from $1.25 to $2.50 per day. 

A marked difference in the rate of wages is found to exist in different sections of the oil-producing country. 
This difference is no doubt determined to some extent by the magnitude of the operations of the lines and the 
responsibility attaching to the labor performed. 

The total amount expended for fuel by these ten lines (not including the value of a vast quantity of natural gas, 
of which no account was taken) was $127,058. The total amount received for transporting (piping) oil was $1 ,381,328. 
The total number of boilers used was 216, having an estimated horse-power of 4,301 ; of pumps on main lines, with 
a diameter of cylinder varying from 3 to 34 J inches, and a length of stroke varying from 4 to 36 inches, 383; of 
pumps used in collecting oil (for the most part small portable pumps), 511; of iron tanks, 646, with a total capacity 
of 12,958,385 barrels; and of wooden tanks, 383, with a total capacity of 239,587 barrels. 

The total miles of pipe controlled by pipe-lines was : 

Miles. 
12-inch pipe, several hundred feet. 

6-inch pipe , 121.66 

5-inch pipe 7.75 

4-inoh pipe 123.73 

3-inch pipe 289.65 

aj-inch pipe , 16.00 

2-inch pipe 1,716.23 

l^nchpipe 2.78 

1-inch pipe ,. .. g.pS 

Total mUes of pipe 2,286.85 

Barrels. 

The stock of oil on hand in tanks and pipes June 1, 1879, was 6,753,909.02 

In the other four lines 28,795.33 

Total 6,782,704.35 

The amount run into these lines during the census year was 22,516,676.27 

Into the other four lines 370,110.96 

Total 2l>, 886, 787. 23 

The stock on hand in tanks and pipes May 31, 1880, was 11,239,555.73 

In the other four lines , 18,022. 31 

11, 207, 578. 04 
The amount transported through the pipes during the year was 18,411,913.54 

There were 36 racks belonging to these lines, at which 561 tank-cars could be loaded at one time, and 287 tanks 
on cars, having an aggregate capacity of 30,230 barrels. 



THE NATURAL HISTORY OF PETROLEUM. 103 



Chapter IX.— PETROLEUM IN COMMERCE. 



Section 1.— COMMERCIAL VARIETIES. 

Few persons are aware that there is more than one variety of petroleum, and those who know that some 
petroleums are relativelj- heavy and are used for lubrication suppose the light oils to be of one definite quality. 
The petroleum of Oil creek in early days was known to be inferior for many purposes to the amber oil of the lower 
Allegheny. During the first ten years of its development the oil produced in Pennsylvania was practically 
one thing, and the light oils of West Virginia and southern Ohio were not particularly different. The wonderful 
expansion of the lower Allegheny field, which commenced in 1872, was accompanied by a corresponding decline in 
the Oil Creek district in such a manner that the bulk of the production was shifted from the green oil of Oil creek 
to the amber oil of Armstrong and Butler counties. It was soon discovered that this amber oil was of superior 
•quality for refining i)urposes, so superior, in fact, that refiners would secure it if possible. When, in 1876, the 
iproduction of the Bradford district assumed importance, it was discovered that it was the least valuable variety 
.of petroleum for refining yet discovered in large quantities. The price of oil from these different sections has, 
however, been uniformly the same, irrespective of quality, and has "been the ruling i)rice in commerce. 

At the same time the heavy oil of Mecca has been sold at from ten to twenty times the price obtained for the 
light oils of other districts. Those of Belden, Ohio, and West Virginia have been graded according to their density 
and the effects of cold upon them. The Smith's Ferry oils have been sold for about three times the value of the 
light oils, and the Franklin oil at five to six times the value of the same. 

The West Virginia Transportation Company divides the oil which it handles, which embraces the larger portion 
of the j)roduction of West Virginia and a part of that of Washington county, Ohio, into seven grades, as follows : 

A, 37.1° Baume and lighter. 

B, 33° to 37° Baume, inclusive. 

C, 31.6° to 32.9° Baum6, inclusive. 

D, 30.6° to 31.5° Baume, inclusive. 

E, 29.6° to 30.5° Baume, inclusive. 

F, 28.0° to 29.5° Baume, inclusive. 

G, 28.5° and heavier. 

Grades from C to G, inclusive, are also separated into "cold-test" and " weak" oils, zero being the standard. 

In order to establish these grades an inspector is appointed, who stands between the producers and the 
transportation company or the purchasers. These oils are for the most part quite dense, and their value varies 
greatly with the density ; the more dense they are the greater the amount of water which they will hold mechanically 
and the more difHcult it is to separate it. The inspector has an office near the central portion of Volcano, and 
has there instruments for accurately estimating the specific gravity, the water or other sediment, and the 
temperature at which it will thicken above zero, Fahrenheit, in accordance with the following directions : 

In receiving and making delivery of oils shipped l>y the company, the water and sediment contained therein shall be determined by 
mixing an average sample with an equal quantity of benzine, and subject the mixture to 120° F., in a graduated glass vessel, for 
not less than G hours ; after which the mixture cools and settl'^s, not less than two hours for light grade, three hours for A grade, fojir 
hours for B grade, six hours for C grade, eight hours for D grade, and eighteen hours for heavier grades. 

The inspector certifies to the amount of water in the oil upon the back of the receipt issued by the company. 
This company has also incurred the expense of a very elaborate research upon the coefficient of dilation of oils of 
difierent density for each degree of temperature from 0° to 130° F., with the unit at 60°. The compilation was 
made by Mr. Julius Schubert, of Parkersburg, West Virginia. 

The tables, through the kind permission of M. C. C. Church, esq., secretary of the company, are given on 
pages 111-115. In relation to them Mr. Schubert writes: 

In regard to the expansion table you mentioned in your letter, please let me state that the experiments were made according to a 
method given by Gay-Lussac, and the formula used for the calculations was also given by the same author. 

1 + kt P— p 

1 + at P 

Where — 

P = weight of the fluid before heating it. 

p = weight of the fluid after lieating and after the apparent expansion has been removed. 

t ^ change of temperature. 

k = coefficient of expansion of the glass=0. 000026. 

a ^ coefficient of expansion of the fluid. 



104 PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 

The glass used was a liter-bottle with a narrow neck. Instead of finding p, the apparent espausion P — p was directly ascertained by 
weighing tlie amount of oil taken out of the bottle. A small pipette was used for removing the oil, and in order to avoid cleaning the 
pipette so often the following expansion was added to the first one : (P — p) -|- (P — pi) + (P — p^) -|- (P — ps), etc. 

For every 10" of temperature the expansion of the oil was weighed. The heating was done in a large water-bath very slowly, and 
the temperature of the water held for some time at the point of the test, so as to be sure that the fluid inside the bottle had reached the 
Bame temperature as the water surroiinding it. 

In the calculation of the table, as sufficient for all practical purposes, I took the coefiScient of expansion to be equal or the same 
dn3±ag 10° of temperature. As, for instance, in 30° Baum6 oil the table shows : 

0° temperature, 0. 980330 volume, when it should be 0. 980330 volume. 
293 287 



1° temperature, 0. 980623 volume, when it should be 0. 980617 volume. 
293 289 



2° temperature, 0. 980916 volume, when it should be 0. 980906 volume. 
293 290 



3° temperature, 0. 981209 volume, when it should be 0. 981196 volume. 
293 291 



4° temperature, 0. 981502 volume, when it should be 0. 981487 volume. 
293 292 



5° temperature, 0. 961795 volume, when it should be 0. 981779 volume. 
293 294 



6° temperature, 0. 982088 volume, when it should be 0. 982073 volume. 
293 295 



7° temperature, 0. 982381 volume, when it should be 0. 982368 volume. 
293 296 



8° temperature, 0. 982674 volume, when it should be 0. 982664 volume. 
293 297 



9° temperature, 0. 982967 volume, when it should be 0. 982961 volume. 
293 299 



10° temperature, 0. 983260 volume, when it should be 0. 983260 volume. 
306 300 



11° temperature, 0. 983566 volume, when it should be 0. 983560 volume. 
306 301 



12° temperature, 0. 983872 volume, when it should be 0. 983861 volume. 

I deemed it necessary to call your attention to this fact. 

From these experiments it appears that the expansions of the oils increase very perceptibly with the rise of the temperature anA 
also with the decrease of specific gravity ; that is, lighter oils expand more readily than heavier oils. The cold-test oils do not seem tc 
differ in this respect from oils which do not stand the cold. 

These tables have been found sufficiently accurate for all practical purposes, and are very valuable in handling, 
the great variety of oils produced in that region. 

On pages 116 to 133, inclusive, will be found another set of tables, compiled by Dr. S. A. Lattimore, of the 
University of Eochester, IsTew York, for the use of the Vacuum Oil Company of Rochester, and kindly furnished 
by those gentlemen for publication. These tables show first the quantity of oil in gallons corresponding to a given 
weight of oil of different degrees of Baume's hydrometer, all computed for €0° of temperature. By the use of the^ 
first set of tables the volume of a gallon of oil at any temperature between zero and 130° F. can be ascertained if 
the specific gravity is known at 60° F., while by the use of the second set the number of gallons in a barrel or car 
of petroleum can be ascertained by weighing if the specific gravity is known at 60° F. 

The temperature at which natural petroleums will congeal or become partially solid is an important item in 
their value for purposes of lubrication, the oils of the Mecca and Franklin districts being particularly valuable in 
this respect. Great diversity of quality in this particular is observed in the oils of West Virginia, wells in immediate 
proximity furnishing oils as unlike as possible. The cause of this difference has never been jyroperly investigated, 
and is only a matter of conjecture ; at the same time it is one of the most important questions connected Avith the 
heavy-oil trade. Many of the wells of eastern Kentucky yield heavy oils of remarkable and uniformly excellent 
quality in this respect. 



THE NATURAL HISTORY OF PETROLEUM. 105 

Section 2.— THE MANAGEMENT OF PIPE-LINES. 

The bulk of the ijetroleum trade at the present time is conducted through the pipe-lines and their certificates. 
The entire product of the Belden and the Mecca districts is handled in barrels in small lots. A considerable portion 
of the Franklin heavy oil and a small part of that of West Virginia is also handled in the same manner. A smaller 
proportion of the medium apd light oils of West Virginia and southern Ohio, as also of the Smith's Ferry district, is 
sold by the producers direct to the refiners in barrels, and an insignificant proportion of the product of the Oil creek 
and upper and lower Allegheny districts finds a market in the same way. Such oil is usually rolled upon a frame 
over a tank, and is emptied from the barrels into the tank. Hence it is called dump oil. Many thousands of 
barrels of this oil are gathered in the older and nearly exhausted portions of the oilfields by middlemen, who 
divide with the producers the cost of piping, paying them about 10 cents per barrel more than the market price. 
These middlemen dispose of the oil in car-load lots, and usually have a rack for loading one or more cars. A still 
larger though insignificant portion of the light-oil product is brought out to the railroad by private pipe-lines and 
is loaded into cars at private racks in small lots of a few car-loads each. This line of business is usually carried 
on along Oil creek and the AUeghenj' river between Titusville, Tidioute, and Brady's beiKl. 

The method of handling petroleum by the pipe-lines is substantially the same for all located within the region 
producing. light oils, with perhaps this exception : that while the smaller companies are incorporated and are legally 
" common carriers", their business is conducted more like that of private individuals, while that of the United Pipe 
Lines and the Tide- Water Pipe Company is of a more general public nature and interest. The following description 
of the method of business adopted by the United Pipe Lines will therefore apply to all of the incorporated pipe-line 
companies : When oil is received from a well into the lines of the company, the amount is ascertained by a joint 
measurement made by the representative of the owner of the well and the pipe-line, and is passed to the credit of 
the former on the books of the company, less 3 per cent., to cover losses to points of delivery. Such oil is held in 
the custody of the line, subject to the order of the owner, precisely like a deposit in bank, and is transferable on 
a written order. Upon the signature by the owner of a proper order for the whole or any part of his credit balance, 
whether such balance is obtained by transfer or production, such order will be marked " accepted " by an authorized 
agent of the company, and thereafter is known in the trade as an " acceptance" or " certificate", and, like a certified 
check, is negotiable. As the oil exchanges only deal in certificates of the value of 1,000 barrels, they are, so far as 
is possible, made of that amount; but those for less amounts are sold to the refiners for immediate use, and do not 
pass into the speculative trade. All persons holding credit balances are entitled, upon payment of proper charges, 
to have their oil loaded into cars or barges or delivered into tanks, to bo disconnected from the lines. All oil, 
when received from the wells, at once loses its identity and becomes part of the common stock of the line; no 
holder of a credit balance can .therefore claim the identical oil that entered the line from his tank or well. 

Producers' credit balances are held free of storage for thirty days, after which time, unless the owner have 
tankage upon the line, they are chargeable at the rate of IJ cents per barrel per month, equal to $12 50 per 1,000 
barrels, until removed or transferred. All credit balances obtained by transfer, unless protected by tankage, arc 
subject to the same storage charge until removed. As all the tankage is now practically owned by the lines, this 
charge is now substantially uniform on all certificates, equal to $150 on 1,000 barrels for one year. 

Parties owning iron tanks can have them connected with the line by signing contracts which entitle them to 
carry oil either in credit balances or certificates, free of-storage, to the capacity of their tank, subject to a shrinkage 
charge of one-fourth per cent, per month, payable in oil. The capacity of such tank is subject to the owner, and 
can only be temporarily used by the company. Upon demand by the owner of a credit balance for the delivery of 
his oil, a pipeage charge of 20 cents per barrel must be paid. The term "shipper" is applied in the trade to 
parties removing oil from the custody of the line. The Tide- Water Pipe Company insures the oil of its patrons; 
but the United lines mutually insure, as has been before mentioned, and assess the loss upon the holders of 
certificates. 

Since the Tide- Water Pipe Company successfully laid their line ti-om Eixford to Williamsport (now being carried 
through to Chester, Pennsylvania) another trunk line has been laid to Jersey City. These lines have not made 
public their charges for conveying oil out of the oil region. The united lines gather oil into tanks and at convenient 
points of shipment, but do not convey it out of the oil region. The income of these corporations is made up of 
pipeage fees and storage fees, tbe former being paid when the oil is removed from the line, and the latter at least once 
in six months. The term "old oil", used in the exchanges, refers to certificates of pipe-lines on which storage charges 
have not been paid up to date. Thus, if A holds a certificate of the United Pipe Lines on which storage charges 
had been paid np to any given previous date, and B bought from him on exchange 1,000 barrels of United oil, 
storage paid, and A should offer him said certificate, B would say, "That is 'old oil', A; you will have to freshen 
it." So A would go to the pipeline ofiice and pay the storage on the certificate up to the date of the transaction, 
and it would be termed " fresh oil". The line attaches a slip to the certificate showing the date to which storage 
has been paid. 



106 PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 

Section 3.— BEOKEEAGE. 

The issuing of certificates by the pipe companies has made speculation in oil, brokerage, and oil exchanges 
possible to an extent vastly beyond an actual trade in the oil itself. The broker buys or sells for others and charges 
about $2 50 per thousand barrels for his services. On a market without much fluctuation he also agrees to deliver 
to customers at a stipulated price a certain amount of oil either on demand or at a fixed time, and receives 
therefor an amount somewhat less than the storage fees ; but he does not purchase until the demand for it is made. 
If oil falls mean time, he profits; if it rises, he loses; and if the price remains unchanged, he profits to the extent 
of the money paid him in lieu of storage money that would be paid the pipe company if he purchased the oil. The 
speculator in oil, therefore, who buys "futures" signs a contract with his broker and pays him his brokerage fees 
as a buyer and some sum less than $150 per year per thousand barrels of oil. The speculator, who buys certificates 
if he does not own tankage, pays his broker's fees as a buyer, and also $150 per year per thousand barrels, together 
with whatever sum may be required to purchase oil to pay the assessments for losses bj' fire or other accident, and 
interest on the amount invested. If he owns tankage, in lieu of the $150 per thousand barrels for storage he pays 
$30 for evaporation and the interest on $260 (the cost of a thousand barrels of tankage), which should be estimated 
at not less than 20 per cent., together with the other expenses above mentioned. 

The fluctuations in the price of petroleum during the census year rendered a speculative investment in the 
article an object of exciting interest. June 1, 1879, was Sunday, The market opened on the 2d at 74| cents per 
barrel. It continued to fall, with little disposition to rally, until on the 17th it closed at 64| ; and after fluctuating 
between 65 and 68 for four days, it reached 75, and dropped to 69f on the 25th. It hovered about 70 until the 9th of 
August, when it began to fall, reaching 64| on the 27th. A slight rally held it at about 66 until the 7th of 
September, when an ui^ward movement began, reaching 96| on October 9. It remained near 91 until the 10th of 
ISTovember, when it again moved upward, reaching $1 27J on the 21st, closing that day at $1 22|^. On the following- 
day it ranged between $1 22 J and $1 lOf , closing at $1 18 J, from which it rallied, reaching on the 2d of December 
•$1 28J-. Between the 10th and 18th it ranged between $1 27^ and $1 10, and fluctuated greatly between $1 18 
and $1 09 from this time to January 15, 1880, when it went down in three days to $1 05, and steadily declined, 
with scarce a rally, till, on March 9, it touched 85f . It hovered between 85 and 90 till April 6, when it again 
commenced to decline, reaching 71^ on the 21st. On the 5th of May it closed at 72J, and by the 26th had again 
reached the latitude of 933, closing on the 31st at 98|. It will thus be seen that the certificates of oil in tank were 
worth that year from 641 cents to $1 28J^ per barrel, and this variation of almost 100 per cent, occurred between 
August 27 and December 2, an interval of only sixty-eight days. If a man wants a quantity of oil for refining the 
transaction becomes one of the simjilest possible. He buys certificates to the amount required, and calls upon the 
pipe company to deliver the oil whenever he chooses to provide tanks, cars, or barges to receive it, and after the 
pipeage of 20 cents per barrel is paid the company delivers the oil. 

The price of Franklin first-sand oil averaged during the census year $3 82 per barj-el of 42 gallons ; that 
of second-sand crude for the same time varied very slightly from that of third-sand oil. The price of Mecca oil 
ranged from $7 to $9 per barrel; Smith's Ferry amber oil averaged $1 50 per barrel. The price of West Virginia 
oils varied from $1 per barrel for light to $9 per barrel for the heaviest oils produced. 

The business of the West Virginia Transportation Company, though far smaller in bulk, is much more intricate 
in detail than that of the large companies controlling th§ vast interests of the Pennsylvania oil regions. As 
already mentioned, their oil is so variable in character that its quality has to be determined by an inspector. The 
following is a copy of the certificate used by this company, and the rules of the company printed upon the back of it: 

Dept. C, No. 2694. The West Virginia Transportation Company, 

Parkerslurg, W. Va., Augusts, 1881. 
Eeceived from Excelaior well, West Va. O. & O. L. Co., tract for account of royalty, under and subject to the charges, terms, and 

conditions on the back of this receipt, as a part thereof. No. barrels (of 40 gallons each) of '32-^g° crude oil, for transportation through 

pipe-line in bulk with C grade (Sl^ to 32-1% gravity) to our tanks at Volcano, West Virginia, and for delivery by oil of like grade, or 
gravity, in lots of 500 barrels or over at Parkersburg, West Virginia, (unavoidable delays excepted), to the order of Geo. Washington, 
at the rate of 35 cents per barrel, including therein all charges for inspecting, grading, and measuring said oil, and certifying in the 
receipt therefor the amount, grade, and gravity, and liability under and by reason of said certificate. 

The West Virginia Transportation Co., 

By M. C. C. CHURCH, Secretari/. 
Attest: CHAS. A. BUKEY. 

(Stamped across the face :) Canceled August 1, 1881. 

(On the margin :) Not negotiable unless signed by the secretary of the company. 

Form No. 5. 

The terms and conditions upon which the within mentioned oil is_ held by the West Virginia Transportation Company are as 
follows : 

In receiving the within oil, the water and sediment contained therein, as per the following inspector's eertiiicate, have been fii-st 
deducted, and the following jjercentages of oil have been reserved to cover losses for evaporation and waste in receiving, transporting, 



THE NATURAL HISTORY OF PETROLEUM. 107 

and delivering the same ; the -within receipt, therefore, covers the net amount only. On light and A grades two and one-half per cent. ; 
on B and C grades two per cent. ; and on heavier oils one and one-half per cent. (See below for variation in case of local and special 
shipments. ) 

I certify that I have inspected the within oil, and that it contained i per cent, of water and sediment at the time of shipment. 

Henry Caskix, Inspector. 

The company shall not be responsible or liable for loss by fire or unavoidable accidents ; but any such loss shall be assessed, pro 
rata, upon the total amount of outstanding certificates of oil, of like grade of the within, held by the company at the time such loss 
may occur. 

The company shall have a lien upon all the wi thin mentioned oil for all charges mentioned in this receipt. These charges shall be 
made upon the net quantity of oil received by the West Virginia Transportation Company (said quantity being mentioned in the face 
of this receipt), and the computation thereof to be made from the date of this receipt. 

The following percentages of the net amount of oil received shall be deducted to cover losses by evaporation when held in tankage, 
to wit : On light and A grades, one per cent, per month or part of a month ; on B and C grades, three-fourths of one per cent, per month 
or part of a month ; on heavier oils, one-half of one per cent, per month or part of a month. 

Monthly statements of the company's oil account will be made ; and any gains arising from the above reservations, on account of 
waste and evaporation, will be returned, p)-o rata, in certificate oil, to shippers, to July 1 of each and every year during the continuance 
of this arrangement. 

Freight and other charges are due and payable on receipt of the oil in the company's tankage at Volcano and Cochran's, West 
A'irginia, and at Petrolia, Ohio. If said charges are not settled within fifteen days from the date of this receipt, storage will be charged at 
the rate of 2 cents per barrel per month or part of a month from said date. If the oil is not removed within three months from the date 
aforesaid, the company shall have right to remove and store the same at the expense of the consignee, and the right to sell said oil, 
or such part thereof as may be necessary, at public auction to the highest bidder, to pay the advances made and charges due to it, together 
with the costs of sale. Such sale to be made upon the premises of the company upon at least ten days' notice by advertising in newspapers 
published at Parkersburg, West Virginia, and Marietta, Ohio. 

In receiving and making delivery of oils shipped by the company, the water and sediment contained therein shall be determined by 
mixing an average sample with an equal quantity of benzine, and subject the mixture to 120^ F., in a graduated glass vessel, for 
not less than 6 hours, after which the mixture cools and settles not less than two hours for light grade, 3 hours for A grade, 4 hours for 
B grade, 6 hours for C grade, 8 hours for D grade, and 18 hours for heavier grades. 

No allowance made on account of condition in making delivery of the within oil. 

Xote. — The foregoing applies to regular shipments, to wit : Shipments net by pipe-line to Parkersburg, West Virginia, or to 
Petroleum, West Virginia, or to Petrolia, Ohio, or to Cochran's, West Virginia. 

Special shipmexts. — The company will take special shipments of oil, in lots of 500 barrels or over, under the conditions expressed 
herein, except as modified as follows: First. Tankage shall be furnished at the point of destination and possession retained by the 
company until the final delivery of the shipment. Second. The company dehvers all the oil, water, and sediment received by it and 
guarantees that the loss of actual oil shall not exceed the above reservations. Third. Special shipment certificates will be issued and 
charges will be made upon the gross amount of oil, water, and sediment received for transportation. 

Note. — Special shipments are shipments by pipe-line, in gross, to Parkersburg, West Virginia, or to Petroleum, West Virginia. 

Local shipments. — The company will take local, shipments of oil, in lots of not less that 50 barrels, charging therefor at the rate 
of 10 cents per barrel. Local shipments to be under the same conditions in other respects as expressed above for special shipments. 

Note. — Local shipments are shipments made in gross, and are confined to points im the Volcano oil district. When regular 
shipments are stopped in transitu they become local shipments, and charges will be made on the gross amount received at the well, 
and not on the net amount, as per face of regular shipment certificates. In all such cases said certificates must be surrendered and 
canceled and local 'shipment certificates issued for the gross amount at the well, as aforesaid; the delivery as to amount to be made, 
however, according to the terms of the regular shipment certificates surrendered. 

The acceptance and retention of this receipt shall be regarded as an agreement on the part of the owner of said oil to all its terms 
and conditions, which shall be equally binding on all subsequent holders hereof. 

Deliver to the order of . 

The charges for pipeage from the wells iu Volcano district to Parkersburg, West Virginia, are 35 cents per 
barrel of 40 gallons each; to the Baltimore and Ohio railroad, 30 cents; to Cochran's Landing, Ohio river, 30 cents; 
and local shipments to points within the oil districts, 10 cents. From Cow run, Ohio, to Petrolia, on the Ohio 
river, the rate is 30 cents. If oil remains in their tankage over 1.5 days, tlie charge for storage is ti cents per barrel 
per mouth or part of a month from date, unless the freight charges are paid when storage is remitted. So far as 
the principal and general use of the certificates of this company is concerned, they become what they indicate — 
mere mediums between the consignor and consumer or refiner. Sometimes, however, they are used by the producers 
as collateral security for their notes in the local banks. In some instances also they have been purchased by 
investors as a speculation and held for a rising market, but such cases are exceptional. 

Section 4.— PETROLEUM AS AN ARTICLE OF FOREIGN COMMERCE. 

The foreign trade in petroleum centers in New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore, with a very large proportion 
of the whole iu New York. The exports consist of crude petroleum, the different varieties of illuminating oil, 
naphtha, and residuum. This trade is largely controlled by the New York produce exchange. The foUowiiig rules, 
which indicate the general methods upon which the business is conducted, are taken from their report for 1879 : 

CRUDE PETROLEUM. 

Rule 4. Crude petroleum shaU be understood to be pure, natural oil, neither steamed nor treated, free from water, sediment, or any 
adulterition, of the gravity of 43° to 48° Banm^. 

ByLE 5. When crude petroleum is sold in bulk, the quantity shall be ascertained by tank measurement at the time of delivery. 



108 PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 

EuLB 6. Crude petroleum in barrels shall be sold by weiglit at tlie rate of 6| pounds net to the gallon. 

Rule 7. In the absence of any stipulation, crude petroleum, when sold in barrels, shall be understood to mean, so far as regards 
packages, such packages as were originally refined petroleum barrels, whose last contents was crude petroleum, refined petroleum, or 
naphtha. 

Rule 8. When contracts for crude petroleum call for second-hand refined petroleum barrels (i. e., barrels whose last contents have 
been refined petroleum or naphtha) the sellers shall have the privilege of substituting new barrels, but they shall be glued. 

Rule 9. The weighing and verification of crude petroleum shall be governed by the rules applicable thereto under the head of 
refined petroleum. 

REFINED PETROLEUM. 

Rule 10. Refined petroleum shall be standard white, or better, with a burning test of 110° F. or upward, and of a specific gravity 
not below 45° Baum6. 

Rule 11. The burning test of refined petroleum shall be determined by the use of the Saybolt electric instrument, and shall be 
operated in arriving at a result as follows : lu 110° and upward the flashing points, after the first flash (which will generally occur 
between 90° and 95""), shall be taken at 95°, 100°, 104°, 108°, 110°, 112°, and 115° ; in 120° and upward, after first flash, at 100°, 105°, 110°, 
115°, 118°, 120°, 122°, and 125°; in 130° and upward, every 5° until burning point is reached. 

Rule 12. When refined petroleum is sold in bulk, the quantity shall be ascertained by measurement on the decks of the tankrboate. 

Rule 13. Refined petroleum shall be delivered in blue, well-painted barrels, with white heads. Barrels shall be well glued and 
filled within 1 or 2 inches of the bung. 

Rule 14. Refined petroleum in barrels shall be sold by weight at the rate of 6J pounds net to the gallon. 

Rule 15. The tares of refined petroleum in barrels shall be weighed by half pounds and gross weight by pounds. 

Rule 16. The gross weight of packages for refined petroleum shall be not less than 360 pounds nor more than 415 pounds, and the 
actual gross weight shall be plainly marked thereon. 

Rule 17. Barrels shall be made of well-seasoned white-oak timber, and shall be hooped not lighter than as follows: Either with 
six iron hoops, the head hoop IJ inches wide, No. 16 gauge, English standard, the quarter hoop IJ inches wide. No. 17 gauge, and the 
bilge-hoop If inches wide, No. 16 gauge ; or with eight iron hoops, the head-hoop If inches wide. No. 17 gauge, the collar-hoop 1^ inches 
wide. No. 17 gauge, the quarter-hoop 1^ inches wide. No. 18 gauge, and the bilge-hoop IJ inches wide, No. 18 gauge. But all old barrels 
of which the gross weight is less than 395 pounds may be hooped with six iron hoops 1^ inches wide, excepting the chine hoop, which 
shall be If inches wide. , 

Rule 18. Buyers may test, at their own expense, the correctness of the gross weight or gauge of the whole or part of any lot 
delivered, and the average shortage found on a portion of not less than 10 per cent, shall be taken as the average amount to be deducted 
from the lot. 

Rule 19. The tare shall be plainly marked upon each barrel before it is filled. Buyers may test the accuracy of the tare so marked 
to the extent of 5 per cent, of the lot, and the average difference between the tare thus ascertained and the marked tare on the barrels 
tested shall be accepted as the average difference on the entire lot. Any excess of tare so discovered shall be allowed buyer. 

NAPHTHA. 

Rule 20. Naphtha shall be water-white and sweet, and of gravity of from 68° to 73° Baum6. 

Rule 21. When naphtha is sold in bulk, the quantity shall be ascertained by measurement on the decks of the tank-bo»ts. 
Rule 22. Naphtha in barrels shall be sold by weight at the rate of 5f pounds net to the gallon. 
Rule 23. Barrels containing naphtha shall be painted blue, with white heads, and be well glued. 

RlTLB 24. Naphtha shall be weighed, and may be tested by the buyer, as provided in the foregoing rules relating to refined 
petroleum. 

RESIDUUM. 

Rule 25. Residuum shall be understood to be the refuse from the distillation of crude petroleum, j&ee from cske and water and 
from any foreign impurities, and of gravity from 16° to 21'^ Baum6. 

Rule 26. Residuum, when sold in barrels, shall be sold by weight, at the rate of 7i pounds net per gallon. 

Rule 27. Residuum shall be weighed, and may be tested by the buyer, as provided in the foregoing rules relating to refined 
petroleum. 

EMPTY BARRELS. 

Rule 28. Unless otherwise stipulated, empty barrels shall be understood to have last contained either refined petroleum or naphtha. 

Rule 29. Barrels shall be classified according to the use for which they are fitted, as follows : 

First class shall include all barrels which, if properly coopered, would be fit to carry refined petroleum or naphtha. 

Second class shall include barrels which are unfit for refined petroleum or naphtha, but which would, if properly coopered, be tit 
for crude petroleum. 

Thii-d class shall include such barrels as are unfit for either crude, refined petroleum, or naphtha, but which can be used for 
residuum, if j)roperly coopered. 

Rule 30. When barrels 'Khich would otherwise be first class have been injured by sand, mold, or water, they shall he placed in the 
second class. 

Rule 32. When barrels have been filled with crude petroleum, and steamed out after shipment to Europe and used for refined oil, 
such packages shall be placed in the second class. 

Rule 33. All empty barrels must have six hoops, and be delivered in form, shooks or staves not being a good delivery. 



THE NATURAL HISTORY OF PETROLEUM. 109 

CONTRACTS AND DELIVERIES. 

ECLE 35. All deliveries and contracts for delivery of petroleum and its products under these rules shall be of the production of the 
United States, unless otherwise specified. , 

Rule 36. All settlements of contracts for refined petroleum and naphtha shall be on the following basis : lu barrels, on 50 gallons ; 
in bulk, on 45 gallons. All settlements of contracts for crude petroleum shall be on the following basis : In barrels, on 48 gallons ; iu 
bulk, ou 42 gallons. 

Rule 37. All cooperage shall be in prime shipping order. Tar and pitch barrels shall be excluded, except for residuum. 

Rule Sti. When the capacity of the vessel exceeds or falls short of the amount specified in the contract, including the maigiu, then 
the specified amount uhall be delivered. In determining the capacity of the vessel, barrels of 50 net gallons capacity in case of refined 
petroleum and naphtha, barrels of 48 net gallons capacity iu case of crude petroleum, and barrels of 45 net gallons capacity iu case of 
residuum shall be the basis for settlement. 

The inspection of petroleum and its products for export is an important business in New York city, Philadelphia, 
and Baltimore. Mr. A. Bourgougnon has read before the American Chemical Society several papers relating to 
this iusi>ection. He refers to the fact that the petroleum of the New York market is a mixture of oils from a great 
many wells, and remarks that the specific gravity of the New York crude oil ranges from 0.790 to 0.800 = 48° to 
46° B. at 15° C. 

The coefiQcienl of expansion of the crude oil varies from 0.00082 to 0.00086, according to the gravity of the oil. 
For the products of distillation the following can be generally adopted : 

Under 0.700 gravity at 15° C 0.00090 

0.700 to 0.750 gravity at 15° C 0.00085 

0.750 to 0.800 gravity at 15° C 0.00080 

0.800 gravity at 15° C 0.00070 

The knowledge of these coefficients is important, as it aids in calculating the empty space which must be 
allowed in the vessels containing the oil. This space will be — 

V. K. 50, 
V representing the volume of the oil, K the coefficient of expansion, and 50 the number of degrees of temperature 
through which the oil may change. 

Generally the inspectors examine the density, the odor, and how the oil feels with the fingers, and make a 
fractional distillation in tenth parts, giving a report stating that the oil does not contain more than 17 per cent, of 
naphtha. He states further that the separation of the distillate into hundredths instead of tenths is much to be 
preferred, as the proportion of naphtha can then be determined with exactness; "and this determination is very 
imxiortant to the buyer, since the crude oil is taxed in foreign countries according to the quantity of naphtha 
contained in it." 

The crude oil of the New Y'ork market will generally furnish from 12 to 15 per cent, of naphtha at 0.700 
specific gravity, 9 to 12 per cent, of benzine at 0.730 specific gravity, and about CO per cent, of burning oil at 0.795 
specific gravity. The residuum contains 2i per cent, of drj' parafifine, calculated for the quantity of oil submitted 
to distillation, [a) 

In another communication he thus describes an ingeniously contrived instrument for determining the amount 
of naphtha of 0.700 gravity in crude petroleum : 

I employ an instrument made on the same principle and of the same shape as an hydrometer, which I call a napMliometer. To make 
the graduation of this instrumeut I proceed as follows : The specific gravity of commercial naphtha being 0.700 at 15° C, it is first 
necessary to have such naphtha. This naphtha being at a temperature of 15° C, the naphthometer is immersed in it, and on the stem at 
the point of intersection of the liquid the number 15 is written. The same naphtha is brought to a temperature of 20° C, and on the stem, 
as above, the number 20 is written ; the temperature of the naphtha is again increased to 25° C, and the number 25 is written on the 
stem at the point of intersection, and so on, iu order that the temperature indicated by the thermometer (when immersed iu naphtha of 
0.700 at 15° C.) will be always in accordance with the figures marked on the stem. For example, if I have a sample of naphtha of which 
the density is 0.700 at 15° C, but supposing that the actual temperature be 20° C, the naphthometer will indicate 20 both by the 
thermometer and on the stem at the point of intersection with the liquid. Now, to determine the percentage of naphtha iu crude 
petroleum, I distill, say 300 c. c, .and collect the distillate in a glass cylinder divided into c. c, iu which glass the naphthometer has been 
previously placed. The temperature of the distillate, and if, e. g., the temperature be 25^ C., the distillation is continued until the point 
marked 25 on the stem intersects with the liquid. At this moment the u.aphtha has a specific gravity of 0.700 at 15° C, as I have 
verified by several experiments. Removing the naphthometer from the jar, cooling to 15° C, and reading the number of c. c. obtained, and 
dividing by 3, I obtain fiually the percentage of naphtha at 0.700 density and at the temperature of 15° C. contained in the crude oil. (ft) 

The increase in the bulk of petroleum and of all its products, due to an increase of temperature, occasions a 
great deal of trouble in measuring these articles in bulk. In barrels and small packages the difficulty is obviated 
by weighing. Preisser, of Eouen, in 1840, investigated a case in which a certain amount of oil (seed and fish) was 
stored in winter and measured in summer, when an excess was discovered, and the parties storing were charged 
with fraud. He found that the oil increased in volume at a certain ratio for each degree of temperature, (c) M. 
Henri St. Claire Deville first stated that American petroleum increases in bulk 0.01 for every 10° C. Later it has 
been discovered that the ratio of expansion varies with the specific gravity of the oil and also with the temperature. 
The table on pages 111 to 115, inclusive, has been computed for the specific gravity of crude oil up to 45° Bi 

a 7. Am. Chem., vii, 81. 6 lUd., p. 123. c Jour. F. Imt., xxix, 130. 



110 PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 

This does not embrace illuminating oils or naphthas, but is approximately correct for the dense oils below 45°. 
Mr. GustaTus Pile offers the following suggestion of a method of universal application to crude petroleum and all 
petroleum products : (a) 

I was asked a short time ago liy a gentleman in the coal-oil trade to furnish him with some sort of aiiparatus with which he could 
readily estimate the number of gallons of oil there would he in a tank gauged at any temperature if the temperature were reduced to 60° 
F. The rate of expansion of most of the petroleum products heing considerable, the diiference in measurement at various temperatures 
often becomes too great to be unnoticed. In the case of benzine of 68° B., the expansion from 30° to 90° F. amounted to 50 parts in a 
1,000. The solution of this problem appears to be best made by observing the specific gravity as it would stand at different temperatures , 
and calculating from the variation in the gravity the amount of expansion in bulk. If we have gauged a tank holding oil and find 
it to hold, at 90° temperature, 12,000 gallons, and desire to know how much that would measure if reduced to 60° temperature, we must 
first note the gravity at the two temperatures, G0° and 90°, and the calculation will then tie as follows: Say the gravity at 90° = 0.7900 
and at 60° = 0.8025. The gravity at 90° is to be divided by the gravity at 60°, thus J-J? J, which wiHgive the measure at 60° of one gallon, 
and by multiplying this by 1 2,000, Jtl z? + 12,000 = 11,812 gallons, we have the measure at 60° of the whole amouflt. The difference of 18S 
gallons between the measure at 60° and that at 90° expresses the expansion caused by that increase of temperature. 

In order to obtain correct results by this method, it would be necessary to use hydrometers made with a specific gravity scale and 
with the degrees sufficiently far apart to be able to read to single degrees, or also to use a specific gravity bottle, which, of course, will 
always give the best result. 

I am not acquainted with any method that may be in use among dealers, but the plan here suggested will give accurate conclusions,, 
and where it is found necessary to be particular can be used with confidence. 

a Oil and Drug News. 



NATURAL HISTORY OF PETROLEUM. Ill 



TABLE OF EXPANSION OF THE WEST VIRGINIA NATURAL OILS. 

l01}ArjTIi:S 28° TO 450, FJiOM ZERO TO 130= F., TVITB THE UXIT AT 60° lEMPERATrSJB.] 
Calculated by Jul. Schubert, Engineer. 

The expansion of the West Virginian natural oils is, as the following tahle shows, by no means very small, and has in a large number 
of cases worked to the disadvantage of both producers and dealers. It therefore became desirable to have the expansion of the oils 
established, and careftilly conducted experiments, according to the rule laid down by Professor Gay-Lussac for testing the expansion of 
liquids, and calculations made corresponding to the formula of the same author, have furnished the following table. 

The coefficient of expansion of the glass entering into the calculation has been adopted as being 0.00002t). 

The expansion of the oils increases with the temperature aud varies with the gravity. The higher oils expand faster than the heavier 
oilsv.ithin the same change of temperature. It became necessary, therefore, to establish the scale of expansion for each gravity from 
26"^ to 45°. 

As the gravity is measured at C0° temperature, the unit for the volume of the oil has also been taken at 60° F. 

The quantity of oil at 60° temperature should be the guide iu all business transactions with the West Virginian natural oils. 

Eui.ES FOR USE OF THE TABLE. — In order to find the quantity of oil at 60° temperature: Divide the quantity of the oil by the figure 
found in the table corresponding both to gravity and temperature of the.oil. 

For instance : 75.63 barrels of 35° oil, measured at a temperature of 26°, would be: 



75.(i:{ 



: 76. 59 barrels of 35° oil at 60°. 



0.987394 ■ 
Or, 81.34 barrels of 33° oil, measured at a temperature of 88°, would be: 



j-QTYrgg = 80.41 barrels of 33° oil at 60° temperature. 



112 



PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 

TABLE OF EXPANSION OF THE WEST VIRGINIA NATURAL OILS. 



Degrees 


DEGREES or GEAVITY. 




of tern- 
peratnre. 

(F.) 


28°. 


29°. 


30°. 


31°. 


32°. 


33°. 


34°. 


35°. 


30°. 


Zero. 


0. 980810 


0.980570 


0. 980330 


0.980060 


0. 979770 


0. 979470 


0. 979170 


e. 978870 


0. 976570 


1 


0. 981095 


0.980859 


0.980623 


0. 980357 


0. 980071 


0. 979776 


0. 979481 


0. 979186 


0. 876691 


2 


e. 981380 


0.981148 


0. 980916 


0. 980654 


0. 980372 


0. 980082 


0. 979792 


0. 979502 


0. 979212 


3 


0. 981665 


0. 981437 


0. 981209 


0. 980951 


0.980673 


0. 980388 


0. 980103 


0. 979818 


0.979533 


4 


0. 981950 


0. 981726 


0. 981502 


0. 981248 


0. 980974 


0.980694 


0. 980414 


0. 980134 


0. 979854 


5 


0.982235 


0. 982015 


0.981795 


0. 981545 


0. 981275 


0. 981000 


0.980725 


0. 980450 


0. 980175 


6 


0. 982520 


0.982304 


0.982088 


0. 981842 


0. 981576 


0. 981306 


0. 981036 


0. 980766 


0. 980496 


7 


0.982805 


0.982593 


0. 982381 


0. 982139 


0. 931877 


0. 981612 


0. 981347 


0.981082 


0. 980817 


8 


0. 983090 


0.982882 


0. 982674 


0. 982436 


0. 982178 


0. 981918 


0. 981658 


0. 981398 


0. 981138 


9 


0. 983375 


0. 983171 


0. 982967 


0. 982733 


0. 982479 


0. 982224 


0. 981969 


0.981714 


0. 981459 


10 


0. 983660 


0. 983460 


0. 983260 


0.983030 


0. 982780 


0. 982530 


0. 982280 


0. 982030 


0. 981780 


11 


0. 983958 


0.983762 


0. 983566 


0. 983340 


0. 983095 


0. 982850 


0. 982605 


0. 982360 


0. 982115 


12 


0. 984256 


0. 984064 


0. 983872 


0. 983650 


0.983410 


0. 983170 


0. 982930 


0. 982690 


0. 982450 


13 


0. 984554 


0. 984366 


0.984178 


0. 983960 


0.983725 


0.983499 


0. 983255 


0.583020 


0. 982765 


14 


0. 984852 


0. 984668 


0.984484 


0.984270 


0. 984040 


0. 983810 


0.983580 


0. 983350 


0. 933129 


15 


0. 985150 


0. 984970 


0.984790 


0.984580 


0.984355 


984130 


0. 983905 


0. 983680 


0. 983455 


16 


0.985448 


0. 985272 


0. 985096 


0. 984890 


0. 984670 


0.984450 


0. 984230 


0. 984010 


0. 98379S 


17 


0. 985746 


0.985574 


0. 985402 


0. 985200 


0.984985 


0. 984770 


0. 984555 


0. 984340 


0. 984125 


18 


0. 986044 


0. 985876 


0. 985708 


0. 985510 


0. 985300 


0. 985090 


0. 984880 


0.984670 


0. 984460 


19 


0. 986342 


0. 986178 


0. 988014 


0. 985820 


0. 985615 


0. 985410 


0.985205 


0. 985000 


0. 964795 


20 


0. 936640 


0. 986480 


0. 986320 


0. 986130 


0.985930 


0. 985730 


0.985530 


0.985330 


0. 963130 


21 


0.986952 


0. 986796 


0. 98664* 


0. 986454 


0. 986259 


0. 986064 


0.985869 


0. 986674 


0. 985479 


22 


0.987264 


0. 987112 


0. 986960 


0. 986778 


0.986688 


0. 986398 


0. 986208 


0. 986018 


0. 985828 


23 


0. 987576 


0.987428 


0. 987280 


0. 987102 


0. 986917 


0.986732 


0.986547 


0. 986362 


0. 936177 


24 


0. 987888 


0.987744 


0. 987600 


0.967426 


0. 987246 


0. 987066 


0. 986886 


0. 986706 


0. 986526 


25 


0. 988200 


0. 988060 


0. 987920 


0. 987750 


0. 987575 


0. 987400 


0. 987225 


0. 987050 


0. 986675 


26 


0. 988512 


0.988376 


0.988240 


0. 988074 


0. 987904 


0. 987734 


0. 987564 


0. 987394 


0. 987224 


27 


0.988824 


0.988682 


0. 988560 


0. 988398 


0.988233 


0. 988068 


0. 987903 


0. 987738 


0. 987573 


28 


0. 989136 


0. 989008 


0.988880 


0. 988722 


0.988562 


0. 988402 


0.988242 


0.988082 


0. 987922 


29 


0.989448 


0. 989324 


0. 989200 


0. 989046 


0.988891 


0. 988736 


0. 988581 


0. 988426 


8. 968271 


30 


0.989760 


0. 989640 


0. 989520 


0. 989370 


0.989220 


0.989070 


0. 983920 


0. 988770 


0. 938620 


31 


0. 990086 


0.989970 


0.989854 


0.989769 


0. 989564 


0. 989419 


0. 989274 


0. 989129 


0. 988984 


32 


0.990412 


0. 990300 


0. 990188 


0. 990048 


0.989908 


0.989768 


0. 989628 


0.9894S8 


0. 989346 


33 


0. 990738 


0. 990630 


0.990522 


0. 990387 


0. 990252 


0. 990117 


0. 989982 


0. 989847 


0. 989712 


34 


0. 981064 


0.990960 


0. 990856 


0.990726 


0. 990596 


0. 990466 


0. 990336 


0. 990206 


0. 990076 


35 


0. 991390 


0. 991290 


0. 991190 


0. 991065 


0. 990940 


0. 990815 


0. 990690 


0. 990565 


0. 990440 


36 


0. 991716 


0. 991620 


0. 991524 


0.991404 


0.991284 


0. 991164 


0.991044 


0. 990924 


0. 990604 


37 


0. 992042 


0. 991950 


0. 991858 


0. 991743 


0. 991628 


0. 991513 


0. 991398 


0.991283 


0. 991168 


38 


0. 992368 


0.992280 


0.992192 


0. 992082 


0. 991972 


0. 991862 


0. 991752 


0. 991642 


0. 991532 


39 


0. 992694 


0. 992610 


0. 992520 


0. 992421 


0. 992316 


0. 992211 


0.992106 


0.992001 


0.991896 


40 


0. 993020 


9.992940 


0.992860 


0. 992768 


0.992660 


0. 992560 


0. 992460 


0. 992360 


0. 992260 


41 


0.993361 


0.993285 


0. 993209 


0.993114 


0. 993019 


0. 992924 


0.992829 


0.992734 


0.992639 


42 


0. 99S702 


0. 993630 


0.99355S 


0. 993468 


0.993378 


0. 993288 


0.993198 


0. 993108 


0. 993018 


43 


0. 994043 


0. 993975 


0. 993907 


0. 993822 


0. 993737 


0. 993652 


0. 993567 


0. 993482 


0. 993397 


44 


0. 994384 


6. 994320 


0. 994256 


0.994176 


0. 994096 


0. 994016 


0. 993936 


0. 99.')866 


0. 993776 


45 


0. 994725 


0. 994665 


0. 994605 


0. 994530 


0. 994455 


0. 994380 


0. 994805 


0. 994230 


0. 994155 


46 


0.995066 


0. 995010 


0. 994954 


0.994884 


0.994815 


0. 994744 


0.984674 


0. 994604 


0. 994534 


47 


0. 995407 


0. 995355 


0. 995303 


0. 995238 


0. 995173 


0. 995108 


0. 995073 


0. 994878 


0. 994913 


48 


0. 995748 


0.995700 


0. 995652 


0. 995592 


0. 995532 


0. 995472 


0. 995412 


0. 995352 


0. 995292 


49 


6.996089 


0. 996045 


0. 996001 


0. 995946 


0. 995891 


0. 995836 


0.995781 


0.995726 


0. 996671 


50 


0. 996430 


0. 996390 


0. 996350 


0. 996300 


0. 996250 


0.996200 


0. 996160 


0. 996100 


0.996050 


51 


0.996787 


0.996751 


0.996715 


0.996670 


0.990625 


0.996580 


0. 996535 


0. 996490 


0. 996445 


52 


0. 997144 


0. 997112 


0. 997080 


0. 997040 


0. 997000 


■ 0.996960 


0. 996920 


0. 996880 


0. 996840 


53 


0. 997501 


0.997473 


0. 997445 


0. 997410 


0. 997375 


0. 997340 


0, 997305 


0.997270 


0.997235 


54 


0. 997858 


0.997834 


0. 997810 


0.997780 


0. 997750 


0. 9977 JO 


0.997690 


0. 997660 


0. 997630 


65 


0. 998215 


0. 998195 


0. 998175 


0. 993150 


0. 998125 


0. 998100 


0.998075 


0. 998050 


0. 998025 


66 


0. 998572 


0. 998556 


0. 998540 


0. 998520 


0. 998.i00 


0. 998480 


0. 998460 


0. 998440 


0. 998420 


57 


0. 998929 


0. 998917 


0.998905 


0. 998890 


0.998875 


0.998860 


0. 998845 


0. 998830 


0. 993815 


58 


0. 999286 


0. 999278 


0. 999270 


0. 999260 


0. 999250 


0. 999240 


0. 999230 


0. 999220 


0. 999210 


59 


0.999643 


0. 999639 


0. 999635 


0. 999630 


0. 999625 


0. 999620 


0. 909615 


0. 999610 


0. 999605 


60 


1. 000000 


1. 000000 


1. 000089 


1. 009000 


1. 000000 


1. 000000 


1. 000000 


1. 000000 


1. OOUOOO 


61 


1. 000374 


1. 000378 


1. 000382 


1. 000387 


1. 000392 


1. 000397 


1. 000402 


1. 000407 


1. 000412 


62 


1. 000748 


1.000756 


1. 000764 


1. 000774 


1. 000784 


1. 000794 


1. OO08C4 


1. 000814 


1. 000824 


63 


1. 001122 


1. 001134 


1. 001146 


1. 001161 


1. 001176 


1. 001191 


1. 001206 


1. 001221 


1.001236 


64 


1. 001496 


1. 001512 


1. 001528 


1. 001548 


1. 001568 


1. 001588 


1. 001608 


1.001628 


1. 001648 


63 


1.001870 


1.001890 


1. 001910 


1. 001935 


1. 001960 


1.001085 


1. 002010 


1.002035 


1. 002060 



THE NATURAL HISTORY OF PETROLEUM. 

TABLE OF EXPANSION OF THE WEST VIRGINIA NATURAL OILS— Continued. 



113 



DBGBBE8 OF GBAVITT. 


Degrees 
of tem- 
perature. 


370. 


3S°. 


3«=. 1 


40°. 


4|o. 


42°. 


430. 


440. 


45°. 


0. 978210 


0. 977850 


0.977490 1 


0. 977130 


0.976770 


0. 976390 


0. 976020 


0. 975660 


0. 975240 


Zero. 


0. 978537 


0. 978183 


0.977829 1 


0. 977475 


0. 977121 


0.976747 


0.976383 


0. 976029 


0. 975616 


1 


0. 978864 


0.978516 


0.978168 j 


0. 977820 


0. 977472 


0. 977104 


0. 976746 


0. 976398 


0. 975992 


2 


0. 979191 


0.978849 ! 


0. 978507 i 


0.978165 


0. 977823 


0. 977461 


0. 977109 


0. 976767 


0.976368 


3 


0.979518 


0. 979182 


0. 978846 ' 


0. 978510 


0.978174 


0.977818 


0. 977472 


0. 977136 


0.976744 


4 


0. 979845 


0.979515 1 


0. 979185 1 


0. 978855 j 


0. 978525 


0. 978175 


0. 977835 


0.977505 


0. 977120 


5 


0. 980172 


0.979848 ! 


0. 979524 


0.979200 1 


0. 978876 


0. 978532 


0. 978198 


0. 977874 


0.977496 


6 


0. 980499 


0. 980181 


0. 979863 


0. 979545 


0. 979227 


0. 078889 


0. 978561 


0. 978243 


0. 977872 


7 


0. 980826 


0. 980514 


0. 980202 1 


0. 979890 ' 


0. 979578 


0. 979246 


0. 978924 


0. 978612 


0.978248 


8 


0.981153 


0. 980847 


0. 980541 


0. 980235 1 


0. 979929 


0. 979603 


0. 979287 


0.978981 


0. 978624 


9 


0.981480 


e. 981180 


0. 980880 


0. 980580 


0. 980280 


0. 979960 


0. 979650 


0. 979350 


>0. 979000 


10 


0. 981821 


0. 981527 


0. 981233 


11. 980939 


0. 980645 


0. 980331 


0. 980027 


0. 979733 


0.979390 


11 


0. 982162 


0. 981874 


0.981.586 , 


0. 981298 1 


0. 981010 


0. 980702 


0. 980404 


0.980116 


0. 979780 


12 


0. 982503 


0. 982221 


0. 981939 


0.981657 1 


0. 981375 


0. 981073 


0. 980781 


0. 980499 


0. 980170 


13 


0.982844 


0.982568 


0. 982292 


0. 98201B 


0. 981740 


0. 981444 


0. 981158 


0. 980882 


0. 980560 


14 


0.983185 


0. 982915 


0. 982645 


0.982375 


0. 982105 


0. 981815 


0. 981535 


0. 981265 


0. 980950 


15 


0. 983526 


0. 983262 


0.982998 


0.982734 


0. 982470 


0. 982186 


■ 0. 981912 


0.981648 


0. 981340 


16 


0. 983867 


0. 983609 


0. 983351 


0. 983093 


0. 982835 


0. 982557 


0. 982289 


0. 982031 


0. 981730 


17 


0.S84208 


0.983956 


0. 983704 


11. 983452 


0. 983200 


0.982928 


0. 982666 


0. 982414 


0. 982120 


18 


0.984549 


0. 984303 


0.984057 


0.983811 


0. 983565 


0. 983299 


0. 983043 


0. 982797 


0. 982510 


19 


0. 984890 


0. 984650 


0.984410 


0. 984170 


0. 983930 


e. 983670 


0. 983420 


0. 983180 


0.982900 


20 


0. 985245 


0. 985011 


0. 984777 


0.984543 


0. 984309 


0. 984055 


0. 983811 


0. 9S3577 


0. 983304 


21 


0.985600 


0.985372 


0. 985144 ' 


0. 984916 


0. 984688 


0. 984440 


0. 984202 


0. 983974 


0.983708 


22 


0.985955 


%. 985733 


0.985.511 


0. 985269 


0. 985067 


0. 9S4825 


0. 984593 


0. 984371 


0.984112 


23 


0. 986310 


0. 986094 


6.985878 i 


0. 985662 


0. 985446 


0. 985210 


0. 984984 


0. 984768 


0. 984516 


24 


0. 986665 


0. 986455 


0. 986215 


0. 986035 


0. 985825 


0. 985595 


0. 985375 


0. 985165 


0. 984920 


25 


0. 987020 


0. 986816 


0. 986612 


0. 986408 


0. 986204 


0. 985980 


0. 985766 


0. 985562 


0. 985324 


26 


0. 987375 


0. 987177 


0.986979 


0. 986781 


0. 986.583 


0. 986365 


0. 986157 


0. 985959 


0. 985728 


27 


0. 987730 


0. 987538 


0. 987346 ^ 


0. 987154 


0. 986962 


0. 986750 


0. 986548 


0. 986356 


0.986132 


28 


0. 988085 


0. 987899 


0. 987713 


0. 987527 


0. 987341 


0. 987135 


0. 986939 


0. 986753 


0. 986536 


29 


0. 988440 


0. 98«260 


0. 988080 


0. 987900 


0. 987720 


0. 987520 


0. 987330 


0. 987150 


0. 986940 


30 


0. 988810 


0. 988636 


0. 988462 


0. 988288 


0. 988114 


0. 987920 


0. 987736 


0. 987562 


0. 987359 


31 


0. 989180 


0. 989012 


0.988844 ' 


0. 988676 


0. 988508 


0. 988320 


0. 988142 


0. 987974 


0. 987778 


32 


0. 989550 


0. 989388 


0. 989226 


0. 989064 


0. 988902 


0. 988720 


0. 988548 


0. 988386 


0.988197 


33 


0. 989920 


0. 989764 


0. 989608 


0. 989452 


0. 989296 


0. 989120 


0. 988954 


0.988798 


0.988616 


34 


0. 990290 


0. 990140 


0. 989990 


0. 989840 


0. 989690 


0. 989520 


0. 989360 


0.989210 


0. 989035 


35 


0. 990660 


0. 990516 


0. 990372 


0. 990228 


0.990084 


0. 989920 


0. 989766 


0.989622 


0.989454 


36 


0. 991030 


0. 990892 


0. 990754 


0, 990616 


0. 990478 


0. 990320 


0. 990172 


0. 990034 


0. 989873 


37 


0. 991400 


0. 991268 


0. 991136 


0. 991004 


0. 990872 


0. 990720 


0. 990578 


0.990446 


P. 990292 


38 


0. 991770 


0. 991644 


0. 991518 


0. 991392 


0. 991266 


0. 991120 


0. 990984 


0. 990858 


0. 990711 


39 


0.992140 


0. 992020 


0. 991900 


0. 991780 


0. 991660 


0. 991520 


0. 991390 


0. 991270 


0. 991130 


40 


0. 992525 


0.992411 


0. 992297 


0. 992183 


0. 992069 


0. 991936 


0. 991812 


0. 991698 


0.991565 


41 


0. 992910 


0. 992802 


0. 992694 


0. 992586 


0. 992478 


0. 992352 


0. 992234 


0. 992126 


0. 992000 


42 


0. 993295 


0. 993193 


0. 993091 


0. 992989 


0. 992887 


0. 992768 


0. 992656 


0. 992554 


0. 992435 


43 


0. 993680 


0. 993.'i84 


0. 993488 


0. 993392 


e. 993296 


0. 993184 


0. 993078 


0. 992982 


0. 992870 


44 


0. 994065 


0. 993975 


0. 993885 


0. 993795 


0. 993705 


0. 993600 


0. 993.500 


0. 993410 


0. 9E.3305 


45 


0. 994450 


0. 994366 


0. 994282 


0. 994198 


0. 994114 


0. 994016 


0. 993922 


0. 993838 


0.993740 


46 


0. 994835 


0. 994757 


0. 994679 


0. 994601 


0. 994523 


0. 994432 


0. 994344 


0. 994266 


0. 994175 


47 


0. 995220 


0.995148 


0. 995076 


0. 995004 


0. 994932 


0. 994848 


0. 994766 


0. 994694 


0. 994610 


48 


0. 995605 


0. 995539 


0. 995473 


0. 995407 


0. 995341 


0. 995264 


0. 995188 


0. 995122 


0. 996045 


49 


0. 995990 


0. 995930 


0. 995870 


0. 995810 


0. 995750 


0. 995680 


0. 995610 


0. 995550 


0. 995480 


50 


0. 996391 


0. 996337 


0. 996283 


0. 996229 


0. 996175 


0. 996112 


0. 996049 


0. 995995 


0. 995932 


51 


0. 996792 


0. 996744 


0. 996696 


0. 996648 


0. 99G600 


0. 996544 


0. 906488 


0. 996440 


0.996384 


52 


0. 997193 


0.997151 


0. 997109 


0. 997067 


0. 997025 


0. 996976 


0. 996927 


11. 996885 


0. 996836 


53 


0. 997594 


0. 997558 


0. 997.522 


0. 997486 


0. 997450 


0. 997408 


0.997366 


0. 997330 


0. 997288 


54 


0. 997995 


0. 997965 


0. 997935 


0. 997905 


0. 997875 


0. 997840 


0. 997805 


0. 997775 


0. 997740 


55 


0. 998396 


0. 998372 


0. 998348 


0. 998324 


0. 998300 


0. 998272 


1 0. 998244 


0. 998220 


0. 998192 


56 


0. 998797 


0. 998779 


0. 998761 


0. 998743 


0. 998725 


0. 998704 


0. 998683 


0. 998665 


0. 998644 


57 


0. 999198 


0. 999186 


0. 999174 


0. 999162 


0. 999150 


0. 999136 


' 0. 999122 


0. 999110 


0. 999096 


58 


0. 999599 


0. 999593 


0. 999587 


0. 999581 


0. 999.575 


0. 999568 


0. 999561 


0. 999555 


0. 999548 


59 


1. 000000 


1. 000000 


1. 000000 


1. 000000 


1. 000000 


1. 000000 


1. 000000 


1. 0( 0000 


1. 000000 


00 


1. 000418 


1. 000424 


1. 000430 


1. 000436 


1. 000442 


1. 000449 


j 1. 000456 


1. 000463 


1. 000470 


61 


1. 000836 


1. 000848 


1. 000860 


1. 000872 


1. 000884 


: 1.000898 


, 1. 000912 


1. 000926 


1. 000940 


62 


1.001254 


1. 001272 


1. 001290 


1. 001308 


1. 001326 


1.001347 


1. 001368 


' 1. 001389 


1. 001410 


63 


1. 001672 


1. 001696 


1. 001720 


1.001744 


1. 001768 


1. 001796 


1. 001824 


1 1. 001852 


1. 001880 


64 


1. 002090 


1. 002120 


1. 002150 


1. 002160 


1. 002210 


1. 002245 


1 1. 002280 


1. 002315 


1. 002350 


66 


VOL. ] 


[X 8 



















114 



PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 

TABLE OF EXPANSION OF THE WEST VIRGINIA NATUEAL OILS— Continued. 



Degrees 
of tem- 








DKGIIKES OF GEAVITl". 




























perature. 


28°. 


29°. 


30°. 


81°. 


32°. 


33°. 


34°. 


36°. 


36°. 


66 


1.002244 


1. 002288 


1. 002292 


1. 002322 


1. 002352 


1. 002382 


1. 002412 


1. 002442 


1.002472 


67 


1. 002618 


1. 002646 


1. 002674 


1. 002709 


1. 002744 


1. 002779 


1. 002814 


1. 002849 


1. 002884 


68 


1. 002992 


1. 003024 


1. 003056 


1. 003096 


1. 003136 


1. 003176 


1. 003216 


1. 003256 


1. 003296 


69 


1. 003366 


1. 003402 


1. 003438 


1. 003483 


1. 003528 


1. 003573 


1. 003618 


1. 003663 


1. 003708 


70 


1. 003740 


1. 003780 


1. 003820 


1. 003870 


1. 003920 


1. 003970 


1. 004020 


1. 004070 


1. 004120 


71 


1. 004131 


1. 004175 


1. 004219 


1. 004274 


1. 004329 


1. 004384 


1. 004439 


1.094495 


1. 004550 


72 


1. 004522 


1. 004570 


1. 004618 


1. 004678 


1. 004738 


1. 004798 


1. 004858 


1. 004920 


1. 004980 


73 


1. 004913 


1. 004965 


1. 005017 


1. 005082 


1. 005147 


1. 005212 


1. 005277 


1. 005345 


1.005410 


74 


1. 005304 


1. 005360 


1.005416 


1. 005486 


1. 005656 


1. 005626 


1. 005696 


1. 005770 


1. 305840 


75 


1. 005695 


1. 005755 


1. 005815 


1. 005890 


1. 005965 


1. 006040 


1. 006115 


1. 006195 


.. 006270 


76 


1. 006086 


1.006150 


1. 006214 


1. 006294 


1. 006374 


1. 006454 


1. 000534 


1. 006620 


1. 006700 


77 


I. 006477 


1.006545 


1. 006613 


1. 006698 


1. 006783 


1. 006868 


1. 006953 


1. 007045 


1. 007130 


78 


1. 006868 


1.006940 


1. 007012 


1. 007102 


1. 007192 


1. 007282 


1. 007372 


1. 007470 


1. 007560 


79 


1. 007259 


1. 007335 


1. 007411 


1. 007506 


1. 007601 


1. 007696 


1. 007791 


1. 007895 


1. 007990 


80 


1. 007650 


1. 007730 


1. 007810 


1. 007919 


1. 008010 


1. 008110 


1. 008210 


1. 008320 


1. 008420 


81 


1. 008058 


1. 008142 


1. 008226 


1. 008331 


I. 008437 


1. 008542 


1. 008647 


1. 008763 


1. 008869 


82 


1. 008466 


1. 008554 


1. 008642 


1. 008752 


1. 008864 


1. 808974 


1. 009084 


1. 009206 


1.009318 


83 


1. 008874 


1. 008966 


1. 009058 


1. 009173 


1. 009291 


1. 009406 


1. 009521 


1. 009649 


1. 009767 


Si 


1. 009282 


1. 009378 


1. 009474 


. 1. 009594 


1. 009718 


1. 009838 


1. 009958 


1. 010092 


1. 010216 


85 


1. 009690 


1. 009790 


1. 009890 


1. 010015 


1. 010145 


1. 010270 


1. 010393 


1.010535 


1. 010665 


86 


1. 910098 


1. 010202 


1. 010306 


1. 010436 


1. 010572 


1. 010702 


1. 010832 


1. 010978 


1. 011114 


■ 87 


1. 010506 


1. 010614 


1. 010722 


1. 010857 


1. 010999 


1. 011134 


1. 011269 


1. 011421 


1. 011563 


88 


1. 010914 


1. 011026 


1. 011138 


1. 011278 


1. 011426 


1. 011566 


1. 011706 


1.011804 


1.012012 


89 


1. 011322 


1. 011438 


1. 011554 


1. 011699 


1. 011853 


1. 011998 


1.012143 


1. 012307 


1. 012461 


90 


1. 011730 


1. 011850 


1. 011970 


1. 012120 


1. 012280 


1. 612430 


1. 012580 


1. 012750 


1. 012910 


91 


1. 0121!)5 


1. 012279 


1. 012404 


1. 012359 


1. 012725 


1. 012880 


1. 01S035 


1. 013212 


1. 013378 


92 


1. 012580 


1. 012708 


1. 012838 


1. 012998 


1. 013170 


1. 013330 


1. 013490 


1. 013674 


1. 013846 


93 


1. 013005 


1. 013137 


1.013272 


1. 013437 


1. 013615 


1. 013780 


1. 013945 


1. 014136 


1. 014314 


94 


1. 013430 


1. 013566 


1. 013706 


1. 013876 


1. 014060 


1. 014230 


1. 014400 


1. 014598 


1. 014782 


95 


1.013855 


1. 013995 


1. 014140 


1. 014315 


1. 014505 


1. 014680 


1. 014855 


1. 015060 


1. 015230 


96 


1. 014280 


1. 014424 


1. 014574 


1. 014754 


1. 014930 


1.015130 


1.015310 


1. 015522 


1. 015718 


97 


1. 034705 


1. 014853 


1. 015008 


1.015193 


1. 015395 


1. 015580 


1. 015765 


1. 015984 


1.016186 


98 


1. 015130 


1. 015282 


1. 015442 


1. 015632 


1. 015840 


1. 016030 


1. 016220 


1. 016446 


1.016654 


99 


1. 015555 


1.015711 


1. 015876 


1. 016071 


1. 016285 


1. 016480 


1. 0M675 


1. 016908 


1. 017122 


100 


1. 015960 


1. 016140 


1. 016310 


1. 016510 


1. 016730 


1. 010930 


1. 017130 


1. 017370 


1.O17590 


101 


1. 016422 


1. 016587 


1. 016762 


1. 016967 


1. 017193 


1. 017399 


1.017644 


1. 017851 


1. 018077 


102 


1. 016864 


1. 017034 


1. 017214 


1. 017424 


1. 017650 


1. 017868 


1. 018078 


1. 018332 


1. 018564 


103 


1. 017306 


1. 017481 


1. 017666 


1. 017881 


1. 018119 


1. 018337 


1. 018552 


1. 018813 


1. 019051 


104 


1. 017748 


1. 017928 


1. 018118 


1. 018338 


1. 018582 


1. 018806 


1. 019026 


1. 019294 


1. 019538 


105 


1.018100 


1. 018375 


1. 018570 


1. 018795 


1. 019043 


1. 019275 


1. 019500 


1. 019775 


1. 020025 


106 


1. 018632 


1. 018822 


1. 019022 


1. 019252 


1. 019508 


1. 019744 


1. 019974 


1. 020256 


1. 020512 


107 


1.019074 


1. 019269 


1. 019470 


1. 010709 


1. 019971 


1.020213 


1. 020448 


1. 020737 


1. 020999 


108 


1. 919516 


1. 019716 


1. 019926 


1. 020106 


1. 020434 


1. 020682 


1. 020922 


1. 021218 


1. 021486 


109 


1. 019958 


1. 020163 


1. 020378 


1. 020623 


1. 020897 


1. 021151 


1.021396 


1. 021699 


1. 021973 


110 


1. 020400 


1. 020610 


1. 020830 


1. 021080 


1. 021360 


1. 021620 


1. 021870 


. 1. 022180 


1.022460 


111 


1. 020860 


1. 021075 


1. 021300 


1. 021556 


1. 021842 


1. 022108 


1. 022363 


1. 022680 


1. 022967 


112 


1. 021320 


1. 021540 


1. 021770 


1. 022032 


1. 022324 


1. 022596 


1. 022856 


1. 023180 


1. 023474 


113 


1. 021780 


1. 022005 


1. 022240 


1. 022508 


1. 022806 


1. 023084 


1. 023349 


1. 023680 


1. 023981 


114 


1. 022240 


1. 022470 


1. 022710 


1. 022984 


1. 023288 


1. 023372 


1. 023842 


1. 024180 


1.024488 


115 


1. 022700 


1. 022935 


1. 023180 


1. 023460 


1. 023770 


1.024060 


1. 024335 


1. 024680 


1. 024995 


116 


1. 023160 


1. 023400 


1. 023660 


1. 023936 


1. 024252 


1. 024548 


1.024828 


1.025180 


1. 025502 


117 


1. 023620 


1. 023865 


1.024120 


1. 024412 


1. 024734 


1. 025036 


1. 025321 


1. 0256S0 


1. 026009 


118 


1. 024080 


1. 024330 


1. 024590 


1. 024888 


1. 025216 


1. 025524 


1.025814 


1. 026180 


1. 026516 


119 


1. 024540 


1. 024795 


1. 025060 


1. 025364 


1. 025098 


1. 026012 


1. 026307 


1. 020680 


1. 027023 


120 


1.025000 


1. 025260 


1. 025530 


1. 025840 


1. 026180 


1. 026300 


1. 026800 


1. 027180 


1. 027530 


121 


1. 025478 


1. C25743 


1. 026019 


1. 026335 


1. 026681 


1. 027007 


1. 027313 


1. 027700 


1. 028057 


122 


1. 025966 


1. 026226 


1. 026508 


1. 026830 


1.027182 


1.027514 


1. 027826 


1. 028220 


1. 028584 


123 


1. 0«6'i34 


1. 020709 


1. 026097 


1. 027325 


1. 027683 


1. 02S021 


1. 028339 


1. 028740 


1. 029111 


124 


1. 020912 


1. 027192 


1. 027486 


1. 027820 


1. 028184 


1.028328 


1. 028852 


1. 029260 


1. 029638 


125 


1. 027390 


1. 027G75 


1. 027975 


1. 028315 


1. 028085 


1. 029033 


1. 029365 


1.029780 


1. 030165 


126 


1. 027868 


1. 02S15S 


1. 028464 


1, 028810 


1.029186 


1. 029542 


1. 029878 


1. 030300 


1. 030692 


127 


1. 028346 


1. 028641 


1. 028953 


1. 029305 


1. 029087 


1. 030049 


1. 030391 


1. 030820 


1. 031219 


128 


1. 028824 


1. 020124 


1. 029442 


1. 029800 


1. 030188 


1. 030556 


1. 030904 


1. 031340 


1. 031746 


129 


1. 029302 


1. 029607 


1.029931 


1. 030295 


1. 030689 


1.031063 


1. 031417 


1. 031860 


1. 032273 


130 


1. 029780 


1. 030090 


1. 030420 


1.030790 


1. 031190 


1. 031570 


1. 031930 


1. 032380 


1. 032800 



THE NATURAL HISTORY OF PETROLEUM. 

TABLE OF EXPANSION OF THE WEST VIRGINIA NATURAL OILS— Continued. 



115 









DEOREEB OF GRAVITT. 










Degrees 
of tem. 
peratuiv. 


370. 


3SO. 


3',P. 


40°. 


41°. 


42°. 


430. 


44°. 


45°. 


1. 002508 


1.002544 


1. 002580 


1. 002616 


1. 002652 


1. 002694 


1. 002736 


1. 002778 


1. 002820 


66 


1. 002926 


1. 002968 


1. 003010 


1. 003052 


1. 003OO4 


1. 003143 


1.003192 


1. 003241 


1. 003290 


67 


1. 003344 


1. 003392 


1. 003440 


1. 003488 


1. 003536 


1. 003592 


1. 003648 


1. 003704 


1. 003760 


68 


1. 003762 


1. 003816 


1. 003870 


1. 003924 


1. 003978 


1. 004041 


1. 004104 


1. 004167 


1. 004230 


69 


1. 004180 


1. 004240 


1. 004300 


1. 004360 


1. 004420 


1.004490 


1. 004560 


1. 004630 


1. 004700 


70 


1. 004616 


1. 004682 


1. 004748 


1. 004814 


1. 004880 


1. 004957 


1. 005034 


1. 006112 


1. 005189 


71 


1. 005052 


1. 001124 


1. 005196 


1. oo.Kes 


1. 005349 


1. 005424 


1. 005508 


1. 005592 


1. 005678 


72 


1. 005488 


1. 005566 


1. 005644 


I. 005722 


1. 005800 


I. 005891 


1. 005982 


1. 006076 


1. 006167 


73 


1. 005924 


1. 006008 


1. 006092 


L 006176 


1. 006260 


1. 006358 


1. 006456 


1. 006658 


1. 006636 


74 


1. 006360 


1. 0064.'iO 


1. 006540 


1. 006630 


1. 006720 


1. 000825 


1. 006930 


1. 007040 


1.007145 


75 


1. 006796 


I. 006892 


1. 006988 


1. 007084 


1. 007180 


1. 007292 


1. 007404 


1. 007522 


1. 007634 


76 


1. 007232 


1. 007334 


1. 007436 


1. 007538 


1. 007640 


1. 007759 


1. 007878 


1. 008004 


1. 008123 


77 


1. 007C68 


1. 007776 


1. 007RS4 


1. 007992 


1. 008100 


1. 008226 


1. 008352 


1. 008486 


1. 008612 


78 


1. 008104 


1. 008218 


1. 008332 


1. 008446 


1. 008560 


1. 008693 


1. 008826 


1. 008968 


1. 009101 


79 


1. 008540 


1. 008660 


1. 008780 


1. 008900 


1. 009020 


1. 009160 


1. 009300 


1 009460 


1. 009590 


80 


1. 008995 


1. 009121 


1. 009247 


1. 00S373 


1. 009499 


1. 009646 


1. 009793 


1. 009951 


1. 010099 


81 


1. 009450 


1. 009582 


1. 009714 


1. 009840 


1. 009978 


1.010132 


1. 010286 


1. 010452 


1. 010608 


82 


1. 009905 


1. 010043 


1. 010181 


1.010319 


1. 010457 


1. 010618 


1.010779 


1. 010953 


1.011117 


83 


1.010360 


1.010504 


1. 010648 


1. 010792 


1. 010936 


1.011104 


1. 011272 


1. 011464 


1. 011626 


84 


1. 010815 


1. 010965 


1.011115 


1. 011265 


1. 011415 


1.011590 


,1.011765 


1.011955 


1. 012135 


83 


1. 011270 


1. 011426 


1.011582 


1. 011738 


1. 011894 


1. 012076 


1. 012258 


1. 012456 


1. 012644 


86 


1. 011725 


1.011887 


1.012049 


1.012211 


1. 012373 


1. 012562 


1. 012751 


1. 012957 


1. 013163 


87 


1. 012180 


1. 012348 


1. 012516 


1. 012684 


1. 012852 


1. 013048 


1. 013244 


1. 013458 


1. 013662 


88 


1. 012635 


1. 012809 


1. 012983 


1. 013157 


1. 013331 


1. 013534 


1. 013737 


1. 013959 


1. 014171 


89 


1. 013090 


1. 013270 


1. 013450 


1. 013630 


1.013810 


1. 014020 


1. 014230 


1. 014460 


1. 014680 


90 


1. 013564 


1. 013750 


1. 013937 


1. 014123 


1. 014309 


1. 014526 


1. 014743 


1. 014981 


1. 015209 


91 


1. 014038 


1. 014230 


1. 014424 


1. 014016 


1. 014808 


1. 015032 


1. 015256 


1. «I5.i02 


1. 015738 


92 


1. 014512 


1. 014710 


1. 014911 


1. 015109 


1. 015307 


1. 015538 


1. 015769 


1. 016023 


1. 016267 


93 


1. 014986 


1. 015190 


1. 016398 


1. 015602 


1. 015806 


I. 016044 


1. 016283 


1. 016544 


1. 016796 


94 


1. 0154«0 


1. 015670 


1. 015885 


1. 016095 


1.016305 


1. 016550 


1. 016795 


1. 017066 


1. 017326 


95 


1. 015934 


1. 016150 


1. 016372 


1. 016588 


1. 016804 


1. 017056 


1. 017308 


1. 017586 


1. 017864 


96 


1. 016408 


1. 016630 


1. 016859 


1. 017081 


1. 017303 


1. 017562 


1. 017821 


1. 018107 


1. 018383 


97 


1. 016882 


1. 017110 


1. 017346 


1. 017574 


1. 017802 


1. 018068 


1. 018334 


1. 018628 


1. 018912 


98 


1. 017356 


1. 017590 


1. 017833 


1. 018067 


1. 018301 


1. 018574 


1. 018847 


1. 019149 


1. 019441 


99 


1. 017830 


1. 018070 


1. 018320 


1. 018560 


1. 018800 


1. 019080 


1. 019360 


1. 019670 


1. 019970 


100 


1. 018324 


1.018570 


1. 018827 


1. 019073 


1. 019320 


1. 019607 


1. 019894 


1. 020212 


1. 020520 


101 


1. 018818 


1.0J9070 


1. 019334 


1. 019586 


1. 019840 


1. 020134 


1. 020428 


1. 020754 


1.021070 


102 


1. 019312 


1. 019570 


1. 019841 


1. 020099 


1. 020360 


1. 020061 


1. 020962 


1. 021296 


1. 021620 


103 


1. 019806 


1. 020070 


1. 020348 


1. 020612 


1. 020880 


1. 021088 


1. 031496 


1. 021838 


1. 022170 


104 


1. 020300 


1. 020570 


1. 020835 


1.021125 


1.021400 


1. 021716 


1. 022030 


1. 022380 


1. 022720 


105 


1. 020794 


L 021070 


1.021362 


1. 021638 


1. 021920 


1. 022242 


1. 022564 


1.022922 


1.023270 


106 


1. 021288 


1. 021570 


1. 021869 


1. 022151 


1. 022440 


1. 022769 


1. 023098 


1. 023464 


1. 023820 


107 


1. 021782 


1. 022070 


1. 022376 


1. 022664 


1. 022960 


1.023296 


1. 023632 


1. 024006 


1. 024370 


108 


1. 022276 


1. 022570 


1. 022883 


1. 023177 


1. 023480 


1. 023823 


1. 024166 


1. 024648 


1. 024920 


109 


1.022770 


1. 023070 


1. 023390 


1. 023690 


1. 024000 


1. 024350 


1. 024700 


1. 026090 


1. 023470 


110 


1.023284 


1. 023590 


1.023017 


1. 024224 


1. 024541 


1. 024899 


1. 025256 


1. 025654 


1. 026042 


111 


1. 023798 


1. 024110 


1. 024444 


1.024758 


1. 0250f2 


1. 025448 


1. 025812 


1. 026218 


1. 026614 


112 


1. 024312 


1.024630 


1. 024971 


1.025292 


1. 025623 


1. 025997 


1. 026368 


1. 026782 


1. 027186 


113 


1. 024826 


1. 025150 


1. 025498 


1. 025820 


1. 026164 


1. 026546 


1. 026924 


1. 027346 


1. 027758 


114 


1. 025340 


1. 025670 


1. 026025 


1. 026360 


1. 026705 


1. 027095 


1. 027480 


1. 027910 


1. 028330 


115 


1. 025854 


1. 026190 


1. 026552 


1. 026894 


1. 027246 


1. 027644 


1. 028036 


1. 028474 


1. 02S902 


116 


1.026368 


1. 020710 


1. 027079 


1. 027428 


1. 027787 


1. 028193 


1. 028592 


1. 029038 


1. 029474 


117 


1. 026882 


1. 027230 


1. 027606 


1. 027962 


1. 028328 


1. 028742 


1. 029148 


1. 020602 


1. 030046 


118 


1, o::7306 


1. 027750 


1. 028138 


1. 028496 


1. 02SS69 


1. 039291 


1. 029704 


1. 030166 


1. 03001S 


119 


1.027910 


1. 028270 


1. 028660 


1. 029030 


1. 029410 


1. 029840 


1. 030260 


1. 030730 


1. 031190 


120 


1.028444 


1. 028811 


1. 029208 


1. 020585 


1. 029973 


1.030411 


1. 0tU839 


1.031317 


1. 0317S5 


121 


l.l''J8978 


1. 029352 


1. 029756 


1. 030140 


1. 030536 


1. 030982 


1. 031418 


1. 031904 


1. 032380 


122 


1. U2B512 


1. 029893 


1. 030304 


1. 080695 


1. 031099 


1. 031553 


1. 031997 


1. 032491 


1. 032973 


123 


1. 030046 


1. 030434 


1. 030852 


1. 031250 


1. 031662 


1. 032124 


1. 032576 


I. 033078 


1. 033370 


124 


1. 0303f 


1. 030075 


1.031400 


1. 031805 


1. 032225 


1. 032695 


1. 033155 


1. 033605 


1.034163 


123 


1.031114 


1. 031516 


1. 031948 


1. 032360 


1. 032788 


1. 033266 


1. 033734 


1. 034252 


1. 034760 


126 


1. 031648 


1. 032057 


1. 032496 


1. 032915 


1. 033351 


1.033837, 


1. 034313 


1. 034839 


1. 033363 


127 


1.032182 


1. 033598 


1. 033044 


1. 033470 


1. 033914 


1. 034408 


1. 034892 


1. 035420 


1. 035950 


128 


1. 032716 


1.033139 


1. 033592 


1. 034025 


1. 03447T 


1. 034979 


1. 035471* 


1. 036013 


1.036543 


129 


1. 033250 


1. 033680 


1. 034140 


1. 034580 


1. 035040 


1. 035530 


1. 036050 


1. 036600 


1. 037140 


130 



116 



PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 



TABLES FOE THE EAPID AND EXACT COMPUTATION OF THE NUMBEfi OF GALLONS CONTAINED 
IN ANY GIVEN WEIGHT OF OIL OE OTHEE LIQUID LIGHTEE THAN WATEE, WITHOUT 
MEASUEING OE GAUGING. 

ABBAJfaED WITM SPEOIAL BEFEBENOE TO THE WANTS OF TBE PETBOLEUM TBADE. 

By S. A. Lattimore, A. M., Professor of Chemistry in the University of Bochester, Neic York. 

Instructions for the use of the tables. — Ascertain the net weight of the oil or other fluid by the balance. The gravity is to 
be next accurately ascectained by means of a correct hydrometer, the temperature of the fluid being 60° F. and the line of the scale just 
beloTf the surface being taken. Turn to the page on which that gravity is given. In the first column find the number of pounds. 
OiJposite this number, in the column for the proper gravity, will be found the corresponding number of gallons, tenths and hundredths. 
If the exact number of pounds does not occur, take the nearest smaller number, then the number next less than the remainder, and so on, 
until the sum of these several numbers is the exact number of pounds required. 

Example. 

In 2,384 pounds of oil of 45° B., how many gallons ? 

Grallons. 

3, 000 pounds 300.08 

300 pounds 45.01 

80 pounds 12.00 

4 pounds 0. GO 

2, 384 pounds 357.69 



An additional series of tables is given embracing the more common gravities of petroleum products and the range of the number of 
gallons ordinarily contained in a single cask. Find the page for the required gravity, and opposite the net weight will be found the exact 
number of gallons contained in the cask. 

DEGREES OF BAUMfi'S HYDROMETER. 



Pounds. 


15°. 


16°. 


17°. 


18°. 


19°. 


20°. 


21°. 


22°. 


23°. 


24°. 


25°. 


26°. 


27°. 


28°. 




GaUtms. 


OaUoTis. 


QdllonB. 


Qallom. 


Gallons. 


GaUona. 


Gallons. 


Gallons. 


GaUona. 


Gallons. 


Gallons. 


Gallons. 


Gallons. 


Gallons. 


1 


0.12 


0.13 


0.13 


0.13 


0.13 


0.13 


0.13 


0.13 


0.13 


0.13 


0.13 


0.13 


0.14 


0.14 


2 


0.25 


0.25 


0.25 


0.25 


0.26 


0.26 


0.26 


0.26 


0.26 


0.26 


,0.27 


0.27 


0.27 


0.27 


3 


0.37 


0.38 


0.38 


0.38 


0.38 


0.39 


0.39 


0.39 


0.39 


0.40 


0.40 


0.40 


0.40 


0.41 


4 


0.50 


0.50 


0.50 


0.51 


0.51 


0.62 


0.62 


0.52 


0.63 


0.53 


0.53 


0.54 


0.64 


0.54 


5 


0.62 


0.63 


0.63 


0.63 


0.64 


0.64 


0.65 


0.65 


0.66 


0.66 


0.66 


0.67 


0.07 


0.68 


6 


0.75 


0.76 


0.76 


0.76 


0.77 


0.77 


0.78 


0.78 


0.79 


0.79 


0.60 


0.80 


0.81 


0.81 


7 


0,87 


0.88 


0.88 


0.89 


0.89 


0.90 


0.91 


0.91 


0.92 


0. 92 


0.93 


0.94 


0.94 


0.95 


8 


1.00 


1.00 


1.01 


1.02 


1.02 


1.03 


1.04 


1.04 


LOS 


1.06 


1.06 


1.07 


1.08 


LOS 


9 


1.12 


1.13 


1.13 


1.14 


1.15 


1.16 


1.17 


1.17 


1.18 


1.20 


1.20 


L20 


1.21 


1.22 


10 


L24 


1.25 


1.26 


1.27 


1.28 


1.29 


1.30 


1.30 


L31 


L32 


L33 


L34 


1.35 


1.35 


20 


2.49 


2.50 


2.52 


2.54 


2.56 


2.57 


2.58 


2.61 


2.62 


2.64 


2.66 


2.63 


2.69 


2.71 


30 


3.73 


3.76 


3.78 


3.81 


3.83 


3.86 


3.88 


3.91 


3.94 


3.96 


3.99 


4.01 


4.04 


4.06 


40 


4.97 


5.01 


5.04 


5.08 


5.11 


5.16 


5.18 


5.21 


5.25 


5.28 


5.31 


5.35 


5.38 


6.43 


50 


6.22 


6.26 


6.30 


6.34 


6.39 


6.43 


6.47 


6.52 


6.56 


6.60 


6.64 


6.69 


6.73 


6.77 


60 


7.46 


7.51 


7.58 


7.61 


7.67 


7.72 


7.77 


7.82 


7.87 


7.92 


7.97 


8.03 


8.08 


8.13 


70 


8.70 


8.76 


8.82 


8.88 


8.94 


9.00 


9.06 


9.12 


9.18 


9.24 


9.30 


9.36 


9.42 


9.48 


80 


9.95 


10.01 


10.08 


10.15 


10.22 


10.29 


10.36 


10.43 


10.49 


10.66 


10.63 


10.70 


10.77 


10.84 


90 


11.19 


11.27 


11.34 


11.42 


11.50 


11.58 


11.65 


11.73 


U.81 


11.98 


11.96 


12.04 


12.12 


12.19 


100 


12.43 


12.52 


12.61 


12.69 


12.78 


12.86 


12.95 


13.03 


13.12 


13.21 


13.29 


13.38 


13.46 


13.55 


200 


24.87 


25.04 


25.21 


25.38 


25.55 


25.72 


25.84 


26.07 


26.24 


26.41 


26.67 


26.75 


26.92 


27.10 


300 


37.30 


37.55 


37.81 


38.07 


38.33 


38.58 


38.84 


39.10 


39.36 


39.62 


39.86 


40.13 


40.38 


40.64 


400 


49.73 


30.07 


50.42 


60.76 


5L11 


51.45 


5L79 


52.13 


62.47 


52.82 


53.15 


63.60 


53.86 


54.19 


500 


62.16 


62.59 


63.02 


03.45 


63.88 


64.31 


64.74 


65.16 


65.59 


, 66. 03 


66.45 


66.88 


67.30 


67.74 


1,000 


124.32 


125. 18 


126. 05 


126. 90 


127.76 


128. 61 


129. 47 


130. 33 


131. 18 


132. 06 


132. 87 


133. 76 


134.61 


135. 48 


2,000 


248.65 


250.36 


252. 09 


253.80 


255. 63 


257. 22 


258. 94 


260. 66 


262. 37 


264. 10 


265.73 


267. 52 


269. 22 


270. 96 


3,000 


372. 97 


375. 54 


378. 13 


380. 69 


383.29 


385.84 


388.42 


390. 99 


393. 55 


396. 15 


398. 60 


401. 28 


403. 83 


406. 43 


4,000 


497. 29 


500. 71 


504. 18 


507. 59 


51L 06 


514. 45' 


617. 89 


521. 31 


524. 73 


528. 20 


53L47 


635. 03 


538. 45 


541.91 


5,000 


621. 61 


625. 89 


630.23 


634.49 


638.81 


643.06 


647. 36 


651. 64 


655. 92 


660. 25 


664.34 


668.79 


673. 06 


677. 39 


10, 000 


1, 243. 22 


1, 251. 78 


1,260.46 


1, 208. 99 


1, 277. 63 


1, 286. 12 


1, 294. 72 


1,303.29 


1,311.84 


1, 320. 50 


1,328.67 


1. 337. 58 


1, 346. 11 


1,354.78 


20, 000 


2, 486. 45 


2, 503. 57 


2, 520. 92 


2, 637. 97 


2, 555. 26 


2, 672. 24 


2, 589. 43 


2,600.58 


2, 623. 67 


2, 641. 00 


2, 657. 36 


2, 675. 15 


2, 693. 22 


2, 709. 56 



THE NATURAL HISTORY OF PETROLEUM. 



117 



DEGREES OF BAUME'S HYDROMETER— C'ontiLued. 



Pounds. 


29°. 


3(.. 


31.. 


32=. 


3»°. 


34=. 


35°. 


36°. 


37". 


38=. 


30°. 


40°. 


41°. 42 




aaUons. 


Gallons. 


Gallons. 


GaUons. 


OaOms. 


Gallons. 


GaUons. 


Gallons. 


GalloTis. 


Gallons. 


Gallons. 


GaUons. 


Gallons. 


Gal 


1 


0.14 


0.14 


0.J4 


0.14 


0.14 


0.14 


0.14 


0.14 


0.14 


0.14 


0.14 


0.15 


0.15 




2 


0.27 


0.27 


0.28 


0.28 


0.28 


0.28 


0.28 


0.28 


0.29 


0.29 


0.29 


0.29 


0.29 




3 


0.41 


0.41 


0.41 


0.42 


0.42 


0.42 


0.43 


0.43 


0.43 


0.43 


0.43 


0.44 


0.44 




4 


0.55 


0.55 


0.56 


0.56 


0.56 


0.56 


0.57 


0.57 


0.57 


0.58 


0.58 


0.58 


0.59 




5 


0.68 


0.69 


0.69 


0.69 


0.70 


0.70 


0.71 


0.71 


0.72 


0.72 


0.72 


0.73 


0.73 




ei 


0.82 


0.82 


0.83 


0.83 


0.84 


0.84 


0.85 


0.85 


0.86 


0.86 


0.87 


0.88 


0.88 




7 1 


0.95 


0.96 


0.97 


0.97 


0.98 


0.98 


0.99 


1.00 


1.00 


l.Ol 


1.01 


1.02 


1.03 




8 


1.09 


1.10 


1.10 


1.11 


1.12 


1.13 


1.13 


1.14 


1.15 


1.15 


1.16 


,1.17 


1.17 




9 ' 


1.23 


1.24 


1.24 


1.25 


1.26 


1.27 


1.27 


1.28 


1.29 


1.30 


1.30 


1.30 


1.32 




10 ' 


1.36 


1.37 


1.38 


^ 1.39 


1.40 


*'1.40 


1.41 


1.42- 


1.43 


1.44 


1.45 


1.46 


1.47 




20 


2.73 


2.74 


2.76 


2.78 


2.80 


2.81 


2.83 


2.85 


2.87 


2.88 


2.90 


2.92 


2.93 




30 ' 


4.09 


4.12 


4.14 


4.17 


4.19 


4.22 


4.25 


4.27 


4.30 


4.32 


4.35 


4.37 


4.40 




40 


5.45 


5.49 


5.52 


5.56 


5.59 


5.63 


5.66 


5.69 


5.73 


5.76 


5.80 


5.83 


5.86 




50 i 


6.82 


6.86 


6.90 


6.94 


6.99 


7.03 


7.07 


7.12 


7.16 


7.20 


7.24 


7.29 


7.33 




60 


8.18 


8.23 


8.28 


8.33 


8.39 


8 44 


8.49 


8.54 


8.60 


8.64 


8.69 


8.75 


8.80 




70 


9.53 


9.66 


9.66 


9.72 


9.78 


9.84 


9.91 


9.96 


10.03 


10.08 


10.14 


10.20 


10.26 




80 


10.91 


10.97 


11.04 


11.11 


11.18 


11.25 


11.33 


11.39 


11.46 


11.52 


11.59 


11.66 


H.73 




90 


12.27 


12.35 


12.42 


12.50 


12.58 


12.66 


12.73 


12.81 


12.89 


12.96 


13.04 


13.12 


13.20 




100 


13.63 


13.72 


13.80 


13.89 


13.98 


14.06 


14.15 


14.23 


14.33 


14.40 


14.49 


14.58 


14.66 




200 


27.27 


27.44 


27.61 


27.78 


27.95 


28.12 


28.30 


28.47 


28.65 


28.81 


28.98 


29.16 


29.32 




300 


40.90 


41.15 


41.42 


41.67 


41.93 


42.19 


42.45 


42.70 


42.98 


43.21 


43.46 


43.73 


43.98 




400 


54.53 


54.87 


55. 22 


55.56 


55.91 


56.25 


56.60 


56.93 


57.30 


57.62 


57.95 


58.31 


58.65 




500 


68.16 


68.59 


69.02 


69.45 


69.88 


70.31 


70.74 


71.17 


71.63 


72.02 


72.44 


72.89 


72.31 




1,000 


136.33 


137. 18 


. 138. 05 


138.91 


139.77 


140.62 


141. 43 


142. 34 


143.26 


144.04 


144.88 


145.77 


146.61 


1 


2,000 


272.65 


274. 36 


276. 10 


277.81 


279.54 


281. 24 


282. 97 


284.67 


286. 51 


288.09 


289. 76 


291. 55 


293. 23 


2 


3,000 j 


408. 97 


411.54 


414. 14 


416. 71 


419. 30 


421. 87 


424.44 


427. 02 


429. 78 


432. 12 


434.64 


437. 31 


439.84 


4 


4,000 ! 


545.30 


548.72 


552. 10 


555. 62 


559. 07 


562. 49 


565. 92 


569. 36 


573. 04 


576. 16 


579. 52 


583.09 


586.46 


5 


5, 000 1 


681.83 


685. 90 


690. 24 


694.52 


098. 84 


703. 11 


707. 41 


711. 68 


716. 29 


720.24 


724.41 


728. 86 


733.07 


7 


10, 000 


1, 363. 25 


1,371.81 


1,380.49 


1, 389. 05 


1, 397. 68 


1, 406. 21 


1,414 83 


1,423.36 


1, 432. 58 


1, 440. 47 


1,448.81 


1,457.73 


1, 466. 15 


1,4 


20,006 


2, 726. 60 


2, 743. 63 


2, 760. 98 


2, 778. 10 


2, 795. 36 


2, 812. 42 


2, 829. 65 


2, 846. 73 


2, 865. 16 


2,880.93 


2, 897. 63 


2, 915. 45 


2, 932. 29 


2,9 



Ponnde. 


43°. 


44°. 


45°. 


46°. 


47°. 


48°. 


49°. 


50°. 


51°. 


52°. 


53°. 


54°. 


55°. 


56°. 




Gallons. 


Gallons. 


Gallons. 


Gallons. 


Gallons. 


Gallons. 


Gallons. 


Gallons. 


Gallons. 


Gallons. 


Gallons. 


Gallons. 


GaUons. 


Gallons. 


1 


0.15 


0.15 


0.15 


0.15 


0.15 


0.15 


0.15 


0.15 


0.16 


0.16 


0.16 


0.16 


0.16 


0.16 


2 


30 


0.30 


0.30 


0.30 


0.30 


0.31 


0.31 


0.31 


0.31 


0.31 


0.31 


0.32 


0.32 


0.32 


3 


0.45 


0.45 


0.45 


0.45 


0.46 


0.46 


0.46 


0.46 


0.47 


0.47 


0.47 


0.47 


0.48 


0.48 


4 


0.59 


0.60 


0.60 


0.60 


0.61 


0.61 


0.61 


0.62 


0.82 


0.62 


0.63 


63 


0.04 


0.64 


5 


0.74 


0.75 


0.75 


0.76 


0.76 


0.76 


0.77 


0.77 


0.78 


0.78 


0.79 


0.79 


0.79 


0.80 


e 


0.89 


0.89 


0.90 


0.91 


0.91 


0.92 


0.92 


0.93 


0.93 


0.94 


0.94 


0.95 


95 


0.06 


7 


1.04 


1.04 


1.05 


1.06 


1.06 


1.07 


1.07 


1.08 


1.09 


1.09 


1.10 


1.10 


1.11 


1.12 


8 


1.19 


1.19 


1.20 


1.21 


1.21 


1.22 


1.23 


1.24 


1.24 


1.25 


1.26 


1.26 


1.27 


1.28 


9 


1.34 


1.34 


1.35 


1.36 


1.37 


1.37 


1.S8 


1.39 


1.40 


1.40 


1.41 


1.42 


1.43 


1.44 


10 


1.48 


1.49 


1.50 


1.51 


1.52 


1.53 


1.53 


1.54 


1.56 


1.56 


1.67 


1.58 


1.59 


1.59 


20 


2.97 


2.98 


3.00 


3.02 


3.04 


3.05 


3.07 


3.09 


3.10 


3.12 


3.14 


3.18 


3.17 


.3.19 


30 


4.45 


4.47 


4.50 


4.63 


4.55 


4.58 


4.60 


4.63 


4.66 


4. 08 


4.71 


4.73 


4.76 


4.78 


40 


5.93 


5.96 


6.00 


6.04 


6.07 


6.11 


6.14 


6.17 


6 21 


6.24 


6.28 


6.31 


6.35 


6.38 


50 


7.41 


7.45 


7.50 


7.55 


7.59 


7.63 


7.67 


7.72 


7.76 


7 80 


7.85 


7.89 


7.93 


7.97 


CO 


8.90 


8.94 


9.00 


9.05 


9.11 


9.18 


0.21 


9.26 


9.31 


9.38 


9.41 


9.47 


9.52 


9.57 


70 


10.38 


10.43 


10.50 


10.56 


10.62 


10.68 


10.74 


10.80 


10.86 


10.92 


10.98 


11.04 


11.10 


11.16 


80 


11.87 


11.92 


12.00 


12.07 


12.14 


12.21 


12.28 


12.35 


12.42 


12.48 


12.55 


12.62 


12.69 


12.76 


90 


13.35 


13.41 


13.50 


13.59 


13.66 


13.74 


13.81 


13.89 


13.97 


14.04 


14.12 


14.20 


14.28 


14.35 


100 


14.83 


14.91 


15.00 


15.09 


15.18 


15.26 


15.35 


15.43 


15.52 


16.81 


15.69 


15.78 


15.80 


15.95 


200 


29.67 


29.81 


30.00 


30.18 


30.36 


30.52 


30.70 


30.87 


31.04 


31.21 


31.38 


31.56 


31.73 


31.90 


300 


44.50 


44.72 


45.01 


45.27 


45.53 


46.79 


46.04 


46.30 


46.68 


46.82 


47.07 


47.33 


47.59 


47.85 


400 


69.34 


59.62 


60.02 


60.36 


60.71 


61.05 


61.39 


61.74 


62.08 


62.42 


62.76 


63.11 


63.45 


63.80 


500 


74.17 


74.53 


75.02 


75.45 


75.88 


76.31 


76.74 


77.17 


77.00 


78.03 


78.45 


78.89 


79.31 


79.75 


1,000 


148 34 


149.05 


150. 04 


150. 91 


151. 77 


152. 62 


' 163.48 


154.34 


155.20 


156.05 


156.91 


157. 77 


158.63 


169. 49 


2,000 


296.67 


298.11 


300. 08 


301. 82 


303.56 


305.24 


306. 95 


308. 69 


310. 40 


312. 10 


313. 81 


315. 55 


317.25 


318.98 


3,000 


445.02 


447. 16 


450. 13 


452.73 


455. 30 


467.86 


460. 43 


463. 03 


466.60 


468.15 


470. 72 


473. 32 


475. 88 


478.47 


4,000 


693. 35 


596. 22 


600. 17 


603.64 


607. 07 


610. 47 


613. 91 


617. 38 


620. 80 


624. 20 


627. 63 


631. 09 


634. 51 


637. 96 


6,000 


741. 60 


745. 27 


750. 21 


754. 55 


758. 84 


763. 09 


707. 38 


771. 72 


776. 01 


780. 25 


784.54 


78a 87 


793. 13 


797.45 


10,000 


1,483.37 


1, 490. 53 


1, 500. 42 


1, 509. 09 


1, 617. 68 


1, 526. 18 


1,534.75 


1, 543. 45 


1, 652. 02 


1, 500. 50 


1, 569. 07 


1, 677. 74 


1, 586. 27 


1,594.90 


20,000 


2,966.74 


2, 981. 07 


3, 000. 84 


3,018.18 


3, 035. 56 


3,062.36 


3, 069. 51 


3,086.90 


3, 104. OS 


3, 121. 00 


3, 138. 14 


3, 155. 47 


3, 172. 63 


3,189.70 



118 



PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 



DEGREES OF BAUME'S HYDROMETER— Continued. 



Ponnda. 


57°. 


58°. 


59°. 


60°. 


61°. 


63°. 


63°. 


64°. 


fi50. 


70°. 


75°. 


80°. 


86°. 




Gallons. 


OcUlo7is. 


Gallons. 


Gallons. 


Gallons. 


Gallons. 


Gallons. 


Gallons. 


Gallons. 


Gallons. 


Gallons. 


GaUons. 


GaUons. 


1 


0.16 


0.16 


0.16 


0.16 


0.16 


0.17 


0.17 


0.17 


0.17 


0.17 


0.18 


0.18 


0.18 


2 


0.32 


0.32 


0.32 


0.32 


0.33 


0.33 


0.33 


0.33 


0.33 


0.34 


0.35 


0.36 


0.37 


3 


0.48 


e.48 


0.49 


0.49 


0.49 


0.49 


0.50 


0.50 


0.50 


0.51 


0.53 


0.54 


0.55 


4 


0.64 


0.65 


0.65 


0.65 


0.66 


0.66 


0.66 


0.67 


0.67 


0.69 


0.70 


0.73 


0.74 


S 


0.80 


0.81 


0.81 


0.82 


0.82 


0.82 


0.83 


0.83 


0.84 


0.86 


0.88 


0.99 


0.92 


6 


0.96 


0.97 


0.97 


0.98 


0.98 


0.99 


1.00 


1.00 


1.00 


1.03 


1.66 


1.08 


1.11 


7 


1.12 


1.13 


1.13 


1.14 


1.15 


1.15 


1.10 


1.16 


1.17 


1.20 


1.23 


1.36 


1.29 


8 


1.28 


1.29 


1.30 


1.30 


1.31 


1.31 


1.32 


1.33 


1.34 


1.37 


1.41 


1.44 


1.48 


9 


1.44 


1.45 


1.46 


1.47 


1.47 


1.48 


1.49 


1.50 


1.50 


1.54 


1.58 


1.63 


1.66 


10 


1.60 


1.61 


1.62 


1.63 


1.64 


1.65 


1.65 


1.66 


1.67 


1.72 


1.76 


l.SO 


1.84 


20 


3.21 


3.22 


3.24 


3.24 


3.28 


3.29 


3.31 


3.33 


3.34 


3.43 


3.52 


3.60 


3.69 


30 


4.81 


4.84 


4.86 


4.89 


4.91 


4.94 


4.0G 


4.99 


5.02 


5.14 


5.28 


5.40 


5.53 


40 


6.41 


6.45 


6.48 


6.52 


0.55 


6.59 


6.62 


6.65 


6.69 


6. SO 


7.03 


7.20 


7.37 


50 


8.02 


8.06 


8.10 


8.15 


8.19 


8.23 


8 27 


8.33 


8.36 


8.57 


8.79 


9.00 


9.32 


60 


9.62 


9.67 


9.73 


9 77 


9. SB 


9 88 


9,93 


9.99 


10.03 


10.29 


10.55 


10.80 


11.06 


70 


11.22 


11.28 


11.34 


11.40 


11.46 


11.53 


11.58 


11.64 


11.69 


12.00 


12.31 


12.60 


12.90 


80 


12.83 


12.90 


12. 9S 


13.03 


13.10 


13.16 


13.24 


13.31 


13.38 


13.73 


14.07 


14.41 


14.75 


90 


14.43 


14.51 


14.58 


14.66 


14.74 


14.82 


14.89 


14.97 


1.5.05 


15.43 


15.83 


16.21 


16.59 


100 


16.03 


16.12 


16.21 


16.29 


16.38 


16.47 


16.55 


16.64 


16.72 


17.15 


17.59 


18.01 


18.44 


200 


32.07 


32.24 


32.41 


32.58 


32.76 


32.93 


33.10 


33.27 


33.44 


34.30 


35.17 


36.01 


36.87 


300 


48.10 


48.36 


48.61 


48.87 


49 13 


49.40 


49 65 


49 90 


50.16 


51.44 


52.76 


54.02 


55.31 


400 


64.14 


64.48 


64.82 


65.16 


65.51 


05.86 


66.20 


60.54 


06.88 


68.59 


70.34 


72.03 


73.74 


500 


80.17 


80.60 


81.03 


81.46 


81.89 


82.33 


82.75 


83.17 


83.60 


85.74 


87.93 


90.04 


92.18 


1,000 


160. 34 


161. 21 


102. 05 


162, 91 


103. 78 


164. 00 


165.49 


166. 35 


167. 20 


171. 48 


175. 86 


180. 07 


184.36 


3.000 


320.69 


322.41 


324.11 


323. 82 


327. 56 


329.31 


330. 99 


332. 69 


334.40 


342. 95 


351. 72 


360. 14 


368. 71 


3,000 


48t. 03 


483. 60 


486. 16 


488. 73 


491.34 


403. 97 


496.48 


499 03 


510. 60 


514. 43 


527. 58 


540. 21 


553. 06 


4,000 


641. 37 


644.82 


648. 21 


651.64 


655. 11 


658. 62 


661. 98 


665.38 


068. 81 


685. 91 


703. 44 


720. 28 


737. 42 


5,000 


801.72 


806. 02 


810. 27 


814. 56 


818. 89 


823. 33 


827.47 


831. 73 


836. 01 


857. 38 


879. 30 


900. 35 


921. 77 


10,000 


1,603.44 


1, 612. 05 


1, 620. 54 


1, 629. 13 


1, 637. 79 


1, 046. 55 


1, 654. 94 


1, 663. 45 


1, 672. 02 


1,714.77 


1, 758. 59 


1, 800. 70 


3, 843. 55 


20, 000 


3, 206. 87 


3,224.09 


3, 241. 07 


3,238.24 


3, 275. 67 


3, 293. 10 


3, 309. 88 


3, 326. 90 


3, 344. 03 


3,429 53 


3, 517. 18 


3, 601. 40 


3, 687. 11 



TABLE OF COMPARATIVE WEIGHTS AND MEASURES OF OIL. 
15° GEAVITT. 



Ponnds. 


Gallons. 


Pounds. 


Gallons. 
39 5 


j Pounds. 


Gallons. 


Pounds. 


GaUons. 


Pounds. 


Gallons. 


288 


35.8 


318 


348 


43.3 


378 


47.0 


408 


50.7 


289 


35.9 


319 


39.7 


349 


43.4 


379 


47.1 


409 


50.9 


290 


36.1 


320 


39 8 


1 350 


43.5 


' 380 


47.3 


410 


51.0 


291 


36.3 


321 


39.9 


351 


43.6 


381 


47.4 


411 


51.1 


202 


36.3 


332 


40.0 


, 353 


43.8 


382 


47.5 


412 


51.2 


393 


36.4 


323 


40.3 


' 353 


43.9 


383 


47,6 


413 


61.3 


394 


36.6 


324 


40.3 


354 


44.0 


384 


47.8 


414 


51.5 


295 


36.7 


325 


40.4 


355 


44.1 


385 


47.9 


415 


61.6 


296 


36.8 


326 


40.5 


356 


44.3 


386 


48.0 


416 


51.7 


297 


36.9 


327 


40.7 


' 357 


44.4 


387 


48.1 


417 


51.8 


298 


37.1 


328 


40.8 


358 


44.5 


388 


48.3 


418 


52.0 


299 


37.2 


329 


40.9 


369 


44.6 


389 


48.4 


419 


52.1 


300 


37.3 


330 


41.0 


360 


44.8 


390 


48.5 


420 


52.2 


301 


37.4 


331 


41.2 


361 


44.9 


391 


48.0 


421 


52.3 


302 


37.6 


332 


41.3 


362 


45.0 


393 


48.7 


422 


52.5 


303 


37.7 


333 


41.4 


363 


45.1 


393 


4S.9 


423 


52.6 


304 


37.8 


334 


41.5 


364 


45.3 


394 


49.0 


424 


52.7 


305 


37.9 


335 


41.7 


1 365 


45.4 


395 


49.1 


425 


52.8 


306 


38.1 


336 


41.8 


366 


45.5 


396 


49.2 


436 


.53.0 


307 


38.2 


337 


41.9 


367 


45.6 


397 


49.4 


427 


53.1 


308 


38.3 


338 


42.0 


368 


45.8 


398 


49,5 


428 


53.2 


309 


38.4 


339 


42.2 


369 


45.9 


399 


49.0 


429 


53.3 


310 


38.5 


340 


42.3 


370 


46.0 


400 


49.7 


430 


53.5 


3U 


38.7 


341 


42.4 


371 


46.1 


401 


49.9 


431 


53.6 


312 


38.8 


342 


42.5 


372 


46.3 


402 


60.0 


432 


53,7 


313 


38.9 


343 


42.6 


373 


46.4 


403 


50.1 


433 


53.8 


314 


39 


344 


42.8 


374 


46.5 


404 


50.2 


434 


53,9 


315 


39.2 


345 


42.9 


375 


46.8 


405 


50.4 


435 


54.0 


316 


39.3 


346 


43.0 


376 


46.8 


406 


50.5 


436 


64.2 


317 


39.4 


347 


43.1 


377 


46.9 


407 


60.6 


437 


54.3 



THE NATURAL HISTORY OF PETROLEUM. 



119 



TABLE OF COMPARATIVE WEIGHTS AND MEASURES OF OIL— Continued. 
20» GRAVITY. 



PoDnds. GolloDS. I] Pounds. Gallons, il Pounds. ' Gallons. ' Ponnds. \ Gallons. | Pounds. Gallons. 



36.0 
36.1 



37.0 
37.2 
37.3 
37.4 
37.6 
37.7 



38.1 i 


38.2 


38.3 


38.5 


38.6 


38.7 


38.8 


39.0 i 


39.1 i 


39.2 


39.4 


39.5 i 


39.6 


39.7 



40.1 
40.3 


40.4 


40.5 


40.6 


40.8 


40.9 


41.0 


41.2 


41.3 


41.4 


41.5 


41.7 


41.8 


41.9 


42.1 


42.2 


42.3 


42.4 


42.6 


42.7 


42.8 


43.0 


43.1 


43.2 


43.3 



44.0 
44.1 
44.3 
44.4 
44.5 
44.6 
44.8 
44.9 
45.0 
• 45.1 
45.3 
45.4 
45.5 
45.7 
45.8 
45.9 
46.0 
46.2 
46.3 
46.4 
46.6 
46.7 



47.1 
47.2 



47.6 

47.7 
47.8 
48.0 
48.1 



48.9 
49.0 
49.1 
49.3 
49.4 
49.5 
49.6 
49.8 
49.9 
.50.0 



50.4 
50.6 
50.7 
50.8 
50.9 
51.1 
51.2 
51.3 



421 I 



51.5 
51.6 



52.0 
62.1 
52.2 
52.4 
52.5 
52.6 
52.7 
52.9 
53.0 
53.1 
53.3 
53.4 
53.5 
53.6 
53.8 
53.9 
54.0 
54.2 
54.3 
54.4 
54.5 
54.7 
54.8 
54.9 
55.1 
55.2 



21'> GRAVITY. 



278 


35.9 ' 


308 


39.9 


338 


43.8 


368 


47.7 


398 


51.5 


279 


36.1 ^ 


309 


40.0 


339 


43.9 


369 


47.8 


399 


51.7 


280 


36.2 


310 


40.1 


340 


44.0 


370 


47.9 


400 


51.8 


281 


36.3 


311 


40.3 


341 


44.2 


371 


48.0 


401 


51.9 


282 


36.5 ' 


312 


40.4 


342 


44.3 


372 


48.2 


402 


52.1 


283 


36.6 


313 


40.5 


343 


44.4 


373 


48.3 


403 


52.2 


284 


36.7 


314 


40.7 


344 


44.5 


374 


48.4 


404 


52.3 


285 


36.9 1 


315 


40.8 


345 


44.7 


375 


48.6 


405 


52.4 


286 


37.0 


316 


40.9 


346 


44.8 


376 


48.7 


406 


52.6 


287 


37.1 


317 


41.1 


347 


44.9 


377 


48.8 


407 


52.7 


288 


37.2 


318 


41.2 


348 


45.1 


378 


48.9 


408 


52.8 


289 


37.4 


319 


41.3 


349 


45.2 


379 


49.1 


409 


53.0 


290 


37.5 


320 


41.4 


350 


45.3 


380 


49.2 


410 


53.1 


291 


37.6 


321 


41.6 


351 


45.4 


381 


49.3 


411 


53.2 


292 


37.8 


322 


41.7 


352 


45.6 


382 


49.5 


412 


53.4 


293 


37.9 i 


323 


41.8 


353 


45.7 


383 


49.6 


413 


53.5 


294 


38.0 


324 


41.9 


354 


45.8 


384 


49.7 


414 


53.6 


295 


38.1 


325 


42.1 


355 


46.0 


366 


49.9 


415 


53.7 


296 


38.3 


326 


42.2 


356 


46.1 


386 


50.0 


416 


53.9 


297 


38.4 


.127 


42.3 


357 


46.2 


387 


50.1 


417 


54.0 


298 


38.5 


328 


42.5 


358 


46.4 


388 


50.2 


418 


54.1 


299 


38.7 


329 


42.6 


359 


46.5 


389 


50.4 


419 


54.3 


300 


38.8 


330 


42.7 


360 


46.6 


390 


50.5 


420 


54.4 


301 


39.0 


331 


42.9 


361 


46.7 


391 


50.6 


421 


54.5 . 


302 


39.1 


332 


43.0 


362 


46.9 


392 


50.8 


422 


54.6 


303 


39.2 


333 


43.1 


363 


47.0 


393 


50.9 


423 


54.8 


304 


39.4 


334 


43.2 


364 


47.1 


394 


51.0 


424 


54.9 


305 


39.5 


335 


43.4 


365 


47.3 


395 


.■il.l 


425 


55.0 


306 


39.6 


336 


43.6 


366 


47.4 


396 


51.3 


426 


55.2 


307 


39.8 


337 


43.6 


367 


47.5 


397 


51.4 


427 


55.3 



120 



PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 



TABLE OF COMPARATIVE WEIGHTS AND MEASURES OF OIL— Continued. 
22° GEAVITY. 



Pounds. 


Gallons. 


Founds. 


Gallons. 


Pounds. 


Gallons; 


Pounds. 


Gallons. 


Pounds. 


Gallons. 


275 


35.8 


305 


39.8 


335 


43.7 


365 


47.6 


395 


51.5 


276 


36.0 


306 


39.9 


336 


43.8 


366 


47.7 


396 


51.6 


277 


36.1 


307 


40.0 


337 


43.9 


367 


47.8 


397 


51.7 


278 


36.2 


308 


40.1 


338 


44.1 J 


368 


48.0 


398 


51.9 


279 


36.4 


309 


40.3 


339 


44.2 


369 


48.1 


399 


62.0 


280 


36.5 


310 


40.4 


340 


44.3 


370 


48.2 


400 


52.1 


281 


36.6 


311 


40.5 


341 


44.4 


371 


48.4 


401 


52.3 


282 


36.8 


312 


40.7 


342 


44.6 


372 


48.5 


402 


52.4 


283 


36.9 


313 


40.8 


343 


44.7 


373 


48.6 


403 


52.5 


284 


37.0 


314 


40.9 


344 


44.8 


374 


48.7 


404 


52.7 


285 


37.2 


315 


41.1 


345 


45.0 


375 


48.9 


405 


62.8 


286 


37.3 


316 


41.2 


346 


45.1 


376 


49.0 


406 


52.9 


287 


37.4 


317 


41.3 


.347 


45.2 


377 


49.1 


407 


53.0 


288 


37.5 


318 


41.4 


348 


45.4 


378 


49.3 


408 


53.2 


289 


37.7 


319 


41.6 


349 


45.5 


379 


49.4 


409 


53.3 


290 


37.8 


320 


41.7 


350 


45.6 


380 


49.5 


410 


53.4 


291 


37.9 


321 


41.8 


351 


4.5.8 


381 


49.7 


411 


53.6 


292 


38.1 


322 


42.0 


352 


45.9 


382 


49.8 


412 


63.7 


293 


38.2 


323 


42.1 


353 


46.0 


383 


49.9 


413 


53.8 


294 


38.3 


324 


42.2 


354 


46.1 


384 


50.1 


414 


54.0 


295 


38.5 


325 


42.4 


355 


46.3 


385 


50.2 


415 


54.1 


296 


38.6 


326 


42.5 


356 


46.4 . 


386 


50.3 


416 


54.2 


297 


38.7 


327 


42.6 


357 


46.5 


387 


50.4 


417 


54.3 


298 


38.8 


328 


42.8 


358 


46.7 


388 


50.6 


418 


54.5 


299 


39.0 


329 


42.9 


359 


46.8 


389 


50.7 


419 


54.6 


300 


39.1 


330 


43.0 


360 


46.9 


390 


50.8 


420 


54.7 


301 


39.2 


331 


43.1 


361 


47.1 


391 


51.0 


421 


54.9 


302 


39.4 


332 


43.3 


362 


47.2 


392 


51.1 


422 


55.0 


363 


39.5 


333 


43.4 


363 


47.3 


393 


51.2 


423 


55.1 


304 


39.6 


334 


43.5 


364 


47.4 


394 


51.4 


424 


55.3 



23° GEAVITT. 



274 


36.0 


304 


39.9 


334 


43.8 


364 


47.8 


394 


51.7 


275 


36.1 


305 


40.0 


335 


44.0 


365 


47.9 


395 


51.8 


276 


36.2 


306 


40.2 


336 


44.1 


366 


48.0 


396 


52.0 


277 


36.3 


307 


40.3 


337 


44.2 


367 


48.2 


397 


52.1 


278 


36.5 


308 


40.4 


338 


44.4 


368 


48.3 


398 


52.2 


279 


36.6 


309 


40.5 


339 


44.5 


369 


48.4 


399 


52.4 


280 


36.7 


310 


40.7 


340 


44.6 


370 


48.5 


400 


52.5 


281 


36.9 


311 


40.8 


341 


44.7 


371 


48.7 


401 


52.6 


282 


37.0 


312 


40.9 


342 


44.9 


372 


48.8 


402 


52.7 


283 


37.1 


313 


41.1 


343 


45.0 


373 


48.9 


403 


52.9 


284 


37.3 


314 


41.2 


344 


45.1 


374 


49.1 


404 


53.0 


285 


37.4 


315 


41.3 


345 


45.3 


375 


49.2 


405 


53.1 


286 


37.5 


316 


41.5 


346 


45.4 


376 


49.3 


406 


53.3 


287 


37.7 


317 


41.6 


347 


45.5 


377 


49.5 


407 


53.4 


288 


37.8 


318 


41.7 


348 


45.7 


378 


49.6 


408 


53.5 


289 


37.9 


319 


41.0 


349 


45.8 


379 


49.7 


409 


53.7 


290 


38.1 


320 


42.0 


350 


45.9 


380 


49.9 


410 


53.8 


291 


38.2 


321 


42.1 


351 


46.1 


381 


50.0 


411 


53.9 


292 


38.3 


322 


42.2 


352 


46.2 


382 


60.1 


412 


54.1 


293 


38.4 


323 


42.4 


353 


46.3 


383 


50.2 


413 


54.2 


294 


38.6 


324 


42.5 


354 


46.5 


384 


50.4 


414 


54.3 


295 


38.7 


325 


42.6 


355 


46.6 


385 


50.6 


415 


54.4 


296 


36.8 


326 


42.8 


356 


46.7 


386 


50.6 


416 


54.6 


297 


39.0 


327 


42.9 


357 


46.8 


387 


50.8 


417 


54.7 


298 


39.1 


328 


43.0 


358 


47.0 


388 


50.9 


418 


.54.8 


299 


39.2 


329 


43.2 


359 


47.1 


389 


51.0 


419 


55.0 


300 


39.4 


330 


43.3 


360 


47.2 


390 


51.2 


420 


65.1 


301 


39.5 


331 


43.4 


361 


47.4 


391 


51.3 


421 


55.2 


302 


39.6 


332 


43.6 


362 


47.5 


392 


51.4 


422 


55.4 


303 


39.8 


333 


43.7 


363 


47.6 


393 


51.6 


423 


55.6 



THE NATURAL HISTORY OF PETROLEUM. 



121 



TABLE OF COMPARATIVE WEIGHTS AND MEASURES OF OIL— Continned. 
240 GRAVITY. 



Pounds. 


GaUons. 


Pounds. 


Gallons. 


Pounds. 


GaUons. 


Pounds. 


Gallons. 


Pounds. 


Gallons. 


272 


35.9 


302 


39.9 


; 332 


43.8 


362 


47.8 


392 


51.8 


273 


36.1 


303 


40.0 


333 


44.0 


363 


47.9 


393 


51.9 


274 


36.2 


304 


40.2 


334 


44.1 


364 


48.1 


394 


52.0 


275 


36.3 


305 


40.3 


335 


44.2 


365 


48.2 


395 


52.2 


276 


36.4 


306 


40.4 


336 


44.4 


366 


48.3 


396 


52.3 


277 


36.6 


307 


40.5 


337 


44.5 


307 


48.5 


397 


52.4 


278 


36.7 


308 


40.7 


338 


44.0 


368 


48.6 


393 


52.6 


279 


36.9 


309 


40.8 


339 


44.8 


369 


48.7 


399 


52.7 


280 


37.0 


310 


40.9 


340 


44.9 


370 


48.9 


400 


52.8 


281 


37.1 


311 


41.1 


341 


45.0 


371 


49.0 


401 


53.0 


282 


37.2 


312 


41.2 


342 


45.2 


372 


49.1 


402 


53.1 


283 


37.4 


313 


41.3 


' 343 


45.3 


373 


49.3 


403 


53.2 


284 


37.5 


314 


41.5 


344 


45.4 


374 


49.4 


404 


53.4 


285 


37.6 


315 


41.6 


34) 


45.6 


375 


49.5 


405 


53.5 


286 


37.8 


316 


41.7 


346 


45.7 


376 


49.7 


406 


53.6 


287 


37.9 


317 


41.9 


347 


45.8 


377 


49.8 


407 


53.7 


288 


38.0 


318 


42.0 


348 


46.0 


378 


49.9 


408 


53.9 


289 


38.2 


319 


42.1 


349 


46.1 


379 


50.1 


409 


54.0 


290 


38.3 


320 


42.3 


350 


46 2 


330 


50.2 


410 


54.1 


291 


38.4 


321 


42.4 


351 


46.4 


381 


50.3 


411 


54.3 


292 


38.6 


322 


42.5 


352 


46.5 


382 


50.4 


412 


54.4 


293 


38.7 


323 


42.7 


353 


46.6 


383 


50.6 


413 


54.5 


294 


38.8 


324 


42.8 


354 


46.8 


384 


50.7 


414 


54.7 


295 


39.0 


325 


42.9 


355 


46.9 


385 


50.8 


415 


54.8 


296 


39.1 


326 


43.1 


356 


47.0 


386 


51.0 


416 


54.9 


297 


39.2 


327 


43.2 


357 


47.1 


387 


51.1 


417 


55.1 


298 


39.4 


328 


43.3 


358 


47.3 


388 


51.2 


418 


55.2 


299 


39.5 


329 


43.5 


359 


47.4 


389 


51.4 


419 


55.3 


300 


39.6 


330 


43.6 


360 


47.5 


390 


51.5 


420 


55.5 


301 


39.8 


331 


43.7 


361 


47.7 


391 


51.6 


421 


55.6 



25° GBATITT. 



271 


36.0 


301 


40.0 


331 


44.0 


361 


4&0 


391 


52.0 


272 


36.1 


302 


40.1 


332 


44.1 


362 


48.1 


392 


52.1 


273 


36.3 


303 


40.3 


333 


44.3 


363 


48.2 


393 


52.2 


274 


36.4 


304 


40.4 


334 


44.4 


364 


4&4 


304 


52.4 


275 


36.5 


305 


40.5 


335 


44.5 


365 


48.5 


395 


62.5 


276 


36.7 


306 


40.7 


336 


44.7 


366 


48.6 


S96 


52.6 


277 


36.8 


307 


40.8 


337 


44.8 


367 


48.8 


397 


62.8 


278 


36.9 


308 


40.9 


338 


44.9 


368 


4a 9 


398 


52.9 


279 


37.1 


309 


41.1 


339 


45.1 


369 


49.0 


399 


63.0 


280 


37.2 


310 


4L2 


340 


45.2 


370 


49.2 


400 


53.2 


281 


37.3 


311 


41.3 


341 


45.3 


371 


49.3 


401 


53.3 


282 


37.5 


312 


41.5 


342 


45.4 


372 


49.4 


402 


53.4 


283 


37.6 


313 


41.6 


343 


45.6 


373 


49.6 


403 


53.6 


284 


37.7 


314 


41.7 


344 


45.7 


374 


49.7 


404 


63.7 


285 


37.9 


315 


41.9 


345 


45.8 


375 


49.8 


405 


53.8 


286 


38.0 


316 


42.0 


346 


40.0 


376 


50.0 


406 


54.0 


287 


38.1 


317 


42.1 


347 


46.1 


377 


50.1 


407 


54.1 


288 


38.3 


318 


42.3 


348 


46.2 


378 


50.2 


408 


54.2 


289 


38.4 


319 


42.4 


349 


46.4 


379 


50.4 


409 


54.4 


290 


38.5 


320 


42.5 


350 


46.5 


380 


60.5 


410 


54.5 


291 


38.7 


321 


42.7 


351 


46.6 


381 


50.6 


411 


54.6 


292 


38.8 


322 


42.8 


352 


46.8 


382 


50.8 


412 


54.8 


293 


38.9 


323 


42.9 


353 


46.9 


383 


50.9 


413 


54.9 


294 


39.1 


324 


43.1 


354 


47.0 


384 


51.0 


414 


55.0 


295 


39.2 


325 


43.2 


355 


47.2 


385 


51.2 


415 


55.1 


296 


39.3 


326 


43.3 


356 


47.3 


386 


51.3 


416 


55.3 


297 


39.5 


327 


43.5 


357 


47.4 


387 


51.4 


417 


55.4 


298 


30.6 


328 


43.6 


358 


47.6 


388 


51.6 


418 


55.5 


299 


39.7 


329 


43.7 


359 


47.7 


389 


51.7 


419 


55.7 


30« 


39.9 


330 


43.9 


360 


47.8 


390 


51.8 


420 


55.8 



122 



PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 



TABI.E OF COMPARATIVE WEIGHTS AND MEASURES OF OIL— Continued. 
26° GEAVITY. 



Potmds. 


Gallons. 


Pounds. 


Gallons. 


Pounds. 


Gallons. 


Pounds. 


Gallons. 


Pounds. 


Gallons. 


269 


36.0 


299 


40.0 


329 


44.0 


359 


48.0 


389 


52.0 


270 


36.1 


300 


40.1 


330 


44.1 


360 


48.2 


390 


52.2 


271 


36.2 


301 


40.3 


331 


44.3 


361 


48.3 


391 


52.3 


272 


36.4 


302 


40.4 


332 


44.4 


362 


48.4 


392 


.52.4 


273 


36.6 


303 


40.5 


333 


44.5 


363 


48.6 


393 


52.6 


274 


36.7 


304 


40.7 


334 


44.7 


364 


48.7 


394 


52.7 


275 


36.8 


305 


40.8 


335 


44.8 


365 


48.8 


395 


52.8 


276 


36.9 


306 


40.9 


336 


44.9 


366 


49,0 


396 


53.0 


277 


37.1 


307 


41.1 


337 


45.1 


367 


49.1 


397 


53.1 


278 


37.2 


308 


41.3 


338 


45.2 


368 


49.2 


398 


53.2 


279 


37.3 


309 


41.3 


339 


45.3 


369 


49.4 


399 


53.4 


280 


37.5 


310 


41.5 


340 


45.5 


370 


49.5 


400 


53.5 


281 


37.6 


311 


41.6 


341 


45.6 


371 


49.6 


401 


53.6 


282 


37.7 


312 


41.7 


342 


45.8 


372 


49.8 


402 


53.8 


283 


37.9 


313 


41.9 


343 


45.9 


373 


49.9 


403 


53.9 


284 


38.0 


314 


42.0 


344 


46.0 


374 


50.0 


404 


54.0 


285 


38.1 


315 


42.1 


345 


46.2 


375 


50.2 


405 


54.2 


286 


38.3 


316 


42.3 


346 


46.3 


376 


50.3 


406 


■ 54.3 


287 


38.4 


317 


42.4 


347 


46.4 


377 


50.4 


407 


54.4 


288 


38.5 


318 


42.5 


348 


46.6 


378 


50.6 


408 


54.6 


289 


38.7 


319 


42.7 


349 


46.7 


■ 379 


50.7 


409 


54.7 


290 


38.8 


320 


42.8 


350 


46.8 


380 


50.8 


410 


54.8 


291 


38.9 


321 


42.9 


351 


47.0 


381 


51.0 


411 


55.0 


292 


39.1 


322 


43.1 


352 


47.1 


382 


51.1 


412 


55.1 


293 


39.2 


323 


43.2 


353 


47.2 


383 


61.2 


413 


55.2 


294 


39.3 


324 


43.4 


354 


47.4 


384 


51.4 


414 


55.4 


295 


39.5 


325 


43.5 


355 


47.5 


385 


51.5 


415 


55.5 


296 


39.6 


326 


43.6 


356 


47.6 


386 


51.6 


416 


55.6 


297 


39.7 


327 


43.8 


357 


47.8 


387 


51.8 


417 


55.8 ■ 


298 


39.9 


328 


43.9 


358 


47.9 


,■388 


51.9 


418 


65.9 



27° GBAVITT. 



267 


35.9 


297 


40.0 


327 


44.0 


357 


48,1 


387 


52,1 


268 


36.1 


298 


40.1 


328 


44.2 


358 


48.2 


388 


52.2 


269 


36.2 


299 


40,3 


329 


44.3 


359 


48.3 


389 


52.4 


270 


36.3 


300 


40.4 


330 


44.4 


360 


48.5 


390 


52,5 


271 


36.5 


301 


40.5 


331 


44.6 


361 


48,6 


391 


52,6 


27* 


36.6 


302 


40.7 


332 


44.7 


362 


48.7 


392 


52.8 


273 


36.7 


303 


40.8 


333 


44,8 


363 


48.9 


393 


52.9 


274 


36.9 


304 


40.9 


334 


45,0 


364 


49,0 


394 


53.0 


275 


37.0 


305 


41.1 


335 


45,1 


365 


49,1 


395 


63.2 


276 


37.2 


306 


41.2 


336 


45.2 


366 


49,3 


396 


63.3 


277 


37.3 


307 


41.3 


337 


45.4 


367 


49,4 


397 


53,4 


278 


37.4 


308 


41.5 


338 


45.5 


368 


49.5 


398 


53,6 


279 


37.6 


309 


41.6 


339 


45.6 


369 


49.7 


399 


53.7 


• 280 


37.7 


310 


41.7 


340 


45,8 


370 


49.8 


400 


63,9 


281 


37.8 


311 


41.9 


341 


45,9 


371 


49,9 


401 


54.0 


282 


38.0 


312 


42.0 


342 


46,6 


372 


50,1 


402 


54.1 


283 


38.1 


313 


42.1 


343 


46.2 


376 


50,2 


403 


54.3 


284 


38.2 


314 


42.3 


344 


46.3 


374 


50,3 


404 


54.4 


285 


38.4 


31S 


42.4 


345 


46.4 


375 


50.5 


405 


54.5 


286 


38.5 


316 


42.5 


346 


46.6 


376 


50.6 


406 


54.7 1 


287 


38. G 


317 


42.7 


347 


46.7 


377 


50,7 


407 


54.8 


288 


38.8 


318 


42,8 


348 


46.8 


378 


50,9 


408 


54.9 


289 


38.9 


319 


42.9 


349 


47.0 


379 


51.0 


409 


55.1 


290 


39.0 


320 


43.1 


350 


47.1 


380 


51.2 


410 


55.2 


291 


39.2 


321 


43.2 


351 


47.3 


381 


51.3 


411 


55.3 


292 


39.3 


322 


43,3 


352 


47.4 


382 


51.4 


412 


65.6 


293 


39.4 


323 


43.5 


353 


47.5 


383 


51,6 


413 


56.6 


294 


39.0 


324 


43,6 


354 


47.7 


384 


51.7 


414 


55.7 


295 


39.7 


325 


43.7 


355 


47.8 


385 


51,8 


415 


55,9 


296 


39.9 


326 


43.9 


356 


47,0 


386 


52,0 


416 


56,0 



THE NATURAL HISTORY OF PETROLEUM. 



123 



TABLE OF COMPARATIVE WEIGHTS AND MEASURES OF OIL— Continued. 
28" GRAVITY. 



Ponnds. 


Gallona. 


FouDds. 


Gallons. 


Pounds. 


Gallons. 


Pounds. 


Gallons. 1 


Pounds. 1 


Gallons. 


265 


35.9 


295 


40.0 


325 


44.0 


355 


48.1 


1 
385 1 


52.1 


266 


36.0 


296 


40.1 1 


326 


44.2 


356 


48.2 


386 


52.3 


267 


36.2 


297 


40.2 


327 


44.3 


357 


43.4 


387 


52.4 


268 


36.3 


298 


40.4 


328 


44.4 


358 


48.5 


388 


52.6 


269 


36.5 


299 


40.5 


329 


44.6 


359 


48.6 


389 


52.7 


270 


36.6 


300 


40.6 


330 


44.7 


360 


48.8 


390 


52.8 


271 


36.7 


301 


40.8 


331 


44.8 


361 


48.9 


391 


53.0 


272 


36.9 


302 


40.9 


332 


45.0 


362 


49.0 


392 


53.1 


273 


37.0 


303 


41.1 


333 


45.1 


363 


49.2 


393 


53.2 


274 


37.1 


304 


41.2 


334 


45.2 


364 


49.3 


394 


53.4 


275 


37.3 


305 


41.3 


33,5 


45.4 


365 


49.5 


395 


53.5 


276 


37.4 


306 


41.5 


336 


45.5 


366 


49.6 


396 


53.6 


277 


37.5 


307 


41.0 


337 


45.7 


367 


49.7 


397 


53.8 


278 


37.7 


308 


41.7 


338 


1 45.8 


368 


49.9 


398 


53.9 


279 


37.8 


309 


41.9 


339 


; 45.9 


369 


50.0 


399 


54.1 


280 


37.9 


310 


42.0 


340 


46.1 


370 


50.1 


400 


54.2 


281 


38.1 


( 311 


42.1 


341 


46.2 


371 


50.3 


401 


54.3 


282 


38.2 


312 


42.3 


342 


46.3 


378 


50.4 


402 


54.5 


283 


38.4 


313 


42.4 


343 


46.5 


373 


60.5 


403 


54.6 


284 


38.5 


314 


42.5 


344 


46.6 


374 


50.7 


404 


54.7 


285 


33.6 


315 


42.7 


345 


46.7 


375 


50.8 


405 


54.9 


286 


38.8 


316 


42.8 


346 


I 46.9 


376 


50.9 


406 


55.0 


287 


] 38.9 


317 


42.9 


347 


i 47.0 


377 


51.1 


407 


55.1 


288 


39.0 


318 


43.1 


348 


47.1 


378 


51.2 


408 


55.3 


289 


1 39.2 


' 319 


43.2 


349 


47.3 


379 


51.3 


409 


55.4 


290 


39.3 


320 


43.4 


350 


47.4 


380 


51.5 


410 


55.5 


291 


! 39.4 


1 321 


j 43.5 


351 


47.6 


381 


51.6 


411 


55.7 


292 


39.6 


; 322 


43.6 


352 


47.7 


382 


51.8 


412 


55.8 


293 


39.7 


! 323 


1 43.8 


353 


47.8 


383 


51.9 


413 


56.0 


294 


'. 39.8 


1 324 

1 


1 43.9 

i 


354 


1 48.0 


334 


52.0 


414 


56.1 



29° GRAVITY. 



263 


35.9 


293 


40.0 


323 


44.0 


353 


48.1 


383 


52.2 


264 


36.0 


294 


40.1 


324 


44.2 


354 


48.3 


384 


52.4 


265 


36.1 


295 


40.2 


325 


44.3 


355 


48.4 


385 


52.5 


266 


36.3 


296 


40.4 


326 


44.5 


356 


48.5 


386 


52.6 


267 


36.4 


297 


40.5 


327 


44.6 


357 


48.7 


387 


52.8 


268 


36.5 


298 


40.6 


328 


44.7 


358 


48.8 


388 


52.9 


269 


36.7 


299 


40.8 


329 


44.9 


369 


49.0 


389 


53.0 


270 


36.8 


300 


40.9 


330 


45.0 


360 


49.1 


390 


53.2 


271 


36.9 


301 


41.0 


331 


45.1 


361 


49.2 


391 


53.3 


272 


37.1 


302 


41.2 


332 


45.3 


362 


49.4 


392 


53.4 


273 


37.2 


303 


41.3 


333 


45.4 


363 


49.5 


393 


53.6 


274 


37.4 


304 


41.5 


334 


45.5 


364 


49.6 


394 


53.7 


275 


37.5 


306 


41.6 


335 


45.7 


365 


49.8 


395 


53.9 


276 


37.6 


306 


41.7 


336 


45.8 


366 


49.9 


396 


64.0 


277 


37.8 


307 


41.9 


337 


45.9 


367 


50.0 


397 


54.1 


278 


37.9 


308 


42.0 


338 


46.1 


368 


50.2 


398 


54.3 


279 


38.0 


309 


42.1 


339 


46.2 


369 


50.3 


399 


54.4 


280 


38.2 


310 


42.3 


340 


46.4 


370 


50.4 


400 


54.5 


281 


38.3 


3U 


42.4 


341 


46.5 


371 


50.6 


401 


54.7 


282 


38.5 


312 


42.5 


342 


46.6 


372 


50.7 


402 


54.8 


283 


38.6 


ai3 


42.7 


343 


46.8 


373 


50.8 


403 


64.9 


284 


38.7 


314 


42.8 


344 


46.9 


374 


51.0 


404 


56.1 


285 


38.9 


315 


42.9 


345 


47.0 


375 


51.1 


405 


65.2 


286 


39.0 


316 


43.1 


346 


47.2 


376 


51.3 


406 


65.4 


287 


39.1 


317 


43.2 


347 


47.3 


377 


51.4 


407 


55.5 


288 


39.3 


318 


43.4 


348 


47.4 


378 


51.5 


408 


55.6 


289 


39.4 


319 


43.5 


349 


47.6 


379 


51.7 


409 


55.8 


290 


39.5 


320 


43.6 


350 


47.7 


380 


51.8 


410 


55.9 


291 


39.7 


321 


43.8 


351 


47.9 


381 


52.0 


411 


56.0 


292 


39.8 


322 


43.9 


352 


48.0 


382 


52.1 


412 


66.2 



124 



PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 



TABLE OP COMPARATIVE WEIGHTS AND MEASURES OF OIL— Continued. 
30= GRAVITY. 



Pounds. 


Gallons. 


Pounds. 


GaUons. 


Pounds. 


Gallons. 


Pounds. 


Gallons. 


Pounds. 


GaUons. 


262 


35.9 


292 


40.1 


322 


44.2 


352 


48.3 


383 


52.4 


263 


36.1 


293 


40.2 


323 


44.3 


353 


48.4 


383 


52.5 


264 


36.2 


294 


40.3 


324 


44.4 


354 


48.6 


384 


52.7 


265 


36.4 


295 


40.5 


325 


44.6 


355 


48.7 


385 


52.8 


266 


36.5 


296 


40.6 


326 


44.7 


356 


48.8 


386 


52.9 


267 


36.6 


297 


40.8 


327 


44.9 


357 


49.0 


387 


53.1 


268 


36.8 


298 


40.9 


328 


45.0 


358 


49.1 


388 


53.2 


269 


86.9 


299 


41.0 


329 


45.1 


359 


49.3 


389 


53.4 


270 


37.0 


300 


41.2 


330 


45.3 


360 


49.4 


390 


'63.5 


271 


.37.2 


301 


41.3 


331 


45.4 


361 


49.5 


391 


53.6 


272 


37.3 


302 


41.4 


332 


45.5 


362 


49.7 


392 


53.8 


273 


37.5 


303 


41.6 


333 


45.7 


363 


49.8 


393 


53.9 


274 


37.6 


304 


41.7 


334 


45.8 


364 


49.9 


394 


54.1 


275 


37.7 


305 


41.8 


335 


46.0 


365 


.50.1 


395 


54.2 


276 


37.9 


306 


42.0 


336 


46.1 


366 


50.2 


396 


54.3 


277 


38.0 


307 


42.1 


337 


46.2 


367 


50.3 


397 


54.5 


278 


38.1 


308 


42.3 


338 


46.4 


368 


50.5 


393 


54.6 


279 


38.3 


309 


42.4 


339 


46.5 


369 


50.6 


399 


54.7 


280 


38.4 


310 


42.5 


340 


46.6 


370 


50.8 


400 


54.9 


281 ■ 


38.6 


311 


42.7 


341 


46.8 


371 


50.9 


401 


65.0 


282 


38.7 


312 


42.8 


342 


46.9 


372 


51.0 


402 


55.1 


283 


3«.8 


313 


42.9 


343 


47.1 


373 


51.2 


403 


55.3 


284 


39.0 


314 


43.1 


344 


47.2 


374 


51.3 


404 


65.4 


285 


39.1 


315 


43.2 


345 


47.3 


375 


51.4 


405 


55.6 


286 


39.2 


316 


43.3 


346 


47.5 


376 


51.6 


406 


55.7 


287 


39.4 


317 


43.5 


347 


47.6 


377 


51.7 


407 


55.8 


288 


39.5 


318 


43.6 


348 


47.7 


378 


51.9 


408 


56.0 


289 


39.7 


319 


43.8 


349 


47.9 


379 


52.0 


409 


56.1 


290 


39.8 


320 


43.9 


350 


48.0 


380 


52.1 


410 


56.2 


291 


39.9 


321 


44.0 


351 


48.2 


381 


52.3 


411 


56.4 



310 6EAVITT. 



260 


35.9 


200 


40.0 


320 


44.2 


350 


48.3 


380 


52.5 


261 


36.0 


291 , 


40.2 


321 


44.3 


351 


48.5 


381 


52.6 


262 


36.2 


292 


40.3 


322 


44.5 


352 


48.6 


382 


52. 7 


263 


36.3 


293 


40.4 


323 


44.6 


353 


48.7 


383 


52.9 


264 


36.5 


294 


40.6 


324 


44.7 


354 


48.9 


384 


53.0 


265 


36.6 


. 295 


40.7 


325 


44.9 


356 


49.0 


385 


53.2 


266 


36.7 


296 


40.9 


326 


45.0 


356 


49.2 


336 


53.3 


267 


30.9 


297 


41.0 


327 


45.2 


357 


49.3 


387 


53.4 


268 


37.0 


298 


41.1 


328 


45.3 


358 


49.4 


388 


53.6 


269 


37.1 


299 


41.3 


329 


45.4 


359 


49.6 


389 


53.7 


270 


37.3 


300 


41.4 


330 


45.6 


360 


49.7 


390 


63.8 


271 


37.4 


301 


41.6 


331 


45.7 


361 


49.8 


391 


54.0 


272 


37.6 


302 


41.7 


332 


45.8 


362 


50.0 


392 


54.1 


273 


37.7 


303 


4(.8 


333 


46.0 


363 


50.1 


393 


54.3 


274 


37.8 


304 


42.0 


334 


46.1 


364 


50.3 


394 


54.4 


275 


38.0 


305 


42.1 


335 


46.3 


365 


50.4 


395 


54.5 


276 


38.1 


306 


42.3 


336 


46.4 


366 


50.5 


396 


54.7 


277 


38.2 


307 


42.4 


337 


46.5 


367 


50.7 


397 


54.3 


278 


38.4 


308 


42.5 


338 


46.7 


368 


50.8 


398 


54.9 


279 


38.5 


309 


42.7 


339 


46.8 


369 


60.9 


399 


55.1 


280 


38.7 


310 


42.8 


340 


46.9 


370 


■ 51.1 


400 


65.2 


281 


38.8 


311 


42.9 


341 


47.1 


371 


51.2 


401 


55.4 


282 


38.9 


312 


43.1 


342 


47.2 


372 


5]. 4 


402 


55.5 


283 


39.1 


313 


43.2 


343 


47.4 


373 


51.5 


403 


55.6 


284 


39.2 


314 


43.4 


344 


47.5 


374 


51.6 


404 


56.8 


285 


39.3 


315 


43.5 


345 


47.6 


375 


51.8 


405 


55.9 


286 


39.5 


316 


43.6 


346 


47.8 


376 


61.9 


406 


56.1 


287 


39.6 


317 


43.8 


347 


47.9 


377 


52.1 


407 


56.2 


288 


39.8 


318 


43.9 


348 


48.0 


378 


52.2 


408 


56.3 


289 


39.9 


319 


44.0 


34S 


48.2 


379 


52.3 


409 


56.5 



THE NATURAL HISTORY OF PETROLEUM. 



125 



TABLE OF COMPARATIVE WEIGHTS AND MEASURES OF OIL— Continued. 

32° GEAVITT. 



Ponnds. 


GalloDS. 


Ponnds. 


Gallons. 


Ponnds. 


Gallons. 


Ponnds. 


Gallons. 


Ponnds. 


Gallons. 


258 


35.8 


288 


40.0 


318 


44.2 


348 


48.3 


378 


52.5 


259 


36.0 


289 


40.1 


319 


44.3 


349 


48.5 


379 


52.6 


260 


36.1 


290 


40.3 


320 


44.5 


350 


48.6 


380 


52.8 


261 


36.3 


291 


40.4 


321 


44.6 


351 


48.8 


381 


52.9 


262 


36.4 


292 


40.6 


322 


44.7 


352 


48.9 


382 


53.1 


263 


36.5 


293 


40.7 


323 


44.9 


353 


49.0 


383 


.53.2 


2M 


36.7 


394 


40.8 


324 


45.0 


354 


49.2 


384 


53.3 


265 


36.8 


293 


41.0 


325 


45.1 


355 


49.3 


385 


53. S 


266 


36.9 


296 


41.1 


326 


45.3 


356 


49.4 


386 


53.6 


267 


37.1 


297 


41.3 


327 


45.4 


357 


49.6 


387 


.i3.8 


268 


37.2 


298 


41.4 


328 


45.6 


358 


49.7 


388 


53.9 


269 


37.4 


299 


41.5 


329 


45.7 


259 


49.9 


389 


54.0 


270 


37.5 


300 


41.7 


330 


45.8 


360 


50.0 


390 


54.2 


271 


37.6 


301 


41.8 


331 


46.0 


361 


50.1 


391 


54.3 


272 


37.8 


302 


42.0 


332 


46.1 


362 


50.3 


392 


54.5 


273 


37.9 


303 


42.1 


333 


46.3 


363 


50.4 


393 


54.6 


274 


38.1 


304 


42.2 


334 


46.4 


364 


SO. 6 


394 


54.7 


275 


38.2 


305 


42.4 


335 


46. S 


365 


50.7 


395 


54.9 


276 


38.3 


306 


42.5 


336 


46.7 


366 


50.8 


396 


55.0 


277 


38.5 


307 


42.6 


337 


46.8 


367 


61.0 


397 


55.1 


278 


38.6 


308 


42.8 


338 


47.0 


368 


51.1 


398 


55.3 


279 


38.8 


I 309 


42.9 


339 


47.1 


369 


51.3 


399 


65.4 


280 


38.9 


310 


43.1 


340 


47.2 


370 


51.4 


400 


56.6 


281 


39.0 


311 


43.2 


341 


47.4 


371 


51.5 


401 


55.7 


282 


39.2 


312 


43.3 


342 


47.5 


372 


51.7 


402 


55.8 


283 


39.3 


313 


43.5 


343 


47.7 


372 


51.8 


403 


56.0 


284 


39.6 


314 


43.6 


344 


47.8 


374 


52.0 


404 


56.1 


285 


39.0 


315 


43.8 


345 


' 47.9 


375 


52.1 


405 


56.3 


286 


39.7 


316 


43.9 


346 


' 48.1 


376 


52.2 


406 


56.4 


287 


39.9 


317 


44.0 


347 


1 48.2 


377 


52.4 


407 


56.5 



33° GRAVITY. 



267 


35.9 


287 


40.1 


317 


44.3 


347 


4a6 


377 


S2.7 


268 


36.1 


288 


40.3 


318 


44.5 


348 


48.6 


378 


52.8 


259 


36.2 


289 


40.4 


319 


44.6 


349 


48.8 


379 


53.0 


260 


36.3 


290 


40.5 


320 


44.7 


350 


48.9 


380 


53.1 


261 


36.6 


291 


40.7 


321 


44.9 


351 


49.1 


381 


53.3 


262 


36.6 


292 


40.8 


322 


45.0 


352 


49.2 


882 


53.4 


263 


36.8 


<, 293 


41.0 


323 


45.2 


353 


49.3 


383 


53.5 


264 


36.9 


294 


41.1 


324 


45.3 


354 


49.3 


384 


53.7 


265 


37.0 


295 


41.2 


325 


45.4 


355 


49.6 


385 


53.8 


266 


37.2 


296 


41.4 


326 


45.6 


356 


49.8 


386 


54.0 


267 


37.3 


297 


41.5 


327 


45.7 


357 


49.9 


387 


54.1 


268 


37.5 


298 


41.7 


328 


45.9 


358 


50.0 


388 


54.2 


269 


37.6 


299 


41.8 


329 


46.0 


359 


50.2 


389 


51 4 


270 


37.7 


300 


41.9 


330 


46.1 


360 


50.3 


390 


54.5 


271 


37.9 


301 


42.1 


331 


46.3 


361 


50.5 


391 


54.7 


272 


38.0 


302 


42.2 


332 


46.4 


362 


50.6 


392 


54.8 


273 


38.2 


303 


42.4 


333 


46.5 


363 


50.7 


393 


64.9 


274 


38.3 


304 


42.5 


334 


46.7 


364 


50.9 


394 


55.1 


275 


38.4 


305 


42.6 


335 


46.8 


365 


51.0 


395 


55.2 


276 


38.6 


300 


42.8 


336 


47.0 


366 


51.2 


396 


55.4 


277 


38.7 


307 


42.9 


337 


47.1 


367 


51.3 


397 


55.5 


278 


38.9 


308 


43.1 


338 


47.2 


368 


51.4 


398 


55.6 


279 


39.0 


309 


43.2 


339 


47.4 


369 


51.6 


399 


55.8 


280 


39.1 


310 


43.3 


340 


47.5 


370 


51.7 


400 


55.9 


281 


39.3 


311 


43.5 


341 


47.7 


371 


51.9 


401 


56.1 


282 


39.4 


312 


43.6 


342 


47.8 


372 


52.0 


402 


56.2 


283 


39.6 


313 


43.8 


343 


47.9 


373 


52.1 


403 


56.3 


284 


39.7 


314 


43.9 


344 


48.1 


374 


52.3 


404 


56.5 


285 


39.8 


315 


44.0 


345 


48.2 


375 


52.4 


405 


56.6 


286 


40.0 


316 


44.2 


346 


48.4 


376 


52.6 


406 


56.8 



126 



PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 



TABLE OF COMPARATIVE WEIGHTS AND MEASURES OF OIL— Continued. 
34° GRAVITY. 



Pounds. 


Gallons. 


Ponnds. 


Gallons. 


Pounds. 


Gallons. 


Ponnds. 


Gallons. 


Pounds. 


Gallon^, 


255 


35.9 


285 


40.1 


315 


44.3 


345 


48.5 


375 


52.7 


256 


86.0 


286 


40.2 


316 


44.4 


346 


48.7 


376 


52.9 


257 


36.1 


287 


40.4 


317 


44.6 


347 


48.8 


377 


63.0 


258 


36.3 


269 


40.5 


318 


44.7 


348 


49.0 


378 


63.2 


259 


36.4 


289 


40.6 


319 


44.9 


349 


49.1 


379 


53.3 


260 


36.6 


290 


40.8 


320 


45.0 


350 


49.2 


380 


53.4 


261 


36.7 


291 


40.0 


331 


45.1 


351 


49.4 


381 


53.6 


262 


36.8 


293 


41.1 


322 


45.3 


352 


49.5 


382 


53.7 


263 


37.0 


293 


41.2 


323 


45.4 


353 


49.6 


383 


53.9 


264 


37.1 


294 


41.3 


324 


45.6 


354 


49.8 


384 


54.0 


265 


37.3 


295 


41.5 


325 


45.7 


365 


49.9 


385 


54.1 


266 


37.4 


296 


41.6 


326 


45.8 


366 


50.1 


386 


54.3 


267 


37.6 


297 


41.8 


327 


46.0 


357 


50.2 


387 


54.4 


368 


37.7 


298 


41.9 


328 


46.1 


358 


50.4 


388 


54.6 


269 


37.8 


299 


43.1 


329 


46.3 


359 


60.5 


389 


547 


270 


38.0 


300 


42.2 


330 


46.4 


360 


50.6 


390 


54.9 


271 


38.1 


301 


42.3 


331 


46.6 


361 


50.8 


391 


55.0 


272 


38.2 


302 


42.5 


332 


46.7 


362 


50.9 


392 


65.1 


273 


38,4 


303 


42.6 


333 


46.8 


363 


61.1 


393 


55.3 


274 


38.5 


304 


42.8 


334 


47.0 


364 


51.3 


394 


55.4 


275 


38.7 


305 


42.9 


335 


47.1 


365 


51.3 


395 


55.6 


276 


38.8 


306 


43.0 


336 


47.3 


366 


51.5 


396 


55.7 


277 


38.9 


307 


43.2 


337 


47.4 


367 


51.6 


397 


55.8 


278 


39.1 


308 


43.3 


338 


47.5 


368 


61.8 


398 


56.0 


279 


39.2 


309 


43.5 


339 


47.7 


369 


51.9 


399 


56.1 


280 


39.4 


310 


43.6 


840 


47.8 


370 


52.0 


400 


56.3 


281 


39.5 


311 


43.7 


341 


48.0 


371 


52.2 


401 


56.4 


282 


39.7 


312 


43.9 


342 


48.1 


372 


62.3 


402 


66.5 


283 


39.8 


313 


44.0 


343 


48.2 


373 


52.5 


403 


56.7 


284 


39.9 


314 


44.2 


344 


48.4 


374 


62.6 


404 


56.8 



35° GRAVITY. 



254 


35.9 


284 


40.2 


314 


44.4 


344 


48.7 


374 


52.9 


255 


36.1 


265 


40.3 


315 


44.6 


345 


48.8 


375 


53.1 


256 


36.2 


286 


40.5 


316 


44.7 


346 


49.0 


376 


53.2 


257 


36.4 


287 


40.6 


317 


44.9 


347 


49.1 


377 


53.4 


268 


36.5 


288 


40.8 


318 


45.0 


348 


49.2 


378 


53.5 


259 


36.6 


289 


40.9 


319 


45.1 


349 


49.4 


379 


53.6 


260 


36.8 


290 


41.0 


320 


45.3 


350 


49. 5n 


380 


53.8 


261 


36.9 


291 


41.2 


321 


45.4 


351 


49.7 


381 


53.9 


262 


37.1 


292 


41.3 


323 


45.6 


352 


49.8 


382 


54.1 


263 


37.2 


293 


41.5 


323 


45.7 


353 


60.0 


383 


64.2 


364 


37.4 


294 


41.6 


324 


* 45.9 


354 


60.1 


384 


54.4 


265 


37.5 


295 


41.7 


325 


46.0 


355 


50.2 


386 


54.5 


266 


37.6 


296 


41.9 


326 


46.1 


356 


50.4 


386 


54.6 


267 


37.8 


297 


43.0 


327 


46.3 


367 


50.5 


387 


54.8 


268 


37.9 


298 


42.3 


328 


46.4 


358 


50.7 


388 


54.9 


269 


38.1 


299 


43.3 


339 


46.6 


359 


50.8 


389 


55.1 


270 


38.2 


300 


42.5 


330 


46.7 


360 


50.9 


390 


56.2 


271 


38.4 


301 


42.6 


331 


46.8 


361 


51.1 


391 


65.3 


272 


38.5 


302 


42.7 


332 


47.0 


362 


51.2 


392 


55.6 


273 


38.6 


303 


43.9 


333 


47.1 


363 


61.4 


39.S 


55.6 


274 


38.8 


304 


43.0 


334 


47.3 


364 


51. 5 


394 


.■)0.8 


275 


38.9 


305 


43.3 


335 


47.4 


365 


51.7 


395 


55.9 


276 


39.1 


30G 


43.3 


336 


47.6 


366 


51.8 


396 


56.0 


277 


39.2 


307 


43.4 


337 


47.7 


367 


51.9 


397 


56.2 


278 


39.3 


• 308 


43.6 


338 


47.8 


368 


52.1 


398 


58.3 


279 


39.5 


309 


43.7 


339 


48.0 


369 


63.3 


399 


56.5 


280 


39 6 


310 


43.9 


340 


48.1 


370 


63.4 


400 


56.6 


281 


39.8 


311 


44.0 


341 


48.3 


371 


52.6 


401 


66.7 


282 


39.9 


312 


44.1 


342 


48.4 


372 


62.6 


402 


56.9 


283 


40.1 


313 


44.3 


343 


48.5 


373 


52.8 


403 


57.0 



THE NATURAL HISTORY OF PETROLEUM. 



127 



TABLE OF COMPARATIVE WEIGHTS AND MEASURES CI" OIL— Continued. 
40° GRAVITY. 





PoandB. 


Gallons. 


Poimds. 


Gallons. 


Pounds. 


Gallons. |, 


Pounds. 


Gallons, 


Founds. , 


Gallons. 




246 


1 
35.9 


276 


40.2 


306 


44.6 


336 


49.0 


366 


53.4 




247 


36.0 


277 


40.4 


307 


44.8 j 


337 


49.1 . 


367 


53.5 




248 


36.2 


278 


40.5 


308 


44.9 i 


338 


49.3 : 


368 


53.7 




249 


36.3 


279 


40.7 


309 


45.0 


339 


49.4 


369 


53.8 




250 


36.5 


280 


40.8 


310 


45.2 


340 


49.6 


370 


53.9 




251 


36.6 


281 


41.0 


311 


45.3 


341 


49.7 


371 


54.1 




252 


36.7 


282 


41.1 


312 


45.5 


342 


49.9 


372 


54.2 




253 


36.9 


283 


41.3 


313 


45.6 ; 


343 


50.0 


373 


54.4 




254 


37.0 


284 


41.4 


314 


45.8 ! 


344 


50.1 


374 


54.5 




255 


37.2 


285 


41.6 1 


315 


45.9 


345 


60.3 l| 


375 


54.7 




256 


37.3 


286 


41.7 i 


316 


46.1 


346 


50.4 j 


376 


54.8 




257 


37.5 


287 


41.8 


317 


46.2 


347 


50.6 


377 


55.0 




258 


37.6 


288 


42.0 


318 


46.4 j 


348 


50.7 


378 


55.1 




259 


37.8 


289 


42.1 ' 


319 


46.5 ! 


349 


50.9 


379 


55.2 




260 


37.9 


290 


42.3 


320 


46.7 


350 


51.0 


380 


55.4 




261 


38.1 


291 


43.4 


321 


46.8 


351 


51.2 1 


381 


55.5 




262 


38.2 


292 


42.6 


322 


46.9 


352 


51.3 1 


382 


55.7 




263 


38.4 


293 


42.7 


323 


47.1 


353 


51.5 


383 


55.8 




264 


38.5 


294 


42.9 


324 


47.2 


354 


51.6 1 


384 


56.0 




265 


38.6 


295 


, 43.0 


325 


47.4 


355 


51.8 


385 


56.1 




266 


; 3&8 


j 296 


-43.2 


326 


47.5 


356 


51.9 


386 


56.3 




267 


' 38.9 


297 


43.3 


327 


47.7 


357 


52.0 


387 


56.4 




268 


39.1 


298 


43.5 


328 


47.8 


358 


52.2 


388 


56.6 




269 


I 39.2 


j 299 


43.6 


329 


48.0 


359 


52.3 


389 


56.7 




276 


39.4 


300 


43.7 


330 


48.1 


360 


52.5 1 


390 


56.9 




271 


1 39.5 


1 301 


43.9 


331 


48.3 


361 


52.6 


391 


57.0 




272 


39.7 


302 


44.0 


332 


48.4 


362 


52.8 


392 


57.1 




273 


39.8 


303 


44.2 


333 


48.5 


363 


52.9 


393 


! 57.3 




274 


1 39.9 


304 


44.3 


334 


48.7 


364 


53.1 


394 


57.4 




275 


i '"■' 


305 


44.5 


335 


48.8 


365 


53.2 


395 


57.6 



43= GRAVITY. 



242 j 


35.9 


272 


40.4 ' 


302 


44.8 


332 


49.3 * 


362 


53.7 


243 


36.1 


273 


40.5 ' 


303 


43.0 


338 


49.4 


363 


53.9 


244 


36.2 


274 


40.6 


304 


43.1 


334 


49.5 


364 


54.0 


245 


36.3 


275 


40.8 


305 


45.2 


333 


49.7 


365 


54.1 


246 


36.5 


276 


40.9 


306 


45.4 


336 


49.8 


366 


54.3 


247 


36.6 


277 


41.1 


307 


43.3 


337 


50.0 


367 


54.4 


248 


36.8 


278 


41.2 


308 


45.7 


338 


50.1 


368 


54.6 


249 


36.9 


279 


41.4 


309 


45. S 


339 


50.3 


369 


54.7 


250 


37.1 


280 


41.5 1 


310 


46.0 


340 


50.4 


370 


54.9 


251 


37.2 


281 


41.7 ' 


311 


46.1 


341 


50.6 


371 


55.0 


252 


37.4 


282 


41.8 '< 


312 


46.3 


342 


50.7 


372 


55.2 


253 


37.5 


283 


42.0 


313 


46.4 


343 


50.9 


373 


55.3 


254 


37.7 


284 


42.1 


314 


46.0 


344 


31.0 


374 


55.5 


255 


37.8 


285 


42.3 


315 


46.7 


343 


51.2 


375 


53.6 


256 


38.0 


286 


42.4 


310 


46.9 


346 


.nl.3 


376 


55.8 


257 


38.1 


287 


42.6 


317 


47.0 


347 


51.5 


377 


55.9 


258 


38.3 


288 


42.7 


318 


47.2 


348 


31.0 


378 


36.1 


259 


38.4 


289 


42.9 


319 


47.3 


349 


51.8 


379 


56.2 


260 


38.6 


290 


43.0 


320 


47.5 


330 


51.9 1 


380 


56.4 


261 


38.7 


291 


43.2 


321 


47.6 


351 


52.1 ! 


381 


36.5 


262 


3&9 


292 


43.3 


322 


47.8 


352 


52.2 i 


382 


56.7 


263 


39.0 


293 


4.S.5 


323 


47.9 


353 


52.4 1 


383 


56.8 


264 


39.2 


294 


43.6 


324 


48.1 


354 


52.5 1 


384 


57.0 


265 


39.3 


295 


43.8 


325 


48.2 


353 


52.7 ! 


385 


57.1 


266 


39.5 


296 


43.9 


326 


48.4 


356 


52.8 


386 


57.3 


267 


39.6 


297 


44.1 


327 


48.5 


357 


53.0 


387 


57.4 


268 


39.8 


298 


44.2 


328 


48.7 


358 


53.1 


388 


57.6 


269 


39.9 


299 


44.4 


329 


48.8 


359 


53.3 


389 


57.7 


270 


40.1 


300 


44.5 


330 


49.0 


360 


53.4 


390 


57.9 


271 


40.2 


301 


44.7 


331 


49.1 


361 


53.6 


391 


58.0 



128 



PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 



TABLE OF COMPARATIVE WEIGHTS AND MEASUEES OF OIL— Continued. 
44° GEATITY. 



Ponnds, 


Gallons. 


Pounds. 


Gallons. 


Pounds. 


Gallons. 


Pounds. 


Gallons. 


Pounds. 


Gallons. 


240 


35.8 


270 


40.2 


300 


44.7 


1 330 


49.2 


360 


53.7 


241 


35.9 


271 


40.4 


301 


44.9 


331 


49.3 


361 


53.8 


242 


36.1 


272 


40.5 


302 


45.0 


332 


49.5 


362 


54.0 


243 


36.2 


273 


40.7 


303 


45.2 


333 


49.6 


363 


54.1 


244 


36.4 


274 


40.8 


304 


45.3 


334 


49.8 


364 


54.3 


245 


36.5 


275 


41.0 


305 


45.5 


335 


49.9 


365 


54.4 


246 


36.7 


276 


41.1 


306 


45.6 


j 336 


50.1 


366 


54.6 


247 


36.8 


277 


41.3 


307 


45.8 


337 


50.2 


367 


54.7 


248 


37.0 


278 


41.4 


308 


45.9 


338 


50.4 


368 


54.9 


249 


37.1 


279 


41.6 


309 


46.1 


339 


50.5 


369 


55.0 


259 


37.3 


280 


41.7 


310 


46.2 


340 


50.7 


370 


55.2 


261 


37.4 


281 


41.9 


311 


46.4 


341 


50.8 


371 


55.3 


252 


37.6 


282 


42.0 


312 


46.5 


342 


51.0 


372 


55.5 


253 


37.7 


283 


42.2 


313 


46.7 


343 


51.1 


373 


55.6 


254 


37.9 


284 


42.3 


314 


46.8 


344 


51.3 


374 


55.8 


255 


38.0 


285 


42.5 


315 


47.0 


345 


51.4 


375 


55.9 


256 


38.2 


286 


42.6 


316 


47.1 


346 


51.6 


376 


56.0 


257 


38.3 


287 


42.7 


317 


47.3 


347 


51.7 


377 


56.2 


258 


38.5 


288 


42.9 


318 


47.4 


348 


51.9 


378 


56.3 


259 


38.6 


289 


43.1 


319 


47.6 


349 


52.0 


379 


56.5 


260 


38.8 


290 


43.2 


320 


47.7 


350 


52.2 


380 


56.6 


261 


38.9 


291 


43.4 


321 


47.9 


351 


52.3 


381 


56.8 


262 


39.1 


?92 


43.5 


322 


48.0 


352 


52.5 


382 


56.9 


263 


39.2 


293 


43.7 


323 


48.2 


353 


52.6 


383 


57.1 


264 


39.4 


294 


43.8 


324 


48.3 


354 


52.8 


384 


67.2 


265 


39.5 


295 


44.0 


325 


48.5 


355 


52.9 


385 


57.4 


266^ 


39.6 


296 


44. i 


326 


48.6 


356 


53.1 


3S6 


57.5 


267 


39.8 


297 


44.3 


327 


48.7 


357 


53.2 


387 


57.7 


268 


39.9 


293 


44.4 


328 


48.9 


358 


53.4 


338 


67.8 


269 


40.1 


209 


44.6 


329 


49.0 


359 


53.5 


389 


58.0 



45° GKAVITT. 



240 


36.0 


270 


40.5 


300 


45.0 


330 


49.5 


360 


54.0 


241 


36.2 


271 


40.7 


301 


45.2 


331 


49.7 


361 


64.2 


242 


36.3 


272 


40.8 


302 


45.3 


332 


49.8 


362 


54.3 


243 


36.5 


273 


41.0 


303 


45.5 


333 


60.0 


363 


54.5 


244 


36.6 


274 


41.1 


304 


45.6 


334 


60.1 


361 


54.6 


245 


36.8 


275 


41.3 


305 


45.8 


335 


50.3 


365 


64.8 


246 


36.9 


276 


41.4 


306 


45.9 


336 


50.4 


366 


54.9 


247 


37.1 


277 


• 41.6 


307 


46.1 


837 


60.6 


367 


55,1 


248 


37.2 


278 


41.7 


308 


46.2 


338 


60.7 


368 


55.2 


249 


37.4 


279 


41.9 


309 


46.4 


339 


50.9 


369 


65.4 


250 


37.5 


280 


42.0 


310 


46.5 


340 


51.0 


370 


55.5 


251 


37.7 


281 


42.2 


311 


46.7 


341 


51.2 


371 


65.7 


252 


37.8 


282 


42.3 


312 


46.8 


342 


61.3 


372 


55.8 


263 


38.0 


283 


42.5 


313 


47.0 


343 


61.5 


373 


56.0 


254 


38.1 


234 


42.6 


314 


47.1 


344 


51.6 


374 


56.1 


255 


38.3 


285 


42.8 


315 


47.3 


345 


51.8 


375 


66.3 


256 


38.4 


286 


42.9 


316 


47.4 


346 


51.9 


376 


56.4 


257 


38.6 


287 


43.1 


317 


47.6 


347 


52.1 


377 


56.6 


258 


38.7 


288 


43.2 


318 


47.7 


348 


52.2 


378 


56.7 


269 


38.9 


289 


43.4 


319 


47.9 


349 


62.4 


379 


56.9 


260 


39.0 


290 


43.5 


320 


•48.0 


350 


52.5 


380 


57.0 


261 


39.2 


291 


43.7 


321 


48.2 


351 


52.7 


381 


57.2 


262 


39.3 


292 


43.8 


322 


48.3 


352 


52.8 


382 


57.3 


263 


39.5 


293 


44.0 


323 


48.5 


353 


53.0 


383 


57.5 


264 


39.6 


294 


44.1 


324 


48.6 


354 


63.1 


384 


87.6 


265 


39.8 


295 


44.3 


325 


48.8 


355 


53.3 


385 


67.8 


266 


39.0 


296 


44.4 


326 


48.9 


356 


63.4 


386 


57.9 


287 


40.1 


297 


44.6 


327 


49.1 


357 


53.6 


387 


58.1 


268 


40.2 


298 


44.7 


328 


49.2 


358 


63.7 


388 


68.2 


269 


40.4 


299 


44.9 


329 


49.4 


359 


53.9 


389 


58.4 



THE NATURAL HISTORY OF PETROLEUM. 



129 



TABLE OF COMPARATIVE WEIGHTS AND MEASURES OF OIL— Csntiuued. 
46° GEA.VITT. 



Poands. 


Gallons. 


Pounds. 


Gallons. 


Founds. 


Gallons. 


Pounds. 


Gallons. 


Pounds. 


Gallons. 


238 


35.9 


268 


40.4 


298 


45.0 


328 


49.5 


358 


64.0 


239 


36.1 


269 


40.6 


299 


45.1 


329 


49.7 


359 


64.2 


240 


36.2 


270 


40.7 


300 


45.3 


330 


49.8 


360 


54.3 


241 


36.4 


271 


40.9 


301 


45.4 


331 


50.0 


361 


64.5 


242 


36.5 


272 


41.0 


302 


45.6 


332 


50.1 


362 


54.6 


243 


30.7 


273 


41.2 


303 


45.7 


333 


50.3 


363 


54.8 


244 


36.8 


274 


41.3 


304 


45.9 


334 


50.4 


364 


54.9 


245 


37.0 


275 


41.5 


305 


46.0 


335 


50.6 


365 


55.1 


246 


37.1 


276 


41.7 


306 


46.2 


336 


.50.7 


366 


55.2 


247 


37.3 


277 


41.8 


307 


46.3 


337 


50.9 


357 


55.4 


248 


37.4 


278 


42.0 


308 


46.5 


.■i38 


51.0 


368 


55.5 


249 


37.6 


279 


42.1 


389 


46.6 


339 


51.2 


369 


55.7 


250 


37.7 


280 


42.3 


310 


46.8 


340 


61.3 


370 


■55.8 


251 


37.9 


281 


42.4 


311 


46.9 


341 


51.5 


371 


66.0 


252 


38.0 


282 


42.6 


312 


47.1 


342 


51.6 


372 


56.1 


253 


38.2 


283 


42.7 


313 


47.2 


343 


51.8 


373 


56.3 


254 


38.3 


284 


42.9 


314 


47.4 


344 


51.9 


374 


!^.i 


255 


38.5 


285 


43.0 


315 


47.5 


345 


52.1 


375 


56.6 


256 


38.6 


286 


43.2 


316 


47.7 


346 


52.2 


376 


5^7 


257 


38.8 


287 


43.3 


317 


47.8 


347 


52.4 


377 


56.9 


258 


38.9 


288 


43.5 


318 


48.0 


348 


52.5 


378 


57.0 


259 


39.1 


289 


43.6 


319 


48.1 


349 


52.7 


379 


57.2 , 


260 


39.2 


: 290 


43.8 


320 


48.3 


350 


52.8 


380 


57.3 


261 


39.4 


291 


43.9 


321 


48.4 


351 


53.0 


381 


57.5 


262 


39.5 


292 


44.1 


322 


48.6 


352 


53.1 


382 


57.6 


263 


39.7 


293 


44.2 


323 


48.7 


353 


53.3 


383 


57.8 


264 


39.8 


294 


44.4 


324 


48.9 


354 


53.4 


384 


57.9 


265 


40.0 


295 


44.5 


325 


49.1 


355 


53.6 


385 


58.1 


266 


40.1 


296 


44.7 


326 


49.2 


356 


53.7 


386 


58.3 


267 


40.3 


297 


44.8 


i 327 


49.4 


357 


53.9 


387 


58.4 



47° GPlAVITT. 



236 


35.8 


266 


40.4 


296 


44.9 


326 


49.5 


356 


54.0 


237 


36.0 


267 


40.5 


297 


45.1 


327 


49 6 


357 


54.1 


238 


36.1 


268 


40.7 


298 


45.2 


328 


49.8 


353 


54.3 


239 


36.3 


269 


40.8 


299 


45.4 


329 


49.9 


359 


54.5 


240 


36.4 


270 


41.0 


300 


45.5 


330 


50.1 


360 


54.6 


241 


36.6 


271 


41.1 


301 


45.7 


331 


50.2 


361 


54.8 


242 


36.7 


272 


41.3 


302 


45.8 


332 


.50.4 


362 


54.9 


243 


36.9 


273 


41.4 


303 


46.0 


333 


50.5 


363 


55.1 


244 


37.0 


274 


41.6 


304 


46.1 


334 


50.7 


364 


55.2 


245 


37.2 


275 


41.7 


305 


46.3 


335 


50.8 


365 


55.4 


240 


37.3 


276 


41.9 


306 


46.4 


336 


51.0 


366 


55.6 


247 


37.5 


277 


42.0 


307 


46.6 


337 


51.1 


367 


55.7 


248 


37.0 


278 


42.2 


308 


46.7 


338 


51.3 


368 


55.8 


249 


37.8 


279 


42.4 


309 


46.9 


339 


51.5 


369 


56.0 


260 


38.0 


280 


42.5 


310 


47.1 


340 


51.6 


370 


56.2 


251 


38.1 


281 


42.7 


311 


47.2 


341 


51.8 


371 


56.3 


252 


38.3 


282 


42.8 


312 


47.4 


342 


51.9 


372 


56.5 


253 


38.4 


283 


43.0 


313 


47.5 


343 


52.1 


373 


56.6 


254 


38.6 


284 


43.1 


314 


47.7 


344 


52.2 


374 


56.8 


255 


38.7 


285 


43.3 


315 


47.8 


345 


52.4 


375 


56.9 


256 


38.9 


286 


43.4 


316 


48.0 


346 


52.5 


376 


57.1 


257 


39.0 


287 


43.6 


317 


48.1 


347 


52.7 


377 


57.2 


258 


39.2 


288 


43.7 


318 


48.3 


348 


52.8 


378 


57.4 


259 


39.3 


289 


43.9 


319 


48.4 


349 


53.0 


379 


57.5 


260 


39 5 


290 


44.0 


320 


48.6 


350 


53.1 


380 


57.7 


261 


39.6 


291 


44.2 


321 


48.7 


351 


53.3 


381 


57.8 


262 


39.8 


292 


44.3 


322 


48.9 


352 


53.4 


382 


•58.0 


263 


39 9 


293 


44.5 


323 


49.0 


353 


53.5 


383 


58.1 


264 


40.1 


294 


44.6 


324 


49.2 


354 


53.7 


384 


58.3 


265 


40.2 


295 


44.8 


325 


49 3 


355 


53.9 


385 


58.4 



130 



PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 



TABLE OF COMPARATIVE WEIGHTS AND MEASURES OF OIL— Continued. 

50O GEATITY. 



Pounds. 


Gallons. 


Pounds. 


Gallons. 


Pounds. 


Gallons. 


Pounds. 


Gallons. 


Pounds. 


Gallons. 


234 


36.1 


264 


40.8 


294 


45.4 


324 


50.0 


364 


54.6 


235 


36.3 


265 


40.9 


295 


45.5 


325 


60.2 


365 


54.8 


236 


36.4 


266 


41.1 


296 


45,7 


326 


60.3 


366 


55.0 


237 


36.6 


267 


41.2 


297 


45.8 


327 


50.5 


367 


56.1 


238 


36.7 


268 


41.4 


298 


46.0 


328 


50.6 


358 


65.3 


239 


36.9 


269 


41.5 


299 


46.2 


329 


50,8 


359 


55.4 


240 


37,0 


270 


41.7 


300 


46.3 


330 


50,9 


360 


55.6 


241 


37.2 


271 


41.8 


301 


46.5 


331 


51.1 


361 


55.7 


242 


37.4 


272 


42.0 


302 


40,6 


332 


51.2 


362 


65.9 


243 


37.5 


273 


42.1 


303 


46.8 


333 


51.4 


363 


56.0 


244 


37.7 


274 


42.3 


304 


46.9 


334 


51.6 


364 


56.2 


245 


37.8 


275 


42.4 


305 


47.1 


335 


51.7 


365 


66.3 


246 


38.0 


276 


42,6 


306 


47.2 


336 


51.9 


368 


56.6 


247 


38.1 


277 


42.8 


307 


47.4 


337 


52.0 


367 


66.6 


248 


38.3 


278 


42.9 


308 


47.5 


338 


52.2 


368 


66.8 


249 


38.4 


279 


43.1 


309 


47.7 


339 


52.3 


369 


57.0 


250 


38.6 


280 


43.2 


310 


47.8 


340 


52,5 


370 


57.1 


251 


38.7 


281 


43.4 


311 


48.0 


341 


52.6 


371 


57.3 


252 


38.9 


282 


43.5 


312 


48.2 


342 


52.8 


372 


57.4 


253 


39.1 


283 


43.7 


313 


48.3 


343 


62.9 


373 


67.6 


254 


39.2 


284 


43.'8 


314 


48.5 


344 


63.1 


374 


57.7 


255 


39.4 


285 


44.0 


315 


48.6 


345 


53.2 


375 


57.9 


256 


39.5 


286 


44.2 


316 


48.8 


340 


53.4 


376 


58.0 


257 


39.7 


287 


44.3 


317 


48.9 


347 


53.6 


377 


58.2 


258 


39.8 


288 


44.5 


318 


49.1 


348 


53.7 


378 


58.3 


259 


40.0 


289 


44.6 


319 


49.2 


349 


53.9 


379 


58.5 


260 


40.1 


290 


44.8 


320 


49.4 


350 


64.0 


380 


58.7 


261 


40.3 


291 


44.9 


321 


49.5 


351 


54.2 


381 


58,8 


262 


40.4 


292 


45.1 


322 


49.7 


352 


54.3 


382 


59.0 


263 


40.6 


293 


45.2 


323 


49.9 


353 


54.5 


383 


59.1 



60° GRAYIXT. 



220 


35.8 


250 


■40.7 


280 


45.6 


310 


60.5 


340 


65.4 


221 


36.0 


251 


40.9 


281 


45.8 


311 


60.7 


341 


66.6 


222 


36.1 


252 


41.1 


282 


45.9 


312 


50.8 


342 


55.7 


223 


36.3 


253 


41.2 


283 


46.1 


313 


51.0 


343 


55.9 


224 


36.5 


254 


41.4 


284 


46 3 


314 


51,2 


344 


56.0 


225 


36.6 


255 


41.6 


285 


46.4 


315 


51.3 


345 


56.2 


226 


36.8 


266 


41.7 


286 


46.6 


316 


51.5 


346 


56.4 


227 


37.0 


267 


41.9 


287 


40.8 


317 


61.6 


347 


56.5 


228 


37.1 


258 


42.0 


288 


46.9 


318 


61.8 


348 


56.7 


229 


37.3 


259 


42.2 


289 


47.1 


319 


52.0 


349 


56.9 


230 


37.5 


260 


42.4 


290 


47.2 


320 


52.1 


360 


57.0 


231 


37.6 


261 


42.5 


291 


47.4 


321 


52.3 


351 


57.2 


232 


37.8 


262 


42.7 


292 


47.0 


322 


62.4 


352 


57.3 


233 


38.0 


203 


42.8 


293 


47.7 


323 


62.6 


353 


57.5 


234 


38.1 


264 


43.0 


294 


47.9 


324 


52.8 


354 


67.7 


235 


38.3 


265 


43.2 


296 


48,1 


325 


62.9 


355 


57.8 


236 


38.5 


266 


43.3 


296 


48.2 


326 


63.1 


356 


58.0 


237 


38.6 


267 


43.5 


297 


48.4 


327 


53.3 


357 


58.2 


238 


38.8 


268 


43.7 


298 


48.5 


328 


63.4 


358 


58.3 


239 


38.9 


269 


43.8 


299 


48.7 


329 


63.6 


359 


58.5 


240 


39.1 


270 


44.0 


300 


48.9 


330 


53.8 


360 


68.6 


241 


39.3 


271 


, 44.1 


301 


49.0 


331 


63.9 


361 


■ 58.8 


242 


39.4 


272 


44.3 


302 


49.2 


332 


54.1 


362 


59.0 


243 


39.6 


273 


44.5 


303 


49.4 


333 


54 3 


363 


59.1 


244 


39.8 


274 


44.6 


304 


49.5 


334 


64.4 


364 


59.3 


245 


39.9 


275 


44.8 


305 


49.7 


335 


54.6 


365 


59.5 


246 


40.1 


276 


45.0 


306 


49.9 


336 


54.7 


366 


69.6 


247 


40.2 


277 


45.1 


307 


50.0 


337 


,64.9 


367 


59.8 


248 


40.4 


278 


45.3 


308 


50.2 


338 


55.1 


368 


59.9 


249 


40.6 


279 


4r. 5 


309 


50.3 


339 


55.2 


369 


60.1 



THE NATURAL HISTORY OF PETROLEUM. 



131 



TABLE OF COMPAKATIVE WEIGHTS AND MEASURES OF OIL— Coutiuued. 
63° GRAVITY. 



Ponitds. 


Gallons. 


Pounds. 


Gallons. 


Ponnda. 


Gallons. 


Pounds. 


Gallons. 


Pounds. 


Gallons. 


217 


35.9 


247 


40.9 


277 


45.8 


307 


50.8 


337 


55.8 


218 


36.1 


248 


41.0 


278 


46.0 


308 


51.0 


338 


55.9 


219 


36.2 


249 


41.2 


279 


46.2 


309 


51.1 


339 


■ 56.1 


220 


38.4 


250 


41.4 


280 


46.3 


310 


51.3 


340 


56.3 


221 


36.6 


251 


41.5 


281 


46.5 


311 


51.5 


341 


56.4 


222 


36.7 


252 


41.7 


282 


46.7 


312 


51.6 


342 


56.6 


223 


36.9 


253 


41.9 


283 


46.8 


313 


51.8 


343 


56.8 


224 


37.1 


254 


42.0 


284 


47.0 


314 


52.0 


344 


56.9 


225 


37.2 


255 


42.2 


285 


47.2 


315 


52.1 


345 


57.1 


226 


37.4 


256 


42.4 


286 


47.3 


316 


52.3 


346 


67.3 


227 


37.6 


257 


42.5 


287 


47.5 


317 


52.5 


347 


57.4 


228 


37.7 


258 


42.7 


288 


47.7 


318 


52.6 


348 


57.6 


220 


37.9 


259 


42.9 


289 


47.8 


319 


52.8 


349 


57.8 


230 


38.1 


260 


43.0 


290 


48.0 


320 


53.0 


350 


57.9 


231 


38.2 


261 


43.2 


291 


48.2 


321 


53.1 


351 


68.1 


232 


38.4 


262 


43.4 


292 


48.3 


322 


53.3 


362 


58.3 


233 


38.6 


263 


43.5 


293 


48.5 


323 


53.5 


353 


58.4 


234 


38.7 


264 


43.7 


294 


48.7 


324 


53.6 


354 


58.6 


233 


88.9 


265 


43.9 


295 


48.8 


325 


53.8 


355 


58.8 


236 


39.1 


266 


44.0 


296 


49.0 


326 


54.0 


356 


58.9 


237 


39.3 


267 


44.2 


297 


49.2 


327 


54.1 


357 


59.1 


238 


39.4 


268 


44.4 


298 


49 3 


328 


54.3 


358 


59.2 


239 


39.6 


269 


44.5 


299 


49.5 


329 


54 5 


359 


59.4 


240 


39.7 


270. 


44.7 


300 


49.7 


330 


54.6 


360 


59.6 


241 


39 9 


271 


44.9 


301 


49.8 


331 


54.8 


361 


59.8 


242 


40.1 


272 


45.0 


302 


50.0 


332 


54.9 


362 


59.9 


243 


40.2 


273 


45.2 


303 


50.2 


333 


55.1 


363 


60.1 


244 


40.4 


274 


45.3 


304 


50.3 


334 


55.3 


364 


60.2 


245 


40.6 


275 


45.5 


305 


50.5 


335 


55.4 


365 


60.4 


246 


40.7 


276 


45.7 


306 


50.7 


336 


55.6 


366- 


60.6 



05° GBAVITr. 



214 


35.8 


244 


40.8 


274 


45.8 


304 


50.8 


334 


55.9 


215 


36.0 


245 


41.0 


275 


46.0 


305 


51.0 


335 


56.0 


216 


36.1 


246 


41.1 


276 


46.1 


306 


51.2 


336 


56.2 


217 


36.3 


247 


41.3 


277 


46.3 


307 


51.3 


337 


56.4 


218 


36.5 


248 


41.5 


278 


■ 46.5 


308 


51.5 


338 


66.5 


219 


36.6 


249 


41.6 


279 


46.6 


309 


51.7 


339 


56. 7 


220 


36.8 


250 


41.8 


280 


46.8 


310 


51.8 


340 


56.9 


221 


37.0 


251 


42.0 


281 


47.0 


311 


52.0 


341 


57.0 


222 


37.1 


252 


42.1 


282 


47.2 


312 


52.2 


342 


57.2 


223 


37.3 


253 


42.3 


283 


47.3 


313 


62.3 


343 


57.4 


224 


37.5 


254 


42.5 


284 


47.5 


314 


52.5 


344 


57.5 


225 


37.6 


255 


42.6 


285 


47.7 


315 


52.7 


345 


57.7 


226 


37.8 


256 


4a 8 


286 


47.8 


316 


62.8 


346 


57.9 


227 


38.0 


257 


43.0 


287 


48.0 


317 


53.0 


347 


58.0 


228 


38.1 


258 


43.1 


288 


48.2 


318 


53.2 


348 


58.2 


229 


38.3 


259 


43.3 


289 


48.3 


319 


53.3 


349 


58.4 


230 


38.5 


260 


43.5 


290 


48.5 


320 


53.5 


350 


58.5 


231 


38.6 


261 


43.6 


291 


48.7 


321 


53.7 


351 


58.7 


232 


38.8 


262 


43.8 


292 


48.8 


322 


53.8 


352 


58.9 


233 


39 


263 


44.0 


293 


49.0 


323 


54.0 


353 


59.0 


234 


391 


264 


44.1 


294 


49.2 


324 


54.2 


354 


59.2 


235 


39.3 


265 


44.3 


295 


49.3 


325 


54.3 


355 


59.4 


236 


39 5 


266 


44.5 


296 


49.5 


326 


54.5 


356 


69.6 


237 


39.6 


267 


44.6 


297 


49.7 


.■!27 


54.7 


357- 


69.7 


238 


39.8 


268 


44.8 


298 


49.8 


328 


54.8 


358 


59.9 


239 


40.0 


269 


45.0 


299 


50.0 


329 


55.0 


359 


80.0 


240 


40.1 


270 


45.1 


300 


50.2 


330 


55.2 


360 


60.2 


241 


40.3 


271 


45.3 


301 


50.3 


331 


55.4 


361 


60.4 


242 


40.5 


272 


45.5 


302 


50.5 


332 


55.5 


362 


60.5 


243 


40.6 


273 


45.6 


303 


50.7 


333 


55.7 


363 


60.7 



132 



PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 



TABLE OF COMPAEATIVE WEIGHTS AND MEASUEES OF OIL— Continued. 
70° GEATITY. 



Founds. 


Gallona. 


Foands. 


G-Edlons. 


Ponnda. 


Gallons. 


Ponnda. 


Gallons. 


Ponnda. 


Gallons. 


210 


36.0 


240 


41.2 


270 


46.3 


300 


51.4 


330 


56.6 


211 


36.2 


241 


41.3 


271 


46.5 


301 


51.6 


331 


56.8 


212 


36.4 


242 


41.5 


272 


46.6 


302 


51.8 


332 


56.9 


213 


36.5 


243 


41.7 


273 


46.8 


303 


52.0 


333 


57.1 


214 


36.7 


244 


41.9 


274 


47.0 


304 


52.1 


334 


57.3 


215 


30.9 


245 


42.0 


275 


47.2 


305 


S2.3 


336 


57.4 


216 


37.1 


246 


42.2 


276 


47.3 


306 


52.5 


336 


57.6 


217 


37.2 


247 


42.4 


277 


47.6 


307 


52.6 


337 


67.8 


218 


37.4 


248 


42.5 


278 


47.7 


308 


52.8 


338 


68.0 


219 


37.6 


249 


42.7 


279 


47.8 


309 


53.0 


339 


58.1 


220 


37.7- 


250 


42.9 


280 


48.0 


310 


53.2 


340 


58.3 


221 


37.9 


251 


43.0 


281 


48.2 


311 


53.3 


341 


68.5 


222 


38.1 


262 


43.2 


282 


48.4 


312 


53.5 


342 


58.6 


223 


38.2 


253 


43.4 


283 


48.5 


313 


53.7 


343 


58.8 


224 


38.4 


254 


43.6 


284 


48.7 


314 


53.9 


344 


59.0 


225 


38.6 


255 


43.7 


285 


48.9 


315 


54.0 


346 


69.2 


226 


38.8 


256 


43.9 


286 


49.1 


316 


64.2 


346 


59.3 


227 


38.9 


257 


44.1 


287 


49.2 


317 


64.4 


347 


59.5 


228 


39.1 


268 


44.2 


288 


49.4 


318 


54.5 


348 


59.7 


229 


39.3 


259 


44.4 


289 


49.6 


319 


54.7 


349 


59.8 


230 


39.4 


260 


44.6 


290 


49.7 


320 


64.9 


360 


60.0 


231 


39.6 


261 


44.8 


291 


49.9 


321 


55.0 


351 


60.2 


232 


39.8 


262 


44.9 


292 


50.1 


322 


55.2 


362 


60.4 


233 


40.0 


263 


46.1 


293 


50.2 


323 


■ 55.4 


353 


60.5 


234 


40.1 


264 


46.3 


294 


50.4 


324 


55.6 


354 


60.7 


235 


40.3 


265 


46.5 


295 


50.6 


326 


55.7 


355 


60.9 


236 


40.5 


266 


45.6 


296 


60.8 


326 


65.9 


356 


61.0 


237 


40.6 


267 


45.8 


297 


50.9 


327 


56.1 


367 


61.2 


238 


40.8 


268 


46.0 


298 


51.1 


328 


56.2 


368 


61.4 


239 


41.0 


269 


46.1 


299 


51.3 


329 


56.4 


359 


61.6 



86° GRAVITY. 



195 


36.0 


225 


41.5 


255 


47.0 


285 


52.5 


315 


58.1 


196 


36.1 


226 


41.7 


256 


47.2 


286 


52.7 


316 


68.3 


197 


36.3 


227 


■ 41.9 


257 


47.4 


287 


52.9 


317 


68.4 


198 


36.5 


228 


42.0 


258 


47.6 


288 


53.1 


318 


58.6 


199 


36.7 


229 


42.2 


259 


47.8 


289 


53.3 


319 


58.8 


200 


86.9 


230 


42.4 


260 


47.9 


290 


53.5 


320 


69.0 


201 


37.1 


231 


42.6 


261 


48.1 


291 


53.6 


321 


59.2 


202 


37.2 


232 


42.8 


262 


48.3 


292 


53.8 


322 


59.4 


203 


37.4 


233 


43.0 


263 


48.5 


293 


54.0 


323 


59.6 


204 


37.6 


234 


43.1 


264 


48.7 


294 


64.2 


324 


59.7 


205 


37.8 


235 


43.3 


265 


48.9 


296 


64.4 


325 


59.9 


206 


38.0 


236 


43.5 


266 


49.0 


296 


54.6 


326 


60.1 


207 


38.2 


237 


43.7 


267 


49.2 


297 


54.8 


327 


60.3 


208 


38.4 


238 


43.9 


268 


49.4 


298 


64.9 


328 


60.5 


209 


38.5 


239 


44.1 


269 


49.6 


299 


65.1 


329 


60.7 


210 


38.7 


240 


44.2 


270 


49.8 


300 


55.3 


330 


60.8 


2U 


38.9 


241 


44.4 


271 


50.0 


301 


65.5 


331 


61.0 


212 


39.1 


242 


44.6 


272 


60.1 


302 


55.7 


332 


61.2 


213 


39.3 


243 


44.8 


273 


50.3 


303 


55.9 


333 


61.4 


214 


39.5 


244 


45.0 


274 


50.5, 


304 


66.1 


334 


61.6 


216 


39.6 


245 


45.2 


275 


60.7 


306 


66.2 


335 


61.8 


216 


39.8 


246 


45.4 


276 


50.9 


306 


56.4 


336 


62.0 


217 


40.0 


247 


45.6 


277 


51.1 


307 


66.6 


337 


62.1 


218 


40.2 


248 


46.7 


278 


51.3 


308 


56.8 


338 


62.3 


219 


40.4 


249 


45.9 


279 


5L4 


309 


57.0 


339 


62.5 


220 


40.6 


250 


46.1 


280 


51.6 


310 


67.2 


340 


62.7 


221 


40.7 


251 


46.3 


281 


61.8 


311 


57.3 


341 


62.9 


228 


40.9 


252 


46.6 


282 


62.0 


312 


57.5 


342 


63.1 


223 


41.1 


253 


46.6 


283 


52.2 


313 


57.7 


343 


63.2 


224 


41.3 


264 


46.8 


284 


52.4 


314 


57.9 


344 


63.4 



THE NATURAL HISTORY OF PETROLEUM. 



133 



TABLE OF THE SPECIFIC GRAVITY CORRESPONDING TO EACH DEGREE OF BAUME'S HYDROMETER; ALSO, THE 
NUMBER OF POUNDS CONTAINED IN ONE UNITED STATES GALLON AT 60° F. 



Baam6. 


Specific 
gravity. 


In one 
gallon. 


Baiim6. 


Specific 

giavity. 


In one 
gallon. 


Deg. 


Deg. 


PouTids. 


Deg. 


Deg. 


Pmmda. 


10 


1.0000 


8.33 


43 


0. 8092 


6.74 


U 


0.9929 


8.27 


44 


0. 8045 


6.70 


12 


0. 9859 


8.21 


45 


0. 8000 


6.66 


13 


0. 9790 


8.16 


46 


0. 7954 


6.63 


14 


0. 9722 


8.10 


47 


0. 7909 


6.59 


IS 


0. 9655 


8.04 


48 


0. 7805 


6.55 


16 


0.9589 


7.99 


49 


0. 7821 


6.52 


17 


0. 9523 


7.93 


60 


0. 7777 


6.48 


18 


0.9459 


7.88 


51 


0. 7734 


6.44 


19 


0. 9395 


7.83 


52 


0. 7692 


6.41 


20 


0. 9333 


7.78 


53 


0. 7650 


6.37 


21 


0. 9271 


7.72 


54 


0.7608 


6.34 


22 


0.9210 


7.67 


55 


0.7567 


6.30 


23 


0.9150 


7.62 


56 


0. 7526 


6.27 


24 


0. 9090 


7.57 


57 


0. 7486 


6.24 


25 


0. 9032 


7.53 


68 


0.7446 


6.20 


26 


0.8974 


7.48 


59 


0.7407 


6.17 


27 


0. 8917 


7.43 


60 


0. 7308 


6.14 


28 


0.8860 


7.38 


61 


0. 7329 


6.11 


29 


0. 8805 


7.34 


62 


0.7290 


6.07 


30 


0. 8750 


7.29 


63 


0. 7253 


6.04 


31 


0.8695 


7.24 


64 


0. 7216 


6.01 


32 


0.8641 


7.20 


65 


0. 7179 


5.98 


33 


0.8588 


7.15 


66 


0.7142 


5.95 


34 


0.8536 


7.11 


67 


0. 7106 


5.92 


35 


0.8484 


7.07 


68 


0. 7070 


5.89 


36 


0.8433 


7.03 


69 


0. 7035 


5.80 


37 


0. 8383 


6.98 


70 


0. 7000 


5.83 


38 


0.8333 


6.94 


75 


0.6829 


6.69 


39 


0.8284 


6.90 


80 


0. 6666 


5.55 


40 


0. 8235 


6.86 


85 


0. 6511 


5.42 


41 


0. 8187 


6.82 


90 


0. 6363 


5.30 


42 


0.8139 


6.78 


95 


0. 6222 


5.18 

! 



MEMORANDA. 

Jne United States gallou of pure water = 231 cubic inches, coutains 58,318 grains (or 3779.031 grams) = 8.331 iioiuids a mi; id 

One imperial gallon of pure water — 277.276 cubic inches, contains 70,000 grains (or 4536.029 grams) = 10 pounds avoinluiHii 

One cubic foot of pure water at 60° F. contains 1,000 ounces = 62.5 pounds avoirdupois. 

To reduce imperial gallons to United States gallons, divide by 1.2. 

To reduce United States gallons to imperial gallons, multiply by 1.2. 

To reduce United States gallons to cubic feet, divide by 7.5. 

To reduce cubic feet to United States gallons, multiply by 7.5. 

To find the number of pounds avoirdupois in one cubic foot of any substance, multiply its specific gravity by 62.5. 

To find the degree Baum€ corresponding to any specific gravity: 



140 



sp. gr. 

To find the specific gravity corresponding to any degree Baum^: 

140 
130 + B.°' 



■130 = B.o 



134 



PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 



Chapter X.— PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM IN THE 

DURING THE CENSUS YEAR. 



UNITED STATES 



Section L— THE CONDITIONS OF THE PROBLEM. 

The localities which furnished the petroleum which entered the commerce of the United States during the 
census year were the region in northwestern Pennsylvania north and east of Pittsburgh; Mecca, in Trumbull 
county, Grafton, in Lorain county, and Washington county, Ohio ; Pleasants, Wood, and Ritchie counties, West 
Virginia; Greene county, in southwestern Pennsylvania, and Glasgow, in Barren county, Kentucky. 

The actual production of petroleum in the United States cannot be accurately given for any period of time; 
but an approximate estimate has been made up from all available sources of information, which is believed to be as 
nearly correct as can be made. The reports of the pipe-lines are believed to be correct ; but they do not necessarily 
represent the i)roduction of oil. The statistics of production are usually made up of the total amount of oil run 
into the pipe-lines, an estimated amount handled by private lines and tank-cars, and " dump oil" handled in barrels, 
to be modified by adding or subtracting the amount of oil added to or subtracted from the stock in private and 
well tanks during the year. 

The receipts of the incorporated pipe-lines have been reported in accordance with the requirements of a law 
of the state of Pennsylvania, and are easily accessible. I have received estimates of the oil handled by private 
lines and "dump oil", verified in some instances from independent sources, and, on the whole, I believe from well- 
informed and reliable parties. 

The estimation of the amount of oil held in tanks at wells is at all times a problem of great difEiculty. This 
difEiculty is due to the fact that the business of producing oil is conducted in such a manner that the owners of the 
wells themselves do not know how much oil is in their tanks ; and further, that they do not, in the aggregate, care 
to have the production of their wells known. Again, if the'owners were anxious to have a census of the oil in tanks 
taken, it would have to be done simultaneously, as the amount in the tanks is constantly changing; and such 
concerted action as would be necessary would be beset with practical difficulties if it were unanimously 
agreed upon. Mr. J. C. Welch is in constant communication with a number of those producers who conduct 
their business in the most systematic manner, and really know from actual measurement how much oil runs into 
their tanks from day to day. From this exact information, and much other scarcely less reliable in its character, 
he makes up his daily and monthly reports, whicli are much the most reliable of any furnished in reference to 
this subject. I shall therefore quote from his reports in reference to this matter. In his report for August, 1879, 
he writes : 

There is no accumulation of stocks at wells anywhere except in the Bradford district. In the Bradford district, as is well known, 
the stocks at wells are very large, generally and prohably rightly estimated in the vicinity of 1,500,000 barrels. By my table, given 
above, of comparative stocks at wells of the same owners July 1 and August 1, I find on the Bradford stocks my returns show an increase 
of a little over 3 per cent. Taking this increase on, say, 1,400,000 barrels, and it would make about 45,000 barrels of July production as 
having gone into stocks at wells. This would be about 1,500 barrels per day, and, added to July Bradford pipe-ruus, would make my 
estimate of the production of that district saved in July a daily average of 39,556 barrels. In districts other than Bradford I think the 
pipe-runs of July substantially represent the production. In the light of these facts, and bringing forward my estimate of June, I 
estimate the production out of the ground, with the exception of what was lost in the Bradford district in July (of which no intelligent 
estimate can be made), as follows : 





July. 


June. 




Barrele. 
6,569 
6,034 
1,086 
3,679 
39, 556 


Barrels. 
7,000 
5,100 
1,100 
3,900 
41, 600 












55, 924 


58, 700 



In his September report he says : 

My returns of the stocks at wells of the same owners in the Bradford district August 1 and September 1 show great uniformity. 

In his October report he writes : 

The Bradford stocks at wells October 1, compared with September 1, show a decline of 7 per cent. Taking this percentage from tli" 
presumed stocks at wells in the Bradford district September 1, 1,500,000 barrels, and it makes a decrease in September of 105,000, or 3,500 
barrels a day going into pipe-runs. 

In November his returns from the owners of the wells showed a gain of over 5 per cent., giving 1,470,000 
barrels as the stock November 1. Owing to the loss during that month, the reported stocks December 1 were 
1,395,000 barrels, the same as on October 1. Referring to his reports from well owners for December, in that for 
January, 1880, he says : 

This shows a decline in the Bradford stocks I received of 17 per cent., and substantially no change in the stocks in Butler and 
Clarion. Assuming a stock at the Bradford wells, December 1, of 1,400,000 barrels, which in the general estimate is not far from being 
right, a decline of 17 per cent, would reduce them during December 238,000 barrels. 



THE NATURAL HISTORY OF PETROLEUM. 



135 



III his Februai-y report he says : 

The decline in the Bradford district on the above stocks in January was t> per cent., against a decline in December of the stocks I 
received of 17 per cent. 

His returns show a gain in February of 7 per cent., in March of 13 per cent., and in April of H^ per cent. In 
his May report he states : 

I have returns of 121,993 barrels of oil at 882 wells. May 1, making an average per well of 138 barrels. Taking tlie Bradford wells, 
May 1, at 6,600, it would make a total stock at those wells. May 1, of 910,800. » » » Drilling wells finished in May have been very 
considerable in number, and wiU show a high average of production, as the new territory now being operated upon between Bordell City 
and the Gray and Van Vleck wells has proved esceptioually rich. 

In his report for June, which brings up his statistics to June 1, 1880, and closes the census year, he says: 

I have received returns of 988 Bradford wells, June 1, with stocks at them, exclusive of wells that had their well stocks burned in May. 
These 9^8 wells had stocks, June 1, of 167,694 barrels, au average of 171 barrels. Taking 7,000 wells as the number in the Bradford district, 
June 1, and with this average the total Bradford well stocks, June 1, were 1,197,000. The large amount of oil lost in the Bradford district 
makes estimates on the production there an uncertain thing. The amount lost now is estimated as high as 10,000 and 12,000 barrels daily. 

Mr. Welch estimated the average number of barrels per well for April as 138, and for May as 171; an increase 
in average well stocks during May of nearly 24 per cent, per well, and in total well stocks of over 31 per cent. In 
his report for August, 1880, he says : 

I have received returns from 1,443 Bradford wells, August 1, showing stock at them of 270,821 barrels. The average per well is 187.6. 
Of these 1,443 wells, 1,078 belong to companies that have 30 wells or more, with an average per well of 187^ barrels; the other 365 wells, 
from companies owning less than 30 wells, show an average per well of 1S8J^ barrels. This, I think, shows clearly that my average of 
167.6 for the entire number of weUs is not vitiated on account of the returns being mostly from the larger companies. 

I think this statement is good evidence of the general accuracy of Mr. Welch's conclusions, as the 1,443 wells 
were about one-fifth of the whole number at that time in the Bradford district. 
In an editorial article, August 1, 1879, the Oil City Derrick remarks: 

There is a large extent of territory in the Bradford field, but it has now 4,700 producing well. 

In an article the following day the same paper remarks : 

The Derrick is generally able to back up its assertions with figures, and we have prepared a table of all wells completed in the 
Bradford region since drilling began in 1375, with their production each month. These figures have been carefully compiled from the 
monthly oil reports, and are as accurate as can possibly be obtained without visiting personally every well in the region. We believe 
the table below does not vary from the actual producing wells 100. 

I have completed this table from the tiles of the Derrick to September 1, 1880, and have added a column 
showing the average initial daily production per well for the productive wells drilled each month. 

TABLE SHOWING THE NUMBER OF PRODUCTIVE WELLS DRILLED EACH MONTH, AND THEIR AVERAGE INITIAL DAILY 
PRODUCTION FOR EACH MONTH, FROM JULY I, 1875, TO SEPTEMBER 1, 1880, IN THE BRADFORD DISTRICT. 



July 

Auguat 

September.. 

October 

November . . 
December . . 

Total. 



Average. 



Barrels. 
29.00 
23.00 
31.33 
20.00 
14.67 
23.00 



Productive Initial daily . _„.._„ 
weUs drilled, production. Average. 



J.anaary 

February . . . 

March 

April 

ilay 

June 

July 

August 

September. . 

October 

November . . 
December . . 

Total. 



23 


547 


23.78 


11 


155 


14.09 


11 


252 


22.91 


14 


508 


36.29 


17 


286 


• 16.82 


25 


392 


15.68 


34 


544 


16.00 


31 


507 


16.35 


43 


652 


14.49 


29 


412 


14.21 


52 


550 


10.58 


4G 


450 


9.78 


42 


390 


9.29 


337 


5,098 


14.28 



Januarj' . . 
February . 

March 

April 

May 

Jane 

July 

August ... 



October 

November . . 
December . . 

Total . 



January 

February . . . 

March 

April 

May 

June 

July 

August 

September.. 

October 

November . . 
December . . 

Total. 



490 


9.24 


349 


9.43 


031 


10.34 


510 


12. 14 


514 


9. 52 


515 


9.90 


516 


15.64 


506 


10.54 


1,158 


13.79 


2,091 


13.06 


1,308 


12.00 


2,502 


17.50 



Januarj' 

February ... 

March 

April 

May 

June 

July 

Angust 

September. . 

October 

November . . 
December . . 

Total . 

January 

February .,. 

March 

April 

May 

Juue 

July 

Auguat 



Barrels. 


Barrtls. 


1,537 


14.64 


1,508 


15.71 


1,758 


15.98 


3,597 


16.35 


5,650 


16.30 


3,264 


15.92 


2,437 


16.14 


2,632 


18.54 


1,938 


15.89 


2,572 


13.83 


2,724 


12.91 


2,575 


20.28 



2,017 
2,525 
4,705 
3,805 
8,539 
7,902 
7,291 
5,939 
4,639 
4,837 
4,065 
3,657 



15.93 



18.33 
23.60 
23.29 
24.91 
24.11 
25. 66 
2710 
28.83 



27.47 
30.09 



63,941 



Total liiibt moutbs . 



5,999 
7,542 
8,185 
10,331 
11,554 
8,959 
7,839 
8,587 

09, 196 

84,141 



26.07 



27.77 
29.46 
24.43 
25.19 
28.25 
29.67 
25.21 
26.42 

26.90 

27. 32 



136 



PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 



GENERAL SUMMARY. 



Tears. 


Prodnotive 
■wells drilled. 


Initial daily 
production. 


ATerage per 




Number. 

23 

357 

874 

2,021 

2,453 

2,572 


Barrde. 
547 
5,098 
11,150 
32, 192 
63, 941 
69,196 


£arrel3. 
23.78 
14.28 
12.76 
15.93 
26.07 
26.90 












Total 

At Ijegiiming of the census yenv 


8,300 


182. 124 


21. 94 


4,282 
7,362 


72, 598 
156, 739 


16.95 
2L29 





An examination of this table shows that the 357 wells drilled in 1876 started off with a production of an 
average of only 11.48 barrels per day. At that time the Butler-Clarion district was at the height of its prosperity, 
with an occasional well of great value, leaving but little inducement for labor in the northern field. The 874 wells 
drilled the following year averaged a little better, but only 12.76 barrels per day. The 2,021 new wells of 1878 
started off at a daily average of 15.93 barrels. In 1879 only 432 more wells were drilled, but their average initial 
daily production was 26.07 barrels, an increase of 63 per cent. The 4,282 wells that had been drilled in the four 
years preceding the beginning of the census year started off with a production of 72,598 barrels ; the 3,080 wells 
drilled during the census year started off with a production of 84,141 barrels. Allowing the production of all the 
wells drilled previous to the census year to have been, June 1, 1879, 50 per cent, of their original flow, which is 
perhaps allowable when we consider that more than half were not twelve months' old, the production must have 
been increased during the census year 232 per cent. It is true that during this and the previous year the production 
of other fields had been declining, but the increased production in the Bradford district was beyond all precedent, 
and was due, first, to an increased number of wells, and, second, to a greatly increased average initial daily 
production, that average having risen from 19.41 barrels during the twelve months preceding the census year to 
27.32 barrels during that year, an increase of 41.78 per cent. 

Commenting on the monthly report of "oQ operations" for May, 1879, the Oil City Derrick, in its issue of May 
31, 1 879, the day before the beginning of the census year, says : 

As regards production .and consumption, the supply and demand, we cannot discover anything in common between this and preceding 
years. Not one element of the outlook at the present time has a true conuterpart in any preceding period. In 1874, when the market 
declined to about 40 cents, the outlook was bright as compared with the present. The daQy production at that time was between 25,000 
and 30,000 barrels. It is now not less than 50,000 or 52,000 barrels. The stock held in the oil regions then did not exceed 3,000,000 
barrels. It is now not less than 7,000,000 barrels, and constantly augmenting. The decline at that time was attributable to the increased 
production caused by the striking of the large fourth-sand wells on the Butler county cross-belt. The territory where those wells were 
found was limited to a small area, and the gushers declined rapidly. Now the territory known to be prolific is almost boundless. * * * 
Developments in the Cole Creek district are being pushed with a persistence that bodes no good for the future price of the product. The 
producers are paying extravagant prices for the privilege of drilling. 

On this day oil opened and closed at 73f cents per barrel. 

June 28 the DerricTc's special report on the petroleum market says : 
We are informed by parties who know what they are talking about that the stock at the wells in the Bradford district at the present 
time is not less than 1,000,000 barrels. 

August 29 the report for that date says : 
The condition of tankage in the northern region has not improved, notwithstanding the enormous shipments during this month 
being full and running over. The matter is further complicated by the necessity the lines are under of emptying two 25,000-barr6l tanks, 
which have sprung a leak. The status of the wells may be judged of from the fact that the first fifteen days of this month 60,000 barrels 
of wooden tankage was erected in the Bradford region, all of which is presumably full. 

September 1 petroleum opened at Oil City at 65f cents. The editor of the Berrick congratulated the trade 
that the monthly report for August showed fewer wells finished and but little addition to the daily production, and 
indulged the hope of improved prices. The report of petroleum markets for that date says: 

If the well reports should show a decline, men will anxiously jump in and buy, to find ultimately th.at there is a sufiSciency of 
petroleum to spare for all. There onhj needs an advance of a few cents to set the tcalking-beam wagging and producers by the ears again, 
scrambling after more terriiory. 

The sagacity of this remark is exemplified in a remarkable manner in the history of the few months following. 
In the issue of September 12 the Derrick again warns its patrons of the dire effects of overproduction, and implores 
them to stop drilling, giving figures to show that the production was continually on the increase and stocks 
accumulating. Again, on the 20th, this paper refers to the quarrel then going on between the owners of tanks 
and the pipe-lines, and says: 

It is easy to trace back all these troubles to overproduction. The owners of large tiinks soon fiU the capacity, and then seek means 
to have it emptied that it can be again filled from their flowing wells. Even if they put up new tanks, it is but a short time before they 



THE NATURAL HISTORY OF PETROLEUM. 



137 



are filled. We hear reports of SojOOO-barrel tauks being built iu many of the districts ; yet how slight is all this new capacity when 2,000,000 
barrels and over are backed np at the wells. .Still the production goes on increasing. Our specials every morning give a long list of new 
■wells. Consider the millions of stock on hand; the markets abroad nearly glutted with refined; storage capacity in the East nearly or 
quite filled; every well of the thousands in the Bradford district flowing daily into tanks already full or overflowing; pnmping-wells 
forced to shut down or pump on the ground; then look at the new rigs going uj) and new wells daily coming in ; the market hanging 
dead and lifeless at a ruinous figure; and ask yourself what must be the result of all this? Every week the production is greater than 
the week before; there is no use denying these facts, nor shirking the results they will bring. 

Agaiu, on the 23d, the editor remarks : 

The runs on Saturday (20th) and Sunday (ilst) were the largest ever known in the history of the trade. They amounted to over 
13-2,000 barrels. 

Ill the face of this euormous production the price of oil advanced, and on the 30th of September closed at 79^ 
cents. The next day, in consequence of the decrease of rigs and completed wells in the Bradford district, it advanced 
to S2i cents. The development of oil territory continued to decrease until December, and the price advanced, with 
occasional fluctuations, until on December 3 it touched 12Si. The result of this movement was a general advance 
along the entire line of production and a gradual reduction of prices, culminating iu the spring of 1880 in such an 
outflow of oil as rendered all attempts to transport it futile. The pipe-lines were taxed beyond their capacity; 
storage tauks and well tanks were all full, and the oil flowed out upon the ground; but the drilling went on, and 
the average production kept pace with the unparalleled number of wells. 

The following statement gives the number of wells finished, the average number of barrels j)er day, and the 
average price of oil during the census year, divided into quarters: 



First quarter... 
Second quarter 
Third quarter . . 
Fourth quarter 



Average 

number of 

barrels 

per day. 



26.99 

28.51 
29.09 
26.05 



The advance in price beyond $1 in December stimulated production to an extent hitherto unparalleled, and 
produced, near the close of the year, a reaction in prices that touched 72J cents on the 5th of May. Thus the 
year opened and closed with oil at nearly the same price. 

As indicated in the foregoing pages, an estimate of the amount of third-sand oil produced during the census 
year embraces the following items : 

1. Pipe-line runs. 

2. Fluctuations in well stocks. 

3. Oil wasted. 

4. Oil burneil iu tanks outside of pipe-lines. 

5. Oil marketed outside the pipe-lines, otherwise known as "dump oil". 



Section 2.— WELL STOCKS. 

Mr. Welch's monthly reports of the percentage of gain or loss in well stocks in the Bradford district, and his 
estimates of the actual stocks per well on May 1 and June 1, 1880, being based upon a suflScient number of reliable 
returns of individual wells, and carelully made, I think may be taken as substantially correct. They afford the 
means of revising his estimates of the gi'oss Bradford well stocks for the earlier months of the census year, which' 
like most published estimates for that period, are excessive. Taking his estimate of the average Bradford stocks 
on May 1, 1880, 138 barrels per well, and the total number of productive wells which had then been drilled, 6,933, 
we derive 959,514 barrels as the total Bradford well stocks at that date. In the same manner, applying his average 
per well on June 1, 1880, 171 barrels, to the total number of productive wells that had been drilled at that date, 
7,362, we reach 1,258,902 barrels as the Bradford well stocks at the close of the census year. It is true that some 
of these wells were doing little or nothing, but the 988 wells upon which the average of 171 barrels per well were 
based included all classes of wells, and I regard the average as substantially correct. 

The monthly fluctuations from July 1, 1879, to May 1, 1880, were reported by Mv. Welch as follows: In July 
a gam of 3 per cent. ; in August no change ; iu September a loss of 7 per cent. ; in October a gain of 5| per cent. ; 
iu ^STovember a loss equal to the gain in October, so that stocks stood December 1 precisely as they stood October 1 ; 
in December a loss of 17 per cent. ; in January a loss of 6 per cent. ; in February a gain of 7 per cent. ; in March 
a gain of 13 per cent. ; in April a gain of 14J i)er cent. 

This is a net increase for the ten months from July 1, 1879, to May 1, 1880, of S^^Vo pei' cent. But the stocks 
at the later date, as we have found, were 959,514; consequently the stocks July 1, 1879, were 927,379, instead of 



138 



PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 



1 400.000 which Mr. Welch gave as the general estimate of the actual well stocks at that date, and which he himself 
adopted. Accepting, therefore, Mr. Welch's rates of the monthly fluctuations, and his conclusions as to the stocks 
of May and June, 1880, as correct, and taking the increase for June, 1879, as 14|- per cent., which is my judgment 
of the change for that month, we derive the following tabular statement of the Bradford well stocks for each month 
of the census year : 



1879. 

Jime 

Jnly 

August ... 
September 
October — 
NoTeraber 
December 



Whole num- 
ber of pro- 
ductive wells 
drilled prior 
to the Ist of 
each month. 



5, 225 
5,392 ; 



Total stoclis 
ut wells on 
the 1st of ' 
each month. 



Number of 
baiTels 
per well. 



Percentage of in- 
crease or decrease 
of well stock.s dur- 
ing each month. 



812,067 
927,379 
955,200 
955,200 



189. 65 
202. 04 
196. 58 
188. 59 
170. 02 
173. 01 
160. 35 



Increase. 


Decrease. 


Per cent 


Per cent. 












7 


Si 




5iV 




17 



1880. 
January . 
Pebruary 
March - - - 

April 

May .' 

June 



Whole num- 
ber of pro- j Total stocks 
ductive wells i at wella on 
drilled prior the Istof 
to the 1st of each month, 
each month. I 



5,728 
5,944 
6,200 
6,535 
6,953 
7,362 



j Percentage of iu 

crease or decrease 

Number of ' ^^ vrell stocks dur- 

barrels ' 'dS "^"^ month. 

per well. 

Increase. Decrease. 



Barrels. 
737, 319 
693, 080 
741, 596 
838, 003 
959, 514 
1, 258, 902 



128. 72 
116. 60 
119. 61 
128. 23 
138. 00 
171. 00 



An inspection of this table will show that the well stocks at the close of the year were 446,835 barrels more 
than at the beginning. 

Section 3.— OIL THAT WAS WASTED AND BUENED. 

Of the oil that ran to waste no estimate approaching accuracy can be made. Mr. Welch says, in his report 
for August, 1879: 

It is well known a large amount of oil went to waste iu Jnly on account of inability to take care of it. Early in the month there 
may have been 5,000 or 6,000 barrels per day lost iu this way, and considerable loss continued most of the time during the month. 

In his report for September he says: 

I may say that there was scarcely any oil lost in the district in .August, while in July there w.as a large amount, and this month 
there is some being lost, although probably no great amount. 

In his report for June, 1880, he says : 

The large amount of oil being lost iu the Bradford district makes estimates on the production there an uncertain thing. The amount 
lost now is being estimated as high as 10,000 and 12,000 barrels daily. 

On comparing these statements with the table given above, it will be seen that the losses that were reported 
from the unavoidable waste of oil in July, August, and September, 1879, and in May, 1880, corresponded in the first 
three months with those periods when the average stocks at wells were nearly 200 barrels each, and in the last 
instance with a sudden increase of those stocks by 31 per cent., which raised that average in one month from 138 
to 171 barrels per well. 

Eeturns from four large corporations owning 296 wells distributed in the Bradford district give a total loss 
from oil wasted of 13,620 barrels, an average of 46 barrels per well. These losses occurred in July, August, and 
September, 1879, and in May, 1880. There were nearly 5,000 wells in August, 1879, and nearly 7,000 in May, 1880. 
Assuming that this loss of 46 barrels per well occurred upon 6,000 wells, a total loss occurred of 276,000 barrels. 
I have placed this loss at 275,000 barrels, and believe this a conservative estimate, for the reason that this average 
is based on returns made by gentlemen who took great care to make them correct, and also because this loss 
occurred on the property of corporations using ample capital, with every means at their disposal to take care of 
their oil, if it were possible. The estimate made is under rather than over the amount actually lost. 

On the 6th, 9th, and 12th of May, 1880, three very destructive fires occurred in the Bradford district. The 
report of operations in the issue of the Oil City Derrick for June 1 of that year says : 

In addition to the numerous isolated rigs burned in various parts of the field previous to and since May 6, the conflagration on that 
day, which destroyed Eew City, also burned 54 rigs at that point, and fires in other points in the field on that day destroyed 101 rig 
along Poster Brook, 19 in Tram Hollow, 6 in Tuna valley, and 2 on the East branch, making a total loss on that day of 182 rigs, beside 
a large amount of tankage and a considerable amount of oil. But three days intervened between the fires of the 0th and the disastrous 
conflagration which de.stroyed the village of Eixford, together with 54 rigs, 3 iron tanks, and about 75,000 barrels of oil. After another 
interval of three days the last and greatest of the series of fires swept through Tram Hollow, totally destroying the hamlets of Otto City, 
Middaughville, and Oil Center, and burning 300 rig.s, a 25,000-barrcl tank, and a large number of smaller tanks, with nearly 100,000 barrels 
of oil. 

This gives a total of 536 rigs destroyed in these three fires, which, together with the isolated rigs burned 
duriug the mouth, have led to an estimated total of 600 rigs lost by fire in May, 1880. A fair estimate of stocks 
at these wells would be 150 barrels per well, amounting in the aggregate to 90,000 barrels of oil burned. The 



THE NATURAL HISTORY OF PETROLEUM. 139 

25,000-barrel tauk belonged to the United Lines. Deducting this 115,000 barrels from the 175,000, there remains 
60,000 barrels of oil in small tanks burned. Au editorial in the Derrick for May 13 couceriiiug these fires remarks : 

The oil region has never suffered so severely from fire within so short a time as the last week. BeginniniT with the couflanratioh 
which swept away Rew City last Thursday, the flames have crept over Eixford, portions of Summit, Red Rock, Foster Brook, and Four 
Mile, and are now raging in the vicinity of Duke Center. The disasters caused by these fires are the natural result of peculiar 
circumstances. For several weeks only a limited quantity of rain has fallen, and the ground is dry and parched, while in the woods 
which stretch in au unbroken line from one end of the Bradford field to the other the leaves and dried branches are like tinder. 
Scattered through this forest stand the rigs of the oil-wells, the ground about them saturated with oil and the boilers throwing up 
sparks day and night. Railroads also traverse some sections of it, and every one who has seen the burned patches of grass or wood each 
summer by the side of the track know how prolific a source of fire the locomotive is. Add to all these favorable materials for incipient 
conflagrations a high wind blowing almost a gale, as it has most of the time this spring, and the producers may feel that they have been 
lucky in escaping so well heretofore. Beside, the operator is careless, and sets his rigs and tanks in the midst of the forest, without 
clearing up the brash or leaves, or making any effort to escape the consequences if a fire breaks out in his vicinity. The lower oil 
country escaped such widespread disaster because the land was cleared of its forest. In Butler and Clarion counties more oil was 
produced in cultivated fields than in woods, while in Bradford there is more wood than cleared land; hence the chances of fire are greatly 
increased. 

In the lower country there was no accumulation of stocks at wells ; none wasted nor burned. The pipe-line 
runs therefore represent the production of that region. 

I therefore estimate the production of third-sand oil out of the ground during the census year as in section 4. 

Section 4.— ESTIMATE OF THE PRODUCTION OF THIRD-SAND OIL DURING THE CENSUS YEAR. 

Barrels. 

1. Pipe-line receipts ? 22, 628, 286 

2. Gain in well stocks a 446, 855 

3. Oil run to waste 275,000 

4. Oil burned outside of well stocks and pipe-lines 60, 000 

5. "Dump oil" and oil run in private lines 578,670 

Total 23,988,791 

This oil was produced in — 

Bazrela. 

Northwestern Pennsylvania 23,835,982 

Greene county, Pennsylvania 3,118 

West Virginia and Washington county, Ohio 138,325 

Glasgow, Kentucky 5, 376 

Total 2.3,988,791 

The second-sand oil is produced near Franklin, Pennsylvania, and embraces also the B, C, D, and E grades of 
West Virginia oils. Of this oil there was produced in — 

Barrels. 

West Virginia 68, 392. 88 

Near Franklin, Pennsylvania , 105, 600. 00 

Grafton, Ohio 2,773.00 

Total 170,765.88 

Four-fifths of the first-sand oil comes from the first oil sand of the Venango group near Franklin, Pennsylvania. 
The oils of this class were produced in — 

Barrels. 

Franklin, Pennsylvania 86,857.00 

West Virginia 12, 536. 00 

Grafton, Ohio 1,386.00 

Mecca, Ohio 900.00 

Erie, Pennsylvania 25. 00 

Total 101,704.00 

The specific gra\ity of this class of oils is 29.5° B. and lower. A few barrels of oil of this grade were produced 
on the Cumberland river, in Kentucky, but the actual figures could not be obtained. Probably the amount did 
not exceed 50 barrels. 

The production at Smith's Ferry and Slippery Eock creek, Beaver county, Pennsylvania, has been placed by 
competent persons at 80,80.3 barrels. The following is a summary of these amounts: 

B.irr.-ls. 

First-sand oil , 101,704 

Second-sand oil 17H^ 7(iO 

Third-s.and oil 23,98c', 791 

Beaver county, Penn.sylvania 86,803 

Total 24,3.54,064 

a By au inadvertence Professor Peckham, in preparing au abstract of this report for the Compendium, placed the gains in the 
Bradford well stocks at 327,852 barrels, instead of 446,855 barrels. In consequence, all the numbers into which these stocks enter were 
understated by 118,983 barrels. 



140 



PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM 



The following is a summary of the total production of the different localities : 

Barrels. 
Norfch-westem Pennsylvania 24, 034, 429 



West "Virginia and Washington county, Ohio. 

Beaver county, Pennsylvania 

Glasgow, Kentucky 

Grafton, Lorain county, Ohio 

Greene county, Pennsylvania 

Mecca, TrumbuU county, Ohio 

Erie, Pennsylvania 



219, 254 
86,803 
5,376 
4,159 
3,118 
900 
25 



Total 24.354,064 



I have been unable to visit California recently, and have not received any returns from that locality. A few 
thousands of barrels were produced there during the census year. A spring in Crook county, Wyoming, yielded 
26 barrels of heavy lubricating oil, and others at the petroleum locality at Beaver Creek yielded 428 barrels. This 
production, while locally valuable, selling in some instances for $1 50 per gallon, is of little importance when 
considered in relation to the production of the entire country. 

Section 5.— THE ACCUMULATION OF STOCKS. 

It is evident from the preceding pages that for some time antecedent to and during the census year the 
production of petroleum, and especially of third-sand oil, had been in excess of any demand for it, and consequently 
there had been a gradual accumulation of stocks in excess of the amount required in handling the oil. This process 
of accumulation did not take place proportionally in all the districts producing petroleum, but took place mainly in 
the Bradford district of northwestern Pennsylvania. 

In the Grafton and Mecca districts, Ohio, and at the Glasgow, Kentucky, district the stock of oil in tanks at 
wells would not probably exceed 150 barrels. The amount remained about constant during the year, as it represents 
only the stock necessary to the handling of the oil. The constant demand for the entire production of the Smith's 
Ferry district, including Slippery Eock creek, prevents any accumulation of stocks, and in consequence the well 
stocks are always low. These stocks, together with that in the hands of the Smith's Ferry Transportation Company, 
have been estimated by competent persons at 3,200 barrels on June 1, 1879. On the 31st of May, 1880, the same 
stocks were estimated at 3,000 barrels. In West Virginia and Washington county, Ohio, the well and tank stocks, 
together with the stocks held by the West Virginia Transportation Company on June 1, 1879, were 79,606 barrels, 
and the corresponding stocks on the 31st of May, 1880, were estimated at 50,848 barrels. In Greene county, 
Pennsylvania, the stocks were practically nothing. 

In the heavy oil district near Franklin, Pennsylvania, there was an accumulation of this quality of oil, the stock 
at the beginning of the census year, allowing an estimated well stock of 3,000 barrels, being 19,898 barrels, and at 
the end 27,106 barrels. 

In northwestern Pennsylvania, exclusive of the Franklin district, the net stocks in the custody of the pipe-lines 
June 1, 1879, and May 31, 1880, are represented in the following table: 





June 1, 1879. 


May 31, 1880. 




$5. 864, 850 
378, 312 
189, 767 
9,855 
1,751 
11, 642 
4,602 
11, 198 
29,954 
23, 211 
13, 215 


$9, 851, 885 

1, 009, 063 

270, 718 

3,271 






Pennsylvania Transportation Company. . 




14, 558 






15, 129 
19,631 
26, 024 
15, 022 










6,538,357 


11,225,301 





To this must be added, for stocks outside the pipe-lines in the old territory above and below Oil City, as 
estimated by Mr. J. C. Welch, the following: 



May 31, 1880 382,318 

Stock in iron tankage unattached to pipe-lines not otherwise given 150, 000 

532, 318 



Mr. Welch's returns give an average of well stocks in the region outside the Bradford district of 32 barrels per 
well, an amount that remained practically constant throughout the year. The number of wells in this so-called 
"lower country" to which this average would apply is much more difilcult to estimate than that of the Bradford 



THE NATURAL HISTORY OF PETROLEUM. 



141 



district. During the year previous to the beginning of the census year the decline of production in the Butler and 
Clarion districts had been rapid, and producers had been turning their attention to the Bradford district. As the 
census year advanced, the decreased production of the lower country became more pronounced, and the transfer 
of property to the Bradford district became almost equal to an hegira. Train after train of cars, loaded with all 
kinds of material used about an oil-well, even to old derricks in a few instances, went up the Allegheny Yalley and 
Oil Creek roads to Bradford. No careful record of the wells drilled in the lower country was ever kept, hence the 
number producing at the beginning of the census year can never be known, nor can the number be known that 
ceased to produce and were pulled out during that year. Different estimates place the number pidled out at equal 
to double or treble the number drilled, but such divergent estimates show the worthlessness of all of them. Mr. 
Stowell puts the number of wells in the different districts of Pennsylvania, outside of Franklin, Bradford, and 
Beaver, at 6,693, but upon what basis this estimate rests I do not know. The following table from Stowell's 
Petroleum Reporter will give some idea of the value of this estimate as compared with the well-known changes 
taking i)lace in the localities named : 



NUMBER OF WELLS IN THE PENNSYLVANIA OIL-FIELDS, BY DISTRICTS, ON THE DATES GIVEN. 



Name of district. 



31. 



Aug. 



Feb. Mar. Apr. : May 



Bntler I 

Parker U, 360 

Clarion J 

Scrubgrass 270 

Keno 30 

Oil City 300 

Eoaseville j 200 

KyndFami 200 

Columbia I 20 

Petroleum Centre ] 45 

Shamburg , 90 

Titnsville I 750 

Pithole I 75 

Fagundus i 150 

Tidioute 

Warren 



4, 3 jO 4, 300 1 4, 260 I 4, 200 



4,200 i 4,200 



Total . 



Losses 

Gains 

Wells completed. 

Total losses 

Total gains 



Franklin 

Wells completed. 



6,965 



4,000 


4,000 


4,050 


272 


272 


272 


30 


30 


30 


350 


345 


345 


200 


200 


200 


200 


200 


200 


20 


20 


20 


40 


40 


40 



6, 485 6, 485 6, 485 



These figures show a total loss in the districts producing third-sand oil, due to wells abandoned, of 851 wells 
during the whole census year. The number of producing wells at the beginning of the census year was 6,693. 
During the year 480 wells were completed, which, added to the number producing at the beginning of the year, 
equals 7,173 wells. The number reported producing at the end of the year was 6,322 ; difference, 851. These wells 
were in most cases plugged with pine plugs or filled with sand. 

I use these figures, not because I believe them to be correct, but because they are the only approximation to 
the truth now available; they vary in their subdivisions from any others published, and are not fully consistent 
with themselves. The Petroleum World gives the names of the parties who completed wells in the lower country 
as follows : 





Wells. 


Production. 


Dry. 




Number. 


BarreU. 
564 
335 
244 

2,089 
27 


1 
Number. 

16 

19 

10 

1 
30 
3 


In Butler and Armstrong counties 

In Venango, Forest, and Warren counties . . 

In Jefferson coanty 

Near Byrom Center 


51 
44 

..1 1 
..' 171 


Total 




-on 


3,259 


79 





142 PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 

In the Franklin district, January 31, 1879, there were reported by Mr. Stowell 357 wells, which were reduced to 
352 on May 31, 1879, the day before the census year commenced, and to 350 by June 30, continuing at that number 
until December 31, 1880, a period of eighteen months, during which period he reports 63 wells as having been 
completed. In the Reporter for January, 1880, he quotes a local correspondent of the Franklin Spectator as stating 
that " during the past year there were 123 wells drilled and 16 wells cleaned out and retubed. -~ * * The 
number of wells pumping January 1, 1879, was about 400, and taking the number of dry wells, 22, and the number 
abandoned during the year from the number pumping January 1, 1879, and the number drilled and cleaned out, 
it will leave the pumping wells, January 1, 1880, 475. Taking these figures, the average number of wells pumping 
for the year 1879 would be about 450 ". 

Mr. Stowell reports only 80 wells of the 122 completed during 1879, and a total of 350 producing December 31, 
1879, against 475 as given by the correspondent whom he quotes. Furthermore, it is highly improbable that in the 
old and nearly exhausted territory in the neighborhood of Eouseville and Eynd farm there should be for twenty- 
three months, from January 31, 1879, to December 31, 1880, 400 producing wells, and at the same time 90 at 
Shamburg, 150 at Fagundus, and 115 in the neighborhood of Tidioute. However, while calling attention to these 
manifest discrepancies, I repeat that this table furnishes the nearest approximation to the facts that is available, 
I shall therefore apply Mr. Welch's average of 32 barrels to 6,300 wells, and estimate the well stocks of the lower 
country at 201,600 barrels. 

Summarized, the stocks of crude oil in the producing regions June 1, 1879, may be stated as follows : 

ACCUMULATED STOCKS, JUNE 1, 1879. 

Barrels. 

Pipe-line stocks, third sand 6, 538, 357 

Well stocks, Bradford district 812,067 

"Well stocks, lower country 201,600 

Iron-tankage stocks, outside of pi.pe-liues 293, 474 

Franklin stocks, heavy oil 19,898 

Smith's Ferry 3,200 

"West Virginia and southern Ohio , 79, 606 

Grafton and Mecca, Ohio, and Glasgow, Kentucky 150 

7 948. 352 

ACCUMULATED STOCKS, MAY 31, 1880. 

Barrels. 

Pipe-line stocks, third sand ■- , 11,225,291 

Well stocks, Bradford district 1,258,902 

Well stocks, lower country - 201,600 

Iron tankage stocks, outside of pipe-lines 532,318 

Franklin stocks, heavy oil -^- 27, 106 

Smith's Ferry .* 3,000 

West Virginia and southern Ohio , 50,848 

Grafton and Mecca, Ohio, and Glasgow, Kentucky 150 

' 13, 299, 215 



From these summaries it will be seen that the total accumulated stocks in the whole country at the end of the 
census year was 13,299,215 barrels, and that the accumulation of stocks during the census year was 5,350,863 
barrels. The stocks decreased during that year in the West Virginia and southern Ohio district 28,758 barrels ; 
Smith's Ferry district, 200 barrels. They increased during the year in the Bradford district and lower country 
5,372,613 barrels ; Franklin heavy oil district, 7,208 barrrels. 

Section 6.— STATISTICS OF CAPITAL AND LABOE EMPLOYED TS THE PEODUCTION OF 
PETEOLEUM DUEING THE CENSUS YEAE. 

The amount of capital that has been or that is invested in the production of petroleum is a problem involved in 
the deepest obscurity. Capital has often been ventured in this business legitimately without return, the investment 
proving a total loss. From such total loss to a return of enormous value the gradation has been by infinite steps. 
The actual cost of the wells which have been drilled since Drake's first well (1859) could be estimated with tolerable 
certainty, as the price per foot for drilling has been a well-known though fluctuating factor in investment from 
year to year ; but what any given oil-well has cost, and upon what sum a dividend of profit or loss should be 
declared, is often scarcely known to the owners themselves. There are large corporations that have invested 
monej' systematically for years with uniform success ; but any general estimate for the whole oil region based 
on the operations of such concerns would be very erroneous, for the business of such corporations has been 
managed with prudence and sagacity upon territory that has already been proved, and usually without great 
speculative risks. Producing oil has not been uniformly successful in individual enterprises, although, when 
taken as a whole, it may have been in a general way. The capital invested in i^roducing oil involves as a 



THE NATURAL HISTORY OF PETROLEUM. 143 

constant and well-known factor the cost of drilling and equipping wells, and also, as a fluctuating factor, the 
cost of the land privilege for drilling. This varies from nothing (when the original owner of the land drills 
his own well or oflsets its cost for an equal share with those who drill it) to a bonus of from 8100 to 8500 an 
acre, in addition to a royalty of from one-sixteenth to one-fourth of the product. In other cases the fee to the 
land is purchased outright for large sums before the wells are drilled. Such purchases, made where land is 
proved, have often been very profitable business enterprises, while on the other hand they have as often proved 
worthless. A certain tract of land in the Oil Creek region was purchased by A., B. & Co. for 813,000 and sold to 
C. for 8113,500 within three months. Three months later A., B. & Co. could have bought back the land for less 
than 810,000, it having in the mean time been proved of little value for oil. Transactions involving the loss of 
large sums have been so often repeated that those familiar with the oil regions frequentlj- declare that, vast as the 
wealth may be which the product of petroleum represents, the losses have been fully equal to the gains. The vast 
number of wells that have produced nothing, the still larger number whose production has never covered the cost 
of drilling, together with the millions that have been wasted through fraud and reckless speculative risks, 
involve the loss of a vast sum which can never be accurately estimated. The area of the Bradford field was 
pretty clearly outlined by the end of the census year, and there were those who were declaring with added emphasis 
that each month had witnessed the culmination of its production, but it has continued to pour out from 50,000 to 
80,000 barrels of oil a day for the last two years. If the fee to the 68,000 acres of the Bradford field was to be 
.sold to-morrow, the estimated value, as given by different producers, would vary by so many millions of dollars as 
to make such estimates worthless for statistical purposes. The fact is, the present value of the land franchise of 
the oil-producing region is an unknown quantity, and must be so until it ceases to have value; then its past value 
at any given time can be estimated. The men of conservative temperament and those of sanguine temperament 
differ as widely as the poles are sundered in their estimates of the value of oil property. I shall not, therefore 
attempt any estimate of the value of the land franchise of the oil-producing country, but shaU confine my estimates 
to the number of wells drilled, cost of rigs, including engines, cost of casing and tubing, total cost of wells and 
rigs drilled during the census year, and the number of men employed in drilling wells and in producing oil during 
the census year. 

These estimates will be made for the upper or Bradford district, the lower country, the Franklin district, and 
the Beaver district, Pennsylvania ; the Grafton district and the Mecca district, Ohio ; the West Virginia district 
and Washington county, Ohio ; and the Glasgow, Kentuckj", district. 

During the census year there were 3,080 wells completed in the Bradford district, but at the close of the year 
there were 58 more rigs building and wells drilling than at the beginning. In the last month in the year 536 rigs 
were burned, about one-half of which were rebuilt immediately, and the rebuilding of the remainder was, on an 
average, half completed at the close of the census year, making the rebuilding equal to 75 per cent, of the whole 
number burned, or 402 rigs. It is fair to assume that the 47 rigs building at the end of the year in excess of those 
building at the beginning were one-half completed, and that the 11 wells drilling at the end of the year in excess 
of those drilling at the beginning were, with rigs completed, one-half drilled. This estimate would thus place 
the rigs built during the census year: 

Rigs for wells completed 3 08O 

Eigs rebuilt 402 

50 per cent, of rigs building at the close in excess of those building at the beginning of the year 23 

Rigs to wells drilling at the close of the year in excess of those drilling at the beginning 11 

Total 3 51g 

Each of these rigs required in building forty days of labor, making, for all, an aggregate of 140,640 days, or, 
estimating 300 working days to the year, equal to the continued labor through the year of 468 men, of whom 75 
per cent., or 351 men, were skilled workmen and 117 ordinary laborers. Rigs cost during the census year from 
$325 to $400 each, according to the cost of placing the material where it was to be used, or an average of 83G2.50. 
This would give a total investment in rigs during the year of $1,274,550, of which $310,440 represents the cost of 
labor, estimated at the rate of $2 50 per day for skilled workmen and $1 50 per day for ordinary laborers. Eeturns 
of the cost of rigs built in the Bradford district dnring the census year from three large corporations are as follows : 
No. 1 built 25 rigs for $10,000; average cost, $400 each. No. 2 built 50 rigs for $17,500; average cost, 8350 each. 
No. 3 built 29 rigs for $12,500 ; average cost, $431 each. Average cost of 104 rigs, $384 62 each. 

Each of the 3,516 rigs built during the census year required for its construction 17,000 feet of lumber, of which 
9,000 feet were sawed and 8,000 feet were hewn. This amount represents an aggregate consumption of 59,772,000 
feet of lumber, of which probably 30 per cent, was hard wood. 

It is almost impossible to estimate, with any approximation to accuracy, the capital invested in engines and 
boilers. There are engines in the oil regions fifteen years old, and some of them are to be found in the Bradford 
district, moved up there from The lower country. I have conversed with a number of oil producers on this subject, 
and find their opinions quite divergent. An estimate based on these opinions and my own observations would 
lead me to think that at least 90 per cent, of the wells in the Bradford region are sujjplied with engines and 60 
per cent, with boilers, and an average valuation for these engines would not exceed $100 and $200 each for the 



144 PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 

boilers. 1 have been informed that at least one-half the wells drilled in the Bradford district during the census 
year were supplied with engines and boilers from wells abandoned in the lower country, for which 1 make no estimate. 
For the other half, it is fair to assume that a large proportion, if not all, of the engines and boilers were new or 
nearly new. While the above estimate of valuations of boilers may be fair as applied to the whole field, it is too 
low by one-half for the engines and boilers purchased for new wells. I place the value, in round numbers, of — 

Eugiiies (50 per cent, of 90 per cent.) of (3,080 + 11) at $200 $278,200 

Boilers (50 per cent, of 60 per cent.) of (3,080 + 11) at $400 370,800 

649, 000 

This would give an average valuation of $210 per well for all the boilers and engines purchased for the 3,091 
■wells drilled during the census year. That this valuation is not too high is farther proved by returns which I have 
received from two large corporations with ample capital, both largely interested in the lower country and in the 
Bradford district. ISTo. 1 drilled 29 wells; the boilers and engines cost $13,000. No. 2 drilled 45 wells; the boilers 
and engines cost $15,360. The average cost for No. 1 is $448; that for No. 2, $341. I have no doubt that a large 
percentage of the wells were drilled with poorer machinery than would be used by either of these parties. 

The rig, boiler, and engine belong to the owner of the well ; but the contractor who drills the well owns the 
drillers' tools and provides fuel for the engine and coal for the blacksmith. It is estimated that 2 per cent, of the 
■wells use gas, which, practically costing nothing, reduces the number supplied with fuel to 3,024. Experienced 
producers estimate the consumption of fuel at an average of 100 cords of wood per well, amounting in the 
aggregate to 302,400 cords, and costing for cutting, at 90 cents per cord, $272,160. It is estimated that 500 men 
are employed in cutting wood in the Bradford district. The wood usually stands upon the land upon which the 
well is located, and, except for the cost of cutting, is considered of little or no value. 

Each well requires for drilling two drillers and two tool-dressers, who are men skilled in the work ■which they 
perform. The tool-dressers are not blacksmiths, but men who are expert in the art of dressing tools. Each well 
also requires two teams, with teamsters, for hauling' wood and material. From returns received from 104 wells 
drilled in the Bradford district in the census year, 25 drillers drilled the wells and 18 dressers dressed the tools. 
These wells were drilled more economically, as regards the amount of labor, than the average, as they were drilled 
by corporations employing very skillful men at maximum wages, from which I judge that a fair estimate would 
give a year's labor of a skilled workman to every two wells drilled, or, in round numbers, for the 3,086 wells drilled 
in the census year, a year's labor of 1,500 men, at an average rate of $3 per day. Estimating 300 working days to 
the year, the amount earned by them would equal $1,350,000. As many more laborers are employed, at an average 
compensation of $45 per month, earning an amount equal to $810,000. The outfit for drilling a well is worth $900, 
and is damaged an average of 25 per cent, by use in drilling one well, representing an investment of $694,350 
during the census year. These sums show the cost to the contractor. The average contract price for drilling deep 
(2,000 feet) wells was 55 cents per foot. At this rate the 3,086 wells would represent an investment by the well- 
owner of $3,394,600. Such estimates are hardly worth the name of statistics, but are, I believe, as close an 
approximation to accuracy as can now be made. 

Each well requires from 30 to 100 feet of 8-inch drive-pipe, which is driven to the bed-rock, and on an average 
300 feet of casing, 5f inches in diameter, and 2,000 feet of 2-inch pipe, through which the oil flows. 

At an average of 50 feet of drive-pipe for each well, there were required during the census year for the 3,086 
wells drilled 154,300 feet of 8-inch drive-pipe, 925,800 feet of 5f-inch casing, and 6,172,000 feet of 2-inch pipe. 

It is extremely difficult to estimate the actual cost of this pipe, as the different manufacturers made bids for 
large contracts, and a proportion, impossible to ascertain accurately, was old pipe. One large corporation paid an 
average of $310 60 each for casing 29 wells; another an average of $210 each for 45 wells. In one case it is to be 
presumed a larger amount of old casing was used than in the other, but just what this difference of one-third 
signifies with reference to the whole number of wells it is impossible to ascertain. Prudent men, with ample 
capital, would sell old casing and use new, while men of limited means would purchase and use the old ; but 
to what extent this was done it is now impossible to determine with accuracy. It is probable, however, that $210 
per well is nearer an average price for casing for the entire Bradford district than $310 50. Eeturns from the 
same firms give an average expenditure of $343 per well for tubing 74 wells. These were firms using ample capital, 
and the average is no doubt too high for the whole field, $300 per well being without doubt an ample average cost 
at which to estimate tubing. Assuming that all of the drive-pipe was new and cost $3 per foot, the total cost 
would be as follows : 

Drive-pipe $462,900 

Casing 648,060 

Tubing 925,800 

Total 2,036,750 

The cost of torpedoes is subject to caiirice. There are those who do not use them at all ; some use small ones, 
others use very large ones. One firm torpedoed 25 wells at an aggregate cost of $9,982, average cost, $400 ; a 
second firm 29 wells for $o,0U0, average cost, $103; another firm 45 wells for $9,360, at an average cost of $208. 



THE NATURAL HISTORY OF PETROLEUM. 145 

These firms aud corporations are all managed by judicious, conservative men, of large experience, while a large 
proportion of the wells are drilled by men who operate recklessly and rely upon torpedoes to produce large and 
quick results. I regard $300 per well as a low estimate for torpedoes, amounting in the aggregate to $925,800. 
These estimates foot up as follows : 

Cost of 3,516 rigs $1,274,550 

Engines and boilers for 3,091 wells G49, 000 

Drilling 3,0SG wells 3,394,600 

Piping 3,086 wells 2,036,760 

Torpedoing 3,086 wells 925,800 

Total 8,280,710 

Returns from eight of the largest firms and corporations doing business in the oil regions, having more than 
20,000 acres under development and operating over GOO wells during the census year, give an average of five acres 
to one well, and assign to the land a value of $300 per acre for oil purposes. Upon this basis they estimate a 
general average cost of the land at $1,500 per well, and of the well itself from $2,500 to $3,000. At $2,500 ea«h, 
the cost of the 3,080 wells completed during the census year would be $7,700,000; at $3,000 each the same wells 
would cost $9,240,000. My estimate of $8,280,710 is therefore a fair average estimate, as based upon that of the 
owners, of about 10 per cent, of the wells that had been drilled in the Bradford district at the beginning of the 
census year. 

The approximate value of labor employed iu building rigs was $316,4:40; in cutting wood, $272,160; in 
drilling wells, $2,160,000; total, $2,748,600. To this sum must be added the value of labor employed in operating 
and repairing wells already drilled, a service which requires the labor of a large number of men. 

Eetitrns from the owners of 590 wells show that they employ 275 men in pumping and gauging, and 34 men 
as overseers; a total of 309 men. Apply this average to the 4,000 wells in the Bradford district at the beginning 
of the census year, and it gives, in round numbers, 2,000 men, earning $45 per month, or an aggregate of $1,080,000, 
which makes up a total labor account for the Bradford field of $3,828,600. 

The number of wells drilled in the lower country during the census year was 335. Their average depth has 
been placed at 1,400 feet, and the rigs and tools are the same as those used in the Bradford district, at the same 
average cost; but their lessened depth reduces thp cost of both drilling and tubing. Three hundred and thirty -five 
rigs, at the average price of $362 50, would cost $121,437 50, and would require for their construction 5,695,000 
feet of lumber, 3,015,000 of which would be sawed soft lumber and 2,680,000 hewn lumber. These wells would 
require for drilling 33,500 cords of wood, the cutting of which would cost $30,150. 

I estimate the cost of engines and boilers in this district as averaging $300 per well, which, for 335 wells, 
would give a valuation of $100,500. Estimating the average of 50 feet of drive-pipe per well at $3 per foot, casing 
at $210 and tubing at $200 per well for an average depth of 1,400 feet, the cost of casing and tubing the 335 wells 
drilled in the lower country would be as follows : 

Drive-pipe, 8-inch, 16,750 feet $50,250 

Casing, 5f-inch, 100,500 feet 70,350 

Tubing, 2-inch, 469,000 feet 67,000 

The drilling of 1,400-foot wells was worth during the census year 60 cents pct foot, and at that rate the drilling 
of the 335 wells in the lower country cost $281,400. 
Summarized, these estimates foot up as follows : 

335 rigs, at $362 50 each $121,437 

Engines and boilers for 335 wells, at an average cost per well of $300 100,500 

335 walls, drilled 1,400 feet each, at 60 cents per foot 281,400 

Drive-pipe 56,250 

Casing 70,350 

Tubing 67,000 

Total 690,937 

The general estimate given by producers of large experience that 1,400-foot wells cost about $2,000 each 
confirms these detailed estimates ; and at this rate the 335 wells would cost $670,000. 

The employment of labor in the lower country is divided between drilling wells and caring for those already 
drilled. Unlike the wells in the Bradford district, nearly all of which were flowing during the census year, those 
of the lower country were all pumping- wells. The labor required in building 335 rigs, estimating 30 days of skilled 
labor at $2 50 and 10 days of ordinary labor at $1 50 per day, amounts to the labor of 33 carpenters, $25,125 ; 11 
laborers, $5,025. 

In drilling the wells there were required 175 skilled workmen at $3 per day, and as many more laborers at $45 
per month, which would amount in a year as follows: 175 skilled workmen, at -$3 per day, 300 days, $157,500; 175 
laborers, $45 per month, $94,500. 

The investment in drillers' tools, on an average of five wells to a set, amounts to $60,300. 
VOL. IX 10 



146 PRODUCTION OF PETEOLEUM. 

The employment of labor in the lower country in the care of wells is proportionally greater, for reasons already 
stated. 

Three corporations, owning 112 wells, all in the lower country, employed 74 men to care for them, four-fifths of 
whom were engaged in pumping and gauging. As these wells belonged to corporations having a thoroughly 
organized business, it is to be presumed that a minimum number of men are employed. Using these numbers as 
the basis of an average, the G,000 wells that were cared for in the lower country during the census year requii-ed 
the services of 3,960 men; but I think it is fair to assume that 4,500 men were employed, at an average rate of 
compensation of $50 per month, which would make the aggregate sum paid in wages $2,700,000. The approximate 
value of labor employed in the lower country is, therefore — 

In rig-building ,$30,150 

In cutting -wood 30, 150 

In drilling wells 252,000 

In caring for wells 2,700,000 

Total 3,012,300 



In estimating the investment in drilling wells and the value of labor employed in the Franklin district entirely 
different conditions must be considered. The wells are not more than 100 feet deep, and cost, on an average, only 
about $400 each. As a portion of the productive territory is owned by farmers, who in some instances drill the 
wells themselves and pump them at intervals as other work may slacken, it will be readily perceived that a much 
larger number of persons are interested in the production of oil, and find partial occupation in it, than would be 
necessary to carry on the business if constantly employed. In the most productive portion of the field the wells are 
constantly pumped six days in the week on the sucker-rod plan, from 12 to 40 wells being by this method pumped 
by one engine. There were 475 productive wells January 1, 1880, and I shall assume that 450 was the average 
for the census year, of which 400 were pumped constantly. The rigs used here are only about 30 feet in height. 

Drilling in this district was comparatively active during the census year, an average of about 10 wells per 
month having been completed, with an average daily production of about 2 barrels each. The drilling of these 
wells could not have employed constantly more than 50 men, including the rig-builders, and their care, allowing 
5 men to 20 wells, would employ 120 men. Summarized, the items appear as follows : 

Cost of 120 wells $48,000 

Labor of 50 men, at |50 per month 30,000 

Labor of 120 men, at $50 per month 72,000 

In the Beaver district it is estimated there were 200 wells, 15 weUs being drilled during the year. These wells 
are about 600 feet deep, and cost about $700 each. The rigs used are low and comparatively inexpensive, and the 
pumping is done with sucker-rods. Probably 75 men, at $50 per month, is a maximum estimate for the labor 
employed in this district. Summarized the items appear as follows : 

Cost of 15 weUs, at |700 each $10,500 

Labor of 75 men for one year, at $50 per month 45,000 

At Belden and at Grafton, Lorain county, Uhio, 72 j)aying and twice as many more unproductive wells have 
been drilled, generally from 60 to 250 feet in depth, the deepest yielding the lightest ail, of which about 20 were 
producing during the census year. Wells cost here from $30 to $40 each, exclusive of the rig and machinery ,^ 
which are moved about as required. The oil industry here gives employment to about 10 men, and their labor, at 
$50 per month, for one year, amounts to $6,000. 

In the Mecca district the cost of operating for oil is reduced to a minimum. The wells are from 40 to 70 feet 
deep. A rig costs only $20, and is moved about as required. A rig was hired, and three wells were put down at a 
total expense of $100. 

Probably 20 wells, at an estimated cost of $40 each, were drilled during the census year. It is estimated that 
15 men are fully employed here in producing oil. Very few wells are pumped by machinery, a wooden conductor 
being carried down to the rock; and after the well is drilled and the production has run down everything is removed 
but this conductor. The well is then pumped at intervals with a sand pump. There are several hundred wells 
that are pumped in this manner, but the exact number would be very difftcult to ascertain. Summarized, the 
items appear as follows : Cost of 20 wells, at $40, $800 ; labor of 15 men, at $50 per month, one year, $9,000. 

The West Virginia and Washington county (Ohio) oil district is the most peculiar in the country. It has 
produced oil for a long time, and yields a great variety. The number of wells iu this region is about 600. Some 
of them, yielding heavy and valuable oil, have been pumped since 1865 and 1866 ; others, yielding lighter oils, have 
been abandoned, and others still that had been abandoned have been cleaned out and pumping has been resumed. 
A few wells are being drilled there every year. In the absence of records, it has been estimated that the number 
of pumping wells has remained about the same for several years, the new ones about equaling those abandoned. 
I could not ascertain that more than 120 wells were drilled in the district during tb,e census year, the depths 



THE NATURAL HISTORY OF PETROLEUM. 



147 



varying from 150 to 1,500 feet, as the well penetrates the different horizons at which oil is found. Very few wells, 
however, have been put down to the 1,500-foot level, and perhaps an equally small number have proved remunerative 
at the 150- to 200-foot level. The average depth is about 750 feet, and the average cost is estimated at 81,000. Both 
skilled and ordinary labor is cheaper in this section than in northwestern Pennsylvania, skilled labor being reported 
here to be worth during the census year from S2 to $2 50 per day, against 82 50 to $3 50 in Pennsylvania, and 
ordinary labor from $1 to SI 50, against 81 75 to $2 in Pennsylvania. A large number of wells are pumped here 
by one engine, but instead of a sucker-rod connection the pump rod is attached to a wheel, over which passes an 
endless wire rope. The uneven surface of the country, as well as the greater depth of the wells, renders this 
method of transmitting power necessary; but while it is more expensive, it is more reliable. 

From returns received I estimate the average cost of the 120 rigs built during the census year at 8250 each, 
requiring twenty-four days of skilled and eight days of ordinary Inbor and 12,000 feet of lumber in their construction. 
Coal is used as fuel in this section, the wells often passing through the veins. I estimate very few, if any, new 
engines and boilers in use for drilhng these wells. This section has produced oil since 18C1, and some of the 
machinery used is very old. In drilling the machinery is attached to a gang of wells by an endless rope, and is 
run without any increase in the expense account. Wooden conductors are used. I estimate an average expense 
of 8125 as ample to cover the cost of casing, and an average of 500 feet for each would include all of the tubing 
required. The cost per foot for drilling would not vary much from 60 cents per foot. Summarized, these estimates 
appear as follows: 

120 rigs, at .$250 each S30,000 

120- wells drilled .-54,000 

Casing, $125 each - 15,000 

Tubing 9^ 

108, 000 



The labor employed for the year is estimated as follows : 

In rig-building, 10 men, earning $7,200 

In rig-building, 3 men,, earning 960 

In drilling wells, 25 men, earning 15,000 

In earing for wells, 250 men, earning 150, 000 

173, 160 



On Boyd's creek, near Glasgow, Kentucky, there were five wells in operation during the census year, furnishing 
employment to seven men, including team.sters, at an average compensation of $35 per month, the wages amounting 
to $2,940. 

The following table represents in a tabulated form the statistics of this section: 

STATISTICS OF THE INVESTMENT OF CAPITAL AND THE EMPLOYMENT OF LABOR IN THE PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM 

DURING THE YEAR ENDING MAY 31, 1880. 



Kame of district. 


No. of Xo. of i No. of 
wells ' dry riga 
drilled, i holes, j built. 

1 1 


Cost of 

»g3. 


£?±°I i Cost of 

aid *""'«■ ' 
boilers. P'P''- 


Cost of Cost of 
casing. , tubing. 


Cost 
of tor- 
pedoes. 


Cos}, of 
drilling. 


Total cost 
of weUs. 


Estimated 
ntmiber of 

skilled 
workmen. 


Average 
rate of 
wages. 




3,080 
335 
120 


53 
79 
15 


3, 510 !$1, 274, 550 


! 1 


648,060 $925,800 
70, 350 1 67, 000 


$925,800 


$3, 394, 600 
281, 400 


$8, 280, 710 
690, 937 


1,851 
208 


$2 50-4 00 


Lower country, Pennsylvania . . . 


100, 500 


50, 250 


2 50—4 00 


120 
15 








48, 000 


15 1 2 50—4 00 


Beaver county, Pennsylvania 















10, 500 


12 2 50-^ 00 






















20 
120 

















800 
120. 000 








120 j 30,000 


1 1 


15, 000 9, 000 




54,000 


25 2 00-2 50 






1 ' 








Xame of district. 


Estimated 
number of 
ordinary 
laborws. 


Average 
rate of 
wages. 


Estimated 
ntimber of 

wood- 
choppers. 


Sate 
paid 
per 
cord. 


Total 
number 
of men 
employed. 


Total 
amount of 
wages paid. 


Estimated 
number of 

ploved in 
drilllDg 
weUs. 


Estimated 
number of 
men em- 
ployed in 
caring for 
wells. 


Estimated ?i'™f n'f 
amount of T^X „f , ^otal P™" 
feetof f,°,n°;, ' ductioniu 
^T^'^J ind^^imni : •'^^'■'"^■ 
nsedmngs.; .^ells. 






$0 90 


0,968 

1,944 

170 

10 


$3, 828, 600 

3, 012, 300 

102, 000 

45, 000 

6,000 

9,000 

173, 160 

2,940 


3,000 
350 
50 
10 


2,000 
4,500 
120 
60 
10 
15 
250 


59,772,000 1 302.400 ) 


Lower country, Pennsylvania 


4, 666 1 CO— 2 00 
155 1 1 30—2 00 
63 1 50—2 00 


50 


5, 695, 000 


.33, 500 


J23,S28,.'i89 

86, 857 

86, 803 

4,159 

900 


Beaver county, Pennsylvania 






225, 000 










Mecca Ohio 


1 












263 


1 00—1 50 








25 


1, 440, 000 




219, 254 








7 




5,370 






I 












3,118 
















25 






1 









Cost of raising oil ; Flowina: vreWfi 
district, $3 per barrel. 



1 the Bradford district, 6 to 8 cents per barrel; pumping wells in tlie lower country, GO to 80 cents; pumping wells inFrankliu 



148 



PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 



To this may be added the following table, showing the estimated number of wells at the beginning and the end 
of the census year in the United States east of the Mississippi river : 



f 

Name of district. 


Estimated 

number of 

producing wells 

■Tune 1, 1879. 


Estimated 

number of 

producing weUs 

May 31, 1880. 


Number 

completed 

during 

census year. 


Dry holes. 




4,282 

6,693 

400 

200 

20 

t 

500 

5 


7,362 

6,322 

•600 

200 

20 

? 

60O 

5 


3,080 
335 
120 

15 

20 
120 


53 
79 
15 
! 

r 
1 






















12, 100 


15,069 


3,690 


147 





Section 7.— GENERAL STATISTICS RELATING TO THE PEODUCTION OF THIRD-SAND 

PETROLEUM. 

In illustration of this section I have been so fortunate as to secure the accompanying diagrams, prepared by 
Mr. Charles A. Ashburner, of Philadelphia, especially for this work, from the statistical tables of Stowell's 
Petroleum Beporter. No. I is a graphic representation of the total production by years of the different districts, 
by which the date of discovery, expansion, and contraction of the production of the different districts is noted ; 
No. II shows the comparative volume of the total production of the different districts. No. Ill shows the comparative 
expansion and contraction of the total yearly production, with the total value in greenbacks and gold, from 1859 to 
1880, inclusive. On pages 149, 150, and 151 are statistical tables from another source, which vary only slightly 
from the preceding in the aggregate, and present the matter in detail. On page 150 is a statistical statement, made 
by the United Pipe Lines, that offers its own explanation. On page 151 is a table giving some comparative 
miscellaneous pipe-line statistics that are included in the census year, taken from the Titusville Herald of April 
11, 1881, except the averages for the census, year. The following estimate of stocks in the oil region on the dates 
named is given for what it is worth, as the authority is unknown : 



Barrels. 

, 534,000 

, 264,000 

, 340,751 

537,000 

, 623,048 

February, 1873 1,085,435 



February, 1868. 
February, 1869. 
February, 1870. 
February, 1871. 
February, 1872. 



Barrels. 

February, .1874 1,248,919 

February, 1875 4,250,000 

February, 1876 3,585,143 

February, 1877 2,604,128 

February, 1878 3,555,342 

February, 1879 5,385,523 



STATEMENT SHOWING THE YEARLY PEODUCTION, AVERAGE YEARLY PRICE, AND VALUE, IN CURRENCY, OF ALL 
OIL PRODUCED FROM 1860 TO DECEMBER 31, 1880, BOTH INCLUSIVE. 



Tear. 


Number of 
barrels. 


Average price 
per barrel. 


Amount. 




156,888,331 




$334,871,063 84 


1860 




500,000 
2, 113, 609 
3, 056, 690 

2, 611, 309 
2, 116, 109 
2, 497, 700 

3, 597, 700 
3, 347, 300 

3, 646, 117 

4, 215, 000 
5,260,745 

5, 205, 341 
5,890,248 
9, 890, 964 

10,809,852 
8,787,506 
8, 968, 906 
13, 135, 771 
15, 163, 462 
20, 041, 581 
26, 032, 421 


$9 60 
49 

1 05 
3 IS 
9 87} 
6 59 
3 74 

2 41 

3 62i 
5 63 

3 89i 

4 34 
3 64 
1 83 
117 

1 35 

2 561 
2 42 
1 19 

85J 
94i 


4, 800, 000 00 
1,035,668 41 
3, 209, 524 50 
8, 225, 623 35 

20, 896, 576 37 
16,459,843 00 
13, 455, 398 00 

8,066,993 00 
13, 217, 174 12 
23, 730, 450 00 
20,503,753 63 
22, 591, 179 94 

21, 440, 502 72 
18,100,464 12 
12, 647, 526 84 
11,863,133 10 

22, 982, 821 62 
31, 788, 565 82 
18, 044, 519 78 
17, 210, 707 68 
24,600,637 84 


1861 


1862 


1863 


1864 


1865 




1867 


1868 


1869 


1870 


1871 


1872 


1873 


1874 




1876 


1877 


1878 


1879 

1880 





Average price per barrel for 21 years, $2 1S-|-. 



CHART 

SAowing- the annual production of Petroleum 

■ JDeveJ^oprnent of the indivi,dzia,l districts in t7ze ■ 

OIL REG701<r 

of I^ennsi/lvixnia a7^d Sorzthem 2v^etulorJc 




* 



zm 



Oil CrcoH J}ivi. 



^m. 



^m 



-^ 



m^MW 



FitholeJDiv. CentruZ ^lleahe?tv 2>iv. 



r^l'leyhen^ Mi'V. 



Tidz^uteDvv. 



^ 



^^ 



??^#>^ 



^z::;^77^?^////^;/;m'/2>/;'/;';';'^^ . ^ . 



y. 7^<^/yy/yC^??7777,y.,.^ 






:BulHo-n,JDvv. 



Thiol prodtoc^-tan of crttat-e, 
oil in the Oil FHeZds o/Ttnn- 




Tota2 j>roduction, /&^9 to iddO 
inclusive /se.sso.3f1 ShZ^. 



^ra.afoJ-dJ?Zvisvo»,. 
2i£^JCBa,rv a-n(lJSl7c Cou,-rutieG 

Catta-ratiffus and AHefany 




S7^.$e/ JBhl^s 



CHART 

Proportional production 

of the Oil Region of JPejrmsylvareia and SoutAern, Newlbrlc 

aj%d that of the individual distz-icts 







i7.34a a7B SXls 



0-bi CreeT^JDvvfj^ioTt. 
l^Ticfn^o Co. 




3S.St7.a9/ S2>ZS. 




Z0.381d$aJBJblli. 



l^^,a.nffo Co. 



\f2^ 

a.Bfe.sBssbis. 



Cenirail.AlleffAe7tyJJivision., 



6./Ga.S00£ble 



4.674. 34.S.MbZs. 



JBulhott-DivoEi 
Ten a. ny oC'o. 



^..3f.7.0S)O.BiiS 



^rren J)Cvi,3iort.. Jizviscion.. 
79&rrenao. Beaver Co. 

«* 8t3 S2)l.s ^js. 637. ShZx 



Scale. 



KarryJGng Jt^ . 



Comjoiled. hy 
Chas. A.Ashhurjzer, JvIS. 

Assistant, Second Geolo^ica.1 ^zirvei/ of Peiznst/lvamc 




jTbial jDrodu^c^- 






the OiZ'j^eiiZs of^enn- 








^ztllion.JJiv. 



TaiaZ jirod;ucUo7b MS9 to 16Q0 
inclusive /S6.S90.311 SJiZs. 



Jia.rryJG7tfc. JDai . 






3f.?.090.JS7sU. 



~R&.Tr6nCo, Beaoer Co. 



THE NATURAL HISTORY OF PETROLEUM. 



149 



STATEMENT OF THE NUMBER OF BAKEELS OF OIL PRODUCED FROM AUGUST 26, 1859, TO DECEMBER 31, 1880, BY 
YEARS AND BY COUNTIES. IN THE OIL REGIONS OF PENNSYLVANIA AND SOUTHERN NEW fORK. 



I ^'C'/els."' 


StAte and connty. 


Total 


156, 153, 807 




1859 

I860 


1,000 


Venango county, Pennsylvania. 

Venango, Forest, Crawford, and Warren, Pennsylvania. 

Do. 

Do. 

Do. 

Do. 
Venango, with Clarion and Armstrong. 
Venango, with Cattaraugns connty, New York. 

Do. 

Do. 

Do. 
Venango, with Butler county, Pennsylvania. 

Do. 

Do. 
Venango, with McKean county, Pennsylvania. 

Dn 




2, 113, 609 
2, 050, 690 
2, 611, 369 
2, 116, 109 

2, 497, 700 

3, 597, 700 
3, 347, 300 




1863 


1864 

1865 




1867 


1868 


3, 715, 700 


1869 




5, 659, 000 
5, 202, 710 
5, 985, 635 
9, 882, 010 
10, 920, 435 


1871 


1872 




1874 


1875 . 




1876 

1877 

1878 

1879 

1880 


8, 952, 355 
13, 129, 780 
15, 159, ISO 
19, 741, 755 
25, 960, 260 


Do. 
Do. 
Do. 
Do. 
Do. 



TOTAL PRODUCTION OF CRUDE PETROLEUM IN PENNSYLVANIA OIL-FIELDS FROM 1859 TO DECEMBER 31, 1880, BOTH 
INCLUSIVE, DIVIDED INTO PRODUCING DIVISIONS AND DISTRICTS. 



Tears. 


Oil Creek 
division. 


Pithole 
district. 


Central 
Allegheny 
division. 


Lower 
Allegheny 
division. 


Tidionte 

district. 


Clarion 
division. 


Bradford 
division. 


Bullion 
district. 


Warren 
division. 


Beaver 
division. 


Yearly 
total of all 
districts. 


Total 


Barrett. 
35,517,217 


Barrels. 
4, 816, 298 


Barrels. 
6, 482, 900 


Barrels. 
37, 342, 978 


Barrels. 
4, 674, 345 


Barrels. 
20,381,638 


Barrels. 
44,574,921 


Barrels. 
2, 312, 190 


Barrels. 
448,213 


Barrels. 
339, 631 


Barrels. 
156,890,331 


1859 


2,000 
500,000 
2, 113, 609 
3, 056, 690 
2,611,309 
2, 116, 109 

1, 585, 200 
2, 502, 700 
2,393,300 
3, 072, 617 
3, 762, 500 
3, 039, 528 

2, 04O, 263 




















2,000 
500,000 
2, 113. 609 
3, 056, 690 
2,611,309 
2, 116, 109 
2,497,700 
3, 597, 700 
3,347,300 
3, 646, 117 
4,215,000 
5,260,745 
5,205,341 
5,890,248 
9, 890, 964 
10, 809, 852 
8,787,506 
8,968,906 
13, 135, 771 
15,163,462 
20, 041, 581 
26,032,421 


1860 
















1861 
















1862 





1 












1883 






] 












1864 


















1865 


912, 500 
1, 095, 000 
954,900 
547,500 
365, 000 
173, 585 






t 








1866 
















1867 
















1868 


26,000 
22,000 
813. 150 












1869 


45, 000 

918, 644 

1, 091, 458 


20,500 
315, 838 
497. 887 












1870 












1871 


162.054 ' l.OM. 386 


310,293 










1872 


1, 529, 685 145. 065 I 881. 140 


1. 658, 080 847, 199 










1873 


1, 094, 369 
734, 247 
504,639 
611,884 
834, 858 
686,948 
389, 400 
335, 342 


119, 864 
55,770 
35, 130 
37, 450 


851,934 
564,978 
343, 905 
333, 640 


4, 402, 563 895, 983 j 2, 526, 231 
5, 160, 265 373, 325 3, 921, 267 
4,712.702 ' 351,407 1 9 851 214 










1874 










1875 


18, 509 
382, 768 
1, 490, 481 
6,208,746 
14, 096, 759 
22, 377, 658 








1876. -•. 


4,755,623 354,284 
5,431,072 312,700 
4,552,815 308,780 
2, 876, 787 227, 900 


2, 377, 700 

3, 012, 120 
2, 276, 408 
1,438,342 

868,984 


64,220 
1,306,442 
505,265 
289, 591 
146, 672 


51,337 
151, 371 
108, 300 
45, 550 
91,655 




1877 . . . 


62,085 
92,490 
82,100 
102, 956 




60,000 1 363,710 
36,500 i 558,652 




1880 














RECAPITULATION. 

Barrels. 

Oil Creek division, includiug Shamburg, Pleasantville, and Enterprise 35, 517, 217 

Pithole district, including Holderman, Morey, and Ball farms 4,816,298 

Central Allegheny division, including Scrnbgrass to West Hickory 6, 482, 900 

Lower Allegheny division, including Butler and Armstrong counties 37,342,978 

Tidionte district, including Economite.s, Henderson farm, etc 4,674,345 

CLarion district, including Clarion county 20,381, 638 

Bradford district, including McKean and Elk counties ; also Cattaraugus and Allegany counties, New York . 44, 574, 921 

BuUion Jistrict, including Venango county 2, 312, 190 

Warren division, including Stoneham, Clarendon, etc 448,213 

Beaver division, including Smith's Ferry, etc ., 339, 631 

Total production from all districts 156,890,331 



150 



PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 



STATEMENT, BY COXJNTIES, OP THE NUMBER OP ACKES DEVELOPED IN THE OIL-FIELDS OP PENNSYLVANIA AND NEW 
YORK PROM AUGUST 26, 1859, TO DECEMBER 31, 1880. 



State and cotmty. 


Number of 
acres. 


Total 


156, 380 




32, 000 
6,400 
1,920 
6,720 
5,120 
19, 200 
27,520 
50, 000 
7,500 





















STATEMENT MADE BY THE UNITED PIPE-LINES FROM THE BEGINNING OF APRIL, 1877, TO JULY 9, 1881. 



]^OXltll. 


Gross stocks. 


Sediment and 
surplus. 


Net stocks. 


Outstanding 
acceptances. 


Credit 
balances. 


Eeceipts from 
aU sources. 


Total 
deliveries. 


1877. 


Barrels. 
1, 895, 153. 71 
1,762,602.64 
1, 569, 367. 68 
1,482,433.51 
1, 489, 052. 53 
1, 339, 032. 27 
1, 434, 728. 78 

1, 691, 399. 52 

2, 830, 415. 36 

3, 124, 641. 15 

3, 439, 526. 93 

3, 940, 000. 65 

4, 335, 274. 84 
4, 609, 681. 45 
4, 719, 699. 25 
4, 885, 851. 73 
4, 571, 658. 59 
4, 410, 061. 84 
4,073,627.43 
4,083,972.43 
4, 098, 200. 92 

4, 759, 031. 41 
5, 157, 646. 15 

5, 503, 768. 71 

5, 885, 675. 24 
6, 180, 843. 53 
6, 426, 802. 45 
6, 419, 699. 08 

6, 380, 606. 63 
6, 689, 359. 83 
6, 701, 209. 87 

6, 951, 133. 67 

7, 362, 409. 76 

7,735,257.38 
8, 187, 012. 49 
8,621,097.49 
9, 662, 354. 59 
10,306,078.79 
11,266,771.77 

12, 039, 010. 00 
12,749,623.28 

13, 018, 726. 03 
14,020,877.39 

14, 036, 891. 65 

16, 369, 758. 67 

16,291,307.87 

17, 355, 485. 31 
18,488,476.04 

19, 560, 752. 23 

20, 591, 117. 33 

21, 397, 698. 53 


Barrels. 
77,386.70 
75, 364. 87 
81,255.43 
81,741.50 
81, 144. 63 
67, 163. 68 
46, 771. 99 
39,418.00 
68,729.63 

72, 453. 43 
82, 452. 66 
92, 963. 06 
133,934.76 
150, 117. 76 

181, 800. 03 
229, 080. 78 
217,085.19 
225, 088. 86 
234,050.89 
216, 655. 30 
201, 470. 30 

182, 707. 80 
171, 689. 80 
190, 797. 91 
211, 957. 06 
315,992.98 
334, 457. 29 
323, 295. 32 
303, 345. 15 
325, 363. 85 
299, 393. 67 
303, 641. 17 
294,571.37 

295, 517. 60 
322, 568. 93 
361,130.35 
388, 558. 16 
454, 193. 73 
477,431.69 
475, 446. 56 
462,987.28 
382, 398. 71 
391, 331. 55 
341, 262. 67 
361, 184. 8! 

360,688.98 
391, 616. 47 
432, 304. 19 
517, 422. 38 
040, 662. 03 
750, 412. 85 


Barrels. 

I, 817, 767. 01 
1,687,237.77 
1,488,113.26 
1, 400, 692. 01 
1,407,907.90 
1, 271, 868. 59 
1, 387, 956. 79 

1, 651, 981. 52 

2, 761, 685. 73 

3, 052, 187. 72 
3,357,074.32 

3, 847, 037. 59 
4, 301, 340. 08 

4, 459, 563. 69 
4, 537, 899. 33 
4,656,770.94 
4, 354, 673. 40 
4, 184, 972. 98 
3, 838, 576. 64 
3, 867, 317. 12 

3, 896, 730. 63 

4, 576, 323. 61 

4, 935, 956. 35 

5, 312, 970. 80 
5,673,718.18 

6, 864, 850. 55 
6, 092, 345. 16 
6, 090, 403. 76 
6,078,261.48 
6,264,495.98 
6,401,816.20 

6, 647, 492. 60 

7, 067, 838. 39 

7, 439, 739. 78 
7, 864, 443. 66 
8,269,967.14 
9, 273, 796. 43 
9, 851, 885. 06 
10, 789, 340. 08 

II, 563, 563. 44 

12, 286, 636. 00 
13,230,327.32 

13, 629, 545. 84 

14, 315, 623. 88 
15,008,673.84 

15, 930, 618. 89 

16, 963, 868. 84 

18, 050, 172. 75 

19, 043, 329. 86 

19, 950, 455. 30 

20, 641, 285. 08 


Barrels. 
449, 640. 14 
683, 663. 71 
661,786.57 
667, 166. 36 
643,231.46 
552, 676. 26 
673, 860. 05 
657, 591. 36 
754, 338. 25 

864,711.41 
1,404,292.13 
1, 437, 439. 50 

1, 615, 791. 19 

2, 065, 333. 31 

1, 950, 430. 81 

2, 078, 469. 56 
3,064,590.76 
1, 705, 853. 95 
1,617,434.37 

1, 784, 443. 35 
1, 741, 311. 07 

2, 153, 763. 83 
3,346,338.22 

3, 484, 881. 83 
2, 644, 301. 36 
3, 522, 486. 36 

2, 959, 921. 12 

3, 323, 575. 39 
3, 581, 224. 03 
3,783,430.33 
3, 788, 155. 65 

3, 973, 300. 13 
4,335,459.40 

4,436,788.55 
4,603,386.49 

4, 811, 894. 33 

5, 846, 536. 60 

6, 361, 330. 05 

7, 397, 131. 89 
8, 125, 241. 25 

8, 635, 394. 80 
9,287,193.94 
9,448,615.77 

10, 083, 824. OS 
10,913,283.49 

11, 672, 583. 61 
12,029,594.35 
13, 099, 362. 44 

13, 846, 385. 30 
14,608,124.70 

14, 738, 838. 77 


Barrels. 

1,363,126.87 

1, 003, 574. 06 
836, 335. 69 
733, 535. 66 
764, 636. 44 
719, 192. 33 
714, 106. 74 
994, 390. 16 

3, 007, 347. 48 

2,187,476.31 

1, 953, 732. 19 
2,359,598.09 

2, 585, 548. 39 
2,394,330.38 
3,587,478.41 
2, 573, 301. 33 
2, 289, 983. 64 
2,479,119.03 

2, 331, 093. 37 

3, 082, 873. 77 
3,155,419.55 

3,433,659.78 
3, 639, 718. 13 

2, 828, 083. 97 

3, 029, 416. 82 
3, 343, 364. 19 
3, 133, 434. 04 
3, 772, 828. 47 
2,497,037.45 

2, 481, 015. 60 
2,613,660.65 

3, 675, 192. 32 

2, 832, 373. 99 

3, 003, 951. 23 
3, 362, 157. 07 
3, 458, 072. 81 
3, 427, 359. 83 
3,490,565.01 
3, 393, 308. 19 
3,438,323.19 
3,651,241.20 

3, 949, 133. 38 
4, 180, 930. 07 
4,231,804.80 

4, 095, 290. 35 

4,258,035.28 
4, 934, 274. 49 

4, 950, 910. 31 
5, 197, 044. 65 

5, 342, 330. 60 
5,902,450.91 


Barrels. 
200, 570. 31 
493, 200. 58 
538, 906. 95 
616, 145. 46 
673, 403. 04 
624,225.37 
687, 094. 59 
913, 644. 16 

1,656,150.37 

972,681.18 
1, 030, 688. 44 
1,196,251.26 
1,137,359.40 
1,104,353.40 
1,092,604.02 
1, 258, 648. 46 
1,196,368.67 
1, 183, 113. 57 
1,371,174.73 
1, 159, 623. 71 

972, 338. 83 

1, 231, 237. 19 
1,056,377.95 
1, 363, 613. 17 
1, 379, 349. 76 
1,488,514.31 
1,437,350.90 
1,472,651.01 
1, 714, 630. 11 
1,691,863.41 
1, 646, 735, 06 
1,600,961.39 
1,771,781.24 

1, 833, 963. 04 
1, 607, 663. 89 
1,315,133.31 
1,739,297.37 
1, 553, 240. 91 
1,781,937.29 
1,890,161.44 
1, 904, 462. 70 
2,075,105.26 
1, 999, 487. 98 
1, 859, 991. 50 

1, 987, 283. 54 

1,876,526.50 
1,823,713.46 
2,222,812.39 
2, 182, 636. 96 
2,278,582.78 

2, 318, 445. 18 


Barrels. 
125, 797. 90 


Ma 


619, 612. 26 


Ju^ 


737, 609. 77 




699, 476. 18 




666, 144. 28 




760, 745. 57 




570, 092. 71 




649, 242. 70 




506,333.99 


1878. 


715,149.78 




720, 478. 14 




701, 681. 27 




773,050.53 




843, 081. 33 




1,004,474.55 


July 


1, 108, 074. 33 




1, 496, 009. 04 




1,318,266.33 




1, 564, 984. 43 




1, 139, 047. 02 




924,035.93 


1879. 


546, 271. 74 




633, 828. 71 




1,029,029.70 




1, 015, 482. 04 




1, 223, 043. 27 




1, 204, 757. 54 




1, 465, 513. 05 




1,728,949.81 




1, 455, 811. 45 




1, 502, 991. 30 




1, 328, 621. 19 




1, 331, 822. 12 


1880. 


1, 455, 194. 93 




1, 178, 111. 92 




1, 396, 037. 88 


April 


723,794.73 




975, 061. 26 




848, 339. 08 


July 


1, 095, 528. 25 




1, 177, 448. 42 




1, 115,184. 71 




1, 493, 285. 06 




1, 064, 146. 39 




1, 207, 928. 35 


1881. 


931, 718. 71 




781,747.93 




1, 116, 695. 11 




1, 183, 7T9. 02 


May 


1, 356, 683. 23 




1, 545, 448. 13 







The above figures are in barrels of forty -two gallons each.. 



VBir 


Awerigc 
yearly 
price 


Tlltal annual value 

ii( pcoduction in 

Greenbacks 


1819 


20.00 


40. OOO.OO 


leeo 


9.60 


4.800. 000 .00 


1861 


.49 


1.035,665.41 


1802 


1.05 


3.209.524.50 


1863 


3.15 


8.225.6^3,35 


1964 


S.87;S 


20.896.576.37 


1865 


6.59 


16.459. 843.00 


1866 


3.74 


13.455.398.00 


1867 


2.4 1 


8.066.993.00 


1868 


3.62;', 


13.217. 174.12 


1869 


5.63 


23.730. 450.00 


IS70 


3.99% 


20.503.753.64 


IS71 


4.34 


22-591. 179.94 


1S72 


3.64 


21.440. 502. 72 


1973 


1.8? 


IS. 100.464. 12 


1874 


1.17 


12.647.526.84 


1875 


1.35 


12.133. 133. 10 


1876 


2.56Sli 


22.962.821 .62 


1977 


2.42 


3I.768.32_3=.82- 


1978 


1.19 


18.04.:. 519.76 


1879 


.8 55* 


16.953. 151 .38 


I8B0 


.94* 


24.600. 637. 8-, 




T0TAL*324.920.e65.55 



J)rtt^-s well, thejyzon^er weZZ i^n. J^enrLsylva.7zzcL 

jlTrr'c^ gT crude oil./Oc^j a da-rrel, ?nini7m^?n. t/clCzc 
Janzcary /863 , g'oZa^ a.t a, jDreTnzicTn. 

Oil J'ial<i szLj)posed ^oJ?ff d.efi^e<Z, Aen.ce jsrict 
o/" ot^ rises ra^ieZZy. 

IPi-thole 2?tV!.6lo7V corft.Tn-OThceA ^o^toAu.cg. 
Gold ai 6he m,<2.7czm,u7rf. jore7?zz.u7rt, (^zc7-i?t^ /S6S 
^fazi?7zzi./n^ jsroduc^ion. ^ I*ithole IO-vislotz,. 
Cert.tra.lA2 leg-As n^ J) i,v co^.men^ced to pro^ztce. 
2^diouf^Mii^sr&Ar/7us^njMiv6 cam7n.c7teed io joroeiz^ce . 
■ 2i4hsci^/nu??vjoroduc6io7h ^ Oil CreeTc DivtsioTV. 
ClarioTv J}i.vi3Von. GOTTtTTLenceei €o jorodzice. 



Ma. 



1 j3roduciio7%, o^ ^^d^ouieJOvv^ioTZt 



Ja-7i.ZLa.ry J JS79 specie j3a.^?ne.tts restcfned. tn 6he J/S 



Jfa.rrf/JG.njr.I>el 



Mrad/brd OiZ Sacnd drJscQvere^ J?ecef7tifer ff'/^Z^. 
£ullion and ^^^rreTzJUvistone coTnmencxd. c^^pradifc^ ; 

'" ' ■■■•^^-^:, ::^- - J^uxifnuTn iotizl jjaii<.e 

^^ of of 789.32 J 



d^LZoT-^ aedained. 



paTtxMeZlet^ prow&h. of the .Bro-^ord. fiel^ . 



CHART 

Showing the annual pro dizctioTi of I^etroleziTn 

IN THE OIL REGION 

' • of Fenj%si/lvaj% La an d Soizthern JSTewl^rJc 

Since its discoveri/. zvUK the valzies of tAejorodizetioTo 
^7% Currency and i7% Gold. 




I>ra>c well. tA<fj>zont»0r taeZl Ln Pennsyiva^zza. 

Ooifoier to Zfece7fihfT f>9fi/, uveytive /nQ-rt^hZy 
price gTcrude oil.gOc6^ a. 6«.rreZ, mtntmum vaCti. 

January /8€S^g-oZd a,t a, j^r^Mzzcm.. 

Oil /i'Sl<i siLpposed /oJ)9 d^fitt4>d, Aen.ee jtrtct 
g/* otl ristis mpiaffy, 

Pithote Diviaion, comrrt'SThGeA dojuft^ucc 

Gold ai i?te maxifrcuTn. ftr^Tnium, <^ri?t^ /66S. 

J\£azimujfb productwft ^ J*iihole Divistojt.. 

Centrtii AIlrg-hsnyDifV. corn.»te/t>caei to prodzuic. 

ZYdioiUe.Su//arAAr/fM/tn>MJ^ii/.s. oarmrtej^eed ^oproetuce. 

^i^iixi7rtum,j>7-oduciion. ^ Oil Cr&eJc Dtyision/. 

ClarioTb MivL^Cort aoTrtfrtenceeZ ^o produce. 

Maximum, proditciCoii' o/ C^ntra.^ Al^e^^ftny Dm*. 

A/azirnunv procfuch'oJi, oj y^idioute JOvvvst'oH' 
JSrad/orei Oi.^ jSartd df^sOQfJfrae^ J?acfifnJbsr &'M'/4. 
2iulli,on and ff&rrenMoui.^ion^ commrnced' t^n pruf/itti^ 

, J5oavcr Mivisio^ comrr^cncod, io proeZtcae , 

' — —*~-^.r,.z^jz, . - - -^ Afojeirnurn totaf, v*t./.fcf! 

of dr7es.^23 



Trice o/ oU faila rajoiMy in eonaefu«n,co o/" the. 
paraZZmea ^roufdA. of £ke Bradford, /lela. . 



X.ry>rxCZXX-X7-"T->-^ c>&/aM«C7y / J879 ,tp«citi p»jfm»ais rvatcmoil in M« (fS 

yyVyy/yV/Y^^ ^ « Ma.Aimunv monthly ecimraffa Wff^ of 

1^22Z:^£Z/>VV'V[y^^ iflBO arming X4^f^£ls ^liaineS. 



The total annual vcU-ue wa.3 olbtazned J^y multiplying the toUl produciiorL jby the av^raye yearly pr^ce- . 

The cveraye yearly premium on yolA was oUa.i.n.d J>y t^Tcvny an avera,ge of the rnyhest. lowest, openir^ and ciosi^ny pr.ce of 
i/old in, currency yoT each -moTtth in ea,c?i. year. 



Compiled 2)if 

CJias. A.AsT-iLurner JVf.S. 

As^istcLnt.Second Geological SziTvey of Fennsi/lvanza: 



| L Sa.7n-j/Xin.s^.2Jel 



THE NATURAL HISTORY OF PETROLEUM. 



151 



MISCELLANEOUS PIPE-LINE STATISTICS FOR 1879 AND 1880. 



Average for the census year 

January 

February 

March , 

April 

May 

June 

July 

August 

September ! 

October I 

November 

December i 



Barrels. 
32, 377 



14, 800 
12, 200 
27, 700 
26, 000 
32, 800 
49. 000 
36, 000 
38, 600 
47, 300 
44, 700 
46, 300 
31, 300 



ISSO. 

Barrels. 



18, 303 

20, 822 
18,954 
18,975 
18, 370 
36, 735 
35, 033 
30, 916 
33,567 
18, 231 
21, 730 
21,500 



Barrels. 
61,837 



45,719 
43, 105 
48, 856 
50,754 
52, 963 
53,908 
54,061 
61, 886 
63,504 
60, 694 
60,278 
63, 722 j 



67, 330 

62, 671 
67, 024 
67, 921 
59, 048 
69, 931 
71, 072 
71, 010 
67, 813 
70, 861 
65, 799 
57, 749 



STOCKS IX riPE-LlXE TASKS. 



Barrels. 
8, 323, 681 



5, 064, 693 
5, 541, 683 

5, 928, 628 

6, 332, 841 
6, 665, 454 
6, 849, 389 
6, 938, 690 

6, 998, 046 

7, 328, 980 
7, 402, 630 

7, 675, 193 

8, 094, 496 



8, 520, 696 

8, 930, 508 

9, 369, 240 

10, 545, 425 

11, 230, 883 
12,281,711 
13, 150, 974 

13, 945, 113 

14, 713, 346 
15, 114, 802 
16, 756, 954 
16, 616, 628 



TIDE-WATEE. 



Barrels. 
203,378 I 



65,026 

52, 182 ' 
55,421 ' 
53,477 ' 
55,489 j 
82,035 I 
108,020 
107,402 I 
121,303 
139,883 
118, 092i 
114,352 1 



154, 034 
125, 376 
167, 564 
199, 327 
905, 153 
230, 089 
210, 178 
196, 249 
169, 147 
185, 551 
162, 269 
173, 125 



Shipments. 

1880. 



Barrels, 
179, 409 



2,585 
36, 728 
35, 575 
24,588 
40, 680 
58, 054 
98,889 
97,36» 
99,243 



118, 400 
716, 057 
741, 062 
34, 162 
88,836 
94,398 
94,095 
85, 482 
97,493 
129, 178 
121, 973 
110, 659 



Section 8.— THE PEODUGTIOJ^ OF THE PACIFIC COAST. 
Concerning the petroleum production of the Pacific coast, I have to say that I have no official returns from 
any of the parties interested, no communication addressed to them having elicited any response whatever, and in 
consequence I have been forced to rely on such other sources of information as were available. My own experience 
in relation to the petroleum of that region led me to accept all reports published in the newspapers with great caution 
I addressed a letter of inquiry to the senior member of a fii-m long engaged in trade in refined oils upon the San 
Francisco market, and received the following reply, dated March 16, 1882 : 

The consumption of this coast of eastern oils is 4,500,000 gallons of refined. The product of all the refineries of this coast does not 
exceed 400,000 gallons refined. It is of iuferior quaUty, low test, and is principally sold to the Chinese trade at about 16 cents per gallon 
in cans, or less, by 6 cents per gallon, than the cheapest eastern oils. In addition, about 400,000 gallons of crude oil is sold here for making 
gas and fuel. The production seems to be decreasing, the wells being, as a rule, short-lired. The above is, I consider, reliable, and is 
the best information I can get. My firm sell considerable oil, both high- and low-test eastern. We have no demand for California 
production. 

Mr. J. C. Welch, in his report for February, 1880, says: 

My California correspondent writes, February 2, as follows: "In reference to the Californian production, I would state that since 
my last letter there has nothing new been developed. It is very expensive and very difficult to drill wells in California, owing to the 
angle at which the rock stands, causing it to cave from the top to the bottom of the weU. It requires four or five sizes of casing, telescoped 
from 12 inches to the smallest size that can be drilled through. In this way it requires about as much capital to case a well here as the 
entire expense of a well in Pennsylvania. The time required to drill is from three months to two years, it being very difficult to get the 
casing down, the rock caving at every point. However, these obstacles wouldall be overcome if there was a class of men like Pennsylvania 
producers in this country to driU wells, but, fortunately for the producing interests of the United States, the monopoly in California is in 
the producing interest in.stead of in the refining and transportation interest, as in Pennsylvania. A syndicate of millionaires, led by C. N. 
Felton (who was fir.st in the development of the Bonanza mines of Nevada), have been busily engaged for the last two years in purchasing In 
fee all the lauds that show any indications of being oil territory, which, as the tracts of land in which the oil district is located were originally 
divided by the old Spanish grants containing hundreds of thousands of acres, it has been a comparatively easy matter for them to do, 
and they .seem inclined to keep their oil in the ground until such times as PennsJ'lvania shall have exhausted her supplies and the product 
here is needed for the world's demand. Although the same company have obtained all the necessary machinery, iron, and fixtures for the 
refinery (of which I wrote you recently), and have land secured in a favorable location, located on the bay and also connected with both 
systems of railroad, narrow and broad gauge, yet they have not actually commenced the erection of the works. It wiU require about 
ninety days from the time they break ground until the refinery can be completed. 

As I .suggested in my former letter to you, these parties at present do not intend to produce more oil than is required for the Pacific 
coast trade, and for the next two or three years the California territory need have no infliience whatever on the general petroleum market 
unless some unexpected strike should be made that now seems unlikely, as there are only two or three wells being drilled. 

I do not know exactly what percentage of refined oil is obtained from California crude; but should not, from 
my experience, place the procUiction at above 1,000,000 gallons, or 2,500 barrels. 

Section 9.— THE FOREIGN PEODUCTIOX OF PETEOLETJM IN COMPETITION WITH THE UNITED 

STATES. 
From various reports that have received my attention in reference to this subject I select the following as 
most entitled to confidence. The first which I offer, reviewing all of the European fields upon observations made 
during the census year, is from the February (1S80) report of Mr. J. C. Welch. The second paper was prepared 
expressly for this report by William Brough, esq., of Franklin, Pennsylvania, a gentleman of large experience in 
the Pennsylvania oil regions, whose opiuion.s. are based upon a careful personal inspection of the Russian petroleum 
fields, they being really the only European fields likely to prove of more than local importance. Mr. ^^>lch, in his 
report on Russia, says : 

The various oil territories of the world have, during the past year, been receiving some attention, and the chance of their supplying 
Oil to meet u^ore or less of the world's needs is of course an important one to those whose interests are principally identified with that 



152 PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 

eupply Ijeing drawn from western Pennsylvania. The Eussian territory on tlie Caspian sea has received the most attention, and it has a 
prolific yield ; the two things that have militated chiefly against its being a competitor of importance of the Pennsylvania petroleum are 
in the character of the oil, only yielding about 33 per cent, of illuminating oil, and in the difficulty of getting it to the markets of the 
world through inadequate means of transportation. The opinion prevails among some that a percentage of illuminating oil can be got 
from it as great as that obtained from American petroleum, requiring, however, some different process of refining. This plan is to be 
tested soon by the erection of a refinery in Russia, the owners having sufficient confidence in their process to erect a refinery of sufficient 
size to be a complete test as to whether the process will be a success or not. 

Mr. L. Emery, jr., a well-known resident and producer of this region, has just returned from the Baku field, after having taken 
time to give it a critical examination. He estimates the production there during the past year to have been about 28,000 American 
barrels per day from 78 wells, showing the extraordinary average of 360 barrels. The depth of the wells is only about 500 feet. There 
were shipped from Baku last season about 1,930,000 gallons of refined oil. Oil is refined at Baku at 195 refineries, with a charging 
capacity of 28,000 American barrels. There are now in course of erection stills with a charging capacity of about 2,000 barrels, which 
will be ready for business with the opening of navigation in the spring. Some of these refineries are very small ; others are owned by 
independent corporations with large capital. Prom Baku oil is sent east, south, and west by canals and wagons, and by the Volga river 
to Kisan, and thence by cars it reaches the principal markets of Russia. 

Mr. Emery says it is estimated there are 25,000,000 poods (about 3,125,000 barrels) of crude oil in the vicinity of Baku held in 
excavations in the ground or lakes. Pipe-lines are being used from the wells to the refineries in the vicinity of Baku, a distance of 6- 
miles. Two 3-inoh lines have recently been laid, one with pipes of American and one of English manufacture ; and three more pipe-lines are 
in process of construction, one of 5 inches diameter, the other two of 3 inches diameter. A railroad also runs through the district. The 
price paid for pipeage is about 8 cents per American barrel, and oil is now a drug at 6 cents a barrel at the wells. 

Petroleum is found more or less on both sides of the Caucasian mountains; and oil is produced within the city limits of Tifiis, a city 
which is rated by the latest census as having 70,591 inhabitants. A railroad is in operation from the Black sea to Tiflis, a distance of ISO- 
miles, and is in process of construction from Tiflis to Baku. Eighteen miles of this is already built, its construction having commenced 
last summer. The contract calls for its completion within three years of its commencement, with a forfeiture for every day over that 
time that it is not completed The contractor, however, states his expectation of completing the road within eighteen months from the- 
beginning. The Russian government is the chief mover in the construction of the road, and the road is being built by a government 
contractor of large means. 

In this railroad, and in the possibility of a process of refining oil by which an increased percentage of illuminating oil can be 
eliminated, rests an apparent danger to the petroleum business of western Pennsylvania. With this railroad completed the Baku oil' 
would be placed on tide-water navigation with a railroad htiul of nearly 600 miles. The commerce of the Black sea is already very 
important, Odessa, located upon it, being one of the great grain markets of the world. 

Very considerable attention is now being turned toward territory in Europe that presents some aspects of being oil-bearing. The 
country south of the Caucasian mountains, of which Tiflis is the center, while belonging to Russia, is in Asia. Immediately north of 
the Caucasian mountains is the Kouban river, emptying into the Black sea. 

The following is from my New York daily report of March 12 : 

" I have recently come more fully in contact with people having knowledge of the oil-producing territory on the Caspian sea than I 
had at the time of writing my February monthly report, and I now find the statement I made in that report is of much too favorable a 
character in regard to Baku production and getting the Baku oil to market. The railroad I spoke of as being constructed between the 
Black and Caspian seas has been constructed for some time from the Black sea to Tiflis, and a short piece has been built, say 12 miles- 
long, on the Baku end, in the vicinity of the oil-wells. It is intended to go to work on the road east of Tiflis soon, but operations have 
not yet commenced, or had not recently. This distance is between 300 and 400 miles, and there are some uncertainties concerning its 
construction which may keep it delayed for a long time. I am informed by merchants in this city, who have correspondents in that 
vicinity, that i^y information is at fault very considerably regarding the amount of production at Baku, and that it is very much less. 
Taking into consideration what I am recently informed, the matters at Baku are not of a nature, I judge, that require them at present 
to be taken into account as having a bearing upon the prices of American petroleum." 

Dr. Tweddle, formerly of Pittsburgh and Franklin, representing a French company, is drilling two wells upon this river, and has a 
small refinery at Taman, a city located near the mouth of the Kouban. He has secured enormous tracts of territory from the Russian 
government. Five drillers and experienced well-men recently left Oil City to join Dr. Tweddle on the Kouban river. Mr. James E. Adams, . 
of Oil City, experienced in oil matters, has been with Dr. TVeddle since last summer, having previously spent a year at Baku. 

The following is Mr. Welch's report on Galicia and Germany: 

Galicia, in Austria, has been producing some oil for a considerable time, and has now a production of about 500 barrels per day. 
This territory has been visited by Americans accustomed to drilling wells and refining oil, who had gone to inspect it, with a view of 
doing business there, and they came away unfavorably impressed with it as a place to locate in the oil business. Drilling is difficult and 
expensive there, the strata of the rocks not lying horizontally, but being at an angle that causes them to cave after being drilled through. . 
Much or most of the oil is taken from near the surface from wells dug down, and the oil then bailed out. The oil is unreliable in gravity 
even at considerable depths, and the heavier grades are a drug, not being treated in such a way as to make a satisfactory lubricating oil. 
The Galician field is situated on the north side of the Carpathian mountains, and extends a distance of about 200 miles, with a width of 
about 10 miles. In Hungary, on the south side of the Carpathian mountains, there are the same indications of oil that there are on the- 
north side. An English- American company has secured 29 square miles here, and are now taking steps to operate it. 

There have been numerous cable reports published in the newspapers recently of oil discovered in Hanover, Germany. European 
petroleum circulars I have received since these reports were circulated make no mention of them, and I have as yet heard nothing from 
my European correspondents upon the subject, although I cabled Bremen about it, and it consequently appears to me that the European 
petroleum trade is not taking much notice of these reports. 

Some petroleum has been found not far from Bremen for the past two hundred years. While I was in Bremen one year ago I took 
some notes of what gentlemen I met hoped would prove to be an oil district. It is located 128 English miles southeast of Bremen. They 
had three wells then down, of different depths, as follows : 181, 242, and 680 feet. Of the first two they were getting a small quantity of 
oil, one yielding 5 and the other 30 per cent, of illuminating oil. The other well they were then beginning to test. I am informed 
since that it only produces a barrel and a quarter per day, and that it is of heavy gravity. These wells are near the small city of Peine. 
Wells recently cabled about to the newspapers are near Heide, in the northwestern portion of Holstein. 



THE NATURAL HISTORY OF PETROLEUM. 



153 



The foUowing is William Brougli's description of the Eussian oil-belt: 

The Eussian "oil belt" may be traced, at intervals more or less remote, from the island of Schily-Khauy, near the eastern shore of 
the Caspian sea, westward over the promontory of Apscheron, and following the line of the Caucasian mountains into the valley of the 
river Kouban, which empties its waters through a lagoon into the Black sea; thence it may be traced in the same general direction across 
the Crimea and to the oil-fields of Galicia, in Austria. This belt is actively worked in the Crimea, in the valley of the Kouban, and on 
the promontory of Apscheron, near the city of Baku; it Is only at the latter point, however, that the product is sufficiently large to 
induce the gathering of statistics. At all other points the petroleum produced, whether gathered from springs or obtained by well- 
boring, is entirely absorbed by local consumption. 

The foUowing table gives the shipments of petroleum and its products from Baku for the years named, in barrels of forty gallons 
each : • 



Tear. 


Refined. 


Kesidunm. 


Crude. 




392, 977 
561, 236 

750, 218 
828, 347 
376,736 


150, 021 
232,782 
388, 042 
755, 688 
427,953 


22,137 
17, 169 
24, 699 
38,628 
24,470 













As the average yield of refined petroleum from Apscheron crude is about one-third, we may estimate the total crude product of that field 
for the year 1879 at 2,500,000 barrels, or 6,850 barrels per day. This oil is all consumed in Kussia, a very little manufactured for lubricating 
excepted. The residuum is used for fuel, and is consumed nearly altogether by the steam vessels on the Caspian sea and the Volga river. 

As shown by the table, the product of the Apscheron field declined about 9 per cent, in the tirst half of the year 1880, and by the 
end of that year the decline was so serious that the price, which had ruled for two years with little variation at 24 cents per barrel, 
advanced in the autumn to between |1 and $2 per barrel ; but in 1881 production was so increased that in August the price had fallen to 
2 copecks per pood for oil at the wells, equal to 8 cents per barrel of 40 gallons. 

The Apscheron oil-field as at present worked lies within a radius of 20 miles of the city of Baku, but nine-tenths of the total 
product has so far been obtained from the deposit at Balachany, which covers an area of from 2,000 to 3,000 acres. This deposit has proved 
very rich. The oil is found in a loose, open sand, at a depth varying from 120 to 450 feet, and is brought to the surface in balers having 
check-valves in the bottom similar to the sand-pump used in the Pennsylvanian oil regions, the large amount of loose sand which comes 
up with the oil preventing the use of the ordinary suction-valve pump used in American wells. The largest well over found in the 
Balachany district had been producing for sis years in 1879, and had yielded during that time an average of 1,200 barrels per day — sk 
production much in excess of that of any Pennsylvanian well. The diameter of the wells is from 8 to 12 inches; the capacity of the 
balers from 20 to 40 gallons. There are about 400 wells m the entire Apscheron district, the largest outside of Balachany giving about 
10 barrels per day, and the average yield of the whole number, including Balachany, being about 20 barrels per day. 

Balachany is situated 12 miles north of Baku, and is connected with it by a railway. There are also two pipe-lines for the 
transportation of oil to the latter place, where the refineries are mainly situated, and which is the port of shipment. There is one othes 
pipe-line from Balachany to Soorachany, 5 or 6 miles distant, and 10 miles northeast of Baku. At Soorachany a large refinery is located, 
in order to utilize as fuel the gas from gas-springs there ; there, too, may stUl bo seen an ancient temple of the fire- worshipers, where- 
prayers are daily said to a jet of petroleum gas, whose dame is never permitted to expire. 

The development of the Apscheron oil-field has constantly been restricted by want of transportation facilities, the only outlet for the 
production from Baku to the markets of Russia being by way of the Caspian sea and the Volga river. Beside this new business of petroleum, 
now thirteen years established, the general commerce of the Caspian has in the same time been steadily growing, and the number of sea- 
going vessels, though constantly increasing, is still quite inadequate to supply the demand for transportation. In 1878 there were 30 
steamships plying this sea ; and of these 12 were imperial, leaving 18 merchant ships, varying in size from 300 to 500 tons. Eleven more 
were added in 1879, making 29 merchant steamships in all. There are beside numerous sailing-vessels. The steamships are all of foreiga 
build, mainly English, and having to pass through the canals connecting the Baltic with the Volga, their size is consequently limited 
thereby. Some of them have been floated through in two sections. As the depth of water in the delta of the Volga is ordinarily but 2 
feet, it is only in the spring of the year, when the water is 9 feet deep there, that these vessels can enter the Caspian. The oil, both 
crude and refined, is conveyed by these vessels in bulk compartments, as well as in casks and barrels, steamers being used almost 
exclusively for refined and sailing-vessels for crude and for residuum. The voyage is made from Baku to "nine-foot" water, where the 
vessels anchor in open roads and deliver their cargoes to barges built expressly for the shallow waters of the delta. These barges convey 
the oil to Astrakhan, a distance of 330 miles. 

At Tzaritzin the facilities for unloading the barges, for storing oil, or delivering it to the railroad are modem in character, and are 
really copied from the American methods. They consist of pipes, pumps, and large iron storage-tanks. The railroad also is equipped 
with iron tank-cars similar to the American. Farther up the Volga the railway again connects with the river at Saratov, at Syzran, 
and at Nijni-Novgorod, to all of which oil is shipped, the last named being the most northerly point of river shipment, and 1,400 miles 
irom Astrakhan. 

In January, 1880, the Eussian government granted a concession for the building of a railroad between Baku and Tiflis, the capital 
of the Caucasus, which was already connected by rail with Poti, on the Black sea. When this road shall be completed, it will furnish 
an outlet for Baku oil to the markets of Europe, and will bring it into direct competition with American oil in those markets The work 
of building this road is, if measured by the Russian standard, progressing rapidly. In August, 1881, 120 versts (about 80 miles) between 
Baku and Adji-Kabul was finished and in running order, and it is expected that the whole road will be completed by August, 1882. Its 
oil-car equipment will have capacity to deliver at the Black sea 1,000,000 barrels per year. As the harbor of Poti is exposed and unsafe, 
the railway will be extended 60 miles farther south to Batoum, recently ceded by Turkey to Russia, and the best harbor on the Black sea. 
The whole length of the railway will be 660 miles. The freight rate is uniform on all the railroads of Russia, being prescribed by the 
imperial government, and in 1879 was for petroleum 1 copeck per pood for 45 versts, or 9J mills for carrying one ton of 2,000 poitnds 1 
mile. At this rate the cost of transferring a barrel of petroleum from Baku to Batoum will be 83 cents. 

As the petroleum product of Apscheron has thus far been so steadily maintained above the carrying capacity of the vessels on the 
Caspian sea, we need not doubt that, with the opening of the Baku and Tiflis railroad, other deposits will be found along the line 
indicated. Indeed, the Russian oil man is fully alive to this conception, and is already prospecting along the whole line from Baku to 
Adji-Kabul, buying and selling, leasing and releasing, oil lands after the manner of his American prototype. But until this railroad is 
completed the Americans need not fear competition from that quarter. The high rates of freight on the Caspiau, the delays and hazard 



154 PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 

attending tlie clisoliarge of cargo in open sea at "Mne-foot", the double transfer, and the long voyage from "Nine-foot" to Tzaritzin, 
requiring the service of steam-tugs all the way, these, added to the fact that this only outlet is closed by ice from November until April, 
form a complete bar to such competition. Indeed, it is doubtful whether the Russian could now hold his place in his own market without 
the help of the duty imposed for his protection upon American petroleum. This duty is 9 cents per gallon, payable in gold. 

The gravity of Baku oil ranges from 26° to 36°. B. , there being very little of the latter grade, and the gravity of oil taken from pipe- 
line tanks, where the product of different wells is mixed, is about 30° B. This mixed oil gives a yield of 33 per cent, illuminating oil, 
and the residuum is used for fuel. No other fuel is used by steamers on the Caspian sea. Many of the steamers on the Volga also use it. 
It is also the only fuel used by the locomotives on the railway now building and partly completed from the eastern shore of the Caspian 
sea into the Turkoman territory recently acquired by Russia. 

The oil-fields of the Kouban valley and the peninsula of the Taman, on the Black sea, have been worked actively, with some intervals 
of comparative rest, since 1864. In that year a Russian nobleman, Count Novosiltzoff, leased 1,500,000 acres from the "Cossacks of the 
Kouban" and began operations on an extensive scale. He employed American workmen, and extended his well-drilling over a stretch 
of country 150 miles in length. He also built a large refinery at Taman, on the straits of Enikale, near the western end of his territory. 
It is difficult now to ascertain what success attended his operations. At one point, Kudokko, it is said he obtained a very large well, 
some Cossack estimates putting it at 10,000 barrels per day; but we may rest assured that this is a greatly exaggerated statement. It 
may be doubted whether the well produced at any time 1,000 barrels per day, or for any considerable time even a hundred, for Novosiltzoff 
failed to obtain oil enough from his wells to compensate him for his expenditures, notwithstanding that the price ruled very much 
higher then than now; and his enterprise finally failed, after sinking his original capital and involving him in an indebtedness of about 
1,500,000 rubles. The Kudokko well is still producing; its yield in 1878 was about 23 barrels per day. The well was then four years 
■old. It is pumped by steam-power, with a suction-valve pump. The oil is of good quality, olive-green in color, gravity 36° B., and 
yields when distilled 50 per cent, of illuminating oil. A small refinery on the estate works up the oil into lubricants and illuminauts, and 
finds ready sale for the entire product in the Cossack community of the neighborhood. Twenty-eight other wells were drilled around 
this first well without increasing the total product; indeed, the Kudokko oil-field has been shrinking steadily since it was first opened, 
notwithstanding the occasional drilling of new wells, and its total product is now less than 20 barrels per day. 

In 1879 a French company, under American management, leased all the Novosiltzoff land except the 25,000 acres which form the 
Kudokko estate, and began operations in a vigorous manner. This company is still at work; it has in its employ skilled, practical 
workmen from the oil regions of Pennsylvania, and it has made several large shipments of well machinery from America. It also recently 
purchased here pipe and pumps for a pipe-line from Ilsky, where its most productive wells are situated, to the port of Novorossisk, on the 
Black sea, 65 miles west of Ilsky. It is perhaps too soon to determine what success in finding oil will attend its operations; but the total 
yield of its wells is thus far about 80 barrels per day, and the greater part of this product is of inferior character, being a black bituminous 
oil. It may, however, be doubted whether any large deposit of petroleum will ever be formed within the limits of this field, taking Ilsky 
as its eastern boundary and including all the land westward which forms the peninsula of Taman, bounded on the north by the sea of 
Azov and the straits of Enikale and on the south by the Black sea. There has been a large amount of unsuccessful test-drilling done 
here in the last sixteen years, but no rock has yet been found which makes a suitable receptacle for petroleum. Wherever found, the oil 
is diffused through the whole strata of soil and near the surface, so that no mechanical ingenuity is required to reach it, but it can be 
obtained with the rudest well-boring implements. It is therefore reasonable to conclude that the country has been worked for oil from 
remote times. 

The greatest depth at which oil has been found here is 400 feet, and deeper drilling has thus far given no promise of success. These 
remarks are equally applicable to the Crimean district, which is of the same character. 

Although illuminating oils manufactured in Russia from the native crude product compare favorably with the American oils, the 
latter have nevertheless been yearly imported into Russia, though in diminishing quantity ; btit the fact that these imports still continue 
seems to need some, explanation, in view of the heavy duty of 9 cents per gallon imposed on American oil. A comparison of the burning 
qualities of the two oils shows that the American gives a slightly whiter flame, and that it is less liable to smoke than the Russian, In 
odor and color they are equal. The Russian oil burns with undiminished flame until the oil in the lamp is exhausted, while the flame of 
the American sinks when the oil becomes low in the lamps. The fire-test of the Russian oil is quite as good as of the best American, and 
the tendency to smoke of the Russian is easily overcome by a proper adjustment of the lamp-chimney. 

The Russians have lately introduced some new patterns of chimneys. 

These remarks apply only to standard oils of both countries found in open market at St. Petersburg, rejecting special brands and 
inferior or defective lots. 

The following table gives the imports of American refined petroleum into Russia for the years named, the figures being taken from 
Russian official records and transposed from "poods" into barrels of forty gallons each: 



Barrels. \' Barrels. 



1867 68,316 

1868 111,424 

1869 158,137 

1870 198,386 

1871 217,555 



Barrels. 

1877 261,780 

1878 251,227 

1879 188,752 

1880 143,154 



1872 203,901 

1873 379,481 

1874 310,981 

1875 308,225 

1876 277,671 

In conversation with Mr. Charles H. Trask, of the firm of William Eopes & Co., of 70 Wall street, l^ew York, 
largely engaged in the Eussian trade, he remarked that transportation from Baku to St. Petersburg was so 
expensive that a high gold duty, augmented by a depreciated currency, alone rendered the manufacture of Eussian 
oils in St. Petersburg possible. Without this duty the oils could not compete with American, although the 
lubricating oils made from Eussian crude do not chill and are superior to American lubricating oils. He said, 
further, that shipments of low-grade American oils to Eussia had entirely ceased, but that high-test American oils 
were still sold there. As the tariff may be changed at any time, the business was somewhat uncertain both for 
those within and those outside Eussia. 

1 have not been able to obtain any satisfactory statistics of the Canadian production. So far as I can learn, 
stocks had accumulated in Canada before 1879, but during that year and subsequently these stocks were drawn 
down, so that the production of refined during the census year was no indication of the production out of the ground. 
I have not therefore made anj" a^ttempt to estimate the Canadian production, which is only of local importance, as 
partially supplying the Dominion markets. 



P^RT II. 



THE TECHNOLOGY OF PETROLEUM. 



PA.RT II. 

Chapter L— MIXTURES OF PETROLEUM. 



Section 1.— FILTEEED PETEOLEUM. 

Petrolenm was prepared for use, particularly in medicine, by filtering, at a very early date in southern Ohio. 
Dr. Hildreth, as early as 1833, (a) mentions filtering petroleum through charcoal, by which much of its " empyreumatic 
smell is destroyed and the oil greatly improved in quality and appearance". Since that time petroleum has been 
filtered through gravel and through both wood and animal charcoal, in order to remove all sediment from it, and at 
the same time to remove in part both its color and its odor; but since the methods of refining by distillation have 
been discovered, it is chiefly the more dense oils that have been treated in this way. These dense natural oils are 
often injured by distUlation in the properties which render them valuable for lubrication, and filtering appears to 
furnish the only means of removing, even in a partial manner, the color and the often quite disagreeable odor. 

Section 2.— MIXTUEES OF PETEOLEUM. 

The mixtures into which petroleum enters are chiefly used for lubrication. They consist of petroleum and 
heavy products of petroleum mixed mechanically with animal and vegetable oils, tallow, resin, and allied materials, 
of the same mixed with mineral substances, and also of the same mixed with chemical compounds. The first class 
of compounds is made in very great variety ; in fact, there is scarcely a wholesale oil house in the country but has 
some formula of its own for compounding lubricating oils, into which petroleum or the products of petroleum enter 
-as a constituent. Some of these are sold honestly as mixtures, while others are adulterations pure and simple. 
Some of these mixtures are prepared in the rudest manner, and are used only for the coarsest purposes ; others are 
prepared with great care, the mixture being effected by heating and purified by straining or filtering the oil 
through various materials. The general purijose for which mixtures are prepared is to produce a lubricating 
material that will be quite as effective as animal or vegetable oils and at the same time be less expensive. A few 
mixtures are prepared and sold on their merits as preparations of a superior quality, whUe some dealers maintain 
that the larger the proportion of mineral oil the better. 

The oils used in preparing these mixtures are sperm, whale, and lard oils to a considerable extent, especially for 
lubrication. Neat's-foot oil and castor oil are used in mixtures for dressing leather. Lard-oil mixtures have been 
•used for oiling wool. In Germany a mixture is sold under the name of " Vulcan oil ", which consists of a petroleum 
•distillate of a specific gravity of from 0.870 to 0.890, treated with about 6 per cent, of sulphuric acid and well washed 
with water, and then mixed with 5 per cent, of rape oil. Another, called "opal" oil, consists of petroleum distillate 
of a specific ^avity of from 0.850 to 0.870, similarly treated and washed, and mixed with 10 per cent, of rape oil. 

The mixture of petroleum products with mineral substances have only been invented quite recently, and 
are principally the so-called plumbago oils manufactured in Eochester, New York. By a process which has been 
patented, reduced petroleum is apparently ground with graphite, as paints are ground in oil, resulting in a complete 
suspension of the graphite in the oil. It is claimed that these oils are very superior lubricators for railroad axles 
and steam cylinders, the latter becoming coated with a polished coat of graphite soft as silk. The Johnson 
Graphite Oil Company publishes a certificate showing that a car had made over 13,000 miles of mileage on one 
application. It has also been proposed to treat heavy reduced oils with powdered pyrophyllite. This mineral 
resembles talc, and when powdered is especially soft and greasy to the touch. 

The most striking example of chemical preparations of petroleum is perhaps found in the justly celebrated 
Galena oils, manufactured at Franklin, Pennsylvania. These oils consist of a lead soap dissolved in petroleum. 
A lead soap is prepared after the ordinary manner by boiling oxide of lead with a saponifiable oil, and the whole 
is dissolved in the natural heavy oil of the Franklin district. The oils thus prepared have great tenacity and 
endurance as lubricators, particularly for car-axles, for which purpose they are principally used. 

Mixtures of natural oils and tallow, natural oils and residuum, reduced petroleum, residuum from acid-restoring 
works, containing sulphur, pine tar, etc., are used on car-axles and for other heavy lubrication. 

a A. J. S. (1), xxiv, 63. 



158 PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 



Ohaptee II.— partial DISTILLATION 



Section 1.— SUNNED OILS. 

Tiie thickening by evaporation of oils spilled upon the Allegheny river and its tributaries, by which an ordinary 
third-sand oil would become converted into a dense oil fit for lubrication, led to experiments upon the lighter first- 
and second-sand oils around Franklin that were too light for lubricators and too dense for profitable manufacture 
into illuminating oils. These experiments were first undertaken by Mr. William H. Brige, of Franklin, and 
consisted in an attempt to imitate the conditions observed on the river as nearly as possible. Mr. Brige first 
exposed the oil spread on the surface of water in a small pan 3 feet square. This pan was placed in the sun, and 
the light oils were allowed to evaporate until the desired consistence was reached. The method was found to be 
entirely successful. The plan, since adopted on a larger scale, is as follows : A wooden tank is provided, sunk in the 
ground nearly its entire depth, 60 to 70 feet long, 20 to 30 feet wide, and 1 foot deep. A flat steam coil is laid upon 
the bottom, and water is run in from 8 to 10 inches deep, upon which a layer of oil about an inch thick is placed. 
The water is heated by the coil to about 110° F., and the oil becomes very limpid. Every description of dirt, 
particularly minute particles of grit, that was held in suspension ii> the viscid oil is left free to fall to the bottom 
of the tank, and the specific gravity of the oil is reduced in a few days from 32° to 29° B. The oil loses by this 
treatment about 12 per cent, of its volume, and is increased in value from $5 to $12 per barrel. 

Section 2.— EEDUCED OILS. 

Throughout the entire region the observation has been made repeatedly that oil left in open tanks evaporates 
and decreases in specific gravity Baum^. Mr. George Allen, of Franklin, acting on such observations, patented a 
novel method of partially evaporating petroleum which produces a very superior quality of oil. He suspends sheets 
of loosely woven cloth vertically above troughs in a heated chamber and by a perforated pipe distributes the oil upon 
the upper border of the curtain in thin streams. The oil is thus distributed over a large surface in the heated 
atmosphere, and the thin film is rapidly evaporated, the light portion passing into the atmosphere, and the heavy 
portion dripping from the lower border of the curtain into the troughs, from which it passes into a receptacle. This 
method of treatment furnishes a bright green, odorless oil, entirely free from sediment of any kind, such impurities 
remaining attached to the curtain. These methods of partial evaporation are particularly valuable, as they preserve 
all the qualities of the natural oil, without any danger from the effects of overheating. 

Many thousands of barrels are reduced every year by partial evaporation in stills, either by direct application 
of heat or by the use of steam, the evaporation for this purpose being always so carefully conducted as to avoid 
overheating and " cracking" or any approach to destructive distillation. The different grades of naphtha are usually 
run off, and then a sufficient amount of distillate is removed to reduce the portion remaining in the still to the 
required specific gravity. The amount of reduction depends upon the purpose for which the oil is intended, not 
only with regard to its density, but also with regard to the velocity and temperature at which the machinery is to 
be run. For use on large journals and those revolving at moderate speed the oil is reduced to a specific gravity 
of from 29° to 32Jo B., but for use on small journals moving with great velocity, and also in the interior of cylinders, 
where the temperature is very high, a still greater reduction is found necessary, and the oil is made more dense. 
At the same time it is made less volatile, having a specific gravity of from 26° to 29° B. 

A large proportion of the lighter grade oils of West Virginia and Ohio and the entire production of the Smith's 
Ferry district are treated in this manner. The latter oil is very peculiar, having the color of pale sherry, without 
its transparency, and when freshly pumped has a specific gravity of 50° B., with a much less pronounced and 
less disagreeable odor than any other petroleum produced in commercial quantities in the United States. When 
reduced with the aid of steam the distillate of suitable specific gravity for burning oil requires little or no treatment 
with acid or alkali, and the reduced oil from the still preserves its amber color and freedom from offensive odor, 
furnishing a lubricator of very superior quality and attractive appearance. 

Eeduced oils are often filtered through animal charcoal, and are thereby greatly improved in color and odor. 



THE TECHNOLOGY OF PETROLEUM. 159 



Chapter III.— GENEEAL TECHNOLOGY OF PETEOLEUM BY DISTILLATION. 



Section 1.— IKTEODUCTION. 

Oils were first obtained for commercial purposes liy distilling sliales and coal early in the present century, but 
they had been thus produced in small quantities for experiment more than a century before. Gesner, in Coal, 
Petrohtm, and Other Distilled Oils, 1S61, page 8, says : 

As early as 1G94 Eele, Hancock, and Portlock made "pitcli, tar, and oyle out of a kind of stone'', and obtained patents therelbr. 
■* * * In I78I the earl of Dundonald obtained oils from coals by submitting them to dry distillation in coke ovens. » * » Laurent, 
Reichenbach and others distilled the tars obtained from bituminous schists. These tars were purified in some degree by Selligne, and 
the oils subsequently obtained an extensive sale in Europe for burning in lamps and for lubricating machinery. * < » Patents ivere 
"ranted in England iu 1847 to Charles Mansfield for "an improvement in the manufacture and purification of spirituous substances 
and oils applicable to the purposes of artificial light", etc. Mr. Mansfield's operations appear to have been chiefly directed to the coal 
tar of gas works, from which he obtained benzole. He was perhaps the first to introduce the benzole or atmospheric light, which is- 
described at length in his specifications. 

From a letter received from the eminent English geologist, E. W. Biiiney, I extract the following statement 
concerning the origin of the parafline oil industry of Scotland : 

In 1847 Mr. James Young came tome to ask for information as to petroleum, behaving agreed to work some at Biddings, near Alfreton. 
I gave him all the information I possessed. In 1848 I went over with him to Down Holland Moss(o) and showed him the petroleum peat 
there and brought away samples for him. In the same year I went to Eiddings and descended Mr. Oakes' coal-pit and examined the 
petroleum as it came from the roof of the coal-seam. I then distinctly told him that the oil could be made from highly bituminous coal, 
distilled at a low heat in a something similar way as the peat and gas-coal yielded it. In 1850 Mr. Young and I became aware of the 
discovery of a highly bituminous coal at Boghead, in Scotland. We met at the British association, in Edinburgh, at the end of July. I 
went over to Bathgate, descended the pit where it was wrought, brought a sample of it, and showed it to Messrs. Young and Meldrum, 
who said they thought it would not make oil. I said that if they could not make oil from it I could. In a day afterward they asked 
me to join them in a patent to work the invention. Mr. Young was to take out the patent in his name, aud Mr. Jleldrnm and I were t<y 
join him in owning and working it. I accordingly bought land, found money, and piirchased 10,000 tons of Boghead coal. These works 
were carried on under the style or firm of E. \V. Binney & Co. for fifteen years. I drew the specification of the Young's patent and 
invented the name parafiBue oil, which term was quite new. In 1856 I took out an American patent in Mr. Youug's name for the invention, 
and several parties took licenses in the United States to work it there, paying 2 pence per gallon royalty to us, they fetching Boghead 
coal from Scotland at a cost of £4 or £5 per ton when delivered. Breckenridge and some other American coals were also used, I believe* 
As some of these parties refused to pay their royalties, we went to law with them in the states, and their lawyers, having heard that our 
patent had been the subject of a trial in the court of Queen's Bench, wrote to England for the history of Young's patent, which was 
reported in the Journal of Gas Lighting, in a trial at law, Young vs. Hydrocarbon Gas Company, June, 1854. In this trial Mr. Young 
gave in evidence that he obtained parafline oil from petroleum before he resorted to coal to obtain it. That would be about loCO ; and our 
American patent never yielded us another cent of royalty. Oil lamps for burning it having been invented in Europe, all was ready for 
the start of your vast petroleum trade. We always dreaded your native oil coming on us, but we did pretty well before it rushed out, 
and our patent expired in 1864. 

There was no lack of information in this country respecting the properties of petroleum prior to 1S60. 

Professor Silliman, sr., in 1833, wrote: 

I have frequently distilled it in a glass retort, and the naiihtha which collects in the receiver is of a light straw color aud mach 
lighter and more inflammable than petroleum. On the first distillation a little water rests in the receiver at the bottom of the naphtha, 
from which it is easily decanted, and a second distillation prepares it perfectly for preserving potassium and sodium, the object which 
has led me to distill it. (6) 

In a communication made to the Bradford Era of July 4, 1881, some one signing himself " Old Salt Well " 
gives the following story of the first attempt to refine petroleum in northwestern Pennsylvania. Speaking of the 
salt-wells near Tarentum, Armstrong county, Pennsylvania, which, with the springs on Oil creek, at that time 
produced all of the petroleum of that region, he says: 

To my certain knowledge they only produced from three to five barrels per day, and I recollect distinctly there was but one well 
that produced oil only. The wells were pumped, the oil mingling with the salt water. The wells were owned by a gentleman named 
Kier. When the wells first yielded oil it was placed in four-ounce vials and hawked about the country at 25 cents per bottle as Seneca 
or rock oil for medicinal purposes. In the year 1854 a small refinery was built at the corner of Grant street and Seventh avenue, 
Pittsburgh, the point of the old canal outlet into the Mouongahela river and the same locality of the present raQroad tunnel. It was there 
the first carbon oil was refined for illuminating purposes. The still did not have a capacity exceeding five barrels. It occupied a one- 
story building, in size about 12 by 24 feet. In the spring of 1855 I purchased a gallon of the oil, had it placed in a stone jug, and took it 
home for the purpose of illumination. The kind of lamp in which the oil was used was the same as what was then employed for a 
substance called burniug fluid. The lamp had from one to five small tubes, and was made of britanuia or pewter. To trim the lamps 
cotton-wick was drawn into the tubes, perfectly tight, and the wick was cut down closely until it ceased smoking, and then the lami> 
was nearly as perfect as any lamp of the period. Each one of those tubes produced a light equal to about two tallow candles. In the 
year 1876 or 1877 the still that was employed in this immense refinery was displayed at the exposition in Allegheny city, and was labeled 
as the first still ever used to refine petroleum. In its day it supplied the world's demand for that kind of an illumination. The matter 
of where the first oil was produced I believe is not the question. Any of the old salt manufacturers about Tarentum can corroborate 

o On the coast north of the Mersey. I A. J. S. (1), xxiii, 101. 



160 PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 

•■what is here stated, and perhaps furnish many interesting detaOs not contained in this brief article. These Tvells were located 18 miles 
•ifrom Pittsburgh, near the path of the old Pennsylvania canal. Colonel Drake was not the first man to produce petroleum, but he -was 
xertainly the first person who drilled a well for the express purpose of finding oil. The questions of when and by whom the first oil 
•was produced and refined can readily be established by indisputable proof. 

The Mr. Kier mentioned above was Mr. Samuel M. Kier, before mentioned in this report (see page 10), who, with 
his friend Mr. McKuen, carried on the enterprise as described. This statement is corroborated by a large amount of 
evidence from independent sources. It was not a lack of knowledge, but a lack of petroleum, that prevented its 
use by American manufacturers before 1860. Drake sold his oil to McKuen for 75 cents a gallon. 

The editor of the American Journal of Science and Arts in 1861 reviewed Gesner's Goal, Petroleum, and other 
Distilled Oils, and says : 

The author recognizes the intimate relation of the manufacture of coal oils with the production in such increasing abundance of 
petroleum, destined to become a powerful competitor of the artificial product for economic use. It is instructive in this connection to 
recall the fact that the natural product (petroleum), which has been well known from the earliest records of human history, should 
have remained comparatively useless and almost neglected until the modern art of coal-oil distillation has shown its industrial value . 
ii is quite possible that the future historian of the industrial arts may look iaclc on the coal-oil distillation as only an episode in the history of the 
development of the use of petroleum, (a) 

In 1862 Isaiah Warren and his father, being in the lard-oil and candle trade in Wheeling, West Virginia, 
commenced the distillation of West Yirginia petroleum in three 15-barrel stills, and Mr. Warren, sr., was 
apprehensive that they would glut the market, the price of refined oil then ruling at from 85 cents to $1 15 per 
gallon. 

Section 2.— EARLY METHODS. 

The stills in general use at this time were made in three parts, bolted or riveted together, and consisted of a 
cylindrical cast-iron body, to which was attached a boiler-plate bottom and a cast-iron dome and goose-neck. 
'They held about 25 barrels, were heated from the bottom and bricked up upon the sides, and were sometimes 
protected from the direct action of the fire by fire-brick. These stills were charged with crude oil, the charge run 
off, the still cooled, and the coke put out, often with a cold-chisel. When four-fifths of the oil had been run off the 
remainder was, when cold, as thick as pitch ; at this point some refiners introduced steam, which mechanically 
expanded and carried over the last volatile portions of the charge, leaving a compact coke, while others distilled 
to coke without steam. The use of steam at a high pressure in the distillation of Rangoon petroleum and coal had 
been patented in England in 1857 by Mr. Bancroft, of Liverpool; and Mr. Wilson, a manufacturer of stearic acid, 
in 1860 used superheated steam in the distillation of natural petroleums. (6) Steam under moderate pressure was 
also frequently used throughout the entire distillation, both above the charge and injected through it. In 
the latter case it becomes superheated as the boiling point of the oils rises above that of water; it was, 
however, considered preferable with the dense parafBne oils to superheat the steam before it entered the oil. 
Sometimes, after the charge in the retort was partly run off, it was the practice to allow a stream of fresh oil to 
enter the still about as fast as the vapors were condensed. In this way about twice the ordinary charge could be 
distilled and the residue of the whole run down to coke. The light naphthas were first taken off and were used for 
fuel or were allowed to run to waste, there being at that time little or no sale for these products. The distillate 
was then run to illuminating oil until the specific gravity reached 36° B. = 0.843, and the remaining charge 
run down till the distillate became of a greenish color. The illuminating oil was then placed in anViron- or lead- 
lined tank and agitated for one or two hours with oil of vitriol washed, then with water, and afterward treated in the 
same manner with caustic soda solution of a specific gravity of 1.400 and again washed with water. Some refiners 
considered this successive treatment with acid and alkali sufficient ; others subjected the treated oil to a second 
distillation, sometimes over solid caustic soda : but this distillation had to be conducted with great care. Some of 
the earliest and most successful refiners of petroleum on the Atlantic coast were formerly manufacturers of whale 
and sperm oil, and, having been accustomed to expose their animal oils to sunlight under glass roofs in shallow 
tanks, they adopted with uniform success the same method of treatment for the mineral oils. Both the color and 
the odor are improved by this exposure. The heavier naphthas and heavy oils were subjected to redistillation, 
either alone or with more crude petroleum, and all of the distillate of a proper specific gravity for illuminating oil 
was carefully separated. The remaining heavy distillate was treated with acid and alkali and sold as " paraffine 
oil ". It was of a dark color and rank odor, and found its way into use very slowly, not only on account of its 
real inferiority, but on account of violent prejudice against it. 

* Section 3.— DBSTEUGTIVE DISTILLATION. 

The general method of manipulation just given was in very general use until about 1865, when the method of 
cracking or destructive distillation of the heavier oils was generally adopted. A great variety of chemical reagents 
were used in treating the oils. Solid caustic soda was used in the stills. The oils were washed with nitric acid ; 
bichromate of potash was added to the sulphuric acid, and the combined action of sulphuric and chromic acids 

a A. J. S., 1861. h J. F. I., Ixis, 338, 1860; Cosmos, Mar., 1860. 



THE TECHNOLOGY OF PETROLEUM. 161 

■was thus secured ; aud chloride of lime or bleacLing powder in tbe proportion of 3 onnces to one gallon of oil has been 
used with hydrochloric acid, the oil finally being treated with lime water. Whatever reagents are used in treatment, 
it has been found necessary to bring the oil to a uniform temperature above C0° F. In the old form of agitator, 
when the mixture was effected by machincrj-, the injection of steam during agitation has been found beneficial 
both for bringing tlie oil to the required temperature and to facilitate the washing and settling of the acid and 
alkaline solutions. (o) 

In December, 1SC5, James Young, jr., of Limefield, took out a patent in England for an improvement in 
treating hydrocarbon oils that was noticed as follows in the Chemical Keics for August 31, 1866: 

This looks like a very valuable invention. The patentee submits the heavier hydroc.irbon oils to distillation under pressure, and 
linds that thereby the heavier oils originally operated upon are converted into oils of lower specific gravity, possessing a higher commerciiil 
value. The process may be carried on in ordinary steam boilers (nottubular), which should be proved to 100 pounds ; but it is not found 
necessary to operate much beyond a pressure of 20 pounds to the inch. The means of regulating the escape of the vapor, and of condensing 
it, can be easily imagined. The operation may be carried on with the crude products of the original distillation, or the lighter oils m.ay 
first be separated by au ordinary rectification, and only the heavy oils submitted to this treatment. (6) 

At about the time that this invention was patented in England the same results were obtained in the 
United States by an entirely difl'ercnt method of manipulation. This method consisted in a slow and repeated 
distillation, which produced destructive distillation of the medium and heavy oils, converting them into oils of a 
density suitable for illumination with a production of gaseous products and deposition of carbon. In order to 
accomplish this result the brick casing was removed from the stills, and after that portion of the distillate suitable 
for illumination had been separated the fires were slackened and the vapors of the heavy oils as they rose into the 
dome of the still were allowed to condense and drip back upon the hot oil below, which had meanwhile been heated 
to a temperature above the boiling i)oint of the oil dripping upon it. This practically superheats the vapors of the 
oils and produces decomposition. The eflect of distillation under pressure is precisely the same : the oils are 
distilled at a temperature above their normal boiling points. By this method of distillation the petroleum can be 
converted into naphtha, illuminating oil, and voke, with a certain amount of gas either escaping into the atmosphere 
or being burned as it escapes. The illuminating oil may be collected in one receptacle and be made of uniform grade, 
or that portion of the petroleum suitable for jiurposes of illumination can be separated from that produced by 
destructive distillation, thus furnishing two grades of illuminating oil which are quite different in composition and 
quality, the light oils in the crude petroleum being superior to those produced by the decomposition of the heavier 
portions of the oil. This method of distillation had been successfully pursued in treating the distillates from coal 
before the introduction of petroleum, but it was not generally applied to the treatment of petroleum, especially 
in very large stills, until about the time here indicated. Its successful introduction and general adoption 
was, however, the result of an accumulated experience, not only in the distillation, but quite as much in the 
subsequent treatment of the oil with acids and alkalies, especial regard being had to the temperature while 
undergoing treatment. The result of the adoption of this method of manipulating the oil by one distillation was 
the gradual .separation of petroleum refiners, in a general way, into two classes: a small number who continued 
to manufacture a variety of products from petroleum, and a large number who manufactured principally illuminating 
oils. While the division thus made is correct in a general sense, it must not be understood as applying strictly to 
all the parties engaged in manufacturing jietroleum. There are those who reduce petroleum and sell their light 
distillates ; others who reduce petroleum and treat their own distillates ; others who ))roduce nothing but enormous 
quantities of crude naphthas, illuminating oils, and residuum, selling their crude nai)htha to parties who redistill 
ajid fractionate the naphtha into -several products — their illuminating oils to the general trade, and their residuum 
to manufacturers of lubricating oils ; others who refine and fractionate crude naphtha ; others who manufacture 
lubricating oils, using both crude petroleum and I'esiduum for the purpose ; others who manufacture in one 
establishment nearly everything that can be made from petroleum ; and still others who have special processes by 
which peculiar products are obtained. It is unnecessary to describe in detail all of these different methods of 
conducting the business of manufacturing petroleum ; it is sufficient for my purpose to describe carefully what may be 
termed tw o typical establishments, and then to describe a number of processes that are used for special purposes. 

Section 4.— DESCEIPTION OF THE APPAEATUS USED IN MANUFACTUEING PETEOLEUM. 

Before describing the process above mentioned, it will be necessary to describe iu detail the apparatus which 
is in general use ni such establishments. 

Location. — The largest petroleum refineries in the counti-y are at tide- water at Hunter's Point and Newtown 
creek. Long Island ; Bayonne, New Jersey ; Point Breeze, below Philadelphia, and at Thurlow, below Chester, on the 
Delaware ; and near Baltimore, Maryland. At Bayonne, New Jersey, the Standard and Ocean refineries have piers 
1,000 feet in length, with sufficient water to float the largest ships and facilities for loading from 6,000 to 7,000 
barrels of refined oil daily. In western Pennsylvania and Ohio the refineries are usually located upon the side of 
a hill, the storage-tanks for crude oil being placed highest and the oil distributed by gra\'ity so far as is possible. 



a See Cheviical Xetce, vi, 230. b C. N., xiv, 108. 

-11 



162 PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 

Buildings. — The buildings of relineries are in the greatest variety possible. In the older establishments, 
particularly in the Atlantic cities, the works are carefully inclosed with substantial buildings of brick and iron, 
while the other extreme is to be observed in newer establishments, either just going into operation or being rebuilt 
after destructive fires, when scarcely anything about the place except boilers, engine, and pumps is covered, the 
receiving-tanks being underground and the stills without any coveriag at all. The works of the Downer Kerosene 
Oil Company, at South Boston, have always been very carefully inclosed in valuable brick buildings, and no serious 
loss has occurred there for many years. Some of the immense refineries at and around Hunter's Point, Long 
Island, are also fully inclosed; but the works of the Tide-Water Pipe Company at Thurlow, Pennsylvania, on the 
Delaware, only recently constructed, and said to be one of the most complete establishments of the kind, are almost 
as completely exposed'to the elements as those of the smallest and rudest concerns in the oil regions. The boilers 
are placed in one building, the pumps in another, the office in another, all of which are of brick ; but the stills and 
condensers are without any covering whatever. The distillate tanks are all underground; the agitating tank is 
isolated and uncovered; and the sunning and spraying tanks are in buildings made of rough boards, and are of 
little value. The works of the Acme Oil Company, at Titusville, Pennsylvania, built to replace those burned during- 
the census year, appear to be built on a hillside from which fire has removed even the soil, and to be without a 
building or a covering of any descrii^tion. 

Tankage. — The oil is received at the refineries either from pipe-lines or frou^ the tank-cars of transportation 
companies, and in either case it is pumped into vast storage-tanks holding from 10,000 to 36,000 barrels each. The 
tank-cars are provided with gates or valves on the under side, to which hose may be attached, and connections are 
made with a large pipe laid beneath the track, into which the oil rushes as soon as the gates are opened. This pipe 
discharges the oil into a tank, from which it is jiumped to the storage-tanks. In these tanks from one to two per 
cent, of water settles, and from them the oil is pumped into the stills. 

Stills. — A great variety of stills are in use for different purposes, and the greater the variety of products 
produced from the petroleum the greater will be the variety of stills in use as regards both size and form. In some 
establishments the old cast-iron, upright cylindrical still, with wrought-iron bottom, is still in use. To these have 
been added plain, horizontal wrought-iron cylinders of various sizes. One of these, as now quite generally used, is 
represented with the setting in the vertical section in Fig. 37, and a bank of three, as they are usually set, in Fig. 
38. From these sections it will be observed that they are 12 feet 6 inches in diameter and 30 feet in length. The 
vapors rise into a dome 3 feet in diameter, from which they pass to the condenser through a single pipe 15 inches 
in diameter. No more simple form of still could be devised. The so-called cheese-box still, now in great repute, 
is shown with the setting in horizontal and vertical section in Figs. 39 and 40. It is 30 feet in diameter and 9 
feet high, with a dome-shai^ed top, and works 1,200 barrels of crude oil. The bottom has a double curve, to allow 
of expansion; the sides are of flve-sixteenths-inch wrought-iron and the bottom of five-sixteenths-inch steel, 
the whole inclosed in a sheet-iron jacket. The center is supported upon a cylindrical pier of brickwork, through 
which the products of combustion are led to the stack. The circumference is supported upon seventeen arches, in 
sixteen of which are fireplaces, the sides of which converge toward the center and discharge over a bridge-wall 
through four arches into the center of the pier just mentioned. Through the seventeenth arch passes the discharge- 
pipe from the bottom of the still. The vapors escape from this still through three pipes, two of which may be 
closed by cocks, into a sort of chest or drum (Fig. 41), from which 40 pipes 3 inches in diameter pass through to 
the condensing tanks. Steam is introduced into the heated vapors as thej' escape from both the cylindrical and 
cheese-box stills by j)lacing a curved and perforated pii)e of the form shown in Fig. 42 at the point where the vapors 
emerge from the still and enter the exit pipe. The use of steam in this manner is found to improve both the color 
and the odor, especially of "cracked oils". 

Several attempts have been made to produce continuous distillation ; but I cannot learn that anj' of them have 
proved commercially successful, although an apparatus of the kind erected in Bufialo has been put in operation 
and distillates have been produced that were treated and sold. This apparatus was patented by Samuel Van 
Syckle, of Titusville, Pennsylvania, May 22, 1877, No. 191203. It consists of a series of stills, in which the oil 
is maintained at a constant level by means of a tank, in which a float on the surface of the oil as it rises and falls 
automatically controls the flow. The first still is maintained at such a temjjeratute that the naphthas and other 
light products are removed, and in the other two the illuminating oils are removed so eflectually that residuum 
may be drawn off from the last still. I think this apparatus should be more thoroughly tested before its merits are 
finally judged, especially as to how far its value is modified by complexity and expense of manipulation. 

Another apparatus, evidently much more simple in construction than Vau Syckle's, but at the same time not 
calculated for handling the enormous quantities of oil refined in this country, has been patented in Germany by 
Herr Fuhst. (a) 

The deodorized lubricating oils, of which Mr. Joshua Merrill, of the Downer Kerosene Oil Companj-, was the 
inventor, have been prepared by him in a still of peculiar construction, especially adapted to the treatment of 
petroleum and kindred substances. An accident suggested the preparation of these oils to Mr. Merrill. In 

a Diugler, covii, 293. 



THE TECHNOLOGY OF PETROLEUM. 163 

November, 1867, the condenser to a still, in wbicb a quantity of oil too heavj- lor illumination and too light for 
lubrication was being fractionated, became obstructed from some accidental cause, and the pressure became so 
great that the leakage caused the fires to be drawn and the whole thing to cool down. The still was started with 
900 gallons, from which 250 gallons was found to be removed bj" the jiartial distillation. On removing the remaining 
oil, Mr. Merrill was surprised to find it diflerent from any petroleum product he had ever seen before. " It had a 
bright yellow color, was clear, very nearly odorless, neutral, and dense. Further experiment showed this result 
to have been 'obtained bj- the removal of all the light odorous hydrocarbons without decompo.siug either the 
distillate or the oils remaining in the still ; and that this had been accomplished by the moderate fire employed, 
and its gradual withdrawal.'' (a) 

This mode of operatiug was immediately applied to other distillations, and in order to accomplish the result 
most effectually Mr. Merrill invented a method of superheating steam within the body of the oil itself. Within 
a still of moderate size, holding perhaps 1,000 gallons, he placed a steam coil, which terminated upon the exterior 
of the dome of the still. After attaching a valve, the steam-pipe is returned into the still and a perforated coil of 
pipe connected with it, which lies flat upon the bottom. The still is heated by direct heat, and as the temperature 
rises the steam, as it passes through the first coil, is heated and is distributed through the entire mass of oil as it 
escapes from the perforations in the second coil. The steam is regarded by Mr. Merrill as an important adjunct in 
this method of fractional distillation, as it acts mechanically by carrying forward the vapors into the condenser, 
and also prevents the overheating and " cracking" of either the oils or the vapors. 

When the destructive distillation of i)etroleum commenced on a large scale, the slow distillation necessary to 
effect this decomposition led to an increase in the size of the stills until the enormous capacity of 2,000 barrels, or 
80,000 gallons, was reached. These immense stills were built without coveiing, were freely exposed upon their sides 
and tops to the elements, and were heated by numerous fires, placed at ecjual distances from each other upon the 
circumference of the still, after the manner of the setting of the cheese-box still. These excessively large stills are 
not now being used. Refineries lately put in operation are equipped with stills holding about 1,200 barrels each. 

Vacuum stills have been used to some extent, and have been employed especially in the United States by the 
Vacuum Oil Company, of Eochester, New York, in the preparation of the peculiar products of their manufacture. 
Of course the evaporation in these stills takes place rapidly and at the lowest temperature possible, insuring a 
fractional distillation, not a decomposition, of the oils. 

Condensers. — Large copper worms, similar to those used in distilleries, were at first used for petroleum stills. 
These were soon replaced by ordinary iron piping coiled in a cistern or tank of water, and still later very long, straight 
pipes were used with advantage inthe use of water for cooling. Refineries latelj'built are provided with condensers 
of moderate length, 50 by 20 by 8 feet, in which there are numerous separate pipes, which receive the vapors at one 
end and discharge the condensed oil at the other. A condenser thus constructed may consist of forty separate 
3-inch pipes, each 45 feet in length, giving an aggregate length of 1,800 feet, the oil and vapors, instead of all 
traversing the entire length of 1,800 feet, being divided into small jiortions, each of which is made to traverse the 15 
feet, and is condensed. The ratio of exposed surface to cubical content is very much increased by this arrangement 
over a shorter pipe of larger diameter. 

A very convenient arrangement for dividing distillates is shown in the section in Fig. 43. In this section a is 
the 2-inch pipe leading from the condenser, 6 is a pipe for uncondensed gases leading to the boiler furnace, c is the 
trap for holding back the gas, d is a wrought-iron box with a glass front i i, through which the flow of oil from the 
condenser can be observed. The glass front is on hinges, andean be opened for sampling the oils. From this box 
the oil passes into the pipes below, and is directed into one of the openings g, through which it enters the jiipe h /;, 
leading to the storage-tanks for distillate; e e are three-way cocks, and// ordinary stop-cocks, by which the oil is 
directed to one of the six orifices g. By this arrangement, by simply opening or closing the cocks, the distillate can 
be directed to any one of six receptacles and be divided into as many different portions. 

Agitators. — The agitators used at first were small tanks lined with lead, in which various mechanical 
contrivances were used to efl'ect the thorough mixing of the oil with the chemicals. These lead-lined tanks were 
replaced by wrought-iron ones, and finally the method of agitating by mechanical means has been entirely 
superseded by agitation by means of injected air. The agitators in use in refineries lately constructed are high 
wrought-iron tanks of comparatively small diameter, holding several hundred barrels of oil, in which the inost 
mmjilete agitation is produced by a current of air injected by a blowing apparatus. 

Pumps. — The pumps used in refineries are many of them very jiowerful. Those used for pumping oil and water 
are of the Worthiugton or the Drake jjattern, and consist of an engine and a pump combined. Some of these pumps 
are large enough to handle 2,500 barrels of crude oil an hour, but the majority are smaller. In addition, there are 
in use small blast-engines or air-pumps to force air into the agitators and into the acid-tanks. The latter are 
small lead-lined tanks, into which the acid is emptied from carboys or tank-cars. The acid is measured into the 
agitators by forcing it from the tank into the agitator under pressure of injected air. 

Packing. — Manufactured oils of all kinds are distributed to wholesale houses all over the country in tank-cars, 
but for the jobbing and retail trade they are packed in barrels and in tin cans. The barrels used at present hold from 

o S. D. Hayes, Am. Cliem., ii, 401 ; C. Cbl., 1871, 783; W. B., 1871. 



164 PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 

48 to 50 gallons, and manufactured oils are estimated at 50 gallons to the barrel. Tlie tiu cans contain 5 gallons eacL, 
and are packed in wooden cases, each of which liolds two cans. In the larger establishments the packages are filled 
by weight, as the bulk of the oil vai'ies with the temperature and specific gravity of the oil, as maj^ be seen at a 
glance at the table accompanying this report (see page H2). The filling of the 5-gallon cans is carried on at a 
square, revolving table. Ten cans are closely ranged along one side of this table and brought beneath ten funnels, 
which deliver oil to the cans until their weight stops off the oil by tipping a balance and closing a stop-cock. The 
ten cans are then swung out by giving the table a quarter revolution. While these cans were being' filled another 
ten cans were placed upon the adjoining side of the table, and when the first were swung from under the funnels 
the second were brought into their places. While the second ten cans are being filled a third set are being i)laced 
upon a third side of the table, and a nozzle, with a cap that screws on and off, is placed in position for soldering 
over the orifice through which the first ten cans were filled. The table is again swung, the third set of cans are 
brought into position, and are then filled ; the second set are supplied with nozzles, while the nozzles of the first 
set are soldered on and the fourth side is supplied with ten cans. Another swing of the table, and the fourth set 
are filled, the third supi^lied with nozzles, the second soldered, and the first removed, and a fifth set is put in their 
places. Several thousand cans can be filled in this manner at one of these tables in a single day. 

Section 5.— DESCRIPTION OF AN ESTABLISHMENT IN WHICH THE PEODUCTS AEE GENERAL. 

The i>lant consists of storage-tanks for crude material; stills, heated by fire, steam, and superheated steam; 
agitators; chilling-house for parafSne ; boilers, engines, pumps; a laboratory; cooper and tin shop. The crude oil is 
delivered in pipes or tank-cars to the general storage-tanks and allowed to settle. Prom one to two per cent, of water 
separates, [a.) About 300 barrels (12,000 to 13,000 gallons) of this oil are placed in a still and "live steam", i. e., 
at 212° P., is admitted, and the distillation carried on until the distillate marks 60° B. With crude petroleum of 45° 
B. the amount of this distillate will be from 12 to 15 per cent., divided as follows: 

A. 

Per cent. 

1. " Crude gasoline", to 80°, about '. 4 

2. "C" uaphtha, 80° to 68°, about • 10 

3. "B" naphtha, 68° to 64°, about 2 to 2^ 

4. "A" naphtha, 64° to 60°, about 2 to 21 

1 is redistilled by dry heat, and yields from 90° to 83° gasoline, which is not treated ; 83° to 80° is returned to 
crude gasoline. 

2 is treated with 4 ounces of oil of vitriol to the gallon and washed with caustic soda, all cold, and then redistilled 
by steam from an alkali solution. Its average specific gravity is 70°, and it is known in the trade as benzine- 
naphtha. 

3 and 4 are also treated with acid and caustic soda. The average specific gravity of 3 is 65° to 66°, and of 4 
62°. 

There remains in the still from 88 to 85 per cent, below 60°. This is transferred to cylindrical cast-iion stills 
with meniscus-shaped wrought-iron bottoms and distilled by direct heat, with 2 per cent, of soda solution of 14°. 
The distillate is thus divided : 

B. 

Per cent. 

1. Crude burning oil, from 58° to 40°, about 50 

2. "B" oil, from 40° to 36°, about 20 

3. From 36° downward, about - 25 

4. Cokings or residuum 3 

5. Loss 2 

100 

1 is treated with 4 ounces of oil of vitriol to the gallon and is agitated for half an hour. It is then drawn off 
from the tarry residue, and after being washed with water is again agitated for an hour with 2 per cent, of alkali 
solution, and is then drawn off and next day washed with a large amount of water, pumped into a fire-still upon a 
solution of soda equal to 4 per cent, of 14°, and distilled as long as the color is good, the amount usually being 
about 80 per cent. This distillate is the equivalent of "Downer's standard kerosene", and has a specific gravity of 
45° and a fire-test of 125° P. The remaining 20 per cent, is run above 36° to crude burning oil (B 1), and below 
36° to "finished machinery oil" C, to chill and press for parafBne. 

2. "B" oil is distilled like 1 on soda lye. Of the distillate, above 36° goes to crude I; below 36° to the 
machinery oil C, to chill and press for paraf&ne. 



a As high as 13 per cent, of water has been obtained from residuum exported to England. It is not a legitimate mixture. C. N., 
XXX, 57. 



THE TECHNOLOGY OF PETROLEUM. 165 

3 goes to crude lubricating oil, aud is treated with 4 ouuces of acid to the gallon upon water at 212° F. for oac 
hour, and is then distilled from a 2 per cent, solution of soda lye. Of this distillate above 40° goes to crude B 1, 
fioui 40° to 36° to B 2, from 36° downward, as long as the color is good, to machinery oil C, to chill and press for 
paraffine. 

4 goes to coking-tanks. 

C— MACniNERY OIL, 30^ AXD DOWNWARD. 

This oil is twice distilled and chilled in bairels packed in an ice-house for a week with ice aud salt at 26° F. 
The crystalline magma is pressed in an hydraulic press and yields : 

1. Crude scale parafBne (E). 

2. Pressed lubricating oil of a specific gravity of 32°, which is partly sold as ''spindle oil". 

3. The portion not sold as spindle oil is placed in a still provided with coils for distilling with steam superheated 
within the oil itself. This still is heated with direct heat until the temperature bas reached 250° or 300° F. Steam 
is then passed into a coil, which is immersed in the body of the oil, and is then allowed to escape into the oil 
through another coil, which is perforated, thus distributing the steam throughout the oil at the same temperature as 
the oil itself. Twenty to 30 per cent, of the lighter products, with all those having an offensive odor, ranging in 
specific gravity from 50° to 32°, are lifted from the still by the steam. Of this distillate, that between 50° and 40° 
goes to B 1, that between 40° and 32° to "criufe uiiueral sperm" (D), and the oil left in the still is equivalent to 
"Merrill's deodorized neutral hydrocarbon oil", with a specific gravity of 29°. To remove fluorescence chromic acid 
is used instead of oil of vitriol. 

D.— MINERAL SPERM ILLUMINATING OIL. 

This is the trade-mark of a dense oil of 36° specific gravity, deprived of offensive odor, and adapted especially 
for light-house and locomotive lights. Any crude distillate from 40° to 32° is first treated with 4 ounces of oil of 
vitriol to the gallon, then washed with a solution of caustic soda, and distilled by direct heat over soda lye. It 
has a fire-test of 300° F. and but little odor, with a density of 40° to 34°, averaging 36°. Below 34° goes to 
machinery oil (O), to chill and press for paraffiue. 

E.— CRUDE-SCALE PARAFFINE. 

The pressed scale equals three-quarters of a i)ound per gallon of the crude 32° machinery oil from the chilled 
mass described in C. To refine this the crude scale is melted in an open tank by live steam, blown in, with 1 per 
cent, of caustic soda lye, from which it is carefuUj- drawn aud then well mixed with 25 per cent, of " C " naphtha 
and put aside for three or four days in .shallow metallic pans in a cold place. It is then again cut, bagged, and 
pressed. 

No. 1 paraftine stock is remelted in "C" naphtha on alkaline lye, crystallized and pressed three successive 
times, and yields large crystals of parafline, melting at 130° F. 

No. 2 paraffiue stock is treated in the same way, furnishing a product of less value in smaller crystals, melting 
at about 110° F., and is largely used by chewing-gum manufacturers. The oils expressed go to crude "C" naphtha 

F.— COKINGS, SPECIFIC GRAVITY 28°. 

These are i edistilled over a 2 per cent, alkali solution, and ftirnish — 

20 per cent, above 40° goes to B 1. 

15 per cent. 40° to 36°, goes to B 2. 

50 per cent. 36° and downward, as long as the color is good, goes to C. 

10 per cent, cokings. 

5 per cent. Joss. 

G.— SLUDGE (RESIDUES FROM WASHINGS). 

The waste "acid sludge", 48° to 50°, is permitted to stand two days, and the oil rising upon it is drawn ofF 
("sludge acid oil") aud the acid disposed of. The sludge oil is then washed with the waste alkali and redistilled 
separately without fractions, yielding 80 per cent, of oil ; coke and loss, 20 per cent. The coke is used as fuel, and 
the oil redistilled on alkftli and fractioned as crude oil below 60°. 

H.— AVERAGE PERCENTAGE OF COMMERCIAL PRODUCTS OBTAINED FROM CRUDE PETROLEUM OF 45^ FROM NEW 

YORK, PENNSYLVANIA, OHIO, OR WEST VIRGINIA. 

Tf-u cent. 

Gasoline LO to 1.5 

"C" naphtha 10.0 to 10.0 

"B" naphtha 'i.o to '2.5 

"A" naphtha 2.0 to 2.5 

16.5 

Illaminating oil 50. to 54. 

Lnhricating oil 17.5 

Paraffine wax := 4^ pounds per barrel 2. 

Loss 10.0 

100.0 



166 PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 

The oils prepared by this process are all of the highest degree of excellence, and have commanded the confidence 
of consumers both in the United States and in all other civilized countries to a remarkable degree. There are 
two essential i^articulars in this process as a whole to which I desire to call attention. All destructive distillation 
is avoided so far as is possible, and great care is taken to render the different products pure as regards each other, 
and also as regards the effects of treatment. The products are essentially paraffine products, using that word in a 
generic sense to designate not only the paraffine wax, but the whole series of compounds to which it is related, from 
marsh-gas upward. The finishing of the burning oil by distillation over caustic soda is claimed, and I believe 
justly, to remove all of the substitution compounds of sulphuric acid that are only completely removed oven by 
solution of caustic alkali when the oil is heated to a temperature above the boiling point of water, (a) 

Section 6.— DBSCEIPTION OF A MANUFACTOEY WHERE NAPHTHAS, ILLUMHSTATING OILS, AND 

EBSIDUUM ARE PRODUCED. 

The following description is given after an inspection of one of the most complete establishments in the country, 
lately constructed and furnished throughout with an equipment of the most improved apparatus : 

The oil is received in tank-cars, and an entire train is discharged at once into a 12-inch pipe, which runs the 
length of the siding between the rails and beneath the sleepers, connection being made with cocks underneath the 
car-tanks by union joints and hose. This 12-inch pipe discharges into a tank, from which the oil is pumped by a 
Drake steam-pump, handling 2,500 barrels an hour, which throws the oil either to the stills or to the storage-tanks, 
of which latter there are four, holding 35,000 barrels each. The capacity of this pump is not required for the storing 
of oil, but for the filling of the stills, of which there are nine, holding 1,200 barrels each. Three of these stills are 
cheese-box stills, and six are plain cylinder stills, 30 feet by 12 feet 6 inches, the former being set in one group, and 
the latter on a bench, side by side, like a bench of boilers. These stills are all covered with sheet-iron jackets, but 
are not otherwise protected or covered in any manner. The condensers are made in the manner described on page 
163, with a large number of separate strands of pipe, which are immersed in a tank 50 by 20 by 8 feet. These strands 
enter a connecting pipe which emerges from the tank and enters a small building, where the discharge pipes from 
the nine stills are brought together side by side. Each discharge pipe terminates in a U-shaped gas-trap, and 
enters an iron box with a glass front, through which the flow of the oil from the pipe may be observed. The 
arrangement of the traps and the form of the boxes are shown in section in Fig. 43. The gas-pipes from the 
nine traps all connect with furnaces beneath the steam-boilers, where the gas, mixed with air, is burned after the 
manner of a Bunsen burner. The division of the distillates is effected by means of an arrangement of pipes and 
cocks shown in section in Fig. 43. Each of the nine boxes d (Fig. 43) discharge through this set of pipes, by which 
the distillate may be divided into six different qualities. These six different pipes connect under ground with the 
distillate tanks, which they enter at the bottom, and are sealed by the contents of the tanks. These nine sets of 
boxes and pipes are placed in a small building, lighted at night by an electric light, placed upon a pole at some 
distance off on the outside. The petroleum is put into the stills, and the crude naphtha is run off. Then that portion 
of the petroleum is run off' which is necessary to prepare the distillate for " high-test" oils having a fire test of from 
120° to 150°, as may be required, and these latter oils having been run off, the residue in the still is in a condition 
for "cracking". The fires are then slacked, and the distillation is run more slowly, a large amount of permanent 
gases being disengaged and burned under the boilers. Until the process of cracking is commenced the amount of 
gas disengaged is inconsiderable, so small in amount as to be scarcely worth the trouble of burning ; but after 
cracking commences the gas generated is nearly sufficient to supply the fuel necessary for the boilers. The 
distillates are pumped into the agitating tank, which stands by itself, supported on a massive base of timber. It 
is about 40 feet in height and 12 feet in diameter. Twelve hundred barrels of distillate and 6,600 pounds of oil of 
vitriol are placed in this tank. The carboys of oil of vitriol are emptied iuto an air-tight, lead-lined tank, which 
is closed, and air is forced into it until a sufficient quantity of acid has been driven by the pressure into the agitator. 
The agitation is then carried on by forcing air into the agitator under a pressure of from 5 to 7 pounds. The acid 
being drawn off, the oil is thoroughly washed with water, then with a solution of caustic soda, and lastly with water 
containing caustic ammonia, the treatment with ammonia being supposed to complete the removal of the compounds 
of sulphuric acid. The oil is discharged from the agitator into settling and bleaching tanks, 40 by 5 feet, having a 
capacity of about 1,200 barrels each, through a perforated pijie standing perpendicularly in the center. Bj^ this 
process, which is called "spraying", the oils, ijarticularly those that have been cracked, are brought up to "test" 
by the evaporation of the small percentage of very volatile oils that are combustible at a low temxierature. These 
huge tanks are exposed beneath sky-lights, where the color of the oil is improved by the sunning, every particle 
of water or sediment settling at the bottom. From them the oil is pumped to storage-tanks in the barreling and 
canning house, where it is barreled in glued barrels or filled. into 6-gallon cans, two of whicli are packed in a woodeu 
case for shipment. From the packing-house the barrel-s and cases are put on board ships that lie at the adjoining 



a I have drawn largely for this description upon Dr. J. Lawrence Smith in his report on iietroleum to tlie Philadelphia Centennial 
ExMhition. Rep. Judges of Group III. 



THE TECHNOLOGY OF PETROLEUM. 167 

piers. This is the simplest process for mauufacturing petroleum, consisting only of a single distillation ; and the 
methods employed in the different manutiictories throughout the country are either substantially that just described, 
or a combination with more or less of the processes described in the preceding section, or one or more of the special 
methods to be described in the section which follows. 

Section 7.— MISCELLANEOUS PROCESSES. 

Eefining crude naphtha. — There are several firms whose business consists mainly in refining crude 
naphtha, the larger portion of it being divided into gasoline and C, B, and A naphthas. In 1SG6 Dr. Henry J. 
Bigelow, of Boston, requested Mr. Joshua IMerrill, of the Downer Kerosene Oil Company, to prepare tlie most 
volatile fluid possible to be obtained from petroleum. Mr. Merrill redistilled gasoline by steam heat, and condensed 
the iiortions that came over first with a mixture of ice and salt, obtaining 10 per cent, of the gasoline, equal to 
one-tenth of 1 per cent, of the original petroleum, in the lightest of all known fluids, having a specific gravity of 
0.C25 and a boiling point of 65° F. This fluid was named rhigolene by Dr. Digelow. Its evaporation at ordinary 
temperatures is so rapid that a temperature of 19° F. below zero has been obtained by its use. Five or six 
hundred gallons have been prepared by the Downer company for use in surgical operations, but none was prepared 
by them during the census year. 

A siinilar material, called cymogen, has been prepared in a similar manner by other manufacturers, and has 
been used as the volatile fluid in ice-machines. 

The distillate separated as gasoline ranges in specific gravity from 90° to 80° B., and is used for the gas-machines 
that carburet air. 

" C " naphtha includes the distillate between 80° and 08° B., and is used for varnishes, sponge lamps, paint, and 
naphtha street lamps. It is sold under the name of " benzine". 

"B" naphtha includes the distillate between 08° and 04° B., and is also used for varnishes and paints. 

"A" naphtha includes the distillate between Gi° and 00°, and is used in the manufacture of floor-cloths and 
parent leather. Below (KP goes to illuminating oil. 

Each of the different grades of naphtha is deprived wholly or in part of its disagreeable odor by being filtered 
through beds of gravel and wood or animal (-hareoal. 

" Mineral sperm." — This is an illuminating oil prepared originally by Mr. Joshua Merrill, of the Downer 
Kerosene Oil Company, and now chiefly manufactured by that company, and is obtained by partially cracking 
paraffine oils and fractionating the lighter from the heavier products in MeiTill's double-coil still or some similar 
contrivance. It has a fire test of 300° F. and ui)ward, is an illuminating agent of great power, and is as safe 
from ordinary combustion as sperui oil. This oil is used in mauufacturing establishments and on ocean steamers, 
and is a very suitable material with which to light steamers and cars designed for the conveyance of passengers. 
The amount produced during the census year was 16,544: barrels. 

Neutral lubricating oils. — These oils were also discovered by Mr. Merrill, as before described, and their 
superior quality soon led to their imitatiou and manufacture by other parties, although that gentleman protected 
his discoveries and invention by patent. Since the Downer company commenced the manufacture of these oils 
the general character of all of the mineral lubricating oils in the market has been greatly improved. The paraffine 
oils manufactui-ed prior to this discovery were dark in color and rank iu odor, but Mr. Merrill produced oils odorless 
and tasteless. Five per cent, of sperm oil mixed with 95 percent, of Merrill's neutral oil could not be detected by 
either the odor or taste from pure sperm oil. An inspection of the tables representing the articles manufactured 
from petroleum during the census year will show that 79,405 barrels of paraffine oil are reported, all of which was 
greatly superior to the pai-affine oil of 1805 ; of deodorized lubricating oils there were manufactured 70,415 barrels. 
These really superb oils are now being introduced into many manufactories by order of the insurance companies. 
The value of having a deodorized lubricating oil can be fully realized when it is stated that experiments have 
shown tliat when a heavy hydrocarbon containing so little as 1 or .2 per cent, of light oiiensive oil is employed in a 
warm apartment as a lubricator of machinery the entire atmosphere of the apartment will be impregnated by the 
pungent and disagreeable odors of these volatile products. Before the employment of these odorless oils this was 
a great inconvenience iu factories, (a) 

Mr. Merrill prepares lubricating oils by subjecting an ordinary i)araffine distillate, from which the paraffine has 
been removed by chilling and pressing, to fractional distillation iu his double-coiled still, but oils may be prepared 
that are similar, though not fully equal, to his iu an ordinaiy still, provided care is taken not to crack them. 

Filtered oils.— A very superior quality of lubricating oil is i)repared by reducing jtetroleum and filtering 
the reduced residue through beds of animal charcoal. The oil is reduced to the proper degree of volatility and 
specific gravity and then filtered. These oils sustain a very high reputation, but i^reciselj' what relation they 
bear iii quality to the neutral oils obtained by distillation and treatment I cannot state. 

a Loc. cit. Kep. of Judges of Group III, ji. 153. 



168 PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 

Vacuum oils and residues. — Vacuum oils are also prepared iu stills for a great variety of purposes. 
Those most dense and with highest boiling points are prepared for oiling the interior of steam cylinders; those 
less dense for journals; and a less dense oil is used extensively for oiling harness and harness leather. Very 
dense residues prepared in vacuum stills are filtered while hot and very fluid through beds of animal charcoal, 
the resulting product being an amber-colored material of the consistence of butter and nearly destitute of odor. 
These residues are largely used as unguents under the name of cosmoline, vaseline, petroliiia, etc. The details of 
their manufacture are difficult to obtain, for the reason that the manufacturers are engaged in suits involving 
patent rights to jieculiar processes of manufacture and peculiar apparatus for efl'ecting the filtration, which 
necessarily must be carried on at a sufftciently high temperature to insure complete fluidity of the material. These 
preparations will be further noticed under the chapter devoted to petroleum iu medicine. 

It is believed that but few, if any, general methods of any importance pursued in the manufacture of petroleum 
have been omitted in this chapter. It is a subject, however, embracing multitudinous details and carried on under 
conditions of great diversity, incident to the location of the business and the peculiar character of the crude oil 
used or the products which the manufacturer wishes to prepare. 



Chaptee IV.— PAEAFEINB. 



Section 1.— HISTORY. 
Wagner's JBerichte for 1869, in an historical notice upon parafftne, says : 

The Aerztliche Intelligenzhlait, of Munich, cont.ains the following notice : "The opinion universally held that the chemist Karl Freiherr 
von Reichenbach, who died in his eighty-first year, of old age, at Leipzig, January 19, 1869, was the first to investigate the paraffines, 
deserves the following corrections or amendments. In 1809 these bodies were observed by John Nep. Fuchs in Landshut in the petroleum 
of Tegernsee, and in 1819 Andrew Buchner, sr., produced them in a pure state from the oils. Buchner describes their peculiarities 
under the name of 'mountain' fats, whose identity with paraflSne was established later (1835) by v. Kobell beyond doubt. Unqualified 
merit, however, belongs to Reichenbach as having first discovered paraffine in the products of the dry distillation of wood and other 
organic bodies." Reichenbach remains the discoverer of ijarafliue notwithstanding the fact that, beside Fuchs and Buchner, Saussure 
and Mitscherlich investigated a fatty body found in certain petroleums and tars which after the discovery of parafflue jiroved to be 
identical with this body. In all of these conditions the discourse was upon paraffine as an educi, and not as a produol. Technoiogy 
distinguishes the former from the latter through the name of Belmontin. He who first considered fossil paraiiSue can upon no condition 
lay claim to the honor of the discovery. In Moldau and in Galicia fossil paraffine has been used for centuries in making candles, as also on 
the Caspian sea and in the Caucasus. («) 

It appears from this statement, which is in accord with numerous authorities, that fossil parafiine has been 
known in Europe from time immemorial, and also that paraffine, as a recognized constituent of certain bodies of 
organic origin, was discovered bj' Eeicheubach iu 1830, (h) and named by him from paruvi. and affinitas, indicating 
that parafiine is destitute of chemical afiinity ; in other words, that it is neutral, having neither acid nor alkaline 
properties. In the following year Christison, of Edinburgh, made known his discovery of paraffine in the petroleum 
of Eangoon. (c) He at first called it petroline, but after learning of Eeichenbach's discovery he admitted its 
identity with paraffine. In 1834, Gregory published an article on paraffine and eupion and tlieir occurrence in 
petroleum, iu which he says : 

It follows that there are some kinds of naphtha (petroleum) which contain paraffine and eiipion, and are consequently tbe results of 
destruetive distillation, {d) 

In 1835, Kobell independently mentions paraffine as a constituent of petroleum, (e) In 1833, Laurent showed 
that oil distilled from shale in the environs of Autun contained paraffine. (/) 

Although Eeicheubach distilled coal in considerable quantities, and had at his disposal the resources of the 
immense establishmeut of " mines, iron furnaces, machine-shops and chemical works, etc.," on the estate of Count 
Salm at Blansko, Moravia, of which he was superintendent, he cannot be said to have produced paraffine on a 
commercially successful basis. This work was performed by Selligue, whose inventions formed the foundation 
upon which the technology of coal-oil and petroleum has been built. The following digest of the labors of Selligue 
is taken from the review of Dr. Antisell's work on photogenic or hydrocarbon oils by Professor F. H. Storer : {g) 

In 1834 we find for the first time an arlicle describing the process of Si'Uigue, (/i) although it would appear from the statements of 
this chemist and of others that his attention had been directed to the subject of distilling bituminous shales several years earlier. 

o W. B., XV, 709, 1869. e Jour. f. Prak. Chem., v, 213. 

h Jour, fiir Chem. u. Phys. von Schweigger-Seidel, 1830, hx, 436. / Ann. de Chim. et de Phys., liv, 392. 

c Trans. Roy. Soc. of Edinburgh, xiii, 118; Repertory of Patent g Am. J. S., xxx, 1860. 

Inventions, 1835 (N. S ), iii, 300. h Journal des Connaissances Usuelles, Dec, 1834, p. 285; Dingier, 
d Ibid., xiii, 124; Itid. (N. S.), iv, 109. Ivi, 40. 



THE TECHNOLOGY OF PETROLEUM. 169 

* * * In 1834, '35, antl "36 Selligue was priucipally occupit-d with h'm process for making waler-gas. (a) * * * lu tlie followiug 
year -we again find Selligue before the academy, requesting that body to appoint a committee to examine the merits of his new system of 
gas-lighting ; his process of distilling bituminous shales on the great scale by means of apparatus, each one of which furnishes from 1,000 
to 1,400 pounds of crude oil per day^this being about 10 per cent, of the weight of the shale employed, and being almost all that exists 
in the raw material ; also of his process of separating various products from the crude oil, some of which are applicable to the production 
of gas, others to ordinary purposes of illumination, and others to different uses in the arts, (b) This petition was referred to a committee 
of three, Th^nard, D'Arcet, and Dumas, who reported in 1840. (c) • » • i„ ig:}^ Selligue obtained a new patent "for the employment 
of mineral oils for lighting", (rf) which, it should be observed, claims only to be an improvement upon th.at of Blum and Mouense. • » » 

On the 27th of March, 1839, Selligue specifies certain additions and improvements to the preceding patent. In alluding to the u.se 
of his oils in the treatment of cutaneous diseases he speaks of the three large establishments for the distillation of bituminous shale which 
he has erected in the department of Sadui- et Loire, and mentions the fact that the oil (crude) is furnished at the rate of about 2 cents (10 
centimes) per pound, (e) • » » The clearest of all Selligue's specifications, however, is that of the patent granted him March 19, 1845, 
for the distillation of bituminous shales and sandstones. (/) After describing the various forms of apparatus used in distilliu", into one 
of which superheated steam was introduced, he enumerates the products of distillation as follows: 1. A white, almost odorless, very limpid 
mineral oil, somewhat soluble in alcohol, which may be used as a solvent, or for purposes of illumination in suitable lamps. II. A sparingly 
volatile mineral oil of specific gravity 0.84 to 0.87, of a light lemon color, perfectly limpid, almost odorless, never becoming rancid, and 
susceptible of being burned in ordinary lamps, of constant level (^ rfeervoir supferieur), with double current of air, a slight modification 
of the form of the chimney and burner being alone necessary. This oil can aho be mixed with the animal or vegetable oils. Oils thus 
prepared do not readily become rancid, nor do they congeal easily when subjected to cold. III. A fat mineral oil, liquid at the same 
temperature as olive oil. This oil contains a little paraffine; it is peculiarly adapted for lubricatiDg machinery, and has an advantage 
over olive and other vegetable oils, or neat's-foot oil, in that it preserves its uuctuosity when in contact with metals and does not dry up. 
It saponifies easily, and forms several compounds with ammonia. IV. From the oils I, II, and III I extract a red coloring matter which 
can be used in various arts. V. White crystalline paraftine, which needs but little treatment in order to be fit for making caudles. This 
substance does not occur in very large proportion in the crude oil, and the proportion varies according to the dift'erent mineral substances 
upon which I operate. There is but little of it in petroleum and in the oil obtained from bituminous limestone. I often leave a great 
part of the paraffine in the fat oil and in the grease, in order that these may be of superior qualitj-. VI. Grease. This grease is superior 
to that of animals for lubricating machinery and for many other purposes, since it does not become rancid, and remains unctuous when 
iu contact with metals. VII. Perfectly black pitch — very "drying" — suitable for preserving wood, metals, etc. VIII. An alkaline soap 
obtained by treating the oils with alkalies. IX. Sulphate of ammonia. X. Manure prexjared by mixing the ammoniacal liquor or the 
blood of animals with the crushed fixed residue (coke) of the shale. XI. Sulphate of alumina from the residue of the shale. In describing 
the methods of purification proposed by Selligue we shall make no attempt to follow their various details, our limited space compelling 
us to content ourselves with only the broadest generalities. Selligue sets forth at length two methods: 

1st. A cold treatment, which consists in agitating the oils with sulphuric, muriatic, or nitric acid. This agitation should be thorough, 
he says, and should be continued for a longer or shorter time, according to the nature and quantity of the matter treated. Here follows a 
description of his agitators. After several hours repose the oil may be decanted, except from muriatic acid, in which case more time and 
a larger amount of acid is required. After the oil has been thus separated from the deposit of tar, the acid remaining in \t must he 
neutralized by means of an alkali. "I prefer," says Selligue, "to employ the lye of soap-boilers marking 36° to 38°, since it is easy of 
application and produces a sure effect. I thus }irecipitate together the coloring matter and the tar, which would otherwise have remained iu 
the oil. The oil is then decanted ; if it is the first distillation of the crude oil, I do not allow the mixture to subside entirely, preferring to 
leave a portion of the alkali mixed with the oil and to distill off only three-fourths of the latter. ♦ » » When the soda lye — iu quantity 
slightly greater than is necessary to neutralize the acid — is added, the licjuid must be agitated violently, in order that each particle of the 
oil may be brought in contact with the alkali ; .and this agitation must be continued until the color of the oil undergoes change. The oil 
becomes less odorous and less highly colored after each such ' cold treatment'. After having been allowed to separate from the lye, the 
oil is decanted off; if it has not lost much of its color the process has been badly conducted. It must be stated that the oil must not he 
agitated several times with the alkali, for by so doing the dark color of the oil would be restored. " * * As for the residues of the 
soda treatment", continues Selligue, "they should be allowed to stand at rest during some days beneath a portion of oil, which will 
protect them from contact with the air. The clear lye at the bottom being then drawn off may be used for other operations, while the 
remainder is a soap containing excess of alkali. By adding to it a little grease a soap can be made, or by adding water grease may be 
separated. This grease is similar to that used for wagons." 

2d. A warm treatment that follows the cold, and consists of a series of fractional distillations — special operations for the purification 
of the "light stuff's" being resorted to. For the details of these we must refer to the original sj^ecificatiou of Selligue — a truly classical 
document — which should be read by every one interested in the manufacture of coal-oils (or petroleum). (</) * * * As for paraflBue, 
Selligue olitained it by subjecting the oil to a low temperature, in order that this substance might crystallize. The mixed oil and paraffine 
was then thrown on fine metallic filters, through which the oil flowed while the paraffine was separated. Or one may separate the oil, he 
says, by imbibition, but this occasions a great loss of oil, and also requires more labor. 

These successive patents, exteuding over a period of about fifteen years, sliow not oulj- that Selligue was a 
complete master of this department of teclinologj', on the general princii)les of which but little iuii)roven)ent has 
since been made, but also that, prior to 1845, this industry had become important and extensive in France. 

In England no commercial importance appeurs to have attached to the paraffine-oil industry until 1850, wheu 
James Young and his associates, Messrs. Binney and Meldrum, established the extensive works at Bathgate, from 



a See 7 patents in Brevets d' Invention , Ixx, i69. Of these patents two are dated 1834, two 1835, and three 1836. For a description of 
his process of gas-making, see also Bui. Soc. iVEncouragemeiit, Oct., 1838, p. 396, or Dingier, Ixxi, 29. 

h Comptes-Hendua, 1838, vii, 897. 

c Ibid., X, 861, Dingier, Ixxvii, 137. 

d Brevets d'Tiirrntion, Ixviii, Sg.'i. 

e Comptea-Bevdiis, ix, 140; Ann. der Pharmacie, v. Wohler u. Liebig, xxxii, 123. 

f Brevets ^'Invention (N. S.), loi du 5 Juilht, 1844, iv, 30. 

g A tolerably accurate English translation of this important patent may be found in the specification of A. M. B. B. Du Buisson, 
1845, specificatiou Xo. 10,T2C of the English patent office. 



170 PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 

the success of which has followed the Scotch paraflQue and mineral-oil industry, which, in 1878, produced from 800,000 
tons of 2,000 pounds each of shale 30,000,000 gallons of crude oil. Prom 8,040,000 gallons of this oil was made : («) 

Value. 

500, 000 gallons naphtha $40,000 

4, 000, 000 gallons burning oil 330,000 

1, 035, 000 gallons heavy oil b2,000 

200, 000 gallons medium oil 16,000 

Paraffine 62,000 

Sulphate of ammonia, 82 per cent, products 23, 000 

543, 000 

Speciiic gravity of the naphtha 0.725 

Specific gravity of the lamp-oil 0.805 

Specific gravity of the medium 0. 840 

Section 2.— SOUECES OF CEUDE PAEAFFINE. 

Crude paraflSne is found fossil in Galicia, Eoumania, the Caucasus, the neighborhood of the Caspian sea, and 
in the Sanpete valley in Utah. In all of these localities, except the last, it is found in a formation that yields 
petroleum and also contains parafQne. Paraffine is also a constituent of a large majority of the different varieties 
of petroleum found upon the earth's surface, aud also of the asphaltums that occur in injected veins, such as albertite, 
grahamite, and the asphaltum of Cuba. As a product of destructive distillation paraffine is obtained from all kinds 
of bituminous coal, shales, lignite, peat, wood, and animal remains, provided the distillation is conducted at a 
sufficiently low temperature. 

The fossil paraffine or ozokerite of Galicia is principally obtained in Boryslaw and Stauislow in the Miocene of 
the foot-hills of the northern slope of the Carpathians; also at Slanik, iu Moldavia, near mines of rock-salt aud coal. 
In 1875 the amount produced in these two localities was about 44,000,000 pounds. The " earth-wax" occurs partly 
in regular beds and partly in pockets, from which it is obtained in small pieces or masses of several hundred pounds 
weight. The beds containing the mineral are reached by shafts from 130 to 2C0 feet in depth, from which the 
exploitation is carried on by tunnels, as in ordinary mining. These shafts generally pass through gravel and bowlders 
from 25 to 30 feet, aud then through blue loam and plastic clay. In this clay, ata usual depth of from 140 to 150 
leet, the "earth-wax" is found in layers of from 1 foot to 3 feet thick, the purest being of a honey-yellow color, and 
of the hardness of common beeswax. Much of it, however, is in small pieces, which must be separated from the 
gaugue, the smallest pieces being obtained by washing. The purer qualities, on being melted, yield a prime "earth- 
wax", which is manufactured into " ceresine." The poorer varieties are dark-colored, some of it being soft, containing 
petroleum, and some of it being hard like asphaltum. These poorer qualities are used for the manufacture of paraffine. 
Earely pieces are found which are very compact and as hard as gypsum, fusing above 100° C, and, like many 
specimens of petroleum, are dichroic — dark-green in reflected light and pure yellow in transmitted light. 

As stated above, the crude ozokerite is separated from the gaugue by melting and vorked into jjaraffine or ceresine. Tlie " trying" 

is efliected either by direct fire or by steam. Iu the former case, the ozokerite ia placed iu iron kettles aboiit one and one-half meter in 

diameter by one meter iu height, melted, drawn off, and the residue boiled with water, when all the ozokerite will rise to the surface of 

the water. In the latter case the melting is done by steam in the same manuer as with jjaraffiue or steariue, aud needs no further 

description. The " tried" ozokerite is clarified by allowing it to settle for several hours aud Ihon poured into iron molds. It is shipped 

in this form, without any further packing, iu pieces weighing from 50 to 60 kilograms (110 to 130 pounds). There are principally two 

kiuds of commercial ozokerite, prime and secpud. Prime "was" ought to be as free as possible from earthy impurities, and in small, 

transparent, greenish-brown to yellow pieces; the lighter in color and the more transparent the better it is. " Second wax" is dark 

brown, almost opaque, occasionally containing a great deal of earthy impurities, and is generally much softer than the prime. Both are 

used in the manufacture of either paraffine and illuminating oils or ceresine. The manufacture of paraffine from ozokerite is eft'ected by 

distillation over direct fire from iron retorts with flat bottoms containing from 1,500 to 2,000 ponuds. The product of the distillation 

are: (6) „ 

^ ' Percent. 

Benzine -- ^\Q 8 

Naphtha 15 to 20 

Paraffine 36 to 50 

Heavy (lubricating) oils 15 to 20 

Coke 10 to 20 

The parafline is pressed, treated with sulphuric acid aud caustic soda, filtered through paper and fine animal charcoal, and made into 

candles. The naphtha is purified in the usual way, and the heavy oils are sometimes subjected to fractional distillation, but mostly 

shipped as such to Vienna. The manufacture of "ceresine" consists of the removal of the impurities from the "earth-wax" by the aid 

of sulphuric acid aud animal charcoal ; but only the best kinds of ozokerite are need. The different processes are kept secret, and are also 

protected by patents. In general the ozokerite is melted with concentrated sulphuric acid, aud the residue from the manufacture of yellow 

prussiate pressed, treated again with prussiate residue aud filtered. One hundred parts good prime "earth-wax" yield sixty to seventy 

l)arts white wax, which in its properties very closely resembles white beeswax, and is called " ceresine". It is either further purified by 

repeated treatment with acid and prussiate residue, or colored with gamboge or alkanet, aud thereby made to resemble commou beeswax. 

a ^iifiner's .?eitec7m/J, 1879, 12; W. B., 1879, 1170. 

i This is manifestly a cracking process, and it is evidently a somewhat rude method of treating such a valuable substance. Distillation 
by steam would be much better. 



THE TECHNOLOGY OF PETROLEUM. 171 

In the luanufacture of ceresiue only sulphurous acid and press residues are ohtained, the former of which escapes into the air, but might 
1)6 utilized, thus reducing the cost considerably. The consumption of sulphuric acid in Boryslaw alone is said to amount to 2,200,000 
pounds a year. The prussiate residues are obtained from the lIxiTiation of the crude prussiate in Moravia. Comparatively only a sm.ali 
quantity of earth-wax is worked in Galicia, and is shipped principally to England, Moravia, and Vienna. The ceresine is exported iu large 
quantities to Russia, where it is sold as beeswax, a little of which is melted with it in order to impart to it the characteristic odor. 
Good ceresine is hardly to be distinguished from beeswax. The best method is the following: 1. Ceresine is not as easily kneaded between 
the fint'ers and becomes brittle more readily than beeswax. This test is, however, doubtful if the sample is a mixture of the two. 2. 
Ceresine is .scarcely attacked by warm concentrated sulphuric acid, whereas beeswax is completely destroyed by it. By this test the 
quantities of beeswax and ceresine can be determined iu a mixture of both. In many cases ceresine can be employed in place of beeswax. 
It is sold at S32 to §40 jier 100 kilogrammes (16| cents per pound) iu Vienna, whereas the iirice of the commercial earth-wax varies 
from $10 to $12 per 100 kilogrammes (.5 cents per pound). The -whole exploitation of the ozokerite is in the hands of the Jewish 
population, (a) 

The ozokerite deposits of Utali Lave not yet been worked sufficiently to demonstrate their importance. The 
crude material is of about the consistence of paraffine, and is of a jet black color, and furnishes, when purified, a 
l^ure white paraffiue. 

The question whether paraffine is or is not a constituent of petroleum has been widely discussed. I am not 
prepared to assert that crystallizable paraffine is a constituent. I have seen crystals of paiaffine iu petroleum 
that came from the wells of the Economites opposite Tidioute that I had uo reason to sup])ose had ever been 
heated, or, in fact, manipulated iu any manner, except to be put into barrels; yet I cannot positively assert that 
such was the case. Amorphous paraffine is certainly a constituent of many petroleums, and is readily obtained 
where petroleum is carefully distilled until the residue has the consistence of paste when cold. The amount of 
reduction necessary varies with the source of the petroleum used. A sample from the southeastern border of 
the Pennsylvania petroleum field was of an amber color, and of nearly the consistence of honey from suspended 
paraffine. The oil of the Bradford field is remarkable for the amount of paraffine it contains as compared with 
other oils of the Peunsylvania region. This i)eculiarity occasions a great deal of trouble with flowing wells, as 
the pipes become clogged with paraffine so completely as to stop the flow of oil. This is no doubt in part occasioned 
by the fractional condensation of the paraffine in consequence of the extremely low temperature produced by the 
rapid evaporation of the more volatile portion of the jietroleum when it is relieved from the enormous pressure to 
which it is subjected in the rock. This extremely low temperature, which has been kuowu to plug a well with ice 
and to produce ice under the sun of a hot summer's day, evidently condenses the paraffiues having the highest 
melting point, and allows those more fusible to remain dissolved in the oil. {b) As regards the practical working 
of petroleum, it is of little importance whether the paraffine is an educt or a product, for if the paraffiue is not 
already a constituent of crude petroleum, the heat required for distillation develops it. The amount of paraffiue, 
however, that any given sample of petroleum contains or will yield is a matter of the greatest importance if the 
crude oil is to be made into illuminating oils. The crnde oils of Butler and Armstrong counties are much more 
valuable for that purpose than those of McKean county, because they contain more of the members of the i)araffine 
series of the proper specific gravity for illuminating oils and less of the dense, heavy oils and solid paraffine that 
have to be cracked before they can be used for illaminatiou. 

In 1849 a Mr. Eeece obtained a patent for distilling paraffine from Irish peat, and works for its production 
were established near Ashby. While the method of treating the peat was entirely successful, the enterprise, on 
account of the small amount of material it was capable of yielding, was a commercial failure. It is proper to 
state here, however, that acetic acid aud ammonia, as well as paraffine, were expected to be obtained iu commercially 
valuable quantities. The following statement will give an idea of the proportion of these articles yielded by the 
peat. On the first distillation the peat yielded : 

Per cent. 

Watery matters 30. 614 

Tar 2.392 

Gases 62.392 

Ashes 4. 197 



99. .595 

The watery matters aud tar yielded : 

Per cent. 

Ammonia 0. 2S7 

Acetic acid 0.207 

Naphtha 0.140 

Volatile products 1. 0.59 

Paraffiue 0.125 

a J. Grabowsky, Am. Chem., vii, 123. Hiibner's Z., 1877, 83. 

b Various methods have been suggested for removing this paraffine from the pipes. It is only slightly soluble in benzine, and neither 
acids nor alkalies attack it, and other solvents are equally ineffectual. Metallic mercury has been used, which must act mechanicallj 
by its weight. A plan to burn it out of the pipes by supplying a stream of oxygen has been recommended, but what degree of success, 
if any, attended its use I have not learned. The most common method pursued in the oil region is to pull up the pipes and blow out the 
plug of paraffine with steam. The pipes are often found plugged solid for hundreds of feet. 



172 



PKODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 



Fifty tons of peat yielded 125 pounds of parafline, an amount too small to admit of a profitable enterprise, (a) 
The peat of Hanover yields more than 300 pounds of parafSne to 50 tons. 

J. J. Beitenlohuer gives the following results of the manufacture of parafflne from peat-tar. The locality 
of the peat is not given, nor is the amount of tar yielded: 

By fractional distillation : Per cent. 

Crude and chemically combined oil 35. 3 

Crude paraffine in mass 48. 2 

Coke 10.4 

Gas 6.1 

100.0 

The results of the purification of the paraffine with sulphuric acid and lye are : 

Per cenk. 

Paraffine 76.3 

Loss by sulphuric acid 12. 2 

Loss by lye 9. 4 

Loss by washing - 2. 1 

100.0 
The paraffine thus obtained is subjected to distillation, the result being : 

Per cent. 

Oils 25.5 

Paraffine 66. 5 

Coke 2.6 

Gas 5.4 

100. 
The paraffine is then refrigerated and pressed, and from it are obtained : 

Per cent. . Per cent, 
in winter. in snmmer. 

Coke 21.6 18.2 

Oils - 75.3 78.3 

Loss - 3. 1 3. 5 

100. 100. 



This paraffine is then digested in fuming sulphuric acid, but remains soft and unctuous. (6) The distillation 
evidently cracks it. 

In an elaborate research upon the products of the dry distillation of Rhenish shale and Saxony and Thuringian 
brown coal, H. Vohl gives the following table, showing the comparative value of shales, brown coal (lignite), and 
peat as sources of paraffine : (c) 



Raw material. 


Hi 




1 


1 


la.i 

£.2-5 ! 

o 


Raw material. 




i 
1 


.a 
■5 


£5« 


Shale: 


P. cent. 
24.286 
25. 688 
27. 500 
18. 333 

33.500. 
20. 500 
33. 410 
17. 600 
17. 721 
16. 428 
16. 666 
10. 625 
16.666 


p. cent. 
40. 000 
43. 000 
13. 670 
38. 333 

40. 000 
43. 600 
40. 063 
26. 213 
26. 600 
27. 142 
21. 052 
19. 375 
18. 055 


p. cent. 
0.120 
0.116 
1.113 
5.000 

3.330 
6.510 
6.730 
5.063 
4.430 
4.286 
5.263 
1.250 
4.444 


P. cent. 

10. 000 
12. 030 
12. 600 
18. 333 

18. 100 
19. 567 

17. 321 

18. 079 
17. 520 
14. 290 
13. 163 
16. 900 

11. Ill 


p. cent. 
25. 695 
19.166 
45.300 
26.001 { 

6. 070 1 

9.823 

2.476 

32. 545 

33. 722 
37. 853 
43. 855 
61.850 
49. 722 


Brown coal from — Continued. 


p. cent. 


P. cent. 


p. cent. 
3.555 
2.941 
3.260 
3.463 

8.010 
3.125 
3.316 
5.360 
6.209 
0.424 
3.307 
2.256 
3.102 


P. cent 
22. 222 
20. 000 
16.900 
13. 173 

11.5^0 
17. 190 
17. 194 
16. 071 
18.750 
42. 424 

25. 658 

26. 000 
28. 200 


p. cent. 
47. 555 


From the Romerickeberg mine . . . 
From "Westphalia 


Harbke,U-o.II 


16. 666 11. 765 


48. 627 




16. 360 

34. 600 
20. 625 

19. 457 
17.983 
14. 063 
14. 400 

20. 390 
•11.000 

14. ISO 


19. 535 

36. 000 
26. 578 
19.547 
19.640 
18. 230 
8.666 

20, 390 
19.489 
18. 266 


47. 461 


Brown coal from—* 


Peat from — 

Celle 


9.850 






32. 482 






40. 486 




Kenenbaus, heavy 


40. 945 




43. 748 


Cassel, No.I 


Zurioli 

Russia (Eostotina, nearPagykina) - . 


35.086 




30. 195 




41. 255 


TiUeda 




36. 241 









^ These "brown coals" are lignites, 



a Frederick Field, J. S. A., xxii, 349, 411 ; Am. C, v, 169. h Jour, de VJ^clairage an Gas, 1872, No. 5, Am. C, ii, 315. cVf. B,, iii,459. 



THE TECHNOLOGY OF PETROLEUM. 173 

The paraffine oil industry of Scotland has already been noticed. Its present success, notwithstanding the low 
price of petroleum products, is mainly due to the heavy oils and paraffine produced. While I cannot indorse all the 
claims that are made for Mr. Toung as the first inventor, as the process which he patented corresponded to that 
used by Selligue many years before, there is no question that he deserves the credit of having placed the parafflne 
industry on a solid commercial basis in Great Britain at a time when the discovery of petroleum in such vast 
quantities in Canada and the United States would seem to have rendered such an undertaking impossible. 

At the date (1860) at which petroleum was first an article of commercial importance, parafltine and paraffine oils 
were being produced in the United States and Great Britain from the so-called Boghead coal, albertite, and 
grahamite. together with several rich cannel coals. The deposits of the three minerals above mentioned have been 
worked out. The last establishment in the United States using anything but petroleum was the Union Goal and 
Oil Company, of Maysville, Kentucky, which was operated upon the rich cannel coal of Cannelton, West Virginia, on 
the Great Kanawha river. It ceased operations in 1S67. Tlie deposit of Boghead mineral was worked out in 1872, 
since which time the extensive paraffine oil works of Scotland have been run on shale. On the continent of Eui'op'e, 
in Saxony, Thuringia, and Austria, an extensive and very valuable industry is conducted with shale and brown coal 
as the raw material. In the United States, beside our deposits of cannel and bituminous coals of enormous extent, 
we have thousands of square miles of shales that will furnish millions of barrels of distillate for use alter our 200,000 
square miles of petroleum fields shall have been exhausted. 

Section 3.— PREPARATION OF PARAFFDfE. 

The preparation of paraffine from petroleum has already been described on page 165, and the treatment of the 
crude oils distilled from shale or coal is substantially the same, with the exception that more suli)huric acid and more 
numerous distillations are employed. While crude shale oils and petroleum are very similar fluids, the shale oil is 
much more impure and more expensive to refine. Distillation and treatment with sulphuric acid and soda lye are, 
with some variation in the details, the methods upon which the technologist in paraffine must rely. The subsequent 
treatment of the crude parafflne scales is subject to considerable variation, and an article quite variable in its 
properties is the result. The ordinary method of purification consists in dissolving about 2,000 ijounds of crude 
paraffine in 80 gallons of " C " naphtha by heat, refrigerating in shallow metal pans and pressing ; but this method is 
attended with considerable loss of naphtha, and some danger from accidental ignition. To obviate this a process 
was invented for treating the parafflne cold, by which it was either pulverized and then dissolved in naphtha, 
or the cake and naphtha were ground together into a paste and then pressed. After this grinding and pressing has 
been repeated a sufflcient number of times, the solid wax is melted in a still with steam blown in until no naphtha 
comes over with the condensed water. From 3 to 5 per cent, of animal charcoal is then added, and while the mass is 
kept melted the charcoal is allowed to settle. As the finest particles of charcoal remain diffused through the wax, 
the whole is filtered hot through a wire-gauge filter, which is lined with flannel and filter paper, the filtrate 
passing as colorless as distilled water, (a) 

The use of these successive solutions in naphtha is to remove the fluid oils from which the paraffine first 
crystallizes, which are more readily soluble in the naphtha than the paraffine itself. Mr. John Fordred in 1871 
sought to accomplish the removal of these oils by kneading the paraffine with or in a slightly alkaline solution. 
After melting and clarifying a ton of paraffine and casting it into thin cakes of about ten pounds each, these 
cakes are placed in a bag, end to end, and warmed until they become plastic. The bag is then placed in a kneading 
machine, which is supplied with a solution of equal parts of soft soap and water at a temperature of about 100° F. 
On setting the machine in motion the oil and coloring matter are dissolved in the soap solution. Solutions of 
carbonated and caustic alkalies, both alone and mixed with soap, rosin soap, and even warm water itsi If, are found 
to answer the purpose. (6) Another patent claims economy in operation and safety in the use of matei-ial. A tank 
12 by 6 by 2J feet is provided with partitions, which separate it into V-shaped cells, 2i inches wide at the top 
and 2 inches wide at the bottom. These cells are 1 inch ajjart, and start 9 inches from the top of the tank 
and stop 2 inches from the bottom. A grating is provided, that rests upon the top of the cells, the bars of 
which are li inches apart. Free or closed steam-pipes are placed in the bottom of the tank, and water is filled in 
to a depth of 6 inches. Crude paraffine is filled into the cells and the grating secured to prevent its floating. Water 
is then run in until it rises to within two inches of the top of the tank, and steam is turned on until the temperature 
reaches within 10° of the melting point of the paraffine being treated, when it is turned of!:' and the entire mass 
is allowed to become of a uniform temperature. Steam is then again turned on and the temperature very slowly 
(through at least 4 hours) brought to within 2° of the melting point of the paraffine, when the soft portions that have 
risen are skimmed off. The water is then drawn off to the top of the cells and the paraffine is melted and allowed 
to cool slowly through the night, when the operation is repeated. This is continued until paraffine is obtained 
of the required hardness, while the soft portions are returned to the crude paraffine. The hard paraffine is then 
melted with 7 per cent, of powdered commercial ivory-black in a steam -jacketed pan for four or five hours, until the 

a P.Ttent of Ed. Meldrum, No. 1646, 1867. h Patent No. 1858, 1871. 



174 PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 

■whole of the ivory-black is precipitated, when it is drawn off and cast into cakes, (a) Another process requires the 
paratane to be clarified by settling and being cast into cakes, which are allowed to cool very slowly, in order that the 
crystals may form of large size. The cakes are then placed on tiles or other absorbent material and heated nearly 
to their melting point. The fluid and easily fusible portions are melted and flow from the crystals and are absorbed 
by the tile. This process may be repeated as many times as may be desired, and the paraffine may then be bleached 
with bone charcoal or by any other means. (&) 

By whatever method the paraffine may be freed from the fluid and the fusible impurities, it is not white, and is 
afterward subjected to a bleaching process. One method has already been described; another requires that the 
melted paraffine be agitated in a tank by a current of air with from 5 to 10 per cent, of strong sulphuric acid, care 
being taken to remove the sulphurous acid evolved by a suitable ventilating apparatus. This agitation is carried 
on for several hours, until the experience of the operator shows the treatment to be sufficient, when the tarry mass 
is allowed to subside through several hours. The still slightly-colored paraffine is then digested with animal 
cha*rcoal, the last traces of which are removed by filtering through a steam-jacketed filter. The apparatus by which 
this filtration is performed is thus described by L. Eamdohr in Dingler's Polytechnic Journal, 1875 : 

After paraffine has passed through all other stages of the purifying process, it must finally be decolorized by means of charcoal. The 
use of a permanent filter (eines stehenden) filled with granulated charcoal is not to be recommended for many reasons. 

The filtering process must take place at a^emperature of not less than from 70° to 80° ; the filter also must be heated with steam, 
which, on account of the large dimensions, would require incommodious and expensive apparatus. But particularly against the use of 
granulated charcoal stands the fact that a greater part of the paraffine is retained by the charcoal, which can only be partly collected, 
again through burning of the coal, which always is united with a considerable amount of decomposition (products) of the paraffine. But 
paraffine is so valuable that its manufacture cannot suffer such a great loss in material. Consequently the decolorization of paraffine, 
takes place In a much simpler way with a fine, pulverized, and, where it is possible, freshly-heated charcoal, which usually becomes mixed, 
with the paraffine by agitation with a wooden mixer, and the greater part of it thereupon very quickly settles to the bottom. 

The fine particles of coal, notwithstanding, remain suspended a long time in the fluid paraffine, and are even not entirely removed 
after a day's rest, so that the paraffine must be completely cleared by filtration through paper. Paraffine that is not filtered is of a 
smutty gray color. In most of the paraffine manufactories I have found the arrangement of filter paper to be very primitive, and the 
mixing apparatus separated or divided by the filtering apparatus, so that a continuous scooping over of the paraffine to be filtered upon 
the filter and a continuous addition of the latter was necessary. Consequently, I give the following description of a mixing and filtering 
apparatus constructed by me, which I have used in two instances many years with the best results. 

This has the following peculiarities in its arrangement : 1. The mixing of the paraffine with bone-black does not take place by the h|nd 
or through a mechanical stirring contrivance, but through a warm current of air previously blown into the apparatus. 2. The paraffine 
treated with bone-black flows of itself into the filter paper placed iu a glass funnel, and after the influx has once been regulated the 
control of the entire apparatus by the workman is scarcely anything at all. Even if at times less penetrable paper should accidentally 
be placed in the filter, this, from the attention on the part of the workman, cannot easily cause an overflow of the paraffine, while the 
greater or lesser penetrability of the paper is easily observable during the first half hour by the regulation of the inflowing stop-cock, 
and this must be considered by the workman. 3. The whole apparatus is heated by waste steam. 4. The mixing and filtering apparatus 
occupy little room, and, e. g., 25 hundred- weight of paraffine can be easily mixed and filtered in twenty-four hours. 

In Figs. 44 and 45 are illustrated: A. The mixing apparatus. B. The filtering apparatus. The steam first enters the filtering apparatus, 
and then passes through the mixing apparatus into the open air. 

The mixing apparatus A consists of a wrought-iron chest, with a turned cast-iron flange, covered with iron cement, in which are three 
openings for the admission of three cast-iron mixing-kettles. These kettles are fastened to the flange of the steam-chest by a few screws, in. 
order to prevent any displacement which an iusecuiity of the discharging vessel would cause. The kettles, with the steam-chest, are 
rendered steam-tight (der dampfdichte Abschluss des Kessels) in the simplest manner by a band of rubber placed beneath the rim of the 
kettle. 

About 70""» above the deepest parts of the bottom of the kettle is cast a support 25"°™ wide, of such a length that it, with its forward 
end provided with screws, projects through the tin face-plate of the steam-chest, perhaps 25""" wide. At this point about 3""" thickness 
of tin is strengthened by a disk fastened by sunken rivets and of 15""" thickness, and provided with four bolt-holes for the reception of 
screw-tacks. From the outside a flange is tacked upon the end of the kettle support that is provided with screws, and by underlaying 
with hacked hemp and intimately mixed red-lead cement against the solidly-built face of the steam-chest is so placed that the four screw-. 
holes in the flange correspond exactly with those of the opposite inner disk. After this flange is firmly drawn the end of the kettle support,, 
which is plainly turned off or polished, shall project over the flange 2 to 3""". Now, four screw-tacks, which are supported by a six-angled 
truss, are brought into four screw-holes, which are at hand to receive the same, and drawn firmly and steam-proof against the outer flange,, 
and each kettle support is provided with a So"™ wide cast-iron stop-cock. Iu the distribution of crude paraffine, and, above all, where 
prepared paraffine is to be filtered, this invention applies equally well, as it completely soaks througli several layers of uniform unsized 
paper by the avoidance of all cements. 

It is recommended to jirovide the surfaces turned upou the lathe with fine circular grooves. In the lower portions ^f the steam-chests 
lie six pieces of thinly-drawn crude copper plates (without soldered edges) which are contrived after the manuer of the tubes of locomotive 
boilers, and are so joined outside of the chest by cast-iron knees that they form a long pipe or hose, heated by steam, in which the air to 
be used for the mixing of the charcoal and paraffine is heated. Theexit of this pipe stands diagonally over the mixing boiler in combination 
with a running tube or siphon, which, through the middle of the boiler, reaches almost to the bottom of the same, being sent oft' from the 
copper pipe through a stoji-cock in diminished size. It is self-evident that the main pipe for the warmed air from the steam-boiler is to be 
protected from cooling. 

The filter apparatus B consists first of two polished chests, partially within each other, with a common front w.tII. The latter also will 
not be touched by the steam, and this arrangement will rest or touch entirely upon the ground, iu order, ou this side, where the workman 
is busy for the most of the time, not to have a too strongly heated surface, and to make the real filtering apparatus as comfortably accessible 
as possible. Otherwise, were there here a double wall filled with steam, then certainly this must be protected from a too strong radiation 
of heat by a strong wall built in front 120"'"> thick, and this would detract from the service of the filtering apparatus. Besiile, the 

a Litchford and Nation's patent, No. 890, 1872. b Hodges' patent, No. 3241, 1871. 



THE TECHNOLOGY OF PETROLEUM. 175 

arraun-eraent chosen insures a cheaper and simpler constnictiim. Then the greater extent of surface can be made impermeable to milled 
aDd heated paraffine only with the most extraordinary difficulty (and perhaps not at all); but all loss of paraffiue by incouipactness or 
insecurity is to be particularly avoided, so the inner filtering chest to serve for the reception of paraftino must be made of cast-iron in one 
piece. 

The attachment of the steam-jacket is simple and plainly shown in the drawing. The bottom of the cast-iron filtering chest is inclined 
toward the front, and at the same time from both sides toward the middle; at the deepest point there is an I'xir tube, with stop-cock for 
the drainage of the prep.ared parafflue. In the interior the filtering chest has a projecting brim of perhaps iM""^' breadth, which on tho 
rear wall, and at the same time on both sides, serves for the formation of steam space. Upon this edge rest H pieces of wrought-irou filter 
supports, each of which is capable of receiving two glass filters ; thus there are 16 filters arranged in ro\<-s always in operation. The funnels 
are m.nde of glass, because it more easily preserves the absolutely uecessary cleanliness than if they were made of white tin. One need 
not fear the destruction of the glass if there is the proper amount of foresight shown on the part of the workman. In about twelve years 
there were scarcely one or two broken by me. In the midst of the filteriug chest, along its length and 50 to 60""" above the glass funnels 
of the paraffine-distribnting pipe, there is a pipe 40""' wide, closed at both ends, comDiunicating through three supports with the 
corresponding terminal stop-cocks of the mixing kettles, and connected to both sides with eight small cast-iron stop-cocks of 4"="' width 
attached to a wrought-iron pipe. The small stop-cocks are screwed on, and for this purpose small pieces of wrought-iron have been placed 
with hard solder in the proper jdaces on the distributing pipe. 

The moutbs of the small stop-cocks do not lie perpendicularly over the middle of the filter, but are nearly in the middle of a side, in 
order to prevent the jierforation of the filter-point by droppings. The paper used for filtering is a thin, but tolerably firm, unsized 
pressed paper ; it is broken after the manner of bent filters. A sheet 4.j by 37""" (one 40 by 40'""' would be more convenient) makes a 
a filter that will serve comfortably for the filtration of about a hundred-weight of parafflue. 

When working day and night I have always had the filters renewed after using twelve hours. The very little paraffin* that remains 
in the jiaper is recovered. 

It is recommended to surround the warm, radiating surface of the mixing and filtering apparatus with a simple and appropriate non- 
conductor. This is attained by inclosing the apparatus, and only the front wall of the filter chest is provided with a wooden jacket for 
securing an isolated stratum of air. 

The covering of the apparatus is not shown in the illustration, iu order not to interfere with its clearness ; likewise the conveyance of 
the water which falls down from the steam in both apparatus (and which forms in the best of steam spaces) is not noted, since their 
position depends entirely upon local surroundings. 

Finally, a word concerning the restoration of fresh bone-black and the treatment of that which has been used. It is known that the 
fresher charcoal is the more energetically it acts. In very large paraffine factories it is used on this account to jirepare it from the coal 
itself, and by use it settles. 

Comparatively speaking, very little can be restored with profit, as it is used even iu the largest jjarafflue factories. In a business of 
le(53 extent one will easily see from this that it is at least unprofitable to buy the powdered preparation of coal from the charcoal factories, 
because one receives with it in most cases smut and dust from the sifted gi'anulated charcoal, and has not the slightest guarantee for the 
quality and freshness of the preparation. I have always, on this account, secured from a m-ighboring charcoal factory the small quantity 
of 100 kilograms of freshly prepared granulated and dust-free charcoal and allowed the pieces of coal to be immediately reduced to a fine 
powder for use in a simply constructed pulverizing cylinder (.in Figs. 4(5 and 47). If one has not a charcoal factory in the immediate 
vicinity, and has not the certainty of obtaining the granulated coal entirely fresh at all times, then it is well worth the while to buy the 
pieces of coal in larger qnantities and to allow the same to be thoroughly heated in kettles agaiu, previous to the use of the coal which 
lias been just pulverized. 

The pulverizing cylinder (Figs. 4(i and 47) is made of cast-iron (750"'"' long and .500"'"' in diameter) and revolves with riveted wrought- 
iron pegs in corresponding metallic holes in the facing ; in the surface of the jacket or cover there is an opening for filling and emptying 
made close with gum. Tho cylinder is revolved best iu slow revolutions (at most but two turns per minute). Within the cylinder there 
lies another massive cast-iron cylinder 120""° in diameter, with a length equal to that of the drum. In twelve hours an apparatus of this 
size will pulverize perhaps 25 kilograms in the finest manner. These dimensions can be considerably increased without disadvantage. 

The bone-black I have mostly used in quantity, not over :i per cent, of the weight, and the paraffine retained by the same amounts to 
about the same weight. This silt from the powdered coal and paraffine is first heated together in a thick-w.alled kettle with return ste.am, 
whereby a greater part of the paraffine is separated into a clear liquid, which is scooped up with a shallow ladle .and placed directly upon 
the filter papier. 

The silt which has become thin is put in a large iron kettle, in which it, with the least cpiautity of water (from six to eight pivrts), 
is thoroughly cooked out over an open fire and under an active stream of steam, which is used from time to time. By tho cooling of the 
mass almost all of the paraffine separates upon the top of the water as a firm but gray-colored layer, which is taken ott', melted, and 
filtered through the paper with the other materials. A repeated boiling of the silt is seldom necessary, and this second operation almost 
never pays, because of the cost of the fuel in obtaining the paraffine. The powdered coal still so obstinately retains a very small percentage 
of the paraffine that this must be driven off by heating the coal, if the latter is to be again used as a decolorizer, or even if it is to be 
useful iu the manufacture of acid phosphate of lime — snperphosphate. 

With this view I cause it to be thoroughly heated in an inclined cast-iron retort of about 2'" to ll™ long and 800""" wide, and cross-cut 
almost elliptically, which is provided with an appropriate receiver for the condensation of the paraffine vapor. (This vapor uever 
remains even at the lowest possible melting point of paraffine undecomposed, but yields paraffine of a low-melting point and oil as the 
product of decomposition ). Tho paraffine that has been boiled out in shallow wrought-iron chests of perhaps 12"'"' height and 1"' length, 
whose bottom conforms to the form of the retort, and both of whose sides have small and appropriate stop-cocks, is passed into the retort, 
and after the ensuing evaporation of all the paraffine (which is instantly known by the cooling of the discharge pipe of the retort) during 
the heating is left therein four to six hours long for the partial cooling. 

Then the cast-iron chests, of which two are placed behind each other in the retort, are taken out and immediately covered with an 
appropriate tin cover, which is everywhere made clo.se by a covering of clay, and the heated coal-dust is left standing therein until it has 
become perfectly cooled. 

The taking out of the retort, the putting on and sealing of the cover, must take place as quickly as possible, in order to prevent the 
partial reduction of the coal to ashes, (a) 



a Dingier, ccxvi, 244. 



176 



PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 



Powdered fuller's-earth, marl, clay, or any similar substance, mixed witli melted parafflne and allowed to subside, 
will deprive it of color, and the paraiflne adhering to the subsided particles may be separated by heating with steam 
and agitation, (a) The successful use of these natural, insoluble silicates led to experiments upon tlie use of 
artificial silicates of the alkaline earths. For this purpose silicate of magnesia was found to answer all requirements 
best. This material is formed by the reaction of solutions of sulphate of magnesia and silicate of soda, the resulting 
silicate of magnesia being thoroughly washed and dried by steam heat. It is then added to the melted paraffine, 
and after it has subsided and the parafiine has been drawn off the residue is treated with dilute sulphuric acid. 
When the parafiine separates and rises to the surface the silica is precipitated, and the solution of sulphate of 
magnesia lies between them. The parafiine is removed, the solution of sulphate of magnesia is washed from the 
silica, and the silica is dissolved in caustic soda. It will thus be seen that the material is continually renewed with 
the addition of sulphuric acid and caustic soda. (6) It is found in using these silicates, whether natural or artificial, 
that a red heat destroys their action, and also that they must be used at such a temperature that the water of 
hydration is expelled, the coloring matter apparently taking its i)lace. Hence, if the silicate is applied at a 
temperature only a few degrees above the melting point of the parafflne, it will have no action upon it until the 
temperature has been raised above that sufficient to expel the water, (c) 

Another method which has been suggested for the removal of the oils from the soft parafflnes consists in 
melting them with from 5 to 10 per cent, of oleine and cooling and pressing. • Paraffine is insoluble in oleine. The 
mineral oils dissolved in oleine are separated from it by distillation, the former distilling at 220° C. and the latter 
at 280° 0. (<^) Bisulphide of carbon has also been used for this purpose, (e) 

Although great efforts are made by all manufacturers of paraffine to prepare the wax of a beautiful pearly 
whiteness, it is a well-known fact, particularly among the manufacturers of continental Europe, that this freedom 
from color is not permanent for a long period. It is probable that paraffine obtained through the careful distillation 
of petroleum is purer and less liable to change than that made from distillation of shale or brown coal. Parafflne is 
often colored for candles and other purposes. As the beautiful colors produced from aniline are insoluble in 
parafflne, they are first dissolved in stearine, and the stearine is then melted into the paraffine ; the color can be 
recovered, however, by melting the mixture and passing it through a filter. Two per cent, of stearine will give a clear 
pink color, and 5 per cent, a full crimson. Blue may be obtained with indigo, red with logwood, green with the two 
mixed and also with indigo and saffron, orange with logwood and saftron, and yellow with saffron. These colors may 
be readily incorporated with the mass by grinding a small piece of the parafflne with the color and then working it 
into the mass while hot. {/) To color paraffine black it is recommended that the wax be digested with the fruit of 
the Anacardium orientale, which contains a black fluid vegetable fat that combines with the paraffine and does not 
injure its illuminating properties. 

Section 4.— PEOPEETIES OF PAEAFFINE. 

Crude fossU paraffine from Galicia is brown, greenish, or yellow, translucent at the angles, with a resino* 
fracture. It is usually brittle, and when softened can be kneaded Mke wax, becoming dark on exposure to air. 
It becomes negatively electric and exhales an aromatic odor with friction. It melts at 66° C. (149° F.), but its 
illuminating power is such that 754 ozokerite candles equal 891 of ordinary parafflne, or 1,150 of wax. In 1871 Mr. 
John Galletly examined a parafflne from Boghead coal which melted at 80° 0. and had a boiling point near the red 
heat, and which therefore presented great diffleulties in the way of determining its vapor density. Distillation 
appeared to convert about half of it into liquid hydrocarbons, but the portion that remained solid after crystallization 
from naphtha retained its melting point unaltered. This specimen followed the general rule that parafflnes from 
different sources diminish in solubility as the temperature increases at which they melt. The following illustrates 
this point: 



Melting point. 


SolubUityinlOO 
c. c. of benzole 
at 18" 0. 


Beg. 0. 


Oratm. 


35.0 


133.0 


49.6 


6.0 


52.8 


4.7 


65. S 


1.4 


80.0 


0.1 



a Pordred, Lamb & Sterry's patent, No. 610, 1868. 

J Smitli & Field's patent. 

Frederick Field : On the Paraffine Industry, J. S. A., xxii, 349 ; Am. Chem., y, 169. 

d P. "Wagerman, Poly. C. Bl., 1859, 7.5. 

e'E. Allan, Dingier, cxlviii, 317; Poly. C. Bl., 1858, 1033. 

/ Eng. Mech., xxili, 259. 



THE TECHNOLOGY OF PETROLEUM. 



177 



AUhougli only one part of the parafline melting at 80°, dissolved in 1,000 of benzole at 18° 0., it mixes with 
it in all proportions above its melting point. The densities of parafQnes appear to increase with their melting points, 
but with specimens havingthe same melting points it is somewhat difficult to obtain the same results. 

The following are numbers obtained with parafSnes from Boghead coal : (a) 



Melting point. 


Specific gra-rity. 


Deg.C. 


! 


32.0 


0.8236 


39.0 


0.8480 


40. S 


0.8520 


S3. 3 


0. Olio 


63.3 


0.9090 


S8.0 


0.9243 


S9.0 


0.9248 


80.0 


0.9400 



In 1878 E. Sauerlaudt examined the relation of the melting 
ozokerite with the following results : (6) 



point to the specific gravity of paraffines from 



Melting point. 


Specific gravity. 


Deg. 0. 




56 


0.912 


61 


0.922 


67 


0.927 


72 


0.935 


76 


0.939 


82 


0.043 



Sauerlandt separated his paraffines by using solvents. 

Sulphuric acid attacks all the paraffines, provided the temperature is sufficiently high. It is further obsffved 
that this acid more readily attacks the parafflues with high boiling points than those the boiling points of which 
ari' lower. The carbon separated from the parafifine melting at 80° C. by the action of sulphuric acid is iu so line 
a state of division as to pass through filter paper. Chlorine and nitric acid both jiroduce substitution compounds 
with many specimens of paraffine, but the products are by no means uniform, (c) 

It is not an infrequent occurrence to find samples of paraffine mixed with stearic acid and stearic acid 
containing paraffine. As these mixtures are made legitimately, and also for purposes of adulteration, it therefore 
becomes necessary to determine their constituents. Any attempt to determine the constituents of such a mixture 
by determining the density would of course be futile, as the density of neither paraffine nor stearic acid is constant. 
E. Wagner has proposed the following method, which may be used either qualitatively or quantitatively: Not less 
than 5 grams of the mixture are taken and treated with a warm solution of hydrate of potash, which must not be 
too concentrated. A soap is formed with the stearic acid, while the paraffine remains unaltered. Salt is then added 
until the soap separates as a soda soap and takes down the paraffine with it. The soap is thrown on a filter and 
is washed with cold water or very dilute ethylic alcohol. The salt is first washed out, and then the soap, finally 
Iciiviiig the paraffine on the filter, which is dried at a temperature below 35° C, care being taken not to fuse it. 
The paraffine is then carefully dissolved from the filter with ether by repeated washings and the solution carefully 
evaporated in a weighed porcelain crucible in the water-bath at a low temperature. The residue, consisting of 
paraffine, is then weighed, and the stearic acid estimated by difference, {d) 

E. Douath saponifies the mixture with potassa and precipitates with calcium chloride. The calcium soap is 
washed ou a filter with hot water and dried at 100° C. Part of it, after powdering, is extracted with petroleum 
ether, the extract evaporated at 100° and weighed, when the residue represents the paraffine. (e) 

The most approved method of determining the melting point of paraffine consists in throwing a chip of 
paraffine on hot water and allowing it to melt. Then the water is slowly cooled, and the temjierature is noted at 
which the globule of paraffine loses its transparency. 

It has been found impossible in the amount of time that I have been able to devote to this portion of the 
subject to call attention to all of the great number of specific investigations that have been made upon paraffine, 
and the difficulty of attempting an exhaustive discussion of the subject is increased by the obscurity of the J 
nomenclature. Paraffine in the Unitid States and in the languages of continental Europe is used to signify the 
solid hydrocarbons obtained in distillates made at low temperatures, but in England the word has been given a 



crClii-mical Neiva, xxiv, 187. 

b HUbnei^a Zeitschrift, 1878, 81 ; Diiigler, ccxxxi, 383. 
Chemical Xmct, xxiv, 187. 
VOL. IX 12 



d Ibid., xKvii, 16. 

e Dingier, ccviii, No. 2, Am. Chem., iv, 19G. 



178 PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 

mncli wider signification, it having been applied to all of the fluid products of such distillation belonging to the 
marsh-gas series (OnHjn+z). It appears to me probable, however, that among the solid products to which this 
name is applied there are to be found the higher members of the series Cnllzn, as well as the series OnHzn+z, the 
original substance to which Eeichenbach gave this name belonging to the latter series. Among other facts which 
lend strong support to this opinion is the readiness with which some of the paraffines are attacked by reagents, 
forming substitution compounds, while others are, true to their name, nearly destitute of affinity. A. G. Pouchet 
acted on paraffine with fuming nitric acid and obtained an acid which he called paraffinic acid. Analysis of this 
acid, and also of its salts, showed its composition to be C24H48O2, which indicated that the paraffine had a 
composition Oj4H5a. (a) The proof seems equally convincing that the paraffine melting at 80° C. examined by 
Galletly belonged to the series OnH2n. It is therefore to be concluded that the opinion advanced as long ago as 
1356 by Philipuzzi, that commercial paraffine may be separated into a number of bodies differing in boiling points, 
is correct, and that definite knowledge regarding the constitution of paraffines from different sources awaits further 
investigation. 



Chapter V.— SUBJECTS OF INTEREST IN CONNECTION WITH THE 
TECHNOLOGY OF PETROLEUM. 



Section 1.— "CEAOKING." 

The importance of that reaction which has been technically termed " cracking" scarcely admits of exaggeration.. 
To assert that it is essentially destructive distillation, and that the results of its action are oils of decreased density,, 
the decrease dependent upon the extent to which it obtains action, explains neither the nature of the reaction nor 
the importance of its effects. In the elaborate report upon petroleum made bj' Dr. J. Lawrence Smith to the- 
judges of the Centennial Exposition he claims that the phenomena attending the destructive distillation Of petroleum 
were first observed by Professor B. Silliman, jr., and noted by him in his famous report of 1855. {b) Professor Silliman 
says : 

The UDcertainty of the boiling points indicates that the products obtained at the temperatures named above were still mixtures of 
others, and the question forces itself npon us -whether these several oils are to be regarded as educts {i. e., bodies previously existing 
and simply separated by the process of distillation), or -whether they are not rather produced by the heat and chemical change in the 
process of distillation. The continued application of an elevated temperature alone is sufficient to effect changes in the constitution of 
many organic products evolving new bodies not before existing in the original substance. 

When consideration is had of the knowledge possessed by chemists concerning petroleum and similar substances 
at the time Professor Silliman made this unique and original investigation the above paragraph is properly regarded 
as remarkably sagacious and suggestive. ITo one in 1855 knew whether native petroleum was a homogeneous 
fluid decomposed by distillation, as are fixed oils, or a mixture of a great number of fluids separated by distillation,, 
as it really is. Professor Silliman's question remained unanswered until Pelouze and Cahours, and later Warren 
and Storer, attempted to ascertain what manner of substance petroleum really is. Warren and Storer published 
their results in 1865, (c) and showed that they had succeeded in isolating, in a state of purity, portions of the member* 
of three homologous series of hydrocarbons. Two of these series were isomeric, but the boiling points of the 
corresponding members of the two groups were about 8° 0. apart. Professor J. D. Dana has regarded these 
hydrocarbons as educts, and has placed them in his system of mineralogy in their proper place as natural, not 
artificial substances. The fact that they have been isolated in such a degree of purity that considerable quantities 
have been obtained haying a constant boUing point, a constant chemical composition, and furnishing accurate 
results on the determination of their vapor densities, furnishes all the testimony that chemists can reasonably ask 
regarding the question whether they are educts or products. The analogy found to obtain between these constituents 
of petroleum and those of the distillates from albertite, Boghead mineral, cannel coal, and lime soap made from 
menhaden oil has been considered by some cliemists to indicate that, whereas the constituents of these distillates 
are the constituents of products of destructive distillation, petroleum must be destructively distilled in order to 
furnish them. Might not these unquestioned facts be so interpreted as to regard petroleum itself as a product of 
destructive distillation, and the similarity of these fractional distillates be also regarded as an additional proof 
that all of these products of a similar process, acting on similar materials, are very complex mixtures of compound* 

o C. R., Ixxix, 320; J. C. S., xxviii, 50. b Am. Cheni., ii, 18. c Mem. A. A. (N. S.), ix, 135; see alse page M. 



THE TECHNOLOGY OF PETROLEUM. 179 

of carbon and hydrogen that are related to the petroleum as educts, and not as products f I think all of the phenomena 
connected with this subject are most satisfactorily explained upon this hypothesis. 

I quote the following paragraph from the paper read by A. Bourgougnon at the meeting of the American 
Chemical Society, held September 7, 1876: («) 

During the distillation the products are more aud more heavy until the heat produced decomposea the oil in the still ; then the oil is 
dissociated, and by this dissociation, or "cracking", lighter and also more inflammable products are obtained. At the same time this 
decomposition is accompanied by a formation of carbon, which is deposited in the still, and gases of a very offensive odor pass off with 
the oil. 

This is the first instance that has come under my notice in which this very proper term (dissociation) is applied 
to this reaction. The phenomena of dissociation are constantly observed throughout the entire range of technical 
and scientific operations. Even marsh-gas, by a sufficiently high temperature, is resolved into hydrogen and the 
carbon of the gas retorts; the coal is resolved by dissociation, at a red heat, mainly into marsh-gas, coal-tar, and 
coke; at a less elevated temperature into those hydrocarbons homologous with marsh-gas, ranging through all of 
the paraffine series from marsh-gas to solid parafflne wax, leaving a residue of coke. At the temperature required 
for this last operation a small percentage of another series of hydrocarbons homologous with ethylene appears, but 
none of the benzole series that characterize coal-tar. "It has been observed that the schistoils of Buxiere-la-grue 
and of Cordesn do not contain benzole and naphthaline, because the distiller purposely works at too low a 
temperature", (b) 

Antisell, in Photogenic Oils, page 45, says: 

The tendency of destructive distillation is to produce compounds possess'ng more simplicity of composition than the original 
substance, and capable of sustaining the higher temperatures at which they form unaltered ; so that, under the range of temperature 
indicated (300^ to 2732° F.), liquids will be formed when the temperature is least, as at the commencement, and gases when the heat has 
arisen to the high point set down ; and as in the lower ranges, where liquids are produced, the effect of this augmented heat within this 
lower range is to lessen the complexity of the compound by dropping or reducing its amount of carbon or of hydrogen, it is at the very 
lowest temperatures that the liquids containing the highest number of atoms of carbon and hydrogen will be found ; and when the 
temijerature arises to that essential to the formation of gas, this gas (a carbide of hydrogen) is produced at the expense of the complex 
liquids formed at first, which give off some carbide of hydrogen, aud thus have their proportions simplified. 

If then, as has been assumed in these pages, petroleum is the product of the destructive distillation of pyroschists 
at the lowest temperature possible, it naturally follows that the paraflBne series, from marsh gas up to solid paraffine, 
would form the bulk of the educts of petroleum. This opinion is confirmed by all that is known either by 
technologists or chemists concerning the proximate principles that are the normal constituents of the Paleozoic 
petroleums found on the western slope of the Alleyhanies ; and it is doubtless to this fact that they owe in large part 
their great superiority over the petroleums of other localities, because the paraffine series of compounds contain 
the largest proportion of hydrogen as compared with the carbon of any series known to chemists. 

Now, when these compounds of the paraffine gTOup are subjected to temperatures above their boiling points, 
they are dissociated, and the researches of Thorpe and Young upon the distillates of paraffine wax under pressure 
have shown that they are not decomposed into the lower members of the same series, but into the oleflne series, 
the proportion of the paraffine series being comparatively small. The significance of this discovery lies in the 
fact that the olefines contain less hydrogen in proportion to the carbon than the paraffine group, and in combustion 
produce a less brilUant and luminous flame; hence it is to be inferred that while "cracking" will convert a large 
percentage of petroleum into illuminating oil, the oil will be inferior in quality just in proportion as it consists of 
cracked oils. The statement that has been made that the present process of manufacture " takes the heart out 
of the petroleum " for high test-oils and leaves au inferior residue for the ordinary 110° oil is not without some 
foundation in fact ; but it is not true as a general statement, for the amount of material existing in ordinary 
petroleum suitable for the production of high test-oil is estimated at 10 per cent., while the whole amount of 
illuminating oil is about 70 per cent. Manifestly, then, the manipulation of the petroleum is a matter of great 
importance to the consumer of these oils. The manufacturers of reduced petroleum and of high test-oils prepare a 
strictly paraffine oil from the educts of the petroleum, and convert the remainder either into an 110° oil by " cracking " 
or into paraffine oils and wax by careful fractional condensation. The 110° oil produced by cracking alone would 
be much inferior to the same grade of oil produced in an establishment where the bulk of the petroleum was 
converted into an oil that consists of both educts and products of the distillation. 

Illuminating oils are classed and sold as "Water White", "Standard," and "Prime", according to their color. 
The oils belonging to the paraffine series are neutral, inert oils, not readily acted upon by chemical reagents, and 
not readily forming substitution compounds. Sulphuric acid removes from such oils the small percentage of 
unstable oils which they contain and leaves them colorless and limpid or "Water White". With the standard and 
prime oils, consisting largely of "cracked" oils, the case is wholly different, as they contain members of the 
oleflne group which form substitution compounds with sulphuric acid with great readiness. These compounds are 
not readily destroyed by solutions of caustic alkali, and therefore remain in the oil. These oils blacken when 
heated to 200° F., and discharge sulphurous acid (SO2). When burned, they cause the wick to coat and discharge 

a Am. Chem., vii, 81. b Chemical News, xxviii, 22. 



180 



PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 



sulphurous acid with the products of combustion. This is abundantly demonstrated by the researches of the 
German chemist, J. Biel, [a) in which he compared oUs manufactured from Russian and American petroleum with 
results shown in the following table : 





Specific 

gravity at 

16=6. 


Tension of 

vapor at 

35° C. 


Flashing 
point. 


Inflaming 
point. 


Essence or 
naphtha. 


Burning 
oil. 


Heavy oil. 


THE COMPARATIVE ILLUMIKATING 
POWER AT— 




e^n. 


g™. 


12=». 


14«». 




0.795 
0.783 
0.789 
0.803 
0.817 
0.822 
0.821 


MUlimeteTi. 
160 
5 
13 
201 
73 
45 
.95 


Deg. 0. 
26 

43 
44 
26 
28 
30 
25 


Deg. C. 
39 
51 
46 
29 
30 
35 
26 


Per cent. 

. 14.40 
2.20 
5.50 
33.50 
15.40 
12.80 
15.25 


Per cent. 
45.90 

87.80 

80.00 

66.60 

73.20 

78.30 

71.25 


Per cent 
39.7 

10.0 
14.0 




3.35 
4.50 
6.00 
6.25 
5.20 
5.70 


1.36 
3.00 
3.00 
4.45 
4.00 
3.20 


0.80 








1.36 




3.70 




10.5 
8.4 
13.5 






1.65 















I presume the Imperial oil is an oil manufactured in Germany from crude American petroleum. A comparison 
of these results shows the great superiority of the Astral and Imperial oils over the Standard. (6) 

Because these oils, cracked by one distillation and necessarily imperfectly cracked and finished by treatment, 
are of inferior quality, it is not, however, to be concluded that cracked oils cannot be made of superior grade. 
The earliest practical application of destructive distillation to the manufacture of illuminating oil was made by the 
late Luther Atwood, of Boston, Massachusetts. He patented the product and apparatus for obtaining it in 1859, 
and the process was placed in operation by Mr. Joshua Merrill, of the Downer Kerosene Oil Company, before 
petroleum became an article of commerce. Mr. Merrill treated thousands of barrels of heavy oil, purchased 
from those who could not work them often at as low a price as 10 cents a gallon, and cracked them into burning 
oil of 45°, which, at that time, was readily sold at from 90 cents to $1 40 per gallon. The Downer company have 
worked this process ever since and have made more or less cracked oil, but they work at low temperatures with 
steam, and have never made their burning oil with one distillation. Their oils are highly finished x^roducts, and the 
very high reputation that they have always borne is a sufficient guarantee of their excellence. There is really 
upon the market a great variety of illuminating oils prepared from petroipum, some of which at double the price 
are cheaper than others, without regard to either their appearance or their safety. 

An experiment was made in Boston some years since, which, while without results of practical value, confirmed 
the views stated above. It was assumed that by cracking naphtha permanent gases would be obtained, and the 
iitteinpt was made to convert the naphtha into a mixture of marsh-gas and hydrogen by injecting steam into a 
•vessel filled with the volatile liquid. The result was so far successful as to produce a considerable amount of 
permanent gases, and on evaporating the naphtha remaining a residue of heavy lubricating oil was obtained, (c) 

Paraffine oil has been frequently converted into illuminating gas by allowing it to drip upon red-hot coke and 
by other similar processes. An analysis of such a gas in one instance showed it to consist of — 

Per cent. 

CH4, marsli-gas 54. 92 

CaH^, ethylene a8.9l 

H, hydrogen 5.65 

CO, carbonic oxide 8.94 

CO3, carbonic acid 0.82 

The presence of ethylene in such large proportion with free hydrogen indicates that at a lower temijerature the 
homologues of that gas would probably be found in still larger proportion, [d) 



Section 2.—" TEEATMENT." 

Next to the distillation of oils no question is of more importance than the chemical treatment which the 
distillates receive. It has always been claimed by the Downer company that the proper treatment for illuminating 
oil is washing with oil of vitriol, to which is sometimes added bichromate of potash, from which the sulphuric 
a(dd sets free chromic acid, and then washing with solution of caustic soda, and, finally, distillation over caustic 
soda. This treatment at one time produced oils that were unrivaled in the markets of the United States, and 
tliey have always held a very high reputation. It is, however, claimed by manufacturers of equally high 

a Dingier, ccxxxii, 354 ; Indus. Z., 1879, p. 204 ; Chem. Z., 1879, p. 285. 

h This is a general trade-mark, and not the exclusive property of the Standard Oil Company. 

e S. Dana Hayes, A. J. S. (3), ii, 184. I accept the coDclusione reached by Mr. Hayes ; but the experiment -was not conducted so aa 
to escluae the possibility that the heavy oils were dissolved in small quantity in the several thousand gallons of crude naphtha used. 
d Archiv der Pharmacie, June, 1874 ; Am. Chem., v, 431. 



THE TECHNOLOGY OF PETROLEUM. 181 

reputation that the finishing of oils by distillation is wholly unnecessary, if not positively detrimental. Judging 
from all that I can learn in reference to this subject, I conclude that the treatment that distillates should receive 
depends upon what they are. There are: 

1. Distillates produced by reducing petroleum. 

2. Distillates taken off before cracking commences. 

3. Distillates that are wholly cracked. 

4. Distillates that are mixtures of 2 and 3. 

The first and second classes would consist almost wholly of the paraffine series (OnH2n+2) of hydrocarbons; 
that is, inert and neutral to chemicals. Consequently they would be easily treated, and would yield colorless and 
neutral oils, especially when more or less caustic ammonia is used along with or after the soda treatment. Classes 
three and four, however, are quite different. These consist of more or less of the olefines (CnH2n) that are not chemically 
inert, but form substitution compounds with readiness with such an active reagent as oil of vitriol. In these 
substitution compounds SOj takes the place of two atoms of hydrogen in the hydrocarbon, and the hydrogen 
unites with the atom of oxygen to form water. It is claimed by those who finish oil by distillation that these 
substitution compounds are not destroyed by agitation with caustic alkali. Others admit that they are not 
destroyed by caustic soda, but claim that they are removed by caustic ammonia. I am inclined to think that neither 
of the caustic alkalies will remove them. I have examined a large number of illuminating oils during the last twenty 
years, and I have found that a large proportion of them blacken on being heated to 200° F. and yield sulphurous 
acid fumes. I have never attempted to estimate this quantitatively, but the amount yielded by half a pint has in 
several instances been such as to be very apparent in the atmosphere about the apparatus. Such oils have not been 
properly treated. Half a pint is no unusuiil amount to consume on a winter's evening, and while in the experiments 
to which I have referred the sulphurous acid was disengaged suddenly and almost instantaneously, the fact that 
when the oil was burned it would be thrown off slowly would not lessen its quantity nor its effect upon those exposed 
to its iuflueuce. My own conviction is that all oils that will blacken and give off sulphurous acid should be 
finished by distillation over caustic soda. 

The following abstract of an elaborate research undertaken by royal command, and published in Dingler's 
Polytechnic Journal and many other German scientific periodicals, has not before been translated so far as I have 
learned. Its importance demands for it a wider circulation. The author, H. Vohl, appears to use the term "Eoh- 
petrolenm" to designate American refined oils imported into Germany. He asks "if by the burning of petroleum 
there is not danger of producing unhealthful gases, and whether crude (Eoh) petroleum does not itself contain 
injurious compounds which are kindled by its burning that are removed when it is purified?" and then continues: 

The only element of crude petroleum which liberates unwholesome gases when it is bumed is sulphur. No petroleum is free from it. 
In many cases the petroleum is polluted, iu the so-called "cold treatment" with sulphuric acid, by sulphur compounds. It is particularly 
so wh. n an appreciable quantity of paraffine is left in lamp oil, and because of its dark color is subjected to an additional treatment of 
sulphuric acid. In this way refined oil often contains or retains so much sulphuric acid that its burning develops unwholesome influences. 
Suljihuric acid in part forms a compound with the heavy paraffine oil which is soluble in the remaining oil, and neither through treatment 
by water nor by alkalies is it decomposed, so that a subsequent treatment with these substances offers no guarantee for the absence of 
sulphur. When oil so treated is subjected to distillation, first a clear burning oil passes over, then a rapid development of sulphurous 
acid gas, often accompanied with coloration of the contents of the retort. Finally, alter a limited separation of sulphur has taken place in 
the nick of the retort, sulphureted hydrogen comes over, and a carbonaceous mass with acid reaction remains. An erroneous opinion is 
held iu many places that a strong blue reflection possessedby many kinds of petroleum is an indication of its superior quality and usefulness 
Petroleum has this peculiarity when it contains an appreciable quantity of paraffine oil. Most hydrocarbons resembling retinols have 
these blue reflections, with a high melting point. None of the ditferent kinds of petroleum investigated were free from sulphur or 
sulphuric acid, and therefore it can be assumed with justice that petroleum hurning-oil free from sulphur belongs to the exceptions. . 

Petroleum, wherever a tranquil light is necessary, has superseded illuminating gas; besides, it is cheaper than coal-gas, so that it is 
entirely out of the question that the consumption of petroleum should decrease to any important extent, and therefore so much-the more 
necessary in order to direct attention to these sulphur contents, that the removal of the injurious contents must he provided for. Among 
those who make use of petroleum for illuminating purposes inflammation of the eyes and catarrhal troubles often appear, for which 
physicians can never aft'ord relief, because the source of the trouble is unknown to them. 

The series of experiments embraced the following determinations, beside the sulphuric acid: 

(a) The specific gravity of the oil at 15° R. water =1.000. 

(6) The temperature (R.) at which the oil gives ofi' inflammable vapors. 

(c) The contents in oils of specific gravity 0.740. 

(d) The contents in paraffine oils of specific gravity, 0.850, solidifying at + 15° R. 

(e) The consumption of the oil, iu grams, per hour iu a lamp with a plain burner, with a wick IS"" broad and 2"™ thick, having a 
capillary attraction of 8'=°'. 

In order to determine whether the sulphur is contained as sulphuric acid or as a substitution compound of sulphuric acid with 
an hydrocarbon, he heated the oil a long time at the boiling point in a glass retort with a piece of sodium or potassium. The bright 
surface of the alkaline metal is soon covered by a yellowish layer, so that one can safely conclude upon a sulphureted compound iu the 
oil. After cooling add distilled water drop by drop until the excess of alkaline metal becomes oxidized and the sulphur, as sulphide of 
potassium, passes into solution. Then stir the fluid with a glass rod that has been immersed In a solution of nitro-prnsside of sodium. 
The presence of the smallest quantity of sulphur will immediately color the solution a beautiful violet-blue, (a) 

o Dingier, ccxvi, 47; W. B., xxi, 1053. ^ 



182 



PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 



TABULAR STATEMENT OF EXAMINATION OF OILS BY H. VOHL. 



No. 


Specific 
gravity. 


Temperature 
at which 

infiammable 
vapora are 
given off. 


Per cent, 
contained in 

oils of spe- 
cific ffravity 
0. 740. 


Per cent, 
contained in 

oils of spe- 
cific gravity 
0. 850. 


Hourly con- 
sumption of 
oil in grams. 


Per cent, 
of sulphnric 
acid con- 
tained. 






Deg. R. 










1 


0.780 


23.0 


24.964 


14 195 


16.78 


0.994 


2 


0.790 


28.0 


18. 330 


19. 519 


15.46 


2.001 


3 


0.790 


28.0 


3.050 


5.022 


15.00 


1.884 


4 


0.780 


27.0 


19. 889 


U. 987 


16.50 


0.946 


5 


0.805 


24.0 


22. 133 


28. 666 


17.11 


1.560 


6 


0.790 


23.0 


25.950 


9.669 


17.20 


0.876 


7 


0.800 


27.0 


25. 345 


11.500 


14.88 


0.998 


8 


0.790 


22.0 


35.460 


11. 590 


17.90 


1.014 


9 


0.795 


23.5 


25. 203 


12. 100 


17.12 


0.914 


10 


0.795 


27.0 


15.233 


5.410 


14.50 


0.348 


11 


0.800 


24.0 


23. 575 


35.769 


16.00 


3.114 


12 


0.790 


19.0 


32. 440 


19.711 


1614 


1.440 


13 


0.790 


19.5 


29. 580 


28. 711 


17.25 


2.100 


14 


0.790 


19.0 


33. 216 


26.461 


10.89 


1.210 


15 


0.785 


18.0 


34.706 


3.506 


17.98 


0.346 


16 


0. 779 


8.0 


48. 051 


20. 512 


19.38 


1.950 


17 


0.790 


19.0 


38. 193 


23.367 


18.25 


2.146 


18 


0.800 


27.5 


20. 950 


32. 550 


16.50 


2.200 


19 


0.798 


25.5 


20.600 


26 480 


17.33 


0.216 


20 


0.795 


23.0 


21.400 


27. 140 


17.50 


0.220 


21 


0.790 


23.0 


25. 400 


35.440 


14 20 


0.389 


22 


0.795 


24.0 


24. 116 


38. 880 


14.29 


0.401 


23 


0.790 


22.0 


36. 118 


13. 400 


17.55 


0.991 


24 


0.790 


19.0 


35. 6G1 


14. 014 


17.24 


0.973 


25 


0.800 


27.0 


16. 033 


6.880 


15.36 


0.310 


26 


0.795 


26.0 


18. 000 


8.446 


16.03 


0.300 


27 


0.795 


26.0 


17.880 


9.001 


15.98 


0.310 


28 


0.780 


9.0 


48.336 


20.330 


19.66 


1.977 



The amount of sulphur indicated by this table is surprisingly large, but I think it should have been computed 
as sulphur rather than as sulphuric acid. As sulphuric acid it is alieady oxidized and would not decompose at 200° F. 
and appear as sulphurous acid. It is compounds that will burn into sulphurous acid gas, and not sulphuric acid, 
that render these oils noxious. No examination that I have ever made has led me to think sulphuric acid (SO3) is 
present in illuminating oil. 

Section 3.—" SLUDGE." 

" Sludge" is the name applied to the refuse acid and alkali solutions from the agitators. When petroleum first 
began to be extensively manufactured, many attempts were made to recover both the acid and the alkaU from these 
spent solutions. The acid forms a black, tarry mass, and the alkali a sort of soapy curd, that forms flocks of a rusty 
color, and also compounds that pass into solution, as well as sulphate of soda. By evaporating the soda sludge to 
dryness and calcining to burn out the organic matter an impure carbonate of soda is obtained that can be converted 
into caustic soda by the ordinary process. . The sulphate of soda and other impurities thus accumulate in the 
soda solution and finally render its action imperfect. As this simple process for recovering the soda has never been 
used to any considerable extent, I infer that it has never, on the whole, been considered profitable. There was 
used during the census year an amount of soda crystals, soda-ash, and caustic soda estimated to be equivalent to 
3,500 tons of soda-ash, all of which ran to waste. 

The sludge acid is recovered by first heating it, when it separates into an oily superficial layer and a heavy 
layer beneath containing the acid. This acid liquid is drawn off and evaporated and concentrated like chamber 
acid, the black carbonaceous matter being destroyed at the high temperature required for concentration. This process 
is also very simple, but it produces abundant suffocating fumes and disagreeable odors, and in the neighborhood 
of dense populations is justly considered a great nuisance. At Cleveland, Ohio, and near Titusville, Pennsylvania, 
there are establishments for recovering spent acid, to which the acid sludge is carried in tank-cars. The 
manufacturers of petroleum are paid an amount sufBcient to induce them to put their sludge into tank-cars rather 
than to allow it to run to waste, and the recovered acid is returned to them at the ruling price for sulphuric acid. 
Sludge acid is sold to the manufacturers of commercial fertilizers in localities where the refineries are convenient 
to such establishments. Much, however, is allowed to run to waste ; it is run into rivers and lakes, and, in the 
neighborhood of New York, is conveyed in barges outside of New York hiirbor and emptied into the sea. The 
amount of this material that has been thrown into Oil creek and the Allegheny river is enormous. It has lodged 
upon the rocks and on the gravel along the creek and stained them black; and it floats upon the river continually, 



THE TECHNOLOGY OF PETROLEUM. 183 

often communicating its peculiar odor to the atmosphere above. I have also noticed it from the deck of a Sound 
steamer floating on the East river, its peculiar odor being perceptible at the level of the deck nearly all of the distance 
from Blackwell's island to the Battery. During the census year 45,819.5 tons of sulphuric acid were used in the 
manufacture of petroleum products. Of this vast quantity 21,158.75 tons were recovered, 22,163.5 tons were sold to 
manufacturers of fertilizers, and 2,498-J- tons were " run to waste ", which phrase means discharged into lake Erie, 
the tributaries of the Ohio river, the Delaware river, Chespeake bay, or the ocean. 

The effect of both acid and alkaline sludge upon fish was investigated by Dr. Stevenson Macadam, and the 
results were communicated in 1866 to the British Association for the Advancement of Science. He made dilute 
solutions of different strengths and immersed fish in them with the following results: 

1, a fish placed in the acid sludge died iu five minutes; 2, in one part sludge and three of water, it died in ten minnt.e8; 3, in one 
part sludge and twenty of water, it died iu fifteen minutes ; 4, in one part sludge and one hundred of water, it died iu fifteen minutes ; 5, 
in one part sludge and one thousand of water, it died in two hours ; while in one part sludge to ten thousand parts of water the 
fish were not killed for twenty-four hours, but were api^arently sick and prostrate. The spent-soda liquor which has been employed in 
treating oil which has been previously acted upon by acid is decidedly alkaliue and caustic in its nature. It has extracted from the 
oil and holds iu solution more or less carbolic acid and its Uomologues, and the poisonous nature of the spent-soda liquor is doubtless 
augmented by the presence of these acids. A sample of this soda liquor which was flowing from a paraffiue oil manufactory, and which 
contained extra water, proved destructive to fish in ten minutes ; with three parts of water it killed fish in twenty minutes ; with twenty 
parts of water, the fish were dead in twenty-five minutes; with one hundred parts of water, the fish were dead in thirty minutes; diluted 
with oue thousand times its volume of water, the soda liquor proved destructive to fish in twenty hours; while with ten thousand parts 
of water the fish were not killed, but were apparently slightly sick, (a) 

He also found that shale oil, Pennsylvania petrolenm, and their manufactured products, were all deleterious to 
fish; but the shale oil was more injurious than petroleum. 

If these sludge solutions were mixed, and as a result sulphate of soda insteatl of free sulphuric acid and caustic 
soda were discharged into the streams, the injurious eflects upon animal life would without doubt be lessened; but 
even in that case the discharge of such vast quantities of mineral and organic poisons into streams the waters of 
which are used by thousands of the inhabitants of the towns upon their banks cannot be viewed as anything less 
than a public misfortune, if no regard whatever is had to the fish with which the streams are stocked. The extent 
of such injury as a problem in public health, as compared with other interests, is properly a subject of inquiry for 
the physician. 

Section 4.— EIEES. 

The attention of the public was called to the great danger of allowing large quantities of either crude or 
refined oil to be stored within the limits of large cities by the disastrous fires that occurred in Philadelphia in 
March, 1865. A quantity of oil, amounting to what would now be considered only a few thousand barrels, was 
stored in some open sheds on a lot that was not otherwise occupied. This oil was set on fire, as was supposed by 
an incendiary, very early on a cold morning early in March. Tlie flames spread rapidly, and as the barrels burst 
the contents accumulated in a pool of burning oil that soon overflowed the lot, and, filling the frozen gutters, ran 
down a narrow street iu the neighborhood in a rivulet of flame as high as two-story houses. Houses were set 
on fire, and their occupants, fleeing for life, were overtaken by the stream of fire and burned before they could 
escape. In this way several lives were lost. This catastrophe led to the enactment of laws forbidding the storage 
of petroleum within the limits of large cities, and in the case of Philadelphia the railroad carried a branch track to 
tide- water below the city lor its delivery and shipment. 

Petroleum refineries have been considered especially liable to destruction by fire, yet some of the oldest 
establishments in the country have received very little injury from that source. The amount of capital invested in 
the manufacture of petroleum during the census year was $27,325,746. Of this, $21,196,246 was used twelve months, 
$31S,00U eleven months, $2,315,000 ten months, $2,019,000 nine months, $727,000 eight months, $100,000 seven 
months, $510,000 .six months, $100,000 five months, $36,000 four months, and $4,500 three months, equal to $25,781,327 
used for twelve months. During the same time the losses from fire in the refineries of the country amounted to 
$104,631, or less than one-half of 1 per cent. When to this invested capital is added the total value of manufactured 
products that passed through these establishments, equal to $43,705,218, the total being $71,100,964, these losses 
are insignificant. The refineries lately constructed are for the most part uncovered, and the material about them 
that can burn is reduced to a minimum; but the older refineries that have not burned are inclosed in very substantial 
buildings, provided with ample means for completely filling them with steam in case of any accidental ignition 
ol the oil. Eeally tlio danger from fire depends upon the want of care exercised by those who have charge of the 
refineries more than upon any especial appliances for preventing or extinguishing them. The great fire in Titusville 
in June, 1880, and caused by lightning. Against the occasional destruction of property by the elements no 
amount of foresight or precaution will prevail. 

a Chemical Xeios, xiv, 110. 



184 PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 

" Section 5.— THE SPECIAL TECHNOLOGY OF CALIPOENIA PETEOLEUM. 

The earliest attempts to manufacture the petroleum of southern California were made by Mr. Gilbert, of San 
Buenaventura, about I860, who distilled the malthas of the Ojai ranch and obtained from them a small quantity of 
oil of inferior quality that could be used for illumination. When I commenced my experiments in 1865 upon the 
same material I was soon convinced that it was quite different from the petroleum with which I was familiar on the 
Atlantic coast. The yield of oil of a specific gravity suitable for illuminating purposes was small in quantity, and 
burned in the lamps in use for Pennsylvania oils with a dull and smoky flame. The proportion of oil of medium 
specific gravity was very large, and the heavy oils, while of very low specific gravity, were not unctuous, and were 
destitute of lubricating properties. One of these denser distillates, with a specific gravity of 16° B., was a mobile 
fluid-like water or an essential oil. When the Hay ward Petroleum Company and Stanford Brothers commenced the 
manufacture of petroleum from their springs and tunnels in San Francisco they encountered the same difficulties 
on a large scale. The oUs were all of inferior quality, and the " middlings ", as they were called, were so large a 
proportion of the distillate as to prove a very great obstacle to the success of the enterprise. 

Professor Silliman secured a barrel of the Ojai malthas and carried it to Boston, where he worked it in the 
experimental apparatus of the Downer company. Prom the report of his results I make the following abstract : 

The crude oil is very dark. At ordinary temperatures (60° F. ) it is a thick, viscid liquid, resembling coal-tar, but witli only a very sliglit 
odor, and with a density of 0.980 or 13^° B. It retains, mechanically entangled, a considerable quantity of water. The tar froths at the 
commencement of distillation from the escape of watery vapor. It yields by a primary distillation no product having a less density than 

0.844, or 37° B. at 52° P. Distillation to dryness gave : 

Per cent. 

Of oil having a density of 0.890 to 0.900 69.82 

Coke, water, and loss 30.18 



10./. no 



This first distillate, having a density of about 0.890 at 60° F., gave, when subjected to slow distillation, a product having a density of 

0.885, which, after treatment with oil of vitriol and soda lye and redistillation from soda, had a density of 0.880. Tliis distillate was thou 

fractionated, and yielded : 

Per cent. 

Lightoilof specific gravity 0.835 at 60° F 21.58 

Heavy oil of specific gravity 0.880 at 66° F 37.41 

Heavy oil of specific gravity 0.916 at 64° F 34. 53 

Coke 6.48 

100.00 

In another experiment, undertaken with a view to " cracking", treating, and redistilling with soda, the products were expressed in 

percentages of the whole amount operated upon as follows : 

Per cent. 

Naphtha of specific gravity 0.760 at 60° F , 11. 33 

Oil ofspecific gravity 0.836 at 60° F 66.22 

Oil of specific gravity 0.893 at 60° F 12.67 

Oil of specific gravity 0.921 at 60° F 3.56 

Loss 0.22 

100. 00 

Further experiments by distillation under pressure gave : 

, Per cent. 

Light oil, specific gravity 0.825 at 60° F 19.20 

Heavy oil, specific gravity 0.885 at 60° F 2.5.86 

Heavy oil, specific gravity 0.918 at 60° F 38.14 

Coke and loss 16.80 

100. 00 

No paraffine could be detected by refrigerating any of these heavy oils in salt and ice. (a) 

On returning from California to New England, in 1866, I brought with me a few gallons of several of the 
petroleums and malthas of the neighborhood of San Buenaventura, It was my intention to treat these samples in 
an ajiparatus similar to that used by Mr. Merrill, but the small quantity of each specimen at my disposal rendered 
that operation very difficult, and I subsequently determined to distill them under pressure, after the manner patented 
by Young. I contrived a small retort, with a valve of peculiar construction, described in the American Journal of 
Science for September, 1867. (6) These specimens of petroleum, numbered I, II, and III, were subjected to this 
treatment. No. I came from a tunnel in the Sulphur mountain (see Fig. 6), with a specific gravity 0.9023 ; No. II, 
from the Pico spring, with a specific gravity 0.8932 ; and No. Ill, from the Canada Laga spring, with a specific 
gravity 0.9184. They were first subjected to distillation under a pressure of about 30 pounds per square inch in a 

a A. J. S., xliii, 242; C. N., xvii, 257; B. S. C. P., 1868, 77. 6 A. J. S. (2), xliv, 230; C. N., xvi, 199; W. B., 1867, 725. 



THE TECHNOLOGY OF PETROLEUM. 



185 



measured quantity of 1,500 c.c. The distillate obtained was then fractionated until the specific gravity of the 
distillate averaged 0.810 or 43° B. The heavy residue in the retort was again distilled under pressure and 
fractionated to a distillate of specific gravity 0.810. The heavy residue in the retort was then treated for 
lubricating oil. The results tabulated as follows : 



1,500 0. c. of erode oil for 


3 

•3 


1 
11 


*M 


s 

■S5 




■|m 


.a 

s 




1 

g 

■p. 
3 

H 




.3 S 

at 


•E 

.a 




ii 


■a 
11 


tx 


i 


each experiment. 


e2 

43 


O 


1; 
1 


r 


U 


1° 


i 


11= 

H 


E.a 
■a 




3 


S-9 


£ 

a 
3 


s 

1 


Cubic centimeters: 




































1,365 
1,315 
1,240 


135 
185 
260 


630. 00 
850.80 
605. 00 


735. 00 
464.20 
635. 00 


681. 00 
408. 78 
571. 50 


184.00 
102. 19 
142.87 


814, 00 
952. 99 

747. 87 


24.42 
28.69 
22.43 


769. 58 
924.40 
725.44 


497. OO 
306. 59 
428.63 


14.01 
9.19 
12. 8S 


462. 09 
297. 40 
415.78 


789.58 
924. 40 
726. 44 


482. 09 
297. 40 
415. 78 


39.33 
37.78 
35.28 


189.09 




240.42 


in 


323.50 


Percentages : 






91.00 
87.66 
82.66 


9.00 
12.34 
17.34 


42.00 
56.72 
40.33 


49.00 
30.94 
42.33 


45.40 
27.25 
38.10 


12.27 
6.81 
9.52 


54.27 
63.53 
49.85 


1.63 
1.91 
1.49 


52.64 
61.62 
48.36 


33.13 
20.44 
28.68 


0.99 
0.61 
0.86 


32.14 
19.83 
27.72 


52.64 
61.62 
48.36 


32.14 
19.83 
27.72 


2.62 
2.52 
2.35 


12.60 


n 


16.03 


ni 


21.57 


Cubic centimeters: 






1080. 00 


232. 50 


250. 00 


830. 00 


747. 00 


186.75 


436. 75 


13.10 


423.65 


560. 25 


16.80 


543.45 


423.65 


543.45 


29.90 


503.00 


Percentages : 




IV 


72.00 


15.50 


16.70 


55.30 


49.80 


12.40 


29.10 


0.90 


28.20 


37.40 


1.10 


36.30 


28.20 


36.30 


2.00 


33.50 







The specimen of maltha (IV) examined was taken, it is supposed, from the same pool on the Ojai ranch as 
that examined by Professor Silliman. Its specific gravity was 0.9906. The air, hydrogen sulphide, and water was 
removed by allowing the maltha to flow slowly from one vessel through a second vessel, in which it was heated 
sufficiently to expel these impurities, and from which it flowed into a receiver. The loss by this treatment was 
12J per cent. The purified maltha was then treated precisely like the oils, with the results as given above. 

As these results, both with malthas and 'oils, were conducted on a small scale, the percentage of loss is much 
greater than would be experienced on a commercial scale. 

A comp.arison of the results of the distillation of the malthas and oils appear at first sight to give the latter great preponderance in 
value over the former; but it should be borne in mind that the malthas contain 12| per cent, of volatile impurity not contained in the 
oils. After making due allowance for this fact, it will be ob.served that the total amount of crude distillate is in all cases very nearly in 
the same proportion to the pure bitumen contained in the crude materials. These crude distillates yield easily to treatment with the 
ordinary amount of sulphuric acid and soda lye. The purified oil is very transparent and the most free from color of any that I have 
seen. Indeed, were it not for its opalescent properties, and the peculiar manner in which light is refracted by it, this oil could not be 
distinguished by the eye from pure water. I do not claim to have produced oils the burning qualities of which are superior to other 
CaUfomia oils, but I think them in no way inferior to the best that have been produced from unadulterated California petroleum. The 
best refined California petroleum that I have made, as also the best that I have seen from other sources, fails to produce a light of such 
intense whiteness as the best refined Pennsylvania oils, although they are quite equal to the average upon the market. It is my opinion 
that this difference is due to admixture of some series of hydrocarbons, containing a large amount of carbon in proportion to the hydrogen, 
in such quantity as to render the combustion incomplete, and thus give rise to a yelloxc flame, (o) 

An examination of Eussian petroleum in 1881 by Kurbatow and Beilstein has shown the presence of an 
homologous series such as was here predicted, which contains more hydrogen than the benzole series and less 
hydrogen than the paraffine series. There is a great similarity between these Tertiary Eussian petroleums and the 
California petroleums of the same geological age, and it is altogether probable that they both contain these "additive 
compounds of the benzole series". I am informed that during the last ten years or more there have been a number of 
thousands of barrels of petroleum refined in Santa Barbara and Ventura counties which has been sent into Arizona 
and Mexico, but was not of such a quality as to compete in the San Francisco market with oils manufactured on 
the Atlantic coast. On the whole, so far as I can learn, the oils manufactured from crude California petroleum are 
uniformly of inferior quality. 



a S. F. Peckham, Geo. Surv. of California : Geology II, Appendix, page 73. 



PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 



^OhapterVL— STATISTICS OF THE MANUFACTURE OF PETROLEUM DURING 

THE CENSUS YEAR. 



Section I.— INTEODUOTION. 

The statistics that form the subject of this chapter Trere obtained by means of a schedule of questions which 
were placed in the hands of the different manufacturers, and the answers have been consolidated into the totals 
as here given. Great care has been taken to include all parties engaged in the manufacture during the whole or 
any part of the census year, and it is believed that the list is complete. It is further believed that the schedules 
have been filled with as much care and regard to accuracy as could be expected under the circumstances. Several 
firms had gone out of the business at the time the statistics were compiled, and others had kept their books in such 
a manner as to render the compilation of such statistics difficult. It is believed, however, that in those instances 
where absolute accuracy was found to be impossible approximately correct estimates have been given. These 
instances constituted but a small percentage of the bulk of the business, which is carried on by large corporations 
and firms, who conduct their business systematically. The statistics furnished by these concerns have been compiled 
at much labor and expense, and in many instances are careful transcripts of annual or biennial balances and records 
kept in the regular course of conducting the business. As statistics of this character constitute a large proportion 
of the whole number, and as the remainder are carefully computed and estimated, the totals are believed to represent 
in a practically accurate manner the details of the business of the country for the census year. 

ITie following-named firms and corporations have furnished statistics : 



Portland Kerosene Oil Company. 
Downer Kerosene Oil Company.. 



•Oriental Oil Company... 
Maverick Oil Company . 
Pierce & Cant'Orbnry . .. 
■ S. Jenney & Sons 



' G. F. Gregory 

Charles Pratt & Co 

Empire Reftninfi Company 

^Sone & Flemming '.... 

•James Donald &.Co 

Wilson & Anderson 

.Bush & Denslow 

■FrantlinOil Works 

Devoe Manufacturing Company 

McGoey & King 

■Queens County Oil Refining Company. 

. James A . Bostwick 

Iiong Island Oil Works 

Lombard, Ayres & Co 

■Cheesboro' Manufacturing Company .. 

Xeonard & EUis 

A. C. Bnnce & Co 

Hndson itiver Oil Works 

Bayonne Refining Company 

Pennsylvania Refining Company 

.Malcom, Loyd & Co 

William L. Elkina &Co 

Harkness Refining Company 

Webster Bros. & Wilson 

Atlantic Refining Company 

Excelsior Oil Company 

United Oil Company 

J. Parkburst, jr., & Co 

'Camden Consolidated Oil Company 






Solar Oil Company 

S.Bailey &Co 

Reading Oil Company 

Bingbaraton Oil Company . 

Vacuum Oil Company 

Buffalo Oil Worlts 

;Standard Oil Company 



Portland, Maine. 
Boston, Massachusetts, and 
Corry, Pennsylvania. 



Boston, Massachusetts, 
Brooklyn, Kew York. 



Do. 
Do. 
Do. 



Brooklyn, INew York. 

Do. 
Now York city. 

Do. 

Do. 

Do. 
Bergen county, New Jersey. 
Bayonne, New Jersey. 
Philadelphia, PennsyWania. 

Do. 

Do. 

Do. 



Baltimore, Maryland. 

Do. 
Baltimore, Maryland, and P^- 

kersburg, West Virginia. 
Williamsport, Pennsylvania. 
Danville, Pennsylvania. 
Reading, Pennsylvania. 
Bingbamton, New York. 
Rochester, New York. 
Buffalo, New York. 
Cleveland, Ohio. 



Pioneer Oil Company 

Merriam &. Morgan 

li.D.Mis 

American Lubricating Oil Company 

Republic Refining Company 

Backus Oil Company 

William H. Doan 

Schofiold, Schurmer & Teagle 

Forest City Varnish, Oil, and Naphtha Co. 

J. H.Heisol&Co 

J. R. Timmins & Co 

Acme Oil Company 

Keystone Oil Company 

White Star Oil Company 

Crystal Oil Works 

Imperial Refining Company , 

Mutual Refining Company 

Empire Oil Works 

Eclipse OU Company 

Relief OU Works -. 

Franklin Oil Works 

German Refining Company 

William Bi-adin : 

Holdship (felrwiue 

Standard Oil Company 

Paine, Ahlett & Co 

E. J. Waring 

A. D. Miller 

J. A. McKee & Sons 

Central Refining Company 

D. P. Reighard 

^Andrew Lyons & Co 

Wallover Oil Company 

Samuel Hodkinson 

Marietta Refining Company 

Ohio Oil Works 

Argand Oil Company 

Richard Patton 

O. M.Lovell 

Isaiah Warren & Co 

L. D. Crafts 

SweetzcrOil Company 

S. P.Wells &Co 

Chess, Carley & Co 



Cleveland, Ohio. 
Do. 



Do. 
Do. 



Titnsville, Pennsylvania. 

Do. 

Do. 
Miller's farm, Pennsylvania. 
Oil City, Pennsylvania. 
Reno, Pennsylvania. 

Do. 
Franklin, Pennsylvania. 

Do. 

Do. 
Brady's Bend, Pennsylvania. 
Milleratown, Pennsylvania. 
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. 

Do. 

Do. 

Do. 



Smith's Ferry, Pennsylvania. 
Steubenville, Ohio. 
Marietta, Ohio. 

Do. 

Do. 

Do. 

Do. 
Wheeling, West Virginia. 
Parkersburg, West Virginia. 



Louisville, Kentucky. 



THE TECHNOLOGY OF PETROLEUM. 187 

• 

Section 2.— CAPITAL, LABOE, AND WAGES. 

The total amount of capital invested in the manufacture of petroleum during the census year was $27,325,746. 
Of this amount, $21,196,246 was employed the entire year and $6,129,500 for periods varying from one to eleven 
months, averaging $4,585,081 for twelve months. The total average amount of capital employed throughout the 
year was $25,781,327. (See page 183.) 

The total number of hands employed was 12,231. The average number was : Men, 9,498; women, 25; children, 
346 ; total, 9,869. Some of these men were employed in establishments that were in operation less than twelve 
months. The average number of men employed for twelve months was 8,032. Of the 9,498 men, 8,818 were 
employed by day and 680 by night. This latter number does not represent all of the labor employed at night, as in 
many establishments the work was not performed by men who worked constantly at night, but by men who were 
divided into sets and alternated, one set working during the day for one week, and at night the following week. 
In other establishments the work was divided from twelve at noon to twelve at night. 

The wages paid for skilled labor varied from $1 60 to $3 per day, averaging about $2 25, and in general no 
difference was made in the wages of those who worked by day from those who worked at night. Ordinary laborers 
were paid from $1 25 to $2 per day, averaging about $1 50; coopers from $1 50 to $2 50, averaging about $2 25, and 
tinsmiths from $1 30 to $2 25, averaging about $2. The highest wages were paid on the Atlantic coast and the 
lowest on the Ohio river. The total amount paid in wages during the census year was $4,381,572. 

Section 3.— MATERIALS EMPLOYED IN MANUFACTUEING PETEOLEUM. 
The total amount of crude petroleum manafaetured during the census year was 731,533,127 gallons, equal to 
17,417,455 barrels of 42 gallonseach. This crudeoil was valued at $16,340,581, equal to 92.9 cents per barrel. During 
the year there was received by the manufacturers in — 

Gallons. 

Barrels 20,363,918 

Barges 42,433,388 

Tank-cars 437,740,951 

Pipe-lines 227,941,728 

This oil is estimated to contain on an average 1 per cent, of water, and was mainly third-sand oil ; but it 
includes also nearly all of the second-sand oil, and a portion of the first-sand. It does not include any of the 
heavy oils that are used as natural oil, and but a small portion, if any, of the mixed oils. 

In the manufacture of this oil there was consumed the following kinds and amounts of fuel : 

Anthracite coal tons 

Bitumiuous coal tons 

Wood cords 

Coke bushels 

Naphtha gallons 

Residuum gallons 





Value. 


179,997 


$446,922 


504,667 


580,983 


1,471 


6,355 


303, 596 


13,218 


2, 892, 164 


42,315 


11, 765, 705 


229,215 



Total valuation of fuel nsed 1,319,008 



Anthracite coal was very generally used in the Atlantic cities, but not to the exclusion of bituminous coal. 
Naphtha and residuum do not appear to have been used as fuel except in special cases. This fuel was used in the 
distillation of the oil and in the production of steam for use both as power and in distillation. 

In the treatment of the distillates there were used of — 

Valoe. 

Sulphur tons 3 $180 

Sulphuric acid do 45,813i 1,206,052 

Hydrochloric acid • pounds 3,424 68 

Total value of acids 1,206,200 

Of this vast quantity of sulphuric acid the "sludge" of 22,162 J tons was sold to fertilizer and chemical 
manufacturers, that of 21,1585 tons was returned to the manufacturers to be restored, and that of 2,498^ tons ran to 
waste. Of this amount, 1,389 tons of the 2,498^ tons that ran to waste were thrown into the Atlantic ocean and rivers 
and bays that enter it, 839§ tons were thrown into the Ohio river and its tributaries, and 269J tons into lake Erie. 
The proportion of sulphuric acid that is thrown to waste is now much less than it was formerly, but the nearly 
5,000,000 pounds wasted during the census year is a large quantity with which to pollute our rivers and bays. 
The 1,078,000 pounds thrown into the tributaries of the Ohio river is a large contamination in the waters of even so 
large a river, and in addition to the acid the sladge oils cannot fail to increase its deleterious effects. 

The alkali treatment was effected by means of — 

Soda-ash tons... 

Caustic soda do 

Sal-soda pounds 

Aqua ammonia do 

Lime bushels 

Total value of alkalies 105,770 





Value. 


410.9 


$10, 427 


772. 3 


85,064 


96, 643. 


1,423 


160, 100. 


8,697 


797.0 


159 



188 



PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 



The sludge of all of this alkali was run to waste on the Atlantic coast, into the Ohio and its tributaries, and 
into lake Erie. 

The filtered oils and residues required the use of 1,990 tons of bone-black, valued at $62,815. The packages 
used were in part manufactured and in part purchased by the petroleum refiners, and were as follows : 

Value. 

Barrels: Made 3,292,698 |4, 040, 502 

PurohaBed 6,424,608 7,577,805 

Total 9,717,306 11,618,307 

Tin cans: Made 23,496,916 2,700,630 

Purchased 344,173 93,367 

Total '. 23,841,089 2,793,997 

Packing cases : Made 1,607,297 189,511 

Purchased 4,845,504 717,400 

Total 6,452,801 906,911 

The total number of all packages and their value was as follows : 

Barrels 9,717,306 $11,618,307 

Cans 23,841,089 2,793,997 

Cases 6,452,801 906,911 

Total packages 40,011,196 15,319,215 

Where barrels are not made they are being continually repaired. The number of coopers employed was 2,062, 
and of tinsmiths, 353. 

The following is the total cost of materials : 

Value. 

Crude oil, 17,417,455 barrels |16 340 581 

Fiel 1,319,' 008 

-A-cid 1,206,200 

Alkali 105,770 

Bone-black 62,815 

Packages 15,319,215 

Bungs, paint, hoops, glue, etc 645,412 

Total 34,999,001 



Section 4.— THE PEODUCTS OP MANTJEACTUEE. 

There were manufactured of the volatile products of the distillation of petroleum of a specific gravity above 
87° Baum6 293,423 gallons, valued at $29,117. This material was first called rhigolene, but a similar product has 
been called cymogene, and has been used in ice-machines. It is to be presumed that this material was used for that 
purpose. Of gasoline there was manufactured 289,555 barrels, valued at $1,128,166; of naphthas the following- 
named qualities and quantities : 



Specific 
gravity. 


Quantity in 
barrel's. 


Value. 


Degrees. 






60 


1,200 


$3, 600 


62 


109, 472 


225, 609 


63 


18,945 


43, 039 


65 


6,148 


17, 339 


68 


7,300 


20, 075 


70 


918, 374 


1,188,201 


71 


1,017 


4,657 


71-72 


6,899 


18, 110 


72 


6.048 


3,931 


73 


38, 777 


45, 945 


li 


ID, 665 


54,110 


76 


8,100 


34, 425 


76 


11, 609 


39,315 


68-70 


12, 525 


16, 282 


65-70 


260 


780 


60-72 


42, 302 


109, 417 


C8-78 


3,400 


8,500 


65-76 
Total .... 


85 


60 


1, 212, 626 


1,833,395 



THE TECHNOLOGY OF PETROLEUM. 



189 



Au iuspectiou of the table ou page 188 shows that the different grades of naphtha, as determined by the specific 
gravity, command very different prices. The following table shows the fire-test and quantities of illuminating oils 
manufactured: 



Fire-test. 


Quantity in 
barrels. 


Value. 


Beg.F. 






100 


2,059 


$6, 435 


110 


6,083,026 


19, 035, 913 


112 


913, 979 


2,621,777 


115 


90, 814 


313, 560 


120 


2, 107, 220 


7, 096, 218 


110-120 


5,948 


10,844 


130 


510, 522 


1, 507, 884 


J35 


2,036 


11, 233 


140 


15, 000 


85,000 


150 


1, 170, 725 


5, 494, 833 


110-150 


28,270 


108, 557 


155 


1,960 


7,350 


160 


1,627 


9,949 


175 


22,843 


164, 914 


150-175 
Total.... 


46, 220 


359, 144 


11,002,249 


36, 839, 6U 



It will be noticed that the three grades of 110°, 120°, and 150° include the larger proportion of the illuminating 
oils. The specific gravity of these oils varies from 45° to 50° Baum6, the high-tfist oils having usually the highest 
specific gravity. But a comparatively small quantity of oils having a fire-test above 200° F. was produced. 



Kre-test. 


Barrels. 


Value. 


Beg. F. 

. 260 
285 
300 

Total.... 


1,940 

300 

14,304 


$8,245 

3,000 

191, 480 


16,544 1 202,725 



These oils are of a specific gravity of 36° to 39° Baum6. 

The lubricating oils are prepared by various parties of different specific gravities. Petroleums reduced 
especially for cylinders are made very den.se, and vary from 25° to 28° Baum^. Of these oils there were produced 
L'(),01S barrels, valued at $371,020. Petroleums reduced for journals are prepared in greater variety. Of these 
there were : 



Specific 
gravity. 


Bmrela. 


i 
Value. 


Degrees. 

28 
28-30 

29 
29-34 

38 

Total.... 


8,184 
105, 095 
63, 705 
26, 657 

1,200 


$30, 327 
506,957 
30«, 203 
179, 510 
7,020 


201,841 


1,024,017 



The distilled lubricating oils are in equally large variety. Of the deodorized lubricating oils there were 
iliiced: 



Specific 
gravity. 


Barrels. 


Value. 


Degrees. 
25 
26 
28 
39 
28-33 

Total.... 


16, 460 
2,017 
68 
12,440 
39, 430 


$148, 140 

9,580 

340 

149, 280 

304, 232 


70, 415 


611, 572 

1 



190 



PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 



The paraffine oils reported are in still greater variety of specific gravity aud price, ranging from about $2 to nearly 
$12 per barrel; the latter value being assigned to an exceptionally dense oil of specific gravity 20° Baum6. Of these 
oils there were produced: 



Specific 
gravity. 


Barrels. 


Value. 


Degrees. 
20 

20-27 
24 
25 

26-28 
27 
28 
33 

Total.... 


2,524 
8,733 
552 
26, 293 
6,000 
3,187 
31,462 
714 


$24, 230 
33, 297 
4,668 
165, 555 
45, 000 
6,055 
124, 077 
5,141 


79,465 


408, 023 



Of paraffine wax there was produced 7,889,626 pounds, valued at $631,944, an average valuation of about 8 
cents per pound, of which 900,000 pounds were made into candles by one firm. 
Of residuum there was produced and sold 229,133 barrels, valued at $297,529. 

The products of ipanufacture other than those already enumerated were chiefly petroleum ointment, harness 
oil, and other vacuum products, as follows : 

The paraffine ointment manufactured hafl a value of more than $100, 000 

Harness oil 34,513 

Other products 193,584 

328, 097 



SUMMARY OF PRODUCTS OF THE MANUFACTURE OF PETROLEUM AND THEIR VALUE. 



Ehigolene 

GaBoUDe 

Naplitha 

nimninating oil 

Mineral sperm 

Reduced petroleum, for cylinders. 
Reduced petroleum, for journals. . 

Deodorized lubricating oils 

Paraffine oil 

Residuum 



Paraffine wax 

Miscellaneous products.. 
Total 



289, 555 
1, 212, 626 
11, 002, 249 
16, 544 
26, 018 
204, 841 
70, 415 
79, 465 
229, 133 



13, 136, 714 



$29, 117 

1, 128, 166 

1,833,395 

36, 839, 613 

202, 725 

371, 020 

1, 024, 017 

611, 672 

408, 023 

297, 529 



631, 044 
328, 097 



Section 5.— BUILDINGS, MAOHINEEY, ETC. 

There were in use daring the census year 374 boilers, of an aggregate capacity of 12,744 horse-power. The 
machinery was driven by 285 steam-engines, in addition to which there were 200 steam-pumps. These pumps 
were of very varied capacity and construction. Many of them were small, requiring only a few horse-power to run 
them, while others were very powerful machines, capable of handling hundreds of barrels of oil per hour. The 
number of buildings in use were reported at 866, and varied in character from rude sheds to substantial brick 
buildings, their aggregate value being $1,899,288, while the machinery was valued at $3,737,998. The losses reported 
as occasioned by fire and other acccidents aggregate $104,631 43, a loss on the capital in use in the business during 
the year of four-tenths of 1 per cent. 

An attempt was made to ascertain the quantities of the different products packed by the manufacturers for 
export, but a number of the returns contained so many errors that the results were worthless. 



THE TECHNOLOGY OF PETROLEUM. 191 

SUMMAEY OF STATISTICS OF THE MANUFACTURE OF PETROLEUM DURING THE YEAR ENDING MAY Jl, 1880. 

Capital invested a|l27,325,746 

Capital in nso for twelve months $25, 779, C88 

Total number of hands employed 12, 231 

Average number of men employed 9, 498 

Average number of women employed ■- 25 

Average number of children employed 346 

Total average number of hands employed 9, 869 

Total amount paid in wages $4,381,572 

Value of em de material $34,999,001 

Value of manufactured products $43, 705, 218 

Boilers iuuse 374 

Horse-power of same 12,744 

Engines in use 285 

Pumps in use 200 

Number of buildings 866 

Value of buildings $1,899,288 

Value of machinery 3,737,998 

Loss during the census year from fire, etc , 104,631 

STATISTICS OF PETROLEUM REFINING DURING THE YEAR ENDING MAY 31, 1880. 

Establishments : 

Number of iirms and corporations 86 

Capital : 

Amount of capital invested ; $27,325,746 

Hands employed : 

Average number of men 9, 498 

Average number of ■women 25 

Average number of children 346 

Total 9,869 

Wages : 

Total amount paid $4,381,572 

Materials : 

Oil. 

Qnantitiee. Valne. 

Crude oil used (6) gaUons.. 731,533,127 $16,340,581 

Fuel. 

Anthracite coal tons... 179,997 446,922 

Bituminous coal do 504,667 580,983 

"Wood cords.. 1,471 6,355 

Coke bushels.. 303,596 13,218 

Naphtha gallons.. 2,892,164 42,315 

Residuum do.... 11,765,705 229,215 

Chemicals. 

Sulphur tons... 3.0 180 

Sulphuric acid do.... 45,813.5 1,206,052 

Hydrochloric acid pounds . . 3, 424. 68 

Soda-ash tons... 410.9 10,427 

Caustic eoda do 772.3 85,064 

Sal-soda pounds.. 96,643.0 1,423 

Aqua ammonia .• do 160,160.0 8,697 

Lime bushels.. 797.0 159 

Bone-black tons... 1,990.0 62,815 

a This differs from the sum given in the Compendium ($27,395,746), an error of $70,000 having been detected after that Vfas printed. 
b The 731,533,127 gallons of crude oil used are equal to 17,417,455 barrel^ of 42 gallons each. 



192 PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 

PaciagiS. 

QnflDtities. Value. 

Barrels number.. 9,717,306 |11,618,307 

Tin cans do.... 23,841,089 2,793,997 

Cases do.... 6,452,801 906,911 

Bungs, paint, glue, etc - 645,412 

Total value of raw material 34,999,101 

Products : 

Khigolene barrels.. 5,668 $29,117 

Gasoline do 289,555 1,128,166 

Naplitha do.... 1,212,626 1,833.395 

Illuminating oil do.... 11,002,249 36,839,613 

Mineralsperm do.... 16,544 202,725 

Reduced petroleum, for cylinders .^do 26,018 371,020 

Reduced petroleum, for journals do 204,841 1,024,017 

Deodorized lubricating oils do 70,415 611,572 

ParafSneoil do.... 79,465 408,023 

Residuum - do.... 229,133 297,529 

ParafSnewax pounds.. 7,889,626 631,944 

Petroleum ointment, harness oil, etc 328, 097 

Total value of manufactured products 43,705,218 



MlSCELLANBOTJS STATISTICS : 

Boilers in use - 374 

Horse-power of same 12, 744 

Engines in use 385 

Pumps in use 200 

Number of buildings 866 

Value of same $1,899,288 

Value of machinery 3,737,998 

Loss during the census year from fire and other accidents 104,631 



P^RT III. 



THE USES OF PETROLEUM AND ITS PRODUCTS. 



VOL. IX 13 



P^IIT III. 

Chapter I.— THE USE OF MINERAL OILS FOE LUBEICATION. 



Section 1 INTEODUCTION. 

"Wagner's Berichte for 1879 contains a very full discussion of the subject of lubrication and lubricating oils. 
It is there remarked : 

A mineral oil which, without admixture of another oil or body, as a lubricator is of unquestionable advantage. It must possess the 
following characteaistics : 1st, it must possess the necessary consistence ; 2d, it must not harden ; 3d, it must not contain any mineral or 
organic acid (creosote) ; 4th, it must begin to evaporate and inflame at a high temperature (not less than 150° C); 5th, it must also, at a 
low degree of cold, show no separation of paraflEne ; 6th, it should possess only a faint odor. 

He further says : 

American lubricating oils are sold under the names of " Lubricating oil", " Eclipse oil," " Globe oil," "Valvoline;" also so-called 
" Natural lubricating oil", which is natural West Virginia oil reduced in a vacuum, together with complex mixtures and material produced 
by patent processes from residuum. The lighter and clearer oils are spindle oils, those more heavy are machine oils, and the specifically 
heaviest iu consistence and evaporating point are used for cylinders under the name of cylinder oil. The higher the specific gravity of 
these oils the less their fluidity and the higher their evaporating point. The specific gravity of the American lubricating oils varies from 

0.8G5 to 0.915 at 1.5° C. They stiffen according to quality between — 6° and — 30° C, most of them between —10° and 12° C. With the 

exception of the West Virginia Globe oils, which are sometimes found to evaporate at200° C, they inflame between 250° and 360° C, and 
boil mostly above 360^ C. (a) 

This may be taken as a fair representation of the subject as presented in the United States as well as in 
Germany. Although there have been those who have advocated the use of mineral lubricators for many years, it 
is only quite recently that any general admission of their claims to superiority has found expression. The whole 
question of lubrication is under discussion, and has been made the subject of a large number of memoirs during 
the last few years. Among these may be mentioned a very full discussion of the subject that appeared in Le 
Tfchnologiste in 18G8, two works that appeared in Germany in 1879, one by E. Donath {h) and the other by M. 
Albrecht, (c) and a work that was issued the same year by Professor E. H. Thurston, of the Stevens Institute of 
Technology, at Hoboken, Xew Jersey, published by Trlibner & Co., of London, (d) 

During the year 1878 the Boston Manufacturers' Mutual Fire Insurance Company commenced a general 
research upon oils and their relation to losses by fire, the results of which, as made public by the company, are 
embraced in alecture given before the New England Cotton Manufacturers' Association at their semi-annual meeting 
held October 30, 1878, by Professor J. M. Ordway, of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, (e) and iu a paper 
presented by Mr. C. J. H. Woodbury to the American Association for the Advancement of Science at their meeting 
in Boston in 1880, and published in their proceedings for that year. From these two papers as embodying the 
latest results obtained, which are emphasized by the test of actual experience, I shall quote liberally. 

The contract under which Professor Ordway undertook this research required that the investigation should 
have reference to — 

1. The power of the oils to diminish friction under various pressures and at various rates of speed. 

2. The tendency of the oils to oxidize while in u.se for lubrication, and their consequent deterioriition in efficiency. 

3. Their tendency to rapid oxidation when l.irgely extended by absorbent fibrous substances, and their consequent liability to 
induce spontaneous combustion. 

a W. B., 1879, 1139. 

b Die Prii/ung der Schmiermalerialin , Ed. Donath, Lcoben, 1M79, Otto Protz. 

c Die Priifuvg von Sc}imifrolen,TA. Albrecht, Riga, 1879, G. Deubner. Hiibner'sZeitsft., 1879, 67. 

d Friction and Lubrication. Determination of the laws and coefficients of friction by new methods and new apparatus, by K. H. 
Thurston : London, 1879. Triibner & Co. 

e Proceedings of the semi-annual meetiag, hold at Boston, October 30, 1878. 

195 



196 PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 

4. Their proneness to emit combustible vapors -when rubbed or moderately heated, or kept long in partially-filled reeervoixs. 

5. Their tendency to corrode metallic bearings. 

6. Their specific heat, or relative rapidity of heating and cooling when exposed to the same heating or cooling influence. 

7. The relative length of time that a pint of each will last in doing a given kind of lubricating work. 

8. Their relative fluidity or the thickness of layers retained between two surfaces subjected to a given pressure. 

9. Their compatibility with each other when successively used on the same bearing. 
10. Liability to separate into constituent parts by long standing or by freezing. 

■ 11. Their freedom from non-lubricating sedimentary matter. 

12. Ease of removal from bearings after becoming thickened by floating dust or abraded particles of metal, or by accidental over- 
heating. 

13. Their tendency to diffuse unpleasant or unwholesome odors. 

14. Ease of ignition and rapidity of combustion when they are inflamed. 

15. The probability of perfect uniformity in successive lots supplied by the manufacturer. 

16. The possibility of securing an unlimited supply at moderate prices. 

17. Suitableness for oiling wool before weaving and spinning. 

18. Ease of removal from yarn or cloth in the operations of scouring. 

19. Their suitableness for the manufacture of soaps. 

20. Their effect on leather and wool. 

Professor Ordway remarked that the report he had to make referred particularly " to certain chemical properties 
and the facUity of oxidation of different oils ". His samples were procured directly from the mills using them, and 
were referred to him marked with numbers ; the examination, therefore, was entirely unprejudiced. A few additional 
samples were procured from reliable manufacturers, and samples were imported from Paris, France. These 
were used in comparison. After the examination was well under way a list of names was furnished him, so that 
in his report he was able to give the oils the names by which they were known in commerce. Of the one hundred 
and eighteen oils in the list twenty-four were designated "spindle" oil, some of which were called "light" and 
some "heavy", fourteen as sperm, eleven as lard, nine as paralfine, five as machinery, three as olive, three as 
stainless, two as neat's-foot, six as wool oils, . five as mixtures of paraflQne and sperm, three as mixtures of 
parafflne and neat's-foot, and two as mixtures of sperm and spindle. 

Section 2.— SPECIFIC GRAVITY. 

Sections 2, 3, 4, and 5 are largely quotations from an extemporaneous lecture by Professor Ordway, which 
constitutes the best statement of the subject that has yet been made public. 

A simple test of oils, but one of exceedingly limited value, is the specific gravity. We have determined the density of nearly all 
by cooling to 60° F. and weighing in a flask of known capacity. The results are as follows : 

"SPINDLE" OILS. 

No. 17 = 0.840 No. 21 = 0.880 No. 71 = 0.890 

51 = 0.848 9 = 0,886 16 = 0.890 

76 = 0.848 52 = 0.887 79 = 0.893 

74 = 0.850 31 = 0.887 80 = 0.894 

4 = 0.850 47 == 0.890 87 = 0.898 

66 = 0.870 49 = 0.890 38 = 0.913 

68 = 0.880 53 = 0.890 48 = 0.916 

"SPERM" OILS. 

No. 11 = 0.880 No. 44 = 0.886 

26 = 0.880 75 = 0.886 

28 = 0.880 77 = 0.886 

32 = 0.880 35 = 0.887 

54 = 0.880 40 = 0.890 • 

56 = 0.880 34 = 0.890 

58 = 0.886 36 = 0.896 

These agree very closely with the true sperm oils which were procured from disinterested persons or from the shops. I got several 
specimens from cargoes newly arrived, taken from the casks before the vessels were unloaded, and these varied in specific gravity from 
0.877 to 0.888, the latter being crude head oil, rich in spermaceti. So, if specific gravity is any indication, the oils sold as sperms are very 
much like genuine sperm. 

"PARAPFINE" OILS. 

No. 65 = 0.880 No. 27 = 0.905 

59 = 0.884 45 =• 0.905 
85 = 0.888 69 = 0.905 
63 = 0.890 2 = 0.910 
43 = 0.894 



THE USES OF PETROLEUM AND ITS PRODUCTS. 197 

"LAKD" OILS. 

No. 10 = 0.914 No. IV = 0.918 

19 = 0.91C VII = 0.918 

13 = 0.917 VI = 0.920 

61 = 0.917 Pure lard = 0.919 

"STAINLESS" OILS. 

No. 3 = 0.860 No. 1 = 0.890 

70 = 0.874 

"NEAT'S-FOOT" OILS. 

No. 50 = 0.910 No. 6 = 0.914 

Pure neat'e-foot = 0.920 

MACHINERY OILS. 

No. 86 = 0.878 No. 61 = 0.895 

39 = 0.878 24 = 0.899 

33 = 0.887 

■With regard to other oils than sperm, specific gravity gives uo definite indication, because mineral oils may be mixed, and in that 
way -we may get an oil of high density, yet containing oil of low specific gravity. All I can say at present is that sperm oil is very light, 
of abont specific gravity 0.880 ; and lard oil should have a specific gravity of about 0.920. Lard oils are pretty thick, and petroleum oils 
of about the same specific gravity are also thick, and neither density nor thickness would betray an admixture. Though a great many 
people rely on the specific-gravity test, it is not to be depended on by itself, though it may occasionally be useful in connection with 
other tests. 

Section 3.— COIS'TENT OF VOLATILE MATEEIAL. 

As to the mineral oils, we soon observed that they are some of them volatile at the ordinary temperature of the air. It is somewhat 
the same with petroleum oils as with water. Water evaporates at all temperatures, from the freezing point up, and so do the petroleum 
oils. Those that have a high boiling point do so very little, indeed ; but those having a low boiliug point, if left in the air in the latter 
part of June or July, evaporate completely in two weeks. This was rather a striking thing, as showing that it is unsafe to leave these 
oils exposed to the air, where there is much surface exposed, in a warm room, for we may get an explosive vapor over the whole, and if 
any one goes near it with a lamp there will be trouble. But this was carried further. What takes jilaee at the ordinary summer 
temperature will take place more rapidly at higher temperatures; and in making our experiments we must exaggerate a little, in order to 
get quickly at results. Therefore we put some of these oils into an oven and observed how much they lost in twelve hours. This, I 
believe, is a somewhat new line of investigation, and the results are rather striking. Some of them were left for four hours, some for eight 
hours, and some for twelve hours ; but we have finally settled upon twelve hours and 140° F., which is not a very high temperature, and 
which we may often have near a steam-pipe ; and, in order to prevent one trouble which occurs in testing oils in this manner, we were 
obliged to suck up the oil in filtering paper. If you pour some oil into a watch-glass it will in time creep over the edge, and a little will 
be lost, and we suflered somewhat from that circumstance. We found it better to take a small watch-glass, which had been weighed 
carefully, and pour in oil enough to saturate a bit of paper ; the paper prevents the creeping. So, in making these experiments, we took 
a watch-glass, put into it a piece of dry filtering jiaper about two-thirds as large, weighed the whole, dropjied in some oil, weighed it, 
and put the glass into a hot oven at 140°, and observed the loss. All of the oils have been tried in this manner, and some of them give 
results which, to say the least, are very striking. • » » xhe first one was a spindle oil, at 50 cents per gallon ; it lost only 1.3 per cent. 
The next was a spindle oil that lost 1.5 per cent., and the amount gradually increases, so that in the 43d of the table we come to an oil 
that lost 10 per cent. » ♦ • ^Vnd again, the percentage rises to the last, a so-called "spindle oil", at 48 cents per gallon, which lost 
nearly 25 per cent. What would you think of an oil which lost, by exposure to a heat which is not very great, 24.6 per cent, in twelve 
hours? It seemed as though all the oils which lost over 10 per cent, must be oils not to be recommended, to say the least. I thiuk the 
insurance companies would say they ought to be condemned; and there is a pretty large number of such oils among those which were 
examined. There are twenty out of the one hundred and eighteen which lost over 10 per cent, by exposure to this moderate temperature. 
When the temperature is carried up to abont 200° the loss in some cases was about 37 per cent. Of course it is a matter of judgment 
which of these should be considered safe and which should not. For my own part, I should rather not use any oil which evaporated over 
5 per cent, under such circumstances. This matter has some connection with the flashing point, as one would suppose, and the flashing 
l)oint is the test which has been most relied on in regard to iietroleum oils. I should say, in speaking of these oils, that those that are 
marked sperm and lard and neat's-foot, instead of losing, gained at most 2| per cent. — they gained all the way from nothing to 2| per cent. 
All the oils of animal and vegetable origin (I mean those which were so marked) lost nothing, liut gained a little. In some cases they may 
have been mixed with a small quantity of petroleum oil. We find that, in the case of a heavy petroleum oil mixed with a light petroleum 
oil, we may expose the mixture to the boiling point of the latter oil without evaporating much. The heavy oil has a power of holding 
back. 

Section i.— THE FLASHING POINT. 

Now the flashing point is a matter which is determined in the case of ordinary kerosene very easily by heating the oil in a water- bath. 
In the case of these lubricating oils we must resort to a higher temperature and jnit them in an oil-batli. In this case we take a beaker, 
* * * hang it in oil, and expose it to a gradually raised temperature, until when we wave a small flame over the surface there will 
be a slight explosion. The flashing point of all the oils under examination is considerably above the boiling point of water, but some of 
them are not above the point to which oils might get in contact wiih the steam-iiipe, or pretty near a i)ipe heated by high-pressure steam ; 
and we all know that in factories, and in various other places, there is a possibility of oils, as well as other things, dropping upon the 
steam-pipe, or coming very close to the pipe itself. Of course such an oil, with such a flashing point, would be liable under such 
circumstances to difiuse an explosive vapor in the room. Perhaps, under any ordinary circumstances, it would not take fire, but under 



198 PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 

some circumstances it is liable to particular danger; for it so happens in a great many of these experiments, when we want to get an 
accident we cannot do it, and we have to wait until nature takes its own course. I remember some years ago trying to get an esi)losiou 
with ordinary kerosene, and we found it extremely difficult, and with kerosenes which are of low flashing point it is difficult to get a 
condition of things in which an explosion will take place ; but we know that these explosions are happening every day. With regard to 
the flashino- points, wo have tried all ; we have tried, by way of comparison, a great many of those which we procured directly from the 
manufacturer and which we suppose we know something about. The flashing points vary from 239° to 450° F., but on putting the 
fio-ures side by side with those that represent the loss by evaporation we find the flashing point does not indicate the loss we should 
expect by evaporation. There is a wonderful ditference. I find there is one which lost by evaporation 4.6 per cent., and it had the same 
flashing- point as one that lost by evaporation 13.8 per cent. We find another one which lost 9.4 per cent., and yet it flashed at the same 
heat as one that lost 24.6 per cent, by evaporation. This would seem to show that the flashing point is not to be so much relied upon. 
I place a good deal more reliance on the other experiments, to long exposure in contact with the air at a given temperature; and the 
flashin"- point I should set down as one of the things that may give uncertain results. If any oil has a low flashing point it ought to be 
rejected ; but, at the same time, an oil bearing a high flashing point may be mixed with a certain amount of a lighter oil, which will freely 
evaporate when exposed to the air more rapidly than another oil with a low flashing point. 

Section 5.— SPONTANEOUS COMBUSTION. 

Of course those oils, which, on being exposed twelve hours to a high temperature (140°) gain something, gain it from the air oa 
oxidation ; and they are found to be, as a general thing, either of animal or vegetable origin. » » * i believe the sperms gain rather 
more than tl^e lard or neat's-foot. Of course this oxidation is a matter which is of considerable importance with reference to spontaneous 
combustion ; and we have attempted to make experiments on spontaneous combustion, which is a matter depending on the oxidation of 
oil when spread out over a great surface. We imbibe fibers with the oil in such a way that they are not dripping with the oil, but 
simply dampened with it, and then expose them to hot air, and in the course of time, whether the fiber is cotton, or jute, or wool — in time 
they will all take fire when we have used an animal or vegetable oil. It is rather difficult to carry out these experiments on a small 
scale because we use only a handful ; but when you have a large basketful of waste there is no difficulty. In order to make up for the 
tendency to loss it was necessary, of course, to heat the soaked waste to a temperature which might be considered rather high. We 
have made experiments at 140° F., and we have made them at 190°, and we have made them above the boiling point of water ; in all 
cases it was below the igniting point of the oils. To make experiments on spontaneous combustion we took a given weight of cotton- 
waste, about a handful, and imbibed it with its own weight of the oil to be tried ; for it is quite an important matter that the experiments 
should be made with the same quantity of oil, and that the oil should be spread out in the same way throughout. When the waste is 
imbibed with its own weight it does not appear very greasy. It is not in a dripping condition, but in a state where it is still ready to 
imbibe. It is said by those who have made such experiments in Europe that equal weights of cotton and oil are the beat ; and I should 
suppose that to be the case, as then the air has the freest access to a large surface of the oil. The cotton, of course, is only matter which 
serves to spread out the oil, and to act as a non-conductor to prevent the heat from being radiated. We made experiments on spontaneous 
combustion at 200° and at 220°, but not as many of them as could be desired. 

One of the important things was to determine the accuracy of the trials made in Europe a few years ago. There were some 
experiments, published in the BuUetin of the Industrial Society of Mtdhovse, in 1875 and 1876, experiments made by Mr. Coleman, of Glasgow, 
and by Dolfus, in Alsace. The experiments of these gentlemen show that when an animal or a vegetable oil is mixed with a small 
percentage of petroleum oil the tendency to spontaneous combustion is diminished very much, and if with a large quantity of mineral oil 
the spontaneous combustion refuses to take place. There is, however, in this latter case an oxidation. They found in their experiments, when 
they took an oil which consisted of thirty parts of petroleum and seventy parts of an animal or vegetable oil, that the oil would heat up 
when exposed to steam heat, but when it arrived at a certain point it would go down. There is an oxidation, therefore, in such a case ; 
but the petroleum prevents its oxidizing so fast as to allow the heat to accumulate and set the mass on fire. This, of course, is a very 
important point ; and it was important to determine whether their results apply to the oils we have as well as those commonly met 
with in Europe. They use more vegetable oil, whereas sperm oil does not seem to be so common there as it is here. They found that 
all the oils tried by themselves would undergo spontaneous combustion, but when they contained from 30 to 50 per cent, of a miueral 
oil spontaneous combustion would no longer take place under the circumstances to which they exposed them. 

We have made experiments with cotton- waste and cottonseed oil mixed with petroleum oil, and have found that cottonseed oil 
mixed to the amount of 25 per cent, with 75 per cent of petroleum oil will take fire spontaneously ; so it seems that although spontaneous 
combustion is retarded in a great degree, it is not entirely prevented, even by a pretty large admixture of petroleum oil in the case of 
such oils as cottonseed and linseed, which are peculiarly prone to oxidation. When we came to takelard oil a careful experiment was made, 
which showed that 33 per cent, of petroleum oil (for this purpose what is commonly called spindle oil was taken) mixed with 67 per cent. 
of lard oil would not undergo apoutaueons combustion at the temperature at which the experiment was made ; whereas with 32 per cent, 
it did undergo spontaneous combustion. It would be very desirable to carry out these experiments to that degree of nicety in all cases, 
but you can easily see, when we are obliged to expose these oils to long-continued heat, and have an apparatus which must be isolated 
from the wood work around, we cannot have a great many of them going on at a time, and an experiment lasts from six to eight hours. 
Generally it takes to finish up one of these experiments on spontaneous combustion six hours. Some of them will take fire in three hours, 
but the heat does not accumulate enough with most until they have been kept in the oven for five or six hours. A great deal remains to 
be done in this line. * » * \fe all know cottonseed oil is one of those oils we have to fear, and it happens to be one of those whose 
spontaneous combustion cannot be prevented by a slight admixture of petroleum oil. But the experiments of Dolfus (a) and Coleman 
(&)were correct, it aeems. We had no reason to doubt they were correct, but the experiments we made were made at a little higher 
temperature ; and although the oil, mixed in the proportion of 70 parts of oil and 30 of petroleum oil, may not take fire spontaneously 
when the temperature is maintained at 110° F., yet it may when it is maintained at 190° F. ; and, of course, cotton-waste is liable to be 
exposed sometimes to a steam heat, and a steam heat may range up to 300° F., so that even when the oils are mixed with petroleum 
oil there is danger. Still, it is a fact that the admixture of even 10 per cent, of one of the heavy petroleum oils does diminish very much 
the tendency to oxidation or to spontaneous combustion, and that is a fact, of course, of immense importance. « * * We have tried 
the different animal and vegetable oils, some of them mixed with larger or smaller proportions of petroleum, but that investigation is 
Btill unfinished. 

a Bull. Soc. Ind. de Mulhouse, 1876. i C. N.,,xxx, 147; W. B., 1871, 1874, 1875. 



THE USES OF PETROLEUM AND ITS PRODUCTS. 199 

Section 6.— FLUIDITY. 

There is another matter which might be of some importance, but we have not been able to deduce from our trials any data of 

practical value ; that is, the relative fluidity of the oils. There is a wonderful difference in this respect, and we found all the lighter oils, 

that is, the lighter paraffine and spindle oils, are very much more fluid than the sperms of corresponding specific gravity. The specific 

gravity and fluidity have little relation to each other ; there is some, but no exact correspondence, (a) The mode of experiment for this 

purpose is to take a small pipette, of which the globe holds about a cubic inch. The globe is filled by sucking the oil up to the neck, and 

the liquid is then allowed to flow out through a very small aperture thirty-seven thousandths of an inch in diameter, and the time of flow 

is noted. The experiments must be made in a room which is kept at a uniform temperature. 

In this way ran out — 

Min. Sec. 

Sperm , 3 43 

Linseed 5 42 

Poppy 6 49 

Cottonseed 7 31 

Sesame 8 14 

Lard 9 24 

Olive (mere goutte) 9 26 

Neat's-foot 9 29 

Eape 9 55 

Navette 10 9 

Colza 10 

Castor, over two hours. 

There is another point which we would like to draw some deductions from if we could, but so far we have not found any particular 

law. If we immerse wicks in these oils, or filtering paper, which amounts to the same thing, of course, the distance which the oils will 

ascend or be carried up by capillary attraction is a matter depending on the fluidity of the oil, and this does not seem to have any exact 

relation to the flowing out through a small aperture. It is contrary to what I should have expected. » » • 

Section 7.— CHEMICAL TESTS. 

There have been various chemical tests proposed from time to time for oils, but in our investigation we were obliged to go on the 
supposition that almost nothing had been done, from the simple fact that the oils which have been experimented on in former times, in 
France particularly, have been mixed, and oils which are no longer in use. (T>) We have experiments relating to the adulterations of olive 
oil and linseed oil and rape, but those adulterations are out of fashion, and they used certain tests which give comparative indications 
only; there is nothing absolute about them. One of these tests is nitrate of mercury, which acts simply from containing in solution a 
certain quantity of nitrous acid. Another test is strong oil of vitriol, .and another is caustic soda, and another is chloride of zinc. We 
oan get very little aid or comfort from these old experiments. The nitrate of mercury test is of some trouble to carry out. And finally a 
very much better fluid has been invented by Jules Both. He used a fluid which absorbs nitrous acid in considerably larger quantities 
than nitrate of mercury, and which could be kept for a considerable length of time. It is made by passing nitrous fumes, formed by acting 
-on lumps of iron with nitric acid, into sulphuric acid at 40'^ B. The ch.argo up of the acid takes some eight, ten, or twelve days. It is a 
slow operation, but when it Is well carried out you get a greenish or bluish liquid, which has a wonderful eft'ect on some oils, and 
although there is nothing absolute to be learned by this, it gives comparative indications of great value. It seems that all those oils that 
oxidize readily are not effected by this test, whereas those that keep better, that are not so prone to grow rancid, will thicken and 
become quite hard when tested with it. 

In making these experiments we generally take a small wine glass and put in a little of the liquid and about the same amount of 
the oil th.at is to be examined, and then they are whipped together and allowed to stand for some time. If the oil is a good one, one 
that doesn't oxidize readily, we shall find that the product is very stifl"; even if you turn it upside down very little liquid will come out, 
and it is more like wax or tallow than the original oil. The sample I have in my hand is olive ; this is good olive oil, and you may see 
from the appearance of this that I find considerable difiiculty in pushing a rod into it; it is as stiff as beef tallow. Good olive oil will do 
this, but if adulterated with even 1 per cent, of these other oils the product is softer. Olive oil hardens very readily indeed, and good 
lard oil also hardens with promptness. This is a sjiecimen of lard oil ; I can push the rod through this without very much trouble. Here 
is one that is mixed with 5 per cent, of petroleum. You will observe on comparing these two that the petroleum oil has undergone such a 
change that it is colored yellow. The color indicates something. Here the lard oil is thoroughly white and will remain so ; whereas if 
there is an admixture of petroleum oil, however little, it will be pretty sure to turn yellow, and the product is softer than the other. I 
have here another which is a mixture of cottonseed and olive oil. Here you see a perfectly fluid oil ; there is a little thickening from 
the acid below, but it still remains in a fluid condition ; and this contains one-third of cottonseed and two-thirds of olive. By taking 
great pains we can distinguish 5 per cent, of admixture very well. 

These, of course, for illustration, have been exaggerated a little bit. That is, I have taken larger quantities than would be necessary 
if I were going to make an exact trial to determine how much can be used without interfering with the fluidity. I have here a mixture of 
lard oil with 20 per cent, of cottonseed that has thickened, but not very much. Now, when we take this same test and apply it to rape- 
seed oil, it remains perfectly fluid. Of course rape-seed oil, were it mixed with olive or lard oil, would diminish the consistency of the 
product very much indeed. Here is neat's-foot oil. One would suppose it would be very much like lard, but it is not ; it remains fluid 
without the oxidation surface or crust. This hardening usually takes place in the course of six or eight hours. The best way is to let them 
stand and watch them and see at what rate the hardening goes on. If you find one hardens in four hours, you will find that it is a pretty 
good eUve or lard oil ; if it is six hours, it may be mixed ; if it is eight hours, it is more likely to be mixed, and sometimes it is necessary 

a An oil distilled from California malthas of a specific gravity of 16° B. flowed like an essential oil. — S. F. P. 

b This statement of Professor Ordway explains why the investigations that have been made prior to the last few years are of so little 
value at present. 



200 PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 

to let them stand until the next day; then we have a little hardening, (a) In the case of petroleum oils -we have a very peculiar effect. 
Here is one of them : it has become very highly colored ; the petroleum oil itself becomes colored, and the fluid below becomes colored, and 
we can distinguish it by this discoloration. And there is another test, too. Whenever you have whipped up a petroleum oil with this liquid, 
and have let it stand for some hours, ten or twelve hours, there will be a matter like this sticking to the rod ; a waxy, sticky substance, 
something that is neither oil nor wax; it is not parafifine ; precisely what it is I don't know ; it is a matter which still remains to be 
investigated. All of the petroleum oils that we have examined, without exception, I think contain more or less of the matter which gives 
this precipitate, and the heavier the oil the greater the amount of the precipitate ; but even the light spindle oils and kerosene itself will 
show a definite coating on the rod or else a definite coating on the surface of the liquid itself. We have here a test in Roth's liquid, which 
is a very good indication of something. We cannot say positively when we have an oil hardened in this way what the oil is, but we can 
say what it is not, and that sometimes is a very important thing. If it purports to be so and so, we can see whether it is so and so or 
something else. # • » 

Mr. Atkinson. I should like to put one question at this point to Professor Ordway that I think is important. I believe you have 
reached the conclusion in respect to the amount of that gummy substance in a petroleum oil that it largely depends on the point to which 
the distUlation has been carried, and that the double distilled and refined oils contained the least ? » * * 

Professor Okdwat. That is so ; there are specimens here to show that. There is one here which has been distilled once, and another 
which has been distilled twice. It cannot be seen across the room ; but if any one examined these closely he wiU see that the precipitate 
on the surface of the liquid below is greater in one case than in the other, and the discoloration is about the same. 

Mr. Atkinson. I think I am also right in asking you whether or not that is not the substance which probably causes the staining: 
of the cloth and the varnishing of the windows and of the polished parts of the machinery ? 

Professor Ordway. It may be that substance. I should not be willing to say positively it is until we have made further experiments. 
This is a subject which has not been investigated, I believe ; and it is quite important that we should spend time aud find out what it 
is. It is something objectionable, it seems to me. It is said by some of the manufacturers of paraffiue oil that a little of this in an oil 
does no harm ; but that is not a point we should take for granted. While it may not do any harm in respect to lubrication, it may have 
something to do with the staining. Here is a substance which is got on oxidation. It has kept on turning brown, and that brownnesa 
may go on to a certain point where it will effect a permanent stain on the cloth. I am reasoning theoretically, but I think there are good 
grounds for saying, if an article of this sort is allowed to stain cotton or wool, and allowed to remain for sometime, this substance will 
become precipitated and go on oxidizing and make a permanent defect. This is a point which it is very desirable to have further light 
on ; and we can only get at it by a long series of trials, for the amount which we get of this is not very great. This is a body which is 
carried forward by the vapor ; for all vapors have a great carrying power, and although the boiling point of this substance is probably 
very high when oils are distilled, a little is carried forward even by kerosene itself. 

There are other chemical tests which so far we haven't had the time really to carry out. • • * Among other things it would be 
desirable to find out something by saponification, and experiments in saponification are slow. We generally have to boil for ten, twelve,. 
or even fifteen hours; and, when you undertake to saponify a dozen oils, you see it would take a good many individuals to carry on those 
experiments in a short time. » » * There has one thing turned up which I was not aware of before : that sperm oil does not saponify 
readily. We have taken pure sperm oil, and we find it is exceedingly difficult to saponify more than 47 or 48 per cent, of it. I mention 
this because some might be tempted, after making an experiment of this sort on an oil of an unknown origin, to think it was not a sperm 
oil. This peculiarity arises, I suppose, from a difference in the composition of sperm from other oils. Precisely what it is I don't 
know, because there has been very little written on the subject of sperm oil; and it opens up, unexpectedly to me, a new field for 
investigation, audi think the character and quality of sperm oil ought to be investigated by scientific men. Here is this fact which is 
admitted by a great many people : that sperm oil, of all the animal and vegetable oils, is the best lubricator. It is not because it contains 
more oleine, but it is something in the character of the oleine. After we have eliminated all the spermaceti, we get a peculiar oil which is 
different from the other animal oils, but I think it is sui generis. We have saponified a great many of the oils. Those which saponify with 
most ease are lard oils. Neat's-foot saponifies pretty readily. When'we take those that are mixed with petroleum, we can saponify all 
the way from 5 per cent, up, according to the proportion of the petroleum. I am not able at present to give any particular directions 
about saponification, for this is a matter which requires to be understood so as to present it to people in ordinary life, and I think it can 
be made a very good test of the character of oils, but in order to do it there must be a great deal of experiment. * » * At present all 
I can say is, a good many of the oils we have examined saponify very readily ; and these turn out to be, according to the descriptive lists, 
lard oil or something similar to lard oil. There are a good many of them which didn't saponify at all ; and, on reference to descriptive 
lists, they are found to be paraffines. 

When the oils are poured on a brass plate and allowed to run slowly down for a length of time some of them get quite green ; they 
color the brass ; they are decidedly acid in their character. In looking over these results I noticed that all the oils which are acid are either 
sperm or neat's-foot, and all of the sperm — I mean all those that purport to be sperm and neat's-foot — are acid in their character, whereas 
the other (the petroleum oils) don't show any acid reaction. (6) 

Following the close of Professor Ordway's remarks, Mr. Edward Atkinson and the professor engaged in a 
discussion of the practical value of the flashing and evaporation tests as applied to lubricating oils. The following 
is a summary of their conclusions : The flashing point is no indication of the lubricating power of an oil, but has an 
important bearing on insurance. No oil should be used about a manufacturing establishment that " can diffuse from 
the bearings an explosive vapor into the atmosphere". While there are some manufacturers of oils that can be 
depended upon, it is found that oils purporting to come from some others differ widely in quality. Several specimens 
of oil having the same name differ greatly in flashing point and other characteristics, yet the price remained about 
the same, and was evidently intended for the same article. While it appears to bedifficult for unskillful manufacture) s 
to prepare oils of uniform quality, there are others whose product varies but slightly, and it was somewhat remarkable 
that some of them having the low flashing point were high-priced, while others having a low flashing point were 

a I have quoted Professor Ordway fully, although the text does not relate to petroleum, because of the great value of his experi- 
ments. 

i This long quotation, reported from an extemporaneous lecture, and consequently somewhat diffuse in style, has been introduced 
here as the best statement of the subject treated that has yet been made public. — S. F. P. 



THE USES OF PETROLEUM AND ITS PRODUCTS. 201 

among the lowest-priced oils on the market. It was found that many of the best managed corporations, ignorant of 
their true character, were using oils with a high flashing point. But, in addition to the element of safety from the 
use of these oils, which rapidly evaporate, is found the question of profit. 

The cost of oil per 1,000 pouuds of cloth of about No. 33 yarn, in mills iu which there is no reason in the character or kind of 
machinery for a variation exceeding 25 per cent., appears to vary from 68 cents to .f2 58 per thousand, while the quantity used varies 
from 1.03 to 3.36 gallons per 1,000 pounds. It does not appear that this variation has any particular connection with the price of the 
oil. • » » But since we have begun to compare the results of the tests of evaporation and flashing point a very distinct relation of 
these tests to the actual cost of oil per 1,000 pounds of cloth is foreshadowed, and if we can establish this rule a great point will have 
been gained. 

The following striking illustration is given of the probable effects of the use of a lubricating oil from which 
the volatile material had not been completely removed: (o) The fire caught in the basement and communicated 
with striking rapidity with a weaving-room up one flight of stairs in which woolen fabrics were being woven and 
in which there were " no peculiarly combustible conditions ". The flames flashed instantly from one end of the room 
to the other, striking like a stroke of lightning the gas-meter, placed on a shelf some six or eight feet from the floor 
at the farther end of the i-oom, melting all the solder, and dropping the connecting pipes from the meter, while a 
towel that was hanging 2 feet under it was not scorched. The wool oil and the lubricating oil being both examined, 
the former was found to be pure lard oil, while the latter was one which had evaporated from the evaporation 
plate completely in five days. There was an oil on those bearings in that woolen weaving-room that did evaporate 
with extreme rapidity ; there was a fire that flashed through the room giving the appearance of flames. Of course 
evaporation is waste, and is not only injurious, but unprofitable. 

The following paper, upon the "Separation of Hydrocarbon Oils from Fat Oils", by Alfred H. Allen, is given 
here as the latest and best English contribution to the literature of this subject: [b) 

The extensive production of various hydrocarbon oils suitable for lubricating purposes, together with their low price, has resulted in 
their being largely employed for the adulteration of animal and vegetable oils. The hydrocarbons most commonly employed for such 
purposes are : 

1. Oils produced by the distillation of petroleum and bituminous shale, having a density usually ranging between 0.870 and 0.915. 

2. Oils produced by the distillation of common rosin, haviug a density of 0.965 and upward. 

3. Neutral coal-oil, being the portion of the products of distillation of coal-tar boiling at about 200° C, and freed from xihenols by 
treatment with soda. 

4. Solid parafline, used for the adulteration of beeswax and spermaceti, and employed in admixture with stearic acid for making 
caudles. 

The methods for the detection of hydrocarbon oils in fat oils are based on the density of the sample, the lowered flashing and boiling 
points, the fluorescent characters of the oils of the first two classes, and the incomplete saponification of the oil by alkalies. The taste 
of the oil and its odor on heating are also useful indications. 

If undoubtedly fluorescent, an oil certainly contains a mixture of some hydrocarbon, but the converse is not strictly true, as the 
fluorescence of some varieties of mineral oil can be destroyed by chemical treatment, and in other cases fluorescence is wholly wanting. 
Still, by far the greater number of hydrocarbon oils employed for lubricating purposes are strongly fluorescent, and the remainder usually 
become so on treatment with an equal measure of strong sulphuric acid. 

If strongly marked, the fluorescence of a hydrocarbon oil may be observed in presence of a very large pronortiou of fixed oil, but if 
any doubt exists the hydrocarbon oil may be isolated. As a rule, the fluorescence may be seen by holdiug a test-tube filled with the oil in 
a vertical position in front of a window, when a bluish "bloom" will be perceived on looking at the sides of the test-tube from above. 
A better method is to lay a glass rod, previously dipped in the oil, dowi on a table in front of a window, so that the oily end of the rod 
shall project over the edge and be seen against the dark background of the floor. Another excellent plan is to make a thick streak of 
the oil on a piece of black marble or glass smoked at the back, and to place the streaked surface iu a horizontal point in front of and at 
right angles to a well-lighted window, (c) Examined in this manner, a very slight fluorescence is readily perceptible. If at all turbid, the 
oil should be filtered before applying the test, as the reflection of light from minute particles is apt to be mistaken for true fluorescence. 
In some cases it is desirable to dilute the oil with ether and examine the resultant liquid for fluorescence. An exceedingly small amount 
of mineral oil suffices to impart a strong blue fluorescence to ether. 

The quantitative analysis of mixtures of fat oils with hydrocarbon oils has till recently been very uncertain, the published methods 
professing to solve the problem being for the most part of very limited applicability, and in some cases wholly untrustworthy. 

When the hydrocarbon oil in admixture happens to be of comparatively low boiling point, it may often be driven ofi' by exposing the 
sample to a temperature of about 150° C, but the estimation thus eti'ected is generally too low, and often quite untrustworthy. 

When it is merely desired to estimate approximately the proportion of hydrocarbon oil present, and not to isolate it or examine its 
exact character, Kcettstorfer's titration i>rocess may be used, as suggested by Messrs. Stoddart. But the best and most accurate method of 
detecting hydrocarbon oils in, and quantitatively separating them from, fat oils, is to saponify the sample, and then agitate the aqueous- 
solution of the soap with ether, (d) On separating the ethereal layer and evaporating it at or below a steam heat the hydrocarbon oil is 
recovered in a state of purity. 

Either caustic potash or soda may be employed for the saponification, but the former alkali is i>referable, owing to its greater solubility 
in alcohol and the more fusible character of the soaps formed. A convenient proportion to work with consists of 5 grms. of the sample 
of oil and 25 c. c. of a solution of caustic potash in methylated spirit, containing about 80 grms. of KHO jier liter. Complete saponification 

a In this case the volatile oils appeared to constitute the bulk of the lubricator used. 

6 Oil and Drug News, October 18, 1881. Read at the 1881 meeting of the British Association. 

c "Either of these plans is infinitely superior to the jiolished tin-plate usually recommended. In short, the background should he 
black, not white. "' 

d "According to my experience, treatment of the dry soap with ether, petroleum spirit, or other solvent is liable to cause error from, 
solution of the soap itself, if much hydrocarbon oil be present. " 



202 



PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 



may usually be effected by boiling down the mixture in a porcelain dish, -with frequent stirring, until it froths strongly. In the case of 
butter, cod-liver oil, and other fats which undergo saponification with difficulty, it is preferable to precede this treatment by digestion of 
the mixture for half an hour at 100° C. in a closed bottle. After evaporating oft" the alcohol, the soap is dissolved in water, brought to a 
volume of 70 to SO c. c, and agitated with ether. The ethereal solution is separated, washed with a little water, and carefully evaporated 
The agitation with ether must be repeated several times to effect a complete extraction of the hydrocarbon oil from the soap solution. 

The foregoing process has been proved to be accurate on numerous mixtures of fat oils with the hydrocarbon oils. The results 
obtained are correct io within about 1 per cent, in all ordinary cases. In cases where extreme accuracy is desired, it is necessary to 
remember that most, if not all, animal and vegetable oils contain traces of matter wholly unacted on by alkalies. In certain cases, as 
butter and cod-liver oil, this consists largely of cholesterin, C26H44O. (a) The proportion of unsaponifiable matter soluble in ether, which is 
naturally present in fixed oils and fats, rarely exceeds l-J per cent. , and is usually much less. Sperm oil, however, constitutes an exception, 
yielding by the process about 40 per cent, of matter soluble in ether. (6) This peculiarity has no practical effect on the applicability of the 
process, as sperm oil, being the most valuable of commercial fixed oils, is never present without due acknowledgment of the fact. 
Spermaceti and the other waxes yield, after saponification, large percentages of matter to ether, and hence the process is not available 
for the determination of paraffine wax in admixture with tkese bodies, though it gives accurate results with the mixtures of paraffine and 
stearic acid so largely employed for mating candles. The following figures, obtalued iu my laboratory by the analysis of substances of 
known purity and of mixtures of known composition, show the accuracy of which the process is capable. The process was ia each case 
on about 5 grms. of the sample in the manner already described. 

The results are expressed in percentages : 



Composition of Bubst^nces taken. 


TJnsaponiflable 
matter found. 


Fat oil. 


Eesults. 


Hydrocarbon oiL 


Results. 




Per cent. 
40 
80 
40 
80 
86 
60 
60 
60 
70 
48 
60 
20 
100 
100 
100 
100 
100 
100 
100 
100 
. 100 
100 
100 




Per cent. 
60 
20 
60 
20 
16 
40 
40 
40 
30 
52 
40 
80 


Per_cent. 

58.03 

19.37 

59.42 

19.61 

15.95 

39.74 

39.32 

38.88 

30.80 

53.60 

39.54 

80.09 

*1.14 

*1.00 

0.71 

1.82 

0.S4 

0.46 

41.49 

49.68 

1.14 

*0.23 

0.22 






























C dlV r 


















































Sperm 

Spermaceti 

































* These experiments "were not made strictly by tbe same process as the majority. 
The following table indicates the general behavior of the constituents of complex fats, oils, and waxes when the aqueous solution 
of the saponified substance is shaken with ether : 

Eemaining in the aqueous liquid. 
Fatty acids. 



Eesin acids. 



Carbolic and 
c Cresylic acids. 



In combination with the alkalies used. 



Glycerol (glycerine). 



Dissolved by tbe etber. 
Hydrocarbon oils ; including — 

Shale and petroleum oils. 

Eosin oil. 

Coal-tar oil. 

Paraffine wax and ozokerite. 

Vaseline. 
Neutral rosins. 
XJusaponified fat or oil. 
Unsaponifiable matter ; as cholesterin. 
Spermyl alcohol ; from sperm oil. 
Cetyl alcohol ; from spermaceti. 
Myricyl alcohol ; from beeswax. 
The hydrocarbon oil having been duly isolated by saponifying the sample and agitating the solution of theresultant soap with ether, 
its nature may be ascertained by observing its density, taste and smell, behavior with acids, etc. 

a "The process affords a very rapid and simple means of isolating cholesterin. Thus, on dissolving the traces of unsaponifiable matter 
left by butter in a little hot alcohol, and allowing the liquid to cool, abundant crystals are deposited, which may be identified as cholesterin 
by their microscopic and chemical characters. A sample of butterine gave no cholesterin." 

1) " I am investigating this interesting fact, and have obtained fuU confirmation of Chevreul's observation that sperm oil when saponified 
yields a peculiar solid alcohol instead of glycerine. It is distinct from cetyl alcohol, and distills, apparently without decomposition, at a 
very high temperature." 

c " In a previous research I found that carbolic and creslyic acids were whoUy removed from their ethereal solutions by agitation with 
caustic soda." 



THE USES OF PETROLEUM AND ITS PRODUCTS. 203 

Section S.— PEACTICAL EESULTS OF THE INVESTIGATIONS OF PROFESSOR OEDWAY. 
In a circular issued iu 1S80 Mr. Edward Atkiuson treats the subject of oil as follows : 

lu the two years and little more that have elapsed since the question was taken up for the mere purpose of abating some of the 
•dangers of fire the following changes have occurred. ♦ " » In 1878 a request made for information was responded to by the managers 
•of one hundred mills, who gave the quantity and price of the oils used for lubrication, the pounds of cotton goods manufactored in 
preceding periods of six or twelvemonths, and other data. These returns were compiled, and it appeared that in fifty-five mills, operated 
on about the same fabric, and among which there was no good reason for a variation of over 20 per cent, either in cost or quantity of oil 
used, the actual variation was about 350 per cent. It will also be remembered that a large portion of the waste of oil consisted iu 
evaporation, whereby the atmosphere was sometimes charged with combustible vapors, by which some fires that might otherwise have 
been easily subdued were made very dangerous. It was for the special purpose of discovering the facts in this particular matter and 
applying the remedy that the inquest was first entered upon. 

It is a great satisfaction to be able to state that within the first year after we agitated this subject a settlement was made iu a patent 
lawsuit, the principal manufacturers of lubricating oil agreeing to pay a royalty for the right to use superheated steam in their preparation, 
and by that or other methods a great change for the better was made. The volatile and dangerous oils do not now appear to be upon 
the market, or, at any rate, are apparently no longer offered to members of our company to any extent. They are very easily detected 
and avoided ; and we still stand ready to examine any and all samples, and to inform all our members of the names of dangerous oils, 
and to warn them against the vendors. 

Very soon after the change in the process of manufacture a sharp competition ensued in the sale of good oil, and a considerable 
reduction of prices followed. 

The change in practice has been very great during the last two years. We have lately called upon the same mUls that gave ns data 
in 1878 to make a similar return for six or twelve months ending in 1880, and have received answers from 78. 

From the 78 returns we get the following results: 

The product of cotton goods in these mills for a period averaging 8^ months prior to June 30, 1878, was 102,874,748 pounds, or 
12,653,720 pounds per month. For a period averaging Sfi, months prior to June 30, 1880, it was 110,166,595 pounds, or 13,550,620 pounds 
per month. Increase in product, 7.09 per cent. The quantity of oil used in the first period was 176,766 gallons, or 1.72 gallons to each 
10,000 pounds cloth. In the second period, 173,481 gallons, or 1.57 gallons to each 10,000 pounds cloth. Decrease in the consumption of 
oil, 8.72 per cent. The cost of oil and grease for lubrication in the first period was $103,162 25, or §10 03 to each 10,000 pounds cloth. 
-In the second period, $73,4fc2 71, or S6 67 to each 10,000 pounds cloth. Pecrease in the cost of lubrication, 33 per cent. 

If the cost of lubrication had been §10 03 for each 10,000 pounds in 1880, the gross sum would have been . $110,497 19 
The actual cost was 73,482 71 

Difference for 8 ^ months 37, 014 48 

or, for 12 months, in round figures 55,000 00 

The above seventy-eight mills represent an annual consumption of 400,000 bales of cotton, which constitutes about 30 per cent, of 
the consumption of the cotton factories insured in this or in other mutual companies. If the decrease of cost in these mills represents an 
average of the whole, the lubrication of machinery in cotton-mills insured by us costs §180,000 less annually than it did at the time this 
investigation was entered upon. The change has been computed first on fifty-three, then on sixty-five, and last on seventy-eight mills, 
with substantially uniform results. We may therefore infer a general rule. 

Of course vre cannot claim all this saving as the direct result of our work, because there has been a great decline iu the prices of 
■oils, ranging from 10 to 40 per cent., except so far as that reduction may be attributed to this investigation. One of the laigest dealers 
to whom these figures have been submitted attributes two-fifths to the reduction of price, and the remainder to the saving of waste 
and to the more general use of a uniform quality of fine mineral, or so-called paraffine oil, at a substantially uniform range of prices, 
in place of a considerable use of mixed oils under fancy names, and at all sorts of prices. In comparing particiUar cases, we find this 
view confirmed; but, if we may not assume so much of the savings as would amount to three-fifths, or $100,000 a year, yet we may 
fairly claim, as the direct result of changes made in consequence of this investigation, a sum equal to all the losses and expenses of this 
company for the two years that have elapsed since our work began to have an influence, especially an influence on the manufacture of oil. 

• Section 9.— DETERMINATION OF THE VALUE OF LUBRICATING OILS BY MECHANICAL TESTS. 

During tlie discussion that followed the lecture given by Professor Ordway, previously quoted, Mr. Edward 
Atkinson remarked as follows : 

I will now say, also, that inasmuch as we have obtained three frictional machines^two American and one English — all of which 
may prove unsuitable, it has occurred to us to establish the rule of lubricating power on spinning-frames actually in operation by the 
application of thermometers to every spindle. • • • Three small frames have been provided, which are to be started and operated 
with full bobbins, and with thermometers applied to the steps and bolsters ; we will Then use the difl'erent oils upon them, and see if we 
can establish by the ratio of heat evolved any rule as to the lubricating power of each oil. In a rough-and-ready way we have applied 
that test to the shaft of the elevator iu our office building, and there are several results that have been obtained that prove that there is 
a, very simple method available to almost anybody. I caused some thermometers to be prepared, and mounted them iu copper cartridges 
filled with water, and then had the journal-box of the shaft bored, and one of these thermometers phiced so as to rest against the shaft 
as it is iu use, and then hung another one in precisely the same way alongside. 

The first shaft that we tried was belted both ways, and had no serious bearing upon its journal. The second shaft is the principal 
shaft operating about four hundred turns, and working the elevator with the belt bearing down upon it. Under the first oil we tried the 
shaft heated about 3U^ F. In hot days, when the atmosphere of that room was at 100^, the shaft showed 128"^ to 130^. We then tried some 
light spindle oil which we didn't think fit for a heavy-bearing oil, yet that carried the heat down about 10^. We then tried some plumbago 
mixed with paraffiue by Mr. Toppan ; it was very difficult to get it on, but that worked it 10° cooler than the first oil. We then tried 
another oil, which heated so rapidly that we took it off at once ; we didn't dare to run it. We then tried another and got down to 17° 
above the temperature of the room. It is a very simple matter; * » ♦ audi think it will prove a good way for testing oils on a bad 
'bearing, which almost every man has somewhere in his mill. 



204 



PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 



The management of the further mechanical tests was placed in the hands of Mr. C. J. H. "Woodbury, of Boston^ 
who embodied his results in a paper read before the annual meetings of the American Society of Mechanical 
Engineers and the American Association for the Advancement of Science for 18S0. The following abstract of this 
paper, which presents results which " have been accepted as a long step in advance of anything ever attained 
before", is introduced here with the permission of the author: (a) 

The resistance existing between bodies of fixed matter, moving with different velocities or directions, presents Itself in the form oi 
a passive force, which results in the diminution or the destruction of apparent motion. Modern science has demonstrated that this 
destruction is only apparent, being merely the conversion of the force of the moving body into the oscillation of the resisting obstacle, 
or into that molecular vibration which is recognized as heat. Direct friction refers to the case where the two bodies are in actual contact, 
and mediate friction where a film of lubricant is interposed between the surfaces, and it is this which applies to nearly every motion in 
mechanics where bodies slide upon each other. The coefficient of friction is the relation which the pressure upon moving surfaces bears to 
resistance. * * » In this report of my work upon the measurement of friction of lubricating oils I shall restrict myself to a description 
of the apparatus designed especially for the purpose, the method of its use, and the results obtained with a number of oils in our market 
which are used for lubricating spindles. Previous trials of nine different oil-testing machines in use showed that none of them could 
yield consistent duplicate results in furnishing the coefficient of friction. The operation of these machined, by their failure to obtain 
correct data, adduced certain negative evidence, which established positive conditions as indispensable in the construction of a machine 
capable of measuring the friction of oils. The following circumstances must be known or preserved constant : Temperature, velocity, 
pressure, area of the frictional surfaces, thickness of the film of oil between the surfaces, and the mechanical effect of the friction. In 
addition to the foregoing conditions, the radiation of the heat generated by friction must be reduced to a minimum, and the arrangement 
of the frictional surfaces must be of such a nature that no oil can escape until subjected to attrition. To measure the frictional resistance 
at the instant of a given temperature, and at a time when both temperature and friction arc varying, requires a dynamometer which is 
instantaneous and automatic in its action. 

The apparatus consists of an iron frame supporting an upright shaft, surmounted by an annular disc made of hardened tool steel. 
Upon the steel disc rests one of hard bronze (composed of the following alloy; copper thirty-two parts, lead two parts, tin two parts, 
zinc one part) in the form of a cylindrical box. Water is fed in at one side, and a diaphragm extending nearly across the interior produces 
a uniform circulation before discharge. Although this use of water is original with the writer in the method of its application, its first 
employment to control the temperature of the bearing surfaces of oil-testing machines is due to Monsieur G. Adolphus Him, and is described 





Diagram 1.— COEFFICIENT OF FEICTION AT DIPFEEENT PEESSUKES. 




























l\ 


\ 
















100 






\ 


















\ \ 


\ \ 




















•h\ 


■•\-\ 




















tA 


y \ \ 




















Ul\ 


\ ■ \ ' 
















so 




V 
c 
< 


V\\ 




















\riVs^ 


^WyC^ 




















\ 


w 






\ 








60 








\ \ 


N \ 




\. 


^ 
















\ 




"\ 







.10 .20 .30 .40 -50 .60 .70 .SO .90 1.00 

Coefficient of friction. 

by him in a paper on the subject of friction, read before the Soci6t6 Industrielle do Mulhouse, June 26, 1854. M. Hirn, however, confined^ 
his attention chiefly to the determination of the mechanical equivalent of heat, as measured by the amount of heat imparted to the- 
circulating water, expressed in the work of friction. His investigations of lubrication with this apparatus were confined to the frictioni 
of lard and olive oils at the light pressure of about l-jV pounds to the square inch. Mr. Charles N. Waite, of Manchester, New Hampshire, 
has independently, and I believe originally, made use of water in a friction machine, and has performed good work in the limit of his- 
exiJeriments. 

A protection of wool batting and flannel, to guard the discs .against loss of heat by radiation, diminishes the escape of heat to about 
two degrees per hour, which loss is not appreciable when observations are taken within a few seconds' interval. A thin copper tube, closed 
at the lo-n-er end. reaching through the cover, extends to the bottom of the disc ; the bulb of a thermometer is inserted iu this tube, and 
measures the fernperature of the discs; an oil tube runs to the center of the disc, and a glass tube at the upper end indicates the supply 
and its rate of consumption, and also serves to maintain a uniform head of oil fed to the bearing surfaces. The rubbing surfaces of 
both discs were made to coincide with the standard surface plates in the physical laboratory of the Institute of Technology (Bosron, 
Massachusetts), and their contact with each other is considered perfect. 



a The tables which accompany this iiaper are not introduced here. 
.4ssociation for the Advancement of Science for 1880, pages 197-221. 



They may be found in the proceedings of the American 



THE USES OF PETROLEUM AND ITS PRODUCTS. 



205 



After this surface was finished the bronze disc was treated with biehioride of platinum, which deposited a thin film of platinum 
•upon the surface. Upon the application of the discs to each other the steel disc rubbed off the platinum from all parts of the surface, 
-showing the perfection of contact. This nicety of construction enables a film of oil of uniform thickness to exist between the surfaces, 
and the resistances are not vitiated by the collision of projecting portions of the disc with each other. The rounded end of the upper 
shaft fits into a corresponding depression in the top of the upper disc. This method of connection retains the disc over the proper center, 
■yet it is allowed to sway enough to correct any irregularity of motion caused by imperfection of construction or wear of the lower disc. 
To obtain the desired condition of pressure, weights are placed directly upon the upper spindle. The axes of the upper and lower spindles 
do not lie in the same straight line, but are parallel, being about one-eighth of an inch out of line with each other. Such construction, 
giving a discoid motion, prevent-s the disc from wearing in rings and assists in the uniform distribution of the oil. An arm is keyed 
through the lower part of the upper spindle and engages with projections upon the upper disc. Upon this arm, which is turned to the 
arc of a circle, whose development is two and one-half feet, a thin brass wire is wrapped and reaches to the dynamometer, so that the 
tension of the dynamometer is tangential and the leverage is constant for aU positions of the upper disc within its range of motion. The 
dynamometer consists of a simple bar of spring steel fastened at one end and bent by the pull applied at the other. Its dedeetion is 
indicated by a pointer upon a circular dial, the motion of the spring being multiplied about eighty times by a segment and pinion. 
The whole is inclosed in a steam-gauge case. 

When completed, the machine was subjected to a long series of tests with the same oil, to determine the accuracy of the results 
and the best method of procuring them. The operation of the machine under equal conditions with the same oil gives results which are 
as closely consistent with each other as could be expected from such physical measurements. As an example, four tests of the Downer Oil 
Company LightSpindleatl00°F.,audondiiferentdays,gave0.1145,0.1094, 0.1118, 0.1094: mean, 0.1113. • • • Much of the irregularity, 
slight as it is, is due to the variable speed of the engine. Concurrent results were obtained under equal circumstances, but the coefficient 
of friction varied, not merely with the lubricants used, but also with the temperature, pressure, and velocity. The results of my own 
experiments on mediate friction do not agree with the laws of friction as given in works on mechanics, but the coefficient of friction 
■varies in an inverse ratio with the pressure, as shown graphically in the diagram (page 204). 

These curves belong to the hyperbolic class of a high degree ; but I have not been able to deduce an equation which will answer to 
the conditions of more than one, because the law of the curves is modified by a constant, dependent upon the individual sample of oil 
used. A little difference in the sample would cause a difference in the line of curve. Reference is made to diagram 2, showing the 
•coefficient of friction under equal ranges of temperature and velocity, but with a difierent series of pressures. 

DIACEAM 2.-CUEVES SHOWING CHANGES OF COEFFICIENT OF FRICTION tJNDEB VARYING CONDITIONS. 









































\\\ 


\\\ 










\\ 


\\ 


\ 














\ 








^ 




■>o^ 

















.10 .30 .30 .40 .30 .60 

Coefl&cient of friction. 

Coefficient of friction at 100° and 500 revolutions per minute : 

Pressure per square inch. Coefficient of friction. 

1 pound 0.3818 

2 pounds 0.2686 

3 pounds 0.2171 

4 pounds 0.1849 

5 pounds 0.1743 

The ratio of the changing coefficient varies with the temperature at which the range of results is taken. 

Friction varies with the area, because the adhesiveness of the lubricant is proportional to the area, and the resistance due to this 
■cause is a larger fraction of the total mechanical effect with light than it is with heavy pressures. 

The limit of pressure permitting free lubrication varies with the conditions ; for constant pressures and slew motion it is believed 
to be about 500 pounds per square inch, while for intermittent pressures, like the wrist-pin of a locomotive, the pressure amounts to 3,000 
■pounds per square inch. It has been stated that about 4,000-foot pounds of frictional resistance per square inch is the maximum limit ef 
-safe friction under ordinary circumstances. 



206 PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 

As the results of this preliminary work indicated that the coefficient of friction varied Tvith all the circumstances, it was necessary- 
to simulate the conditions of specific practical applications to determine the value of a lubricant for such purposes. 

It was decided to begin these investigations with spindle oils, and therefore the machine was loaded with 5 pounds to the square 
inch and run at about 500 revolutions per minute, as the oil is then submitted to conditions of attrition corresponding to those met with in 
extremes of velocity and pressure, in the case of a Sawyer spindle running at 7,600 revolutions per minute, with a band tension of 4 
pounds, and the results subsequently given refer only to the friction under these conditions, except when definitely stated to the contrary. 
This particular spindle was selected because, of the 5,000,000 ring spindles in the United States, about 1,500,000 are of this- 
manufacture, and in a large number of the remainder the conditions of lubrication are quite similar. 

In a Sawyer spindle the step measures f by -^u inch, and receives J of the pull due to the band. If that tension is 4 pounds, 3^ 
pounds are transmitted to the step, whose projected area is -^g square inch. The pressure per square inch is, therefore, 5J (say 5) pounds. 
The diameter of the spindle at bolster is 0.28", or 0.8976" in circumference. At 7,600 revolutions per minute its velocity amounts 
to 6,685", or 557 feet, per minute ; and the mean area of the discs of the oil machine must revolve at this speed. 
To illustrate, let — 

K = outer radius of disc = 2.656 inches. 
r = inner radius of disc := 1.435 inches. 
n = radius of circle bisecting the area. 

Fractional area of annular disc = 7r(E^ — r') (1) 

area of outer half = 7r(E^ — n') - (2) 

27r(R2 — »') = ■n-(E2 — j-2) (3) 

27rRi' — 2irtt2= ttE^— ttj-^ (4) 

2R'' — 2n2= Rs — r« (5) 

— 27i2== — R2 — r2 (6) 

2n== R2 + r2 (7) 

R= + r» 



(8) 



^^ 



(9) 



/4jr'(R2+r2) „., 

Length of line bisecting the area = 2 TT » = Ay ....... (10) 

2 

= v'27r=^(R2+»-=y . . . ■ . . . . (11) 

= -/2x 9.87(7.05+2.11) (12) 

= -/l9.74X9.16 (13) 

= 1/180.8184 (14) 

= 13.45 inches. ....... 

= 1.12 feet. 

To give a desired fractional velocity of 6.685 inches per minute the discs must revolve at 6,685 divided by 13.45 = 497 (say) 50» 
revolutions per minute. To recapitulate: By revolving the disc at 500 revolutions per minute, with a pressure of 5 pounds per square 
inch, the oil is submitted to conditions of attrition corresponding to those in the extremes of velocity and pressure met with in a Sawyer 
spindle revolving at 7,600 revolutions with a band tension of 4 pounds. 

My reason for giving such a detailed statement is, because the value of investigations upon this subject must be measured by the 
precision with which all the conditions are observed. 

The apparatus is used in the following manner to measure the coefiScient of friction of oil : After cleaning with gasoline and wiping; 
carefully with wash leather, the discs are oiled and run for about five hours, being kept cool by a stream of water circulating through 
the upper disc. From time to time they are taken apart, cleaned, and oiled again. After using any oil, even if the discs are afterward 
cleaned, the results with the oil subsequently used give the characteristics of the previous oil, and it is only after thirty -five to forty-five 
miles of attrition that these results become consistent with each other, each succeeding result, meantime, approaching the final series. 
This seems to indicate that friction exists at the surface of the two discs, between the film of oil acting as a washer and the globules of 
oil partially embedded within the pores of the metal. If the dense bronze and steel retain the oil despite attempts to remove it, how 
much longer must it require to replace the oil in machinery with a new variety whose merits are to be tested f These experiments confirm^ 
the wisdom of the increasing use of cast-iron for journals, as its porosity enables it to contain and distribute the lubricant. 

When the discs are ready to test the oil the apparatus is cooled by the circulation of water, the flow of which is stopped when the- 
machine is started. At every degree of temperature the corresponding resistance is read on the dynamometer. When the thermometer- 
indicates a temperature of sixty degrees, the counter is thrown in gear and the time noted. When one hundred and thirty degrees is- 
reached, the counter is thrown out of gear and the time noted. This not only gives the velocity of the rubbing surfaces, but the number- 
of revolutions required to raise the temperature a stated number of degrees, and is a close criterion of the oil. The coefficient of friction, 
is the ratio of the pressure to the resistance, and is deduced in the following manner : 

P = Weight on discs. 
R = Outer radius of frictional contact. 
r = Inner radius of frictional contract. 
N = Number of revolutions per minute. 
W= Reading on dynamometer. 
<p = Coefficient of friction. 

In the friction of annular discs the portions of the surface near the perimeter have a greater leverage than those near the center.. 
The mean sum of these moments is found by the calculus. 



THE USES OF PETROLEUM AND ITS PRODUCTS. 



207 



Let c 1)6 the radius of any infinitesimal narrow ring or band. Then -will- 
Width of band = de 
Length of band = 2776 
Area of band = ii^ede 
Moment of band = 2Te'(Je 
The expression for the area of an annular disc is 7r(R= — r^) ..... 

To express the moment of a ring in terms of an annular surface, divide Eq. 4 by Eq. 5, as follows: 



Zire'de _ 2e''d€ 2 

Moment of whole disc 



^de = Moment in terms of disc 
e^de . 



2 ^ «' )K 
Integration of whole disc ^^ — ^ < > 



Substituting the limits R'- 



R3— )-3 

' 3~~ 
and calling the work of friction = tpP 



Statical moment of friction of disc = 

47rmP(R'— jJ) 
Mechanical effect = — 



3(R=— r^) 



Foot pounds at any velocity = — ....... 

3(R^ — r^ 

As previously stated, the dynamometer exerts a pull at the end of a lever whose development is 2J feet. 

5W 
Resistance of dynamometer^ —g- .... 



(1) 
(2) 
(3) 
(4) 
(5) 



(6) 
{') 
(8) 

(■J) 
(10) 

(11) 
(12) 
(13) 



(14) 



Resistance of dynamometer in foot pounds at aay velocity 



5WN 
" 2 



Then as the total friction = the resistance of the djinamometer, 
Eq. 13 = Eq. 15 
'• «• ' 47ryPN(R^ — r") _ 5WN 



Simplifying we have 



(R' — r2) 



Pff9>PN(R'- 
87t<pV (R3- 



.r3) = 15\VN(R' — r2) 
-)-3) = 15W (R2 — >-2) 

^ 15 W(R= — >-°) 
'^ 8irP(R:' — r3) 



+ ■*! , . 15( R- — )-' )W 

Separating the constants, <P = ^/■D3^^.^\p 



and R = 0.2214 feet 
)• =0.1211 " 
R3 = 0.0108.i 
)-3 = 0.00177 
R:' — r> = 0.00906, log. 7.9r)712.SJ 
n =3.1416, log. 0.4971499 
8 " 0.9030900 



m = 0.0489 
r*= 0.0146 
R^ — r' = 0.0343, log. 8.5:352491 
(R^ — i'-)log. 8.5352491 
15 log. 1.1760913 



9.3573681 
9.7113104 

0. 3539723 = 2.2."i9 

2.259\V 
<P = 



9.7113404 



(15) 



(16) 
(17) 



(18) 
(19) 



(20) 



This equation was solved for each reading of the dynamometer with five pounds pressure on the square inch, and the results 
tabulated in a convenient form for computing the coefficient of friction from the observed results. 

The table on p.ige 208 shows the resistance of friction at 100°, 500 revolutions, for various pressures. 



208 



PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 



RESISTANCE OP FRICTION AT 100°. 



Pressure 

pounds. 

1 


Eesistance on 

dynamometer. 

Pounds. 

2.62 


Equivalent baud 
tension. 

0.8 


2 


3.68 


1.6 


3 


4.48 


2.4 


4 


5.28 


3.2 


5 


5.98 


4.0 



For furtlaer detailed results, reference is made to diagram 3. 

Diagram 3.— RESISTANCE OF FEICTION AT DIFFERENT PEESSUEES. 
130 

























\ 


y\ 


V 


n\ 
















\ 


V 


\> 


\ 
















\ 


.\ 


N 


\, 












«n 


K 


\ 


\ 


s 


,>^ 












t 


V 


K 


\ 


> 


s. 












\ 


\ 


\, 


f\ 




















< 


"N 


s 



Pounds resistance. 

These results seem to be intimately relevant to the most desirahle limit of tension to the spindle-band methods of operating cotton- 
spinning machinery. By weighing the band tension in various mills it was found that the practice of tying bands lacked uniformity. As 
sm example of this variation : in one mill the bands of a single coarse frame are reported to vary from 1 to 16 pounds. In another mill, on 
finer -work, a number of spindles had a range of from -J to 2-} pounds, and in a third mill the band tension was between the limits of i to 
5 pounds. The effect of atmospheric changes upon the fiber of textile bands renders it impossible, with the present method of constructing 
frames, to keep them at a uniform tension, but this variation can be reduced by a little care. Is it not worth wliile for each spinner to 
learu the proper band tension required for his special work, and then keep within those limits ? The whole power required to run the 
frame would not vary in direct proportion to the varying resistance due to the friction of spindles at various pressures, because the 
resistance of the friction in other parts of the frame connected with the spindles, the actual spinning of cotton fibers, and the alternate 
contraction and expansion of the bands, are conditions which are more nearly constant, and in no case do they vary in proportion with 
the friction of the spindle, yet the variation is large, as shown by the following experiment made with the frame: 

Mr. George Draper, in a communication to the Industrial Beeord of June 1, 1879, gives the following valuable data on this subject: A 
frame of Sawyer spindles was taken spinning No. 30 yarn, ordinary twist, the front rolls running 95 revolutions per minute. The rings were 
of If inches diameter, and the traverse of the yam on the bobbins 5J inches. The dynamometer was applied, and the power required to 
drive the spindles, with a side pull of the bands averaging 2 pounds to a spindle, was ascertained. The bands were then cut and a new 
set put on with a side pull of 3 pounds per spindle, and the fi-ame tested again, all things remaining as before. The operation was then 
repeated at 4, 5, 6, 7, i<, and 9 pounds side pull per spindle, with the result shown in the following table. 

Calling the amount of power required to drive the sj)inning frame with — 

2 pounds tension on the bands... = 100 

3 pounds tension on the bands = 117 

4 pounds tension on the bands = 131 

5 pounds tension on the bands - = 144 

6 pounds tension on the bands - ^ 159 

7 pounds tension on the bands ..-- ^ 177 

8 pounds tension on the bands =■" 197 

9 pounds tension, considerably more than double. 

The lubricant used is one of the most important factors in the cost of power. In the present condition of engineering science 
it is impossible to state what exact proportion of the power used by a mill is lost in sliding friction, but in a print-cloth mill only abojit 
25 per cent, of the power is utilized in the actual processes of carding, spinning, and weaving the fiber, not including the machinery 
engaged in the operation, leaving T5 per cent, of the power as absorbed by the rigidity of belts, the resistance of the air, and 
friction. The cocfHcicnt of friction, under the conditions submitted by my oil-tester, varies, at 100°, 500 revolutions from 7.5S per 



THE USES OF PETROLEUM AND ITS PRODUCTS. 209 

cent, in the ease of '.i-i° Ex. machinery oil manufactnred by the Downer Oil Company, to 24.27 per cent, in the case of neats'-foot oil ; and 
the result of this investigation confirms me in the opinion that the successful operation of a spinning frame is far more closely dependent 
upon the individual management in respect to the conditions of band tension, lubrication, and temperature of the spinning-room than all 
other causes combiued. Not that some forms of spindle are not superior to others, but that, without wise supervision, the most desirable 
forms of spindle must fail to show the merits due to the skill of their promoters. It may be stated that, within a close approximation, the 
lubricating qualities of an oil are inversely proportional to its viscosity ; that is, the friction decreases with the cohesion of the globules 
of the oil for'each other. The endurance of a lubricant is in some degree proportional to its adhesion to the surfaces forming the journal. 
An ideal lubricant in these respects would be a fluid whose molecules had a minimum cohesion for each other and a maximum adhesion 
for metallic surfaces. The viscous oils will also adhere more strongly to metals, and hence, under the conditions of heavy bearings, it is 
obligatory to use such thick lubricants, knowing that the employment of an oil with great frictioual resistance is infinitely preferable to 
the attempt to use au oil so limpid that it could not be retained between the bearings. With light pressures the more fluid oils are 
admissible, and in all cases the oils should be as limpid as the circumstances will permit. Oils with great endurance are aptto give great 
frictional resistance, and in the endeavor to save gallons of oil many a manager has wasted tons of coal. The true solution of solving the 
problem of lubricating the machinery of an' establishment is to ascertain the consumption of oil and the expenditure of power, both 
Iveiug measured by the same unit, viz, dollars. 

The fluidity of the oils was measured by the loUowing apparatus: A pipette was placed within a glass water-jacket, where the 
temperature was controlled and kept constant by circulation from a reservoir kept at the desired temperature. The capacity of the bulb 
is twenty-eight cubic centimeters and the orifice measures three and a half inches long and 0.039 of an inch in diameter. 

The oil was drawn into the bulb of the pipette, and after the whole was brought to the desired tempeXature the time required for its 
discharge was accurately noted by a stop watch. 

These observations were made on each of the oils for a series of temperatures varying from 50° to 150° F. 

If the fluidity of au oil is the measure of its lubricating qualities, these observations would not be identical with the frictional 
results, because the pressure in this case was that due to ahead of about five inches of oil, or about one-sixth of a pound to the square 
inch and rubbing against a glass surface ; while with the frictional machine the pressure was five pounds to the square inch, and the surfaces 
bronze and steel. 

In both cases, however, the character of the surfaces and the pressures were uniform conditions, and therefore they would not 
aifect the relations of either set of experiments in their consistency with each other. If the lubrication and fluidity of oils followed the 
same law of variation with the temperature, the results of one would be directly proportional to those in the other, provided that all other 
conditioLS were preserved constant. Such comparisons showed that the relations of the fluidity to the lubricating qualities did not follow 
any uniform ratio. 

At a low rate of temperatures the fluidity increased faster than the lubricating quality of the oil; between about 70° and 110° the 
coincidence was quite close ; at higher temperatures the fluidity does not increase so fast as the lubrication. There was not a very close 
correspondence between the fluidity of oils at the same coefficient of friction. 

The result of these investigations upon the relation of fluidity to lubrication seems to indicate that fluidity is a concomitant rather 
than a cause of the anti-frictional qualities of a lubricant. 

In the case of mining drills operated by condensed air, an intense cold is produced at the liberation of air, and on some such bearings 
kerosene oil is the only lubricant which can be used. I think it extremely probable that at these low temperatures the viscosity of 
kerosene oil is equal to that of lubricating oils at the average temperature of bearings in general use. On the other hand, only the most 
viscous oils can be used in such extremely high temperatures as the cylinder and steam-chest of steam-engines. 

According to the results which 1 have obtained, the coefficient of friction at 50° is about 75 per cent, in excess of that at 7.'>°, and 
it seems to me that the manager of every mill which is run by steam ought to consider the question of the temperature of the mill in 
early morning during the winter months, whether, as a maKer of economy, it is cheaper to warm a mill by increased friction on Monday 
morning, or to keep the mill and machinery warm during the interval from the preceding week. 

The humidity of the atmosphere is an important factor in the mechanical operation of textile machinery, as well as in the fabrication 
of cotton. A year ago I submitted to the New England Cotton Manufacturers' Association measurements showing the effects of humidity 
on textile bands, and I am also of the opinion that there is a difference of friction in machinery due to atmospheric influences upon the 
lubricant. 

Possibly the moisture condensed upon the cold metal from the atmosphere becomes commingled with the oil and thereby reduces 
its viscosity, diminishing the friction. ■ 

The question of endurance of oils has not been given in these experiments, because the consumption of oil varies with the 
temperature, and it is proposed to investigate the matter subsequently by running the machine and controlling the temperature of the 
discs to 100° by the circulation of water. The amount of oil constuned could be very easily measured by the difference in the level of the 
glass feeding-tube or the weight of the oil required to preserve it at that level during the experiment. 

In the detailed results the friction is given for the whole range of temperatures, but in the following summary 100° has been 
selected as the temperature which most nearly corresponds to the heat of spindle bearings. 

To ascertain these temperatures, holes were drilled in the rails of a spinning frame, passiug as near the bolsters and steps as possible ; 
the bulbs of thermometers were inserted in these holes, and while the frame was in operation 2,586 readings were taken, covering a 
period of four weeks. The temperature of the air was noted from a thermometer placed in the middle of the frame. 

The mean temperature of the bolsters was 8.10° F., and of the steps 6.74° F., above the temperature of the room. 

Other experiments were made to learn the temperature of the bearings of the shafting. Holes about half an inch in diameter were 
bored in the upper cap of such journals, and .a thin copper tube, closed at the lower end, inserted and extended nearly to the shaft. This 
tube contained water, and the temperature was measured by a thermometer placed therein. The temperature of the room was measured 
by a thermometer hung near the bearing. There were journals in good running order whose temperature at the frictional surfaces was 
140° F. This method of using thermometers was first suggested by Mr. Edward Atkinson, and I consider it the most accurate test of 
the anti-frictional qualities of a lubricant at the service of those in charge of machinery. 

Great pains have been taken to procure pure samples of the oils experimented with, and they were obtained directly from the 
manufacturers; and to the courtesy of Mr. Thomas Bennett, jr., I am indebted tor a large number of samples of sperm oils which were 
procured by him directly from the whale-ships or refiners. 



-14 



210 



PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 



The following table gives the coefficient of friction at 100^ F. and 500 revolutions, with a pressure of 5 pounds to the square inch : 



Mineral c 
Mineral c 
Mineral c 
Mineral ci 
Mineral c 
Mineral c 
Mineral c 
Mineral c 
Mineral c 
Mineral c 
Mineral c 
Mineral c 
Mineral c 
Mineral c 
Mineral c 
Mineral c 
Mineral c 
Mineral c 



Coefficient 
of friction 
at 100°. 



0. 1635 
0. 1732 
0. 1187 
0. 1233 
0. 1208 
0. 1113 
0. 1133 
0. 075G 
0. 1476 
0. 1493 
0. 1201 
0.2243 
0. 0973 
0.0950 
0. 1190 
0. 1103 
0. 1360 
0. 1189 



Mineral oil 

Lard 

Bleached "winter sperm A 

Bleached winter sperm B .' 

Bleached winter sperm C 

Bleached winter sperm D 

Bleached winter sperm E 

Unbleached winter sperm 

Seal oil 

Neat's-foot 

Mixed animal and mineral oil 

Mixed animal and mineral oil 

Mised animal and mineral oil 

Paraffine 

Paraffine mixed with one-fifth sperm 

Paraffine mised with one-third neat'a-foot, 
Unknown sperm , 



Chemical esaminatioas of these oils by Mrs. Ellen H. Richards, of the Women's Laboratory, Institute of Technology : 



No. of 
sample. 


Flash of 
vapor. 


Loss of 
evaporation 
in 12 liours 
at 140° F. 


Nitro-sulpliuric acid test. 


10 


Degrees. 
338 


Fer cent. 
1.3 


Dark yellow, with mucli cake. 


7 


314 


2.7 


Dark yellow, some cake. 


8 


284 


5.5 


Slightly yellow, only a few flakes of cake. 


2 


316 


3.7 


Dark yellow, thin layer of cake. 


11 


324 


3.9 


Slightly yellow, not on brown specks. 


12 


318 


3.3 


Yellow, not a single flake, no solid matter. 


15 


286 


7.2 


Turned dark, gives a black layer of gum. 


13 


322 


1.9 


Quito an amount of cake. 


16 


282 


5.0 


Do. 






+ 0.4 
+ 0.3 


Hardened with much acid to a white solid mass. 
Thickened up a little, like jelly. 












With castor oil the friction Tvas so great as to throw off the belt driving the machine; and as the time alloted for this work expired 
on that day, other arrangements for a wider helt conld not be made, and it can only be said that its friction exceeds that of any other 
oil given in these tables. » » » 

The anti-frictional properties of these oils under the conditions of these experiments are expressed in the following order : 



Mineral 

Bleached winter sperm 

Mineral 

Mineral 

Bleached sperm 

Unbleached sperm 

Mineral 

Mineral 

Mineral 

Mineral 

Seal 

Mineral 

Lard 

Mineral 

Neat'a-foot 



Coefficient 

of friction 

at 100°. 



0. 0756 
0. 0956 
0. 1103 
0.1113 
0. 1141 
0. 1147 
0. 1190 
0. 1201 
0.1208 
0. 1476 
0. 1608 
0. 1732 
0. 2181 
0. 2243 
0. 2427 



It is no disparagement to the qualities of an oil that it is low in the foregoing list, except so far as it relates to the resistance of 
friction under these conditions. For circumstances of great pressure and slow motion, I am of the opinion that the order of the list 
would be varied; and if the question of endurance were only to be considered, still another change in the order would'be necessary. 

A portion of a lot of unbleached sperm oil (sample 17) was bleached expressly for these tests (sample 18), but the results of the two 
are so nearly uniform as to be practically identical. The result of bleaching does not affect the anti-frictional properties of the oil, 
althongh it undoubtedly reduces its gumming qualities. The friction of sperm oil is subject to sadden variations, which occur at 



THE USP:S of petroleum and its products. 211 

certain teraperaturee for thi; same sample of oil. Tho explanation of tl-is lies in the fact that sperm oil consists of a large number of 
varieties of spermaceti, each of which is liciuetied at certain temperatures, at which the oil is relieved of waxy, or at least gelatinous 
particles, and hecomes a more perfect lubricant. * » » • 

The friction of lard oil for high temperatures exceeds that of any other lubricant in the list ; and this adhesive quality enables it to 
rumain on tools used for cutting iron. 

In conclusion, it may be stated that the data necessary to determine the safety and efficiency of a lubricant comprise: 

1. Th« flashing point of its vapor, which is ascertained by slowly heating a sample over an oil bath, quickly passing a small flame 
over the oil and noting the temperature at which the vapor first fl.ashes. The danger from an oil does not arise from the point at which 
the oil actually ignites, but at the lower temperature, when the inflammable vapor bursts into flames, which communicate tire to a 
distance limited only by the extent of tho vapor. 

2. The quantity of such volatile matter is imjjortant both as respects safety and value. The heat of friction liberates that i)ortion 
of the oil which is volatile at the temperature of the bearings, filling the mill with ,1 dangerous noxious vapor, and also dissipates in the 
air a portion of the oil which is paid for by the gallon, but does not serve to give any return of value in lubrication. The quantity of 
matter volatile under 140° F. is measured by heating a known weight of oil in a watch-glass and maintaining a constant temperature 
of 140^ F. for 12 hours. This simulates the conditions of the temperature of the bearings mentioned previously and the maximum 
time that it would be consecutively heated. In the case of mineral oils the loss from evaporation varied from less than 1 up to 30 per 
cent. With auimal and vegetable oils there is a slight gain in weight, due to oxidation. 

3. The tendency to spontaneous combustien is estimated by a uniform .amount of cotton-waste fmeared with a certain quantity of 
oil. A thermometer whose bulb extends to the center of the mass indicates any rise of temperature due to oxidation. Any gain of weight 
during the preceding evaporation test shows .a liability to spontaneous ignition. 

4. Freedom from acid is an important factor in oil, because acid is a cause of corrosion of metals, and will tend to remove the oil 
from the frictional surfaces when aiihesion is indispensable. The presence of acids is shown by corrosion of copper. 

5. The anti-frictional properties of an oil can be measured only by direct tri.iJ under the desired conditions of pressure, velocity, 
aud temperature. The results of these experiments show that a lubricant must have !i certain adhesion to the frictional surfaces to 
maintain free lubrication, but beyond that point the adhesiveness of the oil resists the motion of the surfaces, increasing the friction. A 
thick oil gives greater frictional resistance than a thin one; and when ease in running is the object tho most limpid oil should be used 
consistent with the specific circumstances of the be.iring. In general terms, the specific gravity of an oil gives no indications of its 
value as a lubricant iu qualities of viscosity, body, or endurance. • • • 

When thi.s paper was read at the meeting of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Professor E. H. 
Thurston spoke as follows : 

Mr. Woodbury in his paper made some reference to the fact that the coefficients of friction, as ordinarily stated, are not found to be 
strictly correct j in other words, that there are no such losses in ordinary practice. Then he has shown you here how seriously the 
temperature of the lubricant aftects the coefficient of friction. Yiju will notice that the work done is all at extremely light pressures. 
It is simply due to the pull of tho baud, aud the resultant of that and the resistance of the work of the spindle. It is exceedingly light, 
and it is for that reason that we get what api)eared to be extremely high coefficients of friction. In the table exhibited you will see 
that the coefficients run from 7^ up to about 20 per cent., the highest figure being lard oil and a speoial grade of machinery oil, 
which are each about 22 per cent. Now, a fact which was not brought out so strongly by tho paper as it might have been is, that this 
coefficient is also affected very largely by the pressure per square inch put upon the joninal, and what I intended specially to remark 
upon was the fact that these coefficients do not represent the values of the coefficients obtained in ordinary engine work, but are the 
coefficients obtained iu extremely light work, as in the spinning-frames of cotton-mills. If we use the same lubricating material, and 
the same surface pressure, rising above that to fifty pounds, we will find the coefficients come down in value to a fraction of the figures 
given on the scale. Carrying the pressure up to a very common figure, such as we might get with any machine work, of 100 or 200 pounds, 
we will find tliat the coefficient is reduced. I have had occasion to make tests of various kinds of oil between various sorts of surfaces, 
and, under varying pressures aud temperatures, up to pressures of 1,500 pounds to the square inch, and for a very short period of time 
2,000 pounds to the square inch, .and at temperatures which ran from the ordinary .atmospheric temperature to above the boiling point of 
water, aud I find that upon the crank-pins of steam-engines, such as are sometimes used on the North River boats, carrying the pressure 
of a thousand pounds to the square inch, instead of a coefficient of friction of 5 per cent, we get one-tenth of 5 per cent. — one-half of 1 
per cent, for the coefficient of frictioo— so that the field explored by Mr. Woodbury is limited to these extremely low temperatures. They 
do not represent the results as ordinarily obtained, or exceptional results obtained by putting on tremendously high pressures, so that if 
we take the very best of lubricating materials — sperm oil is the best I have ever found for heavy pressures — and put a pressure upon it 
of a thousand pounds to the square inch, then, instead of the text-book coefficients of friction, all the way from 4 to 7 per cent., we get 
figures that run to oue-tenth of that amount. I have obtained coefficients of friction with sperm oil as low as one-fonrth of 1 per cent. 

The pressure, therefore, at which you .are working is one of the very important elements in determining what is to be the coefficient 
of friction to be assumed iu deaign. 

Now, I spoke of this partly as a commentary on this paper and partly as a commentary on that of Mr. Hoadley. Mr. Hoadley shows 
ns that we may divide the circumference described by the crank-pin by horizontal and vertical lines, and he calls the upper and lower of 
the two sections of his circumference the work-doing parts of the traverse of the crank-pin, and the end sections he calls the work-using 
sections. 

Now he shows us what is the effect of friction in reducing the efficiency of engines where we put full pressure on the crank-pin at 
either end of the stroke ; but it must be observed, as a commentary upon that statement, that these figures are very much smaller than 
we have been accustomed to assume. The friction of the crank-pin in a well-made engine, with a good bronze box, running on good 
steel journals, ought to come down to a fraction of 1 per cent. That being the case, we get the result that Mr. Porter indicated, that the 
loss of power at the two ends of the stroke becomes insignificant, more insignificant than I presume he had supposed. 

A remark was also made by another member of the society upon our determinations of the value of lubricating oils for steam- 
cylinders. In a long series of experiments, which I have had occasion to make on lubricating oils to be used in steanVcylindcrs, I have 
taken oils furnished in the market for that purpose and tested them at the temperature of the steam-cylinder, bringing them up to a 
temperature of 250° or 300°, and some cases 350°, and I fonnd that the value of the oil for lubricating purposes within the steam-cylinders 
is by no means the samo as its value for lubricating on the crauk-pin and other external parts not subjected to high temperatures, and 
that the oil giving the best results on the crank-pin may give poor results in the cylinder. 

In several cases I have found that oils that were among the best for ordinary use were among the poorest for cylinder work, while 
other oils that were not nearly so good for external use were among the very best for use within the steam-cylinder. So no one can tell 
what is the value of an oil fw the purpose to which he applies it until he subjects it to a test under precisely those conditions. 



212 • PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 

Mr. Woodljury presented us ■n'itli the results of work done under the precise conditions of actual use. He runs the spindles at the 
ordinary speed, and runs them as in ordinary spinning frames, and then measures the friction, and the data he gives are of course absolutely 
reliable as determining the results to he met with uuder that set of conditions. That is one reason why we may rely so absolutely, I 
presume, upon his results. He has determined under these conditions what is the comparative value of a large number of oils ; but I wish 
to renew his caution that we are not to tate these results, which represent the relative value of oils for spindles, as representing the 
relative value of those oils for crank-pins or the lubrication of steam-cylinders. Another remark was made in the paper, apparently 
incidentally, that a man may save a considerable amount of money in the purchase of his oils, while losing at the same time a vastly 
greater amount in paying his coal bills, and that leads to the question how are we to determine the money value of these oils? It is 
evident that the value to the dealer is not at all likely to be just its value to the purchaser. The money value of the oil to the consumer 
is something less than the money value of the work that it is going to save him in friction, or the money value of the work that it is going 
to save him in friction added to the money value of the work it is going to save him in repairs and incidental expenses. If you will take 
the trouble to determine the cost of the power in any mill or machine-shop in the country, and then assume a change in the coefficient 
of friction from an average of, we will say, 2 or 3 per cent, to an average of 5 per cent., and see what you can afford to pay for oil that 
will avoid that increase of friction, you will find probably in every case in which you make the calculation that you can better aiford to 
pay the highest prices in the market for the best oils than to take as a gift the oils which give you the highest coefficients of friction. 

I took occasion some time ago to work that up in a speciiied case — that of Mr. Sellers' shop — I don't remember now what the figures 
were, but the result was such as to show that we could better pay a good many times the value of the best sperm oil in the market to 
reduce losses by friction than to take the cheapest oils in the market with the increase of those losses. 

The difference between the lowest coefficients and the highest coefficients is about 1 to 3. 

But when you are calculating the cost of the power required to overcome this friction, you will find that even slight diiferences are 
sufficient to justify you in making your estimate of costs in taking the very highest-priced oil, even if it gives you a very little decrease 
in the coefficient of friction. 

In a circular issued near the close of the year 1880 by Mr. Atkinson, he gives a summary of the results obtained 
in the research conducted by Mr. Woodbury, and remarks : 

Another result of this work has been the invention of the machine on which we can now ascertain the anti-frictional properties of 
any oil with absolute certainty, and by the use of which we have obtained measurements of the coefficient of friction with an accuracy 
and uniformity that have never been approached before. * * * Our machine having been adjusted in velocity and other conditions to 
those of a Sawyer spindle operating at 7,600 turns per minute under a band tension of 4 pounds, it appeared that the difference in 
power required to overcome the resistance of the parts varied as follows : 

The resistance or power required to operate the frictional machine at 100° F., when lubricated with Downer Oil Co. 32 extra 
machinery oil, amounted to 756, and under the same conditions, with the exception of the substitution of neat's-foot oil as a lubricant, 
the resistance amounted to 2,427, or three and twenty one-hundredths times as much. 

In respect to the same oil at different degrees of temperature in the bearing, the resistance at SC^ is about 75 per cent, in excess of 
that at 75° F. 

In respect to the best oil and poorest lubricant at 100° F., the difference is 321 per cent. 

In respect to a difference of pressure varying from 1 pound to 5 pounds, the difference is 229 per cent. 

By means of experiments applied to a small Sawyer spindle-frame, which could not be reduced to such precise accuracy, but which 
marked the great variations in power according to the greater or less tension of the bauds, other results were reached of the same general 
character, fully confirming the above conclusions. 

The general conclusions reached are, therefore, that although, as a matter of course, there must be a marked difference in power 
needed between a well-planned and constructed and a badly-constructed spinning-frame, yet, when it is a question between two well- 
constructed frames, * * * the greatest differences in details (of construction) do not make as much difference in the power required 
as may be made in the adjustment and tension of the bands or in the quality and condition of the oil, and hardly as much as may be 
made by variations in the temperature and condition of the atmosphere and of the machine, or in the quality and condition of the stock in 
use. The uniform tension of the band appears to be the factor of the greatest importance, and the structure of the bobbin of the least, 
provided the spindle is long enough and heavy or stiff enough to keep the bobbin true and to prevent it from springing under the varying 
conditions of the atmosphere. 

In respect to the best quality of oil to be used on spindles^that is to say, the best oil to be used on light bearings at very high 
velocity — a few simple rules may now be laid down dogmatically, so far as rules are to be made by experiments ou a single machine or 
from laboratory experiments. 

1. A mineral oil that flashes at less than 300° F. does not possess the best qualities for lubrication, and is unsafe in proportion to the 
lesser degree at which it flashes. 

2. A mineral oil that evaporates more than 5 per cent, in ten hours at a heat of 140° F. is hazardous in proportion to the increased 
percentage of volatile matter, and is also more unfit to be used as a lubricant the more rapidly it evaporates, because the remainder will 
either become thick and viscous, requiring a high heat in the bearing to make it operate at all, or else, if the oil does not contain such a 
residuum liable to become thick and heavy, it will leave the bearing dry. 

3. All the mineral oils — and also sperm, lard, and neat's-foot oils — appear to reach a nearly uniform coefficient of friction at very greatly 
different degrees of heat in the bearings. Several kinds of the best mineral oils and sperm and lard oils show a uniform coefficient of 
friction at the following degrees of heat : 

TEMPERATUEE AT WHICH THE COEFFICIENT OF FRICTION IS THE SAME. 

Deg. F. 

32° machinery (an exceedingly tiuid oil) 76 

Light spindle 105 

Heavy sjiindle 125 

Various samples of sperms 96 to 114 

Valvoline spindle 127 

White valvoline spindle 122 

. White loom Ill 

German spindle 112 

A spindle 107 

Neat's-foot 170 

Lard oil ISO 



THE USES OF PETROLEUM AND ITS PRODUCTS. 213 

4. Lubrication seems to be effective in adverse ratio to viscosity, i. e., the most fiuid oil tbat will stay in its place is tlio best to use. 
Lartl oil heated to 130^ lubricates as well as sperm at 70° or the best mineral oil at 50°. But of coarse it is a great waste of machinery 
to work oil of any kind up to an excessive heat, and there must be the least wear in the use of oil that shows the least coefficient of 
friction at the lowest degree of heat. 

5. The quantity of oil used is a matter of much less importance than the quality. The mill that saves gallons of oil at the cost of 
tons of coal or dollars of repairs plays a losing game. Mr. Waite's experiments on very heavy bearings at Manchester go far to prove 
that a considerable quantity of thin fine oil keeps the bearings much cooler and requires lees power than a smaller quantity of thick 
viscous oil. Here let it be observed that a superstition that prevails in'favor of using castor oil to cool a hot bearing is without any 
warrant. No veaetable oil is fit to use as a lubricant ; and castor oil is the worst of all, because the most viscous. If used, it will surely 
set the mill on tire, as it did in the ouly case of which we have a record. 

H. The rule of best lubrication is to use an oil that has the greatest adhesiveness to metal surfaces and the least adherence as to its 
own particles. Fine mineral oils stand first iu this respect, sperm second, neat's-foot thii-d, lard fourth. 

7. Cast-iron holds oil better than any other metal or any alloy, and is the best metal to use for light bearings, perhaps for heavy. 

8. It has been proved by Mr. Waite's experiments that a highly-polished bearing is more liable to friction than a surface finely lined 
by filing. The lines left by the file serve as reservoirs for the oil, while the high polish leaves no room for the particles between the metal 
surfaces. 

So far as laboratory experiments may serve as a guide in practice, it therefore appears that tine mineral oils may be made to serve all 
the purposes of a cotton-mill, and such is the practice in some of the mills that show the very best results in point of economy ; next, that 
the best animal oil to mix with a fine mineral oil, in order to give it more body, is sperm oil; this again accords with the practice of 
many of the mills in which the greatest economy is attained. Lard and neat's-foot oil are used to give body to mineral oil in some of 
the best mills; but the results of our work seem not to warrant this practice, unless there is some peculiarity in the machinery that makes 
it more difficult to keep a less viscous or tenacious oil on the bearings. All the mixed oils sold under fancy names we believe must, of 
necessity, consist of certain proportions of the oils heretofore named, as none of the vegetable or tish oils are tit to be used, and there are 
no other animal oils that can be had in any quantity. It appears that all varieties of mineral oils are or have been used in print-cloth 
mills', and are all removed in the process of bleaching, as practiced in print-works. All miueral oils stain more or less, and give more or 
less difficulty to the bleacher when dropped upon thick cloth or cloth of a close texture. On this point we have been able to establish no 
positive rule ; but as very many kinds are and have been used in mills working on such cloths and are removed we are inclined to the 
belief that this question is not of as great importance as it has been assumed to bo. 

These exact results have been obtained under conditions of great velocity and low pressure. Professor 
Thurston's remarks, quoted on a previous page, apply to the conditions of friction under great pressures and slow 
motion. We have not, however, yet subjected the lubrication of heavy bearings to so exhaustive a research. Dr. 
C. B. Dudley, chemist to the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, has been devoting much time recently to the 
investigation of lubricants for railroads. His results liave not been made public. This road and other leading 
railroads of the country are among the heaviest purchasers of natural lubricating oils that will not thicken at a 
low temperature. Oils of this quality, as well as reduced oils, are very largely used on railroads, as also some of the 
petroleum mixtures, such as the " pine-tar compound", the '■ galena oils", and the "plumbago oils". 

A report of a committee of the Railway Master Mechanics' Association of the United States, appointed to examine into and report 
on the subject of lubricants, recommended a good quality of natural earth oils as the best to use for lubricating machinery and journal 
boxes. It is less expensive and of a better quality than other oils. When treated so as to reach 28° of gravity, it was found to work 
with perfect success. It had been reported favorably on from Canada in the north to Kentucky iu the south. A test of various oils had 
been made with the oil-tester on the Lake Shore road ; sperm, lard, and tallow were used, and none of them were found to possess qualities 
which render their use advisable. In their experiments the committee used a machine the size of a regular axle-box, and 50 drops were 
poured in at a temperature of 60°, and the wheel was allowed to revolve at a rate of speed equaling 35 miles per hour until a temperature 
of 200° was reached. The length of time, number of revolutions, and amount of friction were all noted. Attention was called to the 
result obtained from tests with paraffine oil which costs from 25 to 30 cents per gallon, and which has been used on railroads in preference 
to lard oil. Parafline oil costing 25 cents, with which sis experiments had been made, showed that twenty-four minutes were required 
to reach the maximum temperature, during which time it gave 11,685 revolutions; castor oil, costing $1 25, which required twenty-eight 
minutes to reach the temperature allowed, gave 12,946 revolutions ; manufactured oils — A, B, and C — costing 35 cents, 90 cents and 25 
cents, respectively, required nineteen and one-half minutes, giving from 9,285 to 9,653 revolutions; sperm and tallow required only 
seventeen minutes to reach 200° temperature, with less than 8,000 revolutions, (a) 

ParafUne oil that does not boil under 370° C. has been considered the best material for lubricating cylinders 
at high temperatures. Mineral oil, purified by being shaken with chlorinated soda, from which it is decanted and 
then shaken repeatedly with milk of lime, and again decanted and then distilled with one-third its volume of 
solution of caustic soda, is used for the lubrication of watches, [b) 

a Iron Monger, Supplement, Dec. 13, 1879. * Poly. Cbl. 1859, 575. 



214 PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 



Ohaptee II.— the uses OF PETROLEUM AND ITS PEODUOTS FOE 

ILLUMINATION. 



Section 1.— UsTTEODUOTION. 

Crude petroleum has been used in Japan and Burmah for purposes of illumination from an immemorial period. 
In Burmah the Eangoou tar or oil was burned in earthen lamps. In Persia pencils of dried dung were saturated 
with the oil and burned, the pencil serving as a wick. In Parma and Modena and other towns in the upper valley 
of the Po the native petroleum, which is quite fluid and of a light color, has been burned for years both in sti-eet 
lamps and in dwellings. In the valley of Oil creek, and in the salt region of the lower Allegheny and Kiskiminetas, 
the petroleum obtained from springs and from the salt-wells was used in a contrivance resembling a tea-kettle, 
often with two spouts (see Fig. 19), for lighting saw-mills and derricks. For these purposes the amber oils of the 
lower Allegheny were considered superior to the dark oil of Oil creek. 

Since the manufacture of petroleum by distillation was commenced there have been several separate products 
used for illuminating purposes. Most of the illuminating oils have been called "kerosene", a name which was 
originally adopted as a trade-mark by some firm engaged in the manufacture of coal-oils, but which soon afterward 
became a common designation applied to a certain class of oils used in common lamps. This word, however, has 
not been uniformly applied to a substance of uniform kind and quality, but has been used to designate a class of 
substances prepared in a similar manner from a common crude material, but which in certain respects present a 
very wide variation. The varieties known to the trade are " Water White", " Standard," and " Prime", the distinctions 
on which the classification is based relating chiefly to color. There are, however, wide differences between the oils 
as manufactured by difierent methods that exist independently of color. The oils may contain too large a proportion 
of the volatile products of the petroleum ; they may contain too large a proportion of the heavy products ; they 
may contain too large a proportion of cracked material ; and yet in either case they may, by judicious manipulation, 
be made to appear of good color while otherwise of inferior quality — a fact which in this country has been almost 
overlooked, but which has lately attracted some attention in Germany, and will doubtless be more carefully regarded 
in future. " Color" and "test" have hitherto determined the quality of competitive illuminating oils, but a more 
careful regard for the quality of such oils would lead to the determination of the relative proportion of light and 
heavy constituents and the condition of the oil with reference to the presence and amount of sulphur compounds. 
The quality of oils with reference to these two particulars is not determined by either the color or the test, but a 
disregard of them seriously affects the quality of the oil as an illuminator, [a) A few years since legislation was 
obtained in Minnesota which excluded low-test oils from the markets of that state. The following season those 
markets were stocked with oils, which, to use the English phrase, were mixtures of "tops and bottoms". They 
were up to the legal test, and were satisfactoiy in color, but they would become solid at — 20° F., and were so heavily 
charged with sulphur compounds that they blackened at a temperature of 200° F. They were of very inferior 
quality, and were very successfully used in securing the repeal of the legislation of the preceding winter. 

In addition to the ordinary illuminating oils which vary in the manner stated above, the naphthas of different 
grades have been used in lamps of different kinds. The best lamp in all respects for burning naphtha is that known 
as the sponge lamp. This lamp is made in a variety of forms, and is filled with sponge, which, on being saturated 
with the fluid, yields it to the wick and prevents either the spilling of the contents of the lamp or an explosion when 
the fluid is consumed and air becomes mingled with the vapor. Naphtha is also used in lamps of peculiar construction 
which have been found especially useful for lighting streets. These lamps are so constructed that the heat of the 
flame vaporizes the naphtha as it passes through a tube from a reservoir to the burner, where the vapor is burned 
as if it were a gas jet. This form of lantern is very extensively used, especially in the environs of cities. 

Another oil is "mineral sperm", which is distilled from the crude parafliue oils in the pseparation of lubricating 
oils. This oil has a very high boiling point, and flashes at a temperature above 275° F. It is chiefly used iu 
lighting mills, steamboats, and railroad cars, where more easily inflammable oils would be objectionable. 

Section 2.— SAFE OILS. 

While the color of oils is to some extent an indication of their quality, the flash or fire test is the principal 
guarantee upon which the general public relies for both quality and safety ; yet, as has been already stated, the 
burning qualities are not represented by them. The discussion of the subject of safe oils was commenced at a 
very early date. Among the earliest papers connected with this subject is one published in the Report of the 



a See Vohl's Ileiearch, page 181. 



THE USES OF PETROLEUM AND ITS PRODUCTS. 215 

Smithsonian Institution for 1802 by the Hon. Zachariah Allen, of Providence, Rhode Island. In this i)aper Mr. 
Allen states that the exi)eriments therein described were undertaken at the instance of the Rhode Island Mutual 
Fire Insurance Company. The experiments were too simple to be deserving of particular notice here, but the 
discussion of the subject not only exhibits the acat«ness with which the author was accustomed to treat technological 
questions, but also shows how few facts have been added to the sum of human knowledge concerning the products 
distilled from petroleum during the twenty years that have elapsed since his paper was written. He says : 

To ascertain the comparative qualities of the keroseue oil made in different parts of this country samples were procured and tested 
by the simple process of pouring some of each kind of oil into a cup by itself, and by placing them all afloat together in a basin of water 
heated by a spirit lamp, and with a thermometer immersed in the water to indicate the temperature while gradually rising from &P to 
21"2°. During the progress of the increase of temperature blazing matches were passed over the surface of the oil in each cup successively 
at short iutervals of time, until the increased heat caused sufficient gaseous vapors to arise from each to take fire, which they all finally 
did, at degrees of temperature varying from 80^ to l&i^, exhibiting faint flames quivering over the surface of the oil, precisely like those 
hovering over the surface of spirits of wine or alcohol when similarly kindled. The flames are quite as readily extinguished by a blast of the 
breath, and not the least symptom of any explosive character became manifest when each one took fire. Until the evaporative point of 
each sample of oil was produced by the increase of heat applied, and until lambent flames were kindled, burning matches were extinguished 
when plunged iuto the coal-oil as eft'ectually as if they had been similarly plunged into water. The average heat at which all the samples 
emitted suflBcieut vapor to admit of being kindled was about 125° of Fahrenheit's scale. After ascertaining the temperature requisite to 
kindle the several samples of coal-oil, it next becomes an interesting subject of investigation to ascertain the heat to which coal-oil is 
ordinarily elevated while burning in lamps. The results of actual experiments showed that in glass lamps the temperature is increased 
about G° and iu metallic lamps but 10'=' or 12° above that of the apartment, which, being 67", produced a heat in the oil of about 71° to 
79°, leaving a considerable range of temperature below the average of 125° above stated. Finding by actual observation that only gaseous 
vapors arising from the heated oil exhibit the phenomenou of flame whilst ascending and combining chemically with the oxygen of the 
air, it became manifest that no explosive action could be anticipated to take place from auy kind of oil or inflammable spirits unless these 
gaseous vapors were first evolved by a previous increase of temperature, aud then brought into contact with the atmospheric air before 
applying a match thereto. There being no room left for either the gaseous vapor of the oil or for atmospheric air to combine therewith 
in the chamber of any lamp entirely filled with oil, every attempt to produce explosive action with a full lamp, at all temperatures up to 
the boiling point of water, utterly failed when lighted matches were applied to the open orifice of the lamp. The only result produced 
by increasing the heat of the coal-oil was an increase iu the evaporation of the gas, and a higher jet of flame steadily rising, as from the 
jet of a gas burner. So long as lamps are kept FULL of oil, or even of explosive campheue or "burning fluid", there can be no explosive 
action whatever. For this Sjiecial reason it may be adopted as a safe rule to eatise all lamps containing highly inflammable liquids to be kept 
as full as practicable by being daily replenished. 

As the dangerous inflammability of coal-oil appeared to be ascribable to the naphtha not separated therefrom, the following 
experiments were made to ascertain the extent of the inflamm.able properties of pure u.aphtha. Finding that the liquid naphtha 
evolved sufficient vapors at the ordinary temperature of the atmosphere to become instantaneously kindled iuto flashing flames, the 
cup containing it was immersed iu a freezing mixture of snow and salt to reduce the temperature to the zero of Fahrenheit's scale. At 
this low temperature the naphtha appeared to blaze with equal violence. Then a quantity of snow was mixed with the liquid naphtha 
and thoroughly stirred, for still further reducing the temperature. Even at this extreme degree of cold the naphtha continued to flame 
so furiously that it was necessarily thrown from the cup upon the ice covering the ground where the experiment was made, in the open 
air, whilst the thermometer indicated an atmospheric temperature of 19° below the freezing point. The naphtha still continuing to burn 
upon the surface of the ice, a covering of snow was thrown over it to extinguish the flame. Through this covering of white snow the 
bright flames still coutin ued to shoot up, presenting to view the extraordinary spectacle of burning snow. On repeating similar experiments 
on the comparative combustibility of spirits of wiue or alcohol, campheue, and burning fluid, they did not emit sufficient gaseous vapors 
at the freezing point, or 32°, to become kindled into flame when burning matches were plunged therein, but with a little increase of 
temperature they all became kindled. The preceding experiments seem to exhibit impressively the extraordinary inflammability of 
naphtha, arising from the facility with which it emits gaseous vapors; the utmost caution is requisite to prevent not only unexpected 
explosions, but also the almost unextiuguishable violence of its conflagration, for practically the application of water does not subdue 
the conflagration of naphtha in quantity, and only the exclusion of atmospheric air appears to quench the fury of its flames. ' ' • 
Petroleum contains a considerable percentage of naphtha, and consequently partakes in a degree of its dangerous properties. * * * In 
makiug experiments with the tin vessel of the capacity of a common lamp a single drop of naphtha was found to yield sufficient vapor to 
produce as much explosive action as could be produced by the most inflammable coal-oil for sale in the market when similarly experimented 
■with; and after every experiment failed to exhibit the slightest explosive tendency of the best kerosene oil, a single drop mingled therewith 
rarely failed to yield sufficient vapor to manifest its presence by a slight explosive puff' when kindled by a lighted match, (a) 

These experiments, made in 1862, satisfied Mr. Allen, as a representative of very large manufacturing and 
insurance interests, that "coal-oil" {(. e., mineral illuminating oil), when properly manufactured by responsible 
parties, was a safe material for use ; and they also established these fundamental facts, which have lieen made 
the basis of all the action that has since been taken with reference to this question, viz: That the volatile 
constituents of petroleum are extremely inflammable liquids ; that they mingle with the air with great readiness 
and form mixtures that explode with great violence ; that illuminating oil prepared from coal or petroleum, from 
which these oils, volatile at a low temperature, are carefully excluded, is a safe illuminating material for ordinary 
use, while the presence of a very small percentage of the naphtha, added to an oil of unquestioned excellence, 
produces a dangerous mixture, from the use of which explosions and condagrations are liable to ensue. 

The continued agitation of this subject led to legislation by states, cities, and towns, and also to the 
manufacture of such oils as would satisfy the requirements of the various laws enacted. The result has been the 
establishment of different tests, that is, different degrees of temperature at which the oils might produce an explosive 



a Sep. Smithsonian Inst, 1802, p. 330. The name is here errojieously given T. Allen. 



216 



PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 



vapor or burst into flame. The tests were therefore classified as flash tests and fire tests, and both classes include a 
range of temperatures between 7oo and 175° F. Both the classes of tests have had their advocates ; and to meet 
the requirements of law with most profit on the one hand, and to protect the public in the use of these oils on 
the other, a large number of apparatus and a variety of methods for their use have been devised. 

The conclusions reached by Mr. Allen, that an oil properly manufactured is safe, while one containing naphtha 
is dangerous, suggests the further conclusion that there must be two standards : one of relative and the other of 
absolute safety. The object of establishing any test is simjply to determine at what temperature a given sample of 
illuminating oil, in quantity sufficient to Jill a lamp of ordinary size, gives off enough vapor, ivhich, tchen mingled with 
air, can form an explosive mixture. It therefore becomes a matter of merely secondary importance at what 
temperature such an oil will take fire, as all experience has shown that an explosion has been followed by fire in 
so many instances that the question of the temperature at which an explosive oil will take fire becomes 
eliminated as worthless; because the temperature at which an oil will take fire is acknowledged by all parties 
at all acquainted with the facts to be no indication whatever of the temperature at which such an oil will 
flash. It is immediately asked, if such is the case, why is a fire test ever used? It is sufficient to answer, that 
it is much less difficult to manufacture oils of a uniform fire test than of a uniform flash test ; hence the efforts 
of some manufacturers have always bpen used to secure legislation requiring a fire test rather than a flash test, 
and legislators have listened to the presentation of practical difficulties rather than to the objections presented by 
physicists and philanthropists who have urged the claims of the flash test. 

As illustrating the inadequacy of the fire test to protect life and property by detecting dangerous oils, of 
seven hundred and thirty-six samples of oil examined for the New York city health department more than haK 
did not take fire below 110°, while only twenty-three failed to evolve inflammable vapors below 100°. 

Eeturning to the question of absolute safety, we immediately seek to follow Mr. Allen in his inquiries respecting 
the temperature attained by the oil while burning in lamps under ordinary conditions. The most elaborate research 
on record is that undertaken by Dr.O. F. Chandler and published in 1871 in his celebrated report on petroleum as 
an illuminator. («) The following extract from this report gives the conclusion reached: 



THE TEMPERATURE OF OIL IN BURNING LAMPS. 
First Series.— TEMPERATUKE OF THE ROOM, 73° TO 74° F. 



Kind of lamp. 



Brass hand-lamp . . 
Brass hand-lamp . . 
Glass stand-lamp . 
Glass etand-lamp . 
Glass stand-lamp . 
Glass stand-lamp . 
Glass stand-lamp . 



Glass hand-lamp 

Glass hand-lamp — 
Brass student-lamp . 
Glass stand-lamp ... 
Brass stand-lamp ... 

Tin lantern 

Glass bracket-lamp . 

Glass atand-lamp 

Brass student-lamp. 
Brass stand-lamp . . . 

Brass stand-lamp 

Metal stand-lamp 

Brass stand-lamp 

Bronze stand-lamp... 
Glass hand-lamp 



Capacity of 
lamp. 



Deg.F. 



TEMPERATUKE OP THE OIL. 



Average 

for seven 

hours. 



Deg. F. 

84.5 



81.0 
79.0 
82.75 
84.0 
81.75 
83.75 
79.0 
82.25 
79.75 
88.75 
87.5 
82.75 
81.5 
84.0 
85.75 
95.75 
84.75 
89.0 
80.75 
80.75 



a Am. C, ii, 409, 446; iii, 20, 41; Men. Sci., 1872, 676, Dingier, ccv, 587; D. Ind. Z., 1872, 376; W. B., 1872 



THE USES OF PETROLEUM AND ITS PRODUCTS. 



217 



With the air of the room at from 73° to 74° F. the temperature of the oil in the burning lamps ranged from 76° to 100° F., the hit^hcst 
temperature of 100° having been reached in a metal lamp at the eud of one hour. That this was an exceptionally high temperature is 
shown by the fact that the highest temperature reached in any other lamp was 92° F. The following is a synopsis of the observatious: 



Iq 23 lamps. 


In 11 metal 
lamps. 


In 12 glass 
lamps. 


Deff. F. 

Highest temperatnre reached | 100 

Lowest temperature reached 76 

Average temperature 83 


Deg. F. 
100 
76 
86 


Deg. F. 
86 
76 

81 



Second Series.— TEMPERATURE OF THE ROOM, 82^ TO 84° F. 



Brass hand-lamp — 

Brass hand-lamp 

Glass stand-lamp — 

Glass stand-lamp 

Glass stand-lamp 

Glass stand-lamp . . . 

Glass stand-lamp 

Glass hand-lamp 

Glass hand-lamp 

Glass hand-lamp 

Brass stadent-lamp . . 

Glass stand-lamp 

Brass stand-lamp .... 

Tin lantern 

Glass bracket-lamp . , 

Brass stand-lamp 

Brass student-lamp . 
Brass stndent-Iamp . 

Brass stand-lamp 

Metal stand-lamp . . . 

Brass stand-lamp 

Bronze stand-lamp . . 

Glass hand-lamp 

Brass stadent-lamp . 
Brass student-lamp . 



TEMPERATURE OF THE OIL. 



Average 
for four 
"hours. 



94.50 
92.25 
85.50 
85.00 
86.00 
87.25 
88.00 
89.25 
88.50 
85.00 
87.50 
85.50 
102. 25 
95.25 
84.25 
84.25 
86.25 
91.75 
98.75 
92.00 
94.00 
86.75 
84.75 
119. 50 
115. 00 



With the air of the room at from 8*2° to 84° F, the temperature of the oil in the burning lamps ranged from 82"^ to 120° F. The 
temperatnre ISO*^ was exceptional, being confined to one lamp. 

SYNOPSIS OF THE OBSERVATIONS. 





In 25 lamps. 


In 13 metal 
lamps. 


In 12 glass 
lamps. 


Highest temperature reached 


Deg. F. 

120 
82 
914 


Deg. F. 
120 
82 
96i 


Deg.F. 
91 
81 
86 







218 



PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 



Third Series.— TEMPERATURE OF ROOM, 90° TO 92° F. 



Kind of lamp. 



Ca.pacit.y 
of lamp. 



TEMPERATURE OF THE OIL. 



Brass hand-lamp 

Brass band-lamp 

Glass stand-lamp — 
Glass stand-lamp — 
Glass stand-lamp — 

Glass staud-lamp 

GLiss stand-lamp 

Glass hand-lamp 

Glass hand-laitfp ... 

Glass hand-lamp 

Brass stndent-lamp . 
Glass stand-lamp — 
Brass stand-lamp . . . 

Tin lantei-n 

Glass hracket-lamp 

Glass stand-lamp 

Brass student-lamp . 
Brass student-lamp . 
Brass stand-lamp . . . 
Metal stand-lamp — 
Brass stand-lamp . . . 
Bronze stand-lamp... 

Glass hand-lamp 

Brass student lamp . , 
Brass stndent-lamp -. 



Deg. F. 



Beg. F. 



Deg. F. 



7 I 



Average 
for four 
hours. 



97.25 
91.25 
S3. 00 
01.25 
93.25 
94. 50 
94.75 
94.25 
91.75 
98.25 
91.50 
111.50 
104. 25 



100 


98.50 


107 


109.75 


99 


90.50 


loe 


107. 00 


98 


91.75 


94 


93.50 


128 


127. 50 


127 


125. 00 



Witli the air of the room at from 90° to 92° F. the temperature of the oil iu the burning lamps ranged from 84° to 129° F., the 
highest temperature being exceptional. 

SYNOPSIS OF THE OBSERVATIONS. 





Iu 25 lamps. 


Iu 13 metal 
lamps. 


In 12 glass 
lamps. 


Highest temperature observed 

Lowest temperature observed 

Average temj)eratur6 observed 


Deg. F. 

129 
84 
985 


Deg. F. 
129 
84 
104J 


Deg.F. 
98 
85 
924 



By these results it appear.s that the temperature of the oil in lamps often rises much above 100° F., thus reaching a temperature at 
which oil, iohioh does not emit a comhiistible vapor below 100° jF., would be dangerous. It is apparent that 100° F. is too low a standard for 
safety; 120° F. would not be too high a standard, and its adoption would not add three cents per gallon to the cost of the oil. 

. An analysis of these tables shows that when the temperature of the room was 73° to 74° (a comfortable 
temperature) only one lamp in twenty-three reached a temperature of 100°, and no glass lamp reached a temperature 
of 90°, and that the average temperature of the twenty-three lamps was only 83° F. The average temperature of 
the eleven metal lamps was 5° higher than that of the twelve glass lamps. When the temi^erature of the room was 
82° to 84° (quite warm for comfort) only one lamp in twenty-five reached a temperature of 120°, and only two glass 
lamps reached a temperature of 90°, the highest reaching 91°. The average temperature of the twenty-five lamps 
was 91^° F. The average temperature of the thirteen metal lamps was 10^° higher than that of the twelve glass 
lamps. When the temperature of the room was 90° to 92° F. (an uncomfortably high temperature) only two lamps 
out of twenty- five reached a temperature of 120°, and no glass lamp reached a temperature of 100°, and the average 
temperature of the twenty-five lamps was only 98f° F. The average temperature of the thirteen metal lamps was 
12JrO higher tlian that of the twelve glass lamps. Moreover, in the seventy-three lamps tested, but twelve reached a 
temperature above 100°, and but six above 110°. A series of experiments were described by H. B. Cornwall, («) in 
1876, which were made with the design of showing how much naphtha must be removed from a low-test oil to bring 
it up to safety. His results are tabulated on page 219. 

a Am. Chem., vi, 458. 



THE USES OF PETROLEUM AND ITS PRODUCTS. 



219 



No. 


Sp.gr. 


Time. 


^^^l^ Time. Burmng , 


1 
2 
3 
4 
S 
6 
7 
8 
9 
10 


Deg. B. 
49.7 


Minutes. 
21 
25 


Deg. F. Minutes. 
86 7 
96 8 


Beg. F. 
107 
112 
124 
100 
138 
113 
135 
125 ! 
120 


48.7 
47.1 
45.3 


110 
80 

121 
98 




15 
23 
12 
23 
12 
23 
23 




I 


SO. 4 
45.8 


118 
104 
104 
81 


6 
5 
5 













No. 1 was an oil flashing at 86° and burning at 107°. He distilled ofl' 4 per cent., and the residue (No. 2) 
flashed at 96° and burned at 112°. He then distilled off of another portion of the same oil 10.6 percent., and the 
residue (No. 3) flashed at 110° and burned at 121o. On mixing the distillate and the residue in proper proportions 
the mixture flashed at 89° and burned at 307°, almost at the identical temperatures with the original oil No. 1. 
An oil worse than No. 1 (No. 4) was then distilled until, 12.7 per cent, of distillate was secured with 2.7 per cent, of 
loss. The residue (No. 5), which was very dark, flashed at 121° and burned at 138°. Five per cent, of distillate 
was removed from another portion of the same sample, and the residue, after treatment with sulphuric acid and 
soda, gave No. 6, which flashed at 98° and burned at 113°. The following table embraces some experiments made 
with mixtures of oils and naphtha, and includes some results obtained by Dr.C. B.White, of New Orleans, Louisiana: 



Oils. 


riashiog 
point. 


Difference. 


Bnming 
point. 


Difference. 


No. 7. Table I: 


2)eg. F. 
118 


Deg. F. 


Beg. F. 
135 
129 
123 
116 
102 
133 
105 

125 
120 
107 


Beg. F. 






6.0 
4.0 
3.8 
3.3 
2.0 
6.0 




103 i a a 




96 

83 

107 

Below 70 

104 
96 
76 

113 
103 
92 
83 
59 


4.4 
3.5 
11.0 








No. 8. Table I: 




-|- 2 per cent, naphtha of 65° B 


4.0 

2.8 


2.5 
1.08 


Dr. White's oil : 




10.0 
10.5 
6.9 
5.4 


























50 













The naphtha of specific gravity 65° B. is termed benzine, the commercial naphtha having a specific gravity 
of 70° to 76°. The columns marked " Difference" show the average difierence for each per cent, of naphtha added. 
The naphtha used by Dr. White was lighter than 65° B. A series of experiments was undertaken to show the 
dift'ereuce in two consecutive tests for flashing point made upon the same sample of oil, after allowing the oil to 
cool between the tests. The difference was found to be from 3° to 4°. 

Probably the greatest danger from kerosene lamps arises from the risk of overturning and breaking the lamp, 
although undoubtedly explosions sometimes break lamps. A series of experiments were undertaken with a view 
to ascertaining the action of oils of different quality under conditions similar to those attending a broken lamp. 

Thin glass flasks were i>rovided witb corks, through which passed tubes holding wicks. The oil in each flask was then heated in a 
water bath to 95° F., and the wick lighted, after which the flask was dropped ou a brick floor near a steam boOer, the bricks having a 
temperature of about 93° F. The results are given In the following table. No. 8 was a mixture of No. 1 with 5 per cent, of naphtha of 
65° B., and No. 9 of No. 1 with 5 per cent, of naphtha of 71.7° B. ; the others were bought from dealers. 



No. 


Flashing 
point. 


Burning 
point. 


Remarks. 


1 
2 


Beg. F. 
118 

10+ 


Beg.F. 
135 

120 


The wick coutinuetl to bum quietly 

without igniting the spilled oil. 
Like No. I. 


3 


100 


112 


Do. 


4 
5 


98 
96 


lie 

111 


Part of tlio oil was slowly ignited. 
All of the nil at once took fire. 


6 


SO 


100 


Lilci. Xo. ^. 


7 


83 


08 


llo. 1 


8 


US 


116 


Do. 


» 


Below 70 


105 


Ignited with a flash. 



220 PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 

From tlie aljore experiments the following conclusions may be drawn, as applying at least to these oils : 

1. The naphthas distilled were comparatively heavy, 59° to 64° B., technically known as benzines. 

2. The removal of about 10 per cent, of these naphthas from an average unsafe oil raised the flashing point 2.27° and the burning 
point 1.60° F. for each per cent, removed ; the addition of the same proportion of naphtha of equal specific gravity lowered the flashing 
point in very nearly the same ratio. 

3. The second table shows that a paying amount of a light naphtha above 70° B. could not be added to even a very high grade oil 
TVithout making it conspicuously bad, while as much as 10 per cent, of a heavier naphtha (benzine) of 65° B. could be added to an oil of 
a little above 100° F. flashing test, and make it no worse than much of the oil now in the market. 

4. When a small amount of naphtha of above 70° B. is added to a good oil the flashing point is lowered much more rapidly^ than the 
burning point; if the oil is of very high grade and the naphtha moderately heavy, 65° B., the burning point of the oil is lowered almost 
as rapidly as the flashing point, while the addition of a naphtha of 65° B. to a moderately good oil, flashing at 104° F., lowers the flashing 
point 35 to 40 per cent, more rapidly than the burning point. 

5. The burning point is not a reliable test of the safety of an oil, since oils, when spilled, will ignite instantly on the approach of a 
flame when heated a degree or two above their flashing point, even although the burning jjoint is 10° or 20° F. higher, (a) 

6. The first two tables show that an oil flashing at 86° and burning at 107° F. can be made to flash at 100° by removing 6 or 7 per 
cent, by distillation. This corresponds nearly with the estimate * * * that average petroleum yielding 75 per cent, of 110° F. " fire 
test" (burning test) oil would probably yield 69 per cent, of 100° "flash oil"; in other words, 8 per cent, of the 110° "fire test" oil 
would have to be removed to make a 100° "flash" oil. The average flashing point of eight oils given in Dr. Chandler's report as bilrning 
at 110° F. was 89°. (5) 

These conclusions were stated with equal emphasis by Dr. Chandler in his report, from which I have already 
quoted. He says : 

There are two distinct tests for oil: (1) the flashing test, (2) the burning test, which are often confounded; and when the law or 
ordinance specifies thence test there is a doubt as to which of the two tests is intended. The flashing test determines the flashing point of 
the oil, or the lowest temperature at which it gives oif an inflammable vapor. This is by far the most important test, as it is the 
inflammable vapor, evolved at atmospheric temperatures, that causes most of the accidents. Moreover, an oil having a high flashing test 
is sure to have a high burning test, while the reverse is not true. The burning test fixes the burning point of the oil, or the lowest 
temperature at which it takes fire. The burning point of an oil is from 10° to 50° F. higher than the flashing point. The two points are 
quite independent of each other ; the flashingpoint depends upon the amount of the most volatile constituents present, naphtha, etc., 
while the burning point depends upon rhe general character of the whole oil. Two per cent, of naphtha will lower the flashing point of an 
oil 10° without materially affecting the burning test. The burning test does not determine the real safety of the oil ; that is, the absence of 
naphtha. The standard which has been generally adoi)ted as a safe one fixes the flashing point at 100° F. or higher, and the burning point 
at 110° or higher. In the English act and some of * * * the laws of the states of the American Union the burning test has been 
very j adiciously omitted, as two distinct tests are often confusing, and, moreover, the burning test or point is not an index of the safety of 
the oil. More than half of all the samples of oil which have been tested for the health department (of New York city) did not take fire 
below 110° F. ; consequently they were safe according to the burning test ; but only twenty-eight of seven hundred and thirty-six samples 
w really safe, all the rest evolving inflammable vapors below 100° F. The flashing test should therefore be the only test mentioned in 
laws framed to prevent the sale of dangerous oils, (c) 

In 1873 a committee of the Franklin Institute, of Philadelphia, reported "On the causes of conflagrations and 
the methods of their prevention". This committee reported that in 1872 the number of fires occurring in Philadelphia 
was 41^ per cent, greater than in the previous year. Of these fires, 59 (the largest number originating from any one 
source) were caused by explosions of coal-oil and fluid lamps. The report further states : 

The number of deaths in the United States from the explosions of coal-oil and fluid lamps in 1871 was, by the account kept by an 
insurance paper (the Chronicle), 3,500. If the death rate for 1872 kept pace with the increase of conflagrations, which was about 50 per cent. , 
it would give for the past year (1872) 5,250 "deaths, and the maiming of probably 20,000 persons within the jurisdiction of the United 
States. 

Statistics of this character could be extended indefinitely. 

Eegarding the nature of petroleum j^roducts, this committee report : 

We find by actual experiments that all the light forms of petroleum (products) constantly generate. vapor or gas even at the low 
temperature of 12° above zero. » * * Any oil or burning fluid that evaporates rapidly or generates gas below 100° Is exceedingly unsafe. 
* * * It is not the oil or fluid that explodes, but the vapor mixed with air. * * * When the mixture goes on so that there is one 
part of gas and four parts of atmospheric air inside the lamp, or when these proportions exist in a room or any other apartment, they form a 
fearfully explosive mixture. « » * Volatile oils and combination burning fluids generate vapor inside the lamp, hence the less the 
oil the greater the vacant space filled with vapor and atmospheric air and the greater the danger, and hence it is apparent that to fill a lamp 
nearly empty while burning is almost certain to result in a terrific explosion. 

This report was accompanied by another, in which the subject was discussed by the then secretary of the 
institute, William H. Wahl,esq. In this report Dr. Wahl reviews the subject in great detail, and reaches the same 
conclusions as Dr. Chandler, above quoted, (d) 

I have already referred to the elaborate research of Dr. J. Biel, of Saint Petersburg, upon the comparative value 
of American and Eussian petroleum, published in Dingier in 1879. (e) After reviewing the comparative production 
of America and Russia, in which he shows that the average yearly yield of a Caucasian well is three times as great as 
that of an American well, he refers to the "special general meeting of the Petroleum Association" held in London 
on the 14th of January, 1879, at which Mr. F. W. Lockwood, of New York, was present, and the representations 
there made, that the illuminating oils produced from the petroleum of the Bradford district were not of the same 

a See in this connection Chandlei-'s report. Am. Chem., iii, 42. d Jour. Frank. Inst., xcv, 267. 

b Am. Chem., vi, 458. e Dingier, ccxxxii, 354. 

eAm. Chem., iii, 42; Mon. SeL, 1872; Dingier, ccv; W. B., 1872. 



THE USES OF PETROLEUM AND ITS PRODUCTS. 



221 



quality as those exported from the United States iu previous years and manufactured from the petroleum of the Parker 
(Butler and Clarion) district. He then goes on to say that the American oils offered for sale were very inflammable and 
were deficient iu illuminating power; that they burned well for a few hours, and that during the succeeding hours, 
in order to maintain the illumination, it was necessary to raise the wick at short intervals, the result of which was 
finally the accumulation of carbon npou the wick. In order to determine the cause of this trouble Dr. Biel selected 
three American kerosenes, Pratt's astral oil, aud several specimens of Russian kerosene, and subjected them to 
fractional distillation in a glass retort with a thermometer immersed in the oil. That portion distilling below 1.50° C. 
(302° F.) he called essence (essenzen); that portion coming over between 150° and 270° (518° F.) he called burning 
oil (breunole) ; and that above 270° he called Iteam/ oil (schwere Oele). The three American kerosenes were Carbon 
oil of the Standard Oil company, of Cleveland, Ohio; Standard oil of the Imperial Eeliuing Company, of Oil City, 
Pennsylvania; aud Standard White, of unknown manufacture. The three oils gave practically the same results, as 
follows : 

1. Standard oil, specific gravity 0.705, flash point 26° C. (78° F.), burning point 30° C. (86° F.) ; concentrated 
sulphuric acid in equal parts with the oil is colored blackish brown upon- being shaken with it. Tension of vapor 
according to Salleron, IGO"™ at 35° C. The distilled products were: 



Temperature. 


Per cent. 


Specific grarity. 


Bnruing point. 


Dr,,. F. 
la) 125 to 150 


14.4 


Deg.B. 
0.741 = 39 


Deg. 0. 
16 


(162) 1 


• (») 150 to 170 


9.8 


0. 760 = 54 


29 


(85) , 


(c) 170 to 190 


8.3 


0. 770 = 52 


43 


(110) 1 


(d) 190 to 210 


6.0 


0. 778 = 50 


59 


(140) 


(«) 210 to 230 


5.6 


0. 786 = 48 


75 


(167) 


(/) 230 to 250 


8.6 


0. 796 = 46 


100 


(212) 


ig) 250 to 270 


7.6 


0. 808 = 43 


112 


(233) 


(A) 270 to 290 
(t) Residue . 










33.9 


0. 840 = 37J 






I have given the equivalents of the specific gravity and temperatures in degrees of Baum6 and Fahrenheit. 

The distillation was accompanied with a copious evolution of sulphurous acid and the distilled products that 
come over between 190° and 230° C. (374° to 530° F.) are also strongly impregnated with it. This is produced by the 
decomposition of the suljihur compounds in the kerosene, which are produced by the reaction of the crude distillate 
with the concentrated sulphuric acid, with which the American kerosene is imperfectly purified. He summarizes his 
results obtained from the three Standard oils as follows: 

14.4 per cent, light inflammable essence. 

45.9 per cent, really good burning oil. 

39.7 per cent, heavy oil. ' 

2. Astral oil or so called, " 150° fire test," specific gravity 0.783, flashing point 48° C. (118° F.), burning point 
51° C. (124° F.). Shaken with an equal quantity of concentrated .sulphuric acid it is colored a golden yellow. 
Tension of vapor after Salleron, 5""° at 35°. The distilled products were : 



Temperature. 


Per cent. 


Specific gr.avity. 


BuTniog point 


Deg. F. 




Oeg. B. 


Deg. C. 
16 


Deg.F. 

(62) 


(i>) 150 to 170 


13.5 


0. 758 = 55J 


29 


(85) 


(c) 170 to 190 


21.3 


0. 768 = 52 


43 


(110) 


(d) ISO to 210 


18.8 


0. 777 = 50 


57 


(133) 


«■) 210 to 230 


15.0 


0. 786 = 48 


7.i 


(167) 


(/) 230 to 250 


10.0 


0. 795 = 46 


99 


(210) , 


(g) 250 to 270 


9.2 


0. 806 = 44J 


HI 


(231) 


(h) 270 to 290 
(i) Keaidue 










5.2 


0.834 = 38 


1 





The distillation was entirely destitute of any deleterious odor, and the distillate was normal throughout. He 
summarizes his results as follows : 

2.2 per cent, light inflammable essence. 

87.8 ])er cent, good normal burning oil. 

10 per cent, heavy oil. 

The results that he obtained from the examination of the Imperial oil (Kaiserol) of Aug. Korff of Bremen, 
were nearly identical with those obtained from the astral oil, and his examination of the several samples of 
Eussian oil showed them to be of very fair average quality. («) 

a See page 180. A better method of conducting a research of this character is to use alembics instead of retorts ; 200 cubic 
centimeters in an 8-ounce alembic will yield 1 per cent, for every 2 cubic centimeters of distillate. If the distillate is received into a narrow 
measuring jar graduated to one-half cubic centimeters, the measuring can be made to one-fourth per cent, withont difficulty. 



222 



PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 



The point in this discussion emphasized by this research is to be sought in the character of the 14.4 per 
cent, of distillate obtained from the American kerosenes below loOo, having a specific gravity of 59° B. and 
burning at 62° F. This naphtha, more dense than average benzine, when mixed with a residue containing oils 
more dense than those found in t-he astral oil, produces an oil flashing at 78° and burning at 8Q°, an extremely 
dangerous oil if no consideration were made of the large content of sulphur compounds revealed upon distillation. 
These kerosenes were cracked oils, not mixed " tops and bottoms"-, as the English oil merchants have styled them, 
but a cracked product that was run for a given specific gravity (0.795, equal to 46° B.) and color, without much 
regard to test, and none at all for other considerations. While there are, no doubt, occasional instances in which 
retail dealers have mixed naphtha with good kerosene for purposes of fraudulent adulteration, I do not believe that 
oils are thus prepared by either wholesale dealers or manufacturers. It is, however, not to be denied that the 
temptation is very great for manufacturers to allow too large a proportion of benzine for safety to run into an oil 
designed for a market where there are no laws prohibiting the sale of such substances. It is more probable that 
these kerosenes were made, as Dr. Biel received them, by cracking the heavy residue from which the normal 
burning oil had been previously removed,, a part of which had been cracked too much and the remainder too little, 
than that the heavy and light residues, once separated, had been mixed together. 

Dr. Chandler is at some pains to show that a cost of a few cents per gallon will remove the naphtha from 
dangerous kerosene. When kerosene sells at wholesale for less than seven cents a gallon, a few cents a gallon 
would be a large per cent, of its value. What per cent, of the present price of refined petroleum would be required 
to place all of the oils sold at a flash test of 100° F., and of good quality as regards color and sulphur compounds, 
I am not able to say. I have not the least doubt, however, that it is quite impossible to convert Bradford oil, with 
all its parafQne, into illuminating oil of good quality in all respects by one distillation and one treatment unless the 
whole distillate below 60° B. is run into burning oil. I am quite certain that it is impossible to crack the heavy 
residue from which the normal burning oil that exists in the petroleum has been run off and produce a good oil 
by one distillation and one treatment, nor do I believe that such an oil can be made safe, that is, with a flash test 
of 100°. The question of how much additional expense would be involved in rendering oils prepared by one 
distillation safe involves quite a radical change in the manufacture of these oils; a change that would, of necessity, 
increase the cost of the oils, and would, therefore, have to become universal, but which would not necessarily 
render the manufacturer's profit less certain. At the same time it would improve the quality of the oils to the 
manifest advantage of the consumer in respect to safety, health, and economy. That poor oils are not safe has been 
fully proved ; that they are not healthful is as clearly proved by the vapors of sulphurous acid and the products 
of imperfect combustion from crusted wicks and imperfect flow of the oil. Dr. Beil says, when commenting upon 
the three samples of American kerosene examined by him : 

It is apparent that a kerosene containing such a quantity of iieavy oil, and that in addition to this is contaminated by tarry 
substances containing sulphur, cannot possibly satisfy the demands of the public. While the heavy oils are not in a condition to ascend 
to the flame in sufficient quantity, the carbonized tarry substances obstruct the wick and prevent the further ascent of the kerosene to 
the flame, {a) 

That they are not economical is further shown by the research of Dr. Beil, in which the illuminating power of 
these common oils is compared with astral oil with the following result : 

ILLUMINATING POWER AT A LEVEL DISTANCE OF— 





6=". 


9=». 


12™. 


14<". 




7 
7 
7 
(0) 7 
(a) 7 
(6) 7 
(c) 7 


3.35 
4.50 
6.00 
6.25 
5.20 
5.70 


1.36 
3.00 
3.00 
4.45 
4.00 
3.20 


0.80 
1.30 
1.36 
3.70 
3.00 
1.65 








Rns.^inn 






1 





At 6""" the oils are equal ; at 9"™ the astral oil is 34 per cent, better thau the kerosene; at 12"" the astral 
is 120 per cent, better thau the kerosene; and at 14™. the astral is 70 per cent, better than the kerosene. The 
average value of the astral for that distance above that of the kerosene is 27J per cent. In addition to the inferior 
illuminating power of these inferior oils we have the fact that they are consumed more rapidly. I am not aware 
that any exact determinations have been made respecting the comparative rapidity with which equal quantities of 
these oils are consumed, but it is undoubtedly a fact that oils containing a large proportion of benzine are 
consumed much more rapidly than those that consist of what Dr. Biel calls " normal burning oils ". 

I am informed that the demand for " high-test" oils is not equal to the amount that can be made from the 
petroleum manufactured. Manufacturers the world over can only make what they cau sell, and the ignorant and 

a Dingier, ccxxxii,357. 



THE USES OF PETROLEUM AND ITS PRODUCTS. 223 

reckless buj- the cheapest oil, regardless of all other considerations, encouraging the production of these cheap oils. 
It is here that intelligent legislation is required, to protect the ignorant purchaser on the one hand, and the honest 
manufacturer from un^jrincipled competition on the other, as well as the innocent public, especially prominent 
as women and children, from the consequences that follow the use of dangerous oils; not safe even with patent 
" safety lamps". As Dr. Chandler said ten years ago : 

It 13 not possible to make ijasoUne, naphtha, or hensine safe iij any addition that can be made to if. Xor ia any oil safe that can be set on fire 
at the ordinary lempcralure of the air. » ♦ » Even when the "safety lamp" has an ally in the form of a "safety can", it still fails to 
make naphtha safe. It is an axiom that no lamp is safe with dangerous oil, and every lamp is safe tvith safe oil. • » » What we want is 
safe oil; with it all lamps iviU be safe, (a) 

This axiom expresses a permanent truth. The legitimate use of naphtha for illuminating purposes will be 
further discussed in Chapter III. 

Referring to page 218, it will be observed that Dr. Chandler concludes, from his experiments upon the 
temperature of the oil iu burning lamps, that " it is apparent that 100° F. is too low a standard for safety ; 120° F. 
would not be too high a standard ". 

While it cannot be denied that these conclusions are correct as indicating a standard of absolute safety, it 
will be observed that in these experiments the extreme temperature of oil in glass lamps was 98°, being never 
over 8° above the temperature of the room. The higher temperatures were in metallic lamps, in which the oil 
reached 27°, and in one instance 39° above the temperature of the room, the exceptional temperature being 
reached by student-lamp No. 24. Metallic lamps are widely but not generally used, and student-lamps are so 
constructed as to reduce the danger of explosion to a minimum. It therefore appears to me that if legislation 
strictly required all oil to be brought to a fla-sh test of 100° F. the general public would be fairly protected in the 
legitimate use of such oils, so far as mere legislation alone can aflbrd protection. Such legislation should rigidly 
exclude all forms of naphtha from use in households, in lamps or in stoves of any pattern wliatever, as always, 
under all circumstances and under whatever name or guise, more dangerous than gunpowder. An oil that will 
not take fire when thrown from a lamp broken upon a brick floor heated to a temperature of 93° is a safe oil for 
legitimate use. Floors are rarely heated to that temperature. A temperature to which oil is heated in lamps of 
ordinary construction in a room the atmosphere of which stands at 93° is a safe temperature. An oil that did 
not reach 100° under the last conditions stated, and that did not take fire under the first conditions stated, flashed 
at 100°. I therefore conclude that an oil that flashes at 100° F. is a safe oil, and while oils that flash at a higher 
temperature, and that cannot be prepared by cracking petroleum by one distillation, are more safe, healthful, and 
economical, legislation can hardly require anything further than a reasonable limit of public safety. 

Section 3.— METHODS OF TESTING PETROLEUM. 

I have not been able to ascertain where, when, and by whom the question of safe oils was first agitated. 
Early in ISGl, when I was engaged iu examining petroleum in the laboratory of Brown University, Professor N. P. 
Hill (now Senator HiU, of Colorado) was interested in this subject, and it was with his assistance, if not at his 
suggestion, that the experiments described in Mr. Allen's paper, previously quoted, were undertaken. The method 
of conducting the test, as described by Mr. Allen, was at that time supposed to be sufficient, and it is my belief 
that when undertaken by a careful manipulator, accustomed to the use of apparatus, it is ; but it soon after became 
apparent that in untrained hands this method of manipulating was in many respects deficient. As a result, a large 
variety of apparatus and of methods have been contrived for testing oils, both in America and in Europe. The 
following descriptions of several testers, that represent the classes to which they belong, are taken from an 
elaborate article in the Sanitary Engineer, abridged from the article of Messrs. Engler and Haas in the Zeitschrift 
fiir Analytische Ghemie, 1881 : (&) 

Petroleum testers maybe divided into two classes, according to the principle upon which they are constructed. In the first class, 
the vapor expansion of the petroleum is measured at a stated temperature, and from this its combustibility ascertained ; while in the 
second class the temperature is determined at which the oil evolves inHammable vapor. To the first class belongs the apparatus of 
Salleron-Urbain, which is the most accurate of its kind, ?nd the only one to be described. Most testers belong to the second class, and are 
known as " opened " or " closed", the latter because the surface of the oil is more or less protected from the atmosphere. 

In some countries two points are determined in testing petroleum: the first is that of the temperature at which the liquid begins to 
give oft' an inflammable vapor, and is known as the "flashing point"; while the second, or "burning point", is the temperature at which 
the liquid continues to burn when ignited. Most forms of apparatus are constructed with reference to the determination of the flashing 
point only, and, as an oil becomes dangerous at the temperature of its flashing point, there is no necessity for a further test. 

The flashing point of a petroleum will be found to vary according as the vessel is partly or entirely filled with petroleum, is open or 
closed, the petroleum is quiet or agitated, whether the air above it is in a large or small volume iu relation to the quantity of oil, whether 
quiet or in motion, whether charged more or less with the vapor evolved from the petroleum, and, above all, as to the distance of the 
torch from the surface of the oil. It is also necessary to consider the kind and size of the taper used, the length of time it is allowed 
to remain near the surface of the oil in applying a test, the dimensions and material of the oil-bolder, and the raijidity and uniformity of 
heating. As these conditions vary in dift'orent forms of apparatus, the flashing point will be found higher or lower ; and even in the same 
apparatus this may happen, according to the care given to the manipulation in the above respects. 

Salleron-Urbaiu's apparatus, in which the expansion of the vapor of petroleum is determined, is used principally in France. It 
consists of & copper vessel. A, Fig. 48, in which is fixed the conical pillar D, and which is covered by the plate dd fitting on its upper 
edge. C is a movable plate turning on the pillar D, and held in place by the screw n. In this movable plate is the cylindrical chamber 

a Jm. Chem., iii, 24. b Oil and Drug News, 1881. 



224 PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 

B closed at the top by the screw-plug j), while its lower opeuing can he placed in communication with the vessel A by means of the 
openino- o, or by turning the plate C it can be sealed by the upper surface of d. There are also in the plate d a thermometer, a graduated 
tube m 35=™ long, and the regulating apparatus I, which consists of the screw r, so arranged that b y raising or lowering it the ^Kjater level 
in VI is made to stand at zero. 

Fifty cubic centimeters of water are put in the vessel A, the plate d d and the sliding piece C are screwed down tight by n and so 
placed that the chamber B does not communicate with A. B is nearly filled with the petroleum to he tested, the screw j) replaced, and 
the whole placed in warm water until the temperature has become constant. The water level in m is placed at zero, and then the plate 
C is moved until the opeuing of B comes over the opening o. The petroleum spreads upon the surface of the -water in A, and by the 
expansion of its vapor causes the water to rise in the tube m, when its height is read. By a comparison of this number with the known 
expansion of the vapor of normal petroleum at a corresponding temperature the combustibility of the oil is determined. For this purpose 
a table accompanies the apparatus which gives the obtained vapor expansion of normal petroleum in m for different temperatures sought. 

This method depends upon the supposition that the numbers which express the expansion of the petroleum vapor run parallel with 
the temperature of the inflammability of all kinds of petroleum. It has been found, however, that this supposition is not correct for all 
cases, inasmuch as the presence of a small quantity of a very volatile hydrocarbon occasions, by increased temperature, a correspondingly 
greater pressure in the tube m, without its being sufficient to form an explosive mixture with air. Experiments were made on samples 
of petroleum prepared by mixing in varying proportions oils of low and high boiling points, and from these experiments it is concluded 
that a small percentage of a volatile constituent, notwithstanding the equal inflammability of the oils, occasions an uncorresponding 
increase of the vapor expansion. From this it is evident that while this form of apparatus would give accurate results in some cases, it 
could not be depended upon in others. They have concluded that oils are to be considered safe that exhibit a tension of 64"" of water 
at 35° C. 

The second class of petroleum testers are designed for the determination of the "flashing point", or temperature at which the oil 
gives off an inflammable vapor. The majority of testers, and those found most reliable, belong to this class. 

The older forms consisted of an open vessel partly or entirely filled with petroleum, and heated until inflammable vapors were formed 
upon the surface of the oil. These have been improved by placing the petroleum in a closed vessel, by wltich the conditions of the actual 
use of the oil in lamps is more nearly attained. 

Of the open testers the Tagliabue, the Danish, and the Saybolt are the most important. 

Tagliabue's open tester, Fig. 49, was employed in the official testing of petroleum in this country until 1879, and even now it is used 
in Germany with immaterial changes and under various names. It consists of abrass water-bath A upon the stand B, heated by the lamp C. 
D is the glass petroleum-holder, in which is immersed the thermometer E. The bath is nearly filled with cold water, allowing for the 
displacement by the oil-holder. D is filled to the top with the petroleum to be tested, care being taken not to wet the rim, the thermometer 
placed in position, and the lamp lighted. The heating should be gradual, and, if necessary, the lamp be occasionally removed. When the 
oil has reached the temperature at which you wish to begin the testing, a small flame, either from a wooden splinter or a gas jet, is slowly 
and carefully passed over the petroleum, about 12"" (nearly half an inch) from its surface. If no flashing takes place, this is repeated as 
the temperature rises until the flashing point is reached. During testing the apparatus should be protected from draughts of air. 

The Danish tester differs from Tagliabue's only in having the petroleum vessel of copper instead of glass, and in being but partly 
filled with oil. 

The Saybolt tester was, in 1879, adopted by the produce exchange of this city in the testing of refined petroleum. It resembles the 
open tester of Tagliabue, differing only in the use of the electric spark for the burning splinter. It is represented in Fig. 50, and consists 
of the copper water-bath F, containing the petroleum-holder, which, with the other parts of the apparatus, are placed on the tray C, and 
for transportation can be inclosed in the box A. D D are the covers of two b.ittery elements. H is a current breaker, E an induction coil, 
and ee the conducting wires for producing the spark over the surface of the petroleum, a is the thermometer of the oil-holder, and a} 
that of the water-bath. 

In using this apparatus the bath is filled with water and heated to 100° F., after which the lamp is removed. The oil-cup, filled to 
within 3"" (J of an inch) of the top with the petroleum to be tested, Is placed in the bath and the thermometer immersed in the oil until 
the bulb is just covered. As the temperature of the oil is raised to 90° F., produce a spark by the key H, and after replacing the lamp 
repeat this operation every two or three degrees until the flashing point is reached. 

The apparatus of Abel, represented in Fig. 51, is employed in England in determining the flashing point of petrolevun. It consists 
of the copper cylindrical vessel D, in which is the water-bath, composed of the two copper cylinders B B and C C, the latter resting on 
the ring g g and covered by the plate K K ; / is a funnel for filling the water-bath, and e is the thermometer placed In It. 

The brass petroleum-holder A rests in an ebony ring fixed in the plate K, and hangs in the air-filled space H of the water-bath. It 
Is provided with a closely-fitting cover, through which passes the thermometer 6, and upon which is placed the small oil-lamp c, movable 
upon the horizontal axis. There are also in the cover three rectangular openings, which can be opened and closed by the sliding bar d, 
by the movement of which the lamp is so tipped that its nose comes opposite to the opening in the middle of the cover. 

The oil-lamp can be replaced by a gas flame, which is much cleaner, and was used in the experiments with this apparatus. 

The water-bath is filled and heated to 54° C. A is then filled to the mark a with the petroleum to be tested, covered and placed in 
the space H. The wick of the lamp is arranged to give a flame 4"" long. When the temperature, by the thermometer i, has risen to 19° 
C, the tests are commenced, and repeated every degree or two until the flashing point is reached. In testing very volatile oils the air- 
space H should be filled with cold water, and in the testing of oils of high flashing point this water should be heated to about 50° C. 

In closed petroleum testers the oil is heated in a closed vessel until Inflammable vapors rise from the oil into the empty part of the 
holder. There are a large number of these testers ; among them those of Tagliabue, Abel, Sintenls, Parrish, Bernstein, and others. 

The Tagliabue closed tester is represented in Fig. 52, and consists of the water-bath A and the petroleum holder B, berth of brass. 
The latter Is provided with a cover, upon which are fixed the hood C, containing a rectangular opening a, the sliding bar h, for opening 
or closing the aperture beneath it, and lastly the thermometer D. 

There is also an improved form of this tester differing from the first in the arrangement of the cover, which is shown in Fig. 53. In 
this a a is the cover, with openings under the movable bar B h, by which they are closed ; // are small openings in 6 6, closed by the piece e, 
held up by the spring beneath it. By pressing upon the knob c the apertures // are opened, and the bar b b can be moved by the 
handle g. 

In using the apparatus, the water-bath and oil-holder are filled and the bath gradually heated by the spirit-lamp. When the 
thermometer reaches a definite temperature a small flame is introduced through the opening a into the hood C ; and at the same time the 
bar 6, in Fig. 52, is moved to one side, or, as represented in Fig. 53, the knob c is pressed down, in order to establish communication with 
the air by openings b or//. This testing Is repeated as the temperature rises until the flashing point is reached. 

The next petroleum tester to be noticed Is the Parrish naphthometer. It is used chiefly in Holland, and differs from those already 
described in that the inflammable mixture is carried out of the petroleum holder to a stationary flame. It Is represented in Fig. 54, in 



THE USES OF PETROLEUM AND ITS PRODUCTS. 



225 



■which A is the tin oil-holder, C the water-hath, D the support, and E the lamp. The holder is provided with a projecting cover, in which 
is the cylinder d, having in its asis a small tube, with a wick running into the petroleum, e is a screen, against whose base rests theglass 
plate flbr protecting the thermometer from the heat of the wick flame, and lastly B is a chamber commuuicatiug with the air, in which 
are the opeuiugs a and 6 I, the former for the circulation of the air throusjh the petroleum-holder, and the latter to allow the passage of 
the oil from B into A. The tbermometer c is placed in the vessel B. 

The bath is tilled with cold water, and the oil-holder with the petroleum to be tested, to a point l''" below the rim. The heating 
must bo slow and effected by the spirit-lamp, whose flam~e is only 1 to l.S"^™ high. The small wick in d is then lighted, care being taken 
that the flame is not more than 6 to 7"'™ high. The heat of this flame produces a current of air, which, coming in through the opening a, 
spreads over the surface of the oil and passes out by the tube d, taking with it the vapors evolved from the heated oil. AVhen the oil 
vapors are suflicient in amount to produce an inflammable mixture, they are ignited by the flame in d, the flame being extinguished by the 
sudden motion of the air. At this moment the flashing temperature is read. 

The apparatus devised by Engler is of the closed form, to which is added an electric mechanism simil.ar to that of the Say bolt tester. 
It is shown in Figs. 55 and 50, and consists of the copper water-bath A, heated by the spirit-lamjj B. C C is a glass vessel for water, which 
has a tilling mark etched npon it; m m is the cover, and ii the thermometer. In the cover is the glass petroleum vessel D, also provided 
with a filling mark, and to which is fitted the bra,ss cover o o. The latter is shown in Fig. 5G, in which will be noticed the following details : 
s 8 are two movable covers, tt the conducting wires, insulated by the ebony rings n u, »• the thermometer, and q the handle of the stirrer j), 
seen in Fig. 55. The conducting wires terminate in platinum points in the vessel D, from J to f"" above the surface of the oil, and at a 
distance of 1"'" from each other. For the production of the electric spark a chromate cell is used, with an induction apparatus which 
gives a spark at least 2 to 3""" long. The electric apparatus of the Saybolt tester answers very well. In using this tester the baths A 
and C are filled with water, and D is tilled to the mark with the oil to be tested. When the petroleum vessel is in place the water in C 
should stand 1"" below the rim. The wires are connected with the iuductiou coil and the lamp lighted. 'As the temperature rises to the 
testing point the spark is passed every degree, care being taken that the spark continues fi-om one-half to one second. After each passage 
of the spark the oil is gently agitated by the stirrer. The operation is continued in this way until an explosion occurs, by which the covers 
« s are thrown open. 

The diflBculties that have been found to attend the construction of an apparatus that in every one's hands 
shoukl give uniform results have been considerable. In the experiments of Engler and Haas three kinds of 
petroleum were emi>loyed in testing the various forms of apparatus, and at the start the tiashing point of each oil 
was carefull}" determined in a closed apparatus. 

Sample A flashed at 22° C.= 71.6° F. 

Sample B flashed at 29° C. = 84.2° F. 

Sample C flashed at 40° C. = 104°F. 

The following table shows the temperatures at which they flashed in the testers named : 



Tester. A. B. 


C. 


Deg.O. Deg.C. 

Tagliabue, open 22.7 to 38.8 32.2 to 48.8 

Danish 19. 5 to 21. ; 29.0 to 31.0 

Saybolt 30.6 to 31.7 | 36. 1 to 36. 6 

Tagliabue, closed \ 24.0 to 39.4 

Abel 1 16.0 to 17.1 22. 2 to 23. 8 

Parrish 20.7 to 23.0 ; 25. 6 to 30. 7 


Beg. 0. 
45. 5 to 57. 2 
42. to 45. 

48. 8 to 52. 7 

32. 4 to 33. 8 

36.5 to 39.0 
39. 3 to 39. 7 





The average of the several tests with the different instruments on the same samples are given in the following 
table : 



Tagliabue, open. 



Saybolt, open . 



Tafiliabue, closed . 



Parrisb, closed . 



A 5 
B 15 



li 19 
C 2 



Average. 



Dtg. 0. 
30.99 
42.00 
52.20 
20.80 
30.00 
43. 25 
31.30 
36.35 
50.75 
31.68 
16.60 
22.64 
32.96 
21.40 
27.30 
37.70 
21.95 
29.40 
39.60 



Deg. O. 
16.1 
18.6 
13.3 
3.5 
2.0 



-15 



226 



PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 



The great variation in the results given by Tagliabue's open tester were due to a variation in the height at 
■which the flame was passed above the oil, and the temperatures indicate different heights, from 1™™ (0.04 of an inch) 
to 12'"'" (0.47 of an inch). 

The uniformity of the results furnished by Engler's apparatus upon sample B, where eleven out of nineteen 
tests were within a variation of 1° 0. and sixteen out of nineteen tests were within 1.5° 0., is quite remarkable, and 
shows that this apparatus is greatly superior to most of the others in this respect. 

By the use of the double water-bath and the stirrer the heating is slow and regular, and, so far as possible, is independent of the size 
of the heating flame. Moreover, by the use of the electric spark, the size, intensity, and distance of the igniting agent is always the same, 
and in consequence of its short duration no vapor formation is noticeable. Finally, the form of this tester is such that the conditions 
maintained in its use closely resemble those which are found to exist in petroleum lamps. Herr Victor Meyer is of the opinion that, in the 
use of the ordinary petroleum testers, the true or absolute flashing temperature of the oil is not found, but a temperature higher or 
lower than the one sought, depending upon the ca]iacity of the various forms of apparatus and the quantity of petroleum employed. The 
progress recommended consists in putting about 40 cubic centimeters of the petroleum in a glass cylinder of about 200 cubic centimeters 
capacity, and placing this in a vessel of warm water until the petroleum has reached the testing temperature. The cylinder is then 
removed, and the oil well shaken ; after which a test is made bj' means of a gas flame, to see if the oil can be lighted. It is clear that in 
this process we obtain a constant maximum of the saturation of the oil with petroleum vapor corresponding to the prevailing temperature. 

In this country the open tester of Tagliabue was at first in general use, and later his closed tester. The 'Sew 
York produce exchange has, within a few years, adopted Saybolt's. In England and Canada Abel's has been 
adopted ; in France both open and closed testers, particularly the tester of M. Granier, has been used, as well 
as the apparatus of Salleron Urbain ; in Holland the naphthometer of Parrish ; and in Russia, and also in 
Germany, some of the open testers have been employed. 

It is manifest that the great difference in the results given by these instruments, included between 22.64° 0. 
and 42° C, when made by the same person on the sarae oil, indicates that a decision should first be had in respeet 
to the instrument used before the temperature should be determined at which an oil is considered safe. 

I think that more attention has been paid to this subject in England than in this country, or it would perhaps 
be more proper to say that in England the subject has received consideration in a manner that has produced more 
satisfactory results. There legislation has been national ; here it has been local. There the subject was placed in 
the hands of eminent scientific men, and legislation was had in 1868 based upon the results of their labors. This 
legislation described the instrument and the manner of testing, and fixed the test at a flash at 100° P. After a 
trial of two j'ears, during which numerous criticisms were found to lie against the provisions of the law, Professor 
P. Grace Calvert subjected the working of the apparatus under the act to very careful examination, and concluded (a) 
that— 

These results show the influence of time in raising six samples of petroleiim spirits from 52° F. to their flashing points. Thus, when 
fifteen or twenty minutes are employed, the whole of the six samples tested could not be called "petroleum", according to the act of 1868; 
the owner would be liable to a penalty and the loss of the fluids, whilst if the time employed to heat the liquid is half an houi'' they 
would all be considered petroleums, their flashing points being above 100° F. 

His results are given below : , 

FLASHING POINT. 



No. of 
sample. 


Time, 15 
minutes. 


Timo, 20 
minutes. 


Time, 30 
minutes. 




Deg.F. 
96 
92 


Deg. F. 
98 
99 


Deg. F. 
102 
101 


2 


3 


90 
94 


98 
96 


101 
104 


4 


5 


96 


98 


110 


6 

1 


93 


99 


108 



He further remarks on this point: 

I am therefore of opinion that as the act has been made to protect the public from fire and explosions resulting from the employment 
of too highly inflammable hydrocarbons, the chemist or person called upon to test liquids of this class should raise the temperature of the 
fluids as quickly as possible; otherwise they favor the vendor and manufacturer, to the detriment of the consumer. 

The next series of experiments was made with a view of corroborating a statement made by Mr. Norman Tate, viz, if two thermometers 
are placed in the petroleum spirit, one, as indicated in the act, If inches below the surface of the liquid, the other being only one-half 
inch below the surface, a diflerence of several degrees will be noticed between them at the time the vapors will flash. « • * The 

following results confirm Mr. Tate's observations : 

Flashed .at — Flashed at — 

No. 4 940F. 1| inches. 99°F. 4 inch. 

No. 5 94°F. Uinches. 98°F. i inch. 

No. 6 95° F. H inches. 99° F. ^ inch. 

This curious and unusual fact is due, in my opinion, to this : that petroleum not being a homogeneous liquid, but a mixture of several 
hydrocarbons, the highest products being first expelled, the heat rises toward the surface, and in this way the difference in temperature 
referred to is produced. 

a Jour. Soc. Arts, xviii, 290. 



THE USES OF PETROLEUM AND ITS PRODUCTS. 227 

After suggesting a remedy for these diflficiilties Professor Calvert closes his article as follows : 

From the above experiments the Ibllowiug coDclusions may he drawn, viz, that the petroleum act of 1868 does not give BufiScient 
and precise instruction for testing petroleum spirit; therefore it is to he hoped that government will take the matter in hand and do 
away with the objections to the present act, substituting more clearly defined rules and instructions, so as to enable the operator to 
determine the llashing point of petroleum spirit with greater accuracy. 

This subject ■was agaiu Terj- fully discussed by Mr. Boverton Eedwood, secretary of the Petroleum Association 
.of London, in 1875, (a) in a letter to the English Mechanic and World of Science, iu which he gives a very excellent 
popular description of the manner of testing petroleum under the petroleum act then in force. 

In July, 1875, the Secretary of State for the Home Department requested Professor F. A. Abel, chemist to the 
War Department, to report on certain points relating to the method of testing petroleum as prescribed in Schedule 
1 of the petroleum act, 1871. In accordance with this request he submitted his report, dated August 12, 1876. 
Before commencing his investigations he consulted, among others, the late Dr. H. Letheby, Dr. J. Attfield, Dr. B, 
H. Paul, and Mr. Boverton Redwood, representing with himself an unsurpassed array of talent and experience with 
reference to this subject. I quote here this report entire as representing the most complete and intelligent discussion 
of this subject extant, based upon a most exhaustive .scientific research, and confirmed by comparative tests in such 
a manner as to make it a model for a basis of intelligent legislation. 

REPORT TO THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE HOME DEPARTMENT ON THE SUBJECT OF THE TESTING OF 

PETROLEUM. 

In compliance with the request of the Secretary of State for the Home Department, as conveyed by Home OiBce letter, dated July 7, 
IS/.'), 1,386, 61 a. Appendix V, that I should report on certain points relating to the method of testing petroleum as prescribed in Schedule 
1 of the Petroleum Act, 1871, 1 now submit the following statements and the conclusions at which I have arrived respecting the points 
specially submitted for my consideration in the letter above referred to: 

I. 

With reference to the merits of the method of t-esting petroleum at present prescribed. 

In the evidence taken before a Select Committee of the House of Lords in 1872, the relative merits of and the relation existing between 
the open flashing test which is prescribed in the existing petroleum act and a modified flashing test, called the "close test", which it was 
proposed to substitute for the former, were discussed by a number of witnesses. 

The opinions expressed and the experimental data upon which the opinions wore based were in several respects very conflicting. 

The statements of a great majority of the witnesses were, however, in accord with regard to the unsatisfactory or fallacious nature 
of the open flashing test as laid down iu the existing Petroleum Act. 

The important objection raised against the open test is, that it is liable to " manipulation ", i. c, that in consequence of certain very 
readily variable elements in the details of the test (added to the interfering action of even slight currents of air) the flashing point of one 
and the same sample of oil may be made to differ many degrees iu the hands of different operators (or of one and the same operator at 
ditt'erent times). 

The majority of witnesses also were agreed in the opinion that the proposed "close test" was decidedly more reliable in itself and 
much less open to manipulation than the open test. The differences of opinion with regard to it were almost entirely confined to the 
necessity for some modifications in its details and to the relation which the results furnished by it bear to those obtained with the open 
test, or, in other words, the particular temperature which in dealing with the " close test" should be held to correspond to the standard 
or "flashing point " (100^ Fahrenheit), fixed in the existing act as applied to the open test prescribed. On the latter point a very 
considerable difference of opinion existed between two sections of witnesses ; on the one hand, the results of a number of experiments 
made by several witnesses with the close and open tests were adduced iu support of the conclusion that a flashing point of 85° given by 
the close test should be accepted as equivalent to 100° by the open test, while on the other hand similarly strong testimony and extensive 
experiment supported the view that the standard flashing point for the close test (equivalent to 100°) sliould not be higher than 75°. 

These differences of opinion were obviously ascribable, in great measure, to the unreliableness of the present fopen) test, and also to 
certain variable points in the details of the "close test", which tend to allow of the results furnished by this test being also regulated 
(though not nearly to the same extent as with the open test) by small variationo in the modus operandi adopted by different experimenters. 

The opinion which I myself had formed from the results of practical experience in the employment of the flashing test, as prescribed 
iu the schedule of the existing act, was quite in accordance with the general opinion of the witnesses examined before the House of Lords 
committee as to its untnistworthiness. Moreover, after careful consideration of the subject, it appeared to me, to say the least, very 
doubtfnl whether certain sources of errror could by any modification of the arrangements and directions laid down in the schedule of the 
existing act be eliminated to such an extent as greatly to reduce the liability of the test to furnish results not fairly cornparative with 
each other, and its susceptibility to " manipulation " or regulation iu the hands of difi'erent experimenters. 

Before proceeding to examine into the merits and defects of the proposed " close test ", and to endeavor to supply the want of a 
generally satisfactory test (either by a modification of one of the known tests or by elaboration of some new methorl of experimenting), 
I considered it desirable to ascertain whether the additional experience of the last three years had led some of the principal witnesses and 
others who had given attention to this subject to modify the views expressed at that time or to form any decided opinion as to the direction 
in which a satisfactory solution of the difficulties connected with the present system of testing might be sought. 

I therefore addressed circular letters (Appendix I) to the following : 

Mr. T. W. Keates, consulting chemist of the Metropolitan Board of Works. 

The late Dr. H. Letheby. 

Dr. J. Attfield. 

Mr. Dugald Campbell. 

Dr. B. H. Paul. 



a English iledianic and World of Science, xxii, 35.5. 



228 PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 

The secretary of tlie Petroleum Association. 
The secretary of the Scottish Mineral Oil Association. 
The local authorities under the act at Liverpool and Bristol. 

As the replies to my communications, Tvhich I received from several of the above, embody the present views entertained with regard 
to the test prescribed by the existing act and the points -which require consideration in the attempt to provide a satisfactory test, I consider 
it advisable to give the following precis of such rei)lies. 

Mr. Keatessays: "The present test fails by the nature of the test itself; it is not possible to preclude sources of inaccuracy in its 
use." He proceeds to point out that a considerable diiference in results may arise with different operators, working with the utmost 
honesty of purpose according to the interpretation put upon the directions of the schedule of the act (as to rate of heating, application 
of test flame, etc.), but that " such differences are trifliug as compared with those which can be obtained when there is a desire to get away 
from the truth ", such differences being always in one direction, viz, in postponing the time at which the ignition of the vapor takes place. 
He proceeds : " I think it is conceded that the present open test is fallacious, and that it can be made to give different results by 
diiierent operators, according to the wish or intention of such operator." Mr. Keates then dwells upon the merits of the close test, the 
adaptation of which he had advocated in 1872, and says : " With a proper regulation as to the application of the light to the vapor 
chamber very close agreement can be obtained, and I do not think the test is capable of manipulation." He expresses his belief that 
the close test is not objected to per se, but that the point upon which great difi'erence of opinion exists is the difl'ereuce to be made in the 
parliamentary standard of temperature if the close test be substituted for the open test, which was the main point of dispute in 1872. 

The late Dr. Letheby stated that the difSculties in the way of obtaining trustworthy results with the present (open) test, applied 
"according to the spirit " of the instructions laid down, are manifold, arising in some cases from the faulty construction of the apparatus, 
in others from the erroneous method of working, and in others from the indefinite nature of the instructions." After discussing the 
difficulties included under these three heads, and pointing out that the instructions originally laid down by him. Dr. Attfield and myself, 
in 1869, embody most of the improvements and alterations required to make the present test more certain and satisfactory. Dr. Letheby 
proceeds to say that, "considering an open test must, under any circumstances, be uncertain, because of the diffusion of the petroleum 
vapor into the atmosphere," he thinks "a closed test would be more satisfactory", and that the only difficulty is the point at which 
the legal standard of temperature should be fixed. As regards this standard, he differs considerably from Mr. Keates, and in support of 
his view refers to experiments made by himseU and Mr. Dugald Campbell (and confirmed by Mr. Norman Tate and Dr. Robinson), which 
were quoted in the evidence given before the House of Lords committee. 

Dr. Attfield simjjly expresses the opinion that nothing short of an original investigation will lead to a satisfactory solution of the 
difficulties connected with the test. 

Mr. Dugald Campbell discusses in detail the defects In the instructions laid down for the use of the present test, and which he regards 
as giving rise to the discrepancies occurring in the application of the test. He considers, from the results of his own experience, that if 
certain points, which he details in connection with the application of the open test, be adhered to, " independent experimenters would not 
materially difl'er in their results." Mr. Campbell's experience with the close test does not lead him to form so favorable an oxiinion of it 
as is entertainad by Mr. Keates, but he considers that " with strictly defined rules for applying the test", which o.re carefully carried out, 
the results furnished by it "are likely, on the whole, to be rather more uniform than with the open test". He considers that some 
modifications in the construction of and mode of working with the close test as described in 1872 are necessary, and is in accordance 
with Dr. Letheby regarding the standard temperature which should be adopted with the close test (as equivaleut to 100° with the open 
test). 

Mr. B. Redwood, the secretary of the committee of the Petroleum Association, in expressing the views of that committee, considers 
that the difiiculties which have arisen in the application of the present test arc due to a " want of detail in the parliamentary directions 
for applying the test, and to the delicacy of the test or liability to uncertainty in the hands of unskillful operators ". The committee 
consider that if directions with regard to the rate and uniformity of heating the apparatus, and of the size and character of the flame 
«ised for testing, had been strictly laid down, " the results of different operators would have approximated more closely, and that with skilled 
j)ereons the results would have been sufficiently uniform to have given satisfaction. Inasmirch, however, as the inspectors under the act 
are men whose training has not qualified them to perform operations involving close details of manipulation, the committee are driven to 
the conclusion that the present test, even with such amended instructions for its use as have been instanced, would be found too 
delicate." 

In discussing the directions which should be taken for providing a better test, stress is laid upon the desirability of adopting a 
system of testing which would preserve the existing standard of 100°, as the public, having been "educated in the belief that anything 
over 100° Fahrenheit means safety and below 100° danger, might associate any lowering of the standard with increased risk to themselves 
even if such lower standard were explained to be equivalent to an equally stringent and more certain test ". 

Mr. Redwood proceeds to consider the directions in which, failing the possibility of an efiScient modification of the existing open 
test, another test might possibly be sought, and considers, with reference to these, that — 

(a) The American or fire test (which consists in determining the temperature at which the surface of the heated petroleum takes 
fixe permanently) is as open to discrepancies as the present legal test. 

(6) The automatic tests which have been proposed (depending for their actiou upon the vapor traveling to a fixed distance and 
there becoming ignited) are too complicated for general use, and have not given encouraging results. 

(c) The close test involves a lowering of the standard flashing point, and is therefore objectionable. 

The committee of the Petroleum Association state their opinion throiigh Mr. Redwood, that if it should not be possible to modify 
the open test so as, while preserving the present standard, to reduce its delicacy sufficiently to allow of its satisfactory employment " by 
an iuspector of average intelligence", "the closed test would ajipear to be the best substitute, but would, of course, necessitate a reduction 
of the standard," in consequence of which "the prejudice created in the mind of the public would have to be combated". In the event 
of my deciding in favor of the close test, the commi ttee refer me to Mr. Redwood's evidence before the House of Lords committee in 1872, 
in which he agrees with Dr. Letheby and Mr. Dugald Campbell regarding the standard temperature to be adopted in connection with 
this tost as equivalent to the present legal standard of 100°. 

In conclusion, the committee request that Mr. Redwood may be allowed to exhibit to me the precise method adopted by the Petroleum 
Association in testing the petroleum imported into London. 

The Liverijool Petroleum Association expresses their concurrence in the statements submitted by Mr. B. Redwood, as secretary of 
the Petroleum Association. 

The Local Government Board of Bristol adopt the views expressed by the representative of the petroleum trade in Bristol, Mr. F. F. 
Fox, to whom they referred my letter of inquiry, and who suggests that, "following the example" of the Petroleum Association of 
London, the object aimed at should be " such an improvement of the existing test as shall take away (if possible) its present imijerfections, 
or, failing this, the adoption of the closed vessel, provided an equivalent standard be fixed". 



THE USES OF PETEOLEUM AND ITS PRODUCTS. 229 

The secretary of the Scottish Mineral Oil Association is <lcsiretl to state that the direction?, as detailed in the existing act, are much 
too indefinite, and that the test is subject to estraneons influences which produce discrepancies in the results of even conscientious and 
careful chemists. The association considers it desirable to have a testing apparatus, the range of variations of which cannot, under any 
circumstances, be more than two or three degrees, and that the close test is the most satisfactory and reliable one that can be adopted. 
Such au apparatus as was described in the proposed bill of 1872 is believed to meet the views of every one, and is certainly the most 
accurate test which has had the attention of the association. It should, however, be distinctly stated, with reference to this close-test 
apparatus, "th.at the movable cover for the circular opening should be removed only when the light is being applied, and immediately 
replaced if no flash be produced. " 

From the foregoing prdcis will be seen — 

(1.) That the authorities quoted are agreed in regard to the imsatisfactory nature of the existing method of testing petroleum, as 
prcsc:ibed in Schedule 1 of the Petroleum Act, 1871. 

(2.) That they are also in accord as to the great difficulty, if not impossibility, of modifying the existing "open test "so as to render 
it capable of uniformly insuring reliable and satisfactory results in the hands of different operators. 

{'■i.) That the close- vessel test, which it was proposed to prescribe in the contemplated act of 1872, is more satisfactory than the 
present open test ; but — 

(4.) That dift'erences of opinion exist with regard to the relation which the results furnished by this ''close test" bear to the present 
open test ; and — 

(5.) That there are evidently some points of uncertainty connected with the proposed "close test" which render it also liable to 
furnish dittercut results in the hands of different operators. 

The results of my own experience with the present legal test, and a careful examination into the various points raised in the 
foregoing with regard to it, and to the " close test " which it has been proposed to adopt as a more trustworthy test, led me to the following 
conclusions: 

(n) That the^ncthod of testing petroleum prescribed in Schedule 1 of the Petroleum Act, 1871 (:54 and 3."> Vict., cap. 105), is not of 
such a nature as "uniformly to insure reliable and satisfactory results". 

(6) That the "close test", which it was proposed in 1872 to substitute for the existing "open test", and which was discussed in the 
evidence taken before a select committee of the House of Lords in session in 1872, though more satisfactory, is open to objection on several 
grounds, and is liable to furnish different results in the hands of different operators. 

II. 

With reference to the alterations in method of testing petroleum which should be adopted to secure reliable and satisfactory results. 

In addressing myself to the preparation of a reply to the second point submitted for my consideration in the letter addressed to me 
by the Under Secretary of State for the Home Department, I proceeded, in the first instance, to consider whether it was possible to devise 
some method of testing differing entirely from either of those which have been referred to, and which would be likely to prove satisfactory, 
.as being sufficiently siraxde, certain, and free from liability to involuntary or intentional modification in the hands of different operators. 
My examination into the merits of some automatic tests which have been proposed, and a trial of one or two other plans which suggested 
themselves, for comparing the volatility of samiiles of petroleum by operations placed more or less beyond power of control by the 
manipulator were not attended by promising results. 

The possibility of modifying the present legal test (the open test), so as to reduce within satisfactory limits the existing sources of 
discrepancy, next received a most careful consideration by me ; but I came to the conclusion that, supposing directions could be laid 
down or arrangements contrived for securing uniformity in the rate of heating the oil to be tested, in the temperature at which the 
operation of testing is commenced, and in the niiture and mode of applying the test flame, one great source of uncertainty inherent in 
the test^naraely, the free exposure to the air of the surface of the oil from which the vapor is evolved — would still remain. 

At tlie suggestion of Mr. Boverton Redwood I witnessed some testing operations conducted with the open test, but with the 
employment, in place of the ordinary thermometer, of an ingenious combination of a thermometer and clockwork, devised by Mr. R. P. 
Wilson (n) (and called by him a chrono-thermometer), the stem of the thermometer being made, with its scale, to form a circular frame, 
surrounding ,a dial with clockwork. The object attained by this arrangement is to ascertain readily that the rate of heating is in 
accordance with any prescribed regulation, the hands of the clock being made to keep time with the rise of the thermometer. The same 
result is, of course, attainable in ordinary practice by havinga timepiece in close proximity to the test appariitus, so that it maybe watched 
at the same time as the thermometer and the rate of rise of the latter regulated accordingly. The employment of Mr. Wilson's 
.arrangement is certainly more convenient than having to wiitch the thermometer and timepiece separately ; but it adds a somewhat 
expensive item to the app.aratus, and, supposing that by its employment uniformity in the rate of heating could be secured, only one 
element, of uncertainty in the existing test would then be avoided. 

The general concurrence in the comparatively satisfactory nature of the " close test " led me to consider next whether it might not 
be possible to remove the points of uncertainty involved in the employment of that test by different operators. The chief variable pointa 
connected with it are — 

(1.) The rate of heating of the apparatus. 

(2.) The nature of the test flame to be used. 

(;i.) The precise position in which the test flame is to be applied, and the duration and frequency of its application. 

Considerable differences of opinion were expressed by experts in their examination before the House of Lords committee as to the 
rate of heating which should be adopted in the application of the open test, differences of opinion which apply equally to the " close 
test ". 

Having carefully considered this point, I have come to the conclusion that it is unimportant whether the rate of heating be 1^ or C 
per minute or 20° in fifteen minutes (the three rates insisted upon by different witnesses in the evidence), or whether a decidedly ditferent 
r.ate of heating be adopted, provided the source of heat and amount of heat employed, and the mode of applying it, be the same in all 
cases, such definite rules being laid down with respect to this, and snch precautions being taken in the construction of the apparatus, as 
to render the attainment of uniformity by ditt'erent operators simple and certain. 

The suggestion to apply hot water as the source of heat in connection with a flashing test was made by one of the House of Lords 
committee in 1872, and Mr. Keates stated that this subject had received consideration, but that decided objections had been advanced 
against this mode of heating. Being strongly of opinion that hot water presented the only simple means of securing uniformity in the 

a Described in EiiiiVik'.i }fechanic and World of Science, xxii, 496. 



230 PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 

rate of lieatiiio-, I made many experiments, with a view of attaining, by simple arrangements, a satisfactory rate of heating hy its means, 
■which should he uniform with different apparatus of uniform construction and dimensions. By inclosing the hot-water vessel in an air 
chamber (or a jacket with intervening air-space), and by interposing an air-space between the, hot water and the receptacle for the 
petroleum I succeeded, on the one hand, in satisfactorily retarding loss of heat by radiation, and, on the other hand, in securing a 
sufficiently irradual transmission of heat to the petroleum, The rate of transmission of heat is not uniform throughout all periods of one 
single operation, but it is uniform at the same periods in different operations, and the average rate of heating is uniform. At the 
commencement, when the petroleum is cold and the water at its maximum heat, the rate of heating is necessarily most rapid, while as 
the temperature approaches the flashing point the rise of temperature, which for some time previously has been very uniform, becomes 
somewhat slower. The comparatively rapid heating at the commencement of the operation is decidedly advantageous, and the diminution 
toward the close is not sufficiently great to increase the legitimate severity of the test. 

The temperature of 130° Fahrenlieit has been fixed upon as a convenient one for the water to have at the commencement of the 
experiment; this temperature gives, with the apparatus of the dimensions adopted, a mean rate of heating of about 2° per minute during 
an exi)eriraent. The only operation which is to be performed in preparing for the heating of the petroleum to be tested is, at starting, to 
fill the beating vessel entirely with water at 130° Fahrenheit. The supply of water of the required temperature may be prepared by adding 
hot to cold water or the reverse, iu a jug, and watching the thermometer, which is moved about ia the water until the desired temperature 
is indicated. When the heating vessel is tilled with the properly warmed water, the petroleum cup being immediately afterward placed 
in position, the operator has not to concern himself any further with regard to the heating, and has only to attend to the rise of temperature 
in the cup and to the test flame. When the next test has to be performed, the water in the bath may be again raised to the proper 
temperature by the application of a spirit-lamp flame, and this is readily accomplished while the test vessel is being emptied and refilled 
■with a fresh sample of the petroleum to be tested. 

That the rate of heating must be rendered uniform by this mode of operation when the temperature of different samples of petroleum 
to be tested does not differ greatly is self-evident, and experiment has shown that, even if considerable differences exist between the 
temperatures of different specimens, the extra time required to raise the colder oil to the temperature approaching that of the minimum 
flashing point does not seriously affect the uniformity of the rate of heatiog at that part of the operation when this uniformity is of 
importance. There is, however, no difficulty whatever in avoiding any great variations in the temperatures of the samples tested at 
different times ; thus, the warmth of the hand will soon raise a cold oil to a normal temperature, and a warm oil is easily cooled down to 
such a temperature by immersing the bottle containing it in water. As long as the temperature of the samples at the time of testing 
rano-es between 55° and 65° the uniformity in their rate of heating will not be affected to an extent to influence the results furnished by 
the test. As illustrating the uniformity in the rate of heating, it may be stated that in two experiments made with one and the same oil, 
the temperature of which at the time of starting the test was 04° iu one experiment and 70.5° in another, the average rate of heating 
durio" the rise of temperature from 75° to 85° was almost identical, being, during that portion of the test, 1.04° per minute. The only 
difference in regard to the heating in the two experiments was that with the oil at the lower temperature a period of six minutes was 
required to raise the temperature to 75°, while with the warmer oil only four minutes were required to attain the same result. The 
illustrations of results furnished by the proposed test apparatus given at page 224 show conclusively that they are not affected by 
differences even greater than the above in the temperatures of the oils at the commencement of the test. 

The nature of the test flame to be used, and the mode of using it, were next considered by me, and very much time and labor have 
been expended upon the endeavor to provide a test flame which, with little care, could be maintained for some time of uniform size, and 
which might be allowed to remain throughout the testing operation or during the greater part of the time in a fixed position over the 
vapor chamber of the jietroleum cup, my desire being, if possible, to render the actual operation of testing perfectly automatic. 

Having satisfied myself that with the petroleum cup filled to a definite height there is no objection to keeping a small aperture in 
the lid of the cup (similar to that which exists in the lid of the close-test apparatus) constantly open, a very small oil-lamp was contrived, 
capable of maintaining a flame of the size of the test flames (furnished by a small gas jet or by twine) used in connection with the present 
test, and the lamp was so attached to the apparatus that when the testing was proceeded with the position occupied by the test flame 
over the opening in the cup was inevitably the same in all instances. 

Tlie variations in the length of time for which the flame was applied, in the rapidity of its movement iu and out of the opening and 
in the frequency of its application, all constituted sources of discrepancy between the results obtained by different operators with the 
two tests hitherto used, which I proposed to set aside in the manner above indicated, i. e., by keeping the small lamp in a fixed position 
from the time when the rise of temperature indicated an approach to the lowest attainable flashing point until the completion of the 
operation. This result was attained after numerous modifications of the small test lamp, and the form of the latter which I eventually 
adopted permitted of the attainment of uniformity in the size of the test flame by a very simple trimming operation. 

The position in which the thermometer was fixed into the lid of the petroleum cup was modified so as to allow of the reading of the 
temperature simultaneously with the watching of the test flame being much more conveniently performed than in the present apparatus. 

Although verj' satisfactory results were obtained by the arrangements just referred to, some difficulties were experienced in keeping 
the flame of the test lamp of uniform size throughout a consecutive series of test operations, and slight currents of air were found to affect 
the results obtained too greatly to render the test thoroughly reliable. After a long series of experiments, carried out with the view of 
overcoming these difficulties, I was eventually led to return to a method of operation very similar to that adopted in the original " close 
test", biTt with this important difference, that uniformity was secured in the nature of the test flame, the mode of applying it, and the 
position in which it is applied. 

The application of the flame is in fact rendered quite automatic iu the proposed form of test apparatus, the mode of operation being 
as follows : 

The top of the petroleum cup has an aperture, as in the case of the old close-test apparatus, but in the center of the lid; this 
aperture is kept closed by means of a metal slide, working in grooves, and having two small uprights. These uprights support the little 
test lamp, which for this purpose is fitted at the upper part with small trunnions. When the temperature of the petroleum approaches 
that of the miuiinum flashing point, the slide is slowly drawn out of the grooves to the full extent permitted by a check ; ■n-hen this point 
is just reaclii'd, a very siiuple contrivance causes the test lamp to be tilted, so that the flame is alwayslowered into the opening in exactly 
the same position. Two seconds of time are allowed for withdrawing the slide, and thus the test flame is applied iu all instances for the 
same period, (a) This operation is repeated at the termination of every degree indicated by the thermometer until the flashing point is 
attained. 

a A small weight, suspended iu front of the operator from a string 2 feet in length, answers the purpose of regulating the opening 
and shutting of the aperture. The slide is gradually drawn open during three oscillations of the pendulum, and is then rapidly closed 
during the fourth. 



THE USES OF PETROLEUM AND ITS PRODUCTS. 



231 



In this, as in the old close-test apparatus, each time the aperture is reopened and the test flame is applied a small portion of the 
mixture of air and petroleum vapor necessarily escapes from the chamber, in consequence of the outward current established, and hence 
the proportion of air in the mixture of vapor and air formed in the chamber must become reduced each time the test is applied, and thus 
the ready esplosiveuess of the mixture is liable to some variation. A simple contrivance has been apidicd in conjunction with what may 
be called the " testing slide" for remedying this possible source of discrepancy iu the test. The opening which the withdrawal of the 
slide exposes for the application of the test flame is in the center of the upper surface of the chamber. Just before it becomes open to the 
full extent, and the test flame is lowered into place, two smaller openings, one on either side of it, become also uncovered by the drawing 
back of the slide and serve to admit air to replace that part of the mixture of air and vapor which is withdrawn from the chamber by the 
current which sets in the direction of the test flame ; as the slide is pushed back again, these two openings are closed the instant before the 
central opening is closed again. 

The description of oil and wick most suitable for the little test lamp are given in Appendix II. When coal-gas is available, it may 
be substituted for oil in the production of the test flame, as being decidedly more convenient, and for this purpose an arrangement which 
can be used in place of the lamp, and which admits of a small gas frame being applied automatically iu exactly the same manner as the 
oil flame, has been devised as an alternative adjunct to the apparatus. 

Even with a strict adherence to the prescribed method of heating the petroleum to be tested, and with the employment of the 
automatic test arrangement constructed precisely in accordance with the instructions laid down in the appendix, uniform results would 
not be obtained iu the application of the test unless the petroleum cup be filled iu all instances up to to the same height, and, indeed, up 
to a hei<'-ht which a long series of experiments (varied iu many ways) has demonstrated to bo the one which best insures the attainment 
of uniform results. A simple gauge, consisting of a small bracket, terminating in a point, is fixed within the cup, and indicates the 
precise height up to which this is to be tilled with the liquid, which has simply to be poured iu gradually until its level just reaches the 
point of the gauge. 

The thermometer which serves to indicate the flashing point is rigidly fixed into the lid of the petroleum cup in a sloping position, so 
that it enters the liquid at the center of the surface. The length of that part of the thermometer which is inclosed in the cup is so adjusted 
that when the latter is filled to the prescribed height the surface of the liquid is 0.-2 inch above the bulb. The precautions combine to 
render the readings obtained with the thermometer reliable indications of the actual temperature of the petroleum during the testing 
operation. The sloping position of the thermometer scale enables readings to be very conveniently taken. 

Detailed instructions with regard to the application of the proposed method for testing are given in Appendix II, and Appendix IV 
gives the details of the proposed test apparatus. 

The method of testing, arranged as described, is so simple in its nature that any person of ordinary intelligence, after carefully 
readin" the instructions, or after having been once shown the operation, can carry it out readily, and no experience is required for the 
attainment of uniform results with it. 

The following results, not selected, which have been obtained with the pattern apparatus sent with this report, illustrate the 
uniformity in the working of the test as now elaborated, and it should be particularly noted with respect to these results that in experiments 
with one and the same sample considerable variations in the temperature of the oil at the commencement of the experiment did not afi'ect 
the accuracy of the results obtained: 



Sample. 


No. of 
experiment. 


Temperature 
of batlint 
commeDce- 


Temperature 

of oil whon 

•placed in 

bath. 


Temperatare 

at wbicb 
testing was 
commenced. 


Flashing 
point. 


Sample. 


Temperatuii- 
Xo of of bath at 
esperhueut. , coranience- 


Temperature Temperature 
of oil when , at which 
placed in ' testing was 
bath. j commenced. 


Fla.sbiug 
point. 






Xifc;. F. 


Deg.F. 


Veg.F. 


Deg.F. 




Deg.F. 


Deg. F. 1 Deg. F. 


Dffl. F. 


A. 1 


1 


130 


66.0 


68 


77 


K. 


2 130 


63.0 


71 


82 




2 


130 


68.5 


70 


77 




3 130 


66.0 


69 


82 




3 


130 


09.5 


71 


77 


L. 


1 1 130 


54.0 


68 


75 


IS. 


1 


130 


70.0 


71 


80 






130 


53.5 


64 


75 




2 


130 


71.0 


71 


80 


M. 




130 


W.O 


66 


81 


C. 


1 


130 


68.0 


70 


82 






130 


67.0 


69 


81 




2 


130 


69.0 


70 


82 


N. 




130 


57.0 


63 


73 




3 


130 


70.5 


71 


81 






130 


59.0 


60 


72 


D. 


1 


130 


59.0 


63 


75 






130 


57. \ 63 


73 






130 


63.5 


67 


76 


0. 




130 


02. 67 


79 




3 


130 


70.0 


71 


76 






130 


57. ' 63 


79 


E. 


1 


130 


57.0 


65 


72 


P. 




130 


60. , 65 


79 




2 


130 


59.0 


62 


71 


Q- 




130 


59. 1 65 


74 




3 


130 


61.0 


62 


72 






130 


57.0 


67 


75 




4 


130 


68.5 


69 


72 






130 


67.0 


67 


75 


F. 


1 


130 


03.0 


65 


78 


E. 




130 


06.0 


69 


78 




2 


130 


65.0 


70 


78 






130 


64.0 


67 


78 




3 


130 


CO. 


07 


78 


S. 




130 


64.0 65 


70 


O. 


1 


130 


70.0 


70 


84 






130 


63. 64 


70 




2 


130 


74.8 


75 


84 


T. 




130 


63. 66 


80 


H. 


1 


130 


74.0 


75 


80 






130 


64. 75 


79 




2 


130 


\ 65.0 


66 


80 




3 ' 130 


65. 5 i 73 


SO 


I. 


1 


130 


68.0 


68 


78 


U. 


1 130 


66. 1 67 


73 




2 


130 


65.0 


67 


78 




2 130 


64.0 1 69 


74 


J. 


1 


130 


39.0 


68 


79 




3 130 


67. 1 08 


74 




2 


130 


58. 


69 


79 


1 '^■ 


1 130 


67. 1 69 


80 


K. 


1 


130 


67.0 


61 


El 




2 ISO 


70. j 70 


80 



It will be seen that the foregoing table embraces a considerable range of flashing points ; the samples which gave the results there 
recorded had flashing i)oints ranging from 93° to l:.'li", as determiued by the present legal test. All these were examined with equal 
facility and with equal accuracy (as shown by the results obtained with one and the same sample), the temperature of the water in the 
heating vessel having been in all instances 130° at starting. But with oils of much higher flashing points than the highest in the above 



232 



PEODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 



series the supply of lieat furnislied by the amount of water contained in the heating vessel, raised to a temperature of 130°, would not he 
sufficient; and even if in such cases the water in the hath he raised to a much higher temperature, the intervention of the air space 
between the petroleum cup and the source of heat (which plays an important part in regulating the source of heat in the ordinary use of 
the test) prevents the very high flashing oil from being raised to its flashing point within any reasonable period. If, therefore, the first 
experiment made in the ordinary prescribed manner with a sample of oil indicates a very high flashing point (about 100° or upward), the 
following modified mode of proceeding must be adopted for determining its flashing point. The air chamber which surrounds the cup is 
filled with cold water to a depth of li inches, and the heating vessel or water-bath is filled as usual, hut also with cold water. The lamp 
is then placed under the apparatus and kept there during the entire operation, (a) 

With this simple modification of the ordinary mode of working concordant results will be obtained with oils of the highest flashing 
points. It need hardly be stated that the greater majority of petroleum oils have flashing points within a smaller range than that 
represented by the annexed tabulated results, and that the application of the mode of proceeding last described will be limited to 
comparatively heavy paraffine oils, of which it is desired to determine the flashing points. 

Having satisfied myself of the satisfactory working of the proposed test apparatus, I invited Mr. Keates, the consulting chemist to 
the Metropolitan Board of Works, and Mr. B. Eedwood, the secretary of the Petrbleum Association, to inspect it, and to witness the 
operation of testing with it. The appended extracts of letters (Appendix III) from those gentlemen show that they concur in considering 
that the difficulties which existed in connection with the present legal test, and also, though to a less extent, with the close test in the 
form in which it was proposed by Mr. Keates, are removed by the mode of operating which has been elaborated. 

At the instance of Mr. Peter McLagan, M. P., the apparatus was also inspected by a representative of the Scottish Mineral Oil 
Association, Mr. John Calderwood, whose unqualified approval of it is recorded in the appended extract of a letter from him (Appendix 
III). 

III. 

With reference to the "flashing point", which, with the proposed test, should be fixed as equivalent to that of 100° Fahrenheit 
obtained with the present legal (open)test, and to the question whether the flashing point of 100°, or its equivalent, is "calculated to 
afford efficient protection to the public without unduly interfering with or restricting the trade". 

With the view to establish the relation existing between the results furnished by the proposed test and by the present legal test 
experiments were made with a series of samples of petroleum, the flashing points of which had been determined by the test as prescribed 
in the act. Among these samples there was a considerable number for which I am indebted to the kindness of the secretary of the 
Petroleum Association. 

As Mr. Bovertou Redwood has had great experience in the testing of petroleum, both by the open test and by the close test, which 
it was at one time proposed to adopt, I requested him to attend at my office and test a number of the samples with which he was so good 
as to provide me. 

In the first instance, however, I convinced myself that the results which that gentleman obtained by operating according to the 
directions laid down in the act, and also by applying the original close test, agreed very well with those obtained by Mr. T. W. Keates 
and by an experienced assistant in my establishment. Mr. Eedwood and Mr. Keates were so good as to attend at my department to exhibit 
to me their ordinary mode of operating in applying the test, and the flashing points ascribed by those gentlemen (operating on different 
days) to particular samples were sufficiently in accordance to warrant my accepting the numbers obtained by Mr. Eedwood in testing 
the series of samjjles referred to as representing the flashing points which would generally be obtained by experienced persons operating 
according to the methods hitherto practiced. 

There is no doubt that the flashing points which one and the same operator, of such experience as Mr. Keates and Mr. Eedwood, 
obtains with different samples of oil, using one and the same open test or close test apparatus, bear very generally a correct relation to 
each other ; occasions will, however, unavoidably arise, even under the above very favorable conditions, when the defects inherent in 
those methods of testing will give rise to irregular and discordant results. Hence it is not to be expected that flashing points famished 
by the comparatively accurate method of testing now proposed should present anything approaching absolute uniformity of relation to 
all those furnished by either of the other tests. Thus, as might have been anticipated, among the samples of oil which have been tested 
with the new apparatus there are several which, though they gave flashing points identical or nearly so with each other when examined 
by the present legal teat (the open test), were found to differ several degrees from each other as regards their flashing points when 
examined by means of the new test. 

In the examination of a number of samples by the new test and by the proposed close test the relation between the flashing points 
famished by the two tests varied somewhat ; the " new test " flashing points ranging from two to five degrees lower than the results 
famished by the close test. Of 26 samples, ten gave flashing points with the new test 4'^ lower than the results obtained with the old 
close test, six gave results 5° lower, five 3° lower, and five 2° lower. 

o With oils of very high flashing points the rate of heating does not affect the accuracy of the results obtained. Therefore, if it is 
known to the operator that he is dealing with oils of very low volatility, he may save time by starting with the w.ater raised to a 
temperature of about 120°. The following results are given in illustration of this : 



Description of samples. 


No. of 
experiment. 


Temperature 
of bath at 
commence- 
ment. 


Temperature 

of oil -when 

placed in 

bath. • 


Flashing 
point. 


I, 




Beg. F. 


Veg.F. 


Beg. F. 




f 1 


78 


78.0 


147 


Tonng's patent lubricating oil 


' 


110 


74.0 


146 




I 3 


120 


80.0 


147 


II. 












(- \ 


74 


74.0 


131 


Tonng's patent lubricating oil 


2 
1 ^ 


100 
100 


68.0 
72.5 


130 
131 




i. 4 


111 


72.0 


131 



THE USES OF PETROLEUM AND ITS PRODUCTS. 



233 



In applying the new test to 29 samples whieli had been examined by the present legal (open) test the following results were 
obtained: 



bomber of 
sample. 


Flaaliingpoints 
by opeu test. 


Flaahins points 
by new test. 


Difference. 




2>eff.F. 


Dfg. F. 


Beg. F. 


1 


98 


70 


28 


2 


100 


71 


29 


3 


100 


72 


28 


4 


100 


74 


26 


5 


100 


75 


25 


6 


101 


73 


28 


7 


101 


78 


23 


8 


101 


74 


27 


9 


102 


75 


27 


10 


103 


75 


28 


11 


104 


75 


29 


12 


104 


76 


28 


13 


104 


77 


27 


14 


104 


78 


26 


15 


104 


78 


26 


16 


105 


80 


as 


17 


106 


79 


27 


18 


106 


80 


26 


19 


106 


81 


25 


20 


108 


82 


26 


21 


108 


83 


25 


22 


108 


80 


28 


23 


109 


84 


25 


24 


110 


83 


27 


25 


110 


82 


28 


26 


110 


81 


29 


27 


110 


81 


29 


28 


113 


87 


26 


29 


1-JB 


100 


26 



t will be seen from an examination of these numbers that one among the samples gave a flashing point with the new test only 93° 
lower than that given by it when examined by the open test, while with four others there was as great a difference as 29^= between 
the flashing points furnished by the new test and the present legal test. Excluding the single sample which showed the comparatively 
small difference above specified between the two tests the following is a synopsis of the observed differences between the two tests: 



Differences 

between the 

flasbin;: points 



Deg.F. 



It would appear, therefore, from the results of these experiments, that the difference between the flashing points furnished by the- 
present legal test and those obtained with the proposed new test ranges from 25^ to 29° inclusive, and it should be borne in mind that the 
"new test" flashing points which have indicated this range of differences are all the results of two or three concordant experiments. 

Taking samples of oil which by the "open test" gave flashing points of 100° and 101° (of which there are seven in the above series), 
the flashing points of these samples, determined by the "new test ", ranged from 71° to 78° inclusive. Again, the flashing points of five 
samples, which were all shown to be 104° by the open test, ranged with the new test from 75° to 7ri° inclusive. Three samples, having all 
a flashing point of 106°, as determined by the open test, gave flashing points ranging from 80° to 82° inclusive by the new test ; three, 
all flashing at 108° ( open test), ranged from 80° to 83°, and four, flashing at 110° (open test), ranged from 81° to 83° inclusive. Oils of 
flashing points between 98° and 106° inclusive (open test) gave flashing points ranging between 70° and 80° by the new test, and those 
which with the open test ranged from 106° to 110° inclusive gave results with the new test ranging from 80° to 84° inclusive. 

While the open test (the present legal test), and even the close test which has been proposed as its substitute, give what may be 
termed broad results, the new test, which appears to be as nearly absolute as a test of this kind can be made, gives precise results. For 
this reason, I am of opinion, so far as the results which have hitherto been obtained with the new test warrant my speaking decisively on 
the subject, that it will be necessary with the new test to adopt a range of 4 or 5 degrees to correspond to what has hitherto been reg.arded 
as the minimum flashing point which petroleum oils supplied to the public should have; in other words, I consider that the diflerence- 
between the results furnished by the new test and the present legal test cannot be expressed by one figure, but must be represented by a 
range of figures (say, from 25° to 29°). 

It need hardly be pointed out that great difficulties have arisen in connection with the present regulations respecting the testing of 
petroleum oils, consequent upon the legalized acceptance of oils as safe, or their condemnation as dangerous, upon a difference of even one 
degree in their flashing points, as determined by a test which may give differences of several degrees with one and the same oil in the- 
hands of different operators. 



234 PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 

Witli the adoption of a comparatively precise test, suoli as there is good reason for believing the proposed one to be, these difficulties 
■should cease to exist, and I consider that a minimum flashing point may be adopted and strictly enforced with the employment of the new 
test without creating an opening for justifiable differences of opinion, such as have arisen in connection with the ijresent legal test. 

Having given my earnest attention to the evidence brought before the House of Lords committee in 1872, and to the questions which 
have arisen from time to time respecting the occurrence and causes of explosions or other accidents with petroleum, I have come to the 
following conclusions: 

( 1. ) The present legal ' ' flashing point " of 100° Fahrenheit by no means limits the acceptance of oils of that su^jposed flashing point 
to such as have ouly one particular degree of volatility, but indeed may admit oils as being just within the prescribed limitswhich really 
-dift'er decidedly from each other as regards volatility. 

(2.) There iippear, on the other hand, to be no well-established grounds for considering that "adequate protection to the public" has 
not been aftorded by adopting the flashing point of 100^ Fahrenheit as the limit with the present legal test, or that the general results 
which that tost has furnished iu its application to determine whether oils imported have flashing points below the prescribed limit have 
been productive of risk to the safety of the public, even though there may be reason to believe that occasionally oils submitted as just 
witliiu the limit have had decidedly lower flashing points than those of other oils which have been recorded as identical with them in 
this respect. 

It may therefore be considered that the minimum flashing point to be adopted in connection with the new test may, without danger 
to the public, be fixed at that point which corresponds to the lowest results (not exceptional) which are furnished by applying the new 
test to a series of oils having a common flashing point of 100° when examined by the present legal test. 

It may also be considered that the fairest course would be to base the equivalent, with the new test for 100° (furnished by the open 
test), upon the mean of the differences between the two tests applied to a large number of oils (with possibly the exclusion of a completely 
•exceptionally extreme result). The objection would probably be raised against this course by importers of petroleum oUs that it would 
have the effect of excluding from the market some oils which, under the present act, might be admitted as having a flashing point of 100°, 
and which past experience has failed to prove dangerous. Thus, if the mean difference between the flashing points given by the two tests 
in the results shown in the foregoing table be accepted as determining the equivalent for the present leg.al minimum flashing point (100°), 
then that difference being 27°, the equivalent for 100° would, with the new tost, be 73° ; but if that be adopted as the minimum legal 
iiashiug point with the now test, two out of 28 samples which the present legal test might have admitted would have been excluded from 
the market if the new test were in force. 

Looking to the fact that these two particular samples, though found to have a flashing point of 100°, gave lower results than others 
■of the same flashing point, not only with the new tost, but also with the close test, it does appear as if they were oils of just that class 
which has given rise to occasional disputes, namely, oils which in the hands of some operators would have had flashing points below 
100° assigned to them, and which might, therefore, even under the present conditions of testing petroleum, be excluded from the market 
by the balance of conflicting opinions. 

After carefully considering this question, I have come to the conclusion that 27° Fahrenheit might, without injustice to the trade, 
bo accepted as the differeuce between the results to be furnished by the new test and the present legal test; or, in other words, that 73° 
might with the new tost be accepted as the equivalent for the present legal minimum flashing i)oint of 100°. 

It appears to me, however, that it would be much more satisfactory if, before a final decision is arrived at on this point, a very 
•considerably larger number of experimental data than those which I have been enabled to obtain with the means at my command were 
procured with the new apparatus and by several operators experienced in theemployment of the old tests. It would unquestionably much 
facilitate and expedite further action iu the matter of modification of the existing law with reference to the testing of petroleum, etc., if 
Mr. Keates, of the Metropolitan Board of Works, Mr. Redwood, of the Petroleum Association, and an experienced operator selected by the 
Scottish Mineral Oil Association were invited to obtain test apparatus made in exact accordance with the pattern apparatus now 
submitted and to apply it to the testing of a number of samples of petroleum, the flashing points of which had also been determined by 
the present legal test. If portinns of those samples, with the results obtained, were then forwarded to me by those gentlemen, apparent 
discrepancies could be examined into, and the " equivalent flashing point " of the new test be established upon a large number of results 
to the satisfaction of all interested in the adoption of a uniform system of testing. 

If this suggestion be acted upon, I would recommend that the same persen who, under my direction, has constructed the pattern 
jipparatus, should make the apparatus required by those gentlemen, and that those apparatus should, in the first instance, be compared 
by me with the pattern now submitted. 

In the event of the adoption of the new test, the apparatus submitted with this report (and of which photographs, (a) measurements, 
and specification are appended) should be preserved as a standard apparatus and placed in charge of some competent and suitable 
authority (e. </., under the weights and measures office), who should inspect and test, or have tested, all apparatus which are made for 
use under act of parliament, for the purpose of ascertaining that they are in accordance with the pattern and specificaton. Such 
apparatus should then bear some official stamp or mark by which they can be identified as legal apparatus. 

Since the attainment of uniform results with the testis dependent upon the uniform construction of the apjjaratus, it is indispensable 
that such a course should bo pursued, and its adoption could, I apprehend, present no practical difficulties. 

In conclusion, I submit, with special reference to the letter of the Secretary of State for the Home Department of July 7, 1875, 1386a 
"61, Appendix V, the following brief summary of the results and conclusions to which I have been led by the inquiry which forms the 
subject of this report ; 

(1.) The method of testing petroleum as prescribed in Schedule 1 of the Petroleum Act, 1871 (34 and 35 Vict., c. 105), is not "of a 
nature uniformly to insure reliable and satisfactory results ". 

(2.) A method of testing petroleum has been elaborated for adoption iu pliice of that prescribed in the petroleum act, 1871, due reg.ard 
liaving been had to the fact " that the testing must iu many instances be carried out by persons who have had comparatively little 
■experience in conducting delicate experiments ". This method, while resembling in its goner.il nature the one hitherto used, is free from 
the defects inherent in the latter, and is so arranged that it can be carried out, with the certainty of furnishing uniform and precise 
results, by persous iiossessing no special knowledge or skill in manipulation. With ordin.ary attention, in the first instance, to simple 
instructions, different operators cannot fail to obtain concordant results with it, and it is so nearly automatic in its nature that it is not, 
like the present method of testing, susceptible of manipulation so as to furnish different results at the will of the operator. 

(3.) There are not, iu my judgment, any well-established grounds for considering that the present flashing point of 100° Fahrenheit 
is not " calculated to afford adequate protection to the public ". 



« Those are necessarily omitted from this reprint. — B. R. 



THE USES OF PETROLEUIil AND ITS TKODUCTS. 235 

(4.) With tho cinplojiuout of the uow test, a mitilmmu llttsUiiig point should theroforo ho adoiitii'. whioh is iMiuiviilt'ut, or iis iieaily 
as possible so, to tho Hashing point of 100*^ Fahrenheit, as furnished by tho present test. 

(5.) From the uncertain character of the present test, it follows that tho " Ihvshin^ points " furnislu-d by il are not alwayscuneonlant 
with oils of the sanui degree of volatility, and that tho same Ihvshiug point is sometimes assigned by it to oils of dilVerenl degrees of 
volatility. On the other hand, tho comparatively very precise tost now proposed furnishes, of necessity, concordant results with oils of 
the same degree of volatility. Hence the dilVerenees between tho " llaahing points" furnished by the present test and those obtained 
with the now test cannot be strictly ropro.sentt>d by one liguro, but may bo considered as rtnging from 2.'')'-' to ii',1'-' I'"ahninlieit (^inclnsivi'). 

(^(1.) The results of a number of thoroughly concordant experiments with tho now test, and a comparison of these results with those 
furui.shed by the present legal test, and also with those obtained by employment of the close tost, which it was proposed to adopt in 1872, 
indicate that a mean dill'erenco of '27"^ Fahreuhoit may bo legitimately aooopted as the mean dill'eronoo between t ho present test and now 
test, and that therefore a Hashing point of 73^^, furnished by tho new test, may be acceptod as equivalent to tho niiuiuunn Hashing point of 
100-' adopted in connection with the present test. 

(7.) Although the conclusions giveu in the preceding paragraph aro based upon tho results of a number of carefully conducted and 
controlled experiments, it appears desirable that the minimum Hashing point to be adopted in oonnoctiou with the now test should be 
deduced from the results of a much larger number of experiments, and that those should bo carried out with the proposed ttwt apparatus 
by several independent operators of acknowledged experience in tho testing of petroleum according to the methods hitherto praotioed. 

(8.) It is therefore propused that several test apparatus, precisely similar iu construction to that submitted with this report, be 
prepared, and that, after having been fouud by me to furnish identical results, they should be employed l>y the cheniisl of t he Mi'tropolitau 
Board of Works, the secretary of tho Petroleum Association, aud a duly (lualilled representative of the Scottish Mineral Oil Association 
for the testing of aunmbor of samples of petroleum, tho results, together with portions of tho samples tested, being forwarded to mo, with 
the view of their forming a basis for Hual report to the Secretary of State for the Homo Department x>i\ that particular point. 

(!).) In thoovont of the adoptiouof the test apparatus submitted with this report, it is important that tho staudard apparatus, with 
drawing and spcciHcation, should be deposited with some gov(>rnniont authority, whose duty it would bo to oxamiuo aud certify to the 
correctness of all apparatU'S made for the purpose of testing petroleum under tho new legalized regulations. 

V. A. AllFI-, 

AuouST 12, 187G. Chemist of the War llrimrtinnil. 

luj mediately upon roceiviuo- this report from rrofossor Abel, tlic Secretary of State for the IJoiiie I)ei)artiimiit 
requested Mr. Boverton Kedwood to subject ti larse number of sauii)les of oil toeomi)arativo tests, in order liiat (ho 
relation between the temperatures at whieii oils Hashed when tested under tho act of 1.S71 iind wIkmi (esled by tho 
apparatus contrived by Professor Abel mij^ht bo accurately <letermined. 

The 8am])Ics tested numbered 1,000. They represented (oxcludiug tho trial samples) '.17,760 baiTols of oil, and formed a series thoroughly 
indicating the character of the various shipments which have reached England from the United States during a period of six months. The 
following is a synopsis of the results, taking the lirst 908 samples, all of which consisted of tho ordinary (reHned) petroleum of commorco: 

92 samples showed a dilference bet ween the two tests of 2.'>" 

208 sauijiles showed a diller. uce between the two tests of 2(i" 

225 sauiples showed a diti'eronco between tho two tests of 27'-' 

281 .samples showed a ditt'erence between tho two tests of !W^ 

102 sauiples showed a ditVerence between the two tests of 29^ 

968 

Therefore, tho whole of those samples all'orded results within tho rauge of figures given iu Professor Abel's roport. 

On tho other hand, it will be noted that the majority of the last 32 samples gave diil'oroucos smaller than the minimum ligures of 
Professor Abel's results, the ditterenco being as follows : 

9 samples showed a diftereuco between the two tests of 20" 

1 sample showed a diftereuco between the two tests of 21° 

9 samples showed a ditt'erouce between the two tests of 82° 

1 sample showed a dift'orenco between tho two tests of 23° 

4 samples showed a diftereuco hetwccu the two tests of 24" 

8 samples showed a ditforonce between the two tests of 25° 

32 

Those, however, all consisted not of ordinary petroleum oil, but of tlu! special kind which is known in the trade under the name of 
"water- white" oil, and therefore the exceptional results aU'orded by them do not affect the question at issue, and aro of intoresl only as 
showing that samples may bo selected or specially jireparcd having Hashing points by the two systems more closely approximating than 
those of tho ordinary petroleum oil of commerce. This water-white oil, as is well understood, possesses tho distinctive feature of low 
specific gravity iu addition to that of high Hashing point, being, in fact, produced at a considerably enhanced cost, by rejecting, in tho 
process of distilling tho crude oil, an unusually large |)roportion of tho heavier as well as of the lighter hydrocarbons; and it is possible 
that this peculiarity may account for the smaller dift'orenco between tho two tests, though I can suggest no explanation of its occurrouco 
only with Home i)arcel8 of water-white oil, unless it bo that the spoc'al mode of inanufacturo referred to is more carefully carried out iu 
some cases than iu others. («) 

On- the whole, the results which I have obtained alford a complete corroboration of those given in Professor Abel's report. The 
selection of a mean dirterence of 27°, or, in other words, of a staudard of 73° with tho new test, would undoubtedly, as is evidenced by my 
figures, lead to the condemnation by tho cominittee of the Petroleum Association of a somewhat larger iiercentage of the oil ini|>ortod, 
and would thus place the trade iu a more uufavorable position ; but, on the other band, the adoption of a precise inolliod of testing would 
reduce to a minimum those diH'orencos of opinion which, under the present system, may, as Prolmsor Abel points out, loail in certain 
cases to tho legal condemnation of oils which the trade inspection has shown not to come within the provisious of the petroleum uot. (i) 



a These "water-white" oils were not cracked oils. — S. F. P. 

h Ri'port of Jlr. Koverton IJedwciod to thi' Fnglish Secretary of State for the Home Ueiiartinent. 



236 PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 

It is not my intention in this report to advocate the claims of either the Saybolt, the Abel, or the Engler 
apparatus for testing oils, which are doubtless superior to all the others, but simply to present the subject as it 
actually exists, with all the dififlculties attending it, and also such attempts as have been made to meet them. 

Section 4.— PETEOLEUM LEGISLATION IN THE UNITED STATES. 

In order to secure full information regarding legislation regulating the sale of petroleum products a schedule 
of questions was prepared and sent to the executive officer of each of the cities and towns having a population of 
10,000 and upward, as represented in Census Bulletin No. 45. Some of these schedules were filled with very great 
care, others were carelessly filled, others were returned with an indorsement of " no legislation " or something 
equivalent, and in some cases no return was made. The same schedule was also addressed to the secretaries of 
the different states and the secretaries of the dift'ereut state boards of health, from nearly all of whom returns were 
received. I was present in April, 1881, at a meeting of the committee of the New York legislature having in charge 
the legislation then pending relating to the sale of petroleum products, and was also frequentlj^ consulted by 
committees of the Minnesota legislature during the successive years in which the subject was agitated in that state. 

From these several sources of information, of both a negative and a positive character, it appears that at the 
close of the census year seventeen out of the thirty eight states of the Union were without other legislation relating 
to petroleum than that provided by the United States statute of 1867 (a) regarding mixing oils and prescribing a 
test of 110° (not given in the Revised Statutes), and an act regarding dangerous freight or stores on passenger 
steamers, (b) except that within those states there was a large number of cities having ordinances providing some 
test. Even the District of Columbia, whose laws are directly prescribed by Congress, has no other petroleum laws 
than the United States laws indicated above. Since the close of the census year a number of these seventeen 
states have i)assed laws relating to petroleum. 

It was found to be impossible to compile any general statistics as to laws even from the schedules that were most 
carefully filled; but the returns exhibited the confused condition of legislation regarding petroleum enacted by so 
many difi'erent legislative bodies more or less influenced by a great variety of opinions and interests. On the one hand 
there are advocates of extremely high test laws who have made their influence dominant in certain localities, and that 
influence has produced legislation that has either been openly disregarded or strenuously opposed until the repeal 
of the obnoxious laws had weakened the cause they were intended to strengthen. On the other hand, while there 
are lionoi'able manufacturers of petroleum who make and sell safe oils and desire to be relieved from competition 
with the manufacturers of unsafe products, there are others who, without regard for the welfare of the public, 
desire to be allowed to make what they can sell, leaving the question of responsibility with the purchaser, and 
who therefore oppose all legislation, using their influence to secure the lowest test possible when legislation is 
inevitable. 

When the United States law of 1867 was passed the proportion of cracked oils in the market was much smaller 
ihan at present. That law required a fire test of 110° F. I have been unable to ascertain upon what basis the 
adoption of this test and the temperature rested. Several years subsequent to the enactment of this law the board 
of health of the city of New York made the whole question of dangerous petroleum products the subject of a most 
elaborate research by Dr. 0. F. Chandler, and in consequence rejected the " fire test " as worthless and 
recommended to the city government the enactment of an ordinance that required a " flash test " as the only one of 
any value. The wisdom of this action has been indorsed by the whole course of English petroleum legislation. 
Some of the most able scientific men of this generation, after careful investigation of the subject, have shown that 

a And he it further enacted, That no person shall mix for sale naphtha and illuminating oils, or shall knowingly sell or keep for sale 
or offer for sale such mixtures, or shall sell or offer for sale oil made from petroleum for illuminating purposes inflammahle at leas 
temperature or fire test than one hundred ami ten degrees Fahrenheit, and any person so doing shall ho held to he guilty of a misdemeanor, 
and on conviction thereof, hy indictment or presentment in any court of the United States having competent jurisdiction, shall ho 
punished by a fine of not less than one hundred dollars, nor more than five huudred dollars, and hy imprisonment of not less than six 
months nor more than three years. (U. S. Stat, at Large, Thirty-ninth Congress, second session, 1867, chap. 169, sec. 29.) 

As this section is a part of an act relating to internal revenue, the other sections of which have no relation whatever to petroleum 
legislation, it is an open question if, in the repeated revisions to which the internal revenue laws have been subjected, section 29 has not 
been long ago repealed. — S. F. P. 

b Sec. 4472. No loose hay, loose cotton, or loose hemp, camphene, nitro-glyeerine, naphtha, benzine, benzole, coal-oil, crude or refined 
petroleum, or other like explosive burning fluids or like dangerous articles, shall be carried as freight or used as stores on any steamer 
carrying passengers. » » » Refined petroleum which will not ignite at a temperature less than one hundred and terr degrees 
of Fahrenheit thermometer may he carried on board such steamers upon routes where there is no other practical [practicable] mode of 
transporting it, and under such regulations as shall be prescribed by the board of supervising inspectors with the approval of the Secretary 
of the Treasury. » • » 

Sec. 4174. The Secretary of the Treasury may grant permission to the owner of any steam vessel to use any invention or process for 
the utilization of petroleum or other mineral oils or substances in the production of motive power, and m,ay make and enforce regulations 
concerning the application and use of the same forsuch purpose. » » » 

Sec 4475 prescribes the packing and m.arkingof such oils, and Sec. 4476 proscribes thepcn.'ilties for violation of the law. (Revised 
Statutes, U. S. Ed., 187;-'.) 



THE USES OF PETROLEUM AND ITS PRODUCTS. 237 

a "fire test" is uusatisfactory, aud also that a "flash test", at a temperature equivalent to that of 100° F. in an 
open tester, is a satisfactory test to insure public safet.y. Oils that will sustain a " fire test" of 110° often flash at 
70° to 80°. While the overwhelming mass of evidence goes to show that a flash test of 100° is conclusive as 
regards public safety, there are large areas of the country with flash tests fluctuating between 120° and 150° 
as successive legislatures deal with the question, and other large areas where there is no state legislation. Under 
both these conditions the number of "kerosene accidents" is very large, while that portion of the country over 
which petroleum legislation is really eftective is comparatively small. 

The acts that have jjroved most eftective in aftbrding protection to the public have provided that a state 
inspector, authorized to appoint de])uties, shall be chosen by the governor, county judges, or state board of health, 
who shall inspect oils by testiug each for either Its flashing or its burning point, or for both, at a specified 
temperature. Provision is usually made for the payment of the inspector and deputies. In some instances this 
couiiieiisation is made too low to compensate a competent person for doing the work properly. The instrument 
with which the test shall be made is in many cases carefully described. Then the bonds of the inspector and of 
the deputies are fixed, and the penalties for violation of the provisions of the law are prescribed. 

There are two sources of danger against which legislation should be directed. The first is the manufacture 
of unsafe oils; the second is the preparation of unsafe oils by mixture. The machinery of state inspection is 
cumbersome as related to the manufacturers, and inoperative as regards the dishonest, who will mix safe oils with 
benzine. The expense of an analysis or inspection of every barrel of oil sold in this country in such a manner as 
to be of any value is unnecessary, as these oils are transported in tank cars that hold on an average 100 barrels. 
The inspection of the contents of a car is of just as much value as the inspection of each particular barrel. The 
idea that one part or stratum of a tank of oil will test difierently from another has no foundation in fact. Having 
conversed with a large number of persons connected with the petroleum trade, I am convinced that legislation 
embodying the following provisions would reduce the number of petroleum accidents to a minimum, aud would 
meet the approval of all honorable men. To determine, as a first step, what method of testing, what instrument, 
aud what temperature should be adopted as a standard of legislation, the President might be authorized by Congress 
to appoint a commission, in which the boards of health, scientific experts, and manufacturers of i)etroleum should 
be repi'esented equally. It would be well to ask the governments of foreign countries, with which the trade in 
jietroleum is large, to join in the consideration of this question through special commissioners. A small percentage 
of the losses of the country during a single year would pay all of the expenses of this commission. Upon the 
report of such a commission, laws could be based making the selling of a dangerous oil a misdemeanor in all cases, 
and numslaughter when death is occasioned by its use, as already provided when death results from illegal 
transportation of "nitric oils" aud powder, and also providing for the recovery of damages in a civil suit for all 
losses to either persons or ]noperty occasioned by the use of such oil —the retailer to be able to recover from the jobber, 
the jobber from the manufacturer, etc., until the responsible party is reached. One competent person, who should 
be authorized to enter jjremises and demand samples of oil for inspection, could do all of the necessary work for 
a large state, and he should be paid an adequate salary, not paid by fees. The examination of oils should not be 
confined to the flashing point alone, but should regard the percentage of suli)liur, of benzine, aud of heavy oil as 
well. This suggestion has met the approval of persons representing the producing, the manufacturing, and the 
selling interests as one which would make the manufacture of unsafe oils unprofitable, and, in addition, would 
prescribe peiudties for the man who would willfully mix benzine with a good oil, tending to stamp out that nefarious 
business. In addition to a standard of testing for ordinary illuminating oils, another and much higher standard 
should be determined for oils to be used on steamboats aud railroad cars in interstate commerce. Under i)resent 
legislation, a car running over a thousand miles of road may start in a state in which a 110° oil is legal, and, passing 
through another in which a 300° oil is required, finish the run in a third state in which there has been no state 
legislation. As a further illustration of the results of such variable legislation, I may state that while engaged in 
collecting the statistics for this report I saw in the testing room of a large refinery a large table, on which were no 
less than seven difl'erent instruments that were in daily use for testiug oils to fill orders from ditt'ereut localities. 
Tliese instruments included Abel's for the Canada market, Saybolt's for the Xew York city export market, the 
Ohio tester for the Ohio market, and a number of others. I doubt if the legislative regulation of any other 
substance presents such anomalous and contradictory characteristics. 

Tliere is but one temperature at which illuminating oils manufactured from petroleum can, when iiroperly 
tested, give oft" an amount of vapor sufiicient to produce an explosive mixture within the limits of public safety. 
That temperature alone should be made the subject of legislation, and the testing should be made with whatever 
instrument gives results that may be repeated with the greatest accuracy. The question of absolute safety has 
already been discussed ; that of comparative economy is outside the domain of legislation. 



238 



PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 



Section 5.— BUENERS. 

One other subject deserves consideration in this connection. It is frequently maintained that with proT)er 
burners oils are safe that under other conditions are unsafe. While it cannot be denied that some burners are 
to be preferred to others, it is my belief that all burners are safe icith safe oil. There is no doubt, however, that 
very considerable differences obtain between different burners in point of illuminating power, and hence of economy. 
This was made a subject of research by Mr. G. J. H. Woodbury in 1873. (a) In his report he says : 

The comparative worthlessness of the lighter product of petroleum tempts the unprincipled manufacturer to add them to kerosene, 
makinn- a product which, on account of its extreme Tolatility, is cleaner than pure kerosene; the flame is of greater brilliancy, and, on 
these grounds, it recommends itself over the pure oil to those who have not been able to give attention to this subject. Many of these 
compounds are quite as dangerous as gunpowder. As kerosene has been in use only a few years, a sufficient interval has not elapsed to 
enable us to burn it with the greatest possible economy. » • * The writer, in the following series of experiments upon various 
kerosene burners, has endeavored to ascertain the most favorable forms of burner for an economical expenditure of oil compared to the 
light given. The results given for each lamp are the mean of from 150 to 250 observations. 

FLAT WICKS. 



No. 


CLimDcy. 


Wick. 


Candle power. 


Hours required 

to consume 

1 g.illon. 


1 
Candle 
power to 
g.allou. 


1 

2 
3 
4 
5 
6 
7 
8 
9 
10 
11 
12 


Bulge .... 


Inch, 
i 

1 

i 
1 
i 
1 
1 
1 
i 


8.469 
0. 420 
6.587 
5.138 
4.829 
4.810 
7.398 
7,371 
5.997 
ID. 754 
»19. 480 
*10. 030 


99.06 
127. 53 
125. 35 
163. 93 
171. 89 
174. 87 
115. 23 
131. 19 
188. 57 
113.17 


594 
815 
823 
829 
830 
835 
887 
964 
1,110 
1,209 




Sun 





























' A3 tlie^e lamps were made to burn mineral sperm oil, we do not give the results. 
■ CIRCULAR WICKS. 



No. 


Chimney. 


Wicks. 


Candle power. 


Hours required 
to consume 
1 gallon. 


Candle 
power to 
1 gallon. 


13 
14 
15 




Circular. . 
CircuLir.. 
Circular.. 


8.387 
8.824 
10. 905 


101. 20 
103. 68 
123. 68 


833 

911 

1,347 


Circular 





The list could have been made much longer, but it would serve our purpose no better. 

The oil used was Downer's kerosene, specific gravity 0.801. One gallon, at 62° F., weighing 3,025.3 grams. The first column of 
results shows the candle power given by the lamp when burning with a full flame, but below the smoking point. The second gives the 
number of hours required to consume 1 g.allon of oil. The object of the third column is (o give the economy of the lamp, by a unit, 
which is the candle power given by an ideal lamp, exactly similar to the one under observation, with the exception that it shall consume 
precisely 1 gallon an hour. This result is constant for all except extremely high or low flames. Such a unit is very empirical, but no 
more so than the modulus of elasticity, or absolute zero. » * » 

A simple inspection of the above lamps shows their economical results to be in the direct ratio to the facilities afforded the air for 
approaching the base of the flame. Where the air cannot enter freely, much of the oil seems to be volatilized without combustion. The 
best example is given by cases 5, 8, 9, and 10. The lamps are all similar, except in the difference noted below, and are of the pattern 
generally known as "sun-burners". In the first example, the air must pass through two horizontal brass diaphragms at the base of the 
chimney ; one is pierced with holes | inch in di.ameter, the other .about -jV inch ; case 8, one fine diaphragm at base of chimney ; cases 9 
and TO, the base of the chimney is open ; a diaphragm is near the base of the flame. Although the two lamps are different in size, they 
are identical in principle, the following being the cause of difference in the result : a certain portion of the light is shaded by the top of 
the burner. This conceals an equal amount (not proportion) of the fl.ame, whether it is high or low. Also, a large flame makes a much 
more powerful draft than a smaller one. If wo have two similar lamps, the larger one will give the best results. 

In the fuur lauips just cited, if we remove the coarse diaphragm from the first lamp we increase its efficiency 16 per cent. ; in addition, 
taking .away the fine one, we increase it 18 per cent, more; make the draft more powerful by a bulge chimney, we have a further 
increase of 12 per cent. Lamps like 9 and 10, from their open construction, are extremely sensitive to currents of air. Lamp No. 3 is ai 
metallic lamp, and very thoroughly constructed. The air is supplied from the base of the lamp, the burner being closed ; it is not 
sensitive to currents of air, and gives the most steady and agreeable flame of any that have come under observation. If the entrance to 
the air passage was made larger, and the diaphragms in the burner were pierced with larger holes, the efiiciency of the burner would be 
increased greatly, while it would probably retain its steadiness of flame. In lamp No. 15 the air is introduced into the center of the flame 
with less obstruction than in the two previous cases, and this lamp gave the most economical results. 



a Jonr. Franh. Institute, xcvi, 115. The names of the burners and their manufacturers are given in the original memoir. 



THE USES OF PETROLEUM AND ITS PRODUCTS. 23& 

The results here given show that in the question of the economical combustion of illuminating mineral oils 
much depends upon the burner. At the special general meeting of the London Petroleum Association, held on 
January 14, 1S79, it was generally admitted that not only the burner, but the wick, played an important part in 
the successful combustion of petroleum oils. It was also shown on that occasion that a loosely woven wick was 
preferable to a more solid one, but that with any form of wick or burner oils of inferior quality produced a crusted 
wick with a smoky flame and heated burner. Judging from the discussion that took place on that occasion^ 
together with my own experience, I conclude that oils that are prepared from petroleum without destructive 
distillation may be burned with a very slow consumption of the wick, but that the wick used with these oils, in 
time, through some physical or chemical action which has not yet been investigated, suffers impaired capillarity 
and becomes unfit for use, although it ma3- still be of sufiflcient length to reach the oil. Such wicks should be 
discarded as soon as they give trouble. Burners also should be discarded as soon as they become worn and do not 
act satisfactorily. The primary question, however, rests with the oil. Cracked oils containing much heavy oil and 
a comparatively large content of sulphur very soon convert a wick into a charred mass saturated with a gummy 
substance that partially destroys its capillarity and produces an imperfect combustion and inferior flame. To 
secure the best results the best oil should be burned in lamps supplied with fresh burners and wicks carefully 
trimmed* 

The fact has been established- beyond all controversy that no combination of lamp, burner, and icicle that has 
ever been invented or can be invented will make an inferior or unsafe oil either satisfactory, economical, or safe. 

Dr. Thomas Cattell writes as follows to an English journal: 

It is two years since tlie first intimation of danger from sophisticated candle-wiclc was forced on my attention. The candle, a thick 
dipX^ed one, was placed lighted upon a table, and after a period of about twenty minutes it guttered so violently that the tallow flowed 
down on to the table around the bottom of the candle-stick, followed in a few seconds by a collapse of the wick, bared of tallow, on to the 
table, setting fire to the melted tallow. If I had not been present serious consequences would have ensued. When this incident occurred 
I had not thought the fault lay primarily with the candle-wick ; I held the tallow to blame. A recent accident, however, with a large 
paraffine lamp has brought to light the fact that the medium or wick through which the tallow and the oil are used as sources of light is 
unsuitable for its object, as well as fraught with considerable danger. Experience has taught that cotton is the one peculiar and 
valuable medium for supplying the sources of light here referred to. Spuriods cotton-wick I believe to be a mixture of cotton and flax 
waste, or a combination of jute, hemp waste, and cotton. Such wick, or at least the alien portion of it, becomes quickly carbonized both 
in candles and lamps. With the first, the carbonized particles as they form dart out with a flash or drop on the melted tallow undergoing 
absorption by the wick, giving rise to guttering and a great waste of tallow. In the other, the ignited portion soon carbonizes, which 
more and more increases in depth, until a point is reached when further capillarity in the direction of the fl.ame ceases and ignition of 
the lower part of the wick takes place, followed by that of the oil in the receiver, with explosion or other mishap. I believe it will be 
found that the danger to which I here allude will afford an explanation of many fires and accidents that, but for these observations, had 
ever remained involved in mystery. Pure cotton-wick is slow to carbonize, and its consumption is uniform, unaccompanied by sudden 
little ejections and explosions, as occur in the burning of spurious cotton-wicks previously alluded to. If ordinary paraffine oil be not of 
the required combustion standard, such wick would greatly increase its danger. Microscopically, flax fiber consists of jointed cylindrical 
tubes. Cotton consists of flattened twisted tubes without joints. Chemical analysis would give us more or less of the nitrates, nitrites, 
and binitrites of cellulose, (a) 

a Oil and Drug Netus, January 31, 1882. 



240 PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 



Chapter 111.— NATURAL GAS AND THE CAEBUEETING OF GAS AND AIR. 



Section 1.— OCCCTEEEJS'CE AND COMPOSITIOaST OF NATUEAL GAS. 

The occurrence of springs of water accompanied with gas have been noted from a very early period. The 
number of localities named "burning springs" in different parts of the country attest the wide distribution of 
this phenomenon. It is, however, very erroneously supposed by some 'writers that these burning springs are 
immediately related to volcanoes. Dr. Ansted appears to think that they are closely related to mud volcanoes ; 
but in the United States, east of the Mississippi river, where mud volcanoes are unknown, it appears that gas 
springs are the product of the same kind of action that has produced petroleum, and they often accompany petroleum. 
Wall observed in his researches uj)on Trinidad that — 

The phenomena of salses or mud volcanoes, consisting of the solution of inflammable gas, accompanied by the discharge of a muddy 
fluid and asphaltic oil, is, perhaps, closely related to the activity just described, as carbureted hydrogen may be disengaged in the direct 
formation of asphalt. 

Several of them occur in Trinidad, also in the " Newer Parian ". They were likewise observed in the province of Maturin, presenting 
similar characters. At Turbaoo, near Carthagena, precisely the same action is manifested, but on a much larger scale. This is further 
confirmatory of a great extension of the above formation to the westward. The thermal waters of Trincheras, near Valencia, issuing 
from mica-schist, contain merely traces of silica, sulphureted hydrogen, and nitrogen, and possess a variable temperature, as shown by 
the following determinations: 

Humboldt, in 1800 194"^ 

Boussingault, in 1823 206° 

The author, in 1859 198° 

The hot springs of Chaquaranal, near Pilar, in a limestone of the "Older Parian", present the rare phenomena of water 
discharged at and even above the boiling point. Sometimes the fluid is delivered under pressure, rising in a jet, continuing in a state 
of ebullition for several feet from the point of discharge, accompanied by a forcible evolution of steam, and depositing abundance of 
calcareous matter. 

The fissures of the adjacent rock are lined with spathose crystallizations and the acicular forms of sulphur. The vapors escaping 
from these fissures consLst principally of steam, {a) 

Professor Ansted observed copious discharges of gas, petroleum, and mud from the mud volcanoes of the 
valley of Pescara, in Italy, and also in the Crimea. I do not, however, interpret these phenomena as volcanic, or 
as in any manner an association of cause and effect, but rather as associated incidents of the dying out of the 
metamorphic action which has in most cases by invasion of strata containing organic matter distilled all of the 
forms of bitumen, including inflammable gas. The observations of Wall confirm this hypothesis in the most striking 
manner. 

In the great petroleum region of the Appalachian system the accumulations of gas are often found upon the 
anticlinals in the pebble conglomerates and sandstones that hold the petroleum, while at a still lower level in the 
troughs of the synclinals salt water occurs. In a general manner, with the sea-level as a datum line, the Venango 
and Bradford oil-sands lie sloping at a gentle inclination, the southwestern edges submerged in salt watei', and the 
northeastern edge saturated with gas under an enormous pressure. Not the slightest evidence that volcanic action 
ever has obtained in that region has been observed; but all the geological features, which have already been so 
fully discussed on previous pages of this report, lead to the conclusion that petroleum and natural gas have been 
produced by the same cause. That volcanic action is not that cause is further shown by a comparison of the analyses 
that have been made of natural gases from various localities. 

In 1876 Professor S. P. Sadtler, of the University of Pennsylvania, examined with great care the gas from four 
different wells in northwestern Pennsylvania, which was used in all cases for technological purposes. I quote 
from his paper read before the American Philosophical Society, February 18, 1876, as follows : 

Having had occasion lately to analyze some of the gases issuing from wells in western Pennsylvania, I have obtained some results 
which axe given as a contribution to our knowledge of these important natural products. There have been almost no analyses whatever 
made of these gases. In 1886 a French geologist, M. Pouoou, visited a number of these gas-wells and collected specimens of the gases. 
These were afterward analyzed by M. Fonqu(5, and the results published in CompiesBendus, Ixvii, p. 104.5. The localities were Pioneer 
run, Venango county, Pennsylvania ; Fredonia, New York ; Eogei-'s gulch, Wirt county. West Virginia ; Burning Springs, on the Niagara 
river below the cataract; and Petrolia, Enniskillen district, Canada West. These points are certainly widely enough removed to make 
the series comprehensive from a geological standpoint. The analyses do not appear to have been complete ones, as M. Fowqu^ determined 
the exact amounts of only a few of the constitueuts. In general, the gases were composed of the marsh-gas series of hydrocarbons. 
Thus the gas from Pioneer run he found to have essentially the composition of propyl hydride (CgHs), with small quantities of carbonic 
acid and of nitrogen ; the Fredonia gas .appeared to be a mixture of marsh-gas (CHj), and ethyl hydride (CaHs), with a small quantity 
of carbonic acid and L.'iS per cent, of nitrogen ; the Roger's gulch gas was CHj almost exclusively, with 15.80 per cent, of carbonic acid 
and a small quantity of nitrogen; the Burning Springs gas almost pure CH, with a little COij the Petrolia gas a mixture of marsh-gas 

a Q. J. G. S., xvi, 467. 



THE USES OF PETROLEUM AND ITS PRODUCTS. 



241 



(CH,) and ethyl hydride (CsHo), with a small amount of carbonic acid. However, the composition as given was only a,pparent, as in 
the case of the Pioneer run gas, for on passing the gas through alcohol a part was absorbed, which was afterw.ard shown to be butyl 
liydride (C4Hio), while the part unabsorbed showed nearly the composition of marsh-gas (CH4). It was evident, therefore, that what 
appeared to be propyl hydride (C3H3) was in reality a mixture of marsh-gas (CH4) and butyl hydride (C4H,o). 

In 1870 Professor Heary Wurtz made an analysis of the gas from a well 500 feet deep in West Bloomfield, Ontario county. New York. 
He found ; 

Per cent. 

Marsh-gas CH4 82.41 

Carbonic acidCOj 10.11 

NitrogeuN 4. 31 

Oxygen O 0.23 

Illuminating hydrocarbons 2.94 



100.00 



The specific gravity of the gas was 0.693 

Professor S. A. Lattimore, of Rochester University, New York, examined this gas in 1871, and estimated its flow to be 800,000 cubic 

feet in twenty-four hours of 14.42 candle power. 

The gases which I collected and analyzed were: First, the gas of the Burns well, in Butler county ; secondly, that of the Harvey 

well, in the same county ; thirdly, that from the Leechburg well, across the Kiskeminitis river from Leechburg, in Westmoreland county ; 

and fourthly, the gas babbling from a spring at Cherry Tree, in Indiana county. 

He obtained the following results : (a) 

COMPOSITION OF THE GAS OF CERTAIN WELLS. 



Name of well. 


Carbonic 
acid. 


Carbonic 
oxide. 


Illuminating hydrocarbons 
(CHa+ri. 


Oxygen. 


Nitrogen. 


Specific 
gravity. 


Heating 
power. 


Pyromotric 
heating 
power. 


Hydrogen. 

Per cent. 
6.10 
0.56 
13.50 
22.50 


Marsh-gas. 


Ethyl hy- 
dride. 


Propyl 
hydride. 




Per cent. 
0.34 
0.35 
0.6G 

2.28 


Per cent. 

Trace. 

0.26 

Trace. 


Per cent. 
75.44 
89.65 
80.11 
60.27 


Per cent. 
18.13 
4.39 
5.72 
6.80 


Trace. 
Trace. 
Trace. 


Per cent. 


Per cent. 


Percent. 
0. 6148 
0.5580 
0. 5119 


Per cent. 
14, 214 
14, 105 
15,597 


Deg. 

2,745 
2,746 
2,763 














Cherry Tree gas-spring 


0.83 


7.32 



















The following results were obtained from the analysis of the gas escaping from a well in Belfast, Ireland. It 
passed through 33 feet of silt and 7 feet of gravel containing organic debris. The gas escaped from the gravel. 
Its density was 0,661, air^l, inodorous, and contained no compounds of carbon and hydrogen, except CII4. Its 
composition was found to be — 

Per cent. 

CH. 83.75 

CO, 2.44 

1.06 

N 612.75 

An analysis is here given of the gas of the Burning Spring of Saint Barthelemy (Isfere) : (e) 

Per cent. 

CH< 98.81 

COj 0.58 

N 0.48 

0.10 

Loss 0.03 



100. 00 



The results of several analyses of the gases escaping from the solfataras and fumaroles, given below, will be 
found to exhibit a strikingly different composition. The first is an analysis of the gases rising through the Lago di 
Naftia in the Val del Bove of Etna : 

I. II. 

Per cent. Per cent. 

COj 94.23 84.58 

HjS 6.17 

CH4 1.82 2.42 

0.28 4.52 

N 3.79 1.89 

Neither acetylene nor olefines were present, (d) The next is an analysis of the gases evolved from fumaroles 
on the island of Saint Paul. The temperature was 780-80°: (e) 

Per cent. 

CO,i 14.24 

Oi 17.01 

Ni - 68.75 

a American Chemist, vii, 97; W. B., 1876, p. 1134. d Gas. Chim. Itah, ix, 404 ; J. C. S., xxxviii, 345. 

i C. N.,xxx, 136; J. C. Soc, xxviii, 242. e C. Bendus, 1875, No. 7. 

c Mont. Sci., 1870, p. 550; W. B., 1870, p. 704. 
VOL. IX IG 



242 PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 

The gas from Campi Flegrei, Vesuvius, is not constant in composition, but is mainly CO. H2S is about 5 per 
cent., O less than 1 per cent., N 5 to 10 per cent., sometimes as high as 50 to 60 per cent., with occasionally a small 
quantity of CH4. The Grotto del Cane yields pure GO. {a) No combustible gases are evolved by the Caldeira de 
Furnas, San Miguel, Azores, differing in this respect from the geysers of Iceland and the Suffoni of Tuscany, both 
of which invariably contain H and GH4. (6) The gases from Santorin, after the eruption of 1866, contained CO2, 
O and N" in constantly varying proportions, with traces of H, H2S, and GH4. In 1870 HOL and SO2 were present. (0) 
The gases evolved from solfataras contain GO2, H2S, O, and N. Two of them yielded wholly CO2. The Great 
Solfatara yields steam, HjS, CO2, O, and N. {d) 

A comparison of these results of analysis shows the great difference between the constituents of the gases from 
these two sources. In the gases from Burning Springs CH4 predominates, accompanied by other products of 
distillation; in the gases from solfataras GO2 predominates, accompanied by other products of the combustion of. carbon. 
The distillation of strata rich in organic remains, when invaded by metamorphic action, has doubtless produced the 
inflammable gases of burning springs and gas-wells in a manner analogous to and often simultaneous with the 
production of petroleum. 

In the United States the phenomena of burning springs were observed by the earliest settlers west of the 
AUeghanies. Dr. Hildreth described these springs as they occur in the valleys of the Little and the Great Kanawha,, 
in West Virginia, in 1833, and later in the vallej^ of the Big Sandy, in Kentucky. The volume of gas escaping from 
these springs is often remarkable, but no attempt was ever made, so far as I can learn, in any manner to utilize this 
material. The boring of wells for salt and petroleum led to the frequent penetration of strata heavily charged with 
gas that was destitute of petroleum. This was most frequently the case on the borders of petroleum fields in 
rocks that were, relative to the sea-level, higher than those yielding oil. The localities that have been and are 
most noted for their gas- wells are: Fredonia, Ghautauqua county, Kew York; Wilcox, Elk county, Pennsylvania; 
Eochester, Beaver county, Pennsylvania; Burns well and Harvey well, Butler county, Pennsylvania; Leechburg, 
Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania; ShefBeld, Warren county, Pennsylvania; Allegheny county, Pennsylvania; 
Erie, Erie county, Pennsylvania; Painesville, Lake county, Ohio; East Liverpool, Columbiana county, Ohio; 
Gambler, Knox county, Ohio; New Cumberland, Hancock county. West Virginia; Burning Springs, Wirt county. 
West Virginia. 

The gas from wells at several of these localities has been made very valuable for technological purposes : 

The use of natural gas at Fredonia was begun in 1821, and was introduced into a few public places, among -wliicli a hotel was 
illuminated when General Lafayette passed through the village. The gas from this well, which was sufficient for about thirty burners, 
was used alone until about 1858, when another well was drilled, which supplied some two hundred burners. Another well was drilled iu 
1871 with better success. The average monthly supply of the three combined is about 110,000 cubic feet, of which an average of 80,000 
cubic feet per month is consumed for lights. Seven other wells, varying from 50 to 800 feet deep, have been made without success. The 
area covered by these wells is about one mile in length by ono-half mile in width. The supply has not perceptibly diminished since the 
opening of the wells, (e) 

At Erie, Pennsylvania, gas-wells have been bored along Mill creek. Some of the deepest of these wells have 
yielded a dense oil. The Demming well struck gas at about 440 feet under such a pressure that it blew oil to the 
top of the derrick for twenty-four hours. Many gas-wells have been drilled for private dwellings and manufacturing 
establishments. For the latter purpose, where large quantities are used, the yield of the wells runs down in a few 
years. At Painesville, Ohio, gas-wells are bored for private dwellings, and the gas is used often for heating as well 
as for illuminating purposes. At Eochester, Pennsylvania, and East Liverpool, Ohio, the gas is burned in enormous 
quantities in glass houses. At Gambler, Ohio, and New Cumberland, West Virginia, the gas is burned in a manner 
to produce lampblack. The gas of the Burns, Harvey, and Leechburg wells is or has been used in puddling iron. 
The latter was found particularly valuable in the preparation of the quality of i^ure rolled iron used for tin plate. 
The Sheffield well was bored for oil, but instead of oil it has discharged a jet of gas that has burned continuously 
for five years. In the oil regions the gas from these wells is frequently burned in the open air for no other 
purpose than to prevent the formation of dangerous explosive mixtures of gas and air. 

Bradford and other towns in the oil regions are mainly heated and lighted with natural gas from the oil-wells, 
and in some instances from wells drilled on purpose to obtain gas. If no oil accompanies the gas, the flame is clear 
and white, but if oil is present it is red and smoky. Benzine often condenses in the pipes from natural gas, and it 
is not unreasonable to suppose that, at the enormous pressure under which this gas is held in the oil-sand, the gas 
is condensed to a liquid. In the Bradford region especially this pressure is much too great to be ascertained by 
pressure gauges, and has often been made a subject of conjecture, rather than of estimate, as equaling from 2,000 to 
4,000 pounds per square inch. Any attempt to ascertain the pressure would be attended with the risk of having 
the casing and tubing thrown out of the well. The evaporation due to the removal of this pressure produces an 
extraordinary reduction of temperature. At ShefBeld the temperatiire fell so low that ice formed in the well pipe 
and finally closed it. The ice was then drilled through 100 feet in depth. When it was pierced, the pressure threw 

a C. Send., Isxv, 154; J. C. Soc, xxv, 884. d Ann. de Ch. et de PJtys. (4), xxv, 559 ; J. C. Soc, xxv, 469. 

6 Ibid., Ixsv, 115 ; lUd., xxv, 885. e Letter of E. J. Crissey, secretary of the Fredonia Natural Gas-light Company, to S. F. P. 

c Hid., Ixxv, 270 ; liid., xxv, 885. 



THE USES OF PETROLEUM AND ITS PRODUCTS. 243 

the tools and well casing out of the top of the derrick. "When a stratum yielding gas is struck in boring, the force 
of the escaping gas prevents water from reaching the bottom of the well if poured down the side, or even, in some 
cases, if introduced from a tank through a pipe reaching to the bottom. In most cases by this latter arrangement 
(which gives the weight of a column of water several hundred feet in height) the gas is " stopped off". The gas 
has been used in several instances to work an engine for pumping without water or heat by introducing it into the 
cylinder, precisely like high-pressure steam. In drilling the Eoy well, near Kane, Pennsylvania, the gas from a well 
more than one-fourth of a mile distant was used in this manner. It is very frequently used as a fuel for making 
steam, and, when there is a surplus, that is burned at the end of a pipe to prevent explosions. The greatest gas- 
well on record in the oil regions is the Newton well on the Nelson farm, 6 miles north of Titusville. There the gas 
raised a column of water 100 feet high with a noise that could be heard 2 miles, and when the column burst it threw 
the water l.j rods each way. 

The Bradford Gas-light and Heating Company receive gas into a gasometer from wells near the city. Two 
sets of pipes pass through the city. One set passes from the wells to the gasometer, and has the same pressure 
as that on the wells ; the other set passes from the gasometer, and delivers the gas under a pressure of about G inches 
of water. Gas is delivered from both sets of pipe ; from the high pressure for boilers, etc., and from the other set 
for use iu dwellmgs. The mains attached to the wells will deliver through the same orifice about ten times the 
amount delivered from ordinary street mains. The wells are so deep that the friction on the escaping gas is very 
great, and retards the motion and lowers the pressure as it escapes. The pressure at the wells gradually diminishes. 
In one case it ran down from an estimated pressure of 1,000 pounds to G pounds in five years. When first struck 
the gas would easily have lifted the casing out of the well, requiring a force of at least 500 pounds per square 
inch. It was estimated that during the month of January, 1S81, 7,500,000 cubic feet of gas reduced t9 ordinary . 
pressure were delivered in Bradford, where it is almost universally used for heating as well as for illumination. The 
burning of the superfluous gas at nearly all the wells forms at night great flaming torches, that glare in the darkness 
from the surrounding hillsides. 

Mr. Charles A. Ashburuer, of Philadelphia, has described a well which has received the name of the " Kane 
geyser well". It is situated -1 miles southeast of Kane, on the Philadelphia and Erie railroad. While driUiug 

Fresh " water-veins" Tvere encountered do-nn to a depth of 364 feet, which was the limit of the casing. At a depth of 1,415 feet a 
very heavy "gas vein" was struck. This gas was permitted a free escape during the time the drilling was continued to 2,C00 feet. When 
the -well was abandoned, from failure to find oil, and the easing drawn, the fresh water flowed in, and the contlict between the water and 
the gas commenced, rendering the well an object of great interest. The water flows into the well on top of the gas until the pressure of 
the confined gas becomes greater than the weight of the suiierincumbent water, when au explosion takes place and a column of water 
and gas & thrown to a great height. This occurs at present at regular intervals of thirteen minutes, and the spouting continues for cue 
and a half minutes. On July 31 (1679) Jlr. Sheafer measured two columns, -which went to a height respectively of liiO feet and 128 feet. 
On the evening of August 2 I measured four columns iu succession, and the water was thrown to the following heights : 108 feet, 132 feet, 
120 feet, and 138 feet. The columns are composed of mingled water and gas, the latter being readily ignited. After nightfiiU the spectacle 
is grand. The antagonistic elements of fire and water are so promiscuously blended that each seems to be fightiun- for the masterv. At 
one moment the flame is almost entirely extinguished, only to burst forth at the next instant with increased energy and greater brilliancy. 
During sunshine the sprays form an artificial rainbow, and in winter the columns become encased in huge transparent ice chimneys. A 
number of wells in the oil regions have thrown water geysers similar to the Kane well, but none have attracted such attention, (n) 

Some of the most remarkable gas- wells that have ever been drilled outside the oil region are the Xeff gas- wells 
near Gambier, Knox county, Ohio. These wells are located on the Kokosing river, a tributary of the Walhonding 
river, which empties into the JIuskiugum above Zanesville. 

No. 1 well is sunk not tar from the liue of Knox and Coshocton counties. Such a powerful vein of rich illuminating gas was struck 
as to cause suspension of all work. From this well immense floods of water, in paroxysms of about one minute interval, are thrown up 
to a height of 80 to 100 feet. The vein of water was struck, fortunately, at a depth of only about 66 feet, where a large stream was tapped, 
produciug no inconvenience in boring until the gas was struck, when suddenly it was all discharged at regular intervals of not more 
than one minute. The boring throughout its whole length of 600 feet is filled aud discharged, making a most magnificent hydraulic 
display. It is, however, .at night that the grand phenomena of this well are best exhibited. The enormous amount of water, perhaps 
10,000 barrels per day, keep the derrick and floor so wetted that the gas can be fired with safety. When this is done, at the instant of 
paroxysm a sudden roar is heard, and at night the flame is seen shooting up 15 to 20 feet above the derrick, which is 53 feet high. It is 
a grand sight to see the flame leaping fiercely amid the rushing waters, darting out its fiery tongues on every side; now rolling above 
the most powerful part of the jet like balls dauciug on a fountain, and now, with au intensely bright flame, leaping suddenly down 
the column and running along the floor, and illuminating, as with buruiug liquid naphtha, which is undoubtedly thrown out with the 
water, the whole forest scenery around as a magnificent spectacle. When the derrick was covered with ice the gas escaping from the 
well was frequently ignited, and the effect, especially at night, of this fountain of mingled fire and water shooting up to the height of 
120 feet through a great transparent and illuminated chimney is said to have been indescribably magnificent. (6) 

A phenomenon (called a gas volcano) that has been observed in the valley of the Cumberland, in southern 
Kentucky, near Burkesville, is thus described. In a private communication Dr. J. S. Newberry writes : 

This name is given to explosions of gas accumulated under the flaggy rocks of the Hudson Eiver group m the valley of the 
Cumberland and its tributaries. I have visited localities where explosions have occurred, but have never witnessed one myself. They 
result from the confinement of gas generated below under impervious strata of rook, the pressure ultimately becoming sufficient to throw oft" 
the superincumbent mass of rock, earth, water, etc. These explosions are not very uncommon in the valley of the Cumberland, and 
they are well known to the inhabitants. 

a Jour. Frank. Inst., cviii, 347. 6 Prospectus of the Neflf Petrolenm Company, 1866. 



244 PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 

Section 2.— USE OF NATUEAL GAS IN THE MANUFACTUEE OF LAMPBLACK, ETC. 

The gas of the Neff and other wells is largely utilized for the production of lampblack. This black is of 
very superior quality, and when .first produced and thrown upon the market commanded as high a price as 75 cents 
per pound, but the production was very soon increased so largely in comparison with the demand that the price is 
now only about 15 to 20 cents per pound. Concerning the production of lampblack from natural carbureted 
hydrogen, a writer in Dingier observes as follows : {a) 

It is known that gaaes escaping from tlie soil of some of the oil districts of Pennsylvania (compare 1878, 228, 534) is prepared for 

illumination and heating purposes (1877, 224, 552). P. Neif now produces from the same hy imperfect comhustion an excellent lampblack, 

which he brings into market under the name of " diamond Uack". This gas flows from two wells which are bored at Gambler (Knox 

county, Ohio), in the vicinity of the mouth of the Kokosing. According to J. E. Santos {Chemical News, 38, 94, 1878), it has the following 

composition : 

Per cent. 

Marsh-gas 81. 4 

Ethylene 12.2 

Nitrogen 4.8 

Oxygen - 0.8 

CO 0.5 

COj 0.3 

100.0 

Neflf burns daily with 1,800 burners of peculiar construction almost 8,000 cubic meters of gas and obtains from it 16 per cent, of ' 
lampblack. The specific gravity of this lampblack is, according to Santos, 1,729 at 17° C. Dried at 200° an elementary analysis gives : 

I. II. 

Per cent. Per cent. 

C 96.041 96.011 

H 0.736 0.747 

By means of Sprengel's air-pump the gas is pumped out, having the following composition : 

CO — 1.387 

COj 1.386 

N... 0.776 

H2O 0.682 

Besides, 0.024 per cent, of a bright yellow hydrocarbon soluble in alcohol, and which boils at from 215° to 225°, is obtained, which is 
probably impure naphthaline. The small quantity of ashes consisting of the oxides of iron and copper comes from the burners. The united 

composition of diamond black is accordingly as follows : 

Per cent. 

C.. 95.057 

H 0.665 

N 0.776 

CO 1.378 

COs 1-386 

HjO 0.682 

Ashes 0.056 

100. 000 

The black is consequently very pure, and in any case is well adapted for fine printers' ink and the like. It is also used in the 
preparation of lithographic ink. 

At New Cumberland, Hancock county. West Virginia, Messrs. Smith, Porter & Co. use natural gas for burning 
fire-brick. The gas from one well furnishes fuel for nine brick kilns, three engines, and ten furnaces in the drying 
house, with fuel and lights for several dwellings, besides a large excess that is burned at the end of an escape pipe. 
They produce 55,000 brick daily. 

Section 3.— GAS FEOM CEUDE PETEOLEUM, PAEAFFINE OIL, AND EESIDUUM. 

A large number of patents have been taken out for processes and apparatus for the manufacture of illuminating 
gas from crude petroleum and the dense products of its manufacture. The general principle upon which all of these 
processes depend for operation consists in a distillation of the materials at a temperature sufiiciently elevated to 
crack the petroleum compounds into gaseous products. The " gas oil ", which is petroleum deprived of its naphtha, 
is conducted into a retort previously heated to a red heat. The method of heating the retort, the manner of 
distributing the fluids, and the purification of the gas from the undecomposed petroleum and tarry matters, are all 
subject in the different patents to differences of arrangement, but the underlying principle of destructive distillation 
is fundamental in all of them. This method of preparing illuminating gas is quite extensively used for lighting 
large manufactories and villages and small towns. It is especially valuable for these j)urposes on account of the 
comparative simplicitj^ of the apparatus and process of manufucture and the purity of the product. The gas 
prepared by this method is particularly free from the ammonia and sulphur compounds that contaminate gas 
prepared from coal. 

a Dingier, ccxxxi, 177. 



THE USES OF PETROLEUM AND ITS PRODUCTS. 245 

Section 4.— GAS FEOIM NAPHTHA. 

Gas is also prepared by tbe destructive distillation of petroleum uaphtlias aud benzine. One of the methods 
of operating this process is thus described : A still holding 40 barrels of naphtha contains a coil of 2-inch pipe ; 
steam passes through thei coil, Tolatilizing the naphtha, the pressure carried on the still bein^ on an average about 
one-half inch. The vapor jjasses to three benches, of three retorts each, by a 3-inch pipe ; li-inch branches to each 
retort are tapped into the side of this mouth-piece, connecting with a 0-inch cast-iron pipe, which lies inside of the 
retort to within 1 foot of the back, and is open at the back end, but plugged in front with a clayed stoi)per. The 
vapors circulate through the C-inch pipe to the back end of the retort and return forward and up the stand-pipes, 
which are G inches in diameter. These retorts are heated to dull redness. During this transit the vapors of naphtha 
are converted into gas and pass through a submerged U-shaped condenser, IS inches in diameter, lying in a tank 
with sufficient inclination for a drip. An air-pump is used to preserve an exhaust of about 3 inches, from which 
the gas passes to a station meter and " mixer". At every revolution of the station meter 42 per cent, of air is 
drawn in by a reverse drum on the same spindle, and is mixed with the gas, which thence passes to the holder. The 
introduction of air is not necessary, as the gas can be burned with a suitable burner; but the gas thus prepared is 
very rich, and the air is introduced to reduce its quality to the average standard of 15 or 20 candle-power. It will 
be observed that all apparatus for purifying the gas is dispensed with, the gas being entirely free from all deleterious 
sulphur and ammonia compounds. The only residue in this process is a small quantity of heavy oil, apparently a 
residue from the cracking of the benzine. 

Section 5.— CAEBUEETORS. 

The idea of saturating illuminating gas with the vapors of volatile hydrocarbons for the purj>ose of increasing 
its illuminating power was entertained long before the discovery of petroleum in commercial quantities. 

Lowe patented a process in 1841, and alluded to it in a general way in a previous patent of 1832, tbe claim in which is so comprehensive 
that, if valid, it would render doubtful all subsef|ueut patents, (a) Mansfield also claimed tbe .application of atmospheric air as a vehicle 
for the vapor of very volatile hydrocarbons in such a manner that tbe "vaporized ,air" might be burnt like ordinary coal-gas. (b) 

As early as ISoC Longbottom attempted to prepare illuminating gas by passing air through benzole, ether, or 
oil of turpentine, (c) These appear to be the earliest attempts at carburation. These machines were never made 
a practical success, however, until the distillation of petroleum furnished volatile hydrocarbons in commercial 
quantities. The low price at which these products could be obtained after petroleum became extensively jiroduced 
led to the invention of a large number of machines in a great variety of form and principle of construction. The 
number patented in England, France, Germany, and the United States prior to ISSO must be in the neighborhood 
of 1,000. The first patents that were issued were for inventions that produced a partial or a complete saturation 
of the gas or air without in any mauner controlling the evai>oration or the temperature. The result of the operation 
of these machines was invariably an overcharging with vapor in warm weather or when the apparatus was first 
put in action, causing subsequent condensation of the vapor, followed by undercharging as the naphtha was distilled 
and tlie residue became less volatile, and as it also was rendered more dense in consequence of the reduction of 
temperature resulting from the evaporation. Evaporation was induced and rendered more constant and rajiid by 
the construction of a sort of labyrinth through which the gas or air was forced. The tank containing the naphtha 
was made shallow and of large diameter, and curtains of flannel were so arranged that the upper border of the 
curtain was securely fastened to the under surface of the cover of the tank and allowed to hang freely, dipping 
into the naphtha below. As a result, the gas was forced to pass through the spaces between these curtains, and 
a great evaporation and absorption of the naphtha vapor by the gas followed. This method of carburation, while 
very effectual, was still open to the objections above made, and did not furnish uniform results ; but the difficulty 
was removed by an invention by which the tank in which the naphtha was being distilled was submerged in a 
wooden tank of water. The great latent heat of water caused it to give out heat, equalizing the temperature^ 
producing a uniform distillation, and consequently a uniform partial saturation of the gas or air. This contrivance 
may be said to have rendered the carbureting of air a success, and a large number of machines have been 
constructed upon this principle. The general arrangement of the apparatus has been a wooden tank, sunk in the 
ground outside the building and below the frost. In this tank the receptacle for the gasoline is placed, arid the 
intervening space is nearly filled with water. At this depth the water preserves nearly a uniform temperature at all 
seasons, and from its large volume it compensates the gasoline for its loss of heat due to evaporation, and keeps 
both the temperature and the distillation uniform ; consequently the amount of combustible material supplied the 
current of air is uniform. This current is forced through the labyrinth by an air-pump worked bj' a heavy weight, 
aud placed in the basement of the building to be lighted. This form of carburetor is entirely free from the grave 
defect of starting at the beginning of the evening with an excessive evaporation and ending at 10 or 12 o'clock 
with an insufficient evaporation. The distillation proceeds itniformly, and changes in quantity gradually, the 
difference being perceptible only after the machine has been in operation several weeks or months. The gradual 
fractional distillation results in the accumulation of a residue in the labyrinth too dense for evaporation with 

a Jour. Soc. Arts, ii, 503. 6 Ibid., 520. c Jahresbericbt, 18.56, p. 422. 



246 PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 

sufficient rapidity to properly carburet tlie air, and is, consequently, attended with diminished illumination. 
Many attempts have been made to remedy this defect, in which great success has been attained by a remarkable 
invention of very recent date. This machine is called the metrical carburetor, and is used for carbureting either 
gas or air. The name designates a peculiar feature of the instriiment — that it measures the amount of carbureting 
fluid to either the gas or the air ; hence there is never an excess of carburatiou, no fractional evaporation, and no 
condensation of liquid in pipes. One and one-half to 2 gallons of light naphtha are measured to 1,000 cubic feet 
of ordinary street gas, or 3 to 6 gallons of gasoline to 1,000 cubic feet of air, according to the purpose for which 
the gas is to be used. 

The carburatiou of gas and air has been made the subject of many elaborate researches. Prominent among 
those who have conducted them is the late Dr. Henry Letheby, medical officer of health to the city of London, 
who, as early as 1861, reported that — 

With regard to the carburetiug process we are of opinion, from the datii obtained hy the laboratory experiments quoted in the 
report to the commission of the 30th of July last and the experiments made on the public lamps in Moorgate street during the months 
of June and July last, that the process of carburatiou appears to be capable of economizing the use of gas in the public lamps to the 
extent of from 40 to 50 per cent. This conclusion is founded on the assumption that the best quality of naphtha is to be used, namely, a 
naphtha which will give to the gas continuously a proportion of about 10 grains of volatile hydrocarbon to each cubic foot of gas, these 
being the average results of the laboratory experiments, (a) 

The following comparative tests were published in 1879 in Engineering, but the author is not mentioned : 

Pbaotical test. — Barometer, 29.8 ; temperature, 56° ; the weight of gasoline, 655 grains to water 1,000 grains; therefore one gallon 
of o-asoline = 45.850 grains. The air was simply aspirated at the rate of 6 cubic feet per hour through an ordinary chemist's wash-bottle, 
and each cubic foot took up 735 grains, illuminating gas of 17.10 candles taking 585 grains. 

Grains. 
1,000 cubic feet of air = 735.000 ,„ „ ,, „ ,. , „„„,--. ^ - . 

1 gallon of gasoline ="T5l50 = ^^'^ Sallons of gasoline per 1,000 cubic feet of air. 

1,000 cubic feet, 17.10 gas = 585^ ^ ^^^ ^jj^^^ ^^ ^^^^.^^ ^^^,^.^ ^^^^ ^^ 

1 gallon of gasoline = 45.850 o o j. > & 

One thousand cubic feet of air, after being carbureted, = 1,320 cubic feet; and 1,000 cubic feet of 17.10 gas, after being carbureted, 
= 1,370 cubic feet. 

Specific gravity test. — The time required to pass equal volumes of air, gas, carbureted gas, and carbureted air, under equal 
pressure, through the same aperture (Shilling's test), was: air, 88 seconds; gas, 58 seconds; carbureted gas, 90 seconds; carbureted air, 
104 seconds. 

Gas, ^ = 434 to air 1,000. 

90" 
Carbureted gas, r^ = 1,045 to air 1,000. 

Carbureted air, -rsr. = 1,396 to air 1,000. 

Photometric test. — Test on Hartley's improved photometer, 15-hole argand burner (old standard), 7-inch by 2-inch chimney, 
consuming 2.4 cubic feet per hour of carbureted gas, = 14.59 standard candles ; reduced to the standard of 5 cubic feet, = 37.78 standard 
candles. 

Also, with No. 1 steatite bat-wing, consuming 2.40 cubic feet per hour, = 18.63 standard candles; reduced to the standard of 5 

cubic feet, = 38.83 standard candles ; 3.48 cubic feet per hour of carbureted air consumed through argand burner = 16.52 candles; reduced 

to the standard of 5 cubic feet, = 23.70 candles. 

Durability test. — The durability of 1.10 cubic feet 4-inch flame : 

Min. Sec. 

Gas 5 45 

Carbureted gas 16 38 

Carbureted air 11 24 

Various forms of machines were experimented on, viz, cylinders containing laiuii cotton, sponge, felt, and wood carbon. They are 
all useless and obstructive, nor do they yield so high or regular a light as air aspirated or exhausted through gasoline and charged into a 
gas-holder, from which it is supplied ready for use at the burner when required. 

Upon this the editor of the Journal of the Franldin Institute comments as follows: 

Two great objections still exist to the use of these machines, viz, the impossibility of storing large quantities of gasoline without 
the ri.sk from fire to property in the neighborhood ; and, secondly, that if the pressure becomes excessive the flame from the burner will 
be blown; out, and terriljle explosions, resulting in loss of life, have followed in consequence. Tlie increase in the illnmin.iting property 
of coal-gas as ordinarily furnished, when passed through these machines, is very great, and the flame, also, is not liable to be blown out 
with increased pressure ; and a wide field seems to be open in this direction if all danger from fire in the carbureting of the gas could be 
done away with. (6) 

The value of the metrical carburetor will be appreciated when it is understood that it gives a degree of 
carburatiou perfectly satisfactory for gas with IJ to 2 gallons of light naphtha to 1,000 cubic feet of gas, and for 
air with 3 to 6 gallons of gasoline to 1,000 cubic feet of air. Moreover, this quantity is measured to the gas or air 
with great accuracy, is all immediately absorbed, and, as no supersaturation ever occurs, no condensation ever takes 
place in the pipes, and uo "runuing down of the light" is ever due to cold nights or distillation of the gasoline. 
In regard to economy, safety, and perfect operation this metrical carburetor far excels all others hitherto invented. 

a Jour. Soc.Jrts, x, 87. 1> Jour. Frmdlin IiisiUutc, cvii, 404, 1879 



THE USES OF PETROLEUM AND ITS PRODUCTS. 



247 



Chapter IV.— THE USE OF PETROLEUM AND ITS PRODUCTS AS FUEL. 



Section 1.— THEORETICAL CONSmERATIONS. 

The excessive production of petroleum in some localities, and the scarcity of coal and wood in others vrhere 
petroleum abounds, has led to a large number of experiments in the use of petroleum as fuel. The theoretical 
consideration of its value as fuel was made the subject of elaborate investigations at an early date. In ]S64 R. 
Mallett stated that— 

The theoretical eraporatiug power of Americau petroleum may be ascertaiued as follows : 

C S6 

For- 

rt A Of? v^ Q nSA aoA a n 77'> 

= Id. 06 

Regnaulfs formula is 65.2 beat units for the eraporatiou of 1 kilogram of water at 0= to steam at 150^. (a) 
Li 1S69 Henri St. Claire Ue Ville conducted an elaborate research upon the calorific power and physical 
peculiarities of petroleum. His results are given in the following table : 



= 18. 06 kilograms. 




100 




C 0. 86 X 8. 030 = 6948 


1177- 


H 0.14 X 34.462= 4824 


652 


11772 heat units. 





Locality of the oils. 


Specific 
gravity. 


Calorific 
power. 


Locality of the oils. 


Specific 
gi-avity. 


Calorific 
power. 


1. HeavT oU from White Oak. West Virginia ; well, 135 

meters deep ; lubricatii^ oil. 

2. Light oil, from Burning Springs, West Virginia ; well, 

220 meters deep ; illuminating oil. 

3. Light oU, from Oil creek, Pennsylvania ; -well, 200 

meters deep; illinuinatingoil. 


0.873 

0.8412 

0.816 

0.887 
0.8SC 

0.820 

1.044 
0.786 
923 


10. 180 

10. 223 

9.963 

10. 399 
10. 672 

8.771 

8.916 
10. 121 
10.831 


10. 

11. 

12. 
13. 
U. 
15. 
16. 
17. 
18. 

19 


Oil from Java, commune Tjibodas-Fanggab, district 

Madja, residency Cherihon. 
Oil from Java, commune Gogor, district Kendong, 

residency Karab.^ya. 


0.823 

0.972 

0.912 
0.893 
0.861 
0.870 
0.8S5 
0.911 
0.870 

0.983 


9.593 
10. 183 
9.708 


Oil from Bechelbronn, uppe 


10. 020 








5. He.ivv oil, from the Plummer farm, Franklin, Penn- 
sylvania ; well, 200 meters deep ; lubricating oil. 


Oil from castGalicia 


10. 005 
10.231 


6. American petroleum, as offered for sale m Paris, 

probably from Pennsylvania. 

7. Heavy coal-oil, from the Paris Gas Association 

8. Petroleum from Parma, near Salo 

9. Oil from Java, commune Daudang-Llo, district TLma- 

acon, residency Pembang. 




9.046 


Raw schist oil, from Antun, manufactured by Cham- 

peaus, Bazm &^ lladary. 
Heavy Kiefemharz oil, from Mount de ilarzan 


9.950 
♦10.081 



• C. Rendui, Ixvi, 442; Irviii, 349; C. N., 1869, 237. 



In 1S71 he examined the petroleums of the Russian empire from the neighborhood of Baku, on the Caspian 
sea, and obtained the following results : Xo. 1 was crude naphtha from the Balchany wells, specific gravity at 0°, 
0.S82 ; 2^0. 2 was residuum from the Baku stills, specific gravity 0.928 ; Xo. 3 was black oil from the Weyser 
refinery at Baku, specific gravity 0.897; Xo. 4 was light oil of Baku, specific gravity 0.SS4; No. 5 was heavy oil of 
Baku, specific gravity 0.938. On distillation they afiorded : 



Temperature. { 1. 1 2. 1 3. | 4. 1 5. 


Per cent. \ Per cent Per cent. ' Per cent. 


Per cent. 1 








1 






1.0 
1.3 
1.7 
3.9 




VolatUeat240°C ' ' 1.0 ' 8.0 ' 23.3 




6.0 




9.7 









COMPOSITION AS GIVEN BY ANALYSIS. 






12.5 11.7 i 12.0 


13.6 
86.3 
0.1 


12.3 ! 




87.4 
0.1 


87. 1 86. 5 
1.2 1.5 


86.6 
LI 






100.0 


100. 100. 


100.0 


100. 



a Pract. Mech. Jour., March, 1S64, p. 314; Dingier, clxxii, 71. 



248 PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 

From these data their calorific power was calculated and compared with that obtained by experiment in the 
petroleums marked 4 and 5. The results are thus given in calorics : 

1. 3. 3. 4. 5. 

Calorific power, calculated 11.370 11.000 11.060 11.660 11.200 

Calorific power, observed (11.070) (10.700) (10.760) 11.460 10.800 

Numbers 1, 2, and 3 were calculated from the results in 4 and 5. These results show the Baku oils to be superior 
to those of America and Europe for heating purposes. («) 

In 1877 K. Lissenko stated that — 

Some forms of petroleum that yield a less amount of heat on comhustion than tliat calculated are regarded as containing hydrocarbons 
of the series CnH.;n + ;, accompanied by small quantities of non-saturated hydrocarbons. (6) 

Later, M. Berthelot has shown in a research upon the gaseous hydrocarbons that the heat of combustion of 
an hydrocarbon is not always equal to that of its elements. The variation is least in the case of the saturated 
hydrocarbons OnHjn + 2- (c) 

As no two petroleums from different localities are alike in composition, these researches indicate that considerable 
variation exists in the heating power of different petroleums, and that practically their heating power is considerably 
less than would be calculated from their elementary composition. 

Section 2.— PETROLEUM AS A STEAM FUEL. 

The employment of petroleum as a steam fuel has been the subject of many experiments and much controversy. 
From a careful survey of the subject I conclude that no important practical difficulty has been anywhere encountered 
where for any reason petroleum has been a more desirable fuel than other material. Petroleum has always been 
burned for steam fuel more or less in the oil regions of Pennsylvania. All sorts of experiments have been made 
there to burn the crude oil, both pure and mixed, with steam. Mr. D. A. Wray, on Oil creek, filled with crude oil, 
at 50 cents per barrel, an 8-horse boiler, with safety-valve attached. He fired up under it as if it was filled with 
water, and burned the vapor as if it were gas. The arrangement worked well until the spaces between the boiler 
tubes became choked with coke. This deposit of coke from distillation of the oil has been found to be the chief 
practical difSculty, and has usually been avoided by injecting steam through the escaping oil in such a manner as 
to completely volatilize it. Another practical difficulty observed by Mr. Wray was explained by him as in accord 
with an observation of Tyndall that the flame of a Bunsen lamp is intensely hot to objects immersed in it, but 
that it radiates comparatively little heat. Mr. Wray has observed that all successful contrivances for burning 
petroleum must distribute the flame upon the surface to be heated, and not beneath it. Inattention to this condition 
is the cause of many unsuccessful attempts to generate steam by the use of crude petroleum. It is impossible that 
I should attempt to describe the great number of apparatus devised for burning the crude oil, many of which are 
entirely adequate. The successful use of the oil for years in stationary engine boilers has demonstrated the absence 
of all serious practical difficulties. The questions of economy and safety appear to have determined that for general 
use it is not a desirable fuel, while in special cases its use has been attended with complete satisfaction. 

Mr. William T. Scheide has communicated to me the following results obtained by the United Pipe-lines : 

The oil was burned with a steam jet under four stationary boilers (60-inch shells 14 feet long, with 83 .3-inch tubes), and the steam 
furnished a Worthington compound duplex pump doing an actual work of .about 200 horse-power. (The indicated horse-power would 
probably be about 225 to 250 horse-power. ) These boilers and this pump use as nearly as possible 4.54 pounds of bituminous coal per horse- 
power of work done per hour. Using this average, which is pretty well determined, as a basis, 1 ton of 2,000 pounds of this coal is equal 
as fuel to either 3.94 or 4.13 barrels of 42 gallons each of oil. The experiment was not conducted as it should have been, and there is a 
question as to the pressure against which the pump worked, which accounts for the difference in the estimate. I think it may be stated, 
however, that 4 barrels of oil would be required to furnish the equivalent of a ton of good bituminous coal if the oil is burned with a 
steam jet. With an air jet I look for better results. 

It has also been very thoroughly tested for use on steam vessels. In 1868 the then Secretary of the Navy 
reported that the appropriation of $5,000 for testing petroleum as a fuel on steam vessels had been expended on a 
series of elaborate experiments at the New York and Boston navy- yards. 

The conclusion arrived at is, that convenience, comfort, health, and safety are against the use of petroleum in steam vessels, and 
that the only advantage thus far shown is a not very important reduction in bulk and weight of fuel carried. 

At Woolwich experiments were made with naphthaline, creosote, residuum, tar, and grease, but nothing ijroved 
satisfactory except pure American petroleum and "clear British shale oil". Comparative tests showed the — 

Per cent. 

Highest evaporation of water per pound of coal 7. 33 

Lowest evaporation of petroleum - 12. 02 

Highest evaporation of petroleum 13. 00 

On July 31, 1869, a train arrived safely in Katschujan, 81 versts from Charkoff, whose engine was heated with 
raw naphtha (petroleum) instead of coals. The honor of the invention is ascribed to the mining engineer, Portski. 

a C. licndus, Ixxii, 191 ; Ixxiii, 491. 

6 Russian Chem. Soc, June, 1877; C. N., xxxv, 180; J. C. S., xxiv, 453. 

G C. Eetidiis, xc, 1240; J. C. S., xxxviii, 786. 



THE USES OF PETROLEUM AND ITS PRODUCTS. 249 

Two engines on the Strasbourg line, fitted in 1870 with M. Deville's furnaces, burn from 3J to 5 kilograms of oil 
to every kilometer traversed, or say S — 12 pounds to two-thirds of a mile. The oil is completely burned, and no 
sulphiu' is observed in the atmosphere of the tunnels. 

Petroleum has also been used with entire success upon steamers and locomotives in the United States. While 
all of these experiments and practical tests show that petroleum can be used on locomotives without difficulty, and 
perliaps with some elements of superiority over other kinds of fuel, it cannot be affirmed that it is as yet so economical 
as to lead to its use in the face of the very grave and unquestioned elements of danger attending it. Coal in the 
United States is cheap, plentiful, and safe, but on the Caspian sea it is rare and costly. This fact constitutes a 
sufficient reason why persistent and successful efforts to burn petroleum and residuum on the steam vessels that 
traverse that sea should have led to its almost exclusive use for steam purposes. The following concise statement 
explains the method of its use : 

An apparatus has been devised for the utilization ol; i)etroleum as fuel in steam navigation, and its application for this purpose in 
central Asia has, it is reported, been attended -with results that are considered very satisfactory, such fuel also occupying much less space 
than the amount of coal necessary to produce a similar etfect. 

With the old-fashioned boilers iu use — with a central opening running longitudiually— no modification, it is stated, is necessary for 
the emjiloyment of the fuel iu question. A reservoir containing some hundred pounds' weight of the refuse, " astalki," is furnished with 
a small tube, bearing another at its extremity, a few inches long and at right angles with the conduit. From this latter it trickles slowly. 
Close by is the mouth of another tube connected with the boiler. A pan containing tow or wood saturated with astalki is first introduced 
to heat the water, and on the slightest steam pressure being produced a jet of vapor is thrown upon the dropping bituminous fluid, which 
is thus converted into spray ; a light is applied, and then a roaring deluge of fire inundates the central opening of the boiler. It is a 
kind of self-acting blow-pipe. 

The volume of fire can, it is stated, be controlled by one man, by means of the two stop-cocks, as easily as the flame of an ordinary 
gas jet. Mention is made of a steamer of 450 tons and 120 horse-power on this principle, 30 pood per hour of astalki being burned to obtain 
a speed of I'.i nautical miles in that time ; and as 1 pood is about 33 pounds, and costs on an average about 10 to 12 cents, or about $60 for 
a twenty hours voyage at full speed. 

The use of petroleum in Eussia for steam fuel on both locomotives and steam vessels has been very fully 
discussed by T. Gulichambarofl' in the Gornii Journal for 1880. He says that — 

In the Caucasus the refuse of the distilleries is used as fuel, which in 1874 could be had for nothing. In 1875 the price was Zd. per 
barrel of 20 poods (720 pounds) ; in 1876 it rose to Is., and 1877 to 2«. ; in 1879 the price had reached Ss. 3d., while raw petroleum at the 
same time was 10s. Attention is now being directed to the nse of raw petroleum, against which there is a standing prejudice on account 
of the possibility of explosions. Any liability to explosion is easily removed by exposure to the air for a few days. On the Balachauskoi 
railroad the locomotives are fired with raw petroleum, which is poured into the tender direct from the springs; yet there has never been 
an accident. The author has seen burning logs quenched with petroleum without setting it on fire, and spontaneous combustion is 
impossible, as the oils do not absorb oxygen. At present all the steamers on the Caspian sea use liquid fuel, 4.5 to 4.9 pounds per horse- 
power; 1,080 pounds of naphtha (petroleum) is found to be equal to 343 cubic feet of oak wood. The use of petroleum by iujectors and 
its freedom from sulphur present great advantages over any other form of fuel, (n) 

The action of hydrocarbons at a red heat with steam has been investigated by M. Coquillion. He shows that 
steam assists the dissociation of the hydrocarbons, producing at the same time a fall of temperature which is added 
to that produced by the reduction of CO2 to CO. (b) 

As already stated, the use of petroleum for steam fuel is determined by its cost relative to other kinds of fuel. 
With the low price of petroleum at Baku and the absence of wood and coal on the steppes of Eussia and the shores 
of the Caspian sea, there can be no question that petroleum is the cheapest and best steam fuel to be had in that 
region. But in the United States the question lies between petroleum and anthracite coal for ocean steamers and 
bituminous coal on the western rivers. I think no one would now question the ease and efficiency with which 
petroleum can be burned iu several forms of apparatus lately invented, nor can it be denied that it is less bulky 
than coal and more conveniently handled ; but that it is a safe material to use on ocean passenger steamers as 
comi>ared with coal cannot be maintained. Moreover, the claim that is made that much less stowage is required is 
not found to hold to any extent against anthracite coal. A ton of anthracite requii'es iS cubic feet and a ton of 
petroleum requires 44: cubic feet. The difference is inconsiderable. As the question is at present stated, I do not 
look for any considerable increase in the use of petroleum for steam purposes in the United States. 

Section 3.— PETEOLEUM AND ITS PEODUCTS IK THE MAXUFACTUEE OF lEON. 

The natural gas of the oil-wells has been successfully used in the manufacture of iron in the vicinity of 
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Messrs. Spang, Chalfant & Co., whose works are at Sharpsburg, brought the gas in a 
6-inch pipe to their works from wells near Saxouburg, Butler county, a distance of 17 miles. They use it for puddling 
and heating and for making steam. Messrs. Eogers & Burchfleld placed their works at the wells on the Kiskimenitas, 
a tributary of the Allegheny river. They use it in an ordinary reverberatory furnace by bricking up the bridge and 
introducing the gas in pipes with a blast. It has been remarked that the quality of the iron is somethiug 
wonderful; with ordinary gray coke pig-iron sheets for tin-plate equal to those from the best charcoal iron are made 
at a cost of $30 per ton less. 

a Proc. Loudon lust. Civil Engineers, Ixiii, 408. 6 C. Jiendiis, So. 19, 1878: C. N., sx.^^vii. 262. 



250 PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 

A large uutnber of processes have been invented and ijatented for using raw petroleum in the manufacture of 
iron. Of these the Eames process appears to have been the most successful, and to have had the most satisfactory 
trial. 

At the Laclede iron works, in Saint Louis, experiments have been instituted under what was known as the 
" Whipple andDickerson", or "Ambler process". These experiments were unsatisfactory, but in what respect I 
have not been able to ascertain. Experiments were also made at the Chatham dockyard, in England, which were 
in many respects highly successful, particularly with reference to the fine quality of iron produced. 

The Eames i^rocess has been put into practical operation both in Titusville, Pennsylvania, and in Jersey City, 
opposite New York. Why it has not proven a commercial success I have not been able to learn. Competent 
judges having an interest in the success of the establishment at Titusville bear testimony to the extraordinarily 
flue quality of the iron i^roduced from scrap and refuse of the most forbidding character. The process has been 
made the subject of a most careful and exhaustive examination by Professor Henry Wurtz, of New York, and 
Professor E. H. Thurston, of the Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken, New Jersey. The cut, Pig. 57, . 
represents the apparatus in section. It consists of an ordinary reheating furnace with the "generator" and steam, 
boiler attached. The generator, which is the peculiar feature of the apparatus, is shown at A. It consist of a cast- 
iron vessel, from the sides of which shelves project alternately. The oil, entering from a reservoir at D, trickles over 
these shelves, from which it is swept by a jet of steam sui^erheated to incandescence, entering the generator at B 
from the coil B. The amount of oil required for this furnace, which is capable of working charges of 3,000 pounds 
and making steam for the rollers besides, is a maximum of 30 gallons or 200 pounds per hour. The trickling oil is 
met by the jet of steam moving in the opposite direction, and is at once completely vaporized under a pressure of 
about 10 pounds and is carried into the furnace C. Air enters at P, and, mingling with the mingled vapor and 
steam, passes through the former bridge at H, and burns within the furnace in a long solid sweeg of flame, which 
escapes from the furnace at I, and returns, after passing beneath the boiler, through the boiler flue to the stack. 
The old bridge of the furnace is completely bricked up excepting at H, where a space extends across the furnace, 
closed only by flre-bricks placed on end, and it is found that if this "combustion chamber" has a horizontal 
thickness of more than 18 inches the fire-bricks are fused. 

I quote the language of Professor Wurtz's memoir respecting the working of the apparatus described : 
It is quite easy to determine witli precision -svitli the arrangements at Jersey City the relations of consumption of oil to iron 
produced, and time, labor, and material occupied in any special case. The oil was fed from a tank, sunk in the ground, which had a 
horizontal section throughout of 4 feet square. Each inch in depth, therefore, corresponded to 2,304 cubic inches, or closely enough to 10 
United States gallons of "231 cubic inches. By gauging with a graduated rod each hour, therefore, the hourly consumption of oil was 
readily followed up. It was thus determined by me that, starting with a cold furnace and boiler full of cold water, 45 minutes was a 
maximum time, with oil fed at the rate of30 gallons per hour, or 22.5 gallons in this time, to bring thewhole fire space to a dazzling white 
heat. Six piles of boiler scrap, averaging 500 pounds, or 3,000 pounds in all, being then introduced, 35 minutes more at the same rate of 
consumption not only brought the piles to a high welding heat, but raised the steam in the boiler to 90 pounds pressure, being that 
required to operate the rolls. The time required after the furnace was heated and steam up for each charge of 3,000 pounds averaged at 
most 80 minutes, and as the brick-work became heated throughout it was apparent that the feed of oil might be somewhat diminished. 
Thus in a working day of ten hours just seven such charges could be worked off, averaging 2,500 pounds of rolled iron each ; total, 8 tons 
per day of boiler-sheet from one such furnace, with an average consumption, as a maximum, of 30 gallons (200 pounds) of oil per hour, or 
300 gallons (2,000 pounds) in all. To this must be added, however, the fuel used under the generator and small supplementary boiler, 
which together was 500 pounds per day. It is admissible that one generator and one small boiler will operate several furnaces, the 
inventor says 5 ; if we say 4, it will diminish the small addendum of cost. 

As to working this furnace with coal, it was ascertained from the testimony of the operators that, by keeping up the fire all night, 
so that a heat could be had at a reasonable time in the morning, the maximum product of finished sheet might be, with superior work, 
allowing 90 minutes for each heat, 6 tons, with a consumption of at least 5| tons of coal = 12,320 pounds, or 2,053 pounds of coal per ton. (a) 

I have omitted Professor Wurtz's estimates of comi^arative cost, as any one interested can readily make them 
to suit the prices of coal and crude oil in his own locality. 

Section 4.— STOVES. 

During the last few years stoves in great variety have been contrived in which some of the products of 
petroleum are consumed as fuel. Practically they may be divided into naphtha and kerosene stoves. In reference 
to the use of the naphtha stoves I have nothing to say, excepting that their manufacture, sale, and use ought to be 
prohibited by law. I need not repeat here the facts and arguments already brought forward to show why they are 
dangei'ous to persons who use them and to the communities in which those persons live. In si)ite of all that has 
been written and spoken on this subject, a vast number of them is sold every year. The apparent apathy of the 
public in reference to this matter is shown by the fact that after the terrible fire in the New York tenement houses 
in January, 1881, caused by the careless use of gasoline in some sort of plumbers' apparatus, Commissioner 
Gorman said to a Neio Yorlc Herald reporter — 

That he had examined the law regarding the use of gasoline, and he found no statute that could prevent its being used as a heating 
and illuminating agent. Section I, chapter 584, of the laws of 1S71 provided th.at " no refined petroleum, kerosene or other burning 
fluiil shall be used for heating or illiiminatiug purjioses in any dwelling, house, store, ^hop, restaurant, car, coach or other vehicle, which 

a Am. Chem., vi, 94. 



THE USES OF PETROLEUM AND ITS PRODUCTS. 251 

shall evolve combustible vapor at a temperature below 100^ Fahrenheit". Now, had the law not been repealed, it would have prevented 
plumbers usin"- gasoliue for heating purposes. The law, as I have read it to you, was, however, repealed by section 4, chapter 742, of the 
laws of 1871 which reads "that no refined petroleum, kerosene, coal or similar oil, or product thereof, shall be used for illuminating or 
heatin"- purposes which shall emit an inflammable vapor at a temperature below 100° F., or shall be kept for sale or stored within the 
corjiorate limits of the city of New York". («) 

Ou the 1st of June followiug 27 barrels of gasoline lying on the platform of tbe Consolidated Eailroad freight- 
bouse in Springfield, Massachusetts, took fire from some accidental cause, and after a part of them -were supposed 
to be extinguished several of the remainder exploded and injured about iO persons more or less seriously. 
December 27 following the steamer West Point exploded and burned at West Point, Virginia. Nineteen persons 
were killed and a number badly injured. Her "cargo was made up of miscellaneous freight, among which were 
several hundred barrels of oil, sixty of which were gasoline ". These are some of the gasoline accidents for one year, 
and yet there is no general legislation to prevent gasoline from being used in lamps and stoves and from being 
carried as common freight except section 4472 of the Eevised Statutes of the United States, quoted on page 236. 

The kerosene stoves are being brought to a great degree of perfection, and are found to be very useful. Of 
the several different manufacturers who are seeking the patronage of the public I am not disposed to select any 
as making in all respects an article superior to all others. These stoves act best with high-test oil, and are therefore 
.safe. Their healthfulness depends upon the manner in which they are used. It is claimed that one of these stoves 
with two burners discharges an amount of carbonic acid into the atmosphere of a room equal to the respiration of 
2h persons. I have not examined the merits of this statement ; but, assuming the statement to be correct, it is a 
sufficient reason why the most thorough ventilation should be urged upon those using these stoves. Very few are 
used under circumstances that admit of the removal of the products of combustion from the apartment, and when 
one is used in a small room occupied by two persons the contamination of the air amounts to that caused by the 
constant occupation of the room by from four to five persons. When to this unavoidable source of impure air is 
added the sulphurous acid and half-burned products of the combustion of poor and cheap oil, the use of petroleum 
stoves cannot be recommended as conducive to health. Yet they are cheap and convenient, are used by tens of 
thousands, and their use is increasing. 

Section 5.— MISCELLAJN^EOUS APPLICATIONS OF PETROLEUM PRODUCTS FOE HEATING 

PURPOSES. 

Petroleum and nearly all of its products and natural gas are used in glass houses for producing high temperatures 
and flames free from soot and other materials that would injure the glass. At Wheeling, West Virginia, one of 
the largest glass houses uses benzine for producing the intense heat of the " glory holes ", and other hou.ses use 
natural gas for the same purpose. Throughout the oil regions natural gas is largely consumed in the towns for 
heating dwellings and cubuary purposes. It is used with a large Bunsen burner, from which the flame is projected 
into an ordinary stove. Another method, and much the best, is to introduce the Bunsen flame into the back of an 
ordinary portable grate. The grate is filled with fragments of fire-brick, which become bright red in the gas-flame, 
and radiate as much heat as glowing anthracite, which, in fact, they much resemble. 

A novel application of petroleum to the production of motive power has been made successful in Hock's 
petroleum motor, in which vapor of petroleum is exploded behind the piston of an engine and the expansive force 
made available as a motor. It claims to possess the following advantages over other similar engines: 

1. Perfect safety; neither incompetence nor malice can produce a destructive explosion. 

2. No particular attention needs to be given it. 

3. The facility with which the engine can be started and stopped, no complex preparations being necessary. 

4. Its almost noiseless operation, {h) 

At Mosul, Persia, in the valley of the Euphrates, the crude peti'oleum and maltha from the springs of Hit is 
tised for burning lime, and proves an invaluable fuel in a country nearly destitute of wood. 

a yew York Herald, January 0, ISSl ; Ibid., June 1, 1831. h Jour. Frank. Inst. (3), Ixviii, 87. 



252 PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 



Chapter V.— THE USES OF PETROLEUM IN MEDICINE. 



Section 1.— THE PHYSIOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF PETEOLBCTM AND ITS PEODUCTS. 

Although crude petroleum has been used as a remedial agent from the earliest times, both in the Old World 
and in the New, I have not met with any recorded attempt at a careful study of its physiological effects. The few 
notes that I have made in reference to this subject are therefore fragmentary and inconclusive. While in the oil 
regions I was told several stories relating to the experiences of persons who had breathed natural gas or the vapors 
of the very volatile fluids that escape from the oil as it flows from the wells. From these several experiences I 
conclude that the natural gas from the wells intoxicates like laughing gas. Persons leaning over the edge of a well 
tank experience at first an agreeable sensation, which is followed by unconsciousness. On recovering consciousness 
the person is very talkative, exceedingly witty, with a vivid imagination. These effects do not disappear for 
several days, and are described as resembling somewhat those of a prolonged spree. Death results from the 
prolonged action of the gas. In March, 1880, a man was found dead at the top of a ladder at the man-hole of a 
tank. He was supposed to have become asphyxiated while watching the flow of oil into the tank, from breathing 
the gas which was escaping into the air through the man-hole. 

Ehigolene, which is the most volatile fluid ever condensed from petroleum, and the lightest liquid known, is an 
effective anaesthetic agent, and has been used as a substitute for ether in a few instances. Professor Simpson used 
naphtha (specific gravity not stated) as an anaesthetic during the extraction of necrosed bones. The insensibility 
was deep and tranquil, and the breathing was less stertorous than when chloroform is used. Its effect on the 
heart's action, however, was much greater, the pulse becoming more rapid and fluttering, {a) Dr. French, of the 
Liverpool, England, board of health, investigated the subject on a memorial of citizens, and reported that petroleum 
had an offensive odor, but was not injurious to health, {h) Landerer relates a case, but does not say whether the 
petroleum was crude or refined. It is presumed the material was illuminating oil. A quantity was swallowed, the 
greater part of which was vomited. It produced a strong, burning sensation in the tongue and throat, both of 
which became reddened and swollen. The stomach and bowels were also affected with strong symptoms of gastro- 
enteritis. Both the urine and the sweat smelled strongly of the oil for several days, and the odor was especially 
strong under the armpits. The patient became very weak, but recovered. 

In 1864 M. E. Georges published a memoir upon the physiological effects of petroleum ether, of which the 
following is a summary : 

1. The essence of petroleum acts in a peculiar manner upon the "creative faculties (sens g^nesique), and also 
under peculiar circumstances upon the temperament. 

2. It occasions violent headache with nervous persons. 

3. That action appears to be due to a peculiar principle, which may be separated from it, and which acts 
principallj' upon the brain and upon the heart. 

4. The ether of petroleum can be employed with advantage to produce cold upon the exterior in operations, 
because it does not produce pain upon the parts where the blood flows, (c) The term petroleum ether evidently 
designates a substance similar to rhigolene. 

The neutral parafSne oils and parafSne itself appear to be without action upon the human system. The extensive 
use of parafQne for chewing-gum shows it to be without deleterious effects. 

Petroleum is generally destructive of animal life, and particularly of insect life. Hildebrant, an African 
traveler, advises smearing the face and hands with petroleum to protect them from mosquitoes. He also advises the 
use of petroleum upon horses and cattle as a protection against the deadly Dondorobo gad-fly. By its use natural 
history collections are also preserved from the invasion of moths and ants in the tropics, {d) Petroleum has been 
used in France to destroy insects on plants and walls, also on dogs. In the latter case it is applied either before or 
with soap. An agriculturist of Aube is reported to have said that rats and mice left his cellar when petroleum 
was stored there, and slugs left a garden that had been watered with the rinsings of petroleum casks. Its use has 
been recommended upon plants to kill lice, and also to kill mange and scab on dogs and sheep, for which purpose 10 
parts of benzine, 5 parts of soap, and 85 parts of water are recommended. It must be used with great caution 
upon animals. Those who have used it recommend that it be diluted with benzine. The use of crude petroleum 
and maltha for ridding vines of parasites has already been mentioned, the product of the Albanian springs having 
been sent to Smyrna and the Levant for that purpose. Moths are destroyed in furniture and garments by 
immersing them in baths of benzine. One great obstacle, however, to the frequent use of petroleum products is 
their disagreeable odor, which to many people is particularly offensive. 



a An. Scl. lJia.,\BaO. hlbkl, I86i. c Ann. da Genie Cinl, 1864, p. 52o. d Nature, :^vni, 373. 



THE USES OF PETROLEUM AND ITS PRODUCTS. 253 

Section 2.— PETROLEUM AND ITS PEODUCTS AS THERAPEUTICS. 

Ci'ude petroleum lias been used as a remedial agent iu both external and liAernal administration. Its use as a 
liniment dates from a very remote antiquity. In 1S39 M. Fouruel addressed a letter to the French Academy, in 
which he discussed the employment of petroleum by the ancients in the treatment of itch, [a) He says : 

Pliny (Nat. Hist., Book XXXV, chap. 15), speaking of the petroleum of Agrigentum, that was called Sicilian oil, says: "They make 
use of it for lamps instead of oil ; also for the scab iu draught cattle." Before him Vitruvlus (Ten Books of Architecture, Book VIII, 
chap. 3) had mentioned the custom among the Africans of plunging their beasts into the waters of a bituminous spring near Carthage; 
:and after him Solinus (Poly. Hist., chap. II), speaking still of the springs of Agrigentum, says : " It [the oil] is used as a medical ointment 
in the diseases of draught cattle." 

All the authors of the fifteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth centuries have indicated the same remedy, notably 
among them Frangois Arioste, who cured men and animals afflicted with itch with the petroleum which he had 
<liscovered in 1460 on Mount Libio, iu the duchy of Modeua. Among many others Agricola also may be cited, who said, 
in the middle of the sixteenth century, " Cattle and beasts of burden, when smeared with it, are healed of the scab." 
If I pass to petroleum obtained by distillation, I find that in 1721 Eyrinis obtained from the asphaltic stone of the 
Val-de-Travers, in the canton of Neuchatel, in Switzerland, an oil, of the efQcacy of which for the cure of itch he 
boasted much, aflflrming that he had cured more than 30 i^ersons by means of it. {Dissertation upon asphalt or 
natural cement, etc., pamphlet iu 12mo; Paris, 1721.) 

In America crude petroleum has always maintained a high reputation as an external application for rheumatism. 
The Indians living iu the neighborhood of oil-springs used it for that purpose, and the early voyagers learned of 
them its value. Seneca oil and Barbadoes tar were offered for sale in the United States and Europe many years 
before jietroleum in its present use became an article of commerce. In 1822 the editor of the American Journal of 
Science acknowledges the receipt from James R. Sample, of Barbadoes, of si^ecimens of Barbadoes green tar, a 
petroleum of excellent quality, and indurated bitumen or " munjack ", and says : 

The tar is found very useful in preventing lockjaw, when the tirst symptoms are attended to, by rubbing the spinal bone from end to 
.end and the muscles of the thigh and arms. When taken internally it is also a powerful sudorific. (6) 

Again, iu 1833, when writing of the petroleum spring at Cuba, New York, Professor Silliman, sr., says the oil 
was used by people about that place for sprains and rheumatism, rubbed on.(c) 

In recent years refined petroleum has borne a valuable reputation as a hair renewer. It is said to promote the 
growth and luxuriance of human hair and to stimulate the growth of hair on bald scalps to a wonderful degree. 
Marvellous as are the tales that are circulated by the press, I know of no authentic case, nor have I observed any 
•notices of such cures iu reputable scientific journals. 

Throughout the oil regions of Pennsylvania petroleum bears a high reputation as an internal remedy in cases 
of consumption. The oil of the old American well, under the name of American oil, was sold in Pittsburgh for 
that purpose at the time when Kier was making his first experiment at distilling petroleum. While in the oil 
regions I met several persons who testified to having witnessed its beneficial effects either upon their own persons 
or upon those of near relatives. A Mr. S. stated that his brother-in-law was seriously ill with phthisis, when he 
commenced taking crude petroleum in teaspoonful doses, which he increased in a year to a tablespoonful. His 
■case experienced a marked improvement, and the tubercles were said by the attending physician to have been 
healed. 

Duiing 1879 the French Bulletin de Therapeutic contained an article in which it was stated that petroleum had 
been proved very beneficial in chronic bronchitis, and was thought to be so in phthisis. Administered in teaspoonful 
doses before each meal, the nausea that was first experienced soon disappeared. For administration it had been put 
Tip by a Paris i)harmacist in capsules containing 25 centigrams of the oil under the name of " huile de Gabion ", 
after an ancient petroleum spring. 

Notwithstanding these well-attested facts concerning the therapeutic action of petroleum, it cannot be said to 
have a recognized status in American pharmacy. 

Section 3.— PHARMACEUTICAL PREPARATIONS OF PETROLEUM. 

Petroleum has been deodorized and purified for administration by filtering. Within a few years a series of 
compounds has been prepared for homeopathic practice called myropetroleum compounds. They are prepared by 
causing to react upon each other fixed oil of mustard, au alkali, aud petroleum. The myrouic acid of the oil of mustard 
forms a salt or soaj) with the alkali in which the petroleum is dissolved. There are four primary preparations, viz : 
L Myro-petroleum — album. 
Refined petroleum. 
Mustard oil. 
Alkali. 

a C. Eendus, is, 217. 6 Jim. Jour. Set. (1), v, 40b'. c Ibid. (1), xxiii, 99. 



254 PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 

2. Myro-petroleiim — nigrum. 

Crude petroleum. 
Mustard oil. 
Alkali. 

3. Myro-petroleum soap. 

A mustard-oil soap containing parafSne. The claim is made that paraffine is saponified. 

4. Glycero-petroleum. 

Which it is claimed is a petroleum glycerine. 

The first three preparations are, no doubt, produced as claimed, and their merits as therapeutic agents rest on 
careful tests, not upon opinion. The claims that are set up, however, for these preparations— that parafQne is 
sai)onified and that glycerine is prepared from petroleum— show that the persons making such claims have no clear 
idea of the chemical constitution of either petroleum or the saponiflable fats. ParafSne was so named from being 
found destitute of affinity, and acids and alkalies have no more action upon pure paraffine than upon a piece of India 
rubber, and no substance resembling glycerine has thus far been obtained from petroleum or any of its products. 
They are all, however, including paraffine, soluble in soaps; hence soaps may be produced containing paraffine or 
petroleum, but glycerine cannot be obtained from petroleum. About 15 per cent, of paraffine can be incorporated 
with soap. These soaps are found very valuable in hospital practice for washing malignant ulcers and inflamed 
mucus surfaces. It is, however, as a material forming the basis of ointments that the preparations of petroleum 
have obtained their strong hold upon the medical profession. The preparations cosmoline, vaseline, petrolina, etc., 
which are all essentially the same thing, have now a permanent place in the materia medica. 

As early as 1861 G. T. Carney, of Boston, substituted paraffine for wax, spermaceti, and almond oil in cerates, 
and exhibited specimens at the meeting of the Pharmaceutical Association that year. He remarked : 

An omtmenf made in this way -would, in my judgment, he very permanent and keep a long time without becoming rancid or ropy. 

White wax in small amount rendered the ointment more tenacious, (a) It was not until the discovery and 
preparation of so-called amorphous paraffine that a material was furnished to pharmaceutists that was destined to 
supplant the old preparations. I have made no attempt to adjust the conflicting claims of those who manufacture 
this preparation under different names. I prefer to leave that to the subtle administration of patent law. It is 
sufficient for my purpose that somebody discovered that when a petroleum residue obtained by evaporating the oil 
in vaciio, or by any other means that will prevent its destructive distillation, is filtered through animal charcoal, 
an amber-colored, nearly odorless material is obtained of the consistence of paste at ordinary temperatures. One 
man called it cosmoline, another vaseline, and others have given it other names. Whatever named, amorphous 
paraffine is rapidly becoming the ointment of the world. It is prepared by the manufacturers either plain or 
scented with rose or some other perfume for the retail trade, and is also prepared in bulk for the apothecaries. 

At the meeting of pharmacists, held in 1880, for the revision of the United States Pharmacopoeia, the superior 
claims of this material over all other preparations as a basis for ointments were acknowledged, and the necessity 
for it« recognition as an officinal preparation of the pharmacopoeia was conceded. Some difficulty was experienced 
in preparing a formula for a substance the origin of which was hidden behind the mysterious veil of conflicting 
patent rights. On the other hand, the profession was justly cautious in recognizing a name that might designate 
one thing to-day and another to-morrow. Finally Unguentum Paraffini obtained a name and place in the 
Pharmacopojia. Some difficulty has been experienced in establishing a proper melting point for the preparation. 
The merits of this question are fully set forth in the following paper, prepared by Dr. Charles Eice, of .the Bellevue 
hospital. New York, and read at the last (1881) meeting of the American Pharmaceutical Association : 

"What melting point is moat desirable for petroleum ointment?" * * » Our present as well as former pharmacopoeias contain 
two principal classes of unctuous substances intended for external application ; one of these of the class of cerates, and the other that of 
oiutments. These have generally been understood to have two entirely different functions, at least in the majority of cases, and for this 
reason they have been carefully kept apart, although they overlap each other in a few instances. A cerate, as the name already implies, 
is a "waxy" ointment, that is, an ointment stiffened with wax, for the purpose of raising its melting poiut. An ointment is intended 
chiefly for " inunction ", and for this reason should possess a melting point but little above that of the temperature of the body. A cerate, 
on the other hand, is rather intended as a dressing, to be spread on lint, linen, or muslin, and to be applied to the injured surface. 

These well-known distinctions furnish the clue to the solution of the question, at least from the standpoint of theory, and also from 
the standpoint of the physician. The writer has had an opportunity during the past year of learning the views and opinions of a 
considerable number of practitioners on this subject, and he only regrets that he cannot quote their statements and reports, which were 
made for another purpose than the drafting of the present iiaper in full, and with their names attached ; but he is at liberty to state that 
most of them, and among them the foremost dumatologists, pronounce the melting points of several of the commercial petroleum ointments 
to be altogether too low. 

During the heat of summer particularly, and in the warmer sections of our country even in other seasons of the year, an ointment 
should not have a melting point below about 40° C. or 104° F., and as it is easier to soften an ointment by heat than to stiffen it by 
cold, it appears preferable to select a uniform melting point for the year round, based on the requirements of the average summer 
temperature. 

a Am. Jour. Phar. (3), ix, 72. 



THE USES OF PETROLEUM AND ITS PRODUCTS. 255 

Petroleum oiutmeut is principally desired by practitioners as a perfectly hiand, neutral, and inactive base for suspending therein 
various topical remedies. Naturally, this very property of blandness and neutrality will in many cases alone produce curative effects, 
because it will permit the natural healing process to proceed normally and uninterruptedly, provided the injured part is thoroughly covered 
so as to exclude the air. 

From the opinion of most of the j)ractitioners whose views have been solicited or tendered two petroleum ointments of different 
melting ijoints are chiefly desirable. One of these, which could take the place of lard or ointment or other low-melting unctuous 
compound, should have a melting point of 40° C. or 104° F. And the other, which could take the place of cerate or of corresponding 
compound of higher melting point, should have a temperature of about 40° C. or 115° F. 

The preceding would be an answer to the query from the standpoint of the physicians. But there is another feature connected 
with the query which cannot well be separated from it, though it is not expressed in words. In fact, the question might as well have 
been formulated thus: 

What is the most desirable melting point to be recognized by the nest pharmacopoeia for petroleum ointment ? 

While the pharmacist acknowledges the correctness of the distinction between ointment and cerates, and will doubtless agree 
with the opinion of the physician that there should be both a soft and a firm petroleum ointment, according to the purpose for which it is 
to be used, he will, on the other hand, most probably deprecate the introduction of more than one kind of simple petroleum ointment into 
the pharmacopceia, because a multiplicity of them will surely result in confusion, both on the part of prescribers and dispensers, and besides, 
because the likelihood of the pharmacopceial requirements being observed, will diminish in proportion to the number of grades recognized, 
since it is out of question for the retail pharmacist to prepare the article himself. Hence, from the standpoint of the pharmacist, it will 
be safest, at least with our present knowledge and experience, to recommend the official recognition of that petroleum ointment only 
which has the lowest melting point declared suitable by competent medical authority. And this melting point is 40° C. or 104° F. Any 
higher melting point can be easily obtained by incorporating with the petroletim ointment more or less yelloio wax, and the exact consistence 
and melting point of the product will, therefore, be more easily within the personal control of the pharmacist than if he were compelled 
to rely upon the alleged melting point of a manufactured product. 

The addition of yellow wax to petroleum ointment has long been known to yield a perfectly homogeneous and satisfactorj' product. 
Nor does it introduce into the mixture any source of deterioration, at least for any reasonable {period of time, since it has been shown 
that the mixture remains a long while free from all trace of rancidity, particularly if the petroleum ointment itself was sweet and fresh. 

It has been said above that pharmacists, as a rule, will probably prefer only one officinal petroleum ointment, and this supposition 
will probably be confirmed should any discussion of this paper take place after being read. But it is also approved by quite a number of 
physicians with whom the subject has been discussed, and to whom the difficulties attending the recognition of several grades have been 
pointed out. But, so far as the writer is aware, those who advocate the introduction of only one petroleum ointment, whether pharmacists 
or xihysicians, do not deny the correctness of the statement of the other side, that several grades of xietroleum ointment of different 
melting points are very desirable. They only wish to point out that the official recognition of more than one kind would, by no means, 
be a guarantee that the other products could even be at all times procured in the market when required, or would be furnished if ordered. 
And as it is certain that the pharmacist can furnish to the physician equally satisfactory products of controllable and known melting points, 
if such are required, by the method above indicated, it is hoped that the two professions will come to the harmonious conclusion to 
recognize, in the forthcoming new pharmacopoeia, only one petroleum ointment having a melting point 40° C. or 104° F. (a) 

The merits of these preparatious have met with a very cordial recognition in Europe, and frequent mention is 
made of them in foreign journals under the names of either cosmohue or vaseline. The following notice from an 
EngHsh journal presents many facts of general interest in relation to the substance and the varied uses to which 
the apothecary can apply it. It is presented in preference to others for the sole reason that it was convenient of 
access, and well represents the appreciative consideration which has been extended to " petroleum ointment " on 
the other side of the Atlantic: 

AN ENGLISH VIEW OF VASELINE. (6) 

By W. H. Symoxs, F. E. M. S., F. C. S. 

Although petroleum in some form or other has been in use for two thousand years (Herodotus, bom B. C. 484, is the first writer who 
distinctly refers to it), petroleum jelly or vaseline has only been known during the last few years, and is said to have been discovered by 
Mr. R. A. Cheesebrough, of the Cheesebrough Manufacturing Company. I have been unable to find any authentic account of the 
manufacturing process, but according to the pamphlet which I have on the table, and which most of you have doubtless read, it is the 
residue from the distillation of petroleum purified by an elaborate system of filtration, known only to the company, or at least so says 
the pamphlet. This secrecy of its manufecture is one of the greatest drawbacks to its usefulness and official recognition. 

Vaseline was the subject of an origiual paper read by Mr. J. Moss at the meeting of the Pharmaceutical Society, on February 2, 1876. 
He describes it as a pale yellow, translucent, slightly fluorescent, semi-solid, melting at 37° C. and having a specific gravity of 840 at ,54° 
C. It is insoluble in water, slightly soluble in alcohol, freely so in ether, and miscible in all proportions with fixed and volatile oils. It 
's not acted upon by hydrochloric acid or solution of potash, and has all the other characteristics of a mixture of paraffines; an ultimate 
organic analysis made by him gave 97.54 per cent, of hydrocarbons. 

Under the microscope, vaseline, in common with most other fats, is found to contain numerous small acioular crystals, doubtless 
consisting of a paraffine of higher melting point than the mass, but these do not in any way interfere with its usefulness, because of their 
extreme minuteness and easy fusibility. 

Vaseline may be kept indefinitely without becoming rancid : this is its chief characteristic, and together with its indifference to 
chemicals and its readiness to take any perfume is sufficient to recommend it for pharmaceutical and toilet purposes in place of the fats 
generally used, (c) 

K vaseline be considered too thin it may be thickened to any extent with paraffine wax. I have found one to seven a good basis for 
general use, or one in ten would answer for most purposes ; but to obtain anything like smoothness in the mixture it must be thoroughly 

a Proc. Am. Pharm. Ass., 1881 ; Oil and Drug Xewa, September 6, 1881. 

b A paper read before the School of Pharmacy Student Association, London. 

c One improvement seems to me to be possible, and that is the isolation of single paraffines, of various melting points, one suitable 
as a basis for liniments, another for ointments, in place of the mixture of paraffines sold as vaseline. (The objections to this multiplicity 
of preparations have been presented by Dr. Kice.— S. F. P. ) 



256 PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 

Ijeaten while cooling. Vaseline alone being used for making sucli ointments as that of ammoniated mercury, or for diluting mercurial or 
the nitrate of mercury ointments, a partial separation takes place on keeping ; hut If a mixture of parafifine wax and vaseline be used no 
such separation occurs. 

With regard to the preparations of the pharmacopoeia, in which vaseline has been suggested as a substitute for the basis in present 
use, first and foremost I must mention the nitrate of mercury ointment. Squire states that this can be prepared from white vaseline by 
substituting it for the lard and oil in the ofScial formula. I tried the experiment on half a pound of white vaseline, using the B. P. 
quantities of nitric acid and mercury and a temperature rising to 214° F., but it was a decided failure. I could obtain nothing but a 
mechanical mixture, the vaseline being changed in color from white to pale yellow and the acid solution continually weeping out, and 
nearly all of it could be separated by pressure. It may be that failure arose from lack of manipulative skill on my part, but I have 
generally been able to get fair results with the B. P. process. I have on the table a specimen of citrine ointment, prepared from a mixture 
of white wax and vaseline and about the same quantity of mercury, but rather less nitric acid ; this specimen is about eighteen months 
old, and is as good as when first made. As far as my experience goes, vaseline is not suitable for making citrine ointment of full strength, 
but it certainly is useful for its dilution. Here is some fresh official ointment, and also some recently dilated with vaseline. I likewise 
have a specimen which I prepared two years ago ; its color is still good. I found that the vaseline had partly separated from it, and in 
future shall make it with one-eighth paraffine wax. 

The next troublesome ointment, I think, is that of red oxide of mercury. I have here a sample of the official ointment, which has 
been kept for over two years, and is now certainly an unsighly preparation ; also some made with prepared lard, quite as bad. Benzoated 
lard seems to have answered very much better, but still more successful is the mixture of castor oil and beeswax, suggested some years 
, ago in the Pharmaceutieal Journal. Vaseline, however, will take the palm for more elegant appearance, and it will keep any length of 
time unaltered. 

Compound lead ointment has been spoken of as very liable to change. I have some here made from the official formula which has 
been kept over a year, and also some made with vaseline eighteen months ago ; likewise a sample of zinc ointment. The official ointments, 
although only a few months old, are quite rancid ; but the samples made with vasehue show no alteration after being kept eighteen 
_ months. 

Mercurial ointment is also very advantageously made with vaseline and wax, instead of with rancid fat, as is usually the case. 
Under the microscope, samples of both ointments exhibit globules of mercury of about equal size. 

Iodine is soluble in about twenty times its weight of vaseline ; therefore vaseline is very suitable as a basis for iodine ointment. I 
_ am not aware of any action occurring between iodine and the paraffines, although action does take place with chlorine and bromine under 
favorable circumstances. I prepared some a few days ago of B. P. strength, but without any iodide of potassium. 

The crowning success for vaseline is in the preparation of cold cream, and if this were the only compound in which it could be used 
with advantage its mission would, I think, be fully accomplished. I have made my cold cream for some time with white vaseline, and 
. iave found a very marked increase in my sale for that article. I have kept a sample freely exposed to air in a warm place for some 
months without any alteration, except loss of water. I make it by dissolving ^ ij. of white wax in 1 pound of white vaseline by heat, 
.adding 3 iss. of borax dissolved in | ix. of water, and perfume with 3 ss. of oils, stirring until nearly cold and then pouring into pots. 

Vaseline, with or without paraffine wax, is undoubtedly the best basis for pomades, and only requires one-half the quantity of 
perfume common fats do. 

Vaseline has been suggested for internal administration, but it is not the i)rovince of the pharmacist to discuss the relative merits or 
• demerits of any therapeutic agent ; it behooves hini, however, to study the best method of exhibiting it, and to bring it to the notice of 
the physician. 

The Cheesebrough Company prepare vaseline in the form of pastilles, which they say contain 33 per cent, of vaseline, with a like 
. quantity of sugar and gum ; these they flavor with wintergreen oil, which is very much appreciated by our cousins across the Atlantic, 
but not so much so on this side. 

Vaseline can be emulsified with the usual agents. The emulsion made with gum acacia is tolerably permanent, also that with yolk 
of egg. If for external application the vaseline can be mixed with one-eighth its weight of white wax and then emulsified with borax or 
any alkali. The sample on the table was prepared by triturating 3 ij- of white vaseline and gr. xv. of white wax with 3 xiv. of water 
containing gr. xv. of borax in solution. 

I do not look upon vaseline as a nostrum, or I certainly should not have brought it before your notice. It is true we have not 
yet been let into all of the details of its manufacture, but it may be that such disclosure is not far distant. Because the manufacture 
of Duncan's chloroform is kept a profound secret among the partners of the firm, has that prevented the medical profession from insisting 
upon that particular preparation as an aniesthetic ? If medical men do not hesitate, when it falls in with the interest of the profession 
, and the public, to recommend a particular preparation of a particular firm to the exclusion of all others, I do not see why chemists should 
consider it infra dig. to recommend and use such an elegant and useful article as vaseline. One trouble looms in the far distance — will 
the supply of vaseline last as long as the demand for it ? Coal may be replaced, and heat and light obtained from electricity by unknown 
means ; but how shall we find a substitute for vaseline, unless, indeed, we be able to make it from its so-called elements ? The supply of 
petroleum does not, however, seem to show any signs of decrease at present. Sources known two thousand years ago still yield bountifully, 
and if the American supplies prove as permanently productive as those of the Old World we may leare this question for the present, (a) 

Benzine has been used as a solvent for certain oleo-resins. (6) It has been used successfully in the preparation 
of atroijine, santonine, veratrine, delphine, strychnine, brucine, cantharadine, quinine, cinchonine, narcotine, aconitine, 
and coumarine. 

a London Pharmaceutical Journal. 1881. 6 Proc. Am. Pharm. Ass., 1873, p. 592. 



THE USES OF PETROLEUM AND ITS PRODUCTS. 257 



Chapter VI.— MISCELLANEOUS USES OF PETROLEUM AND ITS PRODUCTS. 



Petroleum and its products are used for a greatvariety of purposes that do not fall under the classes previously 

considered. Commencing with the lightest products, a liquid called cymogene, nearly if not identical with rhigolene, 

but said to be condensed by pressure, is used in ice-machines with complete success. Gasoline h.as been proposed as 

a suitable substance to be used in cleansing raw wool. The following discussion of the use of naphtha (gasoline) 

for this purpose is introduced here from a circular issued by the Boston Manufacturers' Mutual Fire Insurance 

Company, with some statements regarding the use of mineral oils for use on wool as the latest information on the 

subject : 

WOOL OILS. 

The quality and kind of oil used for preparing wool is a matter of the utmost importance to the underwriter, as it is spontaneous 
comhustion that has caused the record of losses on woolen-mills to be heavier than that on cotton-mills : but in touching upon the subject 
of wool oils we approach a very "touchy"' subject. Many of the methods of trcitiug wool are jealously guarded as trade secrets; the 
composition of several of the mixtures used on wool has been communicated to us confidentially, and only in order that we may be assured 
of their safety. 

In respect to testimony, we could summou witnesses to prove conclusively that each oil or mixture now used is the very best for its 
purpose ; and conversely that not one of them is really suitable, some difficulty being found either in respect to safety, to the effect on 
the fiber, or in the removal of every oil used. 

All, or nearly all, appear to require a hot solution for their removal, by which the elasticity or luster of the fibers cannot fail to be 
injured in some degree. 

It would appear, according to the evidence and also according to the practice of many of the best manufacturers, that mineral or 
parafiiue oils may be safely and economically used upon wool, either pure or mixed; on other equally competent evidence, that they are 
utterly unfit to be used and cannot be scoured out, and that nothing but olive, lard, or red oil can be tolerated. The " red oil", so called, 
is in fact oleic acid, and is subject to impurity if the sulphuric acid used in the processof caudle-making (of which "red oil" is a subsidiary 
product) is not sufficiently removed. When thus impure, we understand it to be peculiarly liable to spontaneous combustion. 

The mixed oils, sold under fancy names, of necessity consist of combinations of some of the oils above named, to which the natural 
yolk or grease of sheep's wool is sometimes added, the latter substance being imported from abroad under the name of " de gras", mostly 
for the use of curriers. 

From the standpoint of the underwriter, the use of mineral oil, mixed to the extent of at least 40 per cent, with animal or olive oil, 
is to be desired ; because in such proportion it abates all danger of spontaneous combustion, and does not in that proportion seriously 
increase the danger if fire occurs from other causes. 

If consideration be given to the work done by the oil, the chief reason why olive, lard, or red oil is preferred, aside from the question 
of economy, may be that they are a little more viscous than the mineral oils. Thismay be .a point worthy of investigation. If the slight 
viscosity of fatty oil is desirable, it may be obtained in a mineral oil as well. The substance to be desired is, therefore, one that is not 
liable to spontaneous combustion; that is not readily ignited by contact with fire; that is readily saponified or reduced to an emulsion, 
and readily removed from the fiber without the use of any high degree of heat ; and that does hold the fibers together in the process of 
manufacture. 

Since none of the oils, greases, or compounds now in use fully meet all these conditions, and since the adverse testimony against them 
all is stronger than that in favor of any one kind, it follows that both the common practice in scouring all washed or unwashed wool, 
and the common practice in preparing the wool for carding and spinning, are in some degree bad ; that they are not consistent with true 
economy ; that they enhance the difficulties in manufacturing and dyeing, and that if there has been any improvement indicated as beiug 
possible by experiments made in a laboratory, from which it is fair to infer that great gain wovild follow if the theory of the laboratory 
can be reduced to practice, such experiments deserve the closest attention of all parties in interest. 

We therefore beg leave to submit, as the result of our investigation of wool oil, certain propositions. These propositions are snbmi tted 
only for what they may prove to be worth, and with some hesitation, because none of the officers of the company have ever h.id any 
practical experience in the treatment of wool. 

Proposition 1. The wool now used in this country will yield 45,000,000 pounds of grease that is now worse than wasted, because it, 
together with all the alkalies used in the present imperfect method of extracting it, is discharged into ponds and streams, polluting them 
in a manner most dangerous to health. 

2. All this grease can he extracted more perfectly by the use of naphtha than it can be by the use of alkalies, because this grease or 
yolk does not sapouify or yield readily to alkaline treatment until it is in some degree oxidized by age; for which reason the best foreign 
woolen fabrics are made from wool a year or more old. Ou the other hand, the newer the clip the more readily the grease is removed by 
naphtha. 

.3. The grease and fertilizing material that may be all saved by the naphtha process will more than pay the cost of sconriug. 

4. This process does not require any heat in the application of the n.aphtha, and only tepid water for scouring, with a little ammonia 
in it, it being possible to cleanse a single fleece, by careful manipulation, without disturbing the position of the various portions, thus 
leaving every fiber in a perfect condition. 

5. A portion of the oil thus extracted from the wool itself, after being in some degree refined and mixed with a small portion of 
mineral oil, makes a viscous emulsion, absolutely free from tendency to spontaneons combustion and in very slight degree inflammable, 
meeting all the conditions that are required for preparing the wool for carding .and spinning. 

6. The fiber wool thus cleansed is in much better condition for spinning than when it has been heated and scoured with alkali. 
Wool and cloth thus treated are in much better condition for the reception of dyes than is possible under any other treatment. 

7. This process may be conducted safely in buildings cOHstructed outside mill-yards, at a fair distance away, but not beyond the 
distance to which the small amount of heat needed may be carried from the main boilers in underground steam-pipes. 

In witness of these allegations, we present the report of Mrs. Richards, which was first printed in the BiiUetin of the National Association 
of Wool Manufacturers, vol. ix, No. 2. 
VOL. IX 17 



258 PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 

MRS. RICHARDS' REPORT. 

During the progress of the investigation of oil instituted by the Boston Manufacturers' Mutual Fire Insurance Company, for the 
purpose of abating the danger of fire from spontaneous combustion and other causes, it became expedient to study the natural oil or 
grease of sheep's wool, which is now saved to a c.jusidera'ole extent in Europe and imported into this country under the name of " de 
gras", for the use of curriers amd for othei' purposes. 

The results of our study of this substance, although not immediately bearing upon the purpose of the inquiry, yet may have an 
interest to the members of the company, especially those engaged in the manufacture of wool, and are therefore submitted. 

The preparation of the raw material is a qiiestion of the first importance in any manufacture, and anything which promises to 
improve the quality of the product, to lessen the labor and cost of preparation, or to lead to the utilization of a hitherto waste product, 
deserves at least a careful hearing. One of these possibilities seems to bo foreshadowed in the wool manufacture. 

As is well known, wool, as it is cut from the unwashed sheep, yields from 40 to 75 i)er cent, of extraneous matter. All this is wast© 
product, and is washed away down our streams to their great damage. Of this largo waste, from 12 to 40 per cent., according to the kind 
of wool, is a grease or oil with valuable jjroperties, and the remainder is largely made up of nitrogenous matters, potash, and phosphates 
in a very suitable condition to be returned to the soil from whence they were primarily derived. Of course some wools contain sand and 
mineral dust to the amount of 10 or 20 per cent. 

The total amount of washed and unwashed wool used in this country has been estimated at 250,000,000 pounds per year. This will 
yield approximately 112,000,000 or 115,000,000 pounds of scoured wool, or 45 per cent.; 45,000,000 pounds of grease (18 percent.); 
30,000,000 pounds of fertilizer (12 per cent). 

The recovery of a portion of the valuable material has been attempted in France in two ways : 

First, by the treatment of the wash-water for the recovery of the grease in a form for gas manufacture, or for the recovery of the 
potash by the incineration of the evaporated residue, which yields also a very finely divided charcoal, used instead of lami^black. 
Prussiate of potash has also been manufactured from these residues. By this method, which is an inconvenient one, requiring large tanks 
and numerous operations, only a portion — about one-third — of the total greasy matter is saved, and none of the nitrogenous matter. 

The second method used was the extraction of the grease by means of bisulphide of carbon. The dried wool was then sent to the 
picking and beating machines before washing, and the wool dust thus obtained was sold for fertilizing ])urposes. The danger in this 
process is twofold: the yellowing of the wool by the bisulphide of carbon, and the heat necessary to volatilize the last traces of the 
solvent (1500-170° F.). 

This method, theoretically good, has never been practicable in this country by reason of the cost of bisulphide of carbon. But we have 
a solvent for grease, in many respects superior to this, which has never yet been applied in this country on a large scale for this purpose, 
and we have no evidence that, before the present year, any accurate experiments have been made with the best form of this solveut. We 
have been told of several patent proeesses for the use qf " benzine" for the extraction of the grease; but from the statements as to the 
results, as well as from a knowledge of the articles sold under the name of "benzine" a few years since, we have no hesitation iu saying 
that the material used was not of proper quality for the purpose or was not carefully applied. 

A certain amount of moisture seems necessary to the suppleness of the wool, and any degree of dry heat which takes away this 
needful moisture renders the wool brittle and harsh. This drying of the liber is probably the cause of injury in the processes hitherto 
used. 

Our experiments have been made with a quality of naphtha called " gasoline", of about 86°. We have packed the wool in a closed 
vessel and allowed the naphtha to remain in contact with it for about twenty minutes without any application of heat. The li(iuid was 
then drawn oft' and fresh naphtha run in, the process being repeated three or four times, according to the amount of grease in the wool. 
" Gasoline" of this quality boils at 90° to 100° F., and air of 50° or 60° F. completely removes it. The naphtha ha« no affinity for water, 
and does not, in tJiis cold liquid form, carry away any moisture ; very little will be taken out by air at 60° F. before the naphtha is all 
gone. 

In the large way a current of warm air would now be passed through to carry off the absorbed liquid ; in our experiments we simply 
exposed the drained wool to the outdoor air for a few hours. The wool is picked and beaten (the dust being saved), then put into warm 
water and washed without the aid of any other substance than the soap of potash, which is left on the fiber, untouched, by the naphtha. 

The wool thus obtaine<l is very white and soft, and has a "crinkly " appearance. 

The objections which have been made to a process of this kind, whether benzine, fusel-oil, or bisulphide of carbon is used, are : 

1. That the grease is too completely removed, part being needed to work the fiber. 

2. That the grease is also removed from the inner tube of the fiber. 

3. That the potash is left iu a caustic condition, and hence cei'taiu to injure the wool. 

In regard to the first objection, Grothe, (a) the great Gexman authority, says that the office of the natural grease is so distinct from that 
of the oU added to facilitate manufacture that this cannot be held valid. The natural grease envelops the fiber as it comes from the 
hair sack in the skin, making a somewhat stiff coating over it, and only after the removal of this is the wool iu the best condition for 
completely good carding, and also for fulling. 

The second objection, that the grease is removed from the tube of the fiber, seems to be founded on earlier ideas. Grothe does not 
mention this as an objection, and, in the description of the hair, (5) says: "In the axis of the hair-shaft is found the pith. This pith is 
not evident in all wools. In some sorts, viz, Vicuna, it is much developed. The pith-cells contain either liquid or air." 

K511iker(c) says that the pith is wanting iu colored head-hairs and iu most wools : " On treating white hair with caustic soda we 
get the pith-cells, which do not contain, as was formerly supposed, fat or j)igment, but air-bubbles." 

It has been stated that washed wool after a time becomes greasy, and it has been supposed that the additional grease came from 
the pith of the fiber. It is suggested that, as so.ap can never bo entirely washed out of any material, this grease may be derived from the 
soap used in washing, which is partially decomposed by the oold rinsing-water. 

The third objection, that the naphtha or other solvent takes the grease away from the potash on the wool, and thus allows the latter 
to attack the fiber, seems also derived from a former idea of the nature of the substances under consideration — an idea which is not correct, 
but which still prevails. The following quotation from an address made in 1672 to a wool manufacturers' a.ssociatiou seems to give the 
prevalent opinion : " In its natural state, as taken from the sheep's back, the whole fleece is filled with a yellowish matter, called by 
novici's grease, but known among dealers as yolk. It is not grease, but a partial soap, being largely composed of alkali, and becoming, if 
suffered to lie until the volatile oil has dried out, almost a pure soap of itself; hence, as all manufacturers know, old wool scours by- 
ordinary processes much easier than new wool just shorn." 

a Grothe, WoUc, 1,70. Berlin, 1876. b Ibid., i, 18. c Kolliker, Gewebelehre. 



THE USES OF PETROLEUM AND ITS PRODUCTS. 



259 



Hio-tmaun, in ISaS, showed that this "yolk" is a true grease, containing cholesterine in place of glycerine, (a) 

Schultze, (6) of Zurich, in 1873 and 1874, carried on the research on certain kinds of wool, and it is to his investigation and that of 
his associates that we owe nearly all of our present knowledge of the composition of the " Wollfett ", or grease. He has not only proved 
the presence of cholesterine, but of isocholestcrine and another analogous alcohol. We now know that these substances are in the place of 
glycerine ; hence the far more difficult saponification of this grease than of lard and tallow, which are compounds of glycerine with the 
fatty acids. Also, the indications are that the wool-fat in the different races of sheep is composed of varying quantities of these 
cholesterines. 

The presence of cholesterine in wool-fat is a very curious fact. Hitherto cholesterine proper has been known chiefly as a product of 
excretion from the brain, eliminated by the liver ; hence its presence in bile. Gautier (c) says : " Cholesterine is to the brain what urea 
is to the blood and other organs." 

Why we should find this same substance on the wool of sheep is an unexplained mystery. 

The grease is dissolved out by uaphtha iu the same condition as it is in the wool ; a potash soap remains behind untouched. 

The proof that the potash is not left caustic is that the concentrated wash-water shows but a very faint alkaline reaction. Only on 
subjecting it to a high temperature does the reaction become strongly alkaline, showing that a decomposition has taken place. 

It may be supposed that because carbonate of potash is made from wool-washiugs, therefore it exists as such in the wool. It is also 
obtained from wood ashes, but in neither case <loes it exist as carbonate before incineration. 

The advantages claimed for the naphtha process are the more perfect cleansing of the wool, the better condition of the fiber for 
taking dyes, etc., the ready recovery of the waste products, hence a prevention of further pollution of streams from wool-washing 
establishments. 

The disadvantage allowed is the inflammable character of the naphtha, rendering a separate building necessary. This is not an 
insurmountable obstacle, as the use of the substance for several industries has been perfectly successful. 

The ultimate cost of the process will depend largely upon the value of the recovered iJrodncts. This subject has as yet only been 
touched upon, but we have ascertained that the recovered oil is " equal to the best " for currying leather. It is not liable to spontaneous 
combustion. 

The accompanying table will show the great variation in the wools already tested, the small amount of potash to be obtained, and 
the necessity of a large number of tests : 





1 

i 
t 
•a 


i 


ti 


3 


1 


i 

2. 


1 


S 

li 

i 


1 
1 

■St 

Ji 

■5 


COMPOSITION OF THE RESIDUE FKOM EVAPO- 
RATING THE WA6HWATEB. 




1 

I 


•3 s^ 
•a ^1 

1 li 
1 1 

u u 

£ 1 £ 


1 

1 

Cm 

3 


1-3 

£"1 

S 

i 


1 . 

1 




I|l 

.gel 


1 

•o" 
1 


f. 


No. 1. Victoria. Not liable to moths... 
No. 2. Cape of Good Hope, Natal. Fall 

of moths. 
No. 3. Baenoa Ayies. Full of moths. .. 


70 
76 

70 


21.43 
21.70 

13.57 


2.0 
22 

15.3 
13.0 
6.7 

4.5 

8.0 


21.57 
15.10 

36.13 
19.14 
24.63 

3&33 
39.43 


45.0 
58.8 

65.0 
60.0 
49.9 

56.4 

60.3 
76.7 


55.0 
41.2 

35.0 
40.0 
50.1 

43.6 

39.7 
23.3 


3.3 

1.1 

3.1 
14 
3.0 

4.4 

2.5 


41.45 

laoo 


0.38 
1.72 

3.50 
5.00 
1.40 

3.80 
3.20 


15.4 
7.3 

10.7 
7.6 
11.7 

11.5 
6.5 


3. 6 t (•) 

2.7 Like No. 1.... 

1.5 0.6 
4.3 1.6 
1. 3 0. 5 

3.3 j 0.8 

0. 9$ 0- 3 magnesinm) 


25.8 
35.3 

34.8 
40.4 
39.0 

36.3 
46.7 


55.2 
54.7 

52.4 


No. &. Victoria. Not much injnred by 

moths. 
No. 6. Cape of Good Hope. Liable to 

moths. 


70 18.57 
70 ; 13.57 


47.5 
48.1 




71 
1,08S 
33,770 
7,400 


38.50 










21.60 


4.2 






19.5 


1 






Mixed wool 


25.00 










0.80 


! 






Mixed wool 




9.00 










27.3 










1 



















* Yery little calcium ; trace of magneaiam. 

Naphtha dissolved the grease of all but Nos. 9 and 10 with the greatest facility. These two samples seemed to be older wool, and to 
have free cholesterine, which was more difficult of solution. 

All the samples of wool noticed in the table, except No. 10, were kindly furnished by Mr. George William Bond, to whom we are 
under great obligation for his interest and co-operation. 

No. 10 was furnished by the agent of the Washington mills. 

The table will show the small amount of potash which can be obtained, reckoned as percentage on the raw wool. We were surprised 
at this result, as wo had been led to suppose, from various statemeats, that there was a larger per cent. 

The small quantity of ash left by incinerating the grease shows also that it is not a soap of either lime or potash ; a portion of this 
ash was carbon, which is very difficult to burn entirely when derived from cholesterine. It must be remembered also that this was crude 
grease, which doubtless mechanically carried down some of the other substances. 

ELLEN H. S. RICHARDS. 

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 

Boston, May 5, 1879. 
We may also cite, in confirmation of these laboratory experiments, the commercial success of the Adamson process of extracting oil by 
means of naphtha from bone, dead meat, and even in paying quantities from the meat scraps previously treated in the most powerful 
presses. 



a Inaugural Dissertation. Gottiagen, 1868. 



6 Journal fiir Praktieche Chemie. o Chimie appViqwie d la PhysioJogie, ii, 216. 



260 PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 

This process is also now lieing applied commercially to linseed and cottoiiseed, and, in witness of the great affinity of naphtha for 
oily matter, it may be stated that Mrs. Richards haa lately treated some of the hardest and driest cottonseed-cake from the most powerfal 
steam-press now in use for the extraction of the oil ; and we find that, after the utmost quantity of oil had been removed by the press, 
there still remained a quantity equal to IST^o^oths per cent, of the weight of the cake. 

While the direct result of our investigation of wool oil has therefore only given ua the data by which to cause one or two mixtures 
to be avoided that apparently contained volatile mineral oil, we may yet hope that the final result may be a substantial improvement in 
the method of scouring wool and woolen fabrics and the saving of a waste substance of great value not only to the woolen manufacturer, 
but also to the leather-dresser, for whose use large quantities of " de gras " are now imported of a much less pure quality than can be 
obtained by the naphtha process. 

Since naphtha itself is almost a waste product in this country, and is somewhat difficult to obtain in large quantities abroad, owing 
to the cost and danger attending its transportation, its application to the treatment of wool can be made in this country at much less 
cost than elsewhere. 

The cost of the apparatus would be small, and the waste of material very little, as it can be saved by condensation with very little 
loss in each treatment. 

I am told that the oils that are especially prepared and sold under the name of " wool oils " at the present time 
are supposed to be in general mixtures of not more than 50 per cent, of mineral oil with either lard, olive, or red 
oil ; and even these mixtures that do not contain more than 50 per cent, of mineral oil are limited in their use to 
coarse work, it being understood that for tine work the smaller the percentage of mineral oil used the better. 

Benzine is equally as useful as benzole for dissolving grease, but it will not dissolve aniline. It is not only 
used to dissolve grease from cloths, but from animal matter and waste products of any sort from which a refuse fat 
can be removed. Naphtha of a specific gravity of 62° to 70° B. is used in the manufacture of varnishes, lacquers, and 
floor-cloths. Eectified anhydrous petroleum spirit (naphtha) of a specific gravity of 0.725 is used to dissolve 
anhydrous caoutchouc, by which the India-rubber is vulcanized on the addition of chloride of sulphur, (a) Naphtha 
has also been used in air thermometers and for cleaning guns. 

ParafQne oil (kerosene) has been recommended to protect seeds from mice, and is said to promote rather than 
injure vegetation. It has also been successfully used to protect pease from birds, slugs, and caterpillars. Large 
seeds are soaked in the oil, but it is recommended to sow the ground liberally with sawdust soaked iu the oil 
when smaller seeds are planted. Parafflne oil (lubricating) has been used for saturating gypsum figures and for 
oihng clocks. Solid paraffine is largely used for stufSng leather, for glazing frescoes and paper, for preserving 
flowers and wood, and for protecting labels and stoppers of bottles from corrosive liquids. 

aLe Technologiate, xxvi, 126, 312; xxx, 308. 



THE USES OF PETROLEUM AND ITS PRODUCTS. 261 



Chapter YII.— THE INFLUENCE OF PETROLEUM UPON CIVILIZATION. 



lu an introductory discourse, delivered before the Literary and Philosophical Society of Xew York, May 4, 1814, 
De Witt Clinton remarks: 

There is a bituminous spring in Allegany county whence the famous Seneca oil is obtained. " ' ' At Aniiano, in Italy, 

the petroleum of a spring discovered within a few years is also_ employed to light their cities. * " * It might be of considerable 
consequence to discover whether the j)etroleum of our spring might not be used for like beneficial purposes. 

It is, however, only during the last twenty years, and through the production of petroleum in the United States, 
that this substance has exerted a marked influence on civilization ; for while petroleum has been produced and 
used in Burmah, Japan, the Caucasus, Galicia, and Italy for many centuries, it cannot be claimed that its use was 
more than local, or that such u.se exerted any extended influence upon the world. Indeed, for the most part it was 
confined to such rude mechanisms that, as an illuminating agent in those regions, it was much iuferior to the 
materials employed twenty years ago among iiiglily civilized peoples. The earthen lamps of Burmah, the pastils of 
dried camels' dung used in Persia, and the rude lamps of Galicia were all of them little better than faggots or pitch 
knots. It is the advent of refined petroleum at comparatively low prices that has practically lengthened the 
duration of human life and has added vastly to the social enjoyment of mankind, not only among highly civilized 
peoples, but among the semi-civilized and barbarous nations ; in tact, wherever the white wings of commerce can 
transport it there it has gone, and, more, its light has penetrated even the solitudes of the eastern deserts and the 
forests of both hemispheres. 

Speaking of the rise and progress of the trade in petroleum, Mr. E. W. Binney remarks that it is " the most 
remarkable rise and progress in a trade in modern times. In 1801 the exports from the United States were 1,194,682 
gallons ; in 1869 it was 99,148,947 gallons", (a) 

In considering this influence it may be regarded either as of the past or of the future. Dr. Draper, of New York, 
writing of the influence of petroleum in America, said, in 1864 : 

The effect that this illuminating agent has produced throughout the country is very striking. It has entirely displaced all other 
means of lighting except gas, and is used even in cities by many who desire an absolutely steady light. The great desideratum is a perfect 
ehimueylcss burner. The petroleum requires a large amount of air for complete combustion of its carbon, and by no other means than 
a tube 6 or 8 inches long has the supply been rendered sufficient. Although by the substituting of mica for glass the difficulty of 
breakage has to a certain extent been overcome, there is still great room for improvement. Kerosene has, in one sense, increased the length of 
life among the agricultural population. Those who, on account of the dearness or inefficiency of whale oil, were accustomed to go to bed 
soon after sunset and spend almost half their time iu sleep, now occupy a portion of the night in reading and other amusements ; and 
this is more particularly true of the winter season. (6) 

Notwithstanding the desirability of a chimneyless burner which was thus early felt and clearly stated, that 
want is yet to be supplied, as all attempts to supply such ;i. burner have thus far been only partially successful. 
In eastern countries, where the compensation of labor is so small, the cost of chimneys, enhanced by long 
transportation and breakage, is said to seriously iuteifere with the extended use of kerosene among the poorer 
classes. Yet the use of refined petroleum in the East has steadily increased, until petroleum is no longer jjroduced 
in Japan, and the production has little energy in Burmah. 

In 1869 M. Felix Foucou published an article in the Hevue des Deux Moniles that is especially interesting in this 
connection. He says : 

In the domain of the useful arts each age reveals characteristic tendencies. In the last century mankind had need to clothe itself 
cheaply. It was this that made the fortune of Arkwright and the machine spinners, the sudden prosperity of Manchester and the 
continental cities which imported the new method of labor. The nineteenth century has wished for light, both iu the birch-bark 
wigwam of the Indian and in the mud cabin of the poor Rutheniau of Galicia. The introduction of the most modest lamp gives activity 
to family life in prolonging the evening's labors. France has largely contributed to this result. The invention of Argand, which was 
the tirst progressive step in advance of the smoky candle-wick of ancient times, arose painfully at the eve of the French revolution ; the 
Carcel lamp and gas are of yesterday. A crowd of obscure inventors have, with unremitting labor, perfected the mechanism of lamps iu 
order to escape the costly necessity of buiniug vegetable oils. These experiments, many of which were undertaken under the monarchy, 
prepared the way for the success of petroleum ; unfortunately they came at a moment when it was premature to dream that illumination 
by mineral oil should become universal. The materi.al was at first wanting; chemistry had not furnished a method of extracting those 
precious substances from the schists with which they were found associated at many points ; and science had not yet shown the part that 
liquid petroleum was destined to play, of which a great many springs were then known. It is to the Americans that the merit belongs of 
having given this last right of citizenship among the industries. The native talent that led them to regard the useful aspect of 
everything, above all the feverish but patient activity, seconded so well by a happy temperament, has served them marvelously on this 
occasion. The French chemist .Selligue gave them the first experiments in the b.isin of Autun, about the year la'3-i, by distilling on an 
industrial scale the schists that abound in that ijart of France. Mr. James Young, of Glasgow, perfected the process, and established in 
1847, in Derbyshire, a vast manufactory for treating the English minerals, incomparably richer than those of France, and known under 
the names of bog-head and cannel coal. In a few years this establishment took on an extraordinary development, and yielded its 

a Proc. Lit. and Phil. Soc. of Manchester, viii, 135. h Chem. Xeics, x, 204. 



262 PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 

projectors several hundred thousand francs of revenue. The prospect of such profits so soon realized placed tKIs manufacture in a 
reputable position. It extended to the United States in 1854, where it -was employed upon the Scotch bog-head as well as several other 
indigenous schists. In 1860 there were in North America 64 manufactories of schist oil. The discovery of abundant reservoirs of 
petroleum suddenly arrested this growing industry, ruined a large number of manufactories, and led their projectors to change them into 
refineries of petroleum, that substance being much richer in Illuminating material than bog-head or cannel coal, (a) 

This graphic statement of the manner in which the requirements of the age have been met, and how fully they 
have been met, is well supplemented and illustrated by chart No. Ill, page 148, in connection with the statistical 
statement on page 149 et seq. The statement shows that in twenty-two years preceding December 31, 1880, there 
had been produced 156,890,331 barrels of petroleum, of which amount about 16,000,000 barrels were stored above 
ground, leaving, in round numbers. 140,000,000 from the Pennsylvania oil regions alone for consumption during 
twenty-two years, an average of 6,363,636 barrels per year. But the production increased from 500,000 barrels in 
1800 to 26,032,421 barrels in ISSO. The stocks held in the producing regions did not accumulate in excess of the 
demand until 1875, when they amounted to 4,250,000 barrels; but the demands of the next two years reduced those 
stocks, and the price advanced to above $2 50 per barrel. Since February, 1878, stocks in the producing region 
have constantly accumulated, with a constantly increasing demand, and a tendency, as might be expected, to lower 
prices. The accumulated stocks, January 1, 1882, had reached nearly 30,000,000 barrels. 

The total value of the yearly production, as shown by this statement, has been subject to great fluctuations. 
For instance, the 4,215,000 barrels produced in 1869 were worth $23,730,450, while the 10,809,852 barrels produced 
in 1874 were worth only $12,647,526. The most valuable production of any year was that of 1877, when 13,135,771 
barrels brought $31,788,565, while the 26,03:^,421 barrels of 1880 brought only $24,600,637. From these figures it is 
readily perceived that up to the present time the demands of this century for light have been more than satisfied, 
and that while new uses and applications for petroleum and its products are being constantly discovered the 
increasing demand has been more than met by an increasing production. 

Looking toward the past, it may be said that petroleum has become the light of the world. It is fast displacing 
vegetable and animal oils as a lubricator on all classes of bearings, from railroad axles to mule spindles. It is also 
displacing animal and vegetable oils where such oils are liable to spontaneous combustion ; it is becoming one of 
the most largely used materials for fuel in stoves, both for cooking and for heating purposes ; it is very successfully 
used for steam purposes where other fuel is scarce and petroleum is plenty; it is found to be available in the metallurgj- 
of iron, and is likely to be in demand for the production of pure iron for special purposes ; its merits have been 
long recognized in medicine, and it is rapidly becoming a necessity to the apothecary in the form of petroleum 
ointment; in fact, petroleum has become one of the indispensable needs of civilized man, and ministers to his 
wants in such a multitude of forms and under such a multitude of circumstances that it may be safely said that it 
ameliorates the conditions of his struggle with external nature, adds comfort to health, and soothes in sickness, 
prolonging his active life by extending the day into the domain of night over all that portion of the earth's surface 
accessible to commerce. 

Looking toward the future, what assurance have we that these varied wants, the wonderful creation of 
twenty-four years, will be satisfied"? In answering this inquiry I wish to emphasize the futility of prophecy and 
the abundance of the present supply. All through the census year, when each successive month brought an 
addition to the production without precedent, the entire literature representing the oil interest was each month 
prophesying that the end was being reached, the Bradford field was outlined, the production next month would 
surely show a desline, the yield of wells was rapidly running down, and so on. As an illustration I quote from 
Mr. J. 0. Welch's Views of Future Production for June, 1879 : 

Eeality has been constantly outrunning estimates on the Bradford production. The subject of the amount of production has been 
somewhat abandoned recently, in the light of the supply being so greatly in excess of any immediate demand, or of any probable demand 
in a reasonable time in the future. The May production from the wells will be exceeded, no doubt, by the production of some of the 
summer months. I think a shut-down movement, on account of depleted bank accounts, lack of credit, and a cash system inaugurated 
by the well-supply dealers of the Bradford district, will be a very important check on the starting of now wells, and the Bradford 
production probably is ,^bout at its height. 

He estimated the total daily production for this month at 58,700 barrels. In his Yieios of Future Production for 
January, 1880, he says : 

While the prossnt situation regarding production is bad, great hopes are that in six months the production will necessarily show a 
very important falling oft'. 

He estimated the total daily production for this month at more than 65,000 barrels. In his report for June, 
1880, he says : 

The next point is for the production to show .an appreciable falling off. This point has not arrived yet, although producers, on 
account of the falling off of wells throughout the district, expect it will do so pretty soon. 

Total daily production for this month, 80,804 barrels. January, 1881, he says: 

Public opinion is very greatly in accord with the following extract from a letter of a producer to me : " In some districts the 
United lines are cleaning out the tanks. Do you get your statements on stocks at wells from the same parties as the Era and Deirricl; get 

a Beviie des Deux Mondes, April, 1869. 



THE USES OF PETROLEUM AND ITS PRODUCTS. 263 

theirs? I sometimes think thoy back up oil purposely on those who furnish reports. I have interviewed a large number of pruducers from 
all sections of the field, and all make the same statement, namely, our production is falling olf. I cannot understand, in view of the facts, 
how there can be an increass in the production, and, in plain words, don't believe it." 

Total daily production for this inontb, 70,427 barrels. In Jane, ISSl, be says: 

Tbo sanguine hopes for an important decrease in the production have been postponed for some months at least. Bradford is expected 
to decline rapidly at some time, and it was confidently hoped the time was near at hand; but the figures on the May production have 
been disappointing, and any marked decrease in the production is still a matter of the future. 

Total daily production for this month, 81,455 barrels. January, 1882, he says: 

For the time being Hie increase at Allegheny equals the loss at Bradford, but this relation is likely to change soon, and not only 
Bradford will decline, but Allegheny will accelerate the decline by declining itself. 

Total daily average production for — 

Barrels. 

October, 1881 81,110 

November, 1881 80,985 

December, 1881 81,462 

The following paragraphs were written by an intelligent oil producer of large experience, and express the 
opinion of conservative operators at the date of their publication, August, 1881 : 

In the twenty-ono years that oil mining has been the chief industry of northwestern Pennsylv.ania there h.ave been discovered, 
besides numerous minor deposits, three great basins of petroleum, known among oil men as the Venango, the Bntlor, and the Bradford 
districts. The first centers on Oil creek, Venango county; the second on Beaver creek, Butler county; and the third covers an area of 
about 60,000 acres in the northea.stern corner of McKean county, and extends a short distance into the state of New York. The first two 
named are so far exhausted that a majority of the wells have been abandoned, while those that are still pumped have fallen off until 
they average less than two barrels each per day. The Bradford district in extent of area and volume of oil exceeds the other two 
combined. It was discovered in 1875, but it was not until two years later, when its rich character became -apparent, that it began to 
attract the oil men from all other fields. Since then it has beeu the scene of greatest activity, the magnitude of operations exceeding 
anything ever known in the business. 

In the autumn of 1830, after four years' continuous drilling within and around the Bradford district, the boundaries of this great 
reservoir were accurately defined; more than 9,000 woUs had then been drilled there and were producing oil. These lines being fixed, the 
producers began to retrace their steps, and to select within these limits such locations as seemed desirable among their old wells and to 
drill what is technically called the "second crop" of wells. This was the first manifest proof of the limitation of the Bradford district 
and of its .approaching final exhaustion. 

The percentage of successful ventures in Bradford surpassed all former experience. Of the whole number of wells drilled in 
exploring and defining this district about 5 per cent, only were dry or failed to produce oil in paying quantity. In Venango and Butler 
the average of failure was much larger, and if we except the years when these districts were in their prime, and take those intervening 
periods in oil mining when the producer had to depend upon the discovery of suck minor deposits as lay outside of the great basins, and 
yet within the oil region proper, it will be found that half of the wells then drilled Avere failures. 

The distinctive features which have marked the development of the Bradford district, and which have given to the Bradford 
producer advantages over all his predecessors, are : first, the insignificant risk to be taken in drilling ; second, the durability of the wells; 
and third, the expense saved of pumping the wells, which have until recently yielded their oil by flowing. To these natural advantages 
may be added cheaper machinery and cheaper labor. He has also gained facility by enlarged experience and by his improvements in well 
m.achiuery. His greatest advantages have no doubt been in the long life of his wells and in the fact that they h.ave been flowing wells; 
but these conditions have changed. Half of the wells in the Bradford district are now pumped, and the average product per well has 
fallen to six barrels per day. It is estimated that before the close of the year nearly every well in Bradford must be pumped. They are 
now passing rapidly from flowing to pumping wells. 

The longevity of these wells is accounted for by the thickness of the sand-rock, the natural receptacle of deposit for the oil, which 
is never found in the Pennsylvania oil region except in this rock. The Bradford rock averages from 50 to CO feet in thickness, while the 
Venango and Butler sand-rocks are from 20 to 40 feet. The volume of oil found in any deposit is determined by the extent and porousness 
of the sand-rock. In one of the minor districts, viz. Triumph, Warren county, the sand-rock was found to be 120 feet thick, and the 
wells there lasted the longest of any that have been struck ; but the area of this deposit was limited to about 1 mile square. 

We have seen that the extent of the Bradford basin was ascertained last atitumn. Its margin had been previously defined at many 
points, but it was not until then that the limits of the whole district became known. We can now see that the greater magnitude of this 
oil-field will not save it from the fate of the fields that preceded it. The same evidences which marked iheir decline have already appeared 
here, and we need not doubt that the same results will follow. The 9,000 wells of last autumn have now increased to over 10,000, and a 
total of 55,000,000 b.arrels of petroleum has been drawn from them. It is therefore not to be wondered at that the great reservoir begins 
to show symptoms of exhaustion. True, these symptoms have only passed the premonitory stage, yet they are as real and significant to 
the oil-prodncer as his figures of production. They are to him the "handwriting on the wall", for he knows well how insidiously the 
same symptoms developed in other districts, and with what accelerating speed the decline went on month by month, as his tables of 
production showed. 

Ordinarily these monthly tables of production are a sufficient gnide in forming a judgment of the field ; but the condition of the 
Bradford business for many nmnths has been such as to preclude the possibility of accuracy in them. The product of the district rose so 
rapidly last year above the receiving capacity of the pipe-lines that much of the oil flowed over on the ground and was lost. This waste 
continued in varying degrees through the greater part of 1380 and into the second quarter of this year. The extreme cold of last winter, 
and the aptness to congeal of the Bradford oil (which difl'ers widely in this respect from Venango oil, and in a less degree from Butler 
oil), complicated the working of the pipe-lines, while diminishing their capabilities; so that the waste of oil was estimated to rise 
.sometimes as high as 5,000, 10,000, .and even 15,000 barrels per day. This led the producer to suppress the flow of his wells as much as 
possible, and to increase the wooden tankage which he nsos for temporary storage at his wells until the oil can be conveyed into the large 
iron tanks of the pipe-lines. These ir<m tanks have a €;■ acity of from 20,000 to 30,000 barrels each, the nsnal size of a wooden tank being 
250 baiTels — 1,200 being the largest. 



264 PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 

In making up the monthly f-ables of production it has been found that the greatest accuracy is attained by computing the " runs " of 
oil into the pipe-lines during the month and omitting the oil held at the wells. When the business is moving normally these well stocks 
remain nearly stationary and average about a hundred barrels per well; and this average does not seem to be much affecte^l by the 
fluctuations of the market. A measurement taken in the Butler district in 1876 to ascertain this average gave 100 barrels per well, and 
this at a time when there were five pipe-lines competing for the oil, and when the price was |4 per barrel. When we consider that the 
average product of the wells is now 6 barrels each per day, that 200 barrels is usually the minimum taken by the pipe-line in one " run", 
and that there are 10,400 wells in the Bradford district, it will bo seen that the time required for oil to gather to make up these "runs" 
necessarily leaves stock at the wells at all times, and that there must be a point below which this stock cannot sink ui-itil the number of 
wells decreases, when it will gradually decline with the decline of the district, until both are exhausted. 

The total marketable stocks of the region at the end of June, 1881, may be estimated as follows: 

Barrela. 

Stocks in United Pii)e lines 20,641,285 

Stocks in Tide-water Pipe line 1,924,658 

Stocks in the minor pipe lines 76,222 

Stocks in iron tanks of individuals 420, 930 

Stocks at wells 335,095 



23, 398, 190 



In a less degree j)erhaps than any other industrial product is the supply of crude petroleum governed by the price. There have been 
periods in the business when prices have ruled high, and yet production has declined because of the oil-man's inability to find new 
productive fields to work. On the other hand, production has not infrequently continued to rise long after the price has declined below- 
cost. A jjowerful incentive to overproduction is found in the mobile quality of petroleum and its tendency to shift its location in the sand- 
rock, its passage from place to place through the channels of this natural receptacle having been the cause of many an energetic struggle 
along the dividing lines of adjoining tracts for the possession of the treasure beneath. These subterraneous currents set toward the first 
drill-hole onauy given tract of land, and are not readily diverted toward subsequent openings: so that the chances for a larger share of the 
oil and for a more lasting well favor the first well drilled. The exceptions to the rule are rare, and arise from conditions that will readily 
suggest themselves, such as a uatural center of deposit, or, still more rarely, a crevice in the oil-rock. As an oil district is always divided 
among numerous ownerships, the stimulus to excessive drilling pervades the whole field, and when the deposit happens to be large is sure 
to lead to excessive production. 

Another cause of overproduction is found in the tenure, the tracts being mostly held by lease, the land-owner receiving a rent or 
royalty in oil varying from an eighth to a half of the total product ; a bonus in money is often added when the chances of success seem 
favorable. The lease always stipulates the number of wells to be drilled and limits the time of drillingthem, and also contains clauses of 
forfeiture to enforce execution of the work. The producer is thus compelled to drill wells at times when the market price of oil does not 
warrant the outlay rather than forfeit a lease on which he may have already made valuable investments, or which he believes will 
subsequently prove valuable. 

Still another agent, acting in the same direction, is the discovery at a time when the supply is already sufiicient to fill the market 
demand of a new oil-field, richer than any then being worked. The yield of the larger wells in the new district makes the cost of 
production less than in the old districts, the price declines, let us say, untU the producer in the older district receives for his product 
barely enough to pay the cost of lifting it to the surface, though the producer in the new district still has a profit in his products ; both 
continue their work and production is further enlarged. The first man is impelled to pump his well to save his property from destruction ; 
the second is prompted by the profit he makes. The first man cannot shut his wells down and wait for an advance in price until the new 
district is depleted, for, besides the iucouvenience which such stoppage entails in any business, he would risk the ruin of his wells by the 
clogging with parafSne of the oil-ducts in the sand-rock, or by the diversion of the oil into other channels by the suction of ether wells. 
The first would be more apt to occur in a waning district and the second in a fresh district, but either is likely enough to happen to 
admonish him against a shut-down. 

Since the discovery of Bradford two other districts of minor importance have been opened. One is known as the Wellsville district, 
and lies north of Bradford, in Allegany and Cattaraugus counties, New York ; the other is the Warren district, lying south of Bradford, 
in Warren and Forest counties, Pennsylvania. The first has been worked for about three years, and yields the heavy oils only, the gravity 
varying greatly in difi'erent wells, beingfrom 36° to 43° B. ; the second is two years old, and yields a light-colored oil of 47° to 48° gravity. 
About two-thirds of the wells drilled in the first district and one-third of those drilled in the second have been failures. The total daily 
product in the Wellsville district was, at the close of July, 1881, 350 barrels. Neither gives evidence of large capabilities for increasing 
productiou, though of the two the Warren is undoubtedly the more promising. Neither can bj^ any known possibility contain what may 
be termed "a great basin", for thedrilling already done is sufS.cient to establish the character of both fields. These districts are not even 
pointers to such a deposit, and if they possess any significance in that direction it is rather against than in favor of such a discovery, so 
that no marks or guide-posts yet exist to point the way to new fields. 

In Wellsville a good quality of oil-bearing rock, varying in thickness from 25 to 35 feet, is found in the productive wells, but that it 
is of a sporadic character is proved by the large percentage of unproductive wells ; and this idea is further confirmed by the remarkable 
variation in the color of the oil obtained, which ranges from the ordinary green to black. Salt water is produced with the oil in all the 
wells in the Wellsville district, which is another distinguishing feature of heavy-oil districts, the light oils being always found in the 
sand -rock entirely free from water. Also, the rock here lies at a higher level than the Bradford rock, and therefore belongs to the jipper 
strata, in which the heavy oils are found. 

The Warren oil-rock is from 12 to 25 feet thick, and there are two strata about 100 feet a,part ; but no well has yet found oil in paying 
quantity in both rocks, where one overlies the other, as occurs in some parts of the district. The drilling here has been so extended as to 
leave no space sufficient for a new basin of large capacity ; and as north of Wellsville the geological formation changes, the metamorphic 
rock cropping out in the immediate neighborhood, the oil district cannot extend far in that direction, and at all other points it has been 
thoroughly tested by the drill. 

Stimulated by the large prosperity attending the development at Bradford, test drilling advanced in every direction to the extreme 
limits of what is geologically regarded as the oil region. For a period of nearly I hree years, ending with 1880, more of this work was done 
than during the previous seventeen years since oil mining began ; but the want C success in finding new oil-fields, and the enhanced cost 
and diminished price of petroleum, have all contributed to discourage and arresi his pioneer work. 



THE USES OF PETROLEUM AND ITS PRODUCTS. 265 

The impiessiou that there are no more great basins like those of Veuaugo, Butler, and Bradl'ord remaining to he discovered is 
gradually growing into a conviction that Bradford is indeed the last, and that hereafter this region will have to depend entirely upon 
minor deposits and districts for its supply. This belief is supported both by the practical experience of oil-men and by the observation of 
geologists. We are satisfied that no oue can make a careful survey of the oil region without being impressed by the great amount of test 
drilling that has been done. This work has been quietly prosecuted in the depths of the forest and other unfrequented places, and is little 
noticed and little talked about unless oil is found. It is only the successful adventurer who receives public attention ; the unsuccessful 
man is seldom heard of, but the abaudoned well, with its dilapidated "rig", everywhere attests his energy. 

From the foregoing statement the following deductions may be drawn : 

1st. That the Bradford field, from its uniformity and exteut, constitutes the true oil center of the whole region, and that it is already 
declining; that, as all statistics show, the decline of the old wells averages .nbout l.'JO,000 barrels per month; that this decline has 
hitherto only been overcome by large and continuous drilling ; that the field has now reached a condition where the production cannot be 
maintained by the incoming new wells; that the number of openings in the field has so drawn upon the common reservoir that further 
drilling is simply subdivision of what is left and will only tend to ha.sten exhaustion, and that therefore the decline must proceed month 
by mouth with increasing rapidity. 

2d. That the productiou to supply hereafter the large demands upon this region (which wUl amount this year to 19,000,000 or 
20,000,000 barrels) must come from minor deposits. 

3d. That to supply this production from these minor deposits will be attended with greater uncertainty and a greater degree of 
eost than heretofore. 

4th. That under these circumstances the stock of crude oil in the region will be held more fii-mly, and that conseiiueutly the range of 
prices must be permanently higher than during the last three years. 

Artificial conditions and the influence of speculation may for a time interfere with, but cannot prevent this result; indeed, nothing 
«an prevent it save that of which there is now no sign — the discovery of a new, great basin, (a) 

In still further illu-stratiou, the following admirable survey of the available resource.? for future production is 
quoted from the corre.spoudeuce of the Oil and Drug News for February 28, 1SS2 : 

How far olf is the date when the production of petroleum will not be in excess of the demand is the great question of the hour to 
all parties concerned. Daily, monthly, and yearly reports are printed by m.any parties, a large proportion of which ditt'er one from another. 
In giving the amount of oil taken from private, wooden, and iron tankage and run into the pipe-lines some reports give the year 1881 
cretlit for the production of the same, when it really was produced in 1879 or 1880. This, of course, would swell the production of 1881 on 
paper only. 

Opperman, a civil engineer and map-maker of this county, and who is good authority, gives the total producing territory in the 
Bradford field, including Cattaraugus county. New York, at 68,250 acres. February 1, 1882, there were 11,764 wells; and if we estimate 
5 acres to the well, 11,764 by 5 gives us 58,820 acres drilled, leaving a balance of 9,430 acres of the lightest territory yet to be di-illed, of 
which from 2,000 to 3,000 can, and probably will, be drilled at present prices, but the balance cannot be operated at less than $1 or $1 25 
per barrel. 

In November, 1880, there were about 7,000 weUs in this field which had been shot with light torpedoes. At this date the large torpedo 
was found to be more productive, and since this time the greater part of the 7,000 wells have been cleaned out and reshot with the heavy 
torpedo with good results. (A medium size torpedo nowadays is 60 quarts, which costs, net cash, $290 40.) 

Production was further encouraged in 1881 by a great deal of crowding, which I explain as follows : 



A wishes to drill one well per month, or wait for higher prices, while B leases his land in small lots. The outcome of this is, a number 
•f wells are drilled along the border of B, which compels A to do the same or lose his oil. This is one of the principal reasons why 
producers bring their oil to the top of the ground instead of leaving it in the rock at present prices. 

The Forest and other large oil companies show by their statements that the cost of production in 1881 was from 30 to 40 cents per 
barrel more than in 1879 and 1880. This is owing to the pressure of gas and oil upon the rock exhausting, wells ceasing to flow, and 
pumping resorted to. 

The cost per barrel for i)roduction in 1879 and 1880 was from 65 to 75 cents, and if the companies are right in their figures the present 
•ost must be considerably above the present market ijrice. 

During the six months from July, 1880, to January 1, 1831, the total production of the country was estimated at 90,000 barrels per 
day, and during much of this time from 3,000 to 6,000 barrels per day was running on the ground in the Bradford field, owing to the 
iBability of the pipe-lines to store and ship the same, and in part owing to the inability of the producers to build private iron and wooden 



During these six months the highest production of the Bradford field was reached, being about 75,000 barrels per day (15,000 being 
the average productiou of the other fields). This has gradually declined, until on January 1, 1882, it was about 61,000 barrels per day. 
This decline iuchides all drilling of new wells up to that date. 

There were more wild cat (or, iu other words, prospective) wells put down in 1881 than in all previous years of the oil business, which 
developed nothing now except the Eichbirrg or Allegany field, in AUegany county. New York. This goes to show that a large territory 
has been condemned which was counted on as a possible oil-field. 

The Allegany field consists of from 7,000 to 8,000 acres, of which about 4,500 is good for 10-barrel wells and upward. The balance 
from 2- to 10-barrel wells. 

On February 1 there were over 600 wells producing from 4,500 acres, and allowing 5 acres to each well, this 4,500 acres will be drilled 
by April 1, at the present rate of ilrilling, which is 175 wells per month. 

It is estimated that one well to 10 acres is sufficient to drain the land, but where one well is put down to every 5 acres the territory 
exhausts more rapidly, on the principle of a glass of lemonade exhausting itself sooner when five straws are applied instead of one. 

If the Allegheny field is to become a second Bradford, as some seem to say, why is it that the producers have drilled wells so thickly 
•n the 4,500 acres, which is the cream of the territory, and how do they account for the 125 or 130 dry wells immediately surrounding the 
field t Bradford, in its early development, has scarcely a dry hole in its producing area. In the early days of Bradford torpedoes from 

a SiowelVs Petroleum Sejiorter, August 23, 1881. 



266 



PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 



2 to 6 quarts were used, while to-day Allegheny 'wells are treated to from 40 to 120 quarts, thereby forcing the production to an unnatural 
large amount for a short time, but the land is being drained correspondingly rapidly. 

The following shows the condition of the oil production, etc. : 

Barrels. 

Total oil in all pipe-lines, January 1, 1881 (n) 16,606,343 

Total oil at wells in Bradford field, January, ISSl (6) 2,403,500 

Total oil in private iron tankage, Bradford field, January 1, 1881 (c) 692, T-W 

19, 702, 593 

Total oil in all pipe-lines, January 1, 1882(a) 25,333,413 

Total oil at wells in Bradford and Allegheny fields, Jannary 1, 1882 (c) 1, 135, 848 

Total oil at private iron tanks, Bradford and Allegheny fields, January 1, la82(c) 104,256 

20, 573, 517 
Deduct amount for . January 1, 1881 19,702,593 

Total net increase of stock in oil regions on January 1, 1882 6, 870, 924 

This amount divided by 365 days gives : 

Total net average daily increase in stocks in 1881 18,824 

Total net average daily shipments from oil regions in 1881 (a) 55, 774 

Add the daily average increase and shipments for net production 74,598 

Add the daily average evaporation and shrinkage (a) 2, 150 

Giving the daily average gross production 76, 748 

The daily average shijiments of 1880 (a) were 42, 916 

The daily average shipments of 1881 (a) 55, 774 

Shows increase in 1881 over 1880 to be per day 12, 858 

Our export trade has increased nearly every year since 1852. I copy the following from the American Exporter for December, 1881 : 

Gallons. 

Total exports of petroleum and petroleum products for October, 1881 54, 244, 846 

Total exports for same, October, 1880 34,065,254 

Increase for October, 1881, over October, 1880 20,179,592 

Total for 10 months ending October 31, 1881 422,713,216 

Total for 10 months ending October 31, 1880 295,520,798 

Increase foreign demand in ten mouths - 127, 192, 418 

The Oil and Drug News of January 31, 1882, says: 

The total exxjorts of petroleum and petroleum products from the port of New York, in gallons, from Jannary 1 to January 28, 1882, 
as compared with those of the same period in 1881, are : 





1S82. 


J881. 


Crude, gjiUons 


2, 913, 442 

16, 556, 230 

153, 131 


2, 641, 430 

10, 035, 431 

541, 297 




Total -. 


19, 622, 803 
syear, ganons. 


13, 218, 208 


Total increase in foreigl 


3 demand forthe first 28 days of th 


6,404,595 



Now let us take into consideration the increase in home consumption. 

For illuminating purposes it is universally used throughout the country, except where gas exists, and with the wonderfnl increase ia 
railroads to the far west and south, including all the mining regions, and the increase of population, an unusual increase is sure to follow. 

The exact amount of home consumption has never been actually given; it has only been estimated. 

In 1880 it was placed at 13,000 barrels per d.ay; in 1881 there were 55,774 barrels (a) per day shipped from the oil country, and 40,809 
barrels (6) per day exported from the United States. The ditference between the exports and the shipments from the oil country would 
Hhow the home consumption to have been 15,000 barrels per day, but there was estimated to have been a large amount of the stocks used, 
which was stored at the refinery centers and sea-boards, estimated at about 3,000 barrels per day; add this to the 15,000 shows the 
estimated home consumption for 1881 to have been 18,000 barrels per day, which ia an increase over 1880 of 5,000 barrels per day. Owing 
to the rapid development of the far south and west, and the general prosperity of the conntry, the homo consumption may safely be 
estimated at 22,000 barrels per day for 1882. 

Eight persons out of ten say that Allegheny is at its height, and I have shown where it is probable that the cream of her territory 
will be drilled by April 1 next, from which time her production will decline. Then consider the number of dry wells which have been 
drilled in all parts of the country, which shows that the prospects for developing a new oil-field are not very promising. 

With Allegheny so near drilled out, the Bradford field declining at from 75,000 to 100,000 barrels per month, and other territory not 
increasing, is it not natural to predict that the quantities of production and demand must soon come together, at which time prices will 
naturally advance rapidly? Taking into consideration the reshooting of wells in Bradford field in 1881, the finding of the Allegheny 
field, the extra amount of crowding lines, etc., after all this the total net increase of stocks in oil regions, January 1, 1882, over January 
1, 1881, is only 6,870,923 barrels, while the increase in shipments were 12,858 barrels. Add to this the decrease of stocks at refinery 
centers, 3,000 barrels, gives 15,858 bari-els increase demand per day, or 5,757,510 barrels for the year. 



a Official. 



5 Bradford Era. 



c Producers' report. 



THE USES OF PETROLEUM AND ITS PRODUCTS. 267 

Tho consumptive dBoiaiid of the world for 1831 was about 21,535,902 barrels, or 59,000 barrel? per day, and tbe demand for 1R82 is 
estimated at, at least, 15 per cent, more (15 per cent, is the average increase the past ten years), which will amount to 24,766,187 barrels 
for the year, or 67,852 barrels daily average, exclusive of evaporation and shrinkage. The 25,333,413 barrels in pipe-lines seem to lead 
some people astray. 

Tho above figures show that the entire amount, if drained from the lines, would be only one year's demand, and all know that we 
could only spare, say, 10,000,000 barrels, as .about ir),000,000 is required to carry on tho business in the same way as a bank requires capital. 
Should a few million barrels be taken from the present stock, this, together with the increased consumption, would revolutionize prices. 

These illustrations received increased significance when it is understood that within twelve months of the 
time the first paper was written and immediately following the date of the last the "Warren district yielded some 
of the largest wells on record, and the price of oil tumbled to a still lower figure, instead of being permanently higher. 

While it is not probable that the deposits of petroleum within the ci'ust of the earth are being practically 
increased at the present time, there is reason to believe that the supply is ample for an indefinite period. When 
prophecy, indulged even by the most .sagacious producers of longest experience, proves so futile, I think I am 
warranted in expressing the opinion that, as regards the future supply of petroleum, the drill alone gives valid 
testimony. Yet this fact is worthy of the most serious consideration : the •)roduction of petroleum as at present 
conducted is wasteful in the eictreme. Xo thoughtful person can escape the conviction that future generations will 
want what this present generation is destroying to no purpose. "After us the deluge," is written all over the oil 
region in the destruction of forests and in the waste of the oil itself 

STATISTICS OF THE EXPORTS OF PETEOLEUM DURING THE CENSUS YEAR. 

The following tables have been prepared for the purpose of showing the relative magnitude of the export 
trade in petroleum during the census year, the relative amount exported from different ports of the United States 
during that year, the points to which it was sent, and the relative amount of such export trade in the different 
manufactured products of petroleum during different years. These tables consist of: 

Table I. — Shiiiments of crude and refined oil out of the producing region to the following points during the 
census year, by months. 

Table II. — Receipts of crude and refined petroleum, etc., at Xew York, weekly, by routes, during the census year. 

Table III. — Exports of petroleum arid petroleum products from New York to foreign ports for 1878, 1879, ISSO, 
and the census year ; also from Philadelphia for the same time. 

Table IV. — The charters reported for crude and refined petroleum, naphtha, and residuum, from New York, 
Philadelphia, Bcston, Baltimore, Richmond, and Portland, to the different ports of the world, exclusive of North 
America, during the census year. 

Table Y. — Petroleum and its products exported from the United States during the years ending June 30, 1879 
and 1880. 

Table VI. — Exports of petroleum and petroleum products from all United States ports to all foreign countries, 
and the declared value thereof, from 1873 t» 1880, inclusive, and the census year, by months. 

Table VII. — Quantity of petroleum produced, and the quantity and value of petroleum jjroducts exported from 
the United States during eacli fiscal year from 1804 to 1880, inclusive. 

Table VIII. — New York petroleum market, average' prices per year. 

Table IX. — Imports of refined petroleum at five principal ports of the United Kingdom, with stocks at the same 
ports, January 1, 1874, to 1881, inclusive. 

Table X. — Imports of petroleum at the undermentioned European ports for seven years ended December 31, 
from 1874 to 1880, inclu.sive. 

Table XI. — The various i)roducts of crude oil, including petroleum, crude oil, refuse oil, and grease, and all 
products of naphtha exported from Baku, from 1832 to 1879, in poods of 36 pounds each. 

Table XII. — Imports of American petroleum (refined) into Japan, from the time of the first importation, in 1872, 
to the end of 1880. 

An inspection of these tables shows a steady increase in the quantity of petroleum and petroleum products 
exported to the end of 1879; 1880 showed a slight decrease. The months constituting the census year — from June 
1, 1879, to May 31, 1880 — exhibit an unparalleled activity in almost every item where the statistics were to be 
found in such form that the months of the census year could be separated from the totals for 1879 and 1880. 

Table I shows that the shipments of refined oil from the producing region to New York declined during 1880 
more than 1,100,000 barrels, or about 08 per cent. This decline took place mainly after the close of the census year, 
as the shipments for that year amounted to nearly 85 per cent, of those for 1879. Shipments to both Philadelphia 
and Baltimore of refined oil were merely nominal both during the census year and during 1880, while there were 
no shipments in 1879 to either of the.se points. 

The shipments of refined oil to Boston and local points were not materially changed in the aggregate for the 
two years, but the amount shipped during the census year exceeded that moved during either 1879 or 1880. 

The .shipments of crude oil out of the producing region to New York, Philadelphia, Cleveland, the Ohio river, 
and local points show a marked increase in 1880 over 1879, while the shipments to Baltimore, Boston, and 
Pittsburgh show a considerable decline during the same time ; yet to all of the points mentioned above, excepting 



268 PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 

the local points, the shipments during the census year were larger than during either of the years of which it forms 
a part. The total shipments of crude oil out of the producing regions in 1879 to the points above mentioned was 
15,987,370 barrels ; in 1880, 15,675,492 barrels ; and during the census year, 17,769,650 barrels, an amount 11 per 
cent, greater than the average for the two years. 

Table II shows in the totals the same steady increase in the movement of crude oil to ]^ew York, and an 
equally steady decline in the movement of reflued oil to the same point. During 1877, 103,662,216 gallons of refined 
oil entered iSTew York, and by 1880 the receipts had fallen to 42,847,577 gallons, although the amount received 
during the census year was nearly equal to that received during 1879. During 1877 the receipts of crude oil at 
ISTew York were 179,214,244 gallons, an amount which was increased to 256,878,660 gallons during 1880, and to 
285,839,983 gallons during the census year. These figures indicate a diversion of the product of the refineries located 
in the interior cities from the export trade and an increase in the proportional supply of that trade by ISTew York city. 
Table I also shows a similar increase in the consumption of crude oil for Philadelphia and Cleveland, while Boston, 
Baltimore, and Pittsburgh exhibit a large decline in receipts of crude oil during 1880. It seems, therefore, fair to 
assume that the manufacture of oils for export has steadily increased in Kew York, Philadelphia, and Cleveland, 
and has declined in Baltimore, Boston, and Pittsburgh, notwithstanding the movement of refined oil toward ISew 
York has steadily declined, and has been merely nominal toward Philadelphia and Baltimore, while the amount 
received at Boston has remained practically unchanged. 

Table III shows the relative amount of petroleum and petroleum products exported from Ifew York and 
Philadelphia to different countries during 1878, 1879, 1880, and the census year. The special activity of the export 
trade during the census year is illustrated by this table, not only in the totals, but also in the items. 

Table IV exhibits the destination of the petroleum and petroleum products sent from the country during 
the census year, the manner in which it was packed, and the kind of material sent to diiferent ports and countries 
As this table was compiled from the charters reported, some of which were vessels that arrived or were filled after 
the census year closed, the amounts do not correspond with those given in other tables, which were compiled from 
the clearances. This discrepancy does not \'itiate the statistics of the table for the purpose given above. 

The charters for crude oil were for — 

Barrels. 

France 395,560 

Belgium 85,500 

Spain 61,400 191,600 oases. 

Bremen 30,800 

Continental ports 18, 500 

Mediterranean ports ", 509 

Ireland 5,000 

Total : 604,269 191,600 cases. 

The charters for refined petroleum were — 

For Europe, including the Mediterranean islands : 

Barrels 5,213,081 

Cases 1,366,150 

Miscellaneous Mediterranean ports, the Levant, Asia Minor, and Syria : 

Barrels 50,800 

Cases , - 874,000 

Africa and Mo.uritius : 

Barrels 2,000 

Cases 380,000 

Asia, Australia, and the East Indies : 

Cases 6,003,800 

South America : 

Cases 17,000 

The charters for naphtha were for — 

England : 

Barrels 106,050 

France : 

Barrels 87,650 

Cases 4,900 

Belgium : 

Barrels 23,200 

Cases 10,000 

Sweden : 

Barrels 13,900 

Continental ports : 

Barrels 10,300 

The charters for residuum were for — 

Barrels. 

England 89,900 

Franco 2,000 

Antwerp 300 



THE USES OF PETROLEUM AND ITS PRODUCTS. 



269 



The foUowiug-uamed geographical sections tooli charters iu the census year as given below : 





BEFINED. 


NATHTHA. |[ CRUDE. 


RESIDUUM. 




Barrels. 


Cases. 


Barrels. 


Cases. 


! 

Barrels. i Cases. 

1 


Barrels. 


Caaes. 




1, 218, 150 
77, 800 
97,500 
361, C50 

13,950 








5,000 




89, 900 








13, 900 








































Rassia : 
















Black sea 


48,000 














Holland 


177, 300 

1, 594, 256 

552, 800 

706, 000 
















:| 




30, 800 

j 85,500 

18,500 

335,560 

61, 400 











1,000 ' 23.200 


10,000 




300 








10, 300 











7,000 

155, 700 
at4, 250 


87,650 


4,900 




2,000 






15,400 
12, 300 
32,509 


191, 600 
















17, 000 
12, 000 
113, 000 
298, 000 
15,000 
102, 000 










j 




Sardinia 










] 




SicUy 




;:.::: 




■ 




i 






76,700 














Malta 
















7,000 
268, 966 






























73, 200 
280, 000 
■ 186, 000 
602, 500 

85,500 
230, 000 
















































50, 800 






7,509 




































Algiers 




































' 



















6,000 

25,000 

1, 149, 800 

95,000 

151, 500 j 

153, 000 

2,555,000 I 

50, 000 

20,000 

17, 000 j 

650, 500 j 

1, 028, 000 1 

112, 000 j 

22, 000 

10, 000 j 

7, 000 ; 














































































































































ManUa 






























































Saigon 



























































1 







Commencing at the head of the list, it will be observed that 4,799,706 barrels of refined oil were chartered for 
Great Britain and the continent of Europe north of France. This amount was all chartered in barrels, with the 
exception of only 1,000 cases, probably of a special brand, which went to Antwerp. In addition to this vast quantity, 
amounting to nearly GS.o per cent, of the total charters of refined oil, there were chartered for the same region 
153,450 barrels and 10,000 cases of naphtha, 139,800 barrels of crude oil, and 90,200 barrels of residuum, of which 
latter material all but 300 barrels were for Liverpool and London, England. 

There were chartered for France only 7,000 cases of refined oil, which was for the port of Marseilles, and 
probably consisted of some special brand. The charters for France, however, included 87,650 barrels and 4,900 
cases of naphtha, 395,560 barrels of crude and 2,000 barrels of residuum. France has for many years laid an import 
duty on refined oils and admitted crude oil free, thus fostering the manufacture of refined oils on her own soil. 
This fact accounts for the heavy charters of crude oil for French ports. 

The charters for Spanish ports embraced both refined and crude oil in barrels and cases. There were chartered 
for Spain 61,400 barrels and 191,600 cases of crude oil. It will be observed that the charters for the inside ports 
of S])ain include a larger proportion of case oil than the outside. Nearly two-thirds of the oil chartered for 
Portugal is in barrels. With the exception of 7,509 barrels of crude oil chartered for miscellaneous Mediterranean 
ports, probably Spanish and French, no crude oil, naphtha, or residuum was chartered east of France or south of 



270 PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 

the straits of Gibraltar. All of the refined oil chartered for Austria through Trieste was iu barrels, besides which 
135 500 barrels were chartered for Italy and various Mediterranean and Adriatic ports in barrels. The remainder of 
the oil chartered for port-s between France and Port Said was all case oil, and amounted to 2,098,200 cases. All of 
the oil chartered for ports south and east of the Mediterranean sea, with the exception of 1,000 barrels for Las 
Palmas, Canary islands, was case oil. The trade with eastern Asia, including India, the islands, China, and Japan, 
in case oil is enormous, the charters amounting to 5,933,800 cases for the census year. 

Table V shows the relative amounts of the different products of petroleum sent from the different ports, 
and also gives the amounts and values of lubricating oils exported. In 1879 New York exported of lubricating 
oils less than one per cent, of the amount of illuminating oils exported, while Boston sent out of lubricating oils 
nearly 10 per cent, of the amount of illuminating oils exported. The quantity of lubricating oils exported in 1880 
was nearly double that of 1879. The total exports of 1880 were more than 45,000,000 gallons in excess of those of 
1879, yet their total value was more than $4,000,000 less for the last-named year. 

Table VI shows the quantity and value of petroleum and petroleum products exported from the Onited 
States from 1873 to 1880, inclusive. This table shows generally a steady increase in the quantity of the different 
products exported from year to year, but the value of these different quantities varied greatly. For instance, in 
1876, 25,343,271 gallons of crude oil were exported, worth $3,343,763, and in 1880, while the quantity was increased 
to 35,481,168 gallons, the value was decreased to $2,679,193. In 1877, 309,778,832 gallons of refined oil were 
exported, worth $51,901,106, while the following year, although the amount was lessened only 882,525 gallons, the 
value was reduced $12,806,655, and in 1879, while the quantity reached 367,321,255 gallons, the value fell to 
$32,696,713, and in 1880 was still less. The exports of petroleum and its products were valued iu 1877 at 
$57,497,164, a larger amount than has been realized from the same source in any one year prior to January 1, 1881. 

Table YII shows the production and quantity and value of exports for seventeen years ending June 30, 1880 j 
that is, for the last seventeen fiscal years prior to and including the census year, [a] The fluctuations in relative 
quantity and value are exhibited in this table. 

As an illustration, in round numbers, the 425,000,000 gallons exported in 1880 brought $500,000 less than the 
150,000,000 gallons exported in 1871, and about 65 per cent, of the amount obtained for 309,000,000 gallons iu 1877. 
The exports of the fiscal year 1877 were valued at $61,789,438. 

The remaining tables need no explanation. 

THE CONSUMPTION OF PETROLEUM AND PETROLEUM PRODUCTS IN THE UNITED STATES. 

The amount of petroleum and petroleum products consumed in the United States in any given time is a 
residual quantity consisting of elements very difficult to estimate with absolute accuracy. An approximate estimate, 
however, has been repeatedly made by subtracting the exports, reduced to crude equivalent from the production, 
less the accumulated stocks. This method, never of much value, is becoming more unreliable each year as the 
increasing demand for mineral oil residues increases the production of reduced petroleum, and, consequently, the 
proportion of illuminating oil manufactured without cracking, and therefore not representing 75 per cent, of the 
crude oil. The production of oil out of the ground for the census year has been already estimated at 24,354,064 
barrels. Of this amount 315,000 barrels were estimated to have been wasted or burned, leaving 24,039,064 barrels 
as the available production, of which 5,350,863 barrels were added to the stocks already accumulated. Of the 
remaining 18,688,201 barrels, 17,417,455 barrels were manufactured in this country and 673,763 barrels were 
exported, leaving 596,983 barrels for consumption in this country. 

Of illuminating oils of all grades there were manufactured 11,002,249 barrels, of which 7,346,516 barrels were 
exported, leaving 3,655,733 barrels for home consumption, an average of about 10,000 barrels per day. 

Of lubricating oils there were manufactured of all kinds and grades 380,739 barrels, of which 103,257 barrels 
were exported, leaving 277,482 barrels for home consumption. Oils consisting in part of crude petroleum are not 
included in the above amount. 

Of naphthas of all grades, including gasoline, there were manufactured 1,508,049 barrels, of which 368,221 
barrels were exported, leaving l,139,t28 barrels, of which 57,843 barrels were used as fuel by the manufacturers of 
petroleum, leaving 1,081,985 barrels for home consumption. 

It is impossible to assign any definite amount as representing the consumption of residuum ; 229,173 barrels 
were sold by the manufacturers and 235,314 barrels were burned by them as fuel. Of the 229,173 barrels, 94,141 
were exported, leaving a remainder of 135,032 barrels, nearly the whole of which was used as raw material by the 
manufacturers of lubricating oils. The term "residuum", as it has been used in this report, is probably not 
properly applied to the whole of the 94,141 barrels reported as exported ; but it is impossible to distinguish in the 
statistics of exports between the different materials, denominated " tar", " pitch," etc., included under the term 
" residuum." 

I have not met with any notice of the export of parafBne wax, but it is not therefore safe to infer that the 
7,889,626 pounds manufactured were all consumed in the United States. One firm manufactured 900,000 pounds of 
candles. While the manufacture of candles represents the largest use for any one purpose, the great number of 
uses to which it is now applied in the arts represents an enormous consumption of this substance, 
a The census year closed May 31. Practically the last fiscal year is the census year. 



THE USES OF PETROLEUM AND ITS PKODUCTS. 



271 



The actual cousumptiou of ciude petroleum represented by these figures is, after all, only an approximation 
to a correct result. If the illumiuating oils are assumed to represent 75 per cent, of the crude oil, the cousumptiou 
ef crude oil as illumiuatiug oil was •4,S74;,310 barrels, or 13,3o4 barrels daily; but in reality tUe illuminating oil, all 
grades tali;eu together, does not represent 75 per cent, of the crude oil, aud I am inclined to think that 15,090 
barrels daily is not far from a correct estimate for the consumption of crude petroleum in the United States during 
the census year. 

Table I.— SHIPMENTS OF CRUDE AND REFINED OIL OUT OF THE PRODUCING REGION TO THE FOLLOWING POINTS 

DURING THE CENSUS YEAR. 
[Compiled from the reports of tlie New York Produce Exch-iiige.] 



Month and year. 



REFUiED BBDUCKD TO CBUDE. 



New i Phila- Balti- 
York. delphia. more. 



1879. Barrels. 

Jnne 210,4R8 

jAy 240,311 

Aagtist 177,407 

September | 135,043 

October j 169,335 

November i 183,386 

December [ 91,114 



Janoary... 
February. 

March 

April 

May 



Total, censBByear 
Total, 1879.... 
Total, 1880.... 



55, 071 
24,382 
62, 740 
19, 225 
2,001 



1, 370, 503 

1, 612, 550 

569, 769 



Barrels. 
37,830 
62, 493 
37, 350 
26, 977 
33, 942 
28, 625 
55, 085 

33, 911 
18, 030 

23, 989 
W, 502 
18, 940 



379, 293 
378, 635 



15, 516 
25, 806 
42, 468 
30,666 
55, 245 
40, 267 

49,098 
54,100 
18, 269 
21,079 
23,781 



401, 279 
333, 446 
397, 369 



Barrels. 
648, 817 
465, 824 
655, 416 
623, 832 
502, 400 
611, 630 
667,533 

810, 131 
758, 157 
084, 808 
385, 727 
513, 704 



|7, 622, 979 
6, 318, 532 
6, 461, 465 



Barrels. 
29, 151 
139, 968 
190,915 
169, 062 
149, 349 
137, 997 
221, 743 

171, 360 
179, 145 
220, 517 
97, l47 
61, 503 



1, 773, 827 
1, 607, 098 
1, 741, 286 I 604, 183 



Barrels. 
53,957 
57, 187 
57,337 
65,459 
74,648 
56. 778 

77, 310 

78, 017 
96,146 
80,645 
12,816 
31, 779 

742,079 ; 
677,273 I 



Barrels. 

10, 087 
23, 203 
10, 178 
16, 169 
10, 352 

8,428 

11, 433 



9,489 
5,758 
4,C42 



121, 280 
120, 584 
99, 819 



Barrels. 
114,810 
292, 924 
314, 477 
296, 116 
369, 779 
228, 634 
242,415 

228, 145 
156, 041 
151. 775 
141, 197 
102, 358 

2, 638, 671 
2, 502, 570 
2, 535, 216 



Pitts. Ohio Local 
burgh. river. points. 



Barrels. 
207, 697 
278, 030 
284,563 
207, 863 
367, 975 
193, 770 
70, 072 



Barrels. 
17,720 
20, 336 
15, 214 
5,403 
5,932 
12, 597 
27, 257 



18, 773 
29, 243 
33, 576 
38, 728 
48, 791 
36, 555 
28, 356 



Barrels. Barrels. Barrels. 



1, 919, 584 

1, 901. 049 

958, 336 



207, 975 
183, 131 
206, 577 



1, 369, 314 
1, 625, 0«5 
1, 808, 239 
1, 627, 129 
1, 663, 169 
1, 553, 645 
1, 532, 585 



152,330 I 20,254 I 40,491 j 1,660,409 

53,418 9,850 42,862 1 1,39:, 

32,590 7,400 21,240 ' J 1,613,462 

65, 619 62, 194 15, 004 

105,657 3,816 26,402 200,000 j 1,095,259 



380,021 200,000 

350,344 I 

935,810 582,490 



17, 769, 056 
15, 987, 370 
15, 420, 525 



PERCENTAGE OF DELIVERIES OF CRUDE AND REFINED OIL AT THE ABOVE NAMED POINTS. 



CensllB y&nx 63. 35 ^ 

187« 09.35 I 

1880 39.35 



18.06 
16.31 
29.23 



18.55 
14.34 
30.68 



48.85 11.37 I 4.75 0.78 ■ 16.91 
46. 25 11. 77 4. 96 0. 83 18. 32 
45. 74 12. 38 4. 28 0. 71 17. 95 



13.92 
6.78 



1.33 I 2.43 1.28 

1.34 2.56 

1.46 6.63 4.12 



Table II.— RECEIPTS OF CRUDE AND REFINED PETROLEUM, ETC., AT NEW YORK, WEEKLY, BY ROUTES, DURING THE 

CENSUS Y'EAR. 
[Compiled from the reports of the New York Produce Exch-inge.] 



F»r week ending — 


UT REIE BAILWAT. 


BK HUDSON BITEE BAH, 
BOAD. 


BY PEKSSYLVAKIA BAILWAY. 


caHal. 


TOTAL. 




Crude. Eeflned. 


Naphtha. 


Crude. 


Keflned. 


Crude. 


Refined. 


Naphtha. 


Crude. 


Crude. 


Eefined. 


Naphtha. 


1879. 
Jnno 5 


Gallons. 
1,641,465 
1, 306, 695 
640,080 
I, 730, 340 

1, 513, 080 
840. 375 
610.770 
539, 955 

1, 733, 940 

1, 048, 095 
1, 120, 575 
1. 570. 050 

1, 8,i4, 720 

2, 090, 880 
1. 655, 460 

634, 545 
1. 134, 13,0 


Gallwis. 
358,093 
982. 488 
378,256 
756,606 

709, 324 
818,223 

1, 188, 639 
931, 869 

1,127,248 

464, 172 
830,537 
952,925 
771,787 

188, 141 
110, 732 
371, .300 
479, 400 


Gallons. 


Gattons. 
1,805,265 
1,862,235 
1,780,065 
1,557,630 

1, 223, 370 
982, 215 
1, 029, 420 
1, 407, 960 
1, 687, 860 

1, 712, 025 

2, 379, 240 
1, 915, 200 
2, 429. 010 

2, 343, 555 

2, 178, 405 

2, 840, 085 

977, 885 


Gallons. 
1, 031, 321 
699,501 
1, 273, 512 
1, 162, 451 

1, 626, 623 

1, 268, 483 

2, 086, 612 
2, 170, 037 
1,646,316 

2, 139, 487 
2, 579, 830 
1, 428, 236 
1, 496, 574 

023,823 

684,837 

1,056,184 

1, 435, 944 


GalUtns. 

2, 610, 193 

3, 227, 714 
2, 765, 171 
2, 558. 377 

2. 453. 333 
1, 584, 893 
2, 379, 670 
2, 207, 696 
2, 166, 219 

2, 278, 433 
2, 080, 899 
1, 517, 964 
2, 161, 847 

1, 744, 387 

1. 544, 964 

2. 002, 126 
2, 973, 266 


Gallons. 
26,220 


GaHons. 


Gallons. 

567, 730 


Gallons. 
6, 633, 353 
6, 450, 644 
6, 086, 424 
6, 097, 261 

5, 189, 783 
3,407,483 
4,073,805 
4, 155, 611 
5, 588, 019 

5, 038, 553 
5, 586, 714 
5, 003, 214 
6, 445, 577 

6, 178, 822 
5, 378, 829 
5, 476, 756 
5, 085, 29« 


Gallons. 
1, 409. 634 
1, 681, 989 
1, 673, 566 
1, 983, 353 

2, 480, 519 
2, 165, 666 
3, 795. 767 
3, 961, 807 
3, 659, 326 

3,561,378 
5, 027, 449 
3, 638, 317 
3, 799. 245 

2, 322, 364 

865, 928 

2,209,799 

2,364,711 


Gallons. 














21, 798 
64,296 

144, 572 
78,960 
520, 525 
849, 901 
885, 762 

957, 719 
1, 617, 082 
1, 257, 156 
1, 530, 884 

1,210,391 
70,359 
782, 315 
449,367 




901, 108 
250, 914 












July 3 








Jnly 10 








Jnly 17 






48, 005 




Jnly 24 








July 31 






Angast 7 




















Aagu.st 21 










August 28 










September 4 










Seplenibor 11 










.September 18 










September 25 











272 



PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 



Table II.— RECEIPTS OP CRUDE AND REFINED PETROLEUM— Continued. 



For week ending — 



1879. 
October 2 . . 
October 9 . . 
October 16 . . 
October 23 . . 
October 30 . . 



Gallons. 

991, 485 

535, 185 

455, 400 

1, 297, 575 

1, 704, 960 

1, 246, 680 

1, 871, 640 

2, 614, 590 
2, 166, 435 

1, 568, 340 
1, 192, 230 
1, 192, 275 

2, 349, 360 

2, 859, 795 

2, 495, 655 

3, 411, 810 
2, 306, 205 

January 29 ' 2, 708, 460 



November 6 . 
^November 13 . 
November 20 . 
November 27 . 

December 4.. 
Decemberll. . 
December 18. - 
December 25.. 
December 31. . 



January 8 

January 15 

January 22 



BT EEIB BAIL WAT. 



Crude. Eefined. Napbtba. 



Maroli 4 1, 482, 840 

March 11 ■ 48,500 

MarchlS ' 3,701,520 

March 20 i 3,074,220 

April 1 j 2,834,100 

April 8 1 1,124,910 

Aprillj I 817,875 

April23 i 1,711,845 

April29 1 2,195,280 

May : 1,097,640 

May 13 ' 2,803,770 

3, 674, 385 

May 27 4, .367, 835 



Total, census year. 

Total, 1880 

Total, 1879 

Total, 1878 

Total, 1877 , 



91, 675, 935 
119, 842, 560 
77, 580, 610 
67, 263, 973 



Gallons. 
564, 000 
826, 730 

1, 312, 788 
633, 090 
693, 093 

84, 224 
745, 796 
587,453 I 
560, 522 1 

629, 988 

379, 525 

379, 713 

1, 044, 105 

1, 744, 452 

1,193,850 
963, 200 
501, 250 
653, 300 



February 5 1,562,805 308,750' 

February 12 i 2, 33G, 680 181 , 300 

February M 2,263,320' 51,300 

FebmarySe i 1,873,170, 41,100 



35,300 ! 
16,050 i 

29, 894, 300 

19, 271, 650 
28, 460, 996 

20, 541, 352 



30,900 , 47,150 

2, 983, 950 I 89, 350 

2, 800 j 59, 150 

2,800 132,850 



1, 302, 500 



394, 650 
1, 061, 250 
256, 620 
664, 380 
860, 850 



Gallons. 

2, 601, 360 

1, 088, 325 

280, 575 



843, 210 
781, 920 
683, 910 
719, 585 

726, 930 

1, 364, 040 

1, 235, 475 

861, 480 

887, 805 

1, 039, 140 
1, 168, 120 
1, 306, 170 



1, 786, 185 
1, 485, 495 

1, 934, 820 

1, 886, 625 

2, 088, 755 

1, 779, 345 

2, 066, 445 
1,310,445 

595, 620 
444,815 
716, 500 

1, 727, 010 
1, 751, 070 
1, 733, 400 
1, 519, 200 

73, 965, 518 
80, 825, 203 
68, 061, 215 
47, 579, 410 
; 36,882,460 



Gallons. 

1, 404, 783 
792, 796 
551, 783 
689, 302 

1, 226, 465 

487,625 
752, 705 
656, 138 
506, 195 

287, 311 
492, 137 
250, 510 
623, 643 



794, 100 
440, 950 
340, 100 
221,800 

156, 600 
173, 500 
109, 500 I 
136, 900 1 



ET rENNSTLVASIA RAILWAY. 



Gallons. 
2, 388, 762 
2, 227, 820 

1, 840, 110 

2, 516, 842 
2, 916, 481 

2, 778, 771 

2, 608, 972 
1, 910, 763 

1, 781, 129 

3, 773, 093 

2, 365, 794 
2, 007, 899 
2, 154, 420 
2, 618, 748 



1, 386, 682 

2, 601, 312 

3, 683, 581 
3, 301, 056 
2,451,109 
2, 453, 912 



3, 663, 640 
113,760 1 1 3,040,501 
108, 600 j 3, 442, 571 
171,300 : .3,201,898 



428, 100 
714, 700 
71,000 
44, 000 
32, 000 



3, 626, 020 
2, 122, 824 

411, 573 
1, 144, 611 

208, 683 



96,000 j 777,99; 

140, 000 450, 614 

108,000 ; 617,924 

78,100 ' 250,314 



38, 459, 426 
18, 439, 950 
43, 657, 858 
42, 389, 953 
45, 319, 665 



Eefined. Naphtha. 



Gallons. "Gallons. 
450, 100 
402, 057 
240, 358 
93,718 
11, 938 



34, 028 ! 
74,307 

667,024 
252,631 

I 
736, 866 

306, 205 

299, 249 

32, 900 

35, 673 

107, 771 
401, 756 
438, 050 
254, 350 

210, 200 
89, 450 
19, 500 
11, 600 

2,500 
6,750 
27, 500 
5,000 

2,500 
16, 000 



118, 332, 563 
56, 210, 897 
98, 434, 951 
68,110,166 
78, 697, 550 



2,500 
5,000 

2,600 
17, 400 
6,600 
7,500 

15, 732, 688 
5, 135, 977 
15, 406, 718 
15, 873, 717 
7, 184, 614 



, 830, 045 
, 103, 634 



Kefined. i Naphtha 



Gallons. 
5, 981, 607 

3, 851, 330 
2, .576, 083 
4, 173, 247 
5, 640, 666 

4, 808, 661 
5,262,532 
6,209,263 
4, 667, 049 

0, 068, 963 
4, 922, 064 
4, 436, 649 
5,366,260 
0, 366, 348 



7, 866, 096 
4,999,057 
6, 679, 752 

6, 639, 054 
6, 946, 841 



■, 081, 000 , 
, 976, 026 
I, 232, 846 



i 8, 526, 565 
4,557,530 
I 1,825,468 ' 
I 3,301,271 j 
I 3, 120, 363 
I I 

I 3, 602, 045 

5, 006, 054 I 

I 6, 025, 709 j 

6, 137, 349 

285, 740, 033 
256, 878, 660 
U6, 906, 821 
189, 708, 589 
179, 214, 244 



Gallons. Gallons. 

2,418,883 ' 

3,021,583 ' 

2,104,879 ' 

1,416,110 I 

1,831,496 

i 

606,877 ' 

1,527,808 ' 

1,910,615 I 

1,409,248 ' 

1,654,166 

1,177,867 I 

929,472 [ 

1,700,648 I 

2,144,187 

2,095,721 

' 1, 805, 906 \ 

1,279,400 I 

1, 129, 450 ' 66, 150 
I 

735, 550 , 

444,250 

180.300 

189,600 , 

129,050 , 47,150 

3,103,450 ' 89,350 

138,900 , 59,150 

179, 100 ' 132, 8.=iO 

1,733,100 j 

730,700 ! -. 

73,650 I 

46,500 ' 

56,450 , 

137,200 ] 

157,400 I 

149,900 

101,630 

84, 041, 483 394, 650 

42,847,577 ' 1,653,860 

B7, 525, 572 I 650, 957 

79,600,602 I 

03,662,216 



THE USES OF PETROLEUM AND ITS PRODUCTS. 



21'. 



Tadle III.— exports of PETROLEUM AND PETROLEUM PRODUCTS FROM NEW YORK TO FOREIGN PORTS FOR 1878, 

1879, 1880, AND THE CENSUS YEAR. 

[From the reports of the New York Petroleum Exchange.] 

EEFllfED PETEOLETJM. 1 barrel = 50 gaUons. 



Great Britain: 

London 

Liverpool 

Bristol 

Ire-land 

Other ports 

Germany ; 

Bremen 

Hamburg 

Konigsburg and Stettia . 

Dantzic 

Other ports 

XoiTvav and Sweden 



Portugal 

Gibraltar and Malta. 



Turkoj- in Europe . 
Turkey in Asia 



China and Japan . 
East Indies 



Africa : 

Alexandria 

Canary islands 

Other ports 

Australia 

Xew Zealand 

S.Tndwicb Islands 

South America : 

Argentine Confederation 

Chili and Peru 

United States of Colombia. 

Venezuela 

Other ports 

Central America 

Mexico 



British North America. 



;, 158, 980 
i, 013, 377 
I, 537, 886 
i, 444, 392 
;, 277, 117 

I, 279, 351 
•, 971, 865 
', 977, 223 
1,386,423 
739,317 
1, 928, 374 j 
, 8U, 28S 
1, 886, 528 
1,909,641 I 
;, 623, 656 
i, 638, 785 
, 356, 800 
1,480,342 
1, 018, 291 
i, 807, 423 
, 594, 220 
1, 453, 916 
'., 803, 830 



British West Indies . 
Other "West Indies . . 



Totals 188,708, 



, 271, 545 
;, 861, 345 

, 555, 666 
109, 033 
, 719, 518 



32, 000 

1, 388, 078 

., 632, 985 

., 062, 115 

2,649 

403, 682 

13, 300 

162, 244 

532, 921 

412, 329 

1, 117. 267 

., 222, 602 

801, 449 



263, 180 
100, 268 

50, 758 
IDS, 888 

65,542 

565, 587 
159, 437 
139,544 
67, 728 
14, 786 
78, 567 
36,226 
117, 731 
218, 193 
172, 473 
133, 176 
27,136 
49, 607 
60, 366 
116, 148 
31, 884 
89, 078 
56, 077 



585, 431 



34, 390 
49,540 
16, 210 



32, 660 
21,242 



270 
3,245 
10, 638 
8,247 
42, 345 
24, 452 
16, 029 



21, 192, 079 
7, 993, 254 

4, 280, 209 
7, 158, 319 
5, 266, 440 

40, 035, 341 
II, 638, 106 
7, 425, 684 
1, 874, 059 

1, 943, 384 

5, 480, 157 

2, 670, 900 
5, 809, 642 

16, 156, 629 
11, 010, 971 
7, 693, 336 
1, 973, 427 

1, 857, 396 

2, 331, 628 
9, 787, 224 
1,513,650 

3, 605, 440 

1, 404, 600 
7, 588, 460 

18, 803, 770 
22, 145, 090 

3, 616, 633 

72, 976 

2,359,170 

2, 277, 346 
332,260 

45,850 

4, 215, 973 j 
1,659,210 j 
926,872 ' 
38, 060 
523, 958 
26, 100 
215, 383 
784, 483 
237, 054 
703, 186 
1, 386, 679 



423, 842 
159, 863 
S3, 604 
143, 166 
105, 329 

800, 707 
232, 70e 
148, 514 
37, 481 
38, 808 
109, 603 
53. 418 
116, 193 
323, 133 
220, 219 
153, 807 
39, 469 
37, 148 
46, 633 
193, 744 
30, 273 
72, 109 
28, 093 
151, 769 
376, 075 
442, 902 



1,460 

47. 183 
45,547 

7,045 
917 

84,319 

33. 184 
18, 537 



4,308 
15, 690 

4,753 
14,064 
27, 734 
19, 376 



14, 026, 865 
6, 482, 959 
4, 195, 827 

4, 261, 677 
3, 935, 042 

43, 953, 350 

15, 344. 524 
3, 430, 726 

804, 144 
334, 550 

5, 771, 784 
1, 024, 032 
8, 120, 128 

18, 560, 737 
11, 858, 877 
2, 618, 769 

1, 336, 379 

2, 573, 923 
1, 960, 057 

10, 142, 010 
334, 310 

1, 727, 350 
660, 990 

9, 120, 710 

6, 731, 392 
14, 949, 763 

2, 203, 620 

74, 095 

2, 077, 655 

1, 910, 324 

565, 482 

74, 000 

4, 036, 859 
2, 060, 810 
334, 123 
42, 068 
672, 162 
31,496 
239, 680 
696, 359 
171, 337 
433, 528 
1, 263, 614 
928, 393 



4,980,938 ;i 212,097,080 



280, 537 
129, 659 
83, 917 
85, 234 
78, 701 



68, 615 
16, 083 
6,691 
115, 436 
20, 493 
162,403 
371, 215 
237, 178 
52, 373 
26, 728 
51, 478 
39, 201 
202, 840 
6,686 
34, 547 
13, 220 
182, 414 
135, 028 
298, 993 

44,072 
1, 482 
41, 553 
38, 206 
11, 310 
1,480 

80, 737 
41, 216 

6,682 

841 

13,443 

630 

4,794 
13, 927 

3,427 

8,671 
25, 272 
18, 568 



Gallons. Barrels. 



22, 367, 521 
8, 943, 434 
3, 299, 266 
6, 967, 157 

■4, 639, 210 

47, 494, 457 
11,925,646 
7, 036, 048 
1, 149, 163 

1, 094, 486 
5, 704, 219 

2, 062, 717 
5, 038, 410 

17, 640, 481 
11,421,878 
7, 163, 521 
1, 735, 029 
1, 746, 220 
2, 161, 160 
8, 907, 387 
1, 205, 230 

3, 048, 380 

1, 331, 160 
13, 178, 760 
17, 021, 352 
26, 926, 103 

2, 829, 560 

88, 974 

2, 798, 310 

2, 954, 956 

328. 730 

64,000 

3, 986, 652 
1, 705, 210 
638, 993 
42, 946 
483, 220 
45, 477 
232, 355 
735, 613 
126, 835 
430, 839 
1, 339, 438 
929, 361 



447, 330 

178, 869 
65, 985 

139, 343 
92, 784 

949, 889 
238, 513 

140, 721 
22, 983 
21, 890 

114,084 
41,254 
100, 768 
352, 810 
228, 438 
143, 270 
34, 701 
34, 924 
43, 223 

179, 352 
24, 105 
60, 968 
26, 623 

263, 575 
340, 427 
538, 322 



55, 970 
59, 099 
6,575 
1,280 

79,733 
34, 104 



9,664 

910 

4,647 

14, 712 
2,537 
8,617 
26, 789 
18, 587 



CRUDE PETROLEUM. 1 barrel = 42 gaUons. 



France : 

Havre 

Marseilles . . 
Bordeaux . - . 

Dunkirk 

Other ports . 

Antwerp 



Norway and Sweden . 

Sp.iin 

Cuba - 

Other ports 



1, 765, 159 

1,449,115 

2, 929, 780 

629, 319 

170, 320 

1, 102, 060 

40,324 

277, 072 

344, 786 



Totals , 14,576,239 



', 803, 090 
!, 041, 059 
i, 464, 332 
;, 704, 475 
I, 752, 153 
140, 506 
1, 133, 847 



, 873, 167 
, 614, 300 



347, 053 I 23, 520, 931 



185, 788 
48,596 
58, 675 
64,392 
65, 527 
3,345 
50, 806 



2, 116, 256 
1, 853, 088 

3, 831, 438 

4, 039, 696 
322, 115 

3, 703, 109 

51, 968 

8, 694, 381 

1,610,710 



183, 031 
50, 387 
44,121 
91, 223 
90,183 
7,669 
88, 169 
1,237 
207, 009 
38, 350 
12 



7, 994, 545 ' 
2,038.590 
2,208,468 
3,278,011 j 
2,938,081 
140. 506 



2, 913, 881 
1, 297, 500 



190, 34G 
48, 538 
52, 583 
78,048 
69,954 
3,343 
66, 023 



69. 378 



VOL. IX- 



-18 



274 



PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 



Table III.— EXPORTS OF PETEOLEUJI JlSD PETROLEUM PRODUCTS— Continued. 
NAPHTHA. 1 1)31X61 = 60 gallons. 



Census year. 



Great Britain 

France 

Germany 

Other European ports 

Tarious ports 

Totals 

To all ports 

Total refined, crude equivalent 

Total crude 

Total from New York, crude equivalent 



4, 915, 361 
2, 372, 820 

712, 531 
1, 304, 755 

109, 916 



98, 307 
47, 456 
14, 251 
26, 095 
2,198 



7, 497, 559 

4, 864, 165 

937, 995 



149, 951 
97, 283 
18, 760 



6, 152, 564 

4, 624, 955 

781, 566 

1, 053, 883 

68, 692 



123, 051 
92, 499 
15, 631 
21, 078 
1,374 



7, 024, 509 
6, 768, 300 
1, 130, 037 
1, 777, 404 



140, 490 
135, 366 
22, 601 
35, 548 
1,480 



9, 415, 383 



12, 681, 660 



253, 633 



335, 485 



EESIDTTUM. 1 barrel = 50 gallons. 



83,554 2,863,552 | 



, 271 4, 135, 260 



251, 611, 919 
14, 576, 239 



332, 062, 500 
23, 526, 931 

355, 589, 431 



282, 796, 100 
33, 910, 544 



348, 040, 400 
25, 583, 438 



EXPORTS OF PETR JLEUM AND PETROLEUM PRODUCTS FROM PHILADELPHIA TO FOREIGN PORTS FOR 1877, 1878, 1879, 

AND 1880. 
[From tlie report of tlie New York Produce Exchange.] 



United Kingdom 

Northern Europe 

Mediterranean ports 

East Indies 

China and Japan 

South and Central America . 

"West Indies 

British North America 

Other countries 



Gallons. 
2, 812, 745 
32, 159, 144 
13,728,475 I 
208,881 I 
216,500 ! 
29, 617 
274, 821 
3,450 



4, 340, 407 
47, 539, 968 
18, 884, 404 



2, 037, 860 
50, 542, 743 
26, 691, 566 



Totals . 



2,840,000 [ 
29,815 
32,100 
277,268 



1, 855, 250 
361, e46 
58, 448 



Gallons. 

2, 342, 234 

41, 539, 471 

8, 763, 135 

204, 500 

1, 342, 100 

22, 605 

5,000 



454, 901 



Table IV.— THE CHARTERS REPORTED FOR CRUDE AND REFINED PETROLEUM, NAPHTHA, AND RESIDUUM FROM 
NEW YORK, PHILADELPHIA, BOSTON, BALTIMORE, RICHMOND, AND PORTLAND TO TPIE DIFFERENT PORTS 
OF THE WORLD, EXCLUSIVE OF NORTH AMERICA, DURING THE CENSUS YEAR. 





[From the repoi'ts of the New York Petroleum Exchange.] 










REFINED. 


NAPHTHA. 


1! 

CRUDE. ' RESIDUUM. 

il 




Barrels. 


Cases. 


Barrels. ; Cases. 


Barrels. 


Cases. ',' Barrels. ! Cases. 




3,000 
7,000 














102, 000 
5,000 

209, 000 
98, 000 
27, 000 








' 




































500 

200 

45, 700 

300 








13, 600 






Algiers 




























25, 000 

889, 000 

1,000 














Aiyier 
















552, 800 
361,650 


23, 500 


10, 000 


11, 000 
























3,300 






Bari 




IS, 000 






! 




Belfast 


20, 700 
8,800 
































12, 000 
8,000 


















7,600 






16, 200 
49, 100 


158, 000 






Blaye 


3,500 








■* " 




627, 800 
6,000 










Bona : 















THE USES OF PETROLEUM AND ITS PRODUCTS. 



275 



Table IV.— THE CHARTERS REPORTED FOR CRUDE AND REFINED PETROLEUM, ETC.— Contiuued. 





REFISED. 


1 
NAPHTHA. 


CRUDE. 


RESIDUUM. 




Barrels. Cases. 


Barrels. 


Cases. 


Barrels. 


Cases. 


Barrels. 


Casea. 






19, o50 
23, 200 
IS, 850 




39, 400 
30, 600 










1, 337, 106 

GO, 100 

500 


























Cadiz 


35,800 
12,000 
477, 000 
30, 000 


































































12, 400 












215, 000 














15, 200 
















11,000 
140, 000 
































700, .'.00 
32, 200 


10, 300 





18, 500 






















34, 000 
















108. 100 
















6,000 






14, 200 











10, 050 
21, 700 
2,800 
1,500 






























































Dublin 


19, 200 
























74, 500 










30, 100 
















153, 000 
25, 000 
































69,400 
9,950 


















9,600 
1,700 


























2, 200 


















2,000 


4,900 


3,500 










3,000 
2,400 
26, 600 
5. 300 










Gefle 


















150, 000 




























Gibraltar 


18. 500 
















30, 700 
221, 7;u 


1,000 




























52, 800 




185, 700 








Hioso 




50, 000 
82, 500 
























HuU 


il. 000 
21. 350 
,i. 000 


3,300 












































806, 000 
1, 606, 000 














Java 


















6,000 
10,000 














LegUom 


40, oeo 

186, 000 




























Linieiick 


5,000 
13,709 
185, 400 
616. 300 















Lis on 


6,000 














Liverpool 


19, 500 
50, 700 








82, 400 
7,500 




Loutlou 












M.-ihiK". 


43, 000 










Mtlliuo 


2,200 














Malta 


15, 000 
17, 000 

7,000 
25, 000 
002, 500 
37, 000 
10, 000 

8,000 






























Ma:siiUts 




600 




61, 560 




2,000 


■■ 














50. 800 






7,509 








Mtssina 












Montevideo 
















Naples 


27. 600 
7.0t0 















Kev. castle 














Kew Zealand 


20, 000 















27G 



PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 

Table IV.— THE CHARTERS REPORTED FOR CRUDE AND REFINED PETROLEUM, ETC.— Continued. 





KEFINED. 


NAPHTHA. 


CRUDE. 


EESIDUroi. 




Barrels. 


Cases. 


Barrels. 


Cases. 


Barrels. 


Cases. 


Barrels. 


Cases. 




4,300 


















48, 000 

11, 000 

12, 000 
49, 000 
















18, 800 
800 


















































17,000 


2,000 










31, 000 
21, 000 
20, 000 
8,000 












1,000 












































Plymouth 


2,000 


2,200 












95, 000 
45, 000 
21, 000 
151, 500 


















1 














1 






















3,000 
















1,000 
















2,200 
101, 500 


































3,000 




39, 200 



























22, 000 
128, 000 

13,000 
7,000 

15, 900 
353, 000 

27, 000 
112, 000 

73, 500 
6,000 

53, 000 






















1 








2,100 












i 










200 
















































j 


i 












. 












10, 100 
5,000 
2,700 
2,200 
2,100 






5,500 

_____ _ 


2,000 






















1 














j 












j 




16, 000 








8,000 




















2,200 










1,600 

268, 966 

148, 950 

4,600 

9,300 
















































27, 750 
38, 000 
50, 000 
12, 000 
172, 000 
8,200 
45, 000 










































Volo 
































Zante 
















































Totals 


5, 265, 981 


8, 640, 950 


i 245, 500 


14, 900 


604, 269 


191, 600 


92, 200 









Kefined : 

In barrels 5,285,981 ) 

In cases 1,729, 190 5 

Naphtha : 

In barrels 245,500 ) 

Incases 2, 980 J 

Crude: 

In barrels 



In cases... 
Eesiduum : 
In barrels . 



604, 269 i 



G-allons. 
349, 758, 550 

12,424,000 

32, 129. 450 

4, 610, 000 



398, 922, 000 



THE USES OF PETROLEUM AND ITS PRODUCTS. 



277 



Table V.— PETROLEUM AND ITS PRODUCTS EXPORTED FROM THE UNITED STATES DURING THE YEARS ENDING 

JUNE 30, 1879 AND 1880. 

[From report of Bureau of Statistica.] 





NBW TOBK. 


PHILADELPHIA, 


BALTIMOEE. 


BOSTON. 


OTHEK 


PORTS. 


TOTAL. 




Quantity. Value. 


Quantity. 


Value. 


Quantity. 


Value. 


Quantity. 


Value. 


Quantity. 


Value. 


Quantity. 


Value. 




Gallons. Dollars. 
17, 71G, 883 1, 517, 701 
11, 477, 029 987, 145 
206, 520, 009 23, 088, 504 
1, 709, 556 452, 257 
2,084,052 173,663 


Gallons. 

4, 687, 786 

2, 729, 037 

76,307,729 

7,182 

144, 564 


Oottars. 

377, 197 

2C7, 928 

7, 793, 749 

3,367 

7,952 


Gallons. 

1, 166, 825 

600, 782 

32, 662, 043 

269,759 

216, 342 


Dollars. 
98, 292 
42, 500 

3,231,700 
50,249 
12, 693 


Gallons. 


Dottars. 


Gallons. 

2, 302, 994 

194, 763 

11, 005, 788 

22, 186 

262, 080 


Dollars. '\ OaUons. 

187,223 ., 25,874,488 

16, 584 ^ 15, 054, 361 

1,243,356 ,331,586,442 

8,692 ^! 2,487,681 

16,518 3,307,038 


Dollars. 
2, 180, 413 
1, 258, 780 
35, 999, 862 
655,468 
210, 726 


Naphtha 

lUoBiinating 

Lubiicatins 


52, 750 

5, 090, 871 

478, 998 


4,623 
640, 553 
134, 903 








Total, J8-9... 


240, 107, 529 ] 26, 219, 170 


83, 876, 298 


8, 392, 193 


34, 915, 753 


3,441,434 


5, 622. 619 


780, 079 


13, 787, 811 


1,472,373 378,310,010 


40, 305, 249 






2, 730, 147 

2, 366, 622 

77, 083, 630 

34, 943 

395, 094 


160, 549 

148,464 

0, 234, 608 

6,980 

28, 161 






500 

385 

4, 611, 433 

600, 837 


65 

93 

507, 511 

137, 378 


1, 533, 090 

103, 815 

867, 985 

8,218 

69, 888 


114,393 ' 28,297,997 
11,074 18,411,044 

151, 985 367, 325, 823 
3, 665 5, 162, 835 
6,652 ; 4,767,000 


1, 927, 207 
1, 192, 229 
31, 783, 575 
1, 039, 124 
276, 490 


Naphtha 

IlluuiiiiatinK 

Lubricating 


15, 257, 520 

266,841,227 

4,151,597 

3, 885, 588 


996, 398 

23, 489, 496 

822, 388 

217, 677 


682, 702 

17, 921, 548 

367, 240 

416, 4B0 


36,200 

1,399,975 

68, 713 

24, 000 








Total, 1B80..- 


314,170,192 


27, 178, 159 1 


82, 610, 436 


6, 578, 762 


19,387,925 


1,528,888 


5, 213, 155 


645, 047 


2, 582, 996 


287,769 423,964,699 


86, 218, 625 



Tablk VI.— exports of PETROLEUM AND PETROLEUM PRODUCTS FROM ALL UNITED STATES PORTS TO ALL 

FOREIGN COUNTRIES, AND THE DECLARED VALUE THEREOF, COMPILED FROM RETURNS OF THE UNITED STATES 

BUREAU OF STATISTICS. 

[Prom the report of the Kew York Produce Exchange for 1880.] 




278 



PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 



Table VII.— QUANTITY OF PETROLEUM PKODUCED, AND THE QUANTITY AND VALUE OF PETROLEUM PRODUCTS 
EXPORTED FROM THE UNITED STATES DURING EACH FISCAL YEAR FROM 1864 TO 1880, INCLUSIVE. 

[From the report of the New Xork Produce Exchange for 1880.] 



p 


PRODUCTION.* 




EXFOKTS 


FEOM THE UMTED STATES. 




To 




fc 


Barrels 
produced 


Gallons 


Crude oil, including 
all natural oils. 


Mineral, refined or manufactured. 


Eesiduum (tar, 
pitch, and all other 


tal. 














^ 


Ions eacb. 


produced. 


witliout regard to 
gravity. 


Naphtha, benzine, 
gasoline, eto. 


Illuminating. 


Lubricating (heavy 
parafUne, etc.). 


light bodies have 
been distilled). 












6aUons. 


Dollars. 


Gallons. 


Dollars. 


Gallons. 


Dollars. 


Gallons. 


Dollars. 


Qallons. 


DoUars. 


Gallons. 


DoUars. 


]864 ... 


2, 478, 709 
2, 424, 905 
3, 105, 700 


104,105,778 
101,846,010 




3,864,187 
6,868,513 
6,015,921 
1,864,001 
1,564,933 
2,994,404 
2,237,292 
1,971,847 






12,791,518 
12,722,005 
34,255,921 
62,686,657 
67,909,961 
84,403,492 
97,902,505 
132,608,955 


6,764,411 
9,520,957 
18,626,141 
22,509,466 
19,977,870 
27,636,137 
29,864,193 
34,138,736 










23,210,369 
26,496,849 
50,987,341 
70,255,481 
79,456,888 
100,636,684 
113,735,294 
149,892,691 






480,947 

673,477 

224,576 

1,517,268 

2,673,094 












16,563,413 


1866.... 


16,057,943 
7,344,248 
10,029,659 
13,425,566 
10,403,314 
9,859,038 


188,825 










150,859,800 
151,775,778 
169,955,436 
185,262,672 
233,468,550 










24,407,642 
21, 810, 676 
31, 127, 433 
32, 603, 960 
36, 894, 810 




3, 613, 709 

4, 046, 558 


267,873 
445,770 
564,864 
746,797 














51, 122 
2,611 














1871.... 


5, 558, 775 


7,209,592 


t59,632 


22, 660 


tl56, 474 


14,770 


1872 ... 


5,842,497 


245,384,874 


13,559,768 


2,307,111 


8,092,635 


932,160 


122,539,675 


30,566,103 


541,419 


211, 287 


438,186 


41,724 


145,171,683 


34, 058, 390 


1873.-.. 


7, 242, 343 


304,178,406 


18,439,407 


3,010,050 


9,743,593 


1,487,439 


158,102,414 


37,195,735 


748,699 


277, 966 


781,074 


79, 566 


187,815,187 


42, 050, 756 


1874.... 


11, 188, 741 


469,927,122 


17,776,419 


2,099,690 


9,737,457 


1,038,622 


217,220,504 


37,566,995 


1,244,305 


404, 243 


1,827,793 


142, 299 


247,806,483 


41, 245, 855 


1875.... 


10, 083, 828 


423,520,776 


14,718,114 


1,406,018 


11,758,940 


1,141,440 


191,551,933 


27,030,361 


1,173,473 


313, 646 


2,752,848 


137, 103 


221,955,308 


30, 073, 668 


1876.... 


8, 823, 142 


370,571,964 


20,520,397 


2,220,268 


14,780,236 


1,442,811 


204,814,673 


28,755,638 


903,442 


303, 863 


2,581,404 


193, 206 


243,660,152 


32, 915, 736 


1877 ... 


10, 822, 871 


454,560,582 


26,819,202 


3,750,729 


15,140,183 


1,816,682 


262,441,844 


55,401,132 


1,001,065 


497, 640 


3,196,620 


317, 355 


309,198,914 


61,789,438 


1878... . 


14, 738, 262 


619,007,004 


26,936,727 


2,694,018 


16,416,621 


1,411,812 


289,214,541 


41,613,670 


2,304,624 


639, 381 


3,968,790 


316, 087 


338,841,303 


46, 574, 974 


1879.... 


16, 917, 606 


710,539,452 


25,874,488 


2,180,413 


15,054,361 


1,258,730 


331,586,442 


35,999,862 


2,487,681 


655, 468 


3,307,038 


210, 726 


373,310,010 


40, 305, 249 


1880.... 


22, 382, 509 


940,005,373 


28,297,997 


1,937,207 


18,411,044 


1,192,229 


367,325,823 


31,783,575 


5,162,835 


1, 039, 124 


4,767,000 


276, 490 


423,964,699 


36, 218, 625 



* As a given number of gallons of refined petroleum represents the product of a larger number of gallons of crude petroleum, it is necessary to reduce 
the exports of petroleum to their equivalent in crude oil in order to arrive at a knowledge of the percentage of the total product of mineral oil exported, 
t Estimated. 

Table VIII.— NEW YORK PETROLEUM MARKET. 

AVEEAGE PRICES PEE YEAE. 
[From reports of the New York Produce Exchange.] 



1373. 
1874. 

1875 . 

1876 . 
1877. 
1873. 
1379. 



CENSUS TEAE, 1379. 



June 

July 

August 

September . 

October 

November . . 
December . . 



January... 
Pebruary . 
March — 

April 

May 



7At to 3 
6J to m 
6ft to 7^ 
6}8 to 7} 
6/„ to 7J 



7.62 
5.92 
6. .52 
16.53 
9.09 
6.86 
3.62 
7.14 

3.60 
2.50 
2.33 
2.50 



6.97 
7.03 



5 to 7i 
5 to 6i 
4| to 6i 
4|to6J 
5g to 74 
6i to 8J 
7J to 3i 

7 to 8j 
6J to 7J 
64 to 7J 
6| to 7i 
ei to 73 



10.50 
9.12 
6.37 
7.10 
7.14 

6.44 
5.41 
6.42 
6.60 
6.65 
7.45 
7.92 

7.65 
7.29 
6.11 



65 to 7i 
65 to 7g 
65 to 7i 
61 to 7i 
7 to7J 
7J to 8| 
8i to 9 

7J to 8} 
78 to 8 
7J to 7i 
7i to 7J 
7i to 7i 



Cents. 
13.21 
13.09 
12.92 
19.19 
15.72 
10.77 
8.08 
9.12 

7.23 
6.97 
6.57 
6.79 
7.43 



7.94 
7.81 
7.75 
7.66 
7.56 



5 to 8 
4 to 6 
4 to 5 
4 to 5 
44 to 6 

6 to 63 
64 to 6i 

64 to 7 
6i to 7 
5i to 63 
54 to 63 
54 to 5* 



Average 
price. 



Cents. 

11.07 
9.04 
9.67 

11.30 
9.75 
7.13 
6.40 
7.62 

6.42 
5.14 
4.50 
4.62 
5.23 
6.27 
6.63 

6.71 
6.65 
6.06 



THE USES OF PETROLEUM AND ITS PRODUCTS. 



279 



Table IX.— IMPORTS OF EEFINED PETROLEUM AT FIVE PRINCIPAL PORTS OF THE UNITED KINGDOM. 
[From reports of the New York Produce Exchange.] 



1 .S74. 


1S75. 


1S7S. 


1S7I, 


187S, 


1879. 


18S0. 


1881. 




Barrels. 
247, 024 
l.i7, 700 
37, 175 
10,331 
19, 319 


Barrels. 
169, 394 
94,170 
36, 460 
6,902 
18, 175 


Barrels. 
227, 305 
145, 679 
52, 792 
24,657 
7,598 


Barrels. 
348, 412 
144, 000 
65,584 
26, 365 
8,911 


Barrels. 
261, 385 
136,059 
54,267 
25,420 
13, 103 


Barrels. 

492, 292 
203, 500 
93, 485 
30,884 
10, 789 


Barrels. 
369, 259 
163,800 
90, 622 
34, 057 


Barrels. 


























471, 549 


325, 101 


458, 031 


593, 272 


490, 234 


830, 950 


657, 738 









STOCKS AT SAME PORTS, JANUARY 1. 



London . . . 
Liverpool . 

Bristol 

HuU 

Exeter . . . . 



117, 345 
62, 400 



41, 193 

14, 500 
0,500 



40, 078 
22, 880 
11, 699 



94,326 
26, 700 
14, 000 
4,050 
921 



61,500 
21, 089 
3,000 



160, 000 
48, 000 
17,000 



Table X.— IMPORTS OF PETROLEUM AT THE UNDERMENTIONED EUROPEAN PORTS FOR SEVEN YEARS ENDED 

DECEMBER 31. 

[ From rtporta of the Xew York Produce Exchange.] 



H-amburg . - . 
Antwerp — 
Rotterdam.. 
Amsterdam . 
Bremen 



Stettin 

Dantzic 

Konigsburg 

St. Petersburg (o) 

Trieste (b) 

London ..- 



Total barrels . 



a Includes 4 cases to bai r 
b Includes Baku 



Barrels. 



617, 338 
1, 885, 260 
110, 198 
811, 121 
189, 476 
67, 019 
85, 937 ] 
105, 399 i 
113,523 
246, 323 



4, 231, 594 



Barrels. 
154, 581 
720, 637 
158, 214 
121,261 
1, 043. 137 
228, 547 
101,848 
121, U4 
68^8^5 
112, 822 
169, 834 



3, 000, 890 



Barrels. 
131, 822 
603, 251 
177, 988 
65, 507 
969, 971 
211, 875 
83, 793 
86, 207 
82, 914 
145, 627 
226, 432 



2, 785, 387 



60,023 
21, 714 



Barrels. 

324, 936 
840, 086 
229, 258 
05, 026 
1, 463, 264 
204, 214 
143, 620 
116, 455 
121, 451 
254,644 
333, 234 



4, 096, 188 



183, 160 

34, 517 



Barrels. 
293, 600 
834, 400 
219, 293 
132, 708 
1, 165, 746 
208, 767 
111,422 
79, 198 
108, 105 
199, 723 
275, 707 



3, 628, 669 



48, 963 
38, 311 



Barrels. 

408, 869 
649, 845 
189, 850 
150, 209 
1, 345, 772 
249, 469 
102, 474 
79,345 
101, 571 
304, 392 



56, 707 
55,694 



STOCKS OF PETROLEUM HELD AT THE SAME PLACE AND TIME. 



Hamburg 

Antwerp 

Rotterdam 

Amsterdam 

Bremen 

Stettin 

Dantzic 

Konigsburg 

St. Petersburg (o).. 

Trieste 

London 

Total barrels . 



124,643 
41, 203 
12, 344 

199, 580 
20,064 
10, 891 
10.602 
66, f 
24, 200 

117, 347 



17,640 
109, 477 
15, 801 
10, 395 
196, 365 
31,335 
17, 993 
21,341 
41, 398 
4,500 
43, 035 

509, 280 



9,072 
34,160 

3,124 

449 

42, 281 

24, 180 

7.118 

3,328 
29, 115 

6,350 
36, 616 

195, 793 



53, 726 
106, 627 
35,054 
10, 737 
255, 907 
11,598 
37, 483 
21, 699 
55, 787 
47, 005 
80, 481 

710, 104 



22, 195 
126, 894 
21,954 
32, 329 
225, 550 
16, 277 
25, 833 
16, 160 
69, 786 
12, 970 
59, 570 



27, 749 
109, 979 
11,924 
27, 874 
343, 738 
15, 305 
20,188 
14, 173 
60. 301 
37, 500 
156, 786 

825, 518 



a Includes Baku . 



280 



PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 



Table XI.— THE VARIOUS PRODUCTS OF CRUDE OIL, INCLUDING PETROLEUM, CRUDE OIL, REFUSE OIL, ASD GREASE 
AND ALL PRODUCTS OF NAPHTHA, EXPORTED FROM BAKU FROM 1832 TO 1879, IN POODS OF 36 POUNDS EACH. ' 

[From report Ifew York Produce Exchange, 1880.] 



1832 
1833 
1834 
1835 
1836 
1837 
1838 
1839 
1840 
1841 



261, 000 
300, 000 
346, 109 
352, 720 
352, 862 
344, 147 
340, 554 
358, 357 
337, 010 
326, 695 



1842. 
1843. 
1844., 
1845 . 



1849 
1850. 
1851., 



327, 578 
327, 167 
332, 854 
31,685 
288, 112 
255, 476 
327, 802 
328, 280 
'No report. . . 



1852., 
1853., 
1854., 
1853- , 
1856., 
1857., 
1858., 
1859.. 
I860.. 
1861.. 



No report. , 



1862 
1863 
1864 
1866 
1866 
1867 
1868 
1869, 
1870 
1871 



340, 000 

538, 966 

554, 291 

691, 820 

998, 905 

735, 734 

1, 085, 229 

1, 704, 465 

1, 375, 981 



1872 

1S73 

1874 

1875 

1876 

1877 

1S7S 

1879 

1880, to June 1 



1, 535, 990 
3, 400, 000 

5, 000, OOO 

3, 463, 382 

4, 853, 461 

6, 810, 971 
9, 931, 644 

12, 541, 646 
3, 586, 059 



EXPORTED FROM BAKU IN POODS OF 36 POUNDS. 





1875. 


1876. 


1877. 


1878. 


1879. 


1880toJnnel. 




323,861 

1, 990, 041 

1, 131, 726 

1,077 

4,586 

11, 102 


323, 561 

3, 325, 233 

1, 275, S21 

1,095 

13, 100 

5,151 


177, 983 
4, 694, 766 
2, 038, 899 


281, 423 

6, 254, 920 

3, 382, 859 

306 

9,300 

3,130 


436, 673 

6, 562, 140 

5, 528, 208 

409 

10, 491 












Oilandgreaso 


23, 603 


Asphalt 


723 
4,600 


Benzine, etc 











Table XIL— IMPORTS OF AMERICAN PETROLEUM (REFINED) INTO JAPAN. 



Tear ending Jnne 30—. 


Gallons. 


Dollars. 


Tears. 


Gallons. 


Dollars. 


Tears. 


Gallons. 


Dollars. 


1872* 


41, 470 
1, 000, 959 
1, 291, 180 


21, 150 
330, 598 
306, 723 


1875 


2,826,636 
3. 151, 639 
3,304,926 


573, 671 
520, 387 
599, 966 




5,524,604 
17, 721, 645 
17,923,499 


1, .11 5, 162 

2, 657, 509 
1,803,555 


1873 


1876 




1874 


1877 








Total 




52, 745, 088 


7, 807, 571 







* First importation. 



PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 281 



Chapter VIII.— THE BIBLIOGRAPHY OF BITUMEN AND ITS RELATED 

SUBJECTS. 



An examination of the literature of petroleum shows that the subject is properly treated as a portion of the 
general subject " Bitumen". It is impossible to separate it from asi)balt, maltha or mineral tar, rock oil, earth 
oil {German Urdol), naphtha, coal oil, and paraffine. These several subjects are also treated as pertaining to history, 
geology, chemistry, technology, commerce, and statistics, and often in such a manner as to render a separation 
impossible. In ascertaining what articles have appeared in different periodicals, the indices have i)eeu searched 
for "Asphaltum", "Bitumen", "Gas", "Hydrocarbons", "Maltha", "Mineral tar", "Naphtha", "Oils", "ParafBne", 
and "Petroleuni", with their equivalents in other languages. 

Two attempts have previous'y been made to prepare lists of books and of periodical articles relating to this 
subject. Professor Paul Schweitzer, of the University of .Missouri, published his list, in 1879, in connection with his 
pamphlet on petroleum. Another was prepared in the East Indies, in 1875, by Mr. Benjamin S. Lyman, but was 
not published. This latter list of titles has beeu placed in my hands, and has been incorporated with my own 
work, the 175 titles being distinguished by printing the authors' names preceiled by au asterisk. Professor 
Schweitzer's list was not prepared in such a manner as to admit of such incorporation, but for the most part his 
titles will be found in tbe pieseut list. 

In submitting this list of titles to my fellow- workers in this field, it is not claimed that it is either complete or 
free from error. Mr. Lyman's titles were transferred, aud many of the others are quoted without being verified ; 
but, so fur as has been possible in the time at my coramaud, the work has been proved correct. Onlj- titles to 
articles of exceptional value have beeu inserted when the authors are uukuowu. This, of course, excludes a large 
number of editorial notices, both good aud bad, that are found in reputable scientific journals, as well as in newspapers. 
I have endeavored, however, to include what is of material value. 

So far as I have been able to do it, I have inserted the title to a work in the .language in which it was originally 
written, and I have also endeavored to insert the reference to the work in which the article first appeared, as the 
first in the list of references. I am aware, however, that in a few instances I have not met the original articles, and 
that the titles appear translated into other languages. The material was all collected in the course of the preparation 
of the report, and only required the labor of arrangement to put it in this form. 



282 



PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 



ABBRE^I-A^TIO^SrS. 



A. C. et P. 
A. C. a. P. 
A. derP. 
A. J. Ph. 
A. J. S. 
Am.C. 
Am. J. G. L. 
An. G. C. 
An. M. 
A. of P. 

A. S. D. 

B. D. C. G. 
B. I. n. GbL 

B. N. A. "W*. M. 
B. S. C. P. 
B. S. d'E. 
B. S. G. F. 
B. a. H. J. 

B. u. K. Z. 
Bull A. I. St. P. 

C. CbL 

C. Ind. Z. 
C. N. 

. Nat. 
C. R. 

C. Z. 

D. lU. G. Z. 

D. iHd Z. 
Dingier. 

E. M. W. S. 
Eng. 

F. Gztg. 

G. Ind. 
H. Gbl. 
Hlibner's Z. 

Ind. B. 
Int. 01>8. 
J. A. S. B. 
J. C. S. 
J. F. I. 
J", f. P. C. 
J. G. B. 
J. K. K. G. R. 
J. S. A. 
L'A. S. et I. 
Le Tech. 



Annates de Chimie etde Physique. 

Annalen der Whemie und Pbarmacie. 

ArchiT der Pharmacie. 

American Journal of Pharmacy. 

American Journal of Science and Arts (SUliman's Journal). 

American Chemist. 

American Journal of Gaslighting. 

Annales du G6nie Civil. 

Annales dea Mines.. 

Annals of Philosophy. 

Annual of Scientific Discovery, 

Berichte der Deutschen Chemischen Gesellschaft zu Berlin. 

Bayerisches Industrie- u. Gewerheblatt. 

Bulletin of the National Association of Wool Manufacturers. 

Bulletin de la Soci6t6 Chimique de Paris. 

Bulletin de la Soci6t6 d 'Encouragement. 

Bulletin de la Soci6t6 G6ologique de France. 

Leobener Berg- und Htitten-Jahrbnch. 

Berg- und Hiitten- Zeitung. 

Bulletin de I'Acad^mie Imp6riale des Sciences de Saint-Peters 

bourg. 
(/hemisches Centralblatt. 
Chemiache Industrie-Zeitung. 
London Chemical News. 
Canadian Naturalist. 

Comptes-Eendus dcs Sfiances de I'Acad^mie Fran9ai8e. 
Cbemische Zeitung. 
Deutsche lUustr. Gewerbe-Zeitung. 
Deutsche Industrie-Zeitung. 
Dinglcr'a Polytechnisches Journal. 
English Mechanic and "World of Science. 
Engineering. 
Fiirther Gewerbe zeitung. 
Genie Industriel. 
Hessisches Gewerheblatt. 
Hiibner's Zeitschrift fUr die ParaflBn-, Mineralol-, und Braun- 

kohlen • In dustri e. 
Indus trie -Blatter. 
IntoUectual Observer. 
Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. 
Journal Chemical Society of London. 
Journal of the Franklin Institute- 
Journal fiir Praktiache Chemie (Erdmann's Journal). 
Journal fiir Gasbeleuchtung. 
J ahrbuch der K. K. Gfeologischen Keichaanstalt. 
Journal of the Society of Arts. 
L'Ann6e Scientifique et Industrielle. 
Le Technologiste. 



L. J. G. L. London Journal of Gas Lighting. 

L. u. B. J. Leonhardt und Bronn Jahrbuch. 

Mem. A. A. Memoirs American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Boston. 

M. P. L. S. Proceedings of the Manchester Philosophical and Literary 
Society. 

M. Sci. Moniteur Scientifique. 

B". E. P. J. New Edinbuigh Philosophical JoumaL 

N. J. Ph. Neues Jahrbuch fiir Pharmacie. 

N. Z. R. I. Neue Zeitschrift fiir Riibenzucker Industrie. 

Oest. Z. f. B. u. H.Oesterreich. Zeitschiift fiir Berg- und Hiittenwesen. 

P. A. A. A. S. Proceedings of the American Association for the Advancement 
of Science. 

P. A. Ph. A. Proceedings of the American Pharmaceutical Association. 

P. A. P. S. Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, Philadel- 
phia. 

P. B. A. A. S. Proceedings of the British Association for the Advancement oi 
Science. 

P. C. A. S. Proceedings of the California Academy of Science. 

P. G. S. Proceedings of the Geological Society, London. 

Pharm, CbL Pharmaceutisches Centralblatt. 

Ph. J. Pharmaceutical Journal, London. 

P. L C. E. Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers, London. 

P. J. Philosophical Journal. 

P. M. PhUosophical Magazine. 

Pog. An. Poggendorf 's Annalen der Physik. 

Poly. CbL Polytechnisches Centralblatt. 

Poly. Nbl. Polytechnisches Notizblatt. 

P. R. I. Proceedings of the Royal InstitutioiL 

P. R. S. Proceedings of the Royal Society. 

P. S. M. Popular Science Monthly. 

P. T. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society. 

Q. J. G. S. Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London. 

R. C. A. Repertoire de Chimie Appliqu6e. 

K. L Revue Industrielle. 

R. XJ. M. Revue Universelle des Mines. 

Sci. Am. Scientific American. 

S. M. tfe Set P. San Francisco Mining and Scientific Press. 

S. P. Z. Schweiz. Poly tech nische Zeitschrift. 

T. A. I. M. E. Transactions of the American Institute of Mining Engineers. 

T. A. Ph. A. Transactions of the American Pharmaceutical Association. 

T. G. S. Transactions of the Geological Society, London. 

T. P. S. E. Transactions of the Pharmaceutical Society (English). 

Trans. Am. P. S. Transactions of the American Philosophical Society. 

Trans. R. S. Tiansactions of the Royal Society. 

W, B. "Wagner's Berichte. 

Z. A. C. Zeitschrift fiir Analytische Chemie. 

Z. A. O. A. Zeitschrift des Allgemeinen Oesterreich. Apotheker-Vereina. 

Z. C. Zeitschrift fiir Chemie. 



The few abbreviations of the titles to other journals are extended so as to need no reference. 



BIBLIOGEAPHY OF PETEOLEUM. 



B.C. 
Circa 450 



Circa 350 
Circa 



Circa i 
A. D. 



Circa 
Circa 



66 



Circa 
Circa 
Circa 
Circa 
Circa 
Circa 1300 

Circa 1325 
Circa 1360 



*Ct6siaa — 
*HerodotuB . 
*Ai'istotle .. 



*DiodoruB Siculus , 

*Strabo 

Vitmvius 



*Seneca .,. 
*Pliny .... 
'Plutarch. 



*Tacitus 

*Josephus 

*Aelian 

*Dion Cassius . 
*Philo8tratu8 . . 
*Polo, Marco . . 



*Abulfeda ... 
*Mandoville. 



Gas in Karamania 

lib. iv, 195 

Albanian bitumen ; in De mirabihbus auscnltationi- 
bus, chap, cxxvii (Ed. de F. Didot, 1857). 

Dead Sea bitumen ; t. i, I. ii, cap. xxix. Hist. Univers. , 
t. vi, 1. xix, cap. xxv. 

vi,763; xvi, c. 2 ; c. 12; French translation, 1, xiv, p. 
665, Casab. 

lib. vii, cap. 3 



N.H., lib.ii,§106; vii, 13; lib. xxx 
Albanian bitumen ; Life of Sylla . 



Albanian bitumen ; Variae historise, lib. xii 
Albanian bitumen ; Roman. Histor., 1. xli. 



Book I, ch. iii 

Dead aea (asphalt) . 



Fragment (ed. Bachr.), cap.x, p. 250. 
Translated into French in B. S. G. F., xxv, 62. 
Translated into French in B, S. G. F., xxv, 25. 

Translated into French in B. S. G. F., xxiv, 14. 

Translated into French in B. S. G. F., xxiv, 13. Geogra- 

phie, 1812, iii, 8. B. S. G. F., xsv, 20. 
Translated into Fienoh in B. S. G. F., xxv, 50. 

Epist. 79, § 3. Ed. Ruhkopf. 
Quoted in B. S. G. F., xxv, 21. 

Quoted in B. S. G. F., xxv. 22. Sir Thomas North's trans- 
lation, ed.l631, p. 702. 

Hist., V, 6. 

H.J., iv, 8,4. 

Quoted in B. S. G. F., xxv, 21. 

Quoted in A S. G. F., xxv, 22. 

Appollonius of Tyana, I, 17. 

("Vol. i, p. 46, of Col. Yule's edition, 1871.^ See also note . 
in Marsden's edition. 

t. ii, 1" partie, p, 48. (Trad, de Rainand et de Slane). 



PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY OF PETROLEUM— Continued. 



283 



^Herbert, T 

*Fryer, J., M.D. 



♦Herbelot, D 

*Ka^mpfer 

Eirinis d'Erynya . 



*Haiiway, Jonas ... 
*BiaDConi{G.L,?) 
Hughes, Griffith.... 



Subject. 



Letter of Joseph de la Roche D'AlUon, on petroleum 
aprings of Pennsylvania, dated 16*29. 

Baku oil 

Asphalt 



Fountains of Hit 

Baku 

Dissertation aur I'aspbalte ou ciment naturel, d6cou- 
vert depuis quelquea ann6ea au Yal de Travers, etc. 

Baku oil 

Mud Volcanoes 

Natural history of Barbadoes 

Trinidad bitumen 



*Ilochon, A. M-. 
Symes, Michael. 



Eao, Dionysin: 
*Lutzen, M. J" . 
•Turner, S 



Aikiu, Arthur . 



Travels in North America, with map locating springs. 



Baku oil 

Notice of oil spring 



Embassy to the court of Ava. 

Oil in Burmah 

Eock oil of Shausi, China. 
Dead Sea asphalt. 
Chittagong oil gas 



Bright, Richard ... 
Nugent, Nicholas. 

*Morier 

Kinnier, J. M 

Clinton, De Witt . 



Observations on the "Wrekin. and on the great coal- 
field of Shropshire. 

On the strata in the neighborhood of Bristol 

Account of the Pitch lake of the island of Trinidad . 

Baku Oil 

Baku oil, etc — • 

Seneca oil 



1817 Saussure, Theo.de.. 

I 
1817 ; Saussure, Theo. de.. 



*Beaufort 

Buchner 

Holland, Dr 

*Pouqueville, F. 



Saussure. Theo. de 

Thomson, Dr 

Edited from travels of Foster, Han- 
way, Reiberstein, Cook, Kinnier, 
and Hiram Cox, and from a paj er 
by J. J. Tirey. 

*Burckhardt 

Note by editor 

Knox, George 



1824 *Keppel, G 

1824 Vauqueliu, M 

1826 *Crawfurd, John 

1828 ; Bouaeingault, J. B .. 
1828 I Henry, M.,jr 



1829 i 

1830 I Faraday, M 

1830 I Johnston, J. F.W ... 

1830 Mijrcbison, R. J 

1830 I Reichenbach, Dr. E. ■ 

1832 I Dumas, J 



Recherches aur la composition et les propri6t6s du 
napbte d'Amiauo, dans les 6tats de Parme. 
' Proc6d6 pour d^pouiller le p6trole de Travers et qnel- 
! ques autres builes minerales de li "^ 

' odeur. 

Gas in Karamania 

Paraffin 

Albanian bitumen 

Albanian bitumen: Yovag 
271. 

Paraffine 

Properties of native naphtha 

Naphtha springs of Baku and Pegu . 



1 Gr^ce, 1820-'22, t. : 



Dead Sea asphalt 

Oil, Barbadoes tar and munjack 

Bitumen and other volatile ingredients in stones 



Baku oil 

Note sur le bitume contenu dans les mines de soufre 

Journal of an embassy to the court of Ava 

Constitution of bitumens 

Comparative analysis of the elastic bitumen of Eng- 
land and France. 

Petroleum in Kentucky 

Specific inductive capacity of naphtha 

Composition of elastic bitumen 

The bitUHiinous 5chi.sts and fossil fish of Seefeld 



I Beitriige zur nribpren Kenntuiss der trockenen Destil- 
i lation organischer Koiper. 



1832 j Gay-Lussac, J 

1833 1 Alexander, J. E 

1833 Back, Capt, E. N 

1833 Hildreth, Dr. S. P., Marietta, Ohii 
1833 1 Laurent, Augusce 



Analyse do la parafline 

Notice regarding the Asphaltum 
Trinidad, 

I Account of the route to be pmsued by the Arctic 
; laud expedition in seaicb of Capt. Ross. 
Observations on the saliferous rock formation of the 
Ohio. 
I Sur les schistes bitumiueux et aur la paraffine 



Histoire du Canada. 

" Some Tears' Travels," 1638. 

New account of East India and Persia, nini 

travels, 1072-1681, p. 318, 
Bibliothirque Orientale, sub voce: Hi*, 1697. 
Amcenitates Exolic^e. 1712, p. 274, etc. 
Paris. 1721. 

1734. 

Stona naturale dei terreni ardenti, 1740 (?), p. 24. 

London, 1750, p. 50. 

ginally in 



Originally published In Swedish, but has been translated 

into English. 
Abhandlungen einer Privatgesellsohaft in Bohmen, t, 

333. 
1784, p. 262, note; Second Journey, p. 24. 
Mass. Magazine, i, 416; Am. C, iii, 174. 
East Indies, 1791. 

London, Bulwer & Co., p. 261 et seq. 
Asiatic Researches, vi. 



T.G.S. (1), i, 195. 

T.G.S. (1), ii, 199. 

T.G. S. (1), i, 63. 

Jouniey through Persia, Armenia, etc., 1812. 

Geographical Memoir of the Persian Empire, 4^, 1813. 

An introductory discourse delivered before the Literary 
and Philosophical Society of New York on the 4th of 
May, 1814, by De Witt Clinton, LL. D., New York, 
1815. 

A.C.etP. (2), 



?■, 314-320; London Journal of Science, iii, 



Survey of the coast of Karamania, 1820, p. 24. 
Repertor. fur Pharmacie, 1820, p. 290. 
Travels in Albania and Greece. 
Quoted in B. S. G. F., xxv, 22. 

Biblioth6qu6 Hniverselle, iv, 116. 

Journal of Science, ix, 408. 

P. J., v, 22, 26; Jour, de Pharmacie, vi, 209. 



Travels in Syria and Palestine, 1822. 

A.J.S. (1), V, 406. 

P. T., 1823; A.J.S. (1), xii, 147; P. J., ix, 403; A. C. et 

P. (2), xxv, 178, 180. 
Journey from India to England, 1824. 
A.C.etP. (2), xxv, 50; P. J., xi, 411. 
London, 2 vols., 8=», 1834, i, 93 ; li, 23, 178, 206, 238. 
P.J. (2), ix, 487. 
A.J.S.(l),siv, 371. 

Nile's Register (3), xii, 117; xili, 4; Dingier, Ixii, 159 

P.J. t2),xiii,423. 

P.J. (2),xiii,22. 

Phil. Mag. (n. s.), v, 19 ; L. u. B. J., 1830, p. 125. 

Schweipger-Seidel, lix, 436; Ixi, 273; Ixu, 129; A. C. et 

P. (2) L, 69; N. E. P.J. (2) iv, 402; Jour. fiir. okonom. 

Chem.,viii,445. 
A.C.etP. (2), L, 182. 



A. C. et P. {2), L, 78 ; P. J. (2), ii, 173. 
Pitch lake of I J.F.L,xv,337; N.E.P.M. 



Jour. Roy. Geograph. Soc, iii, 65. 
A.J. S. (1), xxiv,63. 
A.C.etP. (2), liv, 392. 



284 



PEODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 



BIBLIOGEAPHY OF PETROLEUM— Continued. 



Subject. 



Silliman, BeBJamin 

*D'AoTist Yirlet 

Eicliwald 

Keichenbach, Dr. K. v 

Hess, H 

*LetroDne 

Kozet, M 

^Gregory, William 

^Callier, Capt 

*Caiieto, L'abbd 

*Davi3, J. F 

Hildreth, Dr. S. P., Marietta, Ohio... 

Priestwicb, J.,jr ■ 

Eeichenbach, Dr. K. v 

^Strickland, H. E 

BoTissingault, J. B 

Laurent, Auguste 

*Moore & Beck 

*Scliubert 

Taylor, Kichard C, and Thos. G 
Clem son. 

Beaumont, !filie de 

Bottger 

Hamilton, W.J 

Jackson, C. T 

Paravey, M. de 

Bertbier, P 

Carpenter, "William M 

Carpenter, William M 

Fournel, M 

Glocker, E. F 

Guibert, M , 

Herman 

MiUet, M 

Selligue, M 

*Bou6 

Boussingault, J. B 

Bulletin, New Orleans , 

*Pottinger 

Preisser. F 

Kitter, Carl 

SeUigue, M , 

Ure, Andrew 

Cbameroy, M , 

Degousie, M , 

Hitchcock, E 

Pelletier et Walter 

*Kobinson, E 

*Robin80D, W 

* Sainte-Claire Deville, Charles 

*Symond8, Lieut 

*Ainswortb , 

Binney, E. W 

*Conelly, Lieut 

*Ermann, G. A 



Notice of a fountain of petroleum, called the Oil 
Spring. 

Nouvelle note relative k rorigine des bitumes 

Zante bitumen 

Paraffin 

Ueber das Petroleum oder die Steinole 

TTeber einige Producte der trockenen Deslillation: 

I. Steinol. 

Dead Sea (asphalt?) 

Sur I'asphalte de Pyrimont 

On the composition of Rangoon petroleum 

Dead Sea (asphall ?) 

Dead Sea (asphalt?) 

Mud volcanoes and gas in China 

Observations on the bituminous coal deposits of the 

valley of the Ohio. 

On the geology of Coalbrookdale 

Ueber Eupion und Bprg-Napbta in Bezug auf die An- 

sichten des Henn H. Hess. 

On the geology of the island of Zante 

M6moire sur la composition des bitumes 

Sur I'huile des schistes bituraineux: Teupion, I'acide 

amp61ique et I'amp^line. 

Dead Sea (asphalt?) 

Dead Sea (asphalt ?) 

Notice of a vein of bituminous coal in the vicinity of 

Havana, in the island of Cuba. 
Sources bitumineuses. Instmctions pour nne explora- 
tion scieiitifique de I'AIg^rie. 
M6thode simple pour d6colorer compl6tement sans 

distillation Tbuile de p6trole du commerce. 

Geology of part of Asia Minor 

Bituminization of peat t 

Sur les bitumes employes anciennement dans la Perse 

et les pays voisins. 

Perpetual fire of Baku 

Aspbaltic mine at Pyrimont (Seyssel) 

Analyse du calcaire bitnmineux dn Yal de Travers 

(Prinoipaut6 de Neuchatel). 
Miscellaneous notices in Opelousas and Attakapas . . . 
Account of the bituminization of wood in the human 

Sur I'eniploi de I'huile de p6trole pour le traitement 

de la gale, dans le temps ancien. 

Paraffin 

Asphalte : sur quelques emplois de cette substance. . . 

Die Industrie- Ausstellunag zu Paris im Jahre 1839 

Note sur le gisement du bitume de I'Ain, de la Suisse 

et de la Savoie. 
Huile provenant de schistes bitumineus employee 

avec succ^s contre la gale. 

Cbittagong oil gas 

Albanian bitumen 

Analyse de qnelques substances bitumineuses 

Petroleum oil well 

Petroleum of Kerman. 

Sur la dilatation des huiles 

Asphalt, Bitumen, Erdol, Erdharz, Napbta und 

Napbta-Quellen, Petroleum. 

'On a new process for making gas for illumination 
from bituminous schists. 

Report on aspbaltic rocks of Val de Xravers, etc 

Tubes bitum6s pour la conduite des eaus et du gas 
d'eclairage. 

P6trole sortant avec I'eau d'un puits art6sien 

Dead Sea asphalt 

Recherches chimiques sur les bitumes 

Dead Sea asphalt 

Petroleum in Assam : 

Trinidad bitumen 

Dead Sea (asphalt?). 

Kurdistan bitumen 

Notes on the Lancashire and Cheshire drift 

Analysis of rock oil 

Mud volcanoes 



B.S.G.F. (l),iv,372. 

Ibid., p. 203. 

Peripter des Caspischen Meercs, p. 360. 

SchweiggerSeidersJahrbuch,ix, 133; N. E.P. J.,xvi, 37ft 

A. J. Ph. (3), ii, 133. 
Pog. An., xxxvi, 417, 418, 420, 426, 434. 

Journal des Savants, Oct., 1835, p. 596. 

B. S. G.F. (l),vii, 138. 

Journal of the Asiatic Soc. of Bengal, iv, 527. 

Journal des Savants, Janv., 1836. 

Archives de Pbiloaophie Chr6tienne, xii, 422. 

The Chinese, 1836, chap. 5. 

A.J.S. (l),ssis,87,12L 

T. G. S. (2), V, 438. 
P<ig. An., xxxvii, 534. 



T. G. S. (2), V, part 2, p. 403. 
A.C.etP.(2),lsiv,141; J.F.L,x: 
A. C. et P. (2), Ixiv, 321 ; C R.. 

1837. 
1837. 
P. M., X, 161. 



, 138 ; N. E. P.J , xxii,77. 



C.R.,^ 



,, 150. 



Jour, de Pharmacie, xxiv, 367 ; 
len der Pharmacie, ssv, 100. 
T. G. S. (l),v,588. 
A.J.S. (1), xxxiv, 73,395. 
C.R.,vii, 19. 

Penny Magazine, vii, 44. 

J. F. L, ssvi, 276. 

An. M., XV, 564; J. F. L, xxvi 

A. J. S. (1), XXXV, 344. 
A. J. S. (1), xxxvi, 118. 



C. K., 



X, 217. 



Grundriss der Mineralogie, p. I 
C. R., ix, 54. 
Niirnberg, 1840. 
B.S.G.F.(l), xi, 352. 



C. R., 



, 140. 



J. A. S. B., xii, 1055. 
Turquie d'Enrope, i, 279. 
A.C.etP. {2),lxxiii, 442. 
A.J. S. (1), xxsis, 195. 

Jour, de Pharmacie ; J. F. I., xxix, 138. 

Die Erdkunde von Asien, vii, 223. 745; viii, 537, 547. 54&, 
820; ix, 147, 177, 199, 200, 519, 529, 545, 555; s, 142, 22-2, 30», 
926, 1025, 1076; si, 20O, 235, 495, 669, 670, 692, 697, 705, 737, 
757, 926. 

Civ. Eng. &- Arch ; J. F. I., xxix, 335. 

J.F.L.xxviii, 409. 
C.R.,xiii,1165. 

C.R.,xii,437. 

Rep. of Am. Association of Geologists and Naturalists,. 

Boston, 1841-'42; p. 348. 
C.R.,xi,141. 

Biblical Researches, 1841. 
A Descrii^tive Account of Assam, 1841, p. 33. 
L'Institut, 26 Juin, 1841. 

Travels, 1842. Histoire des progi-^s de la Geologic, 186G, 

iii, 188. 
M. P. L. S., 1842. 

Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, viii. 1842 (?). 
Archivfiirwiesenscbaftliche Kunde von Russland, 1842 



PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 

BIBLIOGEAPHY OF PETROLEUM— Continued. 



285 



Subject. 



Halleck, H. W . - - 



Lewy, M 

Percival, J. G... 



*Vigiie, G. T 

*Vigne, G. T. (vritli assay by E. Solly, 

jr.). 
Vigne, G. T 



Use of bituminous cement 

States. 
Note sui' la composit; 
On " Indurated Bitun 

Connecticut valley 
Jewala Muki gas 



I Europe and the United 

de la parafline 

" incavitiesof thetrapof the 



Rock oil near Derabuud . 



Asphaltum nearlskardo . 



*ADgelot ... 
Beck, L. C . 



* Jameson, "W ... 
*Klaprotb, H.J. 



Bay 

Mitscherlicli 

Gerhardt, M 

*Hanway, P. S 

"Humboldt, A. v 

Yoisin, M., directeurdu s6minairedes 
missions etrangSrea, en adresse un 
^chantiUon envoy6 de la Chine par 
M. Bertrand. 

Beitrand, M — 

Pratt, S.P... 

*Russegger 



Hausmann 

*Scbomburgk, R. H- 

*Daubeny, C 

*rieming, A 

Hellmann 

*Kinnier 

Abich, H 



Bead Sea asphalt 

On the OL-cun-ence of bituminous or organic matter in 

several of the New York limestones and sandstones. 

Geology of the salt range (Punjab) 

Fire wells in China and bamboo gas tubes at Khiung- 

tschen. 

Petroleum spiings 

Paraffin 

Sur le point d'6bullition des bydrog^nes carbon6s . . . 

Assam petroleum beds 

Bampf- nnd Gasquellen, Salsen, Schlamm-Vulcane, 

Xaphta-Feuer. 



Rapport sur des ^chantillons d'eau sal^e et dobitume 

envoy68 de la Cbine. 



Bead Sea (asphalt?) . 



*Gaillardot 

*Robertson, A. C- 
Saint-Evre, M . . . 



Handbuch der Mineralogie 

Petroleum or asphalt , 

Mud volcanoi'S or salses 

Punjab oil springs 

Ueber die Anwendung des Asphalts 

Baku oil 

Huben-Bestimnmngen in Dagestan nnd in einigen 
traus-caucasischeu Provinzen. Naphta-Quellen. 

Bead Sea asphalt , 

Mud volcanoes of Beloochistan 

Sur divers bydro-carbones provenant de I'huile de 
schiste. 

Vorkommen von Aspbaltstein in Bahuatien 



A. C. et P. (3), V, 343 ; P. M. (3), xxii, 235. 

Report on geology of Connecticut. A. J. S. (3), xvi, 130. 

Travels in Kashmir and Little Thibet. Loudon, 1842, 
i, 133. 

Kabul, 1842, p. 61. 



E. S.G.F. (1), xiv,356. 
A. J. S. (1), slv,335. 

J.A.S.B., 1843. 

Humboldt's Asia Centrale, 1843, ii, 519-530. 

History of Pennsylvania. 

Lehrbuch der Chemie, Berlin, i, 435. 

A.C.etP. (3), xiv, 107. 

J. A. S. B„ xiv, 817-820. 

Kosmos, i, 232-234 ; iv, 253. Otte's translation, Bohn's 
edition, i, 221. 

C.R.,xxi.l07L 



C.R.,xxii,667. 

Q. J. G. S., ii, 80. 

Reisen in Europa, Asien, nnd Afrika. 1846-"40, iii, 2d 

part, p. 196; ii, 3d part, p. 253. 
Gottingen, 1847. 

History of Barbadoes, 1847, pp. 553,559. 
Volcanoes, 1848, pp. 539-541. 
J. A. S. B., xvii, part 2d, p. 517. 
Bingler, cis, 398. 
Persia, etc., 1848. 
Pog. An.,lxxvi, 154. 



Annale8delaSoci6t6d':fimulatii 
J.A. S. B.. 1849, xviii. 
C.R., xxis, 339. 



1 des Vosg 



, 1849, 



Belabaye, N. B L'histoire des schistes bitumioeux 

Jackson, C. T j On the asphaltic coal of NewBrunswit 

I 
*Lynch, Lieut Bead Sea asphalt 



Nasmyth 

De Coulaine . 



Richardson, Sir J. 



*Ander&on, Dr 

Huguenet, Isadore 



Test for oils for lubricating 

On the asphaltic macadamized roads lately laid down 
in Paris. 

Reports on the Albert coal mine 



1 of the Athabasca river . 



Dead Sea (asphalt ?) . 



* Lynch, Lieut 

Taylor, Richard C . 
Blake, William P.. 



♦Fleming. A 

Hauer und Foetterle. 



*^Huc, L'abb6 . 



* Ure, A . . . 
Volckel, C . 



Asphaltes et naphtes ; considerations g6n^rales sur 
I'origine et la formation des bitumesfossiles, de leur 
emploi, etc. 

Dead Sea asphalt 



1 of asphaltum at Hillsborough, Albert co.. 



Eug 

Punjab oil springs 

Geologische Uebersicht des Bergbaus des oster 

reichischen Kaiserstaats. (Dalmatian asphalt.) 

Chinese rock-oil 

Asphalt 

Bitumen, nai)htha, and petroleimi 

Ueber den Asphalt aus dem Kanton Neuenburg 

Petroleum iu Persia 

Petroleum and gas 

Petroleum and gaa in New York 

Bitumen 

Bitumen, naphtha,, petroleum, and asphaltum 

Burmese oil 

Cuban oil 

Derbyshire oil and bitumen 



J.K.K. G. K.. i,749. 

Revue Sci. et Indnstrielle, xxxviii, 49. 

Proc. Boston Soc. Nat. Hist., 1850, p. 279 ; A. J. S. (-2), 



J. F. L, L, 403. 

Aunales des Ponts et Chaussfies, 18r.O ; J. F. I., Iii, 210. 

New York, 1851 ; A. J. S. (2), xiii, 276. 

Narrative of an expedition in search of Sir John Frauk- 
lin. 

In Lieut. Lyui 

river Jordan 

Paris, 1852, 8°. 



P. A. P. S., V, 241. 



Government report, p. 68 j A. J. S. (2 
A. J. Ph. (8), iii, 377. 



J. A. S. B., 1853, xxii, 265, 347 
J. K. K. G. R., iii. 157, 222. 



L'EmpireChinois,1853. 4'^=6d..: 
ibid., chap. xi. 

Dictionary of Arts, etc., i, 173; i 

A. C. u. P.,lxxxvii, 139.' 



. Chap.vii, p. 315-324 



Vol. 
Vol. 
Vol. 
Vol. 
Vol. 
Vol. 
Vol 
Vol. i, 755. 



', 779. 
, 566. 



286 



PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY OF PETROLEUM— Continued. 



Kobell, Ton 

Parrao, M 

Eeichenbacli, Dr. K. 

*Tlieo'bald. W., jr... 
Brown, W 



Hartness, E.. 



QueQstedt 

Silliman, B.,jr . 



Taylor, K.C. 



Wagenmann, P 

"Wagenmann.P 

William.s, Greville . 
Young, James 



*Tule,Col 

Bericlit erstattet <lem Gewerbeverein 
zu Magdeburg von ?eiuer teclini- 
scben Commission. 



Foetterle.Fr 

Fncbs, J. jS". V 

Anderson, Tbomas. 



De la Hue, "W., and Hugo Miller., 
Engelbach, Theo 



Subject. 



Pilliptizzi, Fr ... 
Wagenmann, P . 



White, M 

Barlow, John , 



Bolley.P., 



Biviere, A 

*Kogers, H.D 

Vohl, H.^ 

Antisell, Thomas ..: 

Cooke, M.C 

De la Rue, "Warren . . 

*Dufr6noy, A 

Foetterle,Fr 

MiiUer, C.G- 



Newberry, J. S- 
Perutz. H 



Tripler,A.B 

Bufsenius und Eisenstuck . 



Carney, Charles T... 
*Colomal Geologists . 
*Daubr6e, A 



*DeBerton. 
Editorial..-. 
Editorial..., 



*Grove 

Newberry, J. S- 
*Owen, D. D . . . 



TTeber das Paraffin 

Notice sur le gisement cl'asphalte a 
TTeber das Paraffin 



s: environs d'Alais. 



PuDJab oil springs . 
On pr.raffine 



On the anthracitic schists and the fucoidal remains 
occuning in the Lower Silurian rocks of south 
Scotland. 

Petroleum in Burmab 



Handbucli derMineralogie 

Report on the rock oil or petroleum from Venango 
county, Pennsylvania, with special reference to its 
use for illumination, and other purposes. 

Statistics of coal 

Ueber das Paraffin 



Proc6d6 pour la fabrication des hydro-carbures et de la 



Improvements in treating certain bituminous sub- 
stances and in obtaining products therefrom. 
Petroleum wells of Burmah 



Ueber dasPhotogen oder Mineral-Gel, so wiedie ahn- 
licbenLeuchtstofie, inBezugauf ihre Eeuer-Gefahr- 
lichkeifc und ihier Anwendung: ein tecbuisches 
Gutachten. 

Asphaltproduktion von Seefeld 

Paraffin 

On the composition of paraffine from different 



Chemical examination of Burmese naphtha or Ban- 
goon tar. 

Ueber die Destination sprodukte fossiler und anderer 
Substanzen als Beleuchtungsmittel, und Untersuch- 
nng der Dest illation sprodukte des bituminosen 
Sandes von Heide in Holstein. 

Ueber das Paraffin 



Ueber die Destillationsprodukte verschiedener Boh- 
raaterialien zur Gewinnung von Photogen und 
Paraffin. 

Distillation du p6trole -... 

On mineral candles and other products manufactured 
at Belmont and Sherwood. 



Note sur I'origine des combustibles min6rans 

Petroleum 

Ostindisches Erdol, ParafSn, und Photogen 

The manufacture of photogenic hydrocarbon oils — 

Naphtha 

Distillation des naphtes et des goudrons 

Bitumes 

Ueber die galizische Petroleum -Industrie 

Eine kritischo Zusammenstellung der Methoden der 

Beinigung des Eobparaffins. 

Bock oils of Ohio 

Moyen pour utiliser les alcalis et les acides employes 

i r^puration des huiles mimSrales. 

Mode de traitement de Tasphalte de Cuba 

Ueber einige Derivate des Petrols, eines im Steinol 

vorkommenden Kohlenwasserstoffs. 

Paraffine ; its substitution for was in cerates 

St. Domingo petroleum and Trinidad, asphalt 

ifitudes et experiences sur le m6tamorphisme et sur 

la formation des roches crystallines. 

Lac Asphaltique 

Coal-oil manufacture in America 

Purification of paraffine or solid portable illuminating 
gas. 



Dead Sea ("salt sea'' asphalt?}. 

The oil wells of Mecca 

Coal and rock oils 



J. f. P. C, viii, 305. 
An. M. (5), iv, 334. 
J. f. P. C, Isiii, 63 ; Dingier, cxxxiv, 239 ; P. J. (4), viii,. 

463 ; Poly. Cbl., ixi. 
J.A.S.B.,xxiii,669. 
Chemical Gazette, 18.53, p. 476 ; J. f. P. C, Ixi, 373 ; Pbarm. 

Cbl., 1854, p. 30; Dingier, cxxxii, 430; PoK.Cbl., 1853, 

p. 1446; W.B., 1855, p. 445. 
Q. J. G. S.,xi,468. 



Appendix to a narrative of the mission to the court oi> 
Ava in 1855, pp. 312, 329. 

Tubingen, 1855. 

Ne-w Haven, 1855, 20 pp. ; Am. C, ii, 18; M. Sci., No. 366; 
Am. J. G. L., xvi, 83 ; W. B., 1872, p. 848. 

Philadelphia, J. W. Moore, 1855- 

Dingler, csxxv, 138; Poly. Cbl., 1855, p. 500; Poly-Nbl., 

18j5, p. 104 ; B. L u. Gbl., 1855, p. 279 ; W. B., 1855, p. 413, 
Dingier, cxxxix, 43; Kunst. u. Gbl., 1856, p. 547; Poly. 

Cbl., 1856, p. 811 ; W. B., 1856, p. 396. 
Le Tech., xvi, 463; Dingier, cxssix, 303: W. B., 1855, p. 

425. 
A.C.etP. (3),xlv,493. 

April, 1851; J. F. X (3), Ix, 270,- 

NaiTative of the mission to the court of Ava in 1855, p. 19.- 
Magdebnrg, 1856. 



J.K.K.G.B.,Tii,196,372. 

Gesammelte Schriften. Miinchen, 1856, p. 91. 

P. B. A. A. S., 1857, p. 49; J", f. P. C, 1858, p. 379; Poly.. 

Cbl., 1858, p. 426. 
P. M. (4), xiii, 512 ; P. B. S., viii, 221 ; J. f. P. C, Ixx. 300; 

Chemical Gazette, 1856, p. 375,- Jahresherichte, 1856, pi 

401 ;W. B.,1857, p. 457. 
A. C. u. P., ciii, 1 ; C. Cbl., 1857, p. 822. 



J.f.P. C, Ixviii, 60; BerichtederWien. Akad., xvji,425;. 

Poly. Cbl., 1856, p. 1018. 
Dingier, cxlv, 309 ; C. Cbl., 1857, p. 69; W. B.,1857, p. 465. 



Le Tech., xviii, 569. 
P.B-L.ii, 506. 

A. C.u.P.,cvi, 230. 

C. E., xlvii, 646; J. F. I., IxvU, 122. 

Geology of Pennsylvania, 4°, i, 538. 

Dingier, cxlvii, 374; C. Cbl., 1858, p. 345; W.B.,1858, p. 582: 

New York, D. Appleton &, Co., 1859. 

J.S.A.,vii,038. 

Le Tech., XX, 352. 

Trait6 do min6ralogie, 2«»= 6d., 1859, iv, 591-607. 

J.K.K.G.B.,x,183. 

Dingier, cliv, 227; Poly. Cbl., 1859, p. 1169; C. Cbl., 1859;. 

p. 979; Poly. Nbl. 1859, p. 305; W. B., 1859, p. 622. 
Ohio Agricultural Report, 1859 (2d s.), p. 605. 
Le Tech,, XX, 519. 

Le Tech., XX, 583. 
A. C. u. P., cxiii, 151. 

A. J. Ph. {3),ix,72; P. A. Ph. A., 1860, p. 163. 
London, 1860, p. 134. 
Paris, 1860. 

Bui. de la Soci6t6 de G6ographie (2), t. xii, 161, 2d pait. 

Sci. Am., I860; C.N.,i,180. 

London Pract. Mech. Mag., Sept., 1659 ; J. F. I., Ixix, 182; 

A. C. u. P., cxiii, 169. 

Suiith'sDictiouary of the Bible, 1860, p. 03. 

C.Nat.(l),v,325. 

Second Geological Report of Arkansas, 1860, p. 37, 



PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY OF PETROLEUM— Continued. 



287 



I860 
1860 



1860 
1660 
1860 

186C 
1860 

1861 
1861 
1861 
1861 



1861 
1861 
1861 
1861 
1862 

1862 

1862 

1862 
1862 
1862 



Subject. 



Pe\)al Tntersucliung des galizischen Steiuols . 



Thenitis, G.-.. 
Felsmimn, H 
Wachtcl, H. . . 



AsphaUum ans Tirol 

Ueber einige Derivata ctes Steiniils 

Die Napbta and deren Indttstrie in Ostg.olizien . 



■Wall, G. P 0° the geology of a part of Venezuela and of Trinidad. 

Wbitmore, W. H ' Results of destructive distillation of bituminous sub 

1 stances. 

Andrews, E. 13., Marietta, Ohio : Rock oil. its geological relations and distribution 

Bollev, P On a hitherto unobserved source of paraf&ne 

•Duff, Lieut Pegu oil gas 

•Gessner, Abraham A practical treatise on coal, petroleum, and other dis- 
tilled oils. 
Hunt, T. Sterry On the history of petroleum or rock oil 

Macrae, Alexander Oil springs of America and Canada 

Parish, Edward On keroseline, a recently discovered anaesthetic 

Paul, B. H Carburation of gas 

Richtofen, Von ' Die Kalkalpen von Vorarlberg und Nord-Tirol 

Allen, Zachariah (printed 'T. Alien" Explosibility of coal oils 

in the report). See T. Allen, 1868. 



Berthelot, M . - 
Bleeki-ode, M . 



Nouvelles recherches sur la formation des carbures 

d'hydrogene. 
Sur les builes min^rales et la ilinjak Lantoeng de Java. 

Experiments on illumination with mineral oils 

The American oil wells 

Naphta-Quellen von Basco in Galizien 

Kerosene oil ; what is it, with causes and prevention 
of accidents in its use, etc. 

Haywood, H., and H. Letheby I Report on the results of experiments to ascertain the 

consumption of gas at the public lamps and on the 
I application of the earburetting process, etc. 
Karsten On the oxidation of hydrocarbons contained in the at- 



Booth, Jas. C, and Thos. H. Garrett. 

Editorial 

Foetterle, Fr 

Gibbons, "Wm. Sidney 



1862 Kopp, E 

1862 'Lesley, J. P. 



1862 'Maclagan, R. 



1862 Member of the Chemical Society of 
Schenectady, N. Y. 

1862 Nicholson, E, C 

1862 O'XeiU, Charles 



Amerikanische Erdole 

Coaloil (composition, manufacture, lustory,and origin). 

Memorandum on petroleum in the Rawal Pindee di- 

Historical and scientific facts about petroleum 



1862 

1862 
1862 
1862 
1862 



Oppter, Theo . . . 

Parish, Edward . 
Robb, ChDjles . . 

Rock, T.D 

Eossmassler, F . 



1862 Stanford, E. C. C 

1862 Tate, A. Norman . 

1862 ' ' Thornton, E 

1862 Vogel, A 



1862 'Weil, Frederik. 



1862 Wiederhold, Dr 



Analyse des naphtes d' Am6rique 

Paratfine oil ; a report on the quality of illuminating 

oils sold in Manchester and the neighborhood. 
Handbuch dcr Fabrication miueralischer Oele aus 

Steinkohlen, Braunkohlen, Holz, etc. 

On a new apparatus for testing coal oils 

On the petroleum springs of western Canada 

Fossil hydrocarbons 

Die Paraffin- und Solarol-Fabrikation auf der Halbinsel 

Apscheron am Kaukasus. 

Naphtha from sea weed - 

On the explosibility of petroleum oil 

Oil-springs near Kohat 

Die Loslichkeits-Verhaltnisse des Paraffins zu Benzol, 

Chloroform, und Schwefelkohlenstoff. 

rhuile de p6trole 

r Technologic des amerikanischen 



ode de formation de qmelques hydrog^nes 
carbon^s. 

On refining petroleum 

Petroleum gas 



1802 An act for the safe-keeping of petroletun. (English 

I actof Jnly 20, 1862.) 

1863 Ansted, D. T The varieties of combustible minerals used econom- 

I I ically, considered with reference to their geological 
I 1 position and relative value for certain purposes. 
Bolley, P - I Amerikanisches Petroleum 



A. C. u. P., CSV, 19. 



A. J. S. (2), m, 1 ; W. B., 1860, 574, 



Dingier, clviii, 379; C. Cbl., 1861, p. 34; W. B., 1860, 569. 
A. C. u. P., cxiv, 279. 



Q.J.G.S.,xvi,467. 

Boston, Henry W. Dutton &. Son. 1860. 

A. J. S. (2), xixii, 85 ; Ph. J. (2), iv, 7?,. 

J. C. S., xiii, 329. 

J.A. S.B., lS61,p.30. 

New York, BaiUi^re Bros., 1861. 2d ed.. 186.3. Henry 
C. Baird, Philadelphia. 

C. Nat. (1). vi, 245; C.N.,vi, 5, 16, 35; A. J. Ph. (3). x, 527; 

Repoit Smithsonian Institution, 1862. 
J.S.A.,x,89. 

A. J. Ph. (3), is, 396. 
J. S. A., xi, 503, 520. 

J. K. K. G. R., xu, 142. 

Report of the Smithsonian Institution, 1862; Bui. S. d'E., 
1808, p. 433; D. Ind. Z., 1868j>. 437; Poly. Nbl., 1868, 
p. 344; H. Gbl., 1S68, p. 386; W. B., 1868, p. 796. 

C.R..liv, 515; C.N.,vi,115. 

Le Tech., xxiii, 402; E, C. A., 1862, p. 10; C. N., v, 158; 

Nieuwe Tydschrift, v, 165; W. B., 1862, p. 668. 
J. F. I., Ixxiii, 373. 
Sci.Am.,1862; C.N.,vi,149, 161,175. 

B. u. H. Z., 1862, p, 367 ; "W. B., 1862, p. 668. 
London, F. Baillitre, 1862. 

London. 1862 ; J. S. A., x, 86. 



P. J. (41, xxiii, 541. 

E. C. A., 1862, p. 408 ; W. B., 1862, p. 667. 

Report to the Commissioner of Agriculture for 1862, p. 
429. 

Supplement to the Punjab Govei-nment Ga. tette, 1862,, 
Feb. 5, p. 23. 

Sci. Am., 1862; C. N., v, 186. 

Le Tech., xxiv, 191. 

C.N.,T, 312; Int.Obs., 1662; J. F. I., Ixxiv, 399. 

Berlin, 1862; J. Springer. 

T. A. Ph. A., 1862, p. 206. 

Ph. J. (2), iv, 67. 

Technologist, ii, 217. 

Elustr. Gewerbe.Zeit.. 1862, ii, 88; W.B., 1862, p. 68i. 

Technologist, ii, 298. 

Ph. J. (2), iv, 150. 

Gazetteer of India, 1862, p. 509. 

Dingier, clxiv, 221 ; Poly. Cbl, 1862, p. 95.i; W. B.. 186: 

p. 662. 
Le Tech., xxiv, 132; G. Ind., 1862, p. 314; W. B., 1862, 

p. 067. 
Neue Gewerbebl. f. Kurhessen, 1862, No. 5; Dingier, 

clxvii, 63 ; Poly. Cbl., 1863, p. 327 ; Poly. Nbl., 1803, p.23 ; 

W. B., 1863, p.' 669. 
C. R., liv, 387; A. J. S. (2), xxxiv, 131. 

Philadelphia Coal OU Circular ; C. N., M, 230. 

Journal of the Board of Arts and Manufactures for 

Upper Canada; C. N., vi, 289, 
Ph. J. (2), iv, 162, 



J. S. A., 



, 408. 



•Bone, H. W Asphaltum . 



S.P.Z., 1863, pp. 33,96; Dingier, clxix, 163 ; R. C. A., 1863, 
p. 304; J. G. B., 1863, pp. 306, 334; Poly. CM. 1864. p, 
1355; C. Cbl., 1864, p. 617; W. B., 1863, p. 073. 

Ure's Dictionary, s-upplement. ISC?,, p. 121. 



288 



PEODUCTION bF PETEOLEUM. 

BIBLIOGEAPHY OF PETEOLEUM— Continued. 



Date. 


Ifame. 


Subject. 


Reference. 


1863 


Boileau, Gauldr6e 


Exploitation de rhuile min^rale dans TAmfirique du 

Gas from petroleum oil and from -wood and peat en- 
riched with oil. 

TTno note sur les sources do p6trole et lea gites bitu- 
niineuaes de I'Amfirique du Nord. 


Paris, 1863, 8°. 






Cosmos (2), xxiii, 220, 249, 503, 529. 

Report of the Commissioner of Agriculture for 1803, p. 72- 


1S63 








Chemistry of American petroleum and products of 
destructive distillation. 


1863 






















1863 
















1863 






Ure's Dictionary, supplement, 1863, p. 142. 

A. J. S. (2),sxxv, 157. Reprinted in Chemical and Geo- 
logical Essays. Boston, J. R. Osgood & Co., 1875. 

Dingier, clxviii, 261; clxix, 321, 311; W. B., 18G3, p. 674; 
Poly. CbL, 1863, pp. 948, 1439. 

M. Sci.,:863, pp.571, 613. 

P. A. P. S., is, 183 ; A. J. S. (2), sli, 139. 


1863 
1863 


*Himt, T. Sterry. 


Contributions to the chemical and geological history 
of bitumens and of pyroschists or bitummous shales. 












On an asphaltum vein in Wood county, "West Virginia 

Apparatus for the fractional distillation of the vol- 
atile oils of petroleum. 

Note sur I'asphalte, son origine, sa preparation, sea 
applications, suivie de divers documents sur la 
mati^re. 

Recherches sur les pfitroles d Amerique 

Grand avenir auquel est appel6e rhnilo de p6trole, 
soit par sa transformation en gaz pour I'^clairage, 
soit par son emploi pour lo chaufPage des machines 
k vapour. 

Note sur un appareil ii distillation fractionelle pour 
appr^cier la valeur v6nale des huiles essentielles 
qui proviennent de la calcination des houilles on 
des schistes. 

Report on the oil district of Oil creek, in the state of 
Pennsylvania. 


1863 




1863 




Paris, 1863, 8°. 

C. R.,lvi, 505; Ivii, 62; A. C. et P. (4). i,5; A. J. S., (2), 
xxxvi,412; M.Soi., 1863, p. 587; B.S.C.P., v, 228,408 
R.C.A., 1863, p. 149; S. P. Z., 1863, pp. 33, 96,161; A. C. 
u. P. , cxxvii, 190 ; L'A. S. et I., 1864, p. 189 ; A. der P., 
clxsxi, IM; J.f. P.O., Ixxxix, 359; Poly. Cbl., 1863, p. 
556 ; C. Cbl., 1867, p. 630; B. S. d'E., 1868, p. 444 ; "W". B., 
1863, p. G72. 

An. G.C., 1863, p. 402. 

A. C.etP. (3), lxviii,409; Z. A. C, 1863, p 357; A. J. Ph 
(3), xiii,28. 

J. F. I.,lxxv, 269. 

Harper's Magazine, xxvii, 259. 


1863 








1863 








1863 








Sur les produits les plus volatiles de Thuile de p6trole. 
Emploi des petroles americains pour remplacer I'es- 

sence de t6rebentliine. 
On the chemical constitution of American rock oil . . , 


1863 






1863 




M.P.L.S., iil, 81; A.J.S. {2),xxxvi, 115; C.N.,1863,p. 

157; R. C. A., 1863, p. 174; J. f. Ph., xxi, 320; Poly. Cbl., 

1863, p. 1312, W. B., 1863, p. 673. 
Report of the Commissioner of Agriculture for 1863,p.525 
C. N., May, 1863; A. J". Ph. (3), xi, 320. 


1863 


*Sliattuck, C. H 


1863 


Rendering certain substances less pervious to air and 
liquids. 


1863 




1863 


Vogel,A 




B. K. u. Gbl., 1863, p. 96 ; Poly. Cbl., 1863, p. 90S). 






1864 






Art. Soc. Journal, Aug., 1864. 
TVeimar, B Er. Voigt, 1864. 

Dingier, clxxii, 392 ; Poly. Cbl., 1864, p. 1155 ; W. B., 1864, 

p. 674. 
Manual of Geology, 2d ed., 1864, p. 756. 


1864 




Die Mineralole, insbesondere Photogen, Solarol, nnd 
Petroleum. 


1864 




1864 






1864 


Editorial 




1864 






A.J. S. (2),xxxvui, 159. 
Harper's Magazine, xsx, 53. 
An. G.C.,1864,p.525. 


1864 


Franldin, B 




1864 




1864 




Account of an oil-lamp furnace for melting metals at 
a white heat. 

Le p6trole, ses gisements, son exploitation, son traite- 
ment industriel, ses produits divers, sea applica- 
tions k rSclairage et au chanffage. 


1864 






1864 






1864 




Vulcanisation du caoutchouc avec emploi du p6trolo. . 


Le Tech., xxvi, 312; xxs,308; Dingier, cxci, 87: B. S. C 
P., xii,76. 


1864 




1864 


MaUet.E 




Prac. Moch. Jour., 1864, p. 314 ; Dingier, clxxii, 71 ; W. JJ., 

ISC'!, p. 725. 
Paris, 1864, go ; J. E. I.,lxxvii, 306; R.Tr. M., xv, 141. 


1864 






1864 




On petroleum, its economic value, and a visit to the 

petroleum wells of Canada. 
Trait6 pratique industriel et commerciel des huiles 

min6rales a I'usago des fabricanta, marchands et 

consommateurs dep6trole3, schistes et autres huiles 

analogues. 
On theuse of petroleum or mineral oil as steam fuel in 

place of coal. 


1864 




Paris, Gauthiers-Villars, 1864, 12°. 

C.N.,x,292; J.F.I..lxxx,121; J. S. A., xiU, 100, 180. 


1864 


Paul,B.H 



PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 



289 



BIBLIOGRAPHY OF PETROLEUM— Continued. 



Subject. 



1864 
1864 



1864 
1864 



1864 
1864 



1865 
1665 

1865 
1865 
1865 
1865 
1865 
1865 
1865 
1SG3 



1P65 
1865 



1865 
1865 

1865 
1865 
1865 

1865 
1865 
1865 



Paul, B. H Artificial light and lighting materials 

Kichardson, C. J i Experiments on the use of petroleum as a fuel for 

propelling steam machinery. 

Schubert^ C. Josef ! Ueber das Yorkommen des Ozokerites (Bergwachses) 

I und der ihm verwandt^n Mineralien und deren Ge- 
winnung iu Galizieu. 

Silliman, B.Jr ■ Petroleum region in California 

Tate, A. Korman '. Petroleum and its derivatives 



Tuttschew, J : N otiz iiber eine sogenannte Beleuchtungs-Xaphta 

Wagner, E | Paraffin 



Instruction concemant I'emploi des hniles de p6trole 
de8tin6es k I'^clairage, approuvee par M. le prfifet 
de police le 29 juin 1864. (French act.) 



Anderson, T i On some bitumii 

Bailey, L. W., and others 



Blake, William P . 
Bone, J.H.A 



lous substances 

the geology of southe 



New mineral oil regions in the Tulare valley . 
Petroleum and petroleum wells, etc 



Briggs, K On the Yenango county oil region 

Cowles, S 1 Prfipp.rirung der Fiiaser fiir Petroleum . 

Draper and F. S. Pease , History of Petroleum 

Editorial ' Bituminized psper and roof sheeting 

Editorial 

Editor Prnc.Mecb. Magazine .. 
*Foucou, F61is 



Zante petroleum 

Petroleum as a steam fuel 

Sur le gieement de p6trole des Karpathes. 



Gmner, M Sources de l^tumes et de p6trole de la mer Caspienne. 

*Hitchcoc'k, C. H Albertite of Xew Brunswick 

"Hochstetter, F. V I Erdol und Erdwachs im Sandecer Kreise in West 

Galizien. 

-Hunt, T. Sterry i Petroleum; its geological relations considered with 

8peci.il reference to its occurrence in Gasp^. With 
I amapofGaspe. 

J. T. H. (James T. Hodge?) j Is there petroleum in California 

Jacinsky. W 

Jackson, C. T 

*Lartet, Louis 

Lesley, J. P 



Lesley, J. P.. 
Lesley, J. P.. 
♦Lesley, J. P. , 
I 
1865 i "Lesley, J. P- 



1865 I *Lesley. J. P. 



1865 'Lesley, J.P 

1865 ' Letheby, Dr. Henry . 

1865 I *Luyne3, Due de 

1865 (Lyman) 



Das Yorkommen und die Gewinnung des Bergoles 

und Bergwa(-hses zu Borislaw bei Drohobicz, in 

Oest. Galizien. 

The oil interests of the southern coasts of California. , 

Dead Sea asphalt 



J. S. A.,xii, 311. 

London Mech. Mag., Dec, 1864; J. F. I.. \\ 

B. u. H.J., 1864, p. 167. 



1864, 8°. pp. 1-21 (1 plate). 

London. 1864. Translated into Gei-man bv H. Ilir 
Leipzig. Translated into French liv I>. V. Bniud 
J. J. Weber, 1864. An. G. C, 1864, p. 6i>6. 

J. f P. C, xciu, 394. Bull. A.LSt. P.,1,S64, Tii. ,Jour 
Pharm. etdeChimie (4),ii, 68 ; B. S. C. P., 1665, II, p. : 

Handbach der Technologic, v, 398. 

Cosmos (4), xxv, 116. 



Mem. A. L St. P. (7). i.\. No. 4. 

P. B. A. A. S., 1865, p. 24. 

Printed by order of the House of Assembly ; Frederick 

ton, 1865. Reviewed, A. J. S. (2), xxxix,'35G. 
P.C.A.S.,iii,193. 

Philadelphia, J. B. Lippincott &- Co., 1865. 
P. A. P. S., X, 109. 

D. Ind. Z., 1865, No. 39 ; Dingier. cLsxviii, 246, 247. 
Bci. Am., xii, 351 ; Dingier, clxxxviii, 104. 107. 
J. F. L, Ixxix, 210 ; Prac. Mech. Jour., Nov., 1864. 
J.S.A., xiii,e98. 
Prac. Mech. Mag., Mar., 1865 ; J. F. I., Ixxx, 268. 



An. G. C, 1865, p. 845. 
A.J. S. (2), XXX ix, 267. 
J. K. K. G. E., XV, 199. 

Quebec, G. E. Desbarats, 1865, p. 19. 

E. E. and Mining Register, April 8, 1865. 
I Oest. Z. f B. u. H., xiii, 289, 295. 
I 

San Francisco Ealletin, July, 1865. 

B. S. G. F., xxii, 437, 444. 

P,A.P.S..x,33. 



On popular fallacies respecting petroleum . 
Record of oil borings 



1865 M&nross, N. S . 



1865 "Medlicott, H. B . 



1S65 Marphy, John McLeod . 
1865 Xeiiendahl. L. v 



1865 
1865 
1805 
1865 



Kickles, J ... 
Paul, B.H.... 
Paul, B. H . . . . 
*Posepny, Fr , 
RjiDd, Theo. D 



Geological report on the Brady's Bend Land and Coal 
Company's lands in Armstrong county, Pennsyl- 
vania. 



Results of experiments on the carburation of coal gas. 

Dead Sea asphalt 

Petrolf^um in Archangel 

Petroleum in Zante 



Assam oil springs 



Petroleum in Mexico 

Das Vorkommen des Petrolenms i 
sen Gewinnnng. 



1 Galizien und dea- 



1865 Key, Alphc 



186.> Richardson, C.J 

1865 Ronalds, Edmund 

VOL. IX 19 



Cire falsifi6e par de la paraffine 

Use of petroleum as fuel in place of coal 

On paraflBne oil 

Petroleum im Sanoker u. Samborer Kreise, Galizien . , 

Go the occurrence of petroleum in Canada 

Emplojmeiit of petroleum as a fuel for marine boilers 



Lliuilc de pt^trole ; connaissance de Thuile de p6trole 
dans les temps anciens, importance de son e3:ploita- 
tion. proc^d^a employes pour I'extraire et la raffiner, 
applications diveraes de ses derives. 

On the use of petroleum as steam fuel 

On the moat volatile constituents of American petro- 
leum. 



P. A. P. S., 
P. A. P. S., 
Report ' 



,187, 



1 lands on Paint Lick Fork of Sandy river in 
eastern Kentucky, 1865, 8<>. pp. 8-32 (2 plates). 

Report on the landa of the Youghiogheny Iron and Coal 
Company, 1865. 8'^, pp. 4, 5 (o plates). 

1865, 8^ pp. 10-15 (3 plates). 



1865, 80, pp. 5, 6 (3 plates). 

C.N., No. 776; J.F.L. Ixxx, 414 ; R.U.M.. xviii, 221. 

Voyage d'exploration k la Mer Morte, 1865, p. 7. 

A. J. S., xl ; A. J. S., xli, 427 : Les Mondes, Dec, 1865. 



A.J.S.. xli, 427. 
A.J.S. (2), 



309. 



Memoirs of the geological survey of India, S°, 1865, 

414, 415. 
(No title page or imprint.) 
"Wien, 186^. 

An.G.C, 1S65, p. 781. 

C.N.. No. 263; J.F.L, Ixsis, 130. 

P.B.A.A.S.,l}-65, p. 36. 

J. K. K. G. R., sv, 351 ; B. u. H. Z.. 1865. No. 36^1. 

J.F.I., ixxx, 59. 

R.U.M., xviii, 220. 



C.N., xi, 39; J.F.L.lsxx, 119. 



290 



PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY OP PETEOLEUM— Continued. 



Subject. 



*Sayle3, Ira. 
Schieffer, E. 



Scbmidt, Ed . 



Sohooley, J.S 

Scliorlemmer, C 

Sheafer, P. "W 

•Shuffeldt, G.A.. jr. 
SiUiman, B., jr 



*Silliman, B., jr 

SUlimaD, B., jr -..., 

^Silliman, B., jr 

*"William8on, J 

Soali6, ]5mile, etHippolyteHaudouin. 



Stenhouse, John . 
Swallow, G.C.... 



Sykes, C.P. (1). 

*U8sber, J 

Warren, CM.. 



AVarren, CM., and F. H. Storer . 
Wliltney, J. D 



■Winchell, A 

•Wright, WiUiani 

Wurtz, Henry 

*By the author of ' ' Ten Acres Enough ' 



* Andrews, E. B., Marietta, Ohio 
*Ansted, D. T 



*Attfleld, John . 
Attfield, John .. 
•BertUelot.M... 



Berthelot, M 

Bigelow, Henry J . 



Blzard und Laharre. 

*Ciarke, W.B , 

Cotta,B.v 



*Daddow, S. H., and B. Bannan.. 

Dan;i, J.D 

Eaton, S.J.M 

•Evans E. W 

Evrard ot Dist^ro 

*Ecuuer, A 



1806 I Green, Jool - 



1800 I Hays, S. S , 

1806 Hirzel,H.,undGretachel. 

1866 Hunt, T. Sterry , 

1866 "Hunt, T. Sterry 



Oil regions of Pennsylvania. (Extract from a letter) 
Bericht nber das Naphta-fiihrende Terrain West- 

Galiziens. 
Das_ Erdol Galiziens, dessen "Vorkommen nnd Ge- 

winnung, nebst Beitragen zur fabrikmiissigen Dar- 

stellung seiner Produkte. 

Die Erdol-Reicbthiiraer Galiziens. Eine technolo- 
gisch-volkswirthschaftliche Studie. 

Petroleum region of Ameiica 

Presence of benzole series in Canadian petroleum 

On the relative levels of coal and oil regions 

On an oil-well boring at Chicago 

California oil is not asphaltum 

Petroleum in California. Extract from report 

A description of tlie recently discovered petroleum 

region of California with a report of the same. 
Ecport upon the oil property of the Philadelphia and 

California Petroleum Company. 
Ibid 

Le p6trole ; ses ^sements, ses efcploitations, son traite- 
ment industriel, ses produits derives, ses applica- 
tions k r6clairage et au chaiiffage. 

On the employment of paraffino for water -proofing 

Keport on the geological survey of Miami county, 
Kansas. 

Petroleum iu Colorado territory 

Baku oil 

On a process of fractional condensation applicable to 
the separation of bodies having small differences be- 
tween their boiling points. 

Kesearches on the volatile hydrocarbons 

Researches on the volatile hydrocarbons 

Asphalt at Hill's ranche, near Santa Barbara, Cali- 
fornia. 

On the oil formation of Michigan and elsewhere 

The oil regions of Pennsylvania, etc , 

Keport on a mineral formation in West Virginia 

Derrick and drill ' 

Das Naphta- Vorkommen im Trans-Kubangebiet u. 
auf der Habinsel Taman. 

The oil district of Canada 

Petroleum in its geological relations 

On mud volcanoes of the Crimea, and on the relation 
of these and similar phenomena to deposits of petro- 
leum. 

On the assay of coal, etc., for crude paraffine oil, and of 
crude oil and petroleum for spirits, photogen, lubri- 
cating oil, and paraffine. 

On the igniting point of petroleum 



Action de la chaleur snr quelques carbures d'hydro- 
gfene 

Rhigolene, a petroleum naphtha for producing anes- 
thesia by freezing. 



Gasometer zura Magaziuireu von Petroleum und ahn- 
licher Oele. 

On the occurrence and geological position of oil-bear- 
ing deposits in New South Wales. 

Das Vorkommen und die Gewinnung des Erdols in 
Galizien 

Coal, iron, and oil 

Mineral oil 

Petroleum A history of the oil region of Venango 
county, Pennsj'lvauia. 

On the oil-producing up-lift of West Virginia 

Sur les huilcs de p6trole 

Punjab oil 

Process for rendering petroleum oil inodorous 

Report to the Secretary of the Navy on petroleum 

Zur Gewiunuug von Oelen, etc., aua Pflanzen 

On petrolermi 

Geology of petroleum 



A.J. S. (2), xxxix, 100. 
Wien, 1865. 



Wien, 1865. Verlag des Griindung's-Comit^s der Ham- 
burg-Gralizischen Petroleum Aktien-Gesellsohaft. 



Wien, 1866. 



Harpi 

Trans. E. S. (5), xiv, 168 ; C. N., xi, 255. 
P. A. P. S., X, 32. 
A. J. S., xl, 388. 

Letter from Prof Silliman to Hon. D. H. Harris, of Sprin" 
field, Mass., dated New Haven, April 8, 1865. ° 

A. J.S. (2), xxxix, 101, 341. 
New York, 1865, 25 pp. 

Philadelphia, E. C. Markley & Son, 1865, 30 pp. 
Pages 19 to 31. 
Paris, 12°, 1865. 



J. F. I., Ixxix, 340; C. N., vii ; A. J. Ph. (3), xi, 320. 
Kansas City, Missouri, Nov., 1865. 

New York, W. H. Arthur, 1865. 
Journey from London to Persepolis, 1865. 
Mem. A.A. (n. s.), ix, 121; A. J. S. (2), xxxix, 327; C.N., 
xii,85; A.J.Ph. {3),xiii,419; M. Sci., 1867, p. 576. 

Mem. A, A. (n. s.), ix, 135; A.J. S. (2), xl, 89; C. N. , xii, 

261, 279, xiii, 13, c! sej. 
Mem. A. A. (n. s.), ix, 176; A. J. S. (2), xli, 139. 
Geological Survey of California: Geology, i, 132. 

Detroit, 1864, 8 pp. 8° ; A. J. S. (2), xxxix, 350. 
New York, Harper & Bro., 1865. 
New York, Francis & Loutrell, 1865. 
New York, James Miller, 1865. 
Gornyi Journal, 1865, p. 73. 

Am. News Co., New York, 1865, 40 pp. 
A. J. S. (2), xlii, 33. 

P. R. L, iv, 628 ; J. S. A., xiv, 479; Physical Geography 
5th ed., 1871, 8°, pp. 336-339. 



P. B. A. A. S., 1866, p. 33 ; C. N., 



■,98. 



C.N.,xiv,257; A. S. D., 1868, p. 188; Dingier, clxxxiii, 244; 
Z. A. C, 1807, p. 261 ; D. luct. Z., 1867. p. 108; W. B., 1867, 
p. 725. 

A. C. et P. (4), ix, 481. J. F. L (3), Hi. 329; C. E.. Ixii, 949 ■ C. 
N., xiii, 277 ; B. S. C. P., 1866. p. 286 : it. Sci.. 1800, 71. 439 ; 
C. Cbl., 1866, p. 83U; J. f P. C, scviii, 240; W. B., ISUu, p. 
070. 

A. C. et P. (4), ix, 467. 

C.N.. xiii, 244; Boston Med.and Surg. .Jour, Apr. 10,1806; 

A. J. Ph. (3), xiv, 363; Bre-slauer Gbl.,1866, No.44; Polv. 

Cbl., 1866, p. 1421; Berl. Kunst. u. Gbl , 1806, p. 504; 1). 

Ind.Z., 1866, p. 428 ; W. B., 1866, p. 071. 
G.Ind., 1800, p. 39; Dingier, clxxxii, 63; Poly. Cbl., 1866, 

p. 1467 ; D. Ind. Z., 1866, p. 325 ; W. B., 1860, p. 667. 
A. J. S. (2), xlii, 207; P. G. S, ; Eeader, Apr. 21, 1806. 

Oest. Z. f. B. u. H., 1866, No. 19; Dingier, clxxxi, 133 ; W. 
B., 1866, p. 063. 

Philadelphi.i, J. B. L'ppincott it Co., 1860. 

Text-book of geology, 1866, p. 125. 

Philadelphia, J. P. Skelley & Co., 1866. 

A. J. S. (2), xlii, 334. 
Paris, 1866, S°. 

cut: Pub. Works Dep't, 

16D0. 

Sci. Am., xiii, 383; Dingier, Ixxx, 144 ; B. S. C. P., 1860, p. 

350; Le Tech., xxvii.SSS; Poly. Cbl., 1866, p.873; W. 

B., 1860, p. 675. 

Ex. Doc. No. 51, 1866. 

Jahrbnch der Erfindungen, ii, 277 ; W. E., 1800, p. 493. 

C. Nat., xi, 121 ; P. A.A. A. S., 1866. 

Report of the geological survey of Canada, 1866, pp. 233- 
262. 



Monograph on PETROLEUM. 




a, &. Sea-level. 

b, c. Bituminous shale. 

c, d, Unstratiiied 8aiid saturated with bitumeD 

d, e, Soil. 

/, Well, recently commenced (1866). 

[Fig. 1— page 21.] 
Section of bituminous rocks on Bigg's ranch, Santa Barbara Co., California. 




B. Solid bitumen. G, Sandstones and conglomerates. 

[Fig. 2— page 32.) 

Bitutnen at Selenitza, Albania. 



Monograph on PETROLEUM. 




[Fig. 3— page 63.] 
Old oil springs, Paint creek, Johnson Co., Ky. 




|Fia. 4— page 03.] 
Section on Little Paint creek, Johnson Co., Ky. 




[Fig. 5— page 63.] 
Crows' Nest, on Paint creek, Johnson Co., Ky. 



Plate XII. 



Monograph on PETROLEUM. 



S. "VV. Schodnica. Buchow. 



338° 
Horodyszeze. 
Mraznica. Boryslav 




[Fl...:-i«s:e72.] 

of asphaltum near Havana, Cuba. 



A. Slates. U. I'isolitliic bitumeu. 

[Fig. 10— page 73.) 

Bitumen in Albania. 




A, Slates. 1!, Reticulated liitnuieii 

G, Sandstones aud eoup;loiijeratea. 

[Fig. 11— ]iage73.1 

Bitumen in Albania. 




A, Slates. B. Bitumen. 
G, Sandstones. 
;riG.12— pag6 73.] 
Bitumen in Albania. 




1!, Bituiueii. 
(-T, Conglomerate. 
[Pig. 13— pagc73.J 
Bitumen in Albania, 




1. A, 

2. B, 

3. C, 

4. D, 



Slates. 9U meters. 
Conglomerate, with 
Tellow sandstone, v 



-^. :a. c. 

[Fig. 14— page 73.] 



lis of bitumen, 3 meters. 
h lii\alves, 2 meters, 
rue gloat mass of bitunun. 4.1 meters. 
Tellow sandstone with cardium edule, 2.5 meters. 

Alternating: sandstones aud conglomerates, with balls of bitumen, 3.6 meters. 
Conglomettites and sandstones, 60 meters. 

Bitumen in Albania. 



Monograph on PETROLEUM. 




Plate XIV. 



Monograph on PETROLEUM. 




[Fig. 16-page 80.1 
Side elevation of derrick and engine 



Plate XV. 



onograph on PETROLEUM. 




Monograph on PETROLEUM. 




IFlG. 17— page 80.] 
Horizontal projection of derrick and engine. 



Plate XVI. 



Monograph on PETROLEUM. 




25 50 . 75 



I fa 



[Fig. 18— page 80.] 
End elevation of derrick. 



Plate XVII. 



Monograph on PETROLEUM. 




[Fig. 19— page 81.] 
Inside view of derrick at night, showing use of temper-screw and derrick light. 



Plate XVIII. 



Monograph on PETROLEUM. 




[Fig. 'JO— page 81.] 
Eight-inch bit, i-ia natural size. 



m 



pLJ 



Tig. 21— page 81.] 
Five-and-one-half-inch bit, 1-12 natural size. 



m 



[Fig. 22— page SI.) [Fig. 24— page 81.) 

Auger stem. Sinker bar. 

i-ia natural size. 



Plate XIX. 



Monograph on PETROLEUM. 




(Fig. 25— page 81.1 

Rope socket, 1-12 

ratural size. 




[Fig. 27— poge 81.1 

Ring socket,' 1-12 
natural size. 



[Fig. 23— page 81.; 
Jars, 1-12 natural size. 



Plate XX. 



Monograph on PETROLEUM. 





(Fig. 28— page 61.; 
Wrench, 1-12 natural size. 





Vii__ 



U-^-'tf--^ 



[F:i. L'."-iiage81.) 
Five-and-one-half-inch 
reamer, 1-12 natural 
size. 



[Fig. 20— page 81.] 
Temper-screw. 



■ (Fig. 30— pa-i.' 81.] 
Eight-inch rearner. 



Plate XXI. 



Monograph on PETROLKUM. 







Torpedo before explosion. 



Plate XXII. 



Monograph on PETROLEUM. 





iSiliSii 






Ptii»ii»M 




(Fig. 32— page 87.1 
Cross-section of pumping well, 1861 — wooden conductor. 




[Fio. 33-i,agc ..7. , 
Cross-section of pumping well, i858 — cast-iron drive-pipe. 



Plate XXIII. 



Monograph on PETROLEUM. 




[Fig. 34— page 87.1 
Cross-section of pumping well, wrought-iron drive-pipe, i8 




^.fip,p£r7n3n J}£t 



'"^ff 



jJSiveTipEeiSo*' 



(Fig. 33— page 87.) 
Cross-section of flowing well, iSSo. 



Plate XXV. 



Monograph on PETROLEUM. 




[Fig. 37— page 162.] 
Lateral vertical section of cylindrical still. 




[Fig. 38— page 102.] 
Transverse vertical section of cylindrical still. 



Plate XXVI. 



Monograph on PETROLEUM. 







[Fig. 39— page 1C2.1 
Horizontal section of cheese-box-still setting. 




tFlG.40— page 162.] 
Vertical section of cheese-box-still setting. 



Monograph on PETROLEUM. 



Cooooooooooooooooooo o^^ 
oooooooooooooo o o o o o o ^ 




[Fig. 41— paKo li; 
Section of condensing drum. 




[Fig. 4:— pago 1B2.I 
Section of steam-pipe for still head 




iFlu.4J— pagL- 103. 1 
Diagram showing arrangement for distributing distillates. 



Plate XXVIII. 



Monograph on PETROLEUM, 




Horizontal aection ; A. Mixing apparatus ; E, Filteriiij^ apparatus. 
[Fir.. 44— page 174.] 

Ramdohr's paraffine filtering apparatus. 





[Figs. 46 ami 47— page 175. ] 
Ramdohr's charcoal pulverizing drum or cylinder. 



Vertical section ; A, Mi.>;ing appiratu^ B riltonng ipparatua 

(Fig. 45— page 174 ] 

Ramdohr's paraffine filtering apparatus. 



Plate XXIX. 



Monograph on PETROLEUM. 




Salleron-Urbain tester. 




Tagliabue's open tester. 






Abel s tester 



[KIG. 52— liasu T2i.] 
Tagliabue's closed tester. 



[Jrn. >u — page 2:24.] 

Saybolt's tester. 



CIS 






lFlu.:.3-pa^i'L-J4.) 
Tagliabue's closed tester. 



Plate XXX. 



Monograph on PETROLEUM. 




[FiG. j4 — page 224/ 
Parrish's naphtometer. 





[Fig. 55— page 225] 
Engler's tester. 



[Fig. 50— page 225.] 
Engler's tester. 




[Fig. 57— page 250.] 
Vertical section of Eames' petroleum furnace. 



PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 

BIBLIOGKAPHY OF PETEOLEUM— Continued. 



291 



Date. 


Name. 


Subject. 


Reference. 






Note on the orbitoides and nummulinse of the Ter- 
tiary aaphaltio bed, Trinidad. 


Q. J. G. S., xxu, 592. 






"Wochenschrift des uieder-osterreich. Geworbevereins, 
18G6, p. 782 ; D. Ind. Z., 18G6, pp. 505, 508 ; W. B., 1866, p. 
673. 

B.S. G. F.,xxiii,758. 

B.S.G.F.,xsiv, 12. 












Sur les gitea bitumineux de la Judfce et de ]a Coele- 
Svrif, et sur la mode d'arivfie de Taapbalte an 
milieu des eaux de la Mer Mortc. 

On the geological position of petroleum or oil wells. . . 


1866 


Lesley, J.P 


P. A. P. S., X, 189 ; A. J. S. (2), xli, 139. 
P.A.P.S.,x.227,266. 












Guide pratique pour la fabrication et I'application de 

I'asphalte et des bitmues. 
Prospectus of the Indian Creek and Jack's Knob 

Coal, Salt, Oil, etc.. Company, with a geological 

report. 


Paris, 1866, 12'^. 






Cincinnati, 1866, 20 pp., S° ; A. J. S. (2), xli, 284. 

Ph. J.. May, 1866 ; A. J. Ph. (3), xiv. 341. 
A. J. S., (2),xlii, 104. 








*Saflford J.M 


Note on the geological position of petroleum reser- 
voirs in aoathem Keutucky and Tennessee. 
Nouvelle methode d'essai des huiles min^rales 

Note on the amjl compounds derived from petroleum. 






C. R., Ixii, 43; Les Mondes, 1866, p. 127; il. Sei., 1S66, p. 
104; B. S. C.P.. 1866,p.477; Z. A. C, 1866. p. 247; L'A. S. 
et I., 1S66. p. 172 : P. M. (3), xssi. 143 ; Dingier, clxxxi. 
397 ; D. Ind. Z., 1866, p. 164 ; "W. B., 1866. p. 671. 

P. R. S , xr. 131 : J. f. P. C, xcviii, 242, 292 ; Poly. Cbl., 1868, 

p. 143 ; Z. C, 1865, p. 242 ; W. B., 1866, p. G71." 
National InteUigencer, Feb. 7, 1866. 
An.G.C..1866, p.640. 

Z. A. C. 1866, p. 279 ; Poly. Cbl., 1867. p. ll,'! : Bayer. K u. 
Gbl., 1867, p. 344; Dingier, clxxxv, 72; D. Ind. Z., 1867, 
p. 242; B.S. C. P., vii, 422; "W. B., 1867, p. 735. 

Report to Professor Silliman. National Intelligencer, 
Feb. 7, 1866. 

A. J. S.. xli, pp. 176-178. 

D. Ind. Z., 1866, p. 498 ; Poly. Nbl., 1867, No. 2 ; Dingier, 
clxxxiu, 253. 

P. B. A. A. S., 1867, p. 50. 

P.M. (3), xxxiv, 506. 








*Silliman, B., jr 




Nouveaus i-^sorvoirs pour remmagasinage des huilea 
de putrole et autres mati^res inflammables plus 
legeres que I'eau. 

Ermittelung der Stearin-Siiure im kauflichen Paraffin 

Assay of petroleum from Santa Barbara county, Cali- 
fornia. 


18C6 


Wagner, Kudolph 






1866 










On intermittent discbarges of petroleum and large de- 
posits of bitumen in the valley of Pescara, Italy. 


1667 


Atkinson, E 


1667 


Des carbures pyrogfin^s; action de la chaleur sur lea 
homologues de la benzine. 


A. C. et P. (4), xii, 5, 94, 122 ; C. R., Ixiii, 783, 834 ; A. J. S^ 

xUv, 26&-268. 
Lieut. Lynch's report, p. 185. 
B.S.G.F.,xxiv,18. 
Conversations Lexicon, xi, 586. 






1867 


'Brockhaos 


Chemical properties of do 






1867 


System of fractional distillation of mineral oils 

Sur lea gites des p6troles de la Valachie et de la Mol- 

davie et sur luge des terrains qui les contiennent. 
Description g^ologiqne des gisements bitumiuif^res 

et petrolif^res tie SelJ^nitza dans I'Albanie et de 

Chieri dans Tile de Zante. 
Das Petroleum-Terrain West-Galiziens 

fitnde chimique des cinq gaz des sources de p6trole 
de I'Am^rique du Nord. 


Eng., 1866, p. 394 ; Le Tech. , xxix, 69 ; Dingier, clxxxv, 270. 












1867 




J. K. K. G. R., xvii, 291 ; Leipziger Blatter, i. 18 : W. B., 
1867, p. 718. 






1867 


Hitchcock, G.H 


The Geo. Mag., iv. 36 ; L. u. B. J., 1867, p. 623 ; W. B., 1870, 

p. 697. 
W. B., 1867, p. 786 ; C. N., No. 401, p. 78. 

Baver. K. u. Gbl.. 1867, p. 186 ; Dingier, clxxxiv, 378; Poly. 

Cbl., 1867. p. 288 ; Poly. Nbl., 1867, p. 142 ; W. B., 1867, p. 

736. 
B. S. G. F. xsiv, 570-573. 


1867 


Empfiehlt meine CWagner's) Priifuncsmethodedes Pa- 
raffins auf Stearin-Sanre als eine Zuverlassige. 






1867 






1867 






B. u. H. Z.. 1867, p. 62 ; Poly. Cbl., 1867, p. 469 ; D. Ind. Z.. 

1867, p. 78; W.B., 1867, p, 724. 
P. B. A. A. S., 1867, p. 41 ; C. N., xiv, 110. 

Paris, 1867. 






On the poisonous nature of crude paraffine oil and the 

products of its rectification on fish. 
Nouveau raanoel complet de la formation et de I'em- 

ploi des huiles miu^rales. 






1867 


*01dliam. T 


1S67 






(he Salt Range, etc.. repilnted in a supplement to the 
Gazette of India, Aug. 24, 1867, p. 780. 






Lugo's Destillir-Apparat fiir Petroleum 

On the supposed falsification of samples of Califomian 
petroleum. 


Dingler.clxxxv,194;LoTech., xxix, 246: Polr.Cbl., 1867. 

p. 1202. 
A. J. S. (2), xliii, 345. 










1867 
1867 


Peckham,S.F 


On a new apparatus for technical analysis of petro- 
leum and kindred substances. 

Die Industrie der Mineralole, des Petroleums, Paraf- 
fins, nnd der Harze. 

Petroleum fuel 


A.J.S. (2), sUv,23D: C. N., xvi, 199; Vr.B.. J«07. p. 725; 
Z. A. C, 1868, p. 358. 


1867 


EichardsoD, C. J 


J.F.I.,lxxxiii,84; Issxiv, 269. 



292 



PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY OF PETROLEUM— Continued. 



Date. 


Kame. 


Subject. 


Reference. 






Zum Harten und Bleicben der roben Paraffins 

On naphtha and illuminating oil from heavy Califor- 
nian tar (maltha). 


Mech. Mag., 1867, p. 169 ; Dingier, clxxxvi, 159 ; Poly. 

Cbl.,1868,p.78; D.lnd.Z.,1867,p.438; ■W.B.,18(i7, p.7^. 

A. J. S. (2), sliii, 242; C. N., xvii, 257; San Fi'ancisco 










Bull., AprU 3, 1867 ; B. S. C. P., 1868, p. 77. 
M. Sci., 1867, p. 599 ; C. N., Ifi67, p. 313. 
An.G.C.,1867, p.l64. 

J. A. S. B., 1867, Part 3d; No. I, p. 13. 
Dingier, clxxxv, 72. 






Note sur les essais faits en vue d'appliquer le p6trole 
aux cbauffes des chaudi6res k vapenr. 


18G7 






TJeber eine hydrostatische Priifungamethode des 
Bienenwachses auf Paraffin. 


1867 
1867 


* Warren, C. M., and F. H. Storer 

"Warren, C. M. , and F. H. Storer 


Mem. A. A. (n. s.), ix, 208; A. J. S. (2), xliii, 257; J. f, 

P. C, cii, 441 ; "W". B. , 1867, p. 724. 
Mem. A. A. (n. s.). ix, 177; A.J. S. (2), xliii, 250. 
P. C. A. S., iii, 319. (Origiu of petroleum.) 




On the fresh-water infusorial deposits of the Pacific 

coast, and their connection with the volcanic rocks. 
Die Anwendung von Mineralolen zum Maschinen 

Scbmieren. 
Bericht iiber die Dui;chforschung des Naphta-Dis- 

trictB im Trans-Kuban Gebiet und auf der Halbinsel 

Taman im Sommer 1866. 
TJeber die Bergol-Gewinnung in Oesten-eich 










1867, pp. 396, 417. 
Tiflis, 1867. 


















Sur les propri6t63 explosives des huiles min^rales 

Application des hydrocarbons liquides (pStrole, etc. ) 

k I'obtention des hautes temp6ratures et au chauf- 

fage des machines h vapeur. 
Le p6trole employ6 dans le travail au tour des m6- 

taux et alliages tr^s dnrs. 
M6thode universelle pour rfiduire et saturer d'hydro- 

g6ne les composes organiqnes. 


B. S. d'E., 1868, p. 433 ; D. Ind. Z., 1868, p. 437 ; Poly. Nbi. 

1868, p. 3 44; H. Gbl., 1868, p. 386; Rep. Smithsonian 

Inst., 1862; W. B., 1868, p. 729. 
A. C. et P. (4), sv, 30 ; Dingier, cxci, 28 ; W. B.. 1868, p. 

796. 














C.R., Ixiv, 710, 760, 786, 829; M. Sci., 1868, p. 758; J.f. P. 






Cp.ios. 

C.R.,lxvii,849; J.f.P.C.,cvi,254. 






Ueber das Vorkommen von Petroleum und Ozokerit 
im Russischen Reiche. 


Bjorkland Pharm. Zeitschrift fiir Russland, 1870, No. 2 ; 
C. N., sxi, 203 ; W: B., 1870, p. 703. 


















Les huiles min^rales au point de vue de leur emploi 
pour le chaufFage des machines k vapeur. 


Stuttgart, 1869, p. 59. 
Paris, 1868, 8°. 

B. S. G. F., XXV, pp. 420-430. 

A.J. S. (2),slvi, 147. 

Dingier, clxxxvii, 271 ; Poly. Cbl., 1868, p. 556 ; Poly. Nbl., 

1868, p. 93 ; "W. B., 1868, p. 733. 
Arcadian Geology, 2d ed., 1868, p. 248. 








Crowtlier, Benjamin 






Deber die "Wirknng des Petroleums auf die in den 
Kaftinerien desselben beschaftigten Arbeiter. 










■ Sur les huiles min6rales employees au graissage des 
v6bicules et des machines. 






Eng., XXV, 243 ; M. Sci., 1868, p. 519. 
C. R., Ixvii, 1041. 

J. C.S.,sxi,466; B.S.C.P.,xu,289; Z. C, 1869, p. 65; J. 






Giseraonts de cinq s6ries de gaz hydrocarbon6s des 

roches pal6ozoiques de rAm6rique du Nord. 
On paraffine and the products of its oxidation 










f. P. C, cvii, 101 ; C. Cbl., 1869, p. 305; W. B., 1869, p. 685. 








Geologie Siebenbiirgens. 
An.M. (6), iv, 117. 

C.N., xviii,51. 
An.G.C..1868,p.435. 
Dingier, cxc, 498. 

An.G.C, 1868, p. 305. 

M. Sci, 1868, p. 381. 

Dmgler, clxxxix, 270. 

C. R., Ixvii, 1353; J. f. P. C, cvii, 251; M. Sci.. 1868, p. 






Essais sur la fabrication du gaz d'6claitage au moyen 

du p6trole. 
On the distillation of hydrocarbons 4»." 














TTeber Bestimmung in Betreflf der Entziindlichkeit 

der mineralischen Oele. 
Notice sur I'emploi des combustibles del'huile mi- 

n6rale pour le chaufFage des navirea a vapeur, etc. 
Th6orie de la formation de I'aaphalte an-Val de 

Travers (Suisse). 

Petroleum als Mittel zur Insecten-Vertilgung 

Sur quelques produits nouveaux extraits desp6troles 

d'Am6rique. 
Fabrique d'huile de parafiSne de Young k Bathgate . . . 
Moldavian bitumen. 


1868 


Knab C1.M 






1868 


Koller Til 






1868 




116; D.Ind. Z., 1869, p. 46; W-B., 1868, p. 725. 
An.G.C, 1868, p. 57. 












1868 


jfoth J 


Die Erdol-Gruben in Bobrka bei Dukla in Mittel- 

Galizien. 
Notizen iiber Erdol 


J. K. K. G. R., x^'iii, 311. 






Dinjiler, cLxxxviii, 255; Poly. Cbl.. 1868. p.919 : W. B., 18GS, 
p. 726. 










On liquid fuel 

Notes on the origin of bitumens, together with experi- 
ments upon the formation of aspbaltum. 

TJeber die Entflammbarkeit verschiedener Destilla- 
tions-Produkte aus Pennsylvanischera Petroleum, 
so wie aus Scliieferol (essence de schiste). 

Combustion of petroleum on ste.imships 


J.S.A., xvi,400, 837. 


1808 
1668 


Peckbam, S.P 


P. A. P. S.,x, 445; Rep. G. Surv. California: Geology, II; 

appendix, pp. 73-90. 
Dzn-der, clxxxix, 01 ; J. F. I., bcxxvi, 333 ; F. Gztg.. ISCiS, 


1868 


Report Gf tlie Secretary of tU© Navy 
(tr. S.). 


p. 71; Poly. Cbl.. 186S, p. 1240; D. Ind. Z., 1863, p. 295; 
W. B.,1808,p.732. 
C.N., xvii, 224: M.Sci., 1868, p. 521; W.B., 1868, p. 79:'. 



PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY OF PETROLEUM— Continued. 



293 



Subject. 

On liquid fuel 

Premier memoire sor lea propri^t^a physiquea et le 

pouToir calorique des p6trolt9 et huiles min^rales. 
Composition chimique des liuilea de p^trolea 

Reaearchea on the hydrocarbona of the seriea 
C. Hs» + 2. 

Die Auf hewahrung von Petroleum, Aether, Schwefel- 
kohlenstftff, und nuderer brennbarer Fliissigkeiten 
betreffend. (Germr.n petroleum act.) 

Hydrocarbons of PeuDaylvauia petroleum 

On liquid fuel 

Petroleum in Burmah 

M^thode unireraelle pour r^duire et saturer d'hydro- 
g^ne les composes organiquea. 

Naphtha and petroleum, parafl&ne, aaphaltnm, etc. . . 

Les essences renferm^es dans les hniles de pttrole — 

Report on borings for petroleum 

Zur Eeinigung Ton Petroleum 

Le p6trole et les hommea d'buile de I'Am^rique du 

Sold. 
Pnnkt der Entziindung der Dampfe des Petrolenms . 

Ueber eine ncne Einricbtung zur AufbeivahruDg von 

Petroleum. 
Die geologischen Terbaltnisse des niirdliehen Saroser 

und Zempliner Comitates. 
On the distillation of dense hydrocaibons at high 

temperatures, technically termed "cracking." 

On the probable origin of albortite and allied minerals 

Report of the committee on gas machines, carbu- 
retors, etc. 

De I'emploi industriel dea huiles min6ralea pour le 
chauffage des machines, et en particulier des ma- 
chines locomotivea. 

Deuxi^me m<!'moire sur les propriet^a physiques et le 
pouToir calorique des p6trolea et des huiles min^- 
ralea. 

ZurReinigung von Paraffin 

On the examination of petroleum and other mineral 

oils according to the petroleum act of 1868. 
Paraffin-Bestimmung der Scballgeschwindigkeit in 

weichen Korpem. 
Report on the qualit;^- of oils derived from petroleum, 

sold for illuminating purposes in this city (New 

Orleans). 
Znr Aufbewahrung der Mineralole 

A Carpet-bagger in Pennsylvania. II 

Recberches aurl'huiJe dn p6trole. (Lea Indea, I'Orient) . 

Recherches sur lea (jtats du carboue 

The rise and progress of the trade in petroleum 

Geschichte. Industrie und ehemische Znsammen- 

setzung des ameiikaniachen Petroleuma. 
TJeber die Produktion von Petroleum in Nord-Ame- 

rika. 
Ou the testing of petroleum spirit 

Report on the qu.llity of kerosene oils sold in the 
metropolitan diatiict. 

Notice aur I'^clairage iiux huiles min^rnles 

Recherches aur la presence de I'araenic dans les com- 

bustiblea mineraux, dans diverses rochea et dans 

I'eau de mer. 
On the behavior of castor oil with petroleum and 

paraffine oils. 
XJeber die Piiifung von Petroleum und Solai 61 auf 

Entzundharkeit. 
Recherches aur les sources de gaz intiammables dea 

Apennines et des Lagoni de la Toscane. 
Poiut de fusion des melanges de parafllne et dest^arine. 
On the oil-bearing limestone of Chicago 

Recherches sur les huiles miuerales de Bnxi^re-la- 

Grue et Cordesn. 
Vorkommen von Petioleum in Parma und Modena . - . 



Richardson, C. J 

Sainte-Claire Deville, H. E - 



Saint«-Claire Deville, H. E., Dumas, 

Sequier, et Thenard, 
Schorlemmer, C 



WaiTen, C. M.- 
Toung, C.T. T. 



1869 I Berthelot. M. 



•Dana, J. D . 

Editorial 

^"Fenner, A . 



1869 
1869 
1869 



Fordred, J., F. Lamb, and C. Sterry . 

Foucon, F61ix 

Button, W. R 

Mliller, J 

Panl,K.M 

Peckham, S. F 

Peckham,S.F 



Sainte-Claire Deville, H. E. 



^cbuch, Leo 

Tate, A. Norman. 

"Warburg, E mil .. 

White, C. B 



1SC9 
1 870 

1870 
1870 
1870 

1870 

1870 



Berthelot, M. . 
Binney, E. W . 
Blr-.ss.J.C .... 



Burkart 

Calvert, F. Cr 



1870 Chandler, C. F . 



1870 
1870 

1870 

1870 

1870 

1870 
1870 

1870 

1870 



Colin, Edmond . 
Daubree, A 



Draper, Harry Napier 

Emecke, A., und Hannemann . 
Fouqu6 et Goreux 



Grotowaki, L . . - 
Hunt, T. Sterry . 

Jaflfre, .Tulea 

.lugler, J 



J. S. A., xvi, 504. 

C. R., Ixvi, 442; Dingier, clxxxts, 50 ; B. S. C. P., xii, 423, 

424; W. B., 1868, p. 796. 
L'A. S. et I., 1871, p. 14S. 

P.R.S., xvi, 367, 372; C.N., xxlii, 253; A. J. S. (2), xlvii, 
424; Am. C.ii, 68; A. C. n. P., cxliv, 184 ; cxlvii, 214 ; J. 
f. P. C, cv, 280 ; B. D. C. G., 1871, p. 395 ; C. Cbl., 1871, 
p. 388 ; W. B., 1871, p. 860. 

Dingier, clzxxix, 431. 



A.J.S. (2), xlv, 262. 
J, S. A., xvi, 433. 
Atlantic Monthly, xxii, 404. 
B. S.C.P., xi, 278. 

System of mineralogy, 5th ed., 1869, pp. 723-753. 
M. Sci., 1869, p. 746. 



G.Ind., 1869, p. 156; Dingier, cxciii, 437; Poly. Cbl., : 

p. 971 ; D. Ind. Z., 1869, p. 185 ; ■«'. B., 1869, p. 685. 
Revue dea Deux Moudca, 15""' avril, 1869. 

Dingier, cxcii, p. 261; C. N., 1869. p. 42; D. Ind. Z.. : 

p. 85; W. B., 1869, p. 685. 
A. der P., clxxxvi, 92. 



A.J. S. (2), xlvii, 9; C.N., xix, 182; Dingier, cxciii, 17: 
Poly. Cbl., 1869, p. 643,W. B., 1869, p. 710. 



New York, Wm. H. AVoglaum and Reading, 1869. 
C. R., Ixix, 933; Le Tech., xxxi, 205. 



C. R.. Ixvlii, 349, 4f 5 : M. Sci., 1669, pp. 235, 299 ; B. S. C. P., 
1869, p 423; C. N., 1869, p. 237 ; Dingier, cxcii, 204, 
cxciii, 61 ; Poly. Cbl., 1869, p. 1240; D. Ind. Z., 1869, p. 
476; W. B., 1869, p. 800. 

D.Ind. Z., 1869, p. 209; W. B., 1869, p. 702. 

London, H. Greenwood, 1869 ; W. B., 1869, p. 713. 



Peg. An., 

Made to General Aasembly of Louiaiana, Dec. 31, 18C9. 

B.Lu.Gbl.,1869, p. 155; Dingier, cxciii, 122: ■\r.B.,1869, 

p. 686. 
Atlantic Monthly, xxili, 729. 
M. Sci., 1870, p. 53; W.B., 1870, p. 703; Arch. Neerlaud.. 

iv, 299, p. 703. 
A. C. et P. (4), xix, 392. 
M.P.L.S.,vlu, 135. 

A. der P., cxci, 50. 

B. u. H. Z.. 1870, p. 373; Poly. Cbl., 1871, p. 143; TV. B., 
1870, p. 697. 

C. N., xxi, 85; J. S. A., xviii, 290; Le Tech., xxxi, 530; 
Dingier, cxcvi, 165 ; B. I. u. Gbl., 1870, p. 178 ; D. Ind. Z., 
1870, p. 100. 

New York, D. Appleton & Co., 1870; W. B., 1870, p. 712 ; 

J. G. B., 1870, p. 156; Poly.Cbl.,1870, p. 772; D.Ind.Z., 

1870, p. 145. 
Paris, 1870. 
An. M. (4), xix, 669. 

C. N., xxii. 162. 

D. Ind. Z., 1870, p. 52 ; H. Gbl., 1870, p. 29. 

Annales dea Sciences Gfeologiques, ii, 1. 

Le Tech., xxxi, 530. 

P. A. A. A. S.,1870; A. J. S. l3),i, 420, 424; J. C. S., xxiv, 

157, 674. 
B.S.C.P.,xix,No.l2. 

B. u. H. Z., 1870, p. 44 ; W. B., 1870, p. 703. 



294 



PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY OF PETROLEUM— Continued. 



Subject. 



1870 
1870 
1870 

1870 

1870 

1870 

1870 

1870 
1870 



1871 

1871 



1871 

1871 

1871 
1871 

1871 

1871 



1871 
1871 

1871 

1871 

1871 

1871 

1871 

1871 
1871 
1871 

1871 

1871 

1871 

1871 

1871 
1871 

1871 
1871 



Martins, C. A ... 
Newberry, J. S.. 
Paul, B. H 



Pile, Dr. Wilson H . 

Eiedinger, L. A 

•Theobald, W 

■Willigk, Erwin 



"Wiinscbmanii, H. '. 
♦"Wynne, A. B 



AttfleliI,Jobii. 
BoUey,P 



Edgerton, Henry H . 
Edgerton, Henry H. 



Editor American Gasligbt Journal — 
Eranl£land, E., G. W. Stevenson, and 

S. Hugbes. 
Galletly, John 



Grotowaty, L... 

Honeymann, D. . 

Hunt, T. Sterry. 
Kaempfer, E 



LeBel, J.A 

Lo-we, Julius — 

Lyman, B. S 

*Maclagan, K... 
*Marvine, A. P . 



*Naumann, C.E 

Parish, Edward 

Parlter und Sunderland. 



Poljetski 

Sainte-Claire Deville, H. E 

Thorpe, T. E., and John Toiing . 
Van der 'Weyde, P. H 



Warner, A. J . 
Weise, K.v... 



1871 

1872 Anderson, Eicbard 

1872 ' Cecb, M . 



1872 I Champion, P., et H. Pellet . 
1872 ' Chandler, C.E 



! Ott, Adolph 

1872 Dupaisne, Albert. 



Essai sur la gSolojiie de la Palestine et des contr6es 
aroisinantes, telles que I'^figypte et 1' Arabic. 

Illuminating gas from petroleum 

Eemarkable gas wells in Ohio 

On the mode of testing mineral oils used in lamps 



Burmab oil springs ., 

Vorlaufige Notiz iiber Oxydationsproducte des Par- 
affins. 

Die Paraffin-Industrie 

Futtijung oil spring, Punjab 



Annales des Sciences G6ologique8, i, 5. 

A.J.Ph. (3),Kvlii,326. 

Am C, i, 201. 

C.N.,No.528,p.2; D.Ind.Z., 1870,p.52; H. Gbl., 1870, p. 

291; W. B.,1870,p. 705. 
T. A. Ph. A., 1870, p. 153. 



Kecords of the geological survey of India. 

3, pp. 72, 73. 
B.D.C. G.,1870, p.l38. 



1870, p. 1631 i 
1870, iii, part 



, Petroleum und Solariil auf 



Testing petroleum 

Ueber einige neiie Eigcnschaften des Paraffins und 



iiber die Paraffinbiide 
Sur I'origine du p6trol6 . 



Keport on the Saratoga process for the manufacture of 
illuminating gaa from naphtha. 



The use of torpedoes in oil wells 

Emploi du bitume dans la fabrication du gaz d'6cliiirage 

On a paraffine having a high melting point 

Ueber den Einfluss des Sonnenlichtes auf Petroleum . . 



Note on limestone containing petroleum, in Nova 
Scotia. 

On the oil wells of Torre Haute, Indiana 

Use of oxygen in oil wells for removal of paraffine . . . 

Sur les p6troles du Bas-Khin 

Apparat sur Bestimmung des Schmelzpunktes orga- 

niscberKorper. 
Reports on the Puiyab oil lands 



Note on the geographical distribution of petroleum 

and allied products. 
Santo Domingo petroleum 



Erdol und Asphalt 

On the rectification of petroleum. 
Petroleum bei Schmelzofen 



Verwendung des Petroleums zur Heizung 

Sur les propri6t6s physiques et le pouvoir calorifique 
de quelques p6troles de I'empire russe. 

Preliminary notice on the production of olefines from 
paraffine by distillation under pressure. 

New method of testing petroleum 



On the oil-bearing rocks of Ohio and West Virginia. . 
Um die Bcscbaffenheit der im Handel vorkommen- 
den Petroleum sorti-n zu constatircn. 

A roasting f amace for burning petroleum 

Petroloum-Benzin Fabrik 



Report of the Commission of Inquiiy to Santo Domingo 

On the origin of petroleum 

Appareil pour conserver, transporter, etc., I'buile de 
p6trole, etc. 

De quelques compos6s de la paraffine 

Report on petroleum oil, its advantages and disad- 
vantages. 

Translation of same into German 

Le p6trole, son histoire, sa nature, ses usages et ses 



Leipziger Blatter, 1870, p. 81. 

Kecords of the geological survey of India, 1870, iii, part 

3, pp. 73, 74. 
W. B., 1S70, pp. 704, 712 ; Jabresbericbt, 1863, p. 673 ; 1864, 

p. 675; 1865, p. 749; 1868, p. 729; C. N., 1870. pp. 2, 84 ; D. 

Ind.Z., 1870, pp. 19, 52; H.Gbl., 3870, pp. 36, 291. 
Ph. J., July, 1871; A. J. Ph. (4), i, 400. 
Dingier, cxc, 121 ; S. P. Z., xiii, 65. 

C.R., lxxiii,609; J. 0. S., xxiv, 1024; C.N., 1871, p. 167; 
M.Sci., 1871, p. 661; C. CM., 1871, p. 614; W. B., 1871, p. 
859; J. F. I., cili, 192. 

Memphis, 1871. 

Am. J. G. L., xiv, 99, 114, 130, 146, 178. 

Am.J. G. L.,xiv, 181. 
E. I., 1871, p. 314. 

C.N., xxiv, 187; J. C. S., xxiv, 1183; B. S. C. P., 1871, p. 

309; B. D. C. G., 1871, p. 866. 
T. P. S. B. (2), ii, 226; J. C. S., xxiv, 1025; Dingier, cxci, 

173; B. S.C. P.,xii,75; xviii, 424 ; K. J. Ph., xxxvii, 187; 

C. Cbl.. 1872, p. 538; W. B., 1872, p. 848. 
A. J. S. (3), i, 386. 

P. A. A. A. S., 1871, p. 428; A. J. S. (3), ii, 369. 
Dingier, ccii, 194; S. M. & Sci. P., 1871, p. 98. 

C. R., Ixxiii, 499; M. Sci., 1871, p. 655 ; B. S. C. P., xviii, 161 : 
W. B., 1871, p. 859. 

Dingier, cci, 254. 

Government Press, Lahore, 1871, fol.,pp. 1-46 and i-iii 

(11 plates). 
P. B. A. A. S., 1871, pp. 180-184. 

Report of the Commission of Inquiry to Santo Domingo. 

1871, pp.109, 110. 
Elemente der Mineralogie, 8th ed., 1871, pp. 591, 592. 
J.F.L, Ixxxi, 117. 
Z. fiir die deutscb-osteiTeich. Stahl-Industrie, 1871, No 

25; E.U.H.Z.. 1871, p. 203. 

D. Dl. G. Z , 1871, No. 33; Poly. Cbl., 1871, p. 1109; W. B.. 
1871, p. 917. 

Bull A.ISt.P., XV, 291; C.R.,lxxii, 191; Ixxiii, 491. J. 

C. S., xxiv, 453 ; M. Sci., 1871, p. 184 ; W. B., 1872, p. 906. 
C.N., xxui, 124; J.C.S., xxiv,342; Z. A. C, vli, 280; C. 

Cbl., 1871, p. 356 ; W. B., 1871, p. 801. 
Sci. Am., 1871, p. 162; M. Sci., 1872, p. 431 : Dingier, ccii, 

301; Am.J.G. L., xvl, 133; Poly. Cbl., 1872, p. 138; D. 

Ind. Z. 1871, p. 478; W.B., 1871,' p. 862. 
A. J. S. (3), ii, 215. 
Monatschriften des Gewerbevereins zu Colu, 1870, p. 319 ; 

Polv.Cbl., 1871, D. 378; C. Cbl., 1871, p. 327 ; H. Gbl. 1871, 

p. 103 ; D. Ind. Z., 1871, p. 173 ; W. B , 1871, p. 863. 
S.M. &Sci.P.,1871,p.249; B.U.H. Z., 1871, p. 203 ; Poly. 

Cbl., 1871, p. 781; W. B., 1871, p. 917. 
D. Ind. Z., 1872, p.217 ; C. Cbl., 1872, p. 1163 ; W. B., 1872, 

p. 844. 
U. S. Pub. Doc. 
J. S. A., XX, 601. 
M.Sci, 1872, p. 711. 

B.S.C.P., xviii, 247; C.E., Ixxv, 1576. 

Am. C, ii, 409, 446, iii, 20, 41; M. Sci., 1872, pp. 676, 872. 

962; 1873, pp.89, 685; Dingier, ocv, 587: D. Ind. Z., 1872. 

pp. 376, 442 ; W. B., 1873, p. 877. 
Zurich, 1875. 
Paris, 1872, 18°. 



PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY OF PETROLEUM— Continued. 



295 



Sabject. 



Forest, M. De la . 
Franck, A 



Gabb, William M. 
Gintl, H.E 



Hagenbacb, E . . 
Hayea, S. Dana . 



LeBel, J. A., and A. Muntz 
Lesley. J. P 



'Lyell.SirC... 
*Lymnn, B. S ... 
* Marrine, A. P . 

Meyn.L 

Morton, Henry.. 

Morton, Henry.. 
Ifewberry, J. S . 
Ott, Adojpb 



Reveley, H. "W . . 
Scborlemmer, C. 
Schoilemmer, C. 

■ Scrope, P 

Siewart.B 



Thor6,M 

TLorpe, T. E., and J. Young . 



Toirey, Dr , 
Waller, E.. 



Carquillat, Alfred . 
Donatb.E 



Editorial — 
Foote, A. E . 
Fuhst.H.... 



Henry, J. G . 
Jordery, M.. 



Miller, A. W. 
Noth, J 



Pecbham, S. F 

Remington, Josepb P. 



1873 I Scborlemmer, C . 

1 

1873 I Schwarz, H 

Stevens 



Strover, G. A . . . 
Thnrston, E. H . 
Videky, L 



Emploi ilu p6trole poor la fabrication du fer 

Petrolemusewinnung in Galizien und Amerika . 



the island of Santo 
"Wiener 



On the occurrence of petroleum 

Domingo. 
Galizischea Petroleum und Ozokerit auf di 

Welt.^us8telluns 

Versuche iiber Fluorescenz , 

On the history and manufacture of petroleum products. 

stearine 

Sur la mati^re eolorante noire des hitumes naturals. -. 

Eecord of fourteen oil wells at Brady's Bend, Arm- 
strung county, Pennsylvania. 

Petroleum springs 

Topography of the Puiyab oil region 

Petroleum in San Domingo 

The asphalts 

Fluorescent relations of certain solid hydrocaibons 
formed in petroleum tlistillates. 

Fluorescent relations of anthracene and chrysogen .. 

Ifotes em American asphaltum 

The refining of crude petroleum 



Asphalt {pavement in London) .. 

On the normal par.Tttines 

The chemistry of the hydrocarbo: 
Mud volcanoes, volcanoes, etc 



An account of some experiments on the melting point 

of paralhne. 
Presence du p6trolo dans Veau de Sainte-Bois (B.asses- 

Pyi-6n6es). 
Effects of hfat and pressure on paraffine 



Mexican petroleum 

Ifotes on the petroleum of Azua, Saint Domingo 

How to detect adulteration of oils 

Hymne au p6trole, d6di6 aux republicains presents et 



Uotii 



Peruv 



I den Stearin- 



petroleum 

•y of petroleum in Pennsylvania 

Ueber die continuirliche Destination des Petroleums, 

der Mineralole, etc., bei constantem Niveau und 

fractionirter Condensation. 
Appareil pour reconnaitre le degr6 d'inflammabilit^ 

du p6trole. 

The early and later history of petroleum 

Epaississement du petrole 



Cosraoline and paraffin 



I ointment 

n Tief bohrungen 



American asphaltum 

On the use of petroleum benzine for exhausting oleo- 

resinous drugs. 
On the Heptanes from petroleum 

Die Prodticte der trocken^'U Destination auf der 

Wiener Weltausstellung, 1873. 
A furnace for burning petroleum 



Wahl, William H 

"Wallace, 'William 

■Wood, A. H 

Woodbury, C. J. H 



Report to govemuient of India 

A machine for testing the value of lubricanta 

! Der Asphalt, seine Gewinnung, Bereitung und Ver- 
wendung in der Tecbnik. 

s to their safety 



Abland, William E. 



Report on mineral oils for lubrication 

Artificial light and beat and new inventions relating 
thereto. 

On the relative efficiency of kerosene burners 

Anwendung P vonetroleum bei der Eisen-Gewinnung 

A petroleum motor 



An. M. (7), ii, 557. 

B. u. H. Z., 1872, p. 351 ; Dingier, ccvi, 237 ; Poly. Cbl., 1872, 

p. 1352. 
A.J.S. (3), iii, 481. 

Allgem. nius. Weltausstellung, 1872; Bd. i, p. 236. 

Pog. An., cxlvi, 389. 

Pamphlets privately printed ; Am. C, ii, 401 ; A. J. S.(3), 

ii, 184; C.Cbl., 1871, p. 7Ki; W. B., 1871, p. 861. 
C.N.,xxvii, 16; Dingier, cciii, 313; B. S. C. P., xvii, 567. 

B. S. C. P., xvii, 156. 
P. A. P. S., xii, 562. 

Principles of Geology, 11th ed., 1872, pp. 410, 411. 

Trans. Am. P. S., xv, 1 ; An. M. (6), xx, 318. 

A.J.S., (3),iv, 159. 

J.S.A., xxi, 11,35. 

Am. C, iii, 162; C. N., xxvi, 272 : P. M., (4), xlvi, 89; J. C. 
S.,xxvi.235; xxvii,14; Pog. An.,civ, 551; Am.J.G.L., 
xviii, 145, 163; M. Sci. 1873,p.356; W.B., 1873, p. 879. 

J.r.I., lxxxiv,269. 

Am.C, ii, 427; C.N., xxv,46; A.J.Ph. (4),ii,313. 

Sci. Am., Mayl=, 1872; C.Cbl., 1876, p. 704; J. C. S., xxxii, 
376; B. S.C.P.. xvii 285; B.D.C. G., vii, 704, 719. 

J. S. A., XX, 502, 576, 590, 700 ; xxi, 882, 887. 

P. T.,1872, p. Ill ; J. C. S., xxv,1053 ; B.D. C. G.,1872, p.297. 

J.C. S., xxT,425; Am.C, ii,454; Mecb. Mag., 1872. 

Volcanoes, 1872, pp. 401, 402. 

C. N., xxvi, 262. 

L'A.S.etI., 1872, p. 2il. 

J. C. S.. XXV, 602; B. D. C. G.,1872, p. 556; A. 0. n. P., 
clxv, 1 ; B. S. C. P., xviii, 246; C. N., 1872, p. 35; W. B., 
1872, p. 848. 

Am. C, u, 290. 

Am. C, ii, 220. 

Am. C, ii, 428 ; Oil Trade Review. 

Paris, 1873. 

Dingier, ccviii, 3.,5. 



J. S. A., xxi, 234. 
Am.C, iu, 174. 

Dingier, ccvii, 293 ; Le Tech., xxziii, : 
p. 879; Poly. Cbl., 187.3, p. 575. 



19,251; W.B.,1873, 



; Eng.,xvi,337: L'A. S. et I., 1872, p. 205; 



,375; 



,526. 



Philadelphia, .Jas. B. Rodgers & Co., 1873. 
Comptes-Reudus des Seances de la Soci6t6 d'Enconrage- 

ment: Les Mondes, xxx, 49; Jour, de Pharm., 1873. p. 

348; B. S. C. P., xix, 86; Dingier, ccix, fcO; An. G. C 

1872, p. 794. 
A.J.Ph. (4), 111,534. 
J. K. K. G. E., xxiii, 1 ; Extract in the Geo. Mag., i, 1874. 

Am. C. iv, 6. 

P. A. Ph. A., 1873, p. 592. 

J. C S., xxvi, 319; J. f. P. C. CS. r.),viii, 216 (ccxvi, whole 
No. of vol.) ; C. N., xxviii, 44 ; A. C. n. Ph., clxvi, 172; 
B. D. C. G., 1873, p. 74; W. B., 1873, p. 877. 



S.M. &Sci.P.. XXV. No 23; B. u. H. Z., 1873, p. 36; W.B., 

1873, p. 965. 
A. J. S. (3), vi, 235. 
J. F. I., Ixxxvi, 1. 
Dingier, ccvii, 240, 328. 

J. F. I., xcv, 267 ; Am. J. G. L. , xviii, 91, 113. 

Am. C, iii, 66; The Grocer. 
Am. J. G. L., xvui, 129. 

J. F.L, Ixxxvi, 115. 

An. M., 1872, p. ."ol ; B. u. H. Z., 1873, p. 239 ; Poly. Cbl., 

1873, p. 724; C.Cbl., 1873, p. 543; W.B., 1873,p.966. 
J. F. I., Ixxiviu, 87. 



296 



PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY OF PETROLEUM— Continued. 



Albrecht, A . . 
Andrews, Dr . 



Barret, M 

Bell, J. Carter . 



Bizio, G- . . 
Editorial . 
Fauck, A . 



Fichet 

Field, Frederick. 



Fries 

Hell, C, and E. Mendingei 

Hock, Julius 



Lemberger, Joseph L . 
"Xyman, B. S 



Meldrum, Ed . 
Miller, A.'W-. 

Miller, J 

Milne, Jolin .. 



Moffat, E. Carter. 



Morgan, T.M 

Ommeganck, M. C . 



Pouchet, A. G . 



Windakiewicz, E . 

"Windakiewicz, E . 

Abel, F.A 

Albrecht, A 



Beghin et Mfene, Cb. 
,G.A , 



Chandler, C.F 

Chesebrough, W. H. 
Coleman. J. J 



Cunningham, C. 

Editorial 

Farez 



Farez et Boulanger . 

Gadd, William 

Hager, H 

Hawcs, George W . . 



Hunt, T. Sterry ... 
Jazukowitsch, N . 



Jenney, "Walter P. 



Langer, J. H 

Lemberger, Joseph L . 
*Lyman, B. S 



Miller, J. &G. 
Mongel, L 



Subject. 

Das Paraffin und die Mineralole (mit 4 Holzscbnitten) 
On the composition of an inflammable gas issuing from 

the silt bed. in Belfast. 
Note sur la combustion des huiles et essences de p6- 

trole. 
Estimation of water in paraffine residues (residuum) 

and crude paraffine. 

"Vortriige iiber Petroleum (African oils) 

Petroleum in Unssia 

Erdwachs- und Petroleum -Gruben zu Boryslaw in 

Galizien. 

Sur Temploi §conomiqne des combustibles 

On the paraffine industry 

Vorkommen von Petroleum in der Provinz HannoTer 

Sauren in Eohpetroleum 

Petroleum motor 



On cosmoline ' 

Yeddo rock oils 

Preparation of paraffine oil 

Paraffine, cosmoline, and vaseline ' 

Suj la purification des hydrocarburcs 

Notes on the physical features and mineralogy of New- 
foundland. 

On the bituminous deposits of the volley of Pescara, 
Soutb Italy. 

Heptane aus pennsylvaniscbem Petroleum 

Extinction du p6trole a I'aide du chloroforme 

Action de I'acide nitriqne sur la paraffine ; produits 
divers qui en resultent. 

Carbureter 

Petroleum-Gewinnung in Galizien 

Das Erdol und Erdwachs in Galizien 

On accidental explosions 

Specifisches Gewicht der Paraffiusorten - 

Analyse du charbon min6ral de I'isle Suderoe 

Ueber den Naphta-District des nordwestlicben Kau- 

kasus. 
The applications of asphalt 

The chemistry of gas lighting 

Vaseline 

Application of mineral oil to lubrication 

Manufacture of oil stills 

P6trole en Alg^rie 

Quelques traits de I'histoire du p6trole, son origine et 

celle de la houille. 
Sur lea huiles de lubrication 

Ueber die Verweuduug von Minoraloleu zur Erzeu- 

gung von Dampf. 
Unierscheidung des Petrol-benzina und Steinkohlen- 

Ou diabantite, a chlorite occurring in the trap of tbe 
Connecticut valley. (iBitumen in trap.) 

Cbemical and geological essays 

Wirkung von Sauerstofl' auf Steinkoble und Paraffin. 

On the formation of solid oxidized hydrocarbons, re- 

st^.mbling natural asphalts, by the action of air on 

relined petroleum. 
Eidol-Lagerstiitten am nordostlicben Ufer des Kaspi- 

scben Metres. 

Xote on preparations of paraffine oil 

Reports on the Yamukushinai, Idzumisawa, and 

"Washinoki oil lauds in Yesao. 
Petroleimi deodorization 

Decoloration and purification of paraffine 

Note sur les gisements de bitume fossile des environs 
de Zaho (Kurdistan). 



Stuttgai-t, 1874, E. Koch. 

C.N., xsx, 138; J.C. S., xxviii, 242. 

An. G.C., 1874, XJp. 1, 150. 



C.N.,; 



, 57; "W.B., 1874, p. 979. 



B. D. C. G., 1874, p. 361 ; W. B., 1874, p. 977. 

J. S. A., xxiii, 53. 

B. u. H. Z., 1874, p. 446; Poly. Cbl., 1875, p. G5 W B., 

1874, p. 975. 
An. G. C, 1874, p. 190. 

Am. C, V, 169, 176; J. S. A., xxii, 349, 411 : Am. J. G. L., 

xxi, 187 ; W. B., 1874, p. 979. 
Poly. Zeit., 1874, No. 22 : B.u.H. Z.,1874, p. 247 ; "\y.B.,1874, 

p. 977. 
B. D. C. G., vii, 1216 ; A. J. S. (3), ix, 138 ; B. S. C. P., 1874, 

p.410; A.derP.,ccvii,172; Dingier, ccxiv, 341; C. Cbl., 

1874, p. 674 ; "W. B., IS74, p. 978. 
J. R. A., xxii. 798: Dingier, ccxii. 73, 198; Eng., xviii, 242; 

Am. J.G.L., xxii, 67; Poly. Cbl., 1874, pp. 402, 1318; 

D. Ind. Z., 1874,p.245; K. I., 1874, p. 36; TJhland's 

Mascb. Const., 1874, p. 195 ; "W. B., 1874, p. 1033. 
P. A. Ph. A., 1874, pp. 384, 507. 
Keport on the 1st season's geological survey of Yeddo, 

1874, pp. 38-41. 
C.N., xxxix, 208; "W.B., 1874, p. 979. 

A. J. Ph. (4), iv, 1 ; A. der P., ccv, 467. 

B. S. C. P., 1874, p. 376 ; W. B., 1874, p. 979. 
Q. J. G. S., XXX, 738. 

C.N.,xxx, 255. 

B.D.C.G., 1874, p.1792; "W*. B., 1874, p. 978. 
Bruxelles. 1874, Henri Manceaux; Am.C.,v, 292; "W*. B., 
1874, p. 882. 

C. R., Ixxix, 320; Dingier, ccxiv, 130; B. S. C. P., 1874, p. 
Ill; M.Sci., 1874. p. 868; C.N., xxx, 156; C. Cbl.. 1874, 
p. 612; "W.B.,1874,p.979. 

Eng., xvii, 398. 

Oest-Z.f. B. u. H., xxii, 350j C.Cbl., 1875, p. 16; W. B- 

1874, p. 975. 

B. u. H. J., xxiv, 1 ; P. I. C. E., slu, 343. 

P. E. I., vii, 403. 

Hubner'sZ.,1875,p. 1; Dingier, ccxviii, 280; W.E.,1S75, 

p. 1061. 
C.E.,lxxx, 1404. 
Corresp. Bl. fur Natur-Vereiu in Kiga, 1875, No. 11; W. 

B., 1875, p. 1059. 
P.LC.E., xlui, 276. 

Am. C.,vi, 242,285. ^ 

B. D. C. G., 1875, p. 1369 ; W. B., 1875, p. 1059. 
C.N., xxx, 147; W. B., 1871, p. 846; 1873, pp.8, 67; 1875, 

p. 1059. 
Am.J.aL., xxii, 67. 
Les Mondes, xxxvi, 318. 
Paris, 1875, 8°. 

33; P. I.C.E., 

Dingier, ccxviii, 310; W. B., 1875, p. 1116; S. M. & Sci. P. 

XXXV, 279. 
Pharm. Cbl., 1875, p. 130 ; C: Cbl., 1875, p. 314 ; VT. E., 1875, 

p. 1060. 
A.J.S. (3),ix,454. 

Boston, J. E. Osgood & Co., 1875. 

Jour, der Enss. chem. Gesellschaft, vii, 2G0 ; B. 1). C. G., 

1875, pp. 28S, 768 ; C. Cbl., 1875, p. 4G6. 
Am.C.,v,309; W.B., lS75,p. 1060. 



Oest. Z. f. B. u. H.. 1875. p. 153; C. Cbl., 1875. p. 429; ^. 

B., 1875, p. 1059; Gornyi Journal. 
P.A.Pb.A.,l87.^>,p.G27. 
Kaitakusbi Eeports bv H. Capron and assistants, 1875. 

pp. 593-031 ; Alsuta oil, p. 431. 
B. D.C.G.,1875,p.278; "W. B., 1875, p. 1059, 1876: p. 1110; 

B.D.C.G., 1876, p.liOS. 
C.N.,xxxi,175; W.B.,I875,p.l061. 
An. M., 1875, p. 85. 



PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY OF PETROLEUM— Coutinued. 



297 



Subject. 



Morgan, Thos. H . 
Schorlemmer, C . . . 

Slnir, J.S 

Ott, Adolph 



Kesearches on the paraffin 

petToIeum. 
Kemarks Ob the same 



existing in Pennsylvania | J. C. S., xxviii, 301 : M. Sci.. 1875, p. 1121; C. N.. xxxii, 
61; A.C. u. P., clxxvii, 304, 311; W. B., 1875, p. 1060. 
.T. 0. S., xxviii, 306; M. Sci., 1875, p. 1125. 



Mineralolen 

Entdeckuns nnd Vei-werthnng 



Die lU'inignna 

Das ritroleum, 
in den Veteinijiten Staaten, nebst Mittbeilungen 
liber die Priifung auf seine Feuergefabrlicbkeit 
(niit SXaleln). (Translation of C. F. Chandler, 1872). 



1875 
1875 



1875 
,1875 
1875 



Eamdobr, L 

Eamdohr, L 

Redwood . Boveiton 

Rogers & Burchfield, Leecbburg, Pa . 
Sadtler.S.P 



Stacey, B. F . . . . 
Thompson, C. O; 
Tobl.H 



1875 I Wagner, August-. 

1875 "Wagner, August. 

1875 ' Windakiewicz, E . 
1875 *Wrigley, H. E... 



Miscb.. u. Filtei* Aitparat zum Entfarben von Paratlin 
miltels pulveiisirter Knocben-Kohle. 

Testing petroleum oils. 

Puddling -n-itb u.itural gas 

Second Geological Surrey of Pennsylvania. B: Min. 
eralogy ; Appendis. 

An essay on paratHne .and its uses in pb.irmacy 

Gas from gasoline 

chtungsmaterial, 

Kiitiscbe Uutersnchurgen iiber deu 'Worth von 
Napbtalin und Pctroleuiti als Ersatz-Mittel fiir 
CannebKoble. bei der Gasfabrikation. 

Der "Werth von Petroleum und Steinkohlentbeer zur 



1875 
1S76 

1876 
1876 

1876 

1876 

1876 

1876 
1876 
1H70 
1876 
1876 
1876 
1876 
1876 

1876 
1876 

1876 
1876 



"Wurtz, Henrj' . 



Bourgougnon, A . 
Bourgougnon, A . 



Petroleum region of western Pennsylvania (with 2 
maps and sections). 



The Eamcs system of furnace working with petroleum 



The lighting of mills, gasoline, and carbureters 

TTeber Paratlin enhaltende Mineralstofle auf der Ap. 

scheronischen Halbiusel. 
Pennsylvani;! petroleum 



Brayton,H 

Byasson, H 

Cabot, S., jr 

Carll.J.F 

Chandler, C.F 

Cornwall, H. B 

Cornwall, H.B 

Delano, "William H 

Dolfus '..- 

Editorial 

Editorof Journal of Franklin Institute 



Frankland, Dr.E 

Geological Corps of Canada . 

Gibbs, CD 

Grotowsky, L 



1876 I Hale, J. P. 



1876 I LeBel.J.A. 



1876 
1876 



1876 
1876 
1876 



1876 
1876 



Lockert, M 

McCarty, John . 
ilerrill, E.S.... 
Morton, Henry . 



A petroleum motor 

Memoire sur Torigine du p6trole 

Action of sulphur at high temperatures upon normal 
paraffiue. 

OUwell records 

Statistics of petroleum in the United Stales 

Petroleum 

Kerosene oil 

L'asphalto et ses applications ; dallages et enduits — 

.Spontaneous combustion 

Petroleum in der Liineburger Haide 

Storage of petroleum, benzine, or similar substances 
while on draught lor sale or use. 

Fuel and motive power 

Descriptive catalogue of a collector of economic min- 
erals of Canada. 

Californinn petroleum 

Der derzeitige Stand der PariBn- nud Mineral iil- 
Gewinnung in der Provinz Sachsen. 

Salt (contains a description of the first artesian well 
of 1809). 

Reaktion der Homologe des At. thylens 



B. D. C. G.,1875, p. 277; W. B., 1875, p. 1059. 
Ziirich, 1875; "Verlags-Magazin. 



Dingier, ccxvi, 158; Poly. Cbl., 1875, p. 1094; "W.B., 1875. 
p. 1055. 

Dingier, ccxvi, 244 ; Poly. Cbl., 1875, p. 1021; "iV. B., 1873. 
p. 1061. 

E. M. "W. S., ixii, 335, 376, 402, 458. 

J. F. I., c, 83 ; J. S. A ., xxiii, 978. 

Harfisburg, 1875. 

P. A. Ph. A., 1875, p. 629. 
Am. C, vi, 11. 

Dingier, ccxvi, 47; D. Ind. 2., 1875. p. 213; Polv. Cbl., 

1875, p. 896 ; Ind. B., 1875, p. 242 ; W. B., 1875, p." 1053. 
Dingier, ccsvi. 256; P. I. C. E.. xli, 306; B. I. u. Gbl., 

1875, p. 1; Poly. Cbl., 1875, p. 890; C. Cbl., 1875, p. 575; 

Am. C, vi, 77 i "W. B„ 1875, p. 1088. 
Dingier, ccxvii. 64 ; J. G. B., 1875. p. 124 ; Ind. B., 1875, p. 

221 ; Poly. Cbl., 1875. p. 956 ; C. Cbl., 1875, p. 604 ; "W. B.. 

1875, p. 1090. 
Oest. Z. f B.u. H., xxii, 196; C.Cbl., 1875, p. 832; "W. B., 

1875, p. 1055. 

1st Annual Report of the 2d Geological Survey of 
Pennsylvania, 1875; B. u. H. J., 1876, p. 137; "W". B., 

1876, p. 1113. 

Am.C, vi. 94; R. I., 1875. p. 353: Le Tech., xxxvl, 23: 

Hubners Z., 1875, pp. 25, 31 ; "W. B., 1875, p. 1116. 
B. N. A. W. M., vi, 258. 
Bull. A. I. St P., xxi, 494 ; "W. B., 1876, p. 1109. 



Am.C , 



ii, 81 ; Le Tech., xxxviii, 49. 
ii. 123; "W. B., 1877, p. 1033. 



Sci. Am., 1876, p. 171; Dingier, ccxx, 186; Hiibner's Z., 
1876, p. 95; D. Ind. Z., 1876, p. 234; "W. B., 1876, p. 1177. 

R.I.. 1876, p. 454; L' A. S. et I., 1877, p. 200 ; M. Sci., 1876, 
p. 1077; W. B., 1876, p. 1113. 

Am.C, vii, 20; C.N., .xxxvi,114; "W.B.,1876, p.lUO. 

P. A. P. S., xvi, 346. 

Am. C, vi, 251 ; "W. B., 1876, p. 1114. 

P.S. M., is, 140. 

Am. C, vi. 458. 

Le Tech., xxxvii, 212. 

Bull. Soc. Ind. de Midhouse, 1876. 

A. d. P., ccix,461. 

J. F. I., ci, 224. 

E. M. Vr. S., xxiv, 355. 
Montreal, 1876. 



S. M. ct Sci.P., 



, 351 ; P. 



Odliug. "William 

Ray, S 

Redwood, Boverton. 

Sadtler, S.P 

Sadtlor, S.P ....:... 

Solyyn, J.H 

Smith, J. Lawrence. 



1676 Smith, J. Lawre 



Solidiiication du pctrole 

Petroleum as an enricher 

Explosions and method of testing petroleum oil 

Thallene, its source and the history of its discovery. 



Paraffines and their alcohols 

Petroleum as a lubricant in turning metals 

Description of Mr. "Wilson's cbrono-thermometer, for 

use in testing mineial oils. 
On the chemical composition of Pennsylvanian petro- 

leum. 
On the composition of the natural gas from certain 

wells in western Pennsylvania. 

Petroleum as fuel 

Report to Centennial Exposition at Philadelphia, 1876. 

Puits de gaz en Penusylvanie 



on the resourcesand industries of the state('W."S'a. ) 1876. 
B. D. C G.. 1876, p. 60: C. R.. Ixxxi, 967; Hiibner's Z.. 

1876.p.l34; "W.B.,1876, p. 1111. 
LeTech., xxxvii, 262. 
Am. J. G. L., sxvi, 54. 
Am. C, vii, 121. 
Am. C.,vii, 88; C.'N..xxsiv, 188; Pog.An.. clix,653; C. 

Cbl., 1877, p. 149; W. B., 1876, p. 1111 ; J. F. I., cii, 225. 
P. E. I , viii, 86 ; P. M. (5), i| 205 ; J. C. S., xxx, 279. 
E. M. "W. S., xxui, 644. 
E. M. W. S., xxii, 496. 

Am. C, vii, 181 ; W. B., 1877, p. 1038. 

P. A.P.S., xvi, 206, 585; Am.C. vii, 97; B.U.H. Z., 187«, 
p. 73 ; Eng. and Min. Jour., xxi, 171 ; "W. B., 1876, p. 1134. 

E.M.W.S.. xxiv, 316. 

International exposition, 1876. reports and awards, Vol. 
IV; M. Sci., Jan., 1880. 

A. C. et P. (5), viii, 566; B. S. C. P., 1877, No. 3 ; P. L C E., 
xlvi,355: C.Cbl., 1876, p. 606; "W.B.,1876. p. 1178. 



298 



PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY OF PETROLEUM— Continued. 



Subject. 



Tweddle.H.W.C. 
Whitlark, W.J... 



Asbbumer, C. A . 
Batty, ■William . . 



Cabot, S., jr . 
Cbnrchill.... 
Cloez.S 



Erismann, Fred 

Friedel, C, and J. M. Crafts . 



Godstone, F. H.. 
Grabowsfei, S ... 



Gtillo,L 

Hell, C, and E. Mendinger . 

Heuraann, K 

Hoefer,H 



Holley, A.L... 
Homecke 



Kedzie, Eobert C - 

Averill, Perry 

Killebrew, J.B... 
KoschknU, Fr. v.. 



KoschkuU, Fr. ■ 
Martius, C. A.. 
Mendeyeff, M.. 



Mosler, Charles.. 



Manroe, H. S 

Nettleton, E. S., by J. F. Carll 



Peokham, S.F.... 
Pielsticker, C. M . 



Sadtler, S P . 
Silveatri, O . . 



Urquliait, Thomas . 

Wagner, E.T 

Weber.K 



Weil, Fred ... 
Wilson, M. E . 



Ashbumer, C. A . 

Asbbumer, C. A . 

Ashbumer, C. A . 
Asbbumer, C. A . 

Aydon, H 

Bell, Eobert 



Chance, H. M . 
Cloe7.,S..: ... 



Petrozene and its products 

Examination of twenty-four specimens of kerosene 
sold iu Michigan. 

Petroleum in Euasia 

Eeport to the secretary of state for the home depart- 
ment on the subject of the testing of petroleum. 

Description of the Wilcox spouting water well 

Petroleum-Kiickstande als stanbionaiges Brenn- 
material fiir Cupolofen. 

Conversion of the normal parafiSnes into the benzole 

The naphtha wells in the neighborhood of Baku 

Nature des hydrocarbui-es prodnits par I'action dea 

acides sur la foute blanche miroitante mangan^sif^re. 

{Spiegdeisen? } 
TJeber die bei den Miinchener Preisen aus der ver- 

schiedenen Beleuchtungsart. erwachsenden Kosten. 
Sur une m6thode g6n6rale nouvelle de aynth^ae d'hy- 

drocarburea, d'ac6tones, etc. 

On gaa from gasoline 

Ueher den galizischen Ozokerit nnd das Cerisin 



of the lighthouses of France. 
Sur I'oxidation de I'acide CiiHaoOi contenu dans le 

p6trolo brut. 
Mohrings Oel u. die Feuergef iibrlichkeit dea kiiuiiicben 

Petroleuma. 
Bericht iiber die Weltausatellung in Philadelphia, 

1876, herausgt'geben von der osterreichiachen Com-. 

mission (Heft viii). 
Die Petroleum-Industrie in Nord-Amerika 



J. F. I., 
Am. C, 



Li, 204; P. I. C. E., xlvii, 401. 
ii, 47. 



Am. C, vii, 62. 
London, 1877; C.N., x 

W. B.. 1877, pa045. 
P.A.P. S.,xvii, 127. 
Dingier, ccssiv, 105. 



•,73; Am. J. G. L., 



C.N., 



,140. 



Puddling by naturiil gas 

Das Petroleum in den Vereinigten Staaten von Nord- 
Amcrika, 1877. 

Address on the illuminating oils of Michigan 

Kepoit as state iuspector 

The oil regions of Tennessee 



Vorkonimen von Ozokerit im Kuukasu 
Die ameriknnische Petroleum-Industrii 
Sur I'origine du petrole 



1878 Dittmar, William . 



Petroleum in Jap.in 

On the firat systematic collection and discussion of 
the Venango County oil wells of western Penn. 
sylvania. 

Nolea on the ultimate analysis of crude petroleum 

Eaflfiairung des Ozokerit 



Paraffine from oil wells 

Sopra alcune paraf&ne ed altri carburi d'idrogeno 

omologlii che trovansi contenuti in una lava dell' 

Etna. 
Apparatus for burning crude petroleum in locomotives. 

Ueher des Geheimmittel Vaseline 

Petroleum, auf aeine Entziindlichkeit 



Travail analytique et induatriel fait aur un p6trole 

d'figypte. 
Sur I'huile de Eangoon 



Oil-well records in the northern or Bradford oil regiona, 
Pennaylvania. 

Oil-well recorda in McEIean and Elk counties, Penn- 
sylvania. 

The Bradford oil district of Pennsylvania 

The oil sands of Pennsylvania 

Liquid fuel 

Eeport on an exploration of the east coast of Hudson 
Bay. 

Hyner's Station oil-well section 



par Taction de I'eau pure s 
fer et de manganese. 
The eudiometric analysis of mixtures of paraffines . 



C. E., Ixxxv, 1003 ; W. B., 1878, pp. 35, 1197 ; M. Sci., 1878, 
pp. 113, 800 ; C. N., xxxvi, 942 ; C. Cbl., 1878, pp. 35, 483. 

Dingier, ccxxv, 587. 

C. B., Ixxxv, 74. 

E. M. W. S., xxvi, 358. 

Z. A.O. A., 1877; Poly. Cbl., xviii,139; Hubner'sZ., 1877. p. 

S3i C. Cbl., 1877, p. 464; Am. C, vii, 123; W.B., 1877, p. 

1039. 

Giornale del Genio Civile, xv 1, 61, 121; P. L C_E., L, 286. 

B. S.C.P., 1877. vol. ii,385; B. D. C.G., x, 451; C. Cbl., 

1877, p. 322; W. B., 1877, p. 1038. 
H. Gbl., 1877, p. 74; D. Ind. Z., 1877, p. 136; Dingier, 

ccxxiv, 408, 525; Ind. B., 1877, p. 251 ; W.B., 1S77, p. 1034. 
Wien, 1877 ; B. u. H. Z., 1877, pp. 259, 311, 317 ; W. B., 1877, 

p. 1026. 

W. B., 1877, p. 1026. 

Eng., xxiii, 217. 

Hubner'a Z , 1877, No. 7, p. 21 ; W. B., 1877, p. 1045. 



Nashville, 1877. 

Hubner's Z., 1877, p. 23 ; W. B., 1877, p. 1025. 

Hiibner'.^ Z. 1877, p. 73; W. B., 1877, p. 1041. 

Berlin,1877. 

B. S. C. P. , i, 501 ; B. D. C. G., 1877, p. 229; D. Ind. Z., 1877, 

p. 115 ; Ind. B., 1877, p. 251 ; W. B., 1877, p. 1037. 
Hiibner's Z., 1877, No. 2, p. 4 ; No. 3, p. 5; W. B., 1877, p. 



1045. 

N. T. Mining and Eng. Jour. ; Eng 
P. A. P. S., xvi, 383, 429. 



,502. 



, 237; W. B., 



04; 



Am. C, vii, 327. 

B. D C. G., 1877, p. 1759; B. S. C. P. 

1877, p. 1045. 
P. A. P. S.,xvii, 11. 
Gazzetfa" Chimica Italiana. vii, 1 ; J. C. S., 

Dinuler, ccxxiv, 657; B. D. C. G., 1877, p. 293; W. B., 1877, 

p. 1024. 
Eng., xxiii, 9. 
Dingier, ccxxlii, 515. 
Ind. B.,1878, p. 12; W. B., 1877, p. 1032; D. Ind. Z., 1878, 

P.O. 
M. Sci. (3), vii, 295; W. B., 1877, p. 1026. 



A. J. S. (3), xvi, 393 ; xvii, 69. 

P. A. P. S., xviii, 9. 

T. A. L M. E., vii, 316. 

J. F. I., cvj 225. 

Eng., XXV, 168. 

Geo. Survey of Canada, 1877-78. 



P. A. P. S. 

C. E., Ixxxvi, 1248. 



670. 



PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 

BIBLIOGKAPHY OF PETROLEUM— Continued. 



299 



Subject. 



1878 j Fretwell, JohB. 
1878 I Grotowsky, L-. 



1878 Grotowsky, L. 



1878 

1878 

1878 

1878 

1878 

1878 

1878 
1878 



1878 
1878 
1878 



Petroleum inHoomania J. S. A., iivi, 481. 

Daratellunf'und'Verwendungdes Paraffinolsaaes Zeit. f. Bers- und Hatt«n- und Salmen-SVeaelj, ixv, 176; 

P. I. C.E., L,3«8; W.B., 1878, p. 1207. 

Die chemische Zusainmensetzung des kaufliohen Par- ! Hiibner's Z., 1878, p. 50 ; W. B., 1878, p. 1191. 



Grotowsky, L... 
Giinsberg, R — 
Hausermaan, C . 
Kachler,F. N... 
Landolpb, Fr ... 
Letay, Alex 



L.L 

Lisseuko, K 

Macadam. Stevenson . 



Morton, Henry, and Wm. E. Geyer. 
Preunier, L., et K.David 



Kadziszewski . 
Rodriguez, B.. 
Russell, J. C .. 



1878 Sauerlandt.F. 



1878 1 Schorlemmer. C 

1878 I Stenhouse, J 

1878 I Strippelmann, Leo . 



1878 Thom.soD, William . 



1878 I Thorpe, Prof., editor . 

1878 ' Wagner, Rudolph v. . 

1879 ' Albrecht.M 



1879 
1879 



Albrecht, M . 
Albrecht, M . 



Allen, Alfred H. 



1879 Asbbumer, C. A 

1879 Ashburner, C. A 

1879 , Barbieux et Rosier . 

1879 Benistein, A 

1879 Biel, J 



1879 j Correspondent of Daily News 

1879 Correspondent of the Iron-Monger. .. 

1879 ; Delano, William H 

1879 Donatb.Ed 

1879 ; Editorial in the Journal of the Frank- 

1 lin Institute. 
1879 Englcr,H 

1879 Engler, H 

1879 Geissler, E 



Die Verwerthunj 
chemikalien in 

TJebcrdie Verbrennung derfliichtigen Kohlenwasser- 
stoffe des Potrolenms im Saurestoligaa. 

Auf die verscbiedenen Benzine die aus den Vereinigten 
Staaten auf den europaischeu Markt kommen. 

Handbuch der Minei-alolgasbeleuchtung und der Gas- 
beieiluugsole (mit 21 li'thographirten Tafeln). 

Sur uno n4»uvelle m6thodo synthetique pour la forma- 
tion des carbures d'hydrog^ne. 

Ueber die Eiuwirkuog hober Temperatur auf Petro- 
leum, Braunkohlentheor und andere ahnlicbe Stoflfe. 

Fabrication du gaz de p6trole par le proc6d6 Wren - . 

Ueber i-ussisches und amerikanisches Kerosin und 
iiber die Beleuchtung mit schweren Mineralolen. 

Paraftine oils and their action on metals 

Paiaffines in commercial " water gas" 

Sur la nature de certains produits acceasoirea obtenus 

dans le traitemeut industrial des petroles de Penn- 

sylvanie. 

Tj eber die Eutstebung der Mineralole 

L'.iBphalte de Banes {Isle de Cuba) 

On the occurrence of a solid hydrocarbon in the 
eruptive rocks of Xew Jei-sey. 

Tjeber das spc'-ifische Gewicht des Paraffins .ana 
galizi.schem Ozokeritvon 65°-82° Schmelzpuukt. 

On the normal paraffines 

Recherches sur lea paraffint-a normales 

Die Petrolenm Industrie Oesterreicb-Deutschlanda, 
dargestellt, zur Klai-stcllimgderen Wiclltigkeitund 
Zukunft und zur Aufklarung dea fur dieae Indu- 
strie sicli intereasirenden Kapitals. in geschicbt- 
licher, geologischer, berguiaunischer, wirthschaft- 
licher und techniaclier Beziehimg. Abtheilung I 
u. II : Oesterreich. 

On the estimation of mineral oil or paraffine wax 
when mixed with other oils. 

Coal, its history and uses 

Vaaeline 

Die Priifung von Schmieroleu 

Ueber Petroleum in aeiner Anweudung ala Lampenol. 
Ueber daa Petroleum von Baku 

Notes on petroleum spirit or " benzoliue" 

On the oil sand of Bradford, McKean county, Penn- 
sylvania. 

The Kane geyser well 

Saponification of mineral oils 

Apparat zur Priifung von Petroleum, etc 

Untersuchungen amerikanischer und russiacher Pe- 
troleumaorten. 

Petroleum from the Caspian 

Natural gas in iron making 

Asphalt and mineral bitumen in engineering 

Die Priifung der Schmiermaterialien 

Carbureting air 

Ueber die Bestimmung der Feurgefahrlichkeit des 
Petroleums. 

Die Loslichkeit der Metalle in Petroleum 

Priifung fetter Oele auf Mineralole 



Hubner's Z., 1878, p. 38 ; W. B., 1678, p. 1192 
Dingier, ccxxviii, 581 ; J. C. S., xxxiv, 916. 



Dingier, ccxxvii, 477; C. Ind. Z., 1878, p. 166; D. lDd.Z.. 
1878. p. 198 ; Ind. B., 1878, p. 172 ; W. B., 1878, p. 1193. 



C. R., Ixxxvi, 1267, 



Dingier, 



353; M. Sci., 1879, p. 79. 



1879 I Horler, H. 



1879 I Janke, L.,und A. Barth. 
1879 j Kayser.E 



1879 I Hedzie, Robert C . 



Zur Untersuchnng und Behandlung desPetroleiuns- 
Eine einfache Petroleumuntei-snchungamethode 



Untersnchuujj iiber natiirliche Aaphalte mit 
Beiiicksichtigung ihrer photochemiachen Eigen- 
schaften. 



An.G.C.,1878, p.215. 

Dingier, ccxxvii. 78, 161 ; B. D. C. G., 1878, p. 341 ; Z. A. C, 

1878, p. 116; W. B.,1878, p. 1092. 

T. P.S.E. (3), viii,463, ; J.C.S., xxxiv,355; E. M.W.S.. 
xxvi, 351. 

C. N., xxivii, 187 ; J. C. S., xxxiv, 609. 

C. E., Ixxxvil, 991 ; Ixxxvui, 386; B. S. C. P., xxxi, 158, 294; 
B. D. C. G.. 1879, p. 366; A. der P., ccxv, 158 ; C. N.. xl, 
167; C.Cbl.,1879,p.261; J. C.S.,xxxvi, 309,447; W.B., 

1879, p. 1187. 

A. f. P., ccxiii, 455. 
R. U. M. (2), iv, 756. 
A.J.S. (3),xvi, 112. 

Dingier, ccxxxi, 383 ; Hiibner's Z., 1878, p. 81 ; W. B., 1873. 

p. 1192; 1879, p. 1169. 
P. T., 1878, p. 1 ; C. N., xl, 280; J. C. S., xxxii, 866. 

B. S. U. P., XXX, 189 ; A. C. n. P., clxxxviii, 249. 
Leipzig, G. Knapp, l.S78-'79. 



P.B.A. A.S.,1878,p.508; Le Tech. (3), ii, 193. 

London, MacMUlan & Co.. 187S. 
Dingier, ccxxiii, 515 ; W. B., 1878, p. 1192. 
Ri»a. 1879, ,T. Deubner; Reviewed, Hiibner's Z., 1879, 
p. 67 ; D. Ind. Z., 1879, pp. 232, 242; W. B., 1879, p. 1139. 

D. Ind. Z., 1879. p. 74 ; W. B., 1879, p. 1173. 

Rigaacbe Induslrie-Zeitung. iv, 171; Hiibner's Z., 1878, 

p. 83 ; W. B., 1877, p. 1189. 
C.N.,xl, 101; L. J.G. L., xxxiv, 407; C. Z., 1879, p. 632; 

W.B., 1879, p. 1192. 
P. A. P. S., xviii, 419 ; T. A. I. M. E., 1879 

J. F.I., cviii,347. 

E. M. W. S., xxix, 230. 

D. Ind. Z., 1879, p. 517 ; W. B., 1879, p. 1180. 

Dingier, ccxxxii, 354 ; C. Ind. Z., 1879, p. 204 ; C. Z., 1879, p. 

285 ; J. C. S., xxxvi, 1076 ; W. B., 1879, p. 1182. 
J. S. A., xXTii, 894. 

E. M. W. S., xxix, 353. 
P.LC.E.,lx,249. 
Leoben, Otto Protz, 1879. 
J.E.I.,cvii,404; Eng. 

B.D.C.G.,1879,p.2I84. 

B. D. C. G.,1879,p.2186; C. Cbl.,Apr. 7, 1880; C. N.,xli, 284. 
Correapondenzblatt des Vereins analyt. Chemiker, 1S79. 

p. 55; Dincler. ccxxxui, 349; C. Ind. Z.. 1879, p. '294, 

C. Cbl.. 1879, p. 750. 
A. der P., ccxiii, 48. 

Dingier, ccxxiv, 52 ; .1. C. S.. xxxviii, 197; Ind. B.. 1879, 

p. 471; C.Ind. Z., 1879, p. 488. 
Hanover. Monatsobrift, 1879. p. 97; C. Z., 1370, p. GU. 

W B., 1879, p. 1186. 
Niimberg, Fr.Kom,1879; W.B.,1879,p. 1150. 



7tb An. Report of Michigan State Boardof Health, Lan- 
sing, 1879. 



300 



PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY OF PETROLEUM— Continued. 



Name. 



Subject. 



Krug, Oscar, "redigirt" 

Livache, A 

Meyer, Yictor 

Neff, Peter 

Notb, Julius 

Pectham, S. T 

Preuuier, L 

Eamdohr, Ludwig 

Sadtler, S. P., and H. G. McCarter. 

Sadtler, S.P 

Schottky, A 

Schweitzer, Paul 

Skalweit 

Strippelmann, Leo 

Strippelmann, Leo , 



Thurston, R.H ... 
"Wagner, August . 



Zeitschrift f. die Paraffin-, Mineralol- und Brauntoh- 
len-Induatrie zur Besprechung der Producte der 
trockenen Deatillation u. Terwandten Stoffe (Petro- 
leum, Ozokerit, etc.). Herauseegeben vom Verein 
fiir Mineralol-Industrie zu HaUe. 



G-utachten, hetr. eino Yerordnung iiber den Verkehr 
mit Petroleum, Neolin, und anderen feuergefahr- 
lichen Fliissigkeiten der Industrie, der Polizeidirek- 
tion des Cantons Zurich erstattet. 



TJeber das Vorkommen von Petroleum in Galizien, 

On the determination of specific gravities 

Eecherches sur la nature des carhures incompleta qui 



Srennent naissance dans le traitement pyrog6n6 
es petroles d'Am6rique. 
Yerfabren der Anwendung von "Waaserdampfeu bei 
der Destination von Fliissigkeiten. 



The presence of the higher defines in petroleum 

TJeber die Methoden der Piiifung dea Petroleums und 
die dazu verwendeten Apparate. 

A lecture on petroleum, etc., with appendix 

Apparate iind Methoden zur Petroleumpriifung , 



Edited from Hiibner's Z., 1879. 



B. S. C. P., xsxii, 66G ; C. R., Ixsxvii, 249. 
Ziiricb, 1879; "W. B.,1879, p. 1175. 



Dingier, ccxxsi, 177. 

Hiibner's Z., 1879, p. 63 ; W. B., 1879, p. 1192. 
C.N.,sxxis,97. 

A. C. et P. (5). xvii, 5 ; B. S. C. P., xxxi, 293 ; J. C. S,, 
1025 ; B. D. C. G., 1879,_p. 843. 



Dingier, ccxxsii, 67; N. Z.E.L,1879,p.413; In d. B., 1879. 

p. 205; D.Ind.Z., 1879, pp. 212, 221 ;C. Z., 1879, p. 303; 

B. D. C. G., 879, p. 861 ; 0. Cbl., 1879, p. 407 ; W. B., 1879, 

p. 1163. 
Am. Chem. Jour., i, 30 ; P. A. P. S., xviii, 185. 



Beitrag zur Gesciiicbte des Petroleums 

Die Petroleum-Industrie Oesterreich-Deutscblands, 
daro estellt, zur Klarstellung deren Wichtigkeit und 
Zuknnft und zur Aufklarung des fiir dieso Indu- 
strie sich interessirenden Kapitals, in gt-Bchiclit- 
licher, geologischer, hergmannischer. wirthschaft- 
licber und techniseher Beziehung. Ahtbeilung 11. 
Oesterrcicb (mit 2 Tafeln). 

Friction and lubi'ication. Determination of the laws 
and coefficients of friction. 



The "testing of petroleum" act. 
Petroleum as fuel 



PA.P.S.,xviii,44. 

C. Z., 1879, pp. 193, 205 ; "W. B., .1879, p. 1180. 

Columbia, Mo., 1879 ; "W. B., 1879, p. 1194. 

Hanover. Monatschrift, 1879, p. 89; C. Z., 1879, p. 614; 

AV. B.,1879, p. 1186. 
B. u. H. Z., 1879, p. 349 ; "W". B., 1879, p. 1192. 
Leipzig, G. Knapp, 1879. 



London, Triibner and Co., 1879. 

B.Lu.Gbl., 1879, p. 82; C. Ind. Z., 1879, p. 247; Ind. E., 

1879, p. 224, 246, 263 ; W. B., 1879, p. 1173. 
C.N.,xl,305; xli,34. 
J. F. L,cviii,210; J. S. A.,xxvii,959; E. M."W.S.,xxix. 

513. 



Allen, Alfred H. 



Asbbumer, C. A 

Barff, Arthur 

Beilstein, P., und A. Kurhatow. . 

Beilstein, P., und A. Kurhatow . 
Bertbelot, il 



Further notes on 
liquids. 

Petroleum 

Petroleum as fuel . 



l)etroleum spirit and analogo 



Ueber die Natur des kaukasischen Petroleums. 



Bourgougnon, A . 



Editorial. 



Fischer, F 

Gulicbambaroff, S. 
Haupt, Hei-man . . . 
Herman, F 



Petroleum and its examination . 
Petroleum district of Baku 



Kienlen, P . 



Preunier, L., et E. Yarenne , 
Eamsden,J.C 



Emploi de la paraffine dans lea usines de produits 
cbimiques. 

Investigation of lubricating oila 

Petroleum as fuel 

Water gas from coalaud petroleum 

Ueber das Problem die Anzahl des isomeren Paraffins 
der Formel Cnn2n+2 zti besti 



Petroleum district of Kouban . 



Eand, B. Howard 
E6mont, A 



Rice, Cbas , chairman of committee . 



Richards, Ellen H. S 

Scbal, Eugene 

Schiitzenherger et Joinine. 
Wagner.R.v 



Die Industrie der Mineialole des Petroleums, Para- 
ffins u. Ceresiiia, nebst den ueuesten Kabrikations- 
metboden; 2. Tbeil (mit 11 Holzacbnitten u, 2 litbo- 
graphischen Tateln). 

Sur les produits contenus dana les cokes de petiole . . . 

.1 Hartenund Anlasscn 

Note on the protection of oil tanks from lightning 

Recherche et dosage dos huiles lourdea min6ralea et 



Dnguentum paraffioi. Report on the revision of the 
United States Pharmacopteia. 

Report on wool oils 

Paraffine as a protection to wood and iron 

Recherches suv lea petroles du Caucase 

Die Priifung desErdoIs 



.,1880, p. I 
xlii, 189 ; B. D. C. G., 1880, p. 2076. 

A. J. S. (3), xix, 168. 

J. S. A.,xxviii,761,811. 
E. D. C. G., 1880, p. 2028 ; A. J. S. (3), xxi, 
p. 847. 

B. D. C. G., 1880, p. , 1818 ; A. J. S. i3), x: 

C. R., xc, 1240 ; J. C. S., xxxviii, 786. 

Jour. Am. Chem. Soc. ; Am. J. G. L., xx 
Consular Reports, No. 1, October, 1880. 



n,618; C.jS'., 



a.L, 



I, p. 476. 



Dingier, ccxxxvi, 487; J. C. S., xxxviii, 778. 
Gomyi Journal, June, 1880 ; P. L C. E., Ixiii, 408. 
Am. J. G. L. , xxxii, 75. 
B.D.C.G.. 1880, p. 792. 

B. S. C. P. 1880-11, 459; J. C. S., xxxviii, 682. 

Consular Reports, Ko. 1, October, 1880. 

Wien, Carl Gerold's Sohn, 1880. 



C. E., Ixxxix, 1006 ; B.S.C.P., 1880, pp. 545, 1 

1880, p. 1141. 
Dingier, ccxxxviii, 290. 

P. A. P. S.. xix, 216. 

B. S. C. P.,1880,p.461; J. C. S., 



New York. 1880, p. 191. 

B. N. A. "W. M., ix, No. 2. 

J. F. I., ex, 249. 

B. S. C. P., 1880,p.673; B. D. C. G., 

W. B., 1880, p. 849. 



PRODUCTION OF PETROLEUM. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY OF PETROLEUM— Continued. 



301 



Date. 


Name. 


Subject. 


Reference. 


1880 


Walter, Bruno 


Die Chancen einer Erdolgewinnimg in der Bnkowinn. 


J. K. K. G. R., XXX, 115. 


1880 


■\7oodbury, C. J. H 


Friction of lubricating oils 


Trana. Am. Soc. Mech. Eng., 1880, p. 1 ; P. A. A. A. S., 

1880, p. 182. 


1880 




The new process for utilizing liquid fuels 


E. M. -^T. S., ssxi. 509. 


1S7U to 1878 


Cox.E.T 


Reports of the Geological Surrey of Indiana. 




1863 


"•Report of Geological Survey of Can- 
a<la,Sir 'Wm. E. Logan, director. 


Bitumens. Petroleum springs 


1863, pp. 521, 785; 1865. pp. 217, 403. 


1868 to 1874 


'Lesley, .1. P., editor 


tTuited States Kailroad and Mining Kegister. 




1854 to 1878 


Owen,D.D.,N.S.Shaler, J. E. Proctor. 


Keports of the Geological Survey of Kentucky. 




1862 to 1878 


Safford.J.M 


Keporta of the Geological Survey of Tennessee. 






Kcdwood Boverton (secretary) 

Reports of the New Tork Petroleum 
Exchange. 


Reportsof the Petroleum Association of Great Britain. 
Annual Reports of the New Tork Produce Exchange. 








1873 to 187)- 


J. .S. Xcwberr/. chief; Edward Orton 
and E. U. Andrews, assistants ; T. 
G. Wormley, chemist; F. B. Meek, 
paleontologist. 


Reports of the Geological Survey of Ohio 


Columbus, Nevins i Myers, State Printers, v. d. 






Reports of Second Geological Survey of Pennsylvania. 

Reports I, II, and III (with maps). 

Report K. 

Report R (with maps). 


Harrisburg; published by the commissioners of the sec- 
ond geological survey, v. cl. 




J. F. Carll. Venango and "Warren 
counties. 

J. J. Stevenson, Greene and "Washing- 
ton counties. 

C. A. Ashburner, McKean county 


1872 
et iteq. 





Reports of state inspector of illuminating oils for 
Michigan. 


Lansing, v. d. 



PERIODICAL PUBLICATIONS. 

Bradford Era, Bradford, Pennsylvania; Petroleum World, TitusviUe. Pennsylvania; Oil City Derrick, Oil City Pennsylvania; Stowell'a Petroleum Reporte 
TituaviUe, Pennsylvania ; Oil. Paint, and Drug Reporter, ^ew York ; Oil and Drug News, New York, etc. 



INDEX OF N^ISIES OF PERSON'S. 



A. 



Abel, r. A 224,227,296,298 

Abich, H 285,289,297 

Abland, W. E 205 

Abnifeila 282 

Adams, W. B 292 

Aelian 4, 2f 2 

Agricola, G 253 

Aikec, Arthur 30,84,283 

Ainsworth 284 

Albrecht, A 195,296,209 

Alexander, J. E 283 

Allen, A. H 201,299,300 

Allen, George 158 



Alle 



202 



Allen. Zaohariah 215,287,292 

Amiei-son, Dr 2S5 

Anderson, R 294 

Anderson.T 280,289 

Andrews, Dr. (of Belfast, Ireland) 296 

Andrews, E.B 38,67,287,290,301 

AngeU.C.D 12,13 

Antrclot 



265 

Angler, J. D 10,78 

Ansted. D. T 240,287,290,291 

Antisell,Dr. T... 168,286 

Arcber, Professor 288 

Arioste, Frangois 18,253 

Aristotle 4,282 

Ashbumer, C. A 14, 243, 298, 299, 300, 301 

Atkinson,E 291 

Atkinson, E. (of Boston, Massachusetts) 209 

Attfleld, Dr. John 53,227,290,294 

Atwood, Luther 9, 10, 180 

Atwood, WiUiam 9, 10,29 

Audouin,Paul 292 

Aughey, Professor S 38 

Averill, P 298 

Aydon.H 298 

B. 

Bach, Captain E. N 283 

Bailey, L.W 289 

Bannan,B 290 

Barbieux et R(»si6r 299 

Barif, A 300 

B.irlow, John 286 

B-iiTet, M 296 

Earth, A 209 

BHtty,W 298 

Baumhauer, M. T 293 

Beaufort 283 

Beaumont, Elie de 284 

Bechstein, M. L 292 

Beck, L 285 

Beghin et Mine Ch 296 

Beilstein, F 55,300 

Beitenlohner, J. J 172 

Bel, Le, J. A 297 



Bell, J.C 296 

Bell, K 298 

Bennett, Thomas.jr 209 

Bernstein, A 224,299 

Bertels, G.A 296,298 

Bertbelot, M 58-60, 248, 287, 290-293, 300 

Bertbier, P 284 

Berton, Dr 286 

Bertrand, II 283 

BiancoDi, (G. L. !) 283 

Biel, J 180,220,222,299 

Kigelow, H.J 290 

Bioney, E. W viii, 9, 10, 30, 64, 159, 169, 261, 284, 293 

Birge, William H 158 

Bissell, George H 11 

Bizard imd Labarre 290 

Bizio. G 296 

Bjorkland, G.A 292 

Blake, William P 285,289 

Blass, J.C 293 

Bleekrodc, M 287 

Boileau, Gauldree 288,292 

Bolley, P 286,287,294 

Bond, George William 259 

Bone, H. W 287 

Bone, J.H.A 289 

Booth, J 291 

Booth, J.C ^8( 

Bottger 284 

Bon6 284 

Boulanger 296 

Bourgougnon, A 109, 110, 297, 300 

Boussingault, J. B 6, 53, 57, 240, 283, 284 

Bower, George 288 

Bravton, H 297 

Brewer & Wataon 10,11 

Brewer, Dr.F.B 10 

Briggs, E 289 

Bright, Richard 30,283 

Brockhaus, J 291 

Brough, William viii, 153 

Brown, W 286 

Buchner, A 168 

Bochner, O 283,288 

Bnfaenius 286 

Burchfleld 249,297 

Burokardt 283 

Burkart 293 

Byasson, H 60,294,297 

C. 

Cabot, S., jr 58,297,298 

Cabonrs, Aug 54,58,288 

Callier, Captain 284 

Calvert, F.C 226,293 

Campbell, D 227 

Caneto, L'Abb6 284 

Carll, J. F vii, 41, 43, 90, 297, 298, 301 



Carney, C. T 254,286 

Carpenter, C. M 26,284 

Carquillat,A 295 

Carrara, J 285 

Cech,M 294 

Chabrier, E 296 

Champiun.P 58,294 

Chance,n.M 298 

Chaucourtois, De 288 

Chandler, C. F 216, 220, 223, 236, 293, 294, 296, 297 

Charneroy,M 284 

Cheesebrougb. R. A 255 

Chcesebrough, William H 296 

Chevalier, M ■- 292 

Chrisli3on,E 108 

Church, M.C.C 104 

Churchill 298 

Clarke, W.B 290 

Clemson, Thomas G 284 

Clinton, De Witt 261,283 

Cloi^z, S ; 60,298 

CoiTe.v.A '. 291 

Cogniet,C 292 

Coleman, J.J - 296 

Colin, E 293 

Conelly, Lieutenant 284 

Cooke.M.C 4,286 

Coquand.H 61,71,73,291,202 

Coquillion, M 249 

Cornwall, H.B 218,297 

Coi rigan, James 16 

Cotta,B.v 290 

Cowles.S 289 

Cox,E.T 37,301 

Cox, H 283 

Crafts, J. M 60,298 

Crawfurd, J 6, 283 

Crosby, A. H H 

Crowther.B 292 

Ctesias 5,282 

Cunningham.C 296 

Cashing, J.N viii,35 

». 

Daddow,S.H .- 290 

D'AUion, J. de la Roche 5,283 

Dana, J. D 178,288,290,293 

Danberry , C 285 

Danckwerth,Z 292 

D'Aoust, Virlet 8,284 

Daubr^e, A 67,286,293 

David, R 56,299 

Davis, J. F 2S4 

Dawson, J. W 292 

Day 285 

De Berton 286 

De Coulaine 285 

De Ferrari. P. E viii, 18 

303 



304 



INDEX TO REPORT ON PETROLEUM. 



Page. 

Degonsie, M 2S4 

Uelahaye, JT. B 285 

Delano, W. H 290,297,299 

De la Rue, TV 53,286 

Delesse 54 

Bemarcay 58 

Dickinson 250 

Djeudonne, C 293 

Diudoi-ua Sicnlua 4,282 

Dion, Cassiua 282 

Dioscorides 4 

nittmar 298 

Dodge, J. E 288 

Dolfas 297 

Donatll,E 177,195,295,299 

Drake, E.L 11 

Diaper 289 

Diaper, Dr : 261 

Draper, George 208 

Draper, H.N 293 

Dudley, C.B 213 

Duff, Lieutenant 287 

Dufrinoy, A 66,286 

Dumas, J 283, 293 

Dundonald, Earl of 159 

Dupaigne, A 294 

Dyer, L. E 300 

E. 

Eamos 250 

Eaton, S. J.M 290 

Edgerton,H.H 294 

Eele 169 

Eichwald 284 

Eirinis d'Eyrnya •. 253,283 

Eisenstuck, Dr 286 

EUenberger, OT. G 291 

Emmons, S.F 26 

Engelbach, T 53,286 

Engler and Haas 223 

Engler, H 299 

Eratosthenes 4 

Erismann, F 298 

Ermann, G. A 284 

Emecke, A 293 

Evans, E. TV 288, 290 

Eveleth, J. G 11 

Evrard et Diat^rre 290 

F. 

Eairman, E. St. J ^ 292 

Faraday, il 283 

Farez et Boulanger 290 

Fauck, A 296 

Fenner.A 290,293 

Fichet 296 

Field, F 296 

Fillipuzzi, Fr 286 

Fischer,F _ 300 

Flemming.A 285 

Flemming, S 288 

Foetterle.Fr 286,287 

Foote, A. E , 295 

Fordred, J 173,293 

Forest, It. Dela, 295 

Forster 4,283 

Foncou, F61ix 240, 261, 289, 292, 293 

Founiel, M 284 

Fouqufi, M 240, 291, 293 

Franok, A 295 

Frankland, E 288, 294,297 

Franklin, B 288 

French, Dr 252 

Frctwell, J 299 

Friedel, C 60, 298 

Friea 296 



Page. 

Fryer, J 283 

Fucha, J. N. V 286 

Fuhst.H 295 

Ct. 

Gabb, 'William M 29,295 

Gadd, TVilliam 296 

Gaillardot 285 

Gallctly, John 176,294 

Garrett, Thomas H 287 

Gay-Lussac, J 283 

Geiaslcr, E 299 

Georges, E 252,288 

Gerhardt, M 285 

Geaner, A 287 

Geyor,TV.E 299 

Gibbon.s, William S 287 

Gibbs,C.D 297 

Gill,C.H 293 

Gintl.H.E 295 

Glocker,E.F 284 

Godatone, F. H 298 

Goldstein 55 

Gordon, A 592 

Goreux 293 

Grabowski, J j 61. 298 

Granier, M 205 

Green, Joel 290 

Gregory, W 168,284 

Gretachel 290 

Griflin, C 288 

Grothe , 258 

Grotowaki, L 59, 293, 294, 297, 299 

Grove 280 

Grnner, M 289 

Guibert, M 284 

GulichambarofF, S 249,300 

Gullo, Z 298 

Gumilla 283 

Giinsberg, K 299 

B. 

Hagenbach.E 295 

H:ager,H 296 

Hale, Dr. J. P 6,297 

Hall,0.\V 41 

Hall.Jamea 70 

Halleck.TV.H t.. 285 

Hamilton, W.J 284 

Hancock 159 

Hanuemann 293 

Hanway, Jonaa 4, 283 

Hanway,P.S 285 

Harkneaa, E 286 

Harley, H 93 

Harris, Dr. James viii 

Hartman 259 

Hass 223 

Haudoin et Soulie 288 

Haudoin, H 288,290 

Hauer, von 292 

Hauer und Foetterlo 285 

Haupt, H 300 

Hiiusermann.C 299 

Hausmann 285 

Hawes, G. W 296 

Hayes, S.D 295 

Hays, S. S 290 

Haywood, H 287 

Hell, C 58,296,298 

Hellmann 285 

Hellmann, K 298 

Henry, J. G 5,295 

Henry, M., jr. (of England) 283 

Herbelot, D 283 

Herbert, T 4,283 

Herman 284 



Page. 

Herman, F 55,300 

Herodotus 3,77,282 

Hess, H 284 

Hesae,0 54 

Hildebrant 252 

Hildreth, S.P 7,9,157,242,283,284 

Hill, N.P 223 

Hinde, J. H 292 

Hii-n.G.A 204 

Hirah, J 292 

Hirzel.H 290 

Hitchcock, C.H 39,61,289,291 

Hitchcock, E 284 

Hochstetter, F. v 289 

Hock, J 251,295,296 

Hoefer, H 298 

Hofi'mann, A. W 288 

HofiFmann, B 291 

Hoffmann, E 299 

Holland, Dr 283 

Holley, A. L 298 

Honeyraann, D 294 

Hurler. H 299 

ilornecke 298 

Hue, L'Abb6 35,283 

Hugenet, laadore 285 

Hughes, Griffith 283 

Hughes, S 294 

Humjioldt. A. V 9,29,65,240,285 

Humfrey, M. Ch 288 

Hunt, R 288 

Hunt, T. S 28,38,39,62,287,291,293,294,296 

Hutton, W. R: 293 

Hyde, Charles 10 

Hyde, Willi.am C 10 

I. 

Ingram et St,apfer 292 

J. 

Jacinsky, W 289 

Jackson, C. T 284,285,289 

Jaoobi, R 288 

Jaffre, J 293 

Jameson. W 285 

.Lanke, L 299 

Jazukowitsch. N 2911 

Jenney.W.P 58,290 

Jeunesse 292. 

Johnston, J. F. W 283 

Jones, T. E 29,64,291 

Jouine 55, 300 

Jordery. M 295 

Josephus 4,282 

Jugler, J 293 

Enenipfor 4,283 

K.iempfer, E 294 

Kalm, Peter 5,283 

Eao, Dionysiua 283 

Kama, S. D 93 

K.iraten 287 

K.ayscr. E 299 

Ke.ates, T.W 227 

Kedzie, R. C 298,299 

Keppel, G 4,283 

Kienlen, P 300 

Kier, S. M 10,159,233 

Killobrew, J. B 29S 

Kinnier. J. M 4,283,28.-. 

Klaprotb, H. J 28.'> 

Kleinschmidt. J. L 291 

Knab.C.M 292 

Knar, C 66,292 

Knox, George 5,53,283 

Kobell, von 168,280 

KoUor, T 293 



INDEX TO REPORT ON PETROLEUM. 



305 



Page. 

Kolliker 258 

Kopp.E 287,288 

KoschkuU, Fr. T 298 

Krus.0 300 

Kiichler, F. N 299 

Kuckla, F.F 291 

Kurbatow, A 55,300 

li. 

Lamb.F 293 

Lanilerer 252 

Landolph.Fr 61,299 

Laiiger.J.H 296 

Laitel, Lnuis 34,289,291,294 

Lattiniore.S.A 105,241 

Laurent, Augnste 54,283,284 

LeBel,J. A, 50,294,295,297 

Lefibvre.E 292 

Lembirger, J. L 296 

Lent7..A 58 

Lesley, J. P vii. 24, 37, 38,41, 49, 02-64, 71, 

77,287-289,291,295,301 

Lesquereus, L 291 

Letheby, H 53,227,246,287-289 

I,etny,A 299 

Letronne 284 



Miller, J 296 

Milne,J 296 

Minsball, F. W vu, 49 

] Mitacherlicb 285 

Moffat,K.C 296 

! Monet,M.A 292 

Mongel,L 296 

Montcalm, General 5 

Montgruel, L. P 288 

Moore &Beck 284 

Morgan, T.M 55,297 

Morier 283 

Morris, "William 7 

Morton, Henry 56,295,297,299 

Mosler.C 298 

MuUer 283 

Muller.C.G 286 

Miiller, J 293 

Muir, J.S 297 

Munroe, H. S 298 

Mnntz, A 56,295 

Murchison, Sir K. J 283 

Murphy, J. M 289 



, M. 



285 

Liutftn. Laura "viii 

Li3senko,K 248,299 

I,ivacbe,A 300 

Lockert,M 297 

Lockwood, F.W 220 

Logan. Sir W. E :.- 28,301 

Longbottom 245 

Lowe ; 245 

Lowe, J 294 

Lunge.Dr 292 

Lufzen, M.J 283 

Liiynes, Due de 289 

Lyell,SirC 295 

Lyman, B.S 17,294-296 

Lynch, Lieutenant 285 

n. 

McCarter,H.G 300 

McCarty.J 297 

McGauley, J. W 288 

Macadam, S 59,183,291,299 

Maclagan.K 287,294 

Macrae, Alexander 287 

Magnier, D6sir6 291 

Mallet.K 247,288 

JlalcLeon 288,291 

Mandeville 4,282 

Manross, N. S 289 

ilansfleld.C 159,245 

Marcet, William 288 

Marco Polo 4,282 

iIartius,C.A 294,298 

Marvine, A. P 294,295 

Medlen, K. W 296 

Medlicott, H. B 289 

Meek.F.B 301 

Meldrum, E ' 159,169,296 

Mend6ljeff,M 60,298 

Mendinger, E 58,296,298 

M«ne,C 296 

Mcnsel, E 292 

Merrill, Joshua 9,162,167,180 

Merrill, K.S 297 

Meyer, H.v 292 

Meyer, V 300 

Meyn, L 295 

Millet,M 284 

Miller, A. W 295,290 

Miller,G 296 

Miller, Hugo 53,286 

VOL. IX 20 



1*. 



285 



Pratt, S.W 65 

Prei38er,r 284 

Prennier, L 56,299,300 

Priestwich, J.,jr 30,284 

Proctor, J. E 301 



Naamyth 

Naumann.C.F 294 

Neff, Peter 300 

Nettleton, E.S 298 

NenendaW, L. V 289 

Newberry, J. S 10, 67, 243, 286, 291, 294, 295, 301 

Nicholson, E. C 287 

Nicklos.J 289 

Noth, J 292,295,300 

Novosiltzoff, Count 15, 154 

Nugent, Nicholas 5,283 

O. 

Odling, ■William 55,297 

Oldham, T 286,291 

Ommeganck, M. C 296 

O'Neil, Chrvrles 287 

Oppter,Theo 287 

Ordway,J. M 195 

Orr, Hector 291 

Orton, Edward 63,301 

Ott.Adolph 291,292,294,295,297 

Owen,D.D 286,301 

P. 

Paravey, M. de 284 

Parish, Edward 287,294 

Parker und Sunderland 294 

Parran 66,286 

Paul, B.H 227,287-289,292,294 

PanVK.M 293 

Peacock,D.R 300 

Pebal 287 

Peokham, S.F 185, 291-293, 295, 298, 300 

Pellet,H 294 

Pelletier et TValter 284 

Pelouze,J 54,288 

Peltzer,R 292 

Perciv.-U, J. G 285 

Perutz, H 286,291,300 

Philostratus 282 

Pielsticker, C. M 298 

Pile, Gustavus 110 

Pile, W.H 294 

Pliny 4,253,282 

Plutarch 4,282 

Porjetaki 294 

Portlock 159 

Po3epny,Fr 289 

Pottinger 284 

Pouchet,A.G 58,296 

■pouquoviUe, F 5,283 

Pratt, S.P 285 



R. 

Kadziszewski 299 

Rambossom, J 288 

Kamdohr, L 174,297,300 

Ramsden, J. C 300 

Kand.B.H 300 

Eand.T.D 289 

Raveset 53 

Ray, S 297 

Read, M.C 14,25 

Redwood, B viii, 227, 235, 291, 297, 301 

Reese 171 

Regnault, M. V 288 

Eeichenb.ach, Dr. E. v 6, 54, 65, 168, 283, 284, 286 

Eemmington. J. P 295 

Remont, A 300 

Reveley, H. "W 295 

Rey, Alphonse 289 

Rice, Dr. C 254,300 

Richards, EUen H. S 210,258,259,300 

Richardson, C. J 289,291,293 

Richardson, Sir J 285 

Eichtofen, v 287 

Ridgway, Thomas S 288 

Rioberstoin 283 

Eiedinger, L. A 294 

Eitter, Carl 9,284 

Riviere, A 74,286 

Eobb, Charles 287 

Eoberts, E. A. L 84 

Robertson, A. C 285 

Robinson, E 284 

Eobinson, W 284 

Eochon, A. M 283 

Eock, T. D 287 

Eodriguez, B 299 

Eoemer, Dr. Ferd viii 

Eogers & Burchfleld 249,297 

Eogers, H. D 286,288 

Eonalds, E 55,288,289 

Eoset, M 65,284 

Rosier 299 

287 

199 



Eoth, Jules . . 
Rouse, H. R . 

Rowley, J 

RuflEner Bros. 

Russegger 

Eussell, J. C . 



8. 

Sadtler, S. P 57,240,297,298,300 

Safford, J. M 63,291,301 

Sagard 5,283 

Sainte.Claire Deville, C 284 

SainteClaire DevUle, H. E 53, 247, 292-295 

Saint-Evre, M 285 

Salleron et Urbain 223,291 

Sample, J. E 253 

Sauerlandt, E 177,299 

Sauerwein, M. A 288 

Saussure, T. de 283 

Saybolt 224 

Sayles, Ira 290 

Schal, E 300 

Sheafer.P.W 290 

Scheide,W.T 248 

Schiefifer,E 290 

Schmidt,Ed 290 



306 



INDEX TO REPORT ON PETROLEUM. 



Scholtty.A 300 

Schomburgk,E.B: 265 

Schooley.J.S 290 

Sohorlemmer, C . . , 54, 283, 290, 291, 293, 295, 297, 299 

Sobnbert 284 

Schubert, C. J 289 

Schubert, Julins 104 

Scbnch,L 293 

Schiitzenberger 55, 300 

Scliwarz,H 287,290 

Schweitzer, P 300 

Scrope,P 295 

Seeger 296 

Selligne 169,288,284 

Selwyn,A.E.C 28 

Selwyu,J. H 297 

Seneca 282 

Sequier 292 

SUaler,jr. S 37,69,301 

Shattuok, C. H 288 

Shuffeldt,G. A.,jr 290 

Silliman, B., jr 11, 53, 178, 184, 286, 289-292 

SUliman, B., sr 8,53,159,253,284 

SUvestri, 32,53,298 

Simoma,L 292 

Sintenis 224 

Skalweit 300 

Smith, J. Lawrence 297 

Solinns 253 

SonUe,E 288,290,292 

Stacy, B.r 297 

Stanford, E. 0. C 287 

Stapfer 292 

Stenhouse.J 55,288,290,299 

Sterry.C 293 

Stevena 295 

SterenBon, G. W 294 

Stevenson, J. J 301 

Stewart, B 295 

Storer.P.H 54,58,168,267,290,292 

StoveU'B Petroleum Beporter 141,301 

Strabo 4,5,282 

Stranahan, F. G 10 

Strickland,H.E 284 

Strippelmann, L 299,300 

Strover.G.A 295 

Swallow, (J.C 26,38,290 

Syke8,C.P 290 

, Michael 5,283 



Page. 

Symonds, Lieutenant 284 

Symons, "W. H 255 

T. 

Tacitus 4,232 

Tagliabue 224 

Tate, A. Norman 226,287,289,293 

Taylor, E.C 29,72,284-286 

Thenard 292 

Theuius, G 237 

Theobald, W 294 

Theobald, W.,iT 286 

Thor6,M 66,295 

Thornton, E 287 

Thorpe, T.B 294,295,299 

Thompson, CO 297 

Thomson, Dr; T 263 

Thomson, J. E 268 

Thomson, W 299 

Thurston, E. H 195,211,250,295,300 

Torrey, Dr. J 295 

Trask,C.H ..i 154 

Tripler, A.B 286 

Tronquoy, C 291 

Turner, S 263 

Tuttsohew, J 55,58,289 

Tweddle, Dr. H. W.C 15,56,152,298 

r. 

Uelsmann, H 287 

Urbain 223,291 

Ure, A 284,285 

Urquhart, T , 298 

Ussher, J 4,290 

T. 

VanderWeyde, P. H ..., 294 

Varenne, E 56,300 

Tauquelin,M 53,283 

Verchfere, A.M 292 

Videky, L 295 

Yigne, G. T 4,285 

Viiey, J. J 263 

VitrUTJus 32,253,282 

Vogel, A 287,288 

Vohl, H 172,181,286,297 

Voisin, M 265 

Tolokel, C 53,285 

W. 

■Wachtel,H 287 



Wagner, A 283,297,300 

Wagner, E. t 177, 288, 239, 291, 292, 298-50O 

Wahl, William H 220, 29E 

Waite, Charles N 204 

Wall, G. P 29,64,240,287 

Wallace, William 295 

Waller, E 29, 53, 295 

Walter, B 16,301 

Warburg, E 293 

Warner, A. J 71, 294 

Warren, CM .54,58,290-293 

Weber, E 298 

WeU, F 287,293 

Weise, K.v 294 

Welch, J. C Tiii, 134, 140, 151, 152, 162' 

Whipple &. Dickerson 250 

White, C B 219, 293 

White, M 286 

Whitlark,W. J 298 

Whitmore.W.H 287 

Whitney, J. D -viii, 20, 65, 290, 292 

Wiederhold, Dr 287 

Williams, Greville 286 

Williamson, J 290 

Willard 294 

Willigk, E 58,294 

Wilson,M.E 298 

Winchell, A 65,290,291 

Windakiewioz, E 296,297 

Wood, A.H 295 

Woodbury, C J. H 195,204,238,295,301 

Wormley, T. G 301 

Wray, D. A 248 

Wright, WUliam 290 

Wrigley,H.B 297 

WUnschmann, H. B 294 

Wnrtz,A 28T 

Wurtz, H 241,250,290,297 

Wynne,A.B 294 

Young, C. T. T 29S 

Young, James 159,169,261,286 

Young, James, jr 161 

Ypung,John 294,295 

Yule, Col 286 

Z. 

ZSngerle,M 293 



INDEX OF SUBJECTS. 



Page. 

Abbreviations 282 

Abel, F. A., report of, on test apparatas 227 

Abel's test apparatus - 224 

Absolute safety of iUiiminating oils 216 

Accumulation of stocks during census year 98, 140, 142 

Acid, ampelinic 284 

Acid, ampeliqae -- 284 

Acid, nitric, action of, 

Acid, paraflSnic 

Acid, sulphuric, action of, 

Acid, sulpliuric, use of, in treating illnminatiDg oils 187 

Acids, organic, of crude petroleum 57, 58 

Acids used in refining petroleum 187 

Action of ether on saponified oils 202 

Action of petroleum on metals 59 

Action of sunlight on petroleum products 59 

Additive compounds of the benzole series 55, 185 

Agitators 163 

Aiken, A., on petroleum in England 64 

Alabama, bitumen in 25 

Alabama, petroleum in 25 

Alois, Parran on bitumen of 66 

Albania 282,283 

Albania, bitumen in 32, 73 

Albertite 285 

Albertite in New Brunswick 74 

Albertite, origin of 73 

Albrecht on illuminating oils 195 

Alembic, use of 53 

Algeria, petroleum in 36 

Alkalies used in refining petroleum 187 

Allegheny county, Pennsylvania, petroleom in 23 

Allen, A. H., on lubricating oils 201 

Allen, Zachariah.on esplosibility of coal oil 215 

Amber oil 10 

Ambler iron process 250 

American oil 10 

American well 8, 24, 25 

Amount of surplus stocks 99 

Analysis of asphalt 54 

Analysis of charts « 262 

Analysis of lubricating oils 201 

Analysis of Pennsylvania petroleum, "Warren's 54 

Analysis of petroleum, proximate, apparatus for 53 

Analysis of Rangoon petroleum 55, 284 

Analysis of rock oil 284 

Analysis of Russian petroleum 55 

Analysis, ultimate, of petroleum 53 

Andrews, E.B., on petroleum a distillate 67 

Angell's belt theory 13 

Animal charcoal, cylinder for pulverizing 175 

Animal charcoal, use of 157 

Animal fats, distillation of 5H 

Anthracite, J. P. Lesley on 71 



Page. 

Anticlinal, Cincinnati 37 

Anticlinals, petroleum beneath 38, 52 

Antisell, Storer's review of 168 

Apparatus for analysis of petroleum 53, 291 

Apparatus for fractional distillation of petroleum 288 

Apparatus for testing lubricating oils 204, 200 

Apparatus used in refining petroleum 161 

Apscheron oil-field 34. 153 

Arabia Peti sea, bitumen in a4 

Archangel, petroleum in 33- 

Ardericca 3- 

Arizona, asphalt in 19, 20 

Arkansas, bitumen in 19- 

Armenia, bitumen in 34 

Armstrong county, Pennsylvania, petroleum in 23- 

Arsenic in bitumen 54 

Artesian wells 78 

Artesian wells in China 78 

Asia Minor, bitumen in 34 

Asphalt 3 

Asphalt, analysis of 54 

Asphalt at Ragusa 292 

Asphalt from China 57 

Asphalt in Arizona 19,20 

Asphalt in California 20 

Asphalt in Cuba 29,72,299 

Asphalt in Dalmatia 285 

Asphalt in Kentucky 20 

Asphalt in Missouri 20 

Asphalt iu Xeuenburg 285 

Asphalt iu New Mexico 20 

Asphalt in Tennessee 20 

Asphalt in Texas 20 

Asphalt in Trinidad 29 

Asphalt in West Virginia 19 

Asphalt near Alais 286 

Asphalt near Iskardo 34,285 

Asphalt of Pyrmont 31,284 

Asphalt of Seefeld 286 

Asphalt of the Dead sea 34, 285 

Asphalt of Tyrol 31,287 

Asphalt of Val de Travers 283,284 

Asphalt on Magdalena river, South America 29 

Asphalt vein in West Virginia 288 

Asphalte 3 

Asphaltic coal of New Brunswick 

Asphaltine 

Astral oil 

Athabaeka river, bitumen on 

Athens county, Ohio, petroleum in 

Australia, petroleum in 

Autun 



285 



Average cost of wells in Bradford district 

Average price of petroleum in Now York . . .'. 
I Average temperature of oil iu burning lamps. 



308 



INDEX TO REPORT ON PETROLEUM. 



Babylon 

Bata 9,14,33,34,153,247,248,280, 

Balachany, wells at 

Balaxame 

Baku, fire temple of 

Band-wheel 



283, 284 
34,153 



Barrels . 



Barrels, empty 

Barrels, glued 

Barrels, preparation of 

Eastenee, Pratt on bitumen at 

Beatty well 

Beaver county, Pennsylvania, petroleum in 

Bebeabat, petroleum at 

Becbelbronn 

Belden, Ohio, petroleum at 

Belmontin 

Belt theory, Angell's 

Benzine 

Benzine a solvent for oleo-reains 

Benzine, use of, in wella 

Benzole series in: petroleum 

Berea grit, petroleum in 

Bernstein's test apparatus 

Berthelot on chemical origin of petroleum 
Biel, researches of, on illuminating oil ...-. 

Binney on petroleum in England 

Bitumen, arsenic in 

Bitumen at Seyssel 

Bitumen at Pyrmont 

Bitumen, chemical 

Bitumen, geological occurrence of 

Bitumen, gold in 

Bitumen in Alabama 

Bitumen in Albania 

Bitumen in Arabia Petrjea 

Bitumen in Arkansas 

Bitumen in Armenia 

Bitumen in Asia Minor 

Bitumen in British America 

California 
Bitumen 
Bitumen 



Bitumen 
Bitumen 
Bitumen 
Bitumen 
Bitumeu 
Bitumen 
Bitumen 
Bitumen 
Bitumen 
Bitumen 
Bitumen 
Bitumen 
Bitumen 
Bitumen 
Bitumen 
Bitumen 
Bitumen 
Bitumen 
Bitumen 
Bitumen 
Bitumeu 
Bitumen 
Bitumen 
Bitumen 
Bitumen 
Bitumen 
Bitumen 
Bitumen 
Bitumen 
Bitumen 
Bitumen 




n Connecticut 
n Dalmatia 
n Dead sea 
n Delaware 
n Denmark 
,n England 

eruptive rocks . 

Florida 

France 

Georgia 

Germany 

Hindostan 

Idaho 

Illinois 

Indiana 

Iowa 

Judea 

n Kentucky 

n Kurdistan 

lava of Etna . . . 

Maine 

n Maryland 

n Massachusetts . 

n Mexico 

n Michigan 

n Minnesota 

n Mississippi 

n Missouri 

Montana 

Nevada 

Newfoundland . 

New Hampshire 



Bitumen in New Jersey • 19 

Bitumen in New Mexico 20 

Bitumen in New York 19 

Bitumen in North Carolina 19 

Bitumen in Ohio 24 

Bitumen in Oregon 19 

Bitumen in Pennsylvania 21,22,23 

Bitumen in Persia 3,9,35,284 

Bitumen in Ehode Island 19 

Bitumen in South Carohna 19 

Bitumen in sulphur mines 28it 

Bitumen in Sweden 32 

Bitumen in Switzerland 31 

Bitumen in Tennessee 20 

Bitumen in Texas 20 

Bitumen in the Jurassic , .38 

Bitumen in trap 285 

Bitumen in TTtah 20 

Bitumen in Vermont 19 

Bitumen in Yirginia 19 

Bitumen in Washington territory 19 

Bitumen in West Virginia 19,24 

Bitumen in Wisconsin 19 

Bitumen in Wyoming 21 

Bitumen in Zante 32 

Bitumen indigenous to rocks where it is found 62 

Bitumen occurring along great mountain chains 36 

Bitumen of Ain 284 

Eitumen'of Judea 291 

Bitumen of Savoy 284 

Bitumen on the Athabaska river 27, 285 

Bitumen, organic origin of 67 

Bitumen, origin of , 59 

Bitumen, sulphur in 54 

Bitumen.useof, iuEgypt.- - 4 

Bitumen, use of, in Persia 4 

Bituminous sand at Eincon point, California 21 

Bituminous sand of Holatein 286 

Blue Eock, Ohio, petroleum at 24 

Boghead mineral 178 

Boilers 80,190 

Boiling point of hydrocarbons 285 

Bolivia, petroleum in 30 

Boryslaw 36 

Bourgouguon's naphthometer 109 

Bourgougnon on inspection of petroleum 109 

Boyd's creek, Kentucky, petroleum on 25 

Bradford district, number and production of wells in 135 

Bradford lighted by natural gas 242 

Bradford oil-sands 240 

Bradford oil-sand, microscopic character of 41 

Bradford third oil-sand 46 

Bradford, first well 13 

Bradford wella, chemical examination of paxaffine of 57 

Brea 3 

Brine-wells, petroleum in 24 

British America, bitumen in 27,28 

British shale oil 248 

Broken lamps .- j... 219 

Brokerage 106 

Bronchitis 253 

Brough's report on Russia 153 

"B. S." 96,99 

Buildings used as refineries 162, 190 

Bulk barges ■ - • 92 

Bulk transportation of petroleum 102 

Burmah, petroleum in 5,35,214,261 

Burmah, production of oil in 77 

Burners 238 

Burners, research on 238 

Burning oil on steamers 25 

Burning springs 240 

Burning Springs, Canada, gas at 240 

Burning Springs, West Virginia, petroleum at 12 

Burning test 220 



INDEX TO REPORT ON PETROLEUM. 



309 



Page. 

Butler conn ty, PeuDsylvania. petroleum at 13, 23 

Butler cross-belt 45 

Byasson on origin of petroleum 60 

C. 

California, asphalt in 20 

California, bitumen in 27, 68 

California, maltha in 20,68 

California, petroleum in .^ 27 

Calculus of friction of luhricating oils 207 

Calorifi : power of Baku oils 247,248 

Calorific power of petroleum 247 

Canada, geological occurrence of petroleum in 39 

Canada, petroleum in 17, 28 

Canadian production 154 

Capacity of oil-sand 86 

Capital employed in manufacture of petroleum 187 

Carhon of meteorites 202 

Carhuretting of air 240 

Carhuretting of gas 240 

Carburetted gas, durability teat of 246 

Carburetted gas, photometric test of : 246 

Carburetted gas, specific gravity test of 246 

Carburettor, metrical 24G 

Carburettors 246 

Carburettors in the lighting of mills 207 

Carburettors, objections to 246 

Care of wells 146 

Carll, J. F., on flooding wells 90 

Carll, J. F., on oil sands 41 

Casing 88 

Caspian sea, petroleum fires on 34 

Cast-iron for bearings 213 

Castor oil ^ 157 

Castor oil, friction of 210 

Caucasian petroleum, analysis of 55 

Caucasus, ozokerite in the 34 

Census year, during, accumulation of petroleum 140, 142 

Census year, during, statistics of manufacture of petroleum 186,191 

Census year, during, firms engaged in manufacture of petroleum 186 

Census year, during, oil burned 138 

Census year, during, oil wasted 138 

Census year, during, price of oil 107 

Census year, during, production of petroleum 134 

Census year, during, production of Bradford wells 136 

Census year, during, production of first oil-sand 139 

Census year, during, production of second oil-sand 139 

Census year, during, production of third oil-sand 139 

Census year, during, production of Smith's Ferry oil 139 

Ceresine 170 

Certificates 106 

Certificates of West Virginia Transportation Company 107 

Chapapot© 29 

Chaquaranal 240 

Charters 267,268,274 

Charters of case oil 270 

Chemical action of reagents on petroleum 58 

• Chemical constitution of American rock oil. 288 

Chemical examination of crude petroleum 57 

Chemical examination of lubricating oil 210 

Chemical examination of natural gas 57 

Chemical examination of paraffine 57 

Chemical origin of bitumens 59 

Chemical tests of lubricating oils 199 

Chemistry of petroleum 53 

Cheese-box stills 162 

China, artesian wells in 78 

China, asphalt from 57 

China, bitumen in 35 

Chlorine, action of, upon paraffine 286 

Cholesterine 259 

Cincinnati anticlinal 37 

Civilization, influence of petroleum on 261 

Clarion county. Pennsylvania, petroleum in 13 

Clinton limestone, petroleum in 63 

Cloez on the origin of petroleum CO 



Page. 

Coal Measures, petroleum in the 37 

Coefficient of fiiction at different pressures 204 

Cokings 165 

Coke in stills » 160 

Cold-test oils 104 

Color .' 214 

Coloring paraffine 176 

Colorado, petroleum in 26 

Columbiana county, Ohio, petroleum in 23 

Commerce, petroleum in 104 

Commerce, petroleum in foreign 108 

Commercial varieties of petroleum 104 

Comparison of Russian and American oils 222 

Comparison of testing apparatus 225 

Composition of Baku oil 247 

^Composition of natural gas of Belfast (Ireland) 241 

Composition of natural gas of Pennsylvania wells 241 

Composition of natural gas of solfataras 241 

Composition of paraffine 285 

Condensers 16S 

Condition of accumulated stocks 100 

Conglomerate, Garland 43 

Conglomerate, Coal Measures, petroleum in . . i 37 

Connecticut, bitumen in 19 

Constituents of residuum 56 

Consumption 253 

Continuous distillation 162 

Contracts and deliveries 109 

Coopers 188 

Coquand on bitumen in Albania 73 

Coquand on geology of Ronmania 71 

Coquand on occurrence of petroleum in Tertiary of Europe 71 

Coquand on origin of petroleum 61 

Comiferous limestone 46 

Cosmoline 168,254 

Cost of casing 144 

Cost of drive-pipe 144 

Cost of torpedoes 144 

Cost of tubing 144 

Cost of wells in census year 144 

Cost of wells in Franklin district 146 

Cost of wells in lower country 145 

Cost of wells in Ohio 146 

Cost of wells in ^l^est Virginia 146 

Cow Kun, Ohio, geological formation at 50 

Cow Run, Ohio, petroleum at 12,24 

Cox, E. T.,on Indiana oil-wells 37 

Cracked oils 222 

Cracked oils, effect of, on wells 239 

Cracked oils, sulphur in 239 

Cracking ,- 161,166.178,293 

Cracking of naphtha ISO 

Crawford county, Pennsylvania, petroleum in 22 

Crawford shales 43 

Credit balances 106 

Cretaceous, petroleum in the 38 

Crevices, petroleum in 52 

Crimea 240 

Cross-belt, Butler 45 

Crude petroleum 108 

Crude petroleum, chemical examination of 57 

Crude petroleum, how transported 187 

Cuba 299 

Cuba asphalt- 29,72 

Cuba, Xew York, oil-spring at 8 

Cuba, petroleum in "^ 

Cubic fQOt of water, ounces in 1"* 

Cubic foot of water, pounds in 133 

Cubic inches in imperial gallon 133 

Cubic inches in United States gallon 133 

Curves of friction under varying conditions 205 

Cuyahoga valley, Ohio, petroleum in 23 

Cylinder oils 158,189,213 

Cylindrical stUls ^^^ 

Cymogene -^88 



310 



INDEX TO REPORT ON PETROLEUM. 



Page. 

Dagbestan, petroletuu in 33 

Dakota, petroleum in 26, 27 

Dalmatia. bitumen in ' 32 

Dan geroTis oil-lamp8 288 

Daubr6e on metamorphism 67 

Dead sea, asphalt of the 4,34,282,285 

Degree, Banm^, specific gravity corresponding to each 133 

Delaware, bitnmen in 19 

Deliveries 109 

Denmark, bitumen in 31 

Deodorized neutral hydrocarbon oil 165, 189 

Description of rig 80 

Destructive distillation 58, 160 

Determination of value of lubricating oils by mechanical testa 203 

Development of oil territory 75 

Devonian shales, IN". S. Shaler on 69, 70 

Diagram 1 204 

Diagram 2 205 

Diagrams 208 

Diamond blact, composition of 244 

Dimensions of drilling-tools 82 

Dimensions of tanks ". 94 

Dip of Venango third oil-sand 45 

Dipped oil 89 

Distillate, Pennsylvania oil a 71 

Distillate, petroleum a 65, 178 

Distillation, continuous 162 

Distillation, destructive 160 

Distillation destructive of animal fats 58 

Distillation destructive of petroleum 58 

Distillation of California petroleum under pressure 184 

Distillation of paraffine under pressure 179 

Distillation under pressure 161 

Dissociation 179 

Donath, E., on lubricating oils 195 

Donath, E., on separation of paraffine from stearic acid 177 

Down Holland Moss, petroleum on 9, 30 

Drilling-tools 81 

Drilling-tools, weight of 82 

Drilling wells .^. 82, 83 

Drilling wells wet 88 

Drive-pipe. : 83 

Drive-pipe, cost of • . . . J 144 

Dry holes in northern district 14 

Dry holes in western district 14 

Dufr6noy on bitumen in marble 66 

Dug wells at Mecca, Ohio 77 

Dug wells at Tidioute, Pennsylvania 77 

Dug wells in G-alicia 33 

Dug wells on Oil creek, Pennsylvania 77 

Damp oil 105,134 

Dunkard creek 45 

Duty on Russian oil 154 

Eames iron process 250, 297 

Early history of transportation 92 

Early methods of distillation 160 

Earth-wax 170 

East Indian petroleum 293 

Echigo, petroleum in 17 

Ecuador, petroleum in 30 

Effects of inhaling natural gas 252 

Effects of petroleum on animal life 252 

Effects of Roth's test on mineral oils 200 

Efficiency of lubricants 211 

^Sypt. petroleum in 36 

Egypt. "96 of bitumen in 4 

Elaterite 54 

Elevation of Venango third oil-sand above tide-level 45 

Elk county, Pennsylvania, petroleum in 23 

Embalming, use of bitumen in 4 

E mpty barrels 109 

Engines used in refining 190 

England, petroleum in 30,64 



England, petroleum in, Aiken on 64 

England, petroleum in, Einney on 64 

Engler and Hass on test apparatus - 223 

Engler's test apparatus 225 

English petroleum act of 1862 » 287 

Eocene, petroleum in 38 

Erdharz 3 

Erdol ^ 3 

Erdpech 3 

Erie couaty, Pennsylvania, fucoids in shales of 41 

Erie county, Pennsylvania, petroleum in 22 

Eruptive rocks, bitumen in 5 

Estimate of petroleum in Niagara limestone 63 

Ether, action of, on saponifiable oils 202 

Etna 241 

Euphrates 3,4,34 

Eupion 283,284 

Europe, storage of petroleum in 101 

Exchanges 106 

Expansion of petroleum 110 

Expansion, rule for estimating 110 

Expansion tables, Schubert's 104, 111 

Explosibility of coal oil 287 

Explosion of gasoline 251 

Exports of crude petroleum from New York 267, 268, 273 

Exports of crude petroleum from the Dnited States 270, 277, 278 

Exports of lubricating oil from the United States 270, 277, 278 

Exi)orts of naphtha from New York ,267,268,274 

Exports of naphtha from the TTnited States 270, 277, 278 

Exports of petroleum products from Philadelphia 274 

Exports of refined oil from New York 267, 268, 273 

Exports of refined oil from the United States 270, 277, 278 

Exports of residuum from the United States 270, 277, 278 

Extended use of petroleum products 261 

Extinguishing tank-fires 97, 98 

F. 

Fenton well 14 

Field of fire 15 

Filling cans 164 

Filtered oils 167 

Filtered residues 168 

Filtering petroleum 157 

Fires 183 

Fire temple of Baku 4 

Fire test , 236 

Fire test, inadequacy of , 216 

Fire welis of China 285 

Fire-worshipers 15 

Firing of wells 98 

Firms engaged in the manufacture of petroleum during the census year. 186 

First Bradford well 13 

First petroleum weU 6, 11 

Fishing-tools 81 

Flashing point of lubricating oil 197,211 

Flash test 220,236 

Flash test of 100° F .'. 221 

Flint shells 41 

Flooding 90 

Florida, bitumen in 25 

Flowing well of 1880 88 

Fluidity of lubricating oil. 199 

Fluorescence of petroleum products 295 

Fordred'e patent 173 

Forest county, Pennsylvania, petroleum in 23 

Fractional distillation of mineral oils 290, 291 

France, bitumen in 31 

Franklin oil 107 

Franklin, Pennsylvania, petroleum at 22 

Fredonia, New York, gas at 240,242 

Free lubrication 205 

French creek, petroleum on 11 

French petroleum act of 1864 289 

Friction at different pressures 204, 208 

Friction curves under varying conditions 205 

Friction of castor oil 210 



INDEX TO REPORT ON PETROLEUM. 



311 



Page. 

Friction of cotton machinery 208 

Friction of lard oil 211 

Friction of spenfl oil 210 

FrictioD on pipe-lines 93 

Friction, relation of fluidity to 209 

Friction, relation of hnmidity of atmoaphere to 209 

Friction, table of coefficients of, at 100° F 210 

Fncoida in the shales of Erie connty, Pennsylvania 41,69 

Fuel used in refining oil 187 

Fnller'a earth 176 

Fumaroles. gas of 241 

Future production, "Welch on 262 

Gariand conglomerate 43 

Galena oil 157,213 

Galicia 247,261 

GaJicia, oil-wells of 16 

Galicia, ozokerite in 33 

Galicia, petroleum in 33, 72 

Galicia, production of petroleum in 77 

Galicia, shafts in 33 

Galicia. statistics of petroleum in 16 

Galicia, Welch's report on 152 

Gallon, imperial, cubic inches in 133 

Gallon, imperial, grams in 133 

Gallon, imperial, pounds in 133 

Gallon. United States, cubic inches in 133 

Gallon, United States, grams in 133 

Gallon, United States, pounds in 133 

Gallon, United States, pounds of oil in, at 60° F 133 

Gas, carburetted, durability test of 246 

Gas, carburretted, photometric test of 246 

Gas, carburretted, specific gravity of 246 

Gas from crude petroleum 244 

Gas from naphtha 245 

Gas from petroleum (Wren's process) 299 

Gas for puddling iron 249 

Gas in Karamania 282,283 

Gas iron for tin plate 249 

Gas oil 244 

Gas-pressure 91 

Gas-pumps 88 

Gas-springs in Kerman 34 

Gas- volcano 243 

Gas-wells at Sasonbnrg, Pennsylvania 249 

Gaseous impurities in maltha 185 

Gasoline 164,188,251,257,258 

Gasoline explosions . 257 

Gasoline for washing wool 257, 258 

General technology of petroleum by distillation 159 

Geode« containing petroleum 69 

Geological age of Venango oil-sands 44 

Geological formation at Cow Run, Ohio 50 

Geological formation at Parkersborg, "West Virginia 49 

Geological occurrence of bitumen 37 

Geological occurrence of petroleum in Canada 39 

Geological section at Burning Springs, "West Virginia 51 

Geological section at Horse Jfeck, West Virginia 50 

Geological section at Laurel Fork Junction, West Virginia 51 

Geological sedition at "White Oak, "West Virginia 50 

Georgia, bitumen in 19 

German petroleum act 293 

Germany, bitumen in 31 

Germany, petroleum in '. 31 

Glass-houses 251 

Glory-holes 251 

Glued barrels 92 

Glycero-petrolenm 254 

Gold in bitumen 54 

■Goudron min6rale 3 

Grabowski on the origin of petroleum 61 

Grades of West Virginia Transportation Company 104 

Grahamite 19 

Grahamite in Utah 20 

Orahamite in "West Virginia 19. 74 



Grams in imperial gallon 133 

Grams in United States gallon 133 

Graphite oil 157 

Grasshopper wells 49 

Great llanitoalin island, petroleum at 37 

Grit, Pithole 43 

Guides 82 

Gum-beds 17 

H. 

Hall, James, on deposition of Silurian rocks 7(> 

Hanover, petroleum in 31 

Harness oil jgg 

Henry's history of petroleum 'ft. 5,11 

High-test oil 223 

Hindostan. petroleum in 35 

Historical development of the petroleum industry 18 

Hitchcock, C.H., on formations yielding petroleum 39 

Hitchcock. C.H., on origin of petroleum 61 

Hit, fountains of 3^ 4^ 251 

Hock's petroleum motor 251 

Horse Xeck, "West Virginia, geological section at 50 

Horses, use of petroleum on 7 

"Huile de Gabion" 253 

Hunt, T. Sterry, estimate by, of oil in Niagara limestone ..- 63 

Hunt. T. Sterry, on the origin of petroleum , 62 

1. 

Idaho, bitumen in 19 

Ideal lubricant 209 

Illinois, bitumen in 25 

Illuminating oil 164.189 

lUuminating oil, absolute safety of 216 

Illuminating oil, astral oil 221 

Illuminating oil, J. Beil on I8O 

Illuminating oil, comparison of Kussian and American 221 

Illuminating oil, cracked 222 

Illuminating oil, dangerous percentage of naphtha in 219 

lUuminating oil, experiments with, and broken lamps 219 

Illuminating oil, explosion of, and percentage of fires 220 

Illuminating oil, how classified 179 

lUuminating oil, methods of testing 223 

lUuminating oil, of test above 200° F 189 

Illuminating oil, quaUty of 214 

lUuminating oU, report of Z. Allen on 215 

lUuminating oil. sulphur in 181, 222 

lUuminating oU, temperature o^in lamps 216 

lUuminating oU, treatment of 180 

Imperial oil (Kaiserol) 221 

Imports of refined American petroleum into European ports 279 

Imports of refined American petroleum into Japan 280 

Imports of refined American petroleum into the United Kingdom 279 

Inadequacy of the fire test 216 

Indiana, bitumen in 26 

Indiana, E. T. Cox on petroleum weUs of 37 

Influence of humidity of the atmosphere on friction 209 

Influence of petroleum on civilization 261 

Inspection of petroleum, Bourgougnon on 109 

Inspection of "West Virginia petroleum 107 

Insurance by pipe-Unes 98 

Iowa, bitumen in 19 

Iron-tank cars 92 

Iron-tank fires 96 

Iskardo 34 

Italy, petroleum in 18,32 

J. 

Japan 214,280 

Japan, petroleum in 47, 36 

Japan, production of petroleum in 77 

Jars 81 

Java, petroleum in 36, 247 

Jefferson county, Pennsylvania, petroleum in 23 

Jet a distillate 66 

Johnson county, Kentucky, *. P. Lesley on petroleom in 77 

Johnson county, Kentucky, pexroleum in 46 



312 



INDEX TO REPORT ON PETROLEUM. 



Journal oil • 158,189 

Judea, bitnmen in ^ 

Juraaaic, bitnmen in the 38 

K. 

Kaiserol 221 

Kanawha Talley, natural gas in 24 

Kangra ^ 

Kansas, petroleum in 26 

Karamania 5, 34 

Katie Hough well 89 

Kerosene 214, 287 

Kerosene accidents 237 

Kerosene stoves 251 

Keroaeline 287 

Kentucky, asphalt in 20 

Kentncliy, natural gas in 25 

Kentucky, petroleum in 24 

Kiefernharz oil - 247 

Knar on asphalt ofVal de Travers 66 

Kouban, petroleum in the 14,33,154 

Kurdistan, bitnmen in 35 

Knsodiu, petroleum in 17 

Labor employed in the manufacture of petroleum 187 

Landolph on the origin of petroleum 61 

Lard oil 157 

Lard oil, friction of 211 

Lard oil, specific gravity of 197 

Lattimore,S.A.,tableaof 105,116 

Laurel Fork Junction, geological formation at 51 

Lava of Etna, bitnmen in 32 

Lawrence county, Pennsylvania, petroleum in 23 

Leases 86 

Legislation, commission to determine test 237 

Legislation, effective acts of 237 

Legislatioa in England 226,287 

Legislation in France 289 

Legislation in Germany 293 

Legislation in New York 250 

Legislation in the United States 236 

Legislation in the United States, law of 1867 236 

Legislation in the United States, law of 1878 236 

Legislation, inspector 237 

Legislation, limit of 223 

Legislation, provisions of proposed act of 237 

Lesley, J. P., on Johnson county, Kentucky 63, 77 

Lesley, J. P., on occurrence of petroleum in Pennsylvania 64 

Lesley, J. P., on the formation of anthracite 71 

Level of third oil-sand 43 

Lime-burning with bitnmen 251 

Limestone, corniferous 46 

Limit of legislation 223 

Limit of pressure permitting free lubrication 205 

Living earth 34 

Location of petroleum refineries 161 

Location of wells 85 

Louisiana, petroleum in 26 

Lubricating oil 195, 270, 277, 278 

Lubricating oil, analysis of 201 

Lubricating oil, apparatus for testing 204,206 

Lubricating oil, calculus of friction of 207 

Lubricating oil, chemical examination of 199, 210 

Lubricating oil, cost of 201 

Lubricating oil, efficiency of 211 

Lubricating oil, flashing point of 197, 211 

Lubricating oil, fluidity of 199, 209 

Lubricating oil for steam cylinders 211 

Liibricating oil, freedom from acid of 2X1 

Lubricating oil, machine for testing 295 

Lubricating oil, measure of anti-frictional properties of 211 

Lubricating oil, mechanical tests of 203 

Lubricating oil, specific gravity of 196 

Lubricating oil, spontaneous combustion of 198, 211 

Lubricating oil, temperature of, at which friction is the same 212 



Lubricating oil, use on railroads of natural 213 

Lubricating oil, viscosity of 199 

Lubricating oil, volatile matter in 197,211 

Lubricating oil, "Woodbury's results 212 

Lubricating oil, watch oil 213 

Lucesco oil works 10' 

m. 

McKean county, Pennsylvania, petroleum in 13,21 

Macadam, S., on poisonous effects of sludge 183- 

Machine for testing lubricants — : 295- 

Machinery oil 165- 

Machinery oil, specific gravity of 197 

Magdalena river, asphalt on 29 

Maltha : 3 

Maltha, gaseous impurities of 185' 

Maltha in California 20, 63 

Maltha in New Mexico ". 20 

Maltha in Texas 20 

Maltha in Wyoming 21 

Maltha, research on 184 

Management of pipe- lines 105 

Management of weUs 87 

Manufacture of petroleum, capital invested in 187 

Manufacture of petroleum, firms engaged in 186 

Manufacture of petroleum, labor employed in 18T 

Maul 82^ 

Mechanical tests of lubricating oils 204 

Measurement of fluidity of oils 209 

Mecca, Ohio 14- 

Mecca, Ohio, dug wells at 77 

Mecca, Ohio, petroleum at 12, 23^ 

Medina county, Ohio, petroleum in 23 

Melting point of paraffine 176 

Melting point of petroleum ointment 254 

Mendeljeft' on the origin of petroleum 6& 

Metals, action, of petroleum on 59 

Metamorphism, Daubr6e on 67 

Methods of purifying paraffine 286 

Methods of testing illuminating oil 223 

Metrical carburettor 246 

Mercer county, Pennsylvania, petroleum in 22 

Merrill's still 165 

Mexico, bitumen in 28 

Michigan, bitumen in 25 

Michigan, petroleum in 25 

Microscopic character of Bradford third oil-sand 41 

Middlings 184 

Mill lights 10 

Mineral oils, effect of Roth's teat on 200' 

Mineral oils, value of, in cotton mills 213 

Mineral oils, saponification of 201 

Mineral oils, sulphur in 181 

Mineral oils, synthesis of 298 

Mineral oils, use of, for lubrication, 195 

Mineral sperm 165,167,192,214 

Miocene, petroleum in the - 38 

Miscellaneous uses of petroleum : 257 

Miscellaneous uses of petroleum products 257, 260- 

Mississippi, bitumen in 19 

Missouri, asphalt in 20 

Missoui'i, petroleum in 26 

Mixtures of petroleum 15T 

Moldavia, petroleum in ; 33 

Montana, bitumen in 19 

Montana, petroleum in 26 

Morgan county, Ohio, petroleum in 24 

•Mountain chains, bitumen occurs along 36 

Mountain sands 42,43 

Movement of oil in sand 86 

Mraznica 16 

Mud-volcanoes 72,240,285 

Mud -volcanoes in the Crimea - 290 

Munjack 29,253 

Maskingum, petroleum in the valley of the 12 

Muskingum, salt-wells on the 7 



INDEX TO REPORT ON PETROLEUM. 



318 



ilyronic acid 

Myro-petroleoin 

Myro-petroleum aoap . 



N. 



Nafta 

Naphtha 3,109,164,188,267,268,270, 

Naphtha, cracking of 

Naphtha, crude, refining of 

Naphtha for illumination - - . . 

Naphtha from sea-weed 

Naphtha of Amiano 

Najththa, percentage of, in dangerous oil 

Naphtha stoves, danger of 

Naphthometer, Eonrgongnon's 

Nashville limestone, Safford on petroleum in 

Natural gas 

Natural gas and volcanic action 

Natural gas at Bradford, Pennsylvania 

Natural gas at Burkesville, Kentucky 

Natural gaa at Burning Springs, "West Virginia 

Natural gas at Burns well, Pennsylvania 

Natural gas at Cherry Tree, Pennsylvania 

Natural gas at East Liverpool, Ohio 

Natural gas at Erie, Pennsylvania 

Natural gas at Fredonia, New York 

Natural gas at Gambier, Ohio 

Natural gas at Kane well, Pennsylvania 

Natural gas at Leechbnrg, Pennsylvania 

Natural gas at New Cumberland, "West Virginia 

Natural gas at Painosville, Ohio 

Natural gas at Rochester, New York 

Natural gas at Sheffield, Pennsylvania 

Natural gas at "Wilcox, Pennsylvania 

Natural gae, chemical examination of 

Natural gas, composition of 

Natural gas, effects of inhaling 

Natural gas for lampblack 

Natural gas in China 

Natural gas in Harvey well, Pennsylvania 

Natural gas in Kanawha valley 

Natural gas in Kentucky 

Natural gas in Kerman 

Natural gas in Ohio 

Natural gas in Roy well, Pennsylvania 

Natural gas in Tennessee. 

Natural gas in Ti-inidad 

Natural gas in "Wallachia 

Natural gas in West Virginia 

Natural gas, localities yielding, in the United States 

Natural gas, occurrence of : 

Natural gas of Belfast, Ireland 

Natural gas of Burning Springs 

Natural gas of Burns well, Pennsylvania 

Natural gas of Caldeira de Fumas 

Natural gas of Campi Flegrei 

Natural gas of Etna 

Natural gas of fumaroles 

Natural gas of Grotto del Cauo 

Natural gas of Iceland geysers 

Natural gas of island of Saint Paul 

Natural gas of Jawala iluki 

Natural gas of Lago di Naf tia 

Natural gas of Petrolia, Pennsylvania 

Natural gas of Pioneer run, Pennsylvania 

Natural gas of Roger's Gulch, Pennsylvania 

Natural gas of Saint Barth61emy (Is6re) 

Natural gas of San Miguel (Azores) 

Natural gas of Snffoni of Tuscany 

Natural gas of Val del Bove 

Natural gaa of Vesuvius 

Natural gas of "West Bloomfield, New York 

Natural gas, pressure of 

Natural gas, towns lighted by 

Neat's-foot oil 

Neat's-foot oil, specific gravity of 



240, 242 
242, 243 



241,242 
242,244 



Page. 

Nebraska, petroleum in 26 

Neflf gas-wells ^43 

^"^cftgil 3 

Neutral oils 105,189 

Nevada, bitumen in 19. 

Newberry, J. S., on petroleum as a distillate 67 

New Brunswick, albertite in 74 

Newfoundland, petroleum in 28 

New Hampshire, bitumen in 19 

New Jersey, bitumen in 19 

New Mexico, asphalt in 20 

New Mexico, maltha in 20 

New Mexico, petroleum in 26 

New York, petroleum in 2I 

Newer Parian 240 

Nineveh 4 

Nishni-Novgorod 15 

Nitrogen In petroleum 53 

Noble county, Ohio, petroleum in 24 

North Carolina, bitumen in 19 

Number of wells in the Bradford district 135 

Number of wells in New York during the cenaos year 147 

Number of wells per acre 86 

O. 

Occurrence of ozokerite 289 

Ohio, bitumen in 24 

Ohio, natural gas in 24 

Oil, amber , 10 

Oil. astral 221 

Oil belt 41 

Oil beneath anticlinals 38 

Oil break of "West Virginia 3T 

Oil burned during census year 138 

Oil, castor 157 

Oil City Derrick on well stocks 135 

Oil, cold-test 104 

Oil creek 5,214 

Oil creek, dug wells on 77 

Oil, cylinder 188,189 

Oil, dipped 89 

on, filtered 167 

Oil fire on streams 8 

Oil, Franklin 107 

Oil, French schist 247 

Oil, furnace 288 

Oil, galena 213 

Oil, gas 244 

Oil, graphite 157 

Oil, illuminating. (See Illuminating oils.) 

Oil, imperial 221 

Oil. harness 168 

Oil in brine-wells 24 

Oil in quicksand 34 

Oil in well-tanks 134 

Oil, journal 189 

Oil, lard 157 

Oil, machinery 165 

Oil, neat's-foot 157 

Oil, neutral 165 

Oil, opal 157 

Oil, paraflane 170 

Oil, plumbago 213 

Oil, rape 157 

Oil, reduced 158 

Oil-sand, the 86 

Oil, Seneca ^ 253 

Oil shafts in Galicia 33 

Oil, Sicilian 253 

OU, slush 13.87 

Oil, Smith's Ferry 107 

Oil, sperm 157 

Oil, spindle 165 

Oil-spring at Cuba, New York 8 

Oil, steaming 100 

Oil, storage of 88 



•314 



INDEX TO REPORT ON PETROLEUM. 



■ Oil, sunned 

Oil territory, development of . 
Oil, tranaportation of crude . . 
Oil, 



Oil, vtdcan 

Oil, whale 

Oil "wasted during census year . 

Oil-wells in Galicia 

Old Crittenden well , 

Old oil 



Olefines in petroleum 

Olefine aeries 

Oleo-resins, benzine a solvent for 

Ordway, J. M., research by, on lubricating oils . 

Oregon, bitumen in 

Organic acida of crude petroleum 

Origin of albertite 

Origin of bitumens 

Origin of bitumens, organic 

' Origin of petroleum 

'^Origin of petroleum, E. B. Andrews on 

Origin of petroleum, Bertbelot on 

"Origin of petroleum, Byaason on 

Origin of petroleum, chemical 

■Origin of petroleum, Cloez on 

Origin of petroleum, Coquand on 

Origin of petroleum, Grabowalii on , 

•Origin of petroleum, Hitchcock on 

Origin of petroleum, Hunt on 

Origin of petroleum, Landolph on 

Origin of petroleum, Lealey on , 

Origin of petrole-um, Mendelj eff on 

Origin of petroleum, ifewberry ou 

Origin of petroleum not volcanic 

Origin of petroleum, Eeichenbach on 

Origin of petroleum, "Whitney on , 

Opal oil 



Opinions respecting futare production 

Ounces in a cubic foot of water 

Overflow of burning tank 

Oxidation of paraffine 

Oxidation of petroleum 

Ozokerite 34,: 

Ozokerite in G-alicia 

Ozokerite in Utah 



Packers 

Packing 

Packing-cases 

Paraffine 268,283,284,: 

Paraffine, action of chlorine on 

ParafBne, action of nitric acid on 

Parafl&ne, action of sulphuric acid on 

Paraffine, apparatus for filtering 

Paraffine, coloring 

Paraffine, composition of 

Paraffine, crude 

Paraffine from brown coal and peat 

Paraffine from Irish peat 

Paraffine from peat-tar 

Paraffine in lava 

Paraffine in petroleum 

Paraffine in pharmacy 

PfirafBne, John Fordred's patent 

Paraffine, mating point of 

Paraffine, methods of purifying 

Paraffine oil ; 

Paraffine oil, specific gravity of 

Paraffine ointment 

Paraffine, preparation of 

Paraffine, properties of 

Paraffine, purifying ■. 

Paraffine, separation of, from stearic acid 

Paraffine soap 

Paraffine, solubility of ; 



ParafBne, sources of , 

Paraffine, use of the word, in England 

Paraffine wax 

Paraffines in petroleum , 

Paraffines in water-gas . . 

Parian, newer , 

Parian, older 

Parkeraburg, West Virginia, geological formation at. , 

Parker's landing, petroleum at 

Parma 



12 
247 



Parran on bitumen of Alais 66 

Parrish's teat apparatus 224 

Partial distillation 158 

Peckham, S. F., on the technology of California petroleum 185 

Pennsylvania, bitumen in 21, 22, 23 

Pennsylvania oil a distillate 71 

Pennsylvania, petroleum in 21 

Pennaylvania Rock Oil Company i ii 

Percentage of fires caused by explosiona of lamps 220 

Perpetual fire at Baku 284 

Persia ; 214 



Persia, bitumen in 

Persia, production of oil in . 

Pern, petroleum in 

Pescara, valley of 

P6trole 

Petroleum 
Petroleum 
Petroleum 
Petroleum 
Petroleum 
Petroleum 
Petroleum 
Petroleum 
Petroleum 
Petroleum 
Petroleum 
Petroleum 
Petroleum 
Petroleum 
Petroleum 
Petroleum 
Petroleum 
Peti'oleum 
Petroleum 
Petroleum 
Petrolerwn 
Petroleum 
Petroleum 
Petroleum 
Petroleum, 
Petroleum 
Petroleum 
Petroleum 
Petroleum 
Petroleum 
Petroleum 
Petroleum 
Petroleum 
Petroleum 
Petroleum 
Petroleum 
Petroleum 
Petroleum 
Petroleum 
Petroleum 
Petroleum 
Petroleum 
Petroleum 
Petroleum 
Petroleum 
Petroleum 
Petroleum 
Petroleum 
Petroleum 
Petroleum 



3, 9, 35 

77 



a distillate 

as a therapeutic 

as locomotive fuel 

as steam fuel 

as steam fuel in the United States navy . 

as steam fuel in the English navy 

as steam fuel on the Caspian sea 

at Baku, Busaia 

at Bebeabat, Russia 

at Bolden, Ohio 

at Blue Rock, Ohio 

at Burning Springa, West Yirginia 

at Chicago, Hlinoia 

at Cow Run, Ohio 

at Franklin, Pennsylvania 

at Gi"eat Manitoulin island 

at Mecca, Ohio 

at Parker's Landing, Pennaylvania 

at Peseara, Italy 

at Slippery Rock creek, Pennaylvania . ., 

at Smith'a Ferry, Pennsylvania 

at Stoueham, Pennsylvania 

at Tiflia, Russia 

at Warren, Pennaylvania 

calorific power of 

exported from Baku 



248, 249 
288, 289 



firea on the Caspian sea 

for steam fuel. United Pipe Lines 

for burning lime 

from metamorphic rocks 

Alabama 

n Algeria. ! 

n Allegheny county, Pennsylvania 

m Amiano, Italy 

ji Archangel, Russia 

n Armstrong county, Pennsylvania 

Assam 

.n Athena county, Ohio 

Australia 

Barbadoes 

n Beaver county, Pennsylvania 

n Bolivia 

Burmah 

Butler county, Pennsylvania 

California ■ 

u Canada 17,: 

n Clarion county, Pennaylvania 

n Colorado 

in Columbiana county, Ohio 



INDEX TO REPORT ON PETROLEUM. 



315 



Page. 

1 commerce 104 

1 Crawford county, Pennsylvania 22 

1 crevicea 52 

iCuba 29 

I Daf;hestan 33 

1 Dakota 26,27 

1 East Indian islands 286 

1 Echi;;o. Japan 17 

1 Ecuador 30 

1 Egypt 36 

1 Elk county, Pennsylvania 23 

1 Erie county. Pennsylvania 22 

1 foreign commerce 108 

1 Forest county, Pennsylvania 23 

i Galicia 16,33,72,289 

1 Galicia, statistics of 16 

nGa8p6 289 

Q Germany 31 

3 Hanover 31 

ttHolstein 297 

a Illinois 25 

Q Indiana — 26 

a Italy 18.32 

a Japan - 17, 36 

D Java 36 

D Jefferson county, Pennsylvania 23 

D Kansas 26 

n Kentucky 24 

n Kurdistan 296 

nKusodzu 17 

n Lawrence county, Pennsylvania 23 

u Louisiana 26 

n McKean county, Pennsylvania 13, 21 

n manufacture of iron 249 

n Medina county, Ohio 23 

n Mercer county, Pennsylvania 22 

n Mexico 289 

n Michigan 25 

n Missouri 26 

n Moldavia 33 

n Montana 26 

u Morgan county, Ohio 24 

n Nebraska 26 

n Newfoundland 28 

n New Mexico 26 

n New York 21 

n Noble county, Ohio 24 

n Pennsylvania ; 21 

u Persia 251 

n Peru 17,30 

n rocks below the sea-level 52 

n Roumania 33 

n Kussia 14, 297 

n Santo Domingo 29, 286 

n southern California 12 

n southern Kentucky 12 

n Tennessee 24, 25 

n Terek, Russia 33 

n the Berea grit 38 

n the Caucasus 298 

n the Clinton limestones 63 

n the Coal Measures 37 

n the Coal Measures conglomerate 37 

n the Cretaceous 38 

D the Cuyahoga valley, Ohio 23 

u the Eocene , 38 

n the Kouban 14, 33 

n the manufacture of iron 294 

n the Miocene 38 

u the Silurian 37 

n the Tertiary 37 

n the Tyrol 283 

n the valley of Pescara 18 

n the valley of the Muskingum 12 

n Yenango county, Pennsylvania 22 



Page. 

Petroleum in Venezuela ., 30 

Petroleum in Wallachia 33 

Petroleum in "Warren county, Pennsylvania 21 

Petroleum in 'Waabington county, Ohio 12 

Petroleum in "Westmoreland count j'. Pennsylvania 23 

Petroloum in "West Virginia 12, 19, 24 

Petroleum in "West Virginia beueath anticlinals 52 

Petroleum in "Wyoming 26, 27 

Petroleum indigenous in Silurian rocks 38,62,63 

Petroleum industry, historical development of 18 

Petroleum inspector 237 

Petroleum laws of 1867 and 1S78 236 

Petroleum legislation in England 226 

Petroleum legislation in the United States 236 

Petroleum motor 251,295 

Petroleum near Derabund 285 

Petroleum near Kobat 287 

Petroleum near Rangoon 35 

Petroleum not the product of volcanic action 70 

Petroleum of Albania 291 

Petroleum of Bechelbronn 247 

Petroloum of Burmah 286 

Petroleum of Burning Springs. "West Virginia 247 

Petroleum of California 290, 291 

Petroleum of Colorado 290 

Petroleum of Franklin, Pennsylvania 22 

Petroleum of Galicia 247,286,287,290 

Petroleum of Hanover 296 

Petroleum of Japan 296 

Petroleum of Java 247,287 

Petroleum of Kerman 284 

Petroleum of Mecca, Ohio 286 

Petroleum of Michigan 290 

Petroleum of Moldavia 291 

Petroleum of New South "Walea 290 

Petroleum of Oil creek, Pennsylvania 24'!' 

Petroleum of Parma, Italy 247 

Petroleum of Pennsylvania distilled from Devonian shales 69 

Petroleum of Pennsylvania in Upper Devonian 41 

Petroleum of Santo Domingo 294 

Petroleum of Sch wabweiller 247 

Petroleum of the Punjab 286, 294 

Petroleum of "Wallachia 291 

Petroleum of "White Oak, West Virginia 247 

Petroleum of Zante 291 

Petroleum ointment, melting point of 254 

Petroleum on Down Holland Moss 9 

Petroleum on Boyd's creek. Kentucky 25 

Petroleum on French creek, Pennsylvania 11 

Petroleum products as therapeutics 253 

Petroleum stoves 250 

Petroleum under anticlinals 52 

Petroleum well, the first 6, 11 

Petrolia, Ontario, natural gas at 240 

Petrolina 168,254 

Petroline 168 

Pharmaceutical preparations of petroleum 253 

PhUadelphia 274 

Physiological effects of petroleum 252 

Physiological effects of petroleum ether 252 

Pilar 240 

Pine-tar compound 213 

Pioneer Run, Pennsylvania, natural gas at 240 

Pipe-line certificates 106 

Pipe-line hydraulics 101 

Pipe-line runs 137 

Pipe-lines 93 

Pipe-lines, friction on 93 

Pipe-lines, insurance by 98 

Pipe-lines, management of 105 

Pipe-lines, statistics of 103 

Pitch lake of Trinidad 29,383 

PitboleCity 76 

Pitholegrit 43 

Plugging wells 01 



316 



INDEX TO REPORT ON PETROLEUM. 



Plumbago oils ^^^ 

Pounde in a cubic foot of water 133 

Pounds in an imperial gallon 133 

Pounds in a United States gallon 133 

Pounds of oil in a gallon at 60° F 133 

Practical results of Professor Ordway 's investigation 203 

Pratt on bitumen at Bastenee 65 

Preparation of barrels for petroleum 289 

Preparation of paraf&ne 1''3 

Pressure, distillation of California petroleum under 184 

Pressure, distillation under 161 

Pressure, friction at varying 204. 208 

Pressure, limit of, permitting free Inbrication 205 

Pressure of natural gas 91,242 

Price of oil during census year 107 

Prices of petroleum in New York (table) 278 

"Prime" 214 

Primitive methods of producing oU 77 

Profile section from Black Bock to Dunkard's creek 45 

Properties of paraffine 17G 

Proximate analysis of petroleum 53 

Production of petroleum 149 

Production of petroleum and average price in currency (table) 148 

Production of petroleum in Bunnah 77 

Production of petroleum in Canada 154 

Production of petroleum in Galicia 77 

Production of petroleum in Japan 77 

Production of petroleum in Johnson county, Kentucky 77 

Production of petroleum in Persia 1 77 

Production of petroleum in the United States during the census year . . . 134 

Production of petroleum in West Virginia 77 

Production of Smith's Ferry oil during the census year 139 

Production of the Pacific coast 151 

Production of wells in the Bradford district 135,136 

Production of first-sand oil during the census year 339 

Production of second-sand oil during the census year 139 

Production of third-sand oil during the census year 139 

Pumps 163 

Pumps, gas 88 

Pumps used in refining 190 

Pumping by sucker-rods 88 

Pumping-stations ^ 93 

Pumping-wells of 1878 88 

Pyrmont, bitumen at 31 

Py rmont, Eozfit on the asphaltic stone of 65 

Pyrophyllite, use of, in mixtures 157 

Quality of refined petroleum 214 

Quality of spindle oils 212 

Quicksand, oil in 34 

B. 

Eacks 94 

Eagrisa asphalt 292 

Earadohr's apparatus for filtering paraffine 174 

Eamdohr's cylinder for pulverizing bone-black 175 

Eangoontar 35,53 

Eape oil 157 

Eeduced oils 158 

Eedwood, Boverton, on test apparatus 235 

Eeceipts of crud e petroleum at New York during the census year. . . 267, 268, 271 
Eeceipts of refined petroleum at New York during the census year. .267, 268, 271 

Eefining crude naphtha 167 

Refining Petroleum, acids used in 187 

Eefining petroleum, alkalies used in 187 

Eefining petroleum, fuel used in 187 

Eefineries, buildings at 162 

Eefineries, boilers at 190 

Eefineries, engines used at 190 

Eefineries, location of 161 

Eefineries, pumps used at 190 

Eefineries, tanks at 162 

Beichenbach on the origin of petroleum 65 

Eelative cost of good and poor lubricating oU 201 

Eelation of fluidity to friction 209 



Page. 

Eeportof Z. Allen on illuminating oil (18G2) 21& 

Beport of Mrs. Eichards on wool oils 258 

Eeport of B. SiUiman, jr. , on petroleum of Oil creek, 1855 5S 

Besiduum 109,190,270,277,278 

Eesidnum, constituents of 56 

Besistance of friction at different pressures 208 

Eheumatism, use of petroleum in 253- 

Bhigolene 188,252,290 

Ehode Island, bitumen in 19* 

Big 79 

Big irons 80 

Big timber 79 

Bincon point, California, bituminous sand at 21 

Bitter's Erdkunde 9- 

Bivi^re on origin of combustible minerals 74 

Boger's Gulch, "West Virginia, natural gas at 240" 

Eoth'stest 199 

Boumania, Coquand on geology of 71 

Roz6t on asphaltic stone of Pyrmont -i 65 

Bale for estimating the expansion of oils 110 

Bussia, Brough's report on 153 

Bussia, petroleum in 14 

Bussia, Welch's report on 151 

Eussian petroleum, analysis of ^ 5& 

Bussian petroleum, specific gravity of 15 

Eussian petroleum, statistics of 15- 

S. 

Safe oils 214 

Safford on petroleum in Nashville limestone 63, 69 

Sainte-Bois, Thor6 on petroleum in water of 66 

Salleron et Urbain, test apparatus of • 223 

Salt -wells on the Muskingum 7 

Sand oil, Bradford, microscopic character of 41 

Sand mountain 42, 45 

Sand, movement of oil in 86 

Sand oil 41 

Sand oil, J. F. Carll on 41 

Sand oil, Bradford 24a 

Sand oil, capacity of 8& 

Sand oil, Venango, geological age of 44 

Sand, stray 42 

Sand, third Bradford 46 

Sand, third level of 43 

Sand, third Venango 43 

Sand, third Venango, dip of 45 

Sand, third Venango, elevation above tide-level 45- 

Sand, the oil 86 

Santo Domingo, petroleum in 29 

Saponification of mineral oils 200 

Sawyer spindle 206 

Saybolt's test apparatus 224 

Scab 253 

Schist oil of Autun, France 247 

Schist oil of Vagnas, Fiance 247 

Schubert, Julius, tables of expansion 104, 111 

Schwabweiller 247 

Scotch paraffine-oil industry ■ 170 

Sea-level, petroleum in rocks below 52 

Seed-bag 87 

Section, geological, at Burning Springs, West Virginia 51 

Section, geological, at Horse Neck, West Virginia 50 

Section, geological, at Laurel Fork Junction, West Virginia 51 

Section, geological, at White Oak, West Virginia 50 

Section, geological, from Black Bock to Dunkard's creek, Pennsylvania . 45 

Section, vertical, of Peunsylvania oil-bearing rocks 46 

Section, vertical, of West Virginia "oil break" 49 

Selligue's patents 169 

Seneca oil 253, 261 

Seyssel, bitumen at 31 

Shafts in Galicia 33 

Shaler,N.H., on Devonian shales '. 69,70 

Shales, Crawford 43 

Shells, flint 41 

' ' Shipper " 106 

Shipments of crude oil out of producing region daring the census year. 267, 271 



INDEX TO REPORT ON PETROLEUM. 



317 



Page. 
fjhipmeDta of refined oil out of producing region daring the censns 

year 267,268,271' 

Shooting of tanks 97 

Sicilian oil 253 

Silicate of magnesium, use of 176 

Silliman, B.Jr., on petroleum of Oil creek, 1855 53 

SiUimaD.B., jr., research, on California maltha 1S4 

Silurian, petroleum in the 37 

Silurian, petroleum indigenous in rocks of 38,62,63 

Silurian, Hall on deposition of the "0 

Sintenis. test apparatus of 224 

Slime 4,34 

Slippery Kock creek, petroleum ;it 23 

Sludge 165,182 

Sludge, poisonous effects of 183 

Slush oil 13,87 

Smith's Ferry, petroleum at 23,107,158 

Solfataras, natural gas of. 241 

Solidifying petroleum 101 

Solubility of paraffine 287 

Sources of crade parafl&ne 170 

South Carolina, bitumen in 19 

Southern California, petroleum in 12 

Southern Kentucky, petroleum in 12 

Special technology of California petroleum 184 

Specifications for tanks 95 

Specific gravity corresponding to each degree, Baum6 133 

Specific gravity of carburetted gas 246 

Specific gravity of lard oil 197 

Specific gravity of lubricating oils - 196 

Specific gravity of macbiut-ry oil 197 

Specific gravity of neat's-foot oil 197 

Specific gravity of paraffine oil 196 

Specific gravity of Russian petroleum 15 

Specific gravity of sperm oil 196 

Specific gravity of spindle oil 196 

Specific gravity of stainless oil 197 

Specific inductive capacity of naphtha 283 

Sperm, mineral 165 

Sperm oil 157 

Sperm oil, friction of 210 

Sperm oil, specific gravity of 196 

Spindle oil 165 

Spindle oil, quality of 212 

Spindle oil, specific gravity of 196 

Spontaneous combustion of lubricating oils 198, 211 

Spraying 166 

Spring-pole wells 78 

Spudding 83 

Stainless oil, specific gravity of 197 

'"Standard"' oil 214.221 

Stations, pumping 93 

Station tanks 96 

Statistical tables, analysis of 267, 268, 269, 270 

Statistics of capital employed in producing oil 142 

Statistics of charters of oil shipped from the United States 268, 269 

Statistics of Galician petroleum 16 

Statistics of labor employed in producing oil 142 

Statistics of manufacture of petroleum during the census year 186, 191 

Statistics of oil in well-tanks 134 

S^1ti^tica of pipe-lines 102 

Statistics of Russian petroleum 15 

Statistics of the production of petroleum in the census year 267 

Steaming oil 100 

Steiniil 3 

Stills 162 

Stills, cheese-box 162 

Stills, coke in 160 

Stills, cylindrical 162 

Stills, iTerrill'a 163 

Stills, vacuum 163 

Stocks, accumulated 98 

Stocks, accumulated, condition of 100 

Stocks, accumulation of 140, 142 

Stocks, amount of surplus 99 



Page. 

Stocks in oil region at various dates 148 

Stocks of refined petroleum held at European ports 279 

Stocks, Welch on well 134 

Stocks, well, of Bradford district 138 

Stocks, well, Oil City D^rricAr on 135 

Stoneham, Pennsylvania, petroleum at 14 

Storage of oil 98 

Storage of petroleum in Europe 101, 297 

Storage tanks 94 

Storer's review of Antisell 168 

Stowell on wells in the lower country 141 

Stray sands 42 

Sucker-rods, pumping by 88 

Sulphur in bitumen 54 

Sulphur in illuminating oil 222 

Sulphur in petroleum 17 

Sunlight, action of, on petroleum products 59 

Sunned oils 158 

Sweden, bitumen in 32 

Swing-pipes 96 

Switzerland, bitnmen in 31 

Synthesis of mineral oils 298 

Synthesis of petroleum 58 

T. 

Table for computing gallons from weight of oil 116 

Table of coeflicients of friction at different pressures 204 

Table of coefficients of friction at 100° F 210 

Table of comparative weights and measures of oil 118 

Table of production and average price, 1860 to 1880 148 

Table of st ocks in oil region at various dates 148 

Table showing number and production of wells in the Bradford district. 135 

Tables, analysis of statistical 267, 268, 269, 270 

Tables. Lattimore's 105,116 

Tables of expansion, Schubert's 104, 111 

Tagliabue's test apparatus 224 

Tank-cars 166 

Tank-cars, iron 92 

Tank-cars, wooden 92 

Tank-fires 96 

Tank-fires, extinguishing 97, 98 

Tanks at refineries 162 

Tanks, diftensions of 94 

Tanks, overflow of burning 97 

Tanks, shooting of 97 

Tanks, specifications for 95 

Tanks, station 96 

Tanks, storage 94 

Tanks, well 93 

Tanks, well, statistics of oil in 134 

Technology of California petroleum 184,185 

Technology of petroleum by distillation 159 

Temperature of bearings 209 

Temperature of oil in burning lamps 236 

Temper screw 8£ 

Tennessee, asphalt in 20 

Tennessee, natural gas in 25 

Tennessee, petroleum in 24. 25 

Terek, petroleum in 33 

Tertiary of Europe, occurrence of petroleum in 71 

Tertiary, petroleum in the 37 

"Test" 214 

Test apparatus, Abel's 224 

Test apparatus. Abel's report on 227 

Test apparatus, Bernstein's 224 

Test apparatus, Danish 224 

Test apparatus, comparison of 225 

Test apparatus, Engler's 225 

Test apparatus, English experiments with 226 

Test apparatus, experiments of Boverton Redwood 235 

Test apparatus, experiments of Engler and Haas 225 

Test apparatus of Parrish 224 

Test apparatus of Salleron et Urbain. * 223 

Test apparatus of Saybolt 224 

T^)8t apparatus of Sintenis 224 

Test apparatus of Tagliabue 224 



318 



INDEX TO REPORT ON PETROLEUM. 



Test, burning ■ 220 

Test, flashing - 220 

Test for sulphur in mineral oils 181 

Test of the Eames process in manufacture of iron 250 

Test to insure public safety 237 

Test, petroleum 291, 294 

Texas, asphalt in 20 

Texas, maltha in 20 

Thallene 56 

The derrick 78 

Therapeutic, petroleum as a 253 

Theory that bitumen is indigenous in rocks where found..,. 62 

Theory that petroleum ia a distillate C5 

Third oil-sands, level of 43 

Thor6 ou petroleum in the water of Sainte-Bois 66 

Thurston, R. H., on lubricating oils 195 

Tidioute, Pennsylvania, dug wells at 77 

Tiflis, petroleum at 33 

Tin cans 188 

Tinsmiths 188 

Titusville 75 

Tools, drilling 81 

Took, drilling, dimensions of 82 

Tools, driUlng, weight of 82 

Tools, fishing 81 

Topography of coast ranges of California 68 

Torpedoes 84 

Towns lighted by natural gas 242 

Transportation of petroleum, early history of 92 

Transportation of petroleum in bulk 102 

Treatment of petroleum products 160, 180 

Trinidad 240 

Trinidad, asphalt in 29 

Trinidad pitch 54 

Trinidad pitch, lake of 29 

Trinidad, Wall on petroleum in 64 

True solution of problem of lubrication 209 

IT. 

Ultimate analysis of petroleum 53 

Upper Devonian, petroleum of Pennsylvania in 41 

Use of alembic 53 

Use of animal charcoal jl 157 

Use of apparatus for testing lubricating oils 206 

Use of bitumen in Egypt 4 

Use of bitumen in embalming ; 4 

Use of bitumen in Persia y 4 

Use of mineral oils for lubrication 195 

Use of naphtha for illumination 214 

Use of pnraffine in ointments 254 

Use of petroleum as fuel 247 

Use of petroleum for illumination 214 

Use of petroleum fdr illumination in Burmah 214, 261 

Use of petroleum for illumination in Japan 214 

Use of petroleum for illumination in Persia 214 

Use of petroleum for illumination on Oil creek 214 

Use of petroleum for scab in cattle 253 

Use of petroleum in bronchitis 253 

Use of petroleum in consumption 253 

Use of petroleum in Galicia 261 

Use of petroleum in glass-houses 251 

Use of petroleum in medicine 252 

Use of petroleum in rheumatism 253 

Use of petroleum on horses 7 

Use of petroleum on vines 252 

Use of petroleum to destroy vermin 252 

Use of the word paraffine in England. 178 

Utah, bitumen in 20 

Utah, grahamite in 20 

Utah, ozokerite in 20 

Unguentum Paraffini 254 

Unsaturated carbides from American petroleum 56 

Unstable character of California petroleum 69 

V. 

Vacuum oils '. 168 

Vacuum stills J.63 



Pago-- 

Vagnas 247" 

Val de Travers 5, 31 

Value of engines and boilers 143- 

Value of land in Pennsylvania 143- 

Valueof rigs < 143 

Varieties of petroleum, commercial 104 

Vaseline 168,254,255- 

Vaseline in compounded ointments 256 

Venango county, Pennsylvania, petroleum in 22' 

Venango oil-sands 43 

Venaugo oil-sands, dip of 45 

Venango oil-sands, elevation of, above sea-level 45 

Venezuela, petroleum in 30- 

Vermont, bitumen in 19 

Vertical section of Pennsylvania oil-bearing rocks 46 

Virginia, bitumen in 19- 

Viridin 56 

Viscosity of lubricating oil 199 

Vohl on parafl&ne from brown coal and peat 172 

Vohlon sulphur in illuminating oU. 181 

Volatile material in lubricating oil 197,211 

Volcanic action and natural gas 24C 

Volcanic action, petroleum not a product of 70 

Vulcan oil 157 

W. 

Wagner, K. v., on the separation of paraflSne from stearic acid 177 

Walking-beam 81 

Wall on petroleum in Trinidad 64 

Wallachia, natural gas in 33 

Wallachia, petroleum in 33, 288 

Watch oU 213. 

"Water white" 214 

Warren, Pennsylvania, petroleum at 14, 21 

Warren oil group — 4ff 

Warren's analysis of Pennsylvania petroleum 54 

Warren and Storer's analysis of Rangoon petroleum 55 

Washington county, Ohio, petroleum in 12 

Waabington territory, bitumen in IS" 

Weight of drilling- tools 82 

Welch on future production, 1879 262 

Welch on well stocks 134 

Welch's report ou Galicia 152: 

Welch's report on Russia 151 

West Bloomfield, New Tork, natural gas at 241 

Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, petroleum in 23 

West Virginia, asphalt in 1ft 

West Virginia, bitumen in -.- 19,24 

West Virginia, grahamite in 19, 74 

West Virginia, natural gas in — 24; 

West Virginia "oil break" 37,49 

West Virginia oil, inspection of - 107 . 

West Virginia, petroleum in 12, 19, 24( 

West Virginia Transportation Company, grades of. 104 

West Virginia, certificates of lOT 

Wet drilling ,. 88 

Well, American 8 

Well, Beatty 8 

Well, Fenton - W 

Well, first Bradford .'. 13^ 

Well, firstflowing, of 1880 88 

Well, first petroleum - 6, 11 

Well, Katie Hough.... .- 8ft 

Well of 1861 87 

Well of 1868 f 87 

Well, old Crittenden ■- 14 

Well, pumping, of 1878 88 

Well stocks ia Bradford district - - 138 

Well-tanks 93 

Well, Watson's deep - 46. 

Wells, artesian - • - - - ''6 

Wells at Balachany - 34 

Wells, average cost of, in Bradford district - 145 

Wells, average cost of, in Franklin district 146. 

W^Us, average cost of, in lower country l^S- 



INDEX TO REPORT ON PETROLEUM. 



319 



Wells, average cost of, in Ohio 146 

Wella, average cost of, in "West Virginia 146 

Wella, care of 146 

"Wells, Carll.J. P., onflooding 90 

Wells, cost of 144 

Wells, drilling , 82,83 

Wells, firing of 98 

Wells, flood ing 90 

Wells, grasshopper 49 

Wells in lower country, Stowell on 141 

Wells, location of 85 

Wells, management of 87 

Wells, number of, in Bradford district 135 

Wells, number of, in New York 147 

Wells, number of, per acre 86 

Wells of Indiana 37 

Wells, plugging of 91 

Wells, production of, in Bradford district 135 

Wells, salt, on Muskingum 7 

Wells, spring-pole 78 

Wells, use of benzine in 89 

Wells, yield of 89 

Wbaleoil 157 

Wheel, band 81 



Whipple &. Dickerson process in manufacture of iron 250 

White Oak district, West Virginia 19 

White Oak district, geological formation of 50 

White Oak district, petroleum in 12 

Whitnej', J. D., on origin of petroleum 65 

Wicks, capillarity of 239 

Wicka, effect of cracked oil on 239 

Wicks, research on 238 

Wicks, sophisticated 239 

Winchell, A., on petroleum in Michigan 65 

Wisconsin, bitumen in 19 

Woodbury, C.J. H., on burners and wicks 238 

Wooden tank-cara 92 

Wool oils 257, 260 

Wyoming, bitumen in 2I 

Wyoming, petroleum in 26, 27 

Y. 

TenangyouDg 5 

Yield of wells 89 

Young, James, jr., patent of 161 

Z. 

Zacynthns 

Zante. bitumen in 32. 



REPORT 



MANUFACTUEE OF COKE. 



J-OS. ID. AATEEICS, 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



Page_ 

Lktter of transmittai. '^ 

Part 1. 

Statistics of the manufacture of coke 1-18 

Scope of report ^ 

Summary for 1880 1 

Summary of statistics for 1850, 1860, 1870, and 1880 1 

Number of establishments 2 

Works idle and works building ^ 

Statistics of establishments at which coke was made in the census year 1879-'80 3 

Localities in which coke was manufactured — - 3 

Capital ■* 

Number and kinds of ovens - ^ 

Plant other than ovens ^ 

Statement of number of coke cars, locomotives, and miles of railroad track at coke works of United States, May 31, 1880. 6 

Material used 6 

Weight of the bushel 8 

Employes ° 

Wages and earnings ° 

Periods of payment ^ 

Methods of payment 1" 

Relative rank in production of the several states and counties 10 

Relative rank of states 1" 

Relative rank of counties, in order of production — 10 

Yield of coal in coke 11 

Average selling price of coke - 1* 

Amount and total value of coke produced in each state in census year 1879-'80, and average value of same per ton ... 12 

Table I.— Statistics of the manufacture of coke in the United States at the census of 1880, by states 13 

Table II.— Statistics of the manufacture of coke In the United States at the census of 1880, by states and counties 14, 15 

Table III.— Statistics of the coke works of the United States idle at the census of 1880 16,17 

Table IV. — Statistics of the coke works of the United States building at the census of 1880 16, 17 

Relation of cost of coke to selling price 1° 

Part II. 

Coking in the United States 19-52 

The coal-fields and coal of the United States in their relation to the manufacture of coke in the census year 19 

History of the manufacture of coke in the United States ** 

The coke industry in Pennsylvania — ** 

The coke industry in West Virginia. 3* 

The coke industry in Virginia ^1 

The coke industry in Ohio '*'■ 

The coke industry in Tennessee ^* 

The coke industry in Alabama '•° 

The coke industry in Georgia *° 

The coke industry in Indiana ^° 

The coke industry in Illinois ^° 

The coke industry in Colorado °1 



The coke industry in Utah . 



52 
The coke industry in New Mexico -•• ^"^ 

ill 



iV 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



Past III. 

Pag*. 

•Coking in Europe 53-68 

History of coke in England - 53 

Coking in Great Britain and Ireland 55 

Coking in Belgium 61 

Coking in France 64 

Coking in Germany 65 

Coking in Austria-Hungary : 67 

Coking in other European countries 68 

Part IV. 

'Coal, coal- washing, etc C9-81 

Coking and non-coking coal 69 

Britisk coking coals 70 

Coking coals of the continent of Europe 70 

Analyses of European industrial cokes 73 

Proiierties and composition of coke 71 

Analyses of European cokes 72 

Analyses of American industrial cokes 73 

Coal- washing - 73 

Coke as a blast-furnace fuel 80 

Part V. 

Ovens «2-106 

Coking in piles 82 

Cokiur in open kilns 85 

The bee-hive oven 86 

The Belgian or flue oven 91 

Special adaptations of each form of oven 95 

The utilization of waste products 100 

Cost of constructing one hundred coke ovens on the Carvfes system at Terrenoire, France 105 

Average results of ovens on the Carvfes system at the Bessfeges works of the Terrenoire company 106 



LIST OF ILLUSTEATIONS. 



. 1. The coke- producing belt 4 

2. The Connellsville coke-region 31 

3. New River of Kanawha coking-coal field 40 

4. Plan and section of trough- washer 74 

5. Hartz-jig 76 

6. Hartz-jig, with revolving scraper 76 

7. The Stutz co.il-washing machinery ,. 77 

8. 36-inch Osterspey-jig for coal 79 

9. Cambria Iron Company : Bennington coke-pits 83 

10. Coking large coals in circular piles 84 

11. Coking in rectangular kilns 85 

12. Plan of coke-ovens near Newcastle-upon-Tyne... 87 
18. Cambria Iron Company: Plan, elevation, and de- 
tails of Bee-hive coke-ovens at Bennington shaft 88 

14. Plan of Morewood Coke Company's ovens, Mount 

Pleasant, Pa 88 



Morewood Coke Company: Ground plan and sec- 
tion of bank oven 

Browney colliery: Arrangement of coke-ovens, 
boilers, chimney, etc. (ground plan) 

Browney colliery: Arrangement of coke-ovens, 
boilers, chimney, etc. (elevation) 

Coppee's coke-oven : Coke-ram 

Coppee's coke-oven: Plan and elevation 

Appolt's eoke-ovens 



>The Siemens-Carvfes oven 102,103 



LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL. 



Pittsburgh, Pa., February 15, 1883. 
Hon. C. W. Seaton, 

Superintendent of Census. 

SiE : I have the honor to forward yon herewith my final report npon the manufacture of coke in the United 
States in the census year 1880. This report embraces the complete statistics of the production of coke during 
that year, together with such information regarding the characteristics of the works, materials used, and labor 
employed as could be obtained. These are supplemented by such statements and explanations as seemed necessary 
to the correct understanding of the statistics. Considerable attention has also been given to the history of coke, 
both in this country and in Europe, as well as to such technical information as promised to add to the value of the 
report. 

It should be carefully noted that this report includes only the statistics of that coke which was manufactured 
as a direct product, and not that produced in connection with the manufacture of gas. There is only one possible 
exception to this statement, which is noted in its proper place in the report. 

The manufacture of coke is so intimately connected with the manufacture of pig-iron that its history is virtually 
a history of the manufacture of coke pig-iron, while the value of different cokes and of different methods of coking 
depends largely upon the adaptability of the coke to furnace use. The reason of this will be evident when it is 
known that more than four-fifths of all the coke manufactured is used in the production of pig-iron. This will 
explain the constant reference to pig-iron and blast furnaces in this report. 

In view of the great variety of coal in this country adapted to the manufacture of coke, some statements 
regarding the different ovens in use and the results obtained in other countries with various ovens using different 
kinds of coal have been given, which I trust will be of importance in certain sections of the country. I ha\'e also 
given very full information as to the methods employed in the utilization of the waste products of coking. 

In the historical and technical part of this report I have relied for information to some extent upon standard 
works, as well as upon fragmentary statements scattered through various publications. In most cases I have 
given in the body of the report the authority for the statements made, but it is no more than just to mention here 
my especial obligations to The Iron Age, of New York, The Colliery Guardian and Engineeriyig, of London, England, 
among journals, and Percy's standard work, Metallurgy, volume Fuel, Jordan^s Album of Metallurgy, and Mr. Richard 
Meade's TJie Coal and Iron Industries of the United Kingdom, among standard works. I also desire in a very especial 
manner to acknowledge my obligations to Mr. John Fulton, mining engineer of the Cambria Iron Company, to 
whom I am indebted, not only for permission to make use of extracts from the admirable papers iiublished hy him 
In the reports of the second geological survey of Pennsylvania, but also for the revision of certain chapters of 
this report and for very valuable suggestions and information. My thanks are also due to Major Jed. Hotchkiss, 
of Staunton, Virginia, Mr. I. Lowthian Bell, Mr. Charles Wheeler, and Mr. Richard Meade, of England, il. Max 
Goebel, of Belgium, and Dr. Herman Wedding, of Germany, for valuable information. 

In the collection and compilation of these statistics I have had the intelligent assistance of Mr. S. C. Armstrong 

and Miss C. V. Young, of my ofiice. 

I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

JOS. D. WEEKS, 

Special Agent. 



Part I.— STATISTICS OF THE MANUFACTURE OF COKE. 



SCOPE OF EEPOET. 



Ill this report aud its accompanyiug tables the word "coke" is used iu a restricted sense, inchidiug only that 
coke made from bituminous coal, iu ovens, pits, or "on the ground'', and which, for convenience, may be termed 
" oven colve ". " Gas coke" so called, or that which is a residual product of the manufacture of gas, is iu no case 
included. An apparent exception is the coke of the Consolidated Gas Company, of Pittsburgh, which is made in 
beehive ovens, and is, therefore, a true oven coke. The gases escaping during its manufacture, however, are 
collected ajul utilized for lighting purposes, instead of being allowed to waste into the air. 

By reason of this omission of "gas coke" the total of coke consumed in the United States, as shown by the 
fuel tables of the census, will not correspond with the total production of coke as shown in this reiiort, the fuel 
tables showing the consumption of both oven and gas coke. 

It is also to be noticed that, though there is a most intimate connection between the mining of coal and its 
manufacture into coke, this report covers only the latter industry. The coalmining connected with coke mauufiicture 
is regarded as a separate industrj-, just as the mining of iron ore is an industry distinct from the manufacture of 
pig-iron. The statistics of such mining are not, therefore, except incidentally, included iu this report. The coal 
is considered as material, and is so tabulated. To this statement there is no exception, not even in reporting 
concerning those establishments where all the coal mined is manufactured into coke and where the coal mines and 
coke works are virtually one establishment. The statements of capital, employes, wages, etc., relate onlj- to the 
coke works. As illustrative, however, of the extent of the coke industry, some facts regarding the coal mines 
connected with coke works are given, but they are carefully separated from the figures regarding the latter. 

In treating of coal as a material for the manufacture of coke it has been thought best to include some general 
statements regarding the character of our coking coals, but these statements have been for the most part confined 
to those deposits of coal which were actually used iu the manufacture of coke in the census year. No attempt has 
been made to show the extent of 'the deposits of coking coal in the United States. 

It should also be distinctly understood that from the statements and statistics given in this report it is not 
possible to ascertain, even approximately, what have been the profits of coke-making in the United States. A series 
of questions so framed as to show this would probably have received very few answers. All that the tables 
pretend to show is the cost of labor and materials and the selling price of the coke. The other items that enter 
into the cost, such as superintendence, insurance, taxes, interest, general office expenses, bad debts, with others 
that will readily occur to any business man, are not given, and all of these which are not ascertainable must be 
added to the cost of labor and materials before it would be possible to ascertain what the profit was. 

SUMMARY FOR 1880. 

There were produced in the United States in the cen.susyear,1879-'S0, 2,752,475 tonsof coke, valued at $5,359,489, 
or $1 94+ per ton. In its production 4,300,110 tons of coal, valued at $2,761,057, or 03.3 cents per ton, were used. 
This would make the yield of the coal in coke 03.1 per cent., or it would require, on an average, 1.58^ tons of coal 
to produce a ton of coke. The average value of the coal in a ton of coke would therefore be a little over $1. 

There were employed in the manufacture of this coke 3,140 (o) persons, of whom 3 were women and 71 boys, 
the total wages paid being $1,108,054, or 43.5 cents per ton of coke produced. There were 10,116 ovens built May 
31, 1880, and 2,103 building, making a total of 12,279 built and constructing. 

SUMMARY OF STATISTICS FOR 1850, 1860, 1870, AND 1880. 

In the tables included in this report will be found the detailed statistical results of the census of the manufacture 
of coke iu the United States for the census year 1880. These results are summarized below, and, as far as possible, 
are compared with the results obtained at previous censuses. 

a In additiou there were two watchmen at an idle works. 



2 



MANUFACTURE OF COKE. 



As will be shown in the historical part of this report, the manufacture of coke in some considerable quantities- 
for use in blast-furnaces began prior to 1840, and as early as 1817 coke was used for refining iron. It is also probable 
that as early as this, if not earlier, it was used to some extent in melting iron in founderies, in malting, and for- 
other xjurposes. Coke does not appear, however, under the subdivisions of manufactures until the census of 1850.. 
Prior to this date it was probably returned as coal. 

It will also be evident, from considerations that will hereafter be advanced, that the figures prior to the present 
census are not complete. The comparisons made must therefore be regarded only as approximations, and not as- 
showing the real advance made in the manufacture of coke. 

in the following table is given a summary of the totals of the most important items covered by the census of 
1880, compared with similar results obtained at the censuses of 1870, 1860, and 1850: 



United States. 



Numljer of establishments 

Nuraher of persons employed 

Amount of capital, real and personal 

Wages paid 

Value of all materials used, including coal 
Value of coke produced 



149 
3,142 
$5, 545, 058 
1, 198, 654 
2, 995, 441 
5, 359, 489 



25 

528 

$1, 202, 043 

288, 695 

615, 268 

1,132,386 



Total in 
18G0. 


Total in 
1650. 


21 


4' 


198 


14 


$62, 300 


$3, 700 


CI, 368 


3,444 


73, 552 


6,038 


ISO, 844 


15, 250 



Percentage 

of increase in 

1880 over 

1870. 



386. 86 
373. 29 



609. 52 
1, 486. 8) 
8, 800. 57 

1, 853. 22 
3, 972. 55 

2, 723. 10 



3, 625. OO 
22, 342. 8S 
149, 706, 43. 
34, 704. 12: 
49, 509. 82! 
35,044.19. 



This table indicates a most r^narkable growth, especially during the past ten years. It must be remembered 
that coke is both bulky and low-priced, and in proportion to its weight it is one of the lowest, if not the lowest 
priced of any manufactured article. During the census year the average value of a railroad-car load of c®ke,, 
containing from 12 to 14 tons, was from $24 to $28 at the ovens. But little of the coke is used where made, the 
nearest important point of consumption to the Connellsville region (which produced more than 68 per cent, of all the 
coke made) being Pittsburgh, about 60 miles distant, while hundreds of thousands of tons are carried to points much 
farther away. The growth of the industry in these years, then, means a growth where'the margins of profit must 
be small and the tonnage handled immense, and the difiiculties in the way of its growth, as is always the case with 
low-priced, heavy articles that must be transported long distances to market, are well-nigh insurmountable. To 
organize and operate effectively the railroad service in connection with this heavy increase of traffic has been of 
itself no small undertaking. All things considered, the development of the manufacture of coke during the past ten 
years must be regarded as one of the marked achievements in our industrial progress. 

NUMBER OF ESTABLISHMENTS. 

^ Each separate coke works, with its ovens and other plant, is classified as an establishment. In many instances- 
it was found that an individual or firm operated several works, sometimes contiguous, in other cases widely 
separated; but notwithstanding this joint ownership each works is regarded as a separate establishment, and is 
so classified. The number of works and the number of owners are not, therefore, the same. The number of 
establishments returned at the last four censuses is as follows, there being no returns prior to 1850: 

Number of establishments in 1880 149 

Number of establishments in 1870 25 

Number of establishments in 1860 21 

Number of establishments in 18,50 ^ 

The increase in the number of establishments between 1870 and 1880 was nearly 500 per cent., assuming that- 
the word " establishment" was used in the same sense at the census of 1870 as at that of 18:i0, which is probable, 
as the condition of the coke trade was such at the earlier date that an individual or a firm would hardly have more 
than one works. 

The increase in 1880 over 1860 was about 600 per cent., the increase in the number of establishments iu the 
ten years between 1860 and 1876 being but 4, or about 20 per cent., as will be seen from the table given above. 
The increase in product, however, was much greater, indicating a very rapid increase in the size and capacity of 
the works. The number of works returned in 1850 is probably not correct, and is so small as to be hardly worthy 
of notice. The manufacture of coke at that date was in its infancy in this country, but it was without doubt more 
of an industry than the returns for 1850 indicate. 



-WOEKS IDLE AND WORKS BUILDING. 

In the enumeration of establishments given in Table I are included all works, whether completed or building,, 
that were iu existence in the census year 1879-'80. A number of these, however, were idle during the entire 
year; others were building, and made no coke. In many cases extensive additions were made to old works, some 



MANUFACTURE OF COKE. 3 

of wliicU T-ere completed in whole or in part and pnt in operation during the census year ; in other cases 
construction was goiiig on at tte date of this import. It will be necessary, therefore, in order to ascertain what 
capital, plamt, etc., were used iu the manufacture of the coke produced in the census year, to distinguish between 
works which were idle and buikling and those which were operated in whole or in part. 

The following table, condensed from Tables III and IV, gives a statement of all of the works idle or building 
during the census year ISTSt-'SO- It includes all works at which no coke was made, but does not include any 
statement of additions made during the census year to works that were completed and operated during any part 
of the year: 





i 












KO. OF 




COAL PEOPERTY 




a 
1 

5 




XUMBER OF OVKXS BUILT. 


XUMBEK OF 


OVEXt 


BUILDING. 




OWXEU BY 


























t ^ 










■i 












o 




1 




1 1 




£ 




1 


1 






s 
p. 








a 


'S. 

o 


1 ■= 
' 1 


1 


1 i 


*3 


JS 


t 

n 


o 


s 


3 


1 


$ 


■? 


O 


. 




$348, 700 
526, 500 


304 


4C 


1 


353 


21 




i 1 21 


, 


*$910 




$296, 300 


""^ " -ir 


13 












1,287 




SO 


1,367 






16, 211 




















22 


775,200 


j 304 


49 






353 


1,308 




60 


1 1.388 


2 


910 


17, 761 


2, 156, 500 













* Wages paid watchman at works. 

STATISTICS OF ESTABLISHMENTS AT WHICH COKE WAS MADE IIST THE CENSUS YEAR 1879-'80. 

Comparing the items of this table with the corresponding ones of Table I, and making the necessary 
deductions, it will be found that the coke made in the United States in the census year 1879-80 was made in 
establishments tlie number and characteristics of which were as follows : 

Total nnuiber of establishments at which coke was made during census year 1879-'i^0 127 

Total capital- invested in the same '. $4, 769, 858 

Total number of ovens built at the same May 31, 1860 9, 763 

Total number of ovens building at the same May 31, IHdO 796 

Total number of employ^ at the same May 31, 18S0 3,140 

Total wages paid at the same $1, 197,744 

Total value ef materials used at the same 2,995,441 

Total tons of coal used at the same 4, 360, 110 

Total value of same i 12,761,657 

Total tons of coke produced 2,752,475 

Total value of same §5,359,489 

Acres of coal connected with works that make coke 140, 922 

Capital invested in coal works connected with coke works that made coke in 1879-'80 §10,903,541 



LOCALITIES IN TVHICH COKE WAS MAXUFACTUEED. 

Though coke was an article of manufacture in this country some years prior to 1850, it is not found enumerated 
among its manufactures until the census of that year, the very small amount returned being all credited to 
Pennsylvania. The published volume of statistics of manufactures for that census gives no indication as to the 
localities in the state where the works making this coke were situated, but an exiyniuation of the original returns 
shows that oven coke was made in Allegheny and Fayette counties. It is very probable that coke was also made 
in other localities in Pennsylvania, and some in Maryland and Ohio, and possibly in Virginia. The census contains 
no record of coke so made, and it may have been returned as bituminous coal. 

At the census of 1860 coke is returned as made in Allegheny, Cambria, Clarion, and Fayette counties, 
Pennsylvania. These counties are respectively in the Pittsburgh, Allegheny Mountain, Allegheny Eiver, and 
Conuellsville districts, so that at that date what are now the chief coke-producing regions of Pennsylvania were 
engaged in its manufacture. 

A remark similar to that made concerning the statistics of 1850 is also applicable to those of 1860, as coke was 
doubtless made in other counties of Pennsylvania than those named. In a work published in Pittsburgh in 
1857 (a) the statement is made: 

The coke-iron consumed by the manufacturers of Pittsburgh is at present obtained both from a di.stance and from the neighborhood. 
The metal of this description made from the fossil ores of the central counties of Pennsylvania is excellent for castings. • » » From 
the neighboring counties of Fayette, Cambria, Beaver, Mercer, and Lawrence coke metal is now brought to Pittsburgh. 

a Pittshurgh As It Is, by George H. Thurston (Pittsburgh, 1857), page 103. 



MANUFACTURE OF COKE. 



This would add Beaver, Mercer, aud Lawrence counties to the coke-producing sections of Pennsylvania. The 
Clinton furnace, at Pittsburgh, working entirely with coke as a fuel, was also blown in during the f;dl of 1859, 
and though small, its consumption of coke would have been a considerable proportion of that reported made in 
the census year 1860. Altogether, the indications are that the returns for ISGO are very incomplete, as they omit 
many localities at which coke was made, aud fail to report much that was made, or do not report it as coke. 

In 1870 Ohio for the first time aj)pears in the census as a manufacturer of coke, it being made in Hamilton, 
Jefferson, aud Tuscarawas counties. The coke made iu Hamilton county was probably made from the screenings 
gathered from the different coal-yards. In this year, according to the report, coke was made in Pennsylvania in 
Allegheny, Armstrong, Cambria, Clarion, and Fayette counties, Armstrong being the only county in which coke 
was reported as made at the Ninth Census iu which it was not reported as made at the Eighth. 

In the census of 1880 it will be noticed that coke is reported as being manufactured iu niue states : Alabama, 
Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Penusylvauia, Tennessee, and West Virginia. Two establishments for 
the manufacture of coke are reported in Virginia near Eichmond, but no coke was made iu this state in the 
census year 1879-'80. Under the head of "Eelative productive rank of the several states and counties" are 
given the details concerning the several localities at the Tenth Census. 

From an iuspection of the map accompanying this report and a comparison of the figures given iu the tables 
showing the localities aud production it will be seen that the coke-producing belt of the country is the bituminous 
coal-measures of the Appalachian chain. Beginuiug very nearly at the extreme northern point of the Allegheny 
mountains iu Pennsylvania, the coke ovens follow this range of the Appalachians nearly to their southern limit, 
at Huntsville, Alabama. Outside the limit of this region the make of coke in the census year was but 26,600 tons 
out of a total of 2,753,475, or less than 1 per cent. It will also be noticed that the center of production is the 
ConuelJsville region of Pennyslvania. 

No doubt coke iu considerable quantities will be manufectured in the future iu other states. Already there is 
promise of this i:i certain sections of Illinois aud iu Colorado, but for mauy years it is probable that the bulk of the 
coke of the couutiy will'be produced aloug the Allegheuy Mountaiu range from the coal-measures of which such a 
large percentage is now supplied. 

CAPITAL. 

The capital invested in coiic works, including that in oveus and appurtenances, buildings, etc., and employed 
in the coke business, but not iucliuliug any of the capital properly belonging to the coalmining part of coke-making, 
iu the census year lS79-'80 was $5,545,058. This amount, ho\Yever, does not fairly represent the amount of capital 
invested in the coke business of the country. Though iu this investigatiou the statistics of the miniug of coal for 
the manufacture of coke have not been included, it is nevertheless true that the capital invested at the mines which 
supply coal to the coke works is in many instances invested in them solely for the production of coke, aud the 
capital employed at such mines should properly be included with that invested in the manufacture of coke as 
returned to the special agent. In Fayette and Westmoreland counties, Pennsylvania, tlie entire product of the 
mines at the coke works is, with the exception of a small percentage, made into coke. Sales of coal, as coal, are 
very rare, and are only made under exceptional circumstances, and probably did not equal 1 per ceut. of the product 
iu the census year, though it is larger in other years. 

In statiug the capital invested in the manufacture of coke it would be necessary, therefore, in order to show 
fairly the total of this capital, to add to that given in the tables of coke manufacture the amount of capital invested 
in the coal mines at coke works. This was $13,000,011, which would make the total capital invested iu the 
manufacture of coke as follows : 

Total capital invested in coal works supplying coal to coke works $13,060,041 

Total capital invested in worka for the mauuiacture of coke 5,545,058 

Total invested in tlie manufacture of coke 18,605,099 

A large part of this total is invested iu coal lands. There are connected with coal mines that furnish coal for 
the manufacture of coke 158,683 acres of coal lands, the value of this laud varying from $100 or less to $800 an 
acre, according to its locality. 

NUMBBE AND KINDS OF OVENS. 

The total number of ovens, and the number of each kind built and budding iu the United States May 31, 1880, 
was as follows : 



Ovens built May 31, 1880 

OvenabaUding May 31, 1880 

Total buUt and building May 31, 1880. 



9,723 
2,083 



10, 116 
2,163 




Fig. 1 — THE CO K E - P R O D U C I N G BELT. 



MANUFACTURE OF COKE. 5 

Tlie 310 Belgian oveus iuelude a number of varieties, 'out are all constructed on the Belgian plan, with flues in 
the bottom or sides, or both. The other forms are a modification of the bee-hive, and resemble the oven used in 
Wales. The}- are known as the ''Tunnel, or English drag". 

The report on pits or mounds must necessarily be very unsatisfactory, the number used varying with the 
demand for coke. In seasons of great demand the number at tild -works — not only at those where only pits and mounds 
are used, but sometimes at those where usually all the coke made is burned in ovens — is largely increased, and in 
addition coke is made in mounds at coal works that do not make coke except at these times of increased demand. 
With a falling off of demand the number is reduced. As they are so variable in number and are not as permanent 
as ovens, no satisfactory report can be made of the number in use. Those given in the table may be regarded as the 
number reported in use May 31, 1880. 

There are no statements in the census reports of previous years showing the number of ovens in existence at 
the dates of the reports, nor are exact data obtainable from other sources. A work published at Pittsburgh in 
1870 (n) gives the number of coke ovens in Pittsburgh and vicinity in active operation in 1855 as 100. The same 
work states that — 

In 1870 wliat are termed city coke ovens number "i?;?. In addition to these there is a number of ovens owned by manufacturers, who 
consume their own material, or, in other words, mine their owu coal and make their own coke. 

The Counellsville coke ovens, the jiroduct of which is in universal demand throughout the West, number 790. (6) 

This would give a total of 1,063 reported in the Pittsburgh and Counellsville districts. From other information 
it would appear that the number of ovens in western Pennsylvania in 1870 was not far from 1,200. 

Of the coke reported as manufactured in the census year lS69-'70, 92 per cent, was reported as manufactured 
in Pennsylvania, all of which was made in western Pennsylvania. Ninety-four per cent, of the persons employed 
were employed in the same locality, and the relations of capital invested, wages paid, and material used are about 
the same. All of these facts would lead to the belief that the number of coke ovens in the United States at the 
census of 1870 did not exceed 1,300, all of which were of the bee-hive pattern. In addition to that made in ovens, 
some coke was made in pits and mounds in 1870. Much of that produced in the Allegheny Mountain region of 
Pennsylvania was so burned. 

I have not been able to procure any satisfactory information regarding the number of ovens in use in either 
1860 or 1850, 

PLANT OTHER THAN OVENS. 

As before stated, there are connected with the coal mines that fm-nish coal for the manufacture of coke 
158,683 acres of coal land. This does not, however, represent the amount of coal land from which good coking 
coal can be mined, but only that attached to oveus, or the acreage of the various tracts of coal from which at the 
close of the last census year supplies of coal for coking were drawn. 

Of the plant used at coal mines which supply coal to ovens, the data, for reasons elsewhere given, are not 
complete enough to justify any statement. There were -4,360,110 tons of coal and slack used in the manufacture of 
coke. From a comparison of this with the statistics of bituminous coal produced some rough idea of the 
proportion of the bituminous coal-plant used in the supply of coal to coke works can be obtained. The amount of 
bituminous coal produced as a regular product in the census year was 41,860,055 tons; the percentage of this 
used in the manufacture of coke was therefore lOJ per cent. This proportion of the capital, employes, wages paid, 
material used, and other items entering into the report on bituminous coal should therefore be regarded as employed 
or paid in connection with the production of bituminous coal for manufacture into coke. 

There were in use at 28 coke works 38 coal-washers. Of these 38 washers, 12 are reported as Stutz's patent, 8 
as Diescher's, 4 as Endres", 4 as Hybrid, 2 as Plunger — one of which has 4 jigs and the other 2 ; 2 as Landers', 
each with four compartments; 1 as Osterspey's, with 14 jigs, and 1 each of the following: Slush, Common, 
Bradford, Waverly Coal Company's, and Floating Trough. 

There were also in use by coke works 20 locomotives, 1,703 coke cars, and 26.37 miles of railroad track. These 
are exclusive of locomotives, cars, and track that are properly credited to the coal mines. The coke cars do not 
include the " tarries '', or cars in which the coal is run to the ovens, but only the cars used for transporting coke 
over railroads to consumers. 

The ownership of these cars by the works has been found necessary to secure prompt shipment, though only a 
portion of the coke shipped is forwarded in these private cars, the railroads usually furnishing the necessary rolling- 
stock. The number of these jirivate cars owned bj' certain manufacturers is quite large. One firm owns 500, 
another 222, a third 172, and a fourth 167. 

In addition to the above there are at some establishments extensive works for the supply of water used in 
cooling coke. At those works using Belgian ovens engines are used to discharge the ovens. The number of 
these was not obtained, 

a Pittsiurgh, its Industry and Commerce. Pittsbnrgh. B.arr & Myers : 1670. 6 /(fern, page 18. 



MANUFACTURE OF COKE. 



The statement of washers used and of the number of locomotives, cars, and miles of railroad track is as follows: 



States. 


Counties. 


Number of 
establisli- 

ments at 
which 

washers 
were used. 


Number of 
washers. 


Kind of wasber. 


Remarks. 




Al b a 




8 

2 

1 
1 
1 
1 

4 

1 

1 


1 
2 

4jiga 
14 jigs 
2 jigs 

{ I 

2 
1 
1 
4 

f ■* 

] 1 
[ 1 

1 

1 




Not nsed. 

Building. 

Idle. 

Experimental. 

4 compartments. 

4 compartments. 
Experimental- 
































Plunger 




























Endres 






Clarion 


























































Hybrid 


















































Total 


26 


58 











STATEMENT OF NUMBER OF COKE CARS, LOCOMOTIVES, AND MILES OF RAILROAD TRACK AT COKE WORKS OF 

UNITED STATES, MAY 31, 1880. 



states. 


Comities. 


Number of 
coke cars. 


Numher 
of loco- 
motives. 


Miles 
of railroad 

track 

owned, not 

included in 

statement 

of coal 

works. 


! 

states. 


Counties. 


Number of 
coke cars. 


Number 
of loco- 
motives. 


Miles 
of railroad 

track 

owned, not 

included in 

statement 

of coal 

works. 


The United states. 




1,703 


20 


26.37 


Pennsylvania — c'd. . 
















717 
1 
4 
96 


2 


4.78 






3 
1 










3 


0.33 














3 






3 


4 


0.33 














1,376 


6 


12.78 


r 


50 


7 




Tennessee 


Grnndy 


^^ 






100 
t53 












3.00 


















0.09 


Ohio 


12 
2 

45 
3 




























157 








Jefferson 




1.00 
0.05 




















2 
















62 




1.05 


■West Virginia 














7 
2 
44 




0.12 


Penns Ivania 


*514 
44 




1.00 
3.75 
0.18 


Ohio 






^ """ 


Blair 


1 


Preston 


3 


3.00 




Clarion 




63 


3 



















* Five hundred cars also used in coal business. 



t Coke cars, employed in general traffic also. 



MATERIAL USED. 

The material of chief value used in the manufacture of coke is coal, of which 4,360,110 tons, valued at 
$2,761,657, were used during the census year 1879-'S0. This would make the average value of the coal used 63.3 
cents per ton. The average price per ton of bituminous coal at the mines for the whole United States during the 
census year was $1 25 per ton; that for Pennsylvania, in which state most of the coke was made, $1 01 per ton. 
This would make the average value of the coal used in coking a little more than one-half the average value of all 
bituminous coal, and about two-thirds the value of bituminous coal in Peunsvlvania. 



MANUFACTURE OF COKE. " 7 

There are several reasons for this great diflerence. It is uot because tbe coal used is inferior, for economically 
it is equal to tbe average of bituminous coal mined ; indeed, it is much above the average. The average value of 
all bituminous coal is probably for screened coal chiefly, while that used in coking includes but little screened coal, 
but is mostly the "run of the mine", with considerable slack coal. This would reduce the value per ton 
considerably. As most of the coal used in coking is from miues that are part of the coke works, and as its mining is 
regarded as only incident to the manufacture of coke, and not as a separate industry, the coal is valued at the cost 
of i)roduction, with a small royalty added, with little or no account of profit. As the coal veins iu the Connellsville 
region of Pennsylvania, where so large a proportion of the coke was made in the census year, are quite thick, 
the coal soft and easily mined, and the miners are paid for all coal brought out, the wages and consequent labor-cost 
per ton is much less than in mining for the coal market, wliere only screened coal is paid for, and for these several 
reasons the cost value put upon this coal for coke would be low. To indicate how low this might be, it can be 
stated that Conuellsville coke was sold in some instances in 1S78, delivered on the cars at the ovens, for 90 cents a 
ton. As it takes, say, an average of 1^1 tons of coal to make a ton of coke, and as the cost of coking must be 
included, it will be seen that the value of coal at coke works at that time must have been very low, even less than 
the C3.3 cents a ton shown iu this report. Indeed, the value of the coal in a ton of coke in Pennsylvania was only 
jibout 87i cents, or, say, 5SJ cents a ton of coal. 

It will be noticed in Table I that the coal used is divided into three classes, '"coal used," "slack used," and 
'' washed coal used". Under the first class, " coal used," is included all lump coal, and also the coal used at works 
where the "run of tbe mine" or tbe entire product, lump, nut, and slack, is coked. All of these grades of coal, 
*ven ibougb tbe lump may be crushed and washed, are included under tbe first class. Under "slack used "is 
included only the screenings of coal. The total of these two columns is the total amount of coal coked. The third 
■class, " washed coal used", shows the total amount of coal washed. Most of this total is made up of slack coal, 
with a part of lumi> and the "run of the mine", which have been crushed and washed. All of the slack coal 
used, however, was not washed. At some coal mines a few ovens are built, iu which the slack which cannot be sold 
for other purposes is coked without washing. Some works also find it injurious to the quality or yield of tbe coke 
•to wash the slack. 

Of the total amount of 4,300,110 tons of coal coked, 3,729,328 tons, or 85.5 per cent., valued at $2,392,449, or 64 
•cents per ton, was lump coal and " run of the mine" ; 630,782 tons, or 14.5 per cent., valued at $358,558, or 56.8 cents 
per ton, was slack. 

It will be noticed that the average value of " slack used", though slack is generally regarded at the mines as a 
"w'aste i)roduct of little value, is very nearly that of " coal used", being only 7.2 cents per ton less. This is due to the 
•fact that A large part of tbe slack used is not coked at the mines where it is produced, and tbe freight charges from 
the mines to the ovens, and tbe cost of handling, add to its value. On the other hand, tbe ovens using lump coal 
and tbe " ruu of the mine" are usually at tbe mouth of tbe mine. In many cases the ovens are charged from tbe 
•cars that were loaded in the pit, and all expenses for freight and handling are saved. The value of the slack at 
some points is also enhanced by a demand for it. for purposes other than coking, as at Pittsburgh, where it is used 
-at some of the iron works for making gas. 

Of tbe total amount of coal and .slack used, 751,824 tons, or 17.2 per cent., valued at $533,818, or 71 cents per 
ton, was washed. This makes the value of the " washed coal and slack " greater per ton than the value of either 
tbe coal or slack. The crashing and washing of the lump and " run of the mine ", before referred to, involve iu 
some cases a cost of 20 cents a ton ; this is above the average, however ; and tbe washing of the slack would add 
from 2 to 12 cents a ton to its value. 

No other material enters directly into tbe coke, tbe other materials reported being used for repairs and renewals 
•of ovens, and for tbe tools and appliances used in the manufacture of coke. To arrive at the value of these 
materials has been the most difficult ])art of this investigation. In many cases it has been impossible to separate 
tbe materials and sujiplies used in tbe manufacture of coke from those used iu mining the coal ; but when it has 
been possible to make this separation, it has been done. Careful and extensive inquiries have been made, and an 
-average has been taken from the reports of a nun\ber of works that have kept their cost of materials very careftdly. 
As a result, it is estimated that tbe average cost of materials, other than coal, used in the manufapture of coke is 
about 7 J cents per ton of coke produced. When tbe value of material has been given it is reported ; when 
statements of material have been omitted, or are imperfect, this average of 7§ cents per ton is used. As a result, it 
is estimated that the value of all materials used, other than coal, is $233,784. 

The value of all materials used in the manufacture of coke in tbe census year is as follows : 

Total value of coal and slack $2,761,657 

Total value of other materials 233, 784 

Total value of all materials 2,995,441 

The chief materials other than coal were fire-brick, red brick, wood, and castings, but no reliable statement of 
the amount of each could be secured. 



8 



MANUFACTUEE OF COKE. 



WEIGHT OP THE BUSHEL. 

The weight of the bushel, which is so frequently employed as the unit of measure in the buying, selling, and using 
of coal and coke, varies but little in the different states. A bushel of coke is almost uniformly 40 pounds; but in 
exceptional cases, where the coke is very light, 38, 36, and even 33 pounds are regarded as a bushel. In one return 
56 pounds, in four 50 pounds, in one 48 pounds, in one 45 pounds, and in one 42 pounds are given as the weight 
of the bushel; but in these cases the coke would be quite heavy. These exceptions, however, are so few that 40 
pounds may be taken as the uniform weight of a bushel of coke. 

The weight of a bushel of coal differs more than this. In Alabama the returns give it as 80 pounds, aud the 
same is returned for Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Ohio, Tennessee, and West Virginia; but in Pennsylvania it is 7& 
pounds, and in Indiana 70. 

EMPLOYES. 

Compared with the tonnage produced, the manufacture of coke requires the labor of but a small number of 
persons, the average number employed at each works that made coke in 1879-'80 being less than 25. There are 
but four works in the United States that employ over 100 men, and one of these is a works at which the labor is 
performed by convicts. With other labor a less number of men would have sufficed. 

The total number of persons employed directly in the manufacture of coke, as returned at the last census, is- 
3,140, (a) of whom but 3 were women and 71 boys. 

The number of employes in coke works at the last four censuses is as follows : 





All. 


Males 
over 16. 


Females 
over 15. 


Youths. 


Employ6s at census 1880 


3,142 
528 
198 
14 


3,068 
522 
198 
14 


3 




Employfe at census 1870 




Employes at oensns 1860 






Employes at census 1850 








Most of the employes are unskilled workmen, and would be classed as common labor. The operations connected 
with the manufacture of coke, for the most part, require only strength and endurance, and at many of the works,, 
especially the smaller ones, even the term "superintendent" does not imply much more than a' "labor boss". 
This is not universally true, however, as at some works the position of superintendent is one of importance and 
responsibility. 

WAGES AND EARNINGS. 

The total amount of wages paid during the census year in the manufacture of coke was 11,198,654. (6) This, 
however, does not include any wages paid in the mining of coal, but only the labor-cost, from the delivery of the 
coal at the ovens until the coke is loaded upon the cars. 

As the amount of coke produced during the census year was 2,752,475 tons, and the total of wages paid 
$1,198,654, the average labor-cost of producing a Ion of coke would be 43.5 cents. 

Any attempt to deduce from the figures given in these tables the average yearly earnings of each person 
employed would be futUe. The total amount of wages paid ($1,198,654), divided by the number of persons 
employed (3,142), would give a quotient of $381 50. Though such a quotient is often regarded as the average 
yearly earnings of each employ^, a little consideration will make it evident that it does not represent such earnings, 
but that it really represents nothing but the result of the division of one number by another. A consideration of the 
circumstances attending the growth and development of the coke industry during the census year will show that this 
is especially true in its manufacture. Many of the old works, or those in existence at the beginning of the census- 
year, were idle, in whole or in part, June 1, 1879, and did not resume in full until the census year was well 
advanced ; in other cases additions were made to old works, and in still others entirely new works were built. 
To operate these various works additional persons were employed, not in place of others, but as an increase in 
their number, and therefore the number reported May 31, 1880, would be much above the average for the year, 
and very greatly in excess of the number at work June 1, 1879. These additional persons would, of course, be 
paid only for the time they were employed in making coke, aud in the wages-total only the amount so paid, say, for 
two, three, or six months, as the case might be, would appear. Now, it would be manifestly misleading under these 
circumstances to say that the quotient resulting from dividing the entire amount of wages paid during the whole 
year by the number of persons employed May 31, 1880, some of whom had been at work but a month, would give 
the average yearly earnings. If there had been no increase in plant or in the number of persons employed during 
the year, if no persons had been brought into this industry from other industries or from idleness, and if, when the 
coke works were idle, the men employed at them performed no labor, then such a quotient might represent with 
some degree of accuracy the average yearly earnings of the persons employed in the coke industry ; but when not 
one of these conditions exists, it is evident that the average yearly earnings of the men employed at the coke works 
was not $381 50, but more than this — what, we have no data for ascertaining. 

a In Table I 3,142 employes are reported, but 2 are watchmen at idle works. 

b Of this amount $910 were paid two watchmen at an idle works. The amount is so small, however, that it is not subtracted in 
the following computations. 



MANUFACTURE OF COKE. 



i> 



A somewhat similar difficulty exists in any attempt to arrive at the average rate of wages paid to persons 
employed in this industry. This i,s a most difiBcult fact to ascertain in connection with this or any other industry. 
It is very easy to give an average of the different rates of wages paid, but this is more ijroperly termed the average 
of rates of wages, not the real average rate. To arrive at the average rate of wages — that is, an average that shall 
consider not only the several rates paid, but the number of men emi^loyed at each rate, as the average rate can only 
be found by the consideration of both — is very difficult. 

In the following statement an attempt has been made to approximate the average rate of wages for a number 
of classes of employes at a portion of the coke works. These tables show : 

1. The range of the rates of wages, or the highest and the lowest rate paid the different classes of labor as 
given iu the schedules returned to this office. 

2. The average rates of wages as near as can be ascertained. 

These average rates are found by multiplying each rate by the number of persons employed at that rate and 
dividing the sum of the products by the sum of the multipliers, which represent the number of persons employed at 
each rate for whom rates of wages are given in the schedules. It will be observed that the tables below do not take 
into consideration the number of days the men were employed, or, in other words, the regularity of employment, 
l»ut simply give the range of wages and the average wages, without reference to such regularity of employment : 





BUPERIKTENDENT. 


CLERK. 


HAULER. 


Stat«e. 


BaDge of rate of 
wages per month. 


Average 
rate per 
month. 


llange of rate of 
wages per day. 


Average 

rate of 

wages per 

day. 


Eange of rate of 
wages per day. 


Average 

rate of 

wagespcr 

day. 




$35 00 to $125 00 


$56 04 


$1 50 to $4 17 


$1 93 


$1 0« to $2 00 


$1 5.5' 








40 00 to 100 00 
125 00 
55 00 
45 00 to 62 50 
35 00 to 105 00 
75 00 
50 00 


63 33 
125 00 
55 00 
50 50 
53 15 
75 00 
50 00 






1 00 to 1 25 
2 00 


1 17 








2 00 




- 












1 20 to 1 50 

1 15 to 1 80 

1 40 

1 00 to 1 10 


1 29 




1 50 to 4 17 


2 03 


1 02 




1 40 




1 50 


1 50 


1 OT 








COKECHAKGEE. 


ENGDtEEB. 


COKE LABORER. 


States. 


Kange of rate of 
wages per day. 


Average 

rate of 

wages per 

clay. 


Eange of rate of 
wages per day. 


Average 

rate of 

wages per 

day. 


Range of rate of 
wages per day. 


rate of 

wages per 

day. 




$1 op to $2 50 


$1 49 


$1 50 to $2 60 


$1 59 


$0 78 to 12 00 


$1 27 








1 00 to 1 25 
2 00 


1 08 

2 00 






90 to 1 00 

1 50 to 2 00 

1 35 

1 00 

78 to 1 56 

1 09 

1 00 to 1 10 


93 








1 75 




1 75 


1 75 


1 35 




1 20 to 1 50 
1 15 to 2 50 
1 10 to 1 50 
1 00 to 2 25 


1 39 
1 65 
1 34 
1 22 


1 00 




1 50 to 2 60 


1 55 


1 23 




1 00 




1 50 


1 50 


1 06 







PERIODS OF PAYMENT. 

There are returns from 110 establishments showing the frequency with which labor is paid. Of these, 86 pay 
monthly, li every two weeks, 6 every week, 3 every three weeks, and 1 quarterly. This latter is an establishment 
in Tennessee that employs convict labor, and the state is paid quarterlj' for such labor. It will thus be seen that 
the rule as to periods of payment at coke works is monthly. 

The following table gives the periods of payment at the coke works of the United States so far as reported : 



states. 


Total number of 
establishments. 


Quarterly. 


Monthly. 


Every three 
weeks. 


Every two 
weeks. 


Weekly. 


The tTnJted states.... 


147 


1 


86 


3 


14 


« 


4 

1 
1 

2 
15 
104 

4 
12 




5 
62 

1 
10 


































1 


















4 
6 


2 
3 
1 






3 




1 






1 











10 



MANUFACTURE OF COKE. 



METHODS OF PAYMENT. 

Eeturns from 118 establisbinents show that at 5G of tliem there were stores connected with the works for 
supplying- the operatives with goods, and that 62 were without stores. This would indicate that the "truck system" 
was in use at a little less than half the coke works, while a little more than one-half paid cash in full. What 
proportion of the wages paid at those works that have stores is in cash and what proportion is "truck" we have 
no means of knowing. 

The following table shows, so far as reports have been received, the establishments in each state that have 
stores connected with them and those that have not: 



states. 


Total number 

of establisli- 

menta. 


Number of 

estabUsbraents 

from which 

reports have 

been received. 


Number of 
establishments 
that have 
stores con- 
nected with 
them. 


Number of 
establishments 
that do not 
have stores 
connected 
with them. 




147 


118 


56 


62 




4 

1 
1 
4 
2 

15 

104 

4 

12 


14 
80 

11 


3 


1 
1 






1 
1 




1 
1 
10 
42 
1 
5 




Ohio 


4 
38 
3 
6 











EELATIVE BANK IN PRODUCTION OF THE SEVERAL STATES AND COUNTIES. 

The relative rank of the several states and the counties in the same in which coke was produced in the census 
jear 1879-'80 is as follows : 

RELATIVE RANK OF STATES. 



States. 


Tons of coke 
manufactured. 


Percentage of 

make to total 

make. 




2, 752, 475 


100.00 




2, 317, 149 
109,296 
95, 720 
91, 675 
70, 000 
42,035 . 
18, 000 
7,600 
1,000 


84.18 
3.97 
3.48 
3.33 
2.54 
1.53 
0.65 
0.28 
0.04 


2. Ohio 



















EELATIVE RANK OF COUNTIES, IN ORDER OF PRODUCTION. 



The United States 

. Fayette, Pennsylvania 

. "Westmoreland, PennsylTania 

. Blair, Pennsylvania 

. AUe^xlicny, Pennsylvania 

. JDade, Georgia 

. Gnindy, Tennessee 

. Fayette, West Virginia 

, Jefferson, Ohio 

. Cambria, Pennsylvania 

, Jefferson, Alabama 

Columbiana. Ohio 

Preston, West Virginia 

, Tioga, Pennsylvania 

lloant*, Tennessee 



1, 260, ' 
753,! 



Percent- 
age of 

make to 
total 
make. 



. Las Animas, Colorado 

. Marion, Tennessee 

. Clarion, Pennsylvania 

. Hamilton, Ohio 

. TP^illiamson, Illinois 

. Armstrong, Pennsylvania., 
. Lawrence, Pennsylvania... 

. Marion, "West Virginia 

. "Washington, Pennsylvania 

. Ohio, "West Virginia 

. Mahoning, Ohio 

, Clay, Indiana 

, Tuscarawas, Ohio 

, Athens, Ohio 

. Beaver, Pennsylvania 

Butler, Pennsylvania 



Percent- 
age of 

make to 
total 
make. 



18,000 
11, 675 
10, 806 
9,806 
7, 600 I 
7,000 
3,941 
2,800 
1,200 ; 
1, 200 I 
],017 
1,000 



0.65 

0.42 
0.39 



0.25 
0.14 
0.10 
e. 04 
0.04 
0.04 
0.04 
0.03 
0.02 
0.02 
0.01 



MANUFACTURE OF COKE. 



11 



Pennsylvania in 1S79-'S0 is credited with 84.18 per cent, of the total product of the country. There are no 
figures of product given at any i>revious census with which to institute comparisons, but comparing by values 
Pennsylvania made a little less than 80 per cent, in 1879-'S0, 92 per cent, in 1869-'70, and 100 per cent., or all. in 
Taoth 1859-'C0 and 1849-50. Though there has been a relative decline, the amount and the value of coke actually 
produced in Pennsylvania have very largely increased, as will be seen from the following statement: 

Value of coke produced in Pennsylvania : 

In census year lS49-'50 |1.5^ 05Q 

In census year 1859-'(j0 I39, §44 

In census year 1869-70 1,048,716 

In census year 1379-'60 4 190 136 

The increase in value has been as follows : 

Increase in value of coke produced in Pennsylvania in 1859-'60 over that produced in 1849-'50 $174, 594 

lu 1869-70 over 1359-'60 858,872 

In 1879-'80 over 1869-70 3,141,420 

Ohio stands in the second rank as a coke-producing state, but far below Pennsylvania, producing but 3.97 per 
cent, in 1880. Making the same comparison of values with previous censuses as is made above in the case of 
Pennsylvania, Ohio made in 1879-'80 about 6 per cent. ; in 1869-'70, 8 per cent. Prior to this no coke is reported 
as made in Ohio. Though in Ohio, as well as in Pennsylvania, there has been a decline in the value of product 
relative to the entire product, there has been an increase in total value. The value of the coke produced in Ohio 
in 1869-'70 was $83,675 ; in lS79-'80, $334,546. 

Hone of the other states are reported as making coke at either of the censuses prior to the present. In West 
Virginia, Tennessee, Georgia, and Alabama, however, deposits of very good coking coal exist, and rapid advances 
are making in its manufacture — advances that before another census will i>robably jjlace some, if not all, of these 
states ahead of Ohio in production, though they will hardly supplant Pennsylvania and reach the first place. 

Referring to the table of "counties in order of i)roduction", it will be noted that two counties in Pennsylvania, 
Fayette and Westmoreland, produced, respectively, 45.79 and 27.37 per cent, of all the coke made in the country at 
the present census, or 73.16 per cent, of the whole. At the census of 1870 Fayette county, Pennsylvania, was the 
largest producer, returning $516,800 in value, Allegheny, Pennsylvania, following with $243,690, and Cambria, 
Pennsylvania, with $225,898. Westmoreland, which is now the second county, produced no coke, while Allegheny, 
formerly the second county, is now the fourth, and Cambria, formerly the third, is now the ninth; Dade county, 
in Georgia, Grundy, in Tennessee, Fayette, in West Virginia, and Jefferson, in Ohio, surpassing Cambria in amount 
of product. 

YIELD OF COAL IN COKE. 



The following table shows the percentage of yield in coke of the coal coked in the several states and the United 

-States : 



The United States 

Alabama 

Colorado 

Greorgia 

nUnois 

Indiana 

Ohio 

Pennsylvania 

Tennessee 

West Virginia 



Tons of coal used. Tons of coke pro- Percentage yield 



67, 376 
29. 500 
117, 000 
15, 000 
1,500 
193, 848 
3, 608, 095 
179, 311 
148, 480 



2,752,475 



42, 035 
18, 000 
70,000 
7,600 
1,000 
109, 296 
2, 317, 149 
91, 675 
95,720 



56.4 
64.2 
51.1 
64.5 



From this table it appears that the coal coked in the United States yielded on an average 63.1 per cent, of coke. 
The range of the yield in the several states was from 50.7 per cent, in Illinois to 66.7 in Indiana. The high average 
yield, in view of the range, it being very nearly equal to the highest percentage yield, is due to the high average in 
Pennsylvania, 64.2 per cent., which produced 84.18 per cent, of all the coke made. 

The yield of 66.7 per cent, in Indiana is an estimate. In the schedule return the amount of coke produced was 
given at 1,000 tons, and the statement was made that the yield was " about 66 per cent." As no record of the coal 
charged into the ovens was given, this estimated yield was taken, and the amount of coal used was estimated at 
1,500 tons. 

Neglecting this, then, as only an estimate, and considering the figures of coal used and coke produced actually 
o-eported, it will be seen that the next highest yield is in West Virginia and in Pennsylvania, which report essentially 



12 



MANUFACTURE OF COKE. 



tlie same yield, tliero being a difference of only three-tenths of one per cent. As part of the coke made irt- 
Pennsylvania is made by the wasteful method of coking in pits, it may be assumed that the present investigation 
shows that the yield of Peunsj Ivauia coals and that of West Virginia are about equal. This is further confirmed 
by the following tables. The counties in these two states of the greatest production are Fayette and Westmoreland,. 
Pennsylvania, Fayette and Preston, West Virginia, and the coal used, coke produced, and yield of coal in coke 
for these four counties, which together produced 7G per cent, of all the coke made, are as follows : 



Counties. 


states. 


Tons of coal used. 


Tons of coke pro- 
duced. 


Percentage yield 
of coal. 




Pennsj' Ivauia 

... do 


1,910,279 

1, 195, 624 

88, 769 

53, 331 


1, 260, 440 
753, 501 
St, 943 
33, 777 


0.66 
0.63 
0.65 
0.63 






West Virginia . . . 
....do 









The low yield in some of the other states is doubtless due chiefly to two causes : First, wasteful methods of 
coking ; and, secondly, the use of coals not well adapted to coking. It should be stated, however, that yield is not 
always a measure of the economic value of coal for coking purposes. 



AVERAGE SELLING PEIOE OF COKE. 

The figures in Table I under the caption " Value of product", and in the accompanying table under "Total 
value ", are to be regarded as the total selling price of the coke produced when loaded on cars at the ovens, or,. 
expressed in trade language, "f. o. b. cars at ovens." The "average value" in the table given below is the 
" average selling price " at the ovens. Coke is rarely stocked at the place of manufacture, but when drawn from 
the ovens is loaded directly into cars and sent to the place of consumption, where any surplus stock, or an amount; 
necessary to provide against delay in delivery, is stored. 

It should be noticed in regard to this selling price that the census year was a period of great fluctuation 
greater probably than ever before in the history of the coke trade. In July, 1879, coke was selling at from $1 15 to 
$1 30 per ton (2,000 pounds) ; but during the latter part of that year it advanced quite rapidly, and sold early in 
1880 in some instances as high as $5 a ton. The decline in price was equally rapid, and at the close of the census 
year, or early in June, 1880, it was selling at from $1 25 to $1 50 per ton. 

As an important factor in determining the selling price, it should be noted that a large proportion of the total! 
product is sold to blast-furnaces on contracts running generally for a year. The time of making these contracts in 
many cases was such that the coke works failed to profit by the very large increase in prices noted above; and for 
much of the coke supplied to blast-furnaces that were blown in to meet the great demand for iron during the census 
year, as weU as that sold in the course of daily business or on "short- time contracts", very good prices were 
obtained. These amounts, however, were not sutflcieut to increase the average materially, and under the combined 
influence of the contract system and the great fluctuations in prices noted above the average selling price was low. 
These same influences also had a marked eftect upon the relation of cost to the selling price. Contracts taken at low- 
rates had to be filled when cost had materially advanced and coal appreciated in price, and as a result the amount 
of money made during the census year in proportion to the amount of coke sold was very small. 

The average selling price for the census year in each state and in the United States is given in the following 
table : 

AMOXraX AND TOTAL VALUE OF COIiE PRODUCED IN EACH STATE IN CENSUS YEAR 1879-'c0, AND AVERAGE VALUE 

OF SAME PER TON. 
[Arranged by states, according to average value.] 



States. 


Total number of 
tons produced. 


Total value. 


Average value per 
ton. 




2,752,475 


$5, 359, 489 


$1 95 




18, 000 
42, 035 
7,600 
109, 296 
1,000 
91, 675 
95, 720 
70, 000 
2, 317, 149 


90, OOO 
148, 026 
24, 700 
334, 546 
3,000 
212, 493 
216, 588 
140, 000 
4, 190, 136 


6 00 
3 52 
3 25 
3 06 
3 00 
2 32 
2 26 
2 00 
1 81 




Illinois 




Indiana 




WestVirginia 









MANUFACTURE OF COKE. 



13 



The selling price, as given, should by no means be regarded as an evidence or even as au indication of the 
economic value of the cokes of different states. For example, the price of Pennsylvania coke, which is chiefly 
Conuellsville, than which there is no better made in the country, averaged for the year only Si 81 per ton, while 
the Indiana coke, which is not equal to the Pennsylvania coke, and was indeed only experimental, is rated at $3 per 
ton. The difference in the selling price of cokes of the different localities is due mainly to its quality, the local 
demand, the amount made, and the distance from centers of supply. The Conuellsville coke, which may be 
regarded as a typical coke, furnishing the chief fuel for the smelting of iron and other metals west of the Allegheny 
mountains as well as for use in founderies, virtually fixes the price for all other coke, the price at different points 
depending chiefly upon that at which Connellsville coke can be delivered at these points. 

The very low price at which coke is sold is one of the remarkable featiu-es of this industry. To manufacture a 
ton of coke one and one-half tons of coal are required. This coal was handled at the ovens, burned, drawn from the 
ovens, and furnished, loaded into cars in the Connellsville region, for 81 81 per ton of coke, or Si 20 per ton of coal. 

Table I.— STATISTICS OF THE MANUFACTURE OF COKE IN THE UNITED STATES, AT THE 

CENSUS OF ISSO, BY STATES. 





G 
1 

1 

Cm 

1 




a — 


KUSIBEK OF 0VES8 BUILT. 


NUMBER OF OVEKS BUILDDiOi 


KUMBEK OF EMPLOYES. 


1 


states. 


iti 
III 


13 


■a 


1 

o 


i 


1 


2 


1 
1 


1 
O 


3 

5 


H 


1 


> 
ft 


1 

■a 


i 
1 


1 


1 


The TTnitea States . 


l« .,..„.» 


9,728 


316 


3D 








2,163 




71 




3,142 


$1, 198, 654 




' 








1 














4 

1 
1 
4 

15 

104 

4 


135, 500 
150, 000 

80, 000 
205, 000 
8,000 
144, 012 
4,202,525 
200, 021 

30, 000 
330, 000 


216 

128 








216 
128 
140 
79 
45 
619 
7,808 
589 
85 
407 


206 








206 


M 








64 

107 
IS 
4 
153 
2,444 
114 


38, 500 
















72 1 75 








13, 500 


Geor..ia, 
















1 

107 








13, 837 


" 






49 


30 








80 




80 


16 

4 

150 

2, 379 

, 114 




2 




9,347 


















300 




619 

7,524 




1 


13 

1,409 

152 








12 
1,469 
152 
21 
151 




3 
62 




51,977 


P 


242 42 








3 




983, 431 










38,820 


Virgiuia 


85 
407 


1 
1 


21 
151 




1 
















159 




4 




163 


48. 942 






1 




1 










|i 


COAL USED. 


SLACK USED. 


WASHED COAL 
USED. 


TOTAL COAL^AXD SLACK , ^^^^ pKoPERTT. 


COKE I'KODUCED. 


States. 


H 


■a 


H 


1 


H 


1 
> 


1 


B 




3 

■ft 

o 


H 


9 

1 


The United States. 


$233, 784 


3, 729, 328 


$2,392,449 


630, 782 


$358, 558 


751, 824 


$533, 818 


4,360,110 


$2,761,657 


158,683 


$13, 060, 041 


2, 752, 475 


$5,359,489 




1,304 
COO 

4,900 
420 
200 

5,399 
209, 849 

8,092 


66, 370 
29,500 
117, 000 


73, 814 
22, 600 
120, 000 


1,000 


1,500 






67, 370' 
29, 500 
117, 000 
15, 000 
1,500 
193, 848 
3, 608, 095 
179, 311 


75, 314 
29,500 
120, 000 
15,000 
2,025 
228, 432 
2, 031, 305 
124, 137 


35, 860 
2,000 
15, 000 
160 
260 
3,357 
32, 272 
48, 383 


471, 000 
1, 033, 500 
220, 000 
38, 000 
20, 000 
432, 525 
9, 421, 450 
570, 101 


42, 035 
13, 000 
70, 000 
7,000 
1,000 
109,296 
2, 317, 149 
91,675 


148, 026 




29, 500 


29, 500 


90, 000 








X40, 000 




15, 000 


11, 250 


15, 000 


15, 000 


24, 700 




1,500 

148, 292 

3, 144, 969 

80.911 


2,025 

181, 112 

1,786,717 

75, 137 


3,000 




45, 556 
463, 126 
98, 400 


47,320 
244, 583 
49, 000 






334, 546 




596, 713 
110, 611 


426, 581 
62, 737 


4, 190, 136 




212,493 





















148. 480 


135,944 


21,391 


853.465 


95, 720 


210,588 














































_ 







See remarks niider Materials, j>&ge 7. 



14 



MANUFACTURE OF COKE. 
Table II. -STATISTICS OP THE MANUFACTURE OF COKE IN THE 



" 


States ana counties. 


1 
i 

1 
1 

1 


a 

H'^ 



XU-MBER OF OVENS BUILT. 


NUMBER OF OVENS BUILDING. 


NUMBEl: OF EMl'LOYES. 


^6 
H 




3 


M 


=2 





■i 


3 

n 


1 


i 



i 


i 


1 


> 
1 


a 




1 

c-l 




The United States. 

ALABAMA. 


149 


$5, 545, 058 


9, 728 


316 


30 


43 


10,116 


2,088 




80 




2,163 


3,068 


3 


71 




3,142 


$1,198,654 




3 

1 


135, 500 


216 








216 










206 


64 








64 


38, 600 




Shelby* 

Total 

COLORADO. 




















































4 


135, 500 


216 








216 


206 


306 


64 


1 1 


64 


38, 500 














1 


160, 000 


128 




! 


128 


72 








72 


75 




1 


75 


13, 500 




G£OHGIA. 

Dade 
















1 


80, 000 


140 


1 




140 












107 










13, 837 




ILLINOIS. 

Jackson 
























1 

1 
1 
1 


75, 000 
100, 000 
















80 




80 
















24 
25 






24 
25 
30 






2 








2 


910 




Willt 






















^ 




30, 000 




30 















14 




2 




16 


8,437 






. .. 
















4 


205,000 l| 








79 


1 


80 





80 


16 







1 IS 


9,347 




IXDIAXA. 

Clay 








1 




1 

1 


. 8,000 


20 








20 
25 








4 








4 


300 


9 




25 
























































2 


8,000 


20 


35 






45 


1 








4 








4 


300 




OHIO. 

Athens 




















1 


1 
2 
3 

6 

3 

1 


2,000 
57, 500 
14, 000 
61, 512 
2,000 
7,000 


8 
195 
23 
344 
10 
40 








8 
195 
32 
344 
10 
40 


13 








12 


7 
27 
13 
96 
3 
4 








7 

27 
13 
99 
3 
4 


375 

11,965 

4.012 

34,645 

480 

500 
























^ 




























Jeirerson 




















3 




5 




















R 


















































15 


144, 012 


619 








619 


12 


1 1 


12 


150 


1 B 


1 153 


51, 977 




PENKSTLVANIA. 










1 


'2 

i 
4 
1 
3 

1 

44 
1 
2 
1 
1 

24 


325, 150 

30, 000 

400 

110, 000 

200 

106, 000 

30, 200 

25, 000 

1,956,450 

10, 000 

38, 500 

50, 000 

2,000 

1, 578, 625 


336 


140 






476 
20 
2 
190 
7 
119 
60 


20 
66 








20 
66 


169 

10 
1 

97- 
3 

45 

14 




2 




171 
10 
1 
107 
3 
45 
15 


59, 485 
4,000 
280 
38,764 
500 
19, 870 
7,200 


? 






20 








1 




171 
7 
17 
60 


















4 








19 














10 






















fi 




103 






















7 




















1 




8 


Clearfield 








60 

1, 082 

31 








60 

1,082 

31 


q 




4,185 






3 


4,188 








1,067 


3 


5 




1,075 


493, 332 


10 

n 

12 
IS 


Jefferson . 














98 

153 

8 

2,483 








98 

1,53 

8 

3,488 








19 

69 

4 

881 




3 
4 




22 

73 

4 

918 


3,004 

25, 321 

600 

331, 075 






































14 


"Westmoreland 

Total 

TENNESSEE. 








210 








210 




37 














104 

1 
2 

1 


4, 262, 525 

125, 000 
56, 021 
10, 000 


7,524 


242 1 


43 


7,808 

404 
118 
67 


1,469 








1,469 


2,379 


3 


62 




2,444 


983,431 














1 


404 
118 
67 






102 
30 
20 








102 
30 
20 


79 
18 
17 








79 
13 
17 


24, 000 
7,820 
7, 000 


2 Marion _ 




















8 
























Total 

VIRGIXIA. 

Allegheny 

Henrico.*. 






















* 
1 


200,021 


689 






589 

83 
3 


152 


j 




152 


114 








114 


3:', 820 


















1 


30, 000 


83 
2 






21 








21 








1 


■> 




















1 




Total 

■WEST VIIIGIXIA. 


" 




















1 




1 




2 


30, 000 


85 








85 


21 


1 




21 


1 


......j 1 ' 1 


















1 


6 

] 

4 


239, 000 
14,000 
3,000 
74, 000 


238 

36 

3 

130 








238 

36 

3 

130 


134 








134 


98 
5 
2 

54 




1 




99 
5 
2 

57 


27, 612 

2,000 

480 

18, 660 


•' 


Marion 














3 


Ohio 








i 

16 








1 
16 








4 


















3 






Total 














13 


330, 000 


407 








407 


161 


1 




151 


169 




4 




163 


48, 942 















* The report of this works is included with those in Jefferson coi 
t Manufacture of coke abandoned and capital regarded as sunk. 

* "Works experimental ; no letums of capital, etc. 



MANUFACTURE OF COKE. 

UNITED STATES AT THE CENSUS OF 1880, BY STATES AND COUNTIES. 



15 



& ? 
S 

H 
> 


COAL USED. 


BLACK USED. 


WASHED COAL USED. 


TOTAL COAL AXD SLACK 
USED. 


COAL rROPEUTY. 


COKE I'BODUCED. 




H 


> 






1 


^ 
> 


§ 


S ■ 

■a 

> 


1 
< 


Cai)ital. 


g 


> 




$233, 784 


3, 729, 328 


$2, 392, 449 


630, 782 


$358, 558 


751, 824 


$533, 818 


4, 366, 110 


$2,761,657 


158, 683 


$13, 060. 041 


2,752,475 
42, 035 


$5, 359, 489 

148. 026 




1,304 


66, 370 


73, 814 


i,eo6 


1,500 






67. 376 


75, 314 


35, 860 


471. 000 








I, 














1,304 


66,376 


73,814 


1,»00 


1,500 






67, 376 


7.'-., 314 


35, 868 


471, 000 


42, 035 
18, 000 


148, 026 
90, 000 




600 


29, 500 


22, 600 






29, 500 


29, 500 


29, 500 


29, 500 


2,000 


1. 033, 500 










4,900 


117, 000 


120, 000 










117, 000 


120, 000 


15, 000 


220, 000 


. 70,000 


140, OCO 






























[ 






















1 


















1, 


1 




420 






15, 000 


11,250 


15, 666 


15, 000 


15, 060 


15, 000 


160 


3R, 000 


7,600 


24, 710 










420 






15, 000 


11,250 


15, 000 


15, 000 


15, 000 


15, 000 


160 


S8, 000 


7,600 


24. 700 










200 


1,500 


2,025 










1,500 


2,025 


260 


20, 000 


1,000 


3,003 














"• 1 
















200 


1,500 


2,025 








1,500 


2,025 


260 


20, 000 


1, 000 


3. 000 












i,'588' 

735 

2,992 

84 


400 
67, 646 


640 
101,469 


730 


320 






1,130 
67, 646 
14, 922 
107, If 9 
1.361 
1,600 


960 

101,469 

10, 471 

104, 553 

1,779 

3, 200 


287 
1,530 


41, .52.-) 
169, 000 


.^65 
39. 424 
9,S06 
57, 684 
1,017 
800 












14, 922 
19, 904 


16, 471 








77, 285 
1,361 
1,600 


74, 024 
1.779 
3,200 






1,280 
180 
80 


183, 800 
22, 000 
17, 000 


]!i6, 902 
3,808 
3. 200 




















6 














5, 399 


148, 292 


181, 112 


45,556 


47, 320 






198, 848 


228, 432 


3,357 


432, 525 


109, 298 


334. 546 










7,270 
400 

5,366 

30 

11, 000 

810 


111, 618 
13, 400 


20, 273 
6,700 


156, 082 


99,445 


127, 261 


86, 891 


166, 700 
13, 400 
1, 012 
155, 453 
750 
85, 000 
16, 200 


119, 718 

6, 700 

253 

142, 318 

100 ' 
78, 500 
4,050 






95, 665 
7, OliO 

506 
98, 134 

400 
51, 950 
10,800 


235. 015 
13, 0011 
930 
212, 102 
1, 200 
110, 8l4 
13,500 


1 








1,612 
750 


253 










S 


i55, 453 
85,000 


i42, 318 
""78~506' 






2,345 
413 
400 
300 


470, 000 
15, 000 
34, 500 
26, 000 




100 














16, 200 


4,050 


16, 200 


4,050 


7 








127,867 1 


1,907,999 


935, 654 


2,280 


1,140 






1, 910, 279 


936,794 


20, 856 
175 


5, 739, 450 , 
25,000 


1, 260, 440 


2, 067, 876 


<). 








296 ! 
1,190 
100 
5b, 512 






7,500 

53, 777 

2,200 

223, 325 


3, 750 

67, 221 

5.30 

68, 079 


7,500 
53, 777 


3,750 
67, 221 


7,508 

53, 777 

2. 200 

1, 195, 824 


3, 750 1 
67,221 
550 
671, 351 1 


3,941 

33, ,572 

1,200 

753, 501 


20, 051 

100, 716 

2.400 

1.410,946 










1 




"972," 499 


""663,'272 






It 


391, 975 


264, 669 


7,753 


3, 111, 500 i 


14, 


200, 849 


3. 144. 969 


1, 786. 717 


463, 126 


244, 588 


596, 713 


426. 581 


3, 608, 095 


2.031,305 


32, 272 


9,421,450 


2, 317, 149 


4, 190, 136 




4,500 
2,092 
1, 500 


21, 600 
19,311 
40, 000 


7.200 
27, 937 
40. 000 


98,400 


40, 000 


98, 400 
12,211 


49, 000 
13, 737 


120, 000 
19, 311 
40, 000 


i 

56. 200 ■ 
27, 937 
40, 000 


4,000 
39. 383 
,5. 000 


240.000 
120, 101 
210, 000 


60, 000 
11, 073 
20, 010 


120,000 
42. 493 
50, 000 


I 






S 














80,911 


75, 137 


98, 400 


49, 000 


• 110, 6U 


62, 737 


179, 311 


124, 137 


48. 383 


570,101 


91, 675 


212,493 




1 • 1 




'■ 1 


1 


;;;;;;;;;;;'"■ ;;;y ;;;;;;; ;";;!!!!"; !'!!!;;!;;;;!!!!;!!!!;! I.;;!!;!!;"!!;!;!;!'!;;!' 




'•-- ■■• 


a 


' : : i : t 




1,320 
160 
90 
1,430 I 


88, 769 


84,444 










88, 769 
4,200 
2,180 

53, 331 


84,444 
2.100 
2. 000 

47, 400 


16. 000 

CO 

5,330 


519, 715 


57,943 
2,800 
1,200 

33, 777 


12T. 588 
4. 000 
3.000 
82, 000 


T 


4,200 


2,100 






i 


2,180 
49, 831 


2,000 
44, 600 






13,750 i 
320,000 


3 


3,500 


2,800 






4 








3, 020 


140, 780 


131,044 


7,700 


4,900 






148,480 


135,044 


21, 391 


853, 465 


95, 720 


216, 588 












16 



MANUFACTURE OF COKE. 

Table III.— STATISTICS OF THE COKE WOEKS OF THE 





States and counties. 


1 
1 


§■3 

a ^ 
O 


KUSIEER OF OVEKB BUILT. 


NUMBEE OF OVENS BUILDING. 


NLIIEEK OF EMPLOTfiS. 


p 

a . 

.5.S 

ftp 

MB 




1 


•3 


a 

o 


fa 

a 

s 
S 


1 


IS 
S 
M 


M 


0! 

a 

1 
o 


a 
1 


1 


a 


3 

■a 
1^ 


1 


i 


1 




The United States. 

ILLINOIS. 

Saint Clair 


9 

1 


$248, 700 


304 


49 
24 






353 


21 








21 


2i 






2 


$910 


1 


100, 000 








24 










2 








2 


, 910 


1 


IXDIAXA. 


1 






25 






25 


























PENXSrLVAXIA. 
































1 


1 


20. 000 


24 
30 
127 
18 
20 








24 
30 
127 
18 
20 




























1 1 21,200 
1 ! 65,000 
1 ' 2,500 
1 ' 10,000 






























s 
































4 
































1 


































Total 
































5 

1 

1 


118, 700 


219 








219 























1 


VIRGISIA. 

Alleghany 


30, 000 


83 
2 








83 


21 








21 














•9 








2 






















Total 




















' ' 














2 ! 30. 000 


85 








85 


21 








21 















































Table IV.— STATISTICS OF THE COKE WOEKS OF THE 





States and counties. 


1 
1 
1 

B 

P. 


a !■ 

%a<i 
'Z '^•^ 

O 


NUMBEE OF OVENS BUILT. 


NUMBER OF OVENS BUILDING. 


NUMBER OF ElffLOY^S. 


1 
■o § 

1 




i 
1 


1 


1 
o 


a 
g . 


EH 


1 

t 

g 


1 


gi 

a 

1 

o 


a 
s 


'3 


1 


3 

1 
1 


% 


1 
1 


1 

H 




Tlie United States. 


13 


$526, 500 












1,287 
100 




80 




1,307 






































1 
1 
1 


ALABAMA. 

Jefferson 


1 


29, 000 












100 














ILLINOIS. 

Jackson 


1 


75, 000 














80 




80 














PENNSYLVANIA. 




























1 


14. 500 












20 
66 
60 

800 
31 

150 








20 
66 
60 

800 
31 

150 














V 


Armstrong 


1 25,000 
1 ■ 25,000 
4 1 230, 000 

1 i 10, 000 

2 1 80, 000 






























:i 


Clearfield 






























4 


Fayette 






























5 


Jellerson 






























« 


"Westmorelaud 
































Total 
































10 1 384,500 











1,127 









1,127 








1 




1 


WEST VIRGINIA. 

F.iyette 


1 


38, 000 












60 








60 












_ 










1 



















MANUFACTURE OF COKE. 

UNITED STATES IDLE AT THE CENSUS OF 1880. 



17 



! ■ 


COAL USED. 


SLACK USED. 


WASHED COAL USED. 


TOTAL COAL AND SLACK 
USED. 


COAL PEOPERTY. 


COKE PBODDCED. 




Value of material 
than coal. 


i 

B 


•i 


Tons. 
Value. 


• 

B' 


1 


1 

B 


^ 


■3 




B 


i 


















I, 550 ! $296, 500 








































! 


































i 


j 







































I 




















1 






300 i 26,000 
400 1 55,500 








1 






1 






1 












1 






1 






1 












850 ' 215,000 


■ 










1 


1 


















j 






1, 550 j 296, 500 












v 














1 
















■■ 




li 
















{ 






















1 








1 1 






t 1 












1 






1 





UNITED STATES BUILDING AT THE CENSUS OF 1880. 



s 

1 


COAL USED. 1 BLACK USED. 

1 


WASHED COAL USED. 


TOTAL COAL ASD SLACK 
USED. 


COAL PEOPEBTT. 


COKE PRODUCED. 




11 

> 


Tons. 


Value. 


^ 


a 
> 


Tons. 
Value. 


B 


1 


1 


1 
1 


1 


Value. 






1 






1 






16, 211 


$1, 860, 000 
40,000 










■■- :■■■ 
























1 






4,000 












i 
















[ 






































































































.'.'..'.'.'.'.'.'.'.' 












































10, 823 
175 
213 


1, 600, 000 
25. 000 
95, 000 


































:::::::::::: 
































































11, 211 


1,720,000 




















































1,000 
























1 











CO, VOL. IX 2 



18 



MANUFACTURE OF COKE. 



EELATION OF COST OF COKE TO SELLING PEICE. 

In the accompanyiug table will be found the average selling price of coke per ton in the United States and iu each 
state, and the value of the different elements of cost so far as the data for the same have been collected and are 
ascertainable : 





COKE PBODUCED. 


Valne of 
coal used. 


Total 
wages paid. 


Value of 

materiala 

nsed 

other 

than coal. 


BELLIHG PKICE OF COKE. 


WAGES PER TON OF COKE. 


Value of 
coal re- 
quired to 
make a 
ton ot 
coke. 


Value of 


states. 


Tons. 


Valne. 


Average 
per ton. 


Range of prices 
per ton. 


Average 
per ton. 


Eange per ton. 


other 
than co.ll 
per ton ■ 
of coke. 


ThBUni tea States... 


2, 752, 475 


$5,359,489 


$2, 761, 657 


$1, IDS, 654 


$233, 784 


$1 95 

3 52 
5 00 
. 2 00 
3 25 
3 00 
3 06 

1 81 

2 32 
2 26 


$1 00 to $5 24 


$0 44 


$0 20 to $1 30 


$1 00 


$0 08 




42, 035 
18, 000 
70, 000 
7,600 
1,000 
109, 296 
2, 317, 149 
91, 675 
95,720 


148, 026 
90, 000 
140, 000 
24, 700 
3,000 
334, 546 
4, 190, 136 
212, 493 
216, 588 


75, 314 
29, 500 
120, 000 
15, 000 
2,025 
228, 432 
2, 031, 305 
124, 137 
135, 944 


38, 600 
13, 500 
13, 837 
9,347 
300 
51, 977 
983, 431 
38, 820 
48,942 


1,304 
600 

4,900 
420 
200 

5,399 
209, 849 

8,092 

3,020 


3 50 to 4 00 
5 00 

2 00 

3 25 
3 00 

1 75 to 4 00 

1 00 to 5 24 

2 00 to 4 74 
1 50 to 4 00 


92 
75 
20 
1 23 
30 
48 
42 
42- 
51 


56 to 93 

75 

20 

1 24 

30 

30 to 1 20 

23 to 1 30 

35 to 77 

37 to 71 


1 79 
1 64 
1 71 

1 97 

2 03 
2 01 

88 
1 35 
1 42 


03 
03 
07 
00 
20 
05 
09 
09 
03 





















In considering these figures it should be most carefully noted that all the elements of the cost of coke are not 
given. No attempt was made to ascertain all these items, and my experience in other positions convinces me 
that any such attempt would have been an utter failure. The average business man will not give to his competitors,, 
much less to the whole world, all the details of the cost of manufacture, nor indeed such details as will enable 
others to approximate, with any degree of accuracy, his cost, and therefore how much or how little profit he is 
making. This should not be expected. 

The only elements of cost given are wages and material. Among the elements of cost of a ton of coke which 
are not given are interest, taxes, insurance, collections, postage, rents, general office expenses, expense of selling, 
bad debts, and many other items, and iu most cases the hauling of coal from the pit to the ovens, washing, profit 
chargeable on coal, etc. 

With these considerations in mind the following table should not be misleading: 



states. 


Average 

selling 

price of ton 

of coke. 


AVEEAGE COST OF LABOR AND MATERIAL TO TON OP | 
COKE. 


Coal. O'l'?^ 
material. 


W.Tge3. 


Total. 


The United states 


$1 95 


$1 00 


$0 08 


$0 44 


$1 52 


A'^ahamA 


3 52 
5 00 

2 00 

3 25 
3 00 
3 06 

1 81 

2 32 
226 


1 79 
1 64 
1 71 

1 97 

2 03 
2 01 

88 
1 35 
1 42 


03 
03 
07 
06 
20 
05 
09 
09 
03 


92 
75 
20 
1 23 
30 
43 
42 
42 
61 


2 74 

2 42 

1 98 

3 26 

2 53 
2 54 
1 39 
186 
19fl 










Ohio 











MANUFACTURE OF COKE. 19 



Paet II.— coking in the UNITED STATES. 



THE COAL-FIELDS AND COAL OF THE UNITED STATES IN THEIR RELATION TO THE 
MANUFACTURE OF COKE IN THE CENSUS YEAR. 

A discussion at any length of the geological features of the several coal-basins of the United States, or even 
of the geology of the coking coal, does not lie within the scope of this report, nor will an attempt be made to 
establish the correlation of the different seams of coal used in coking in the several states. All of these subjects 
belong more properlj' to the report on coal, and will be referred to and discussed in this report only incidentally. 
Neither will it fnW within the plan adopted to show, save in the most general way, the extent of the deposits of 
coking coal nor the character of these deposits, except of such as furnished coal for the manufacture of coke during 
the census year. 

The coal used in the manufacture of coke at the census of 1880 represented three of the great coal-basins or 
coal-fields of the country, the Ajipalachian, the Illinois, and the Colorado. By far the larger ijart was derived from 
the measures of the great Appalachian field, less than 1 per cent, of the total coming from the Illinois and Colorado 
basins. 

This Appalachian basin is at present the most important of the coal-fields of America. Beginning near the 
northern boundary of Pennsylvania, it extends for a distance of over 750 miles in a southwesterly direction, 
following the western line of the Allegheny mountains with a course nearly parallel to the Atlantic ocean coast 
line, through western Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, and Alabama, to Tuscaloosa, 
Alabama, where it ends. The average breadth of the field is from 80 to 90 miles, the area being fully 70,000 square 
miles. 

The eastern escarpment of the Allegheny mountains formed, and still forms, the eastern border of this 
basin, while the great Cincinnati anticlinal hemmed it in on the west and separated it from the measures of the 
Illinois basin. The eastern line of this field is comparatively regular, following the trend of the mountains ; but 
the western is very irregular, the basin being quite broad in its northern area, contracting through Tennessee 
and northern Alabama and expanding considerably at its termination in Alabama, though by no means so broad 
as in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia. 

In the northern part of this basin the coal is found in numerous isolated patches, the chief of which are the 
Blossburg, Jlclntyre, and Barclay. Between the eastern edge and the ocean other detached fields are found, 
such as the anthracite coal-fields of northeastern Pennsylvania, the Broad Top semi-bituminous coal-field of 
middle Pennsylvania, and the Cumberland coal-basin of Maryland. These patches are all that have been left by the 
denuding agencies which have swept away so much of the Devonian and Silurian rocks and cut so deeply and 
sharply, and at the same time so destructively, into these measures in this belt of country. 

Along nearly the entire length of this great field, from Blossburg, Pennsylvania, on the north, to Birmingham, 
Alabama, on the south, the coke industry has been established. The ovens, following the zone of best coking coal, 
are generally found near the eastern limits of the field, hugging the mountains, the coal in the middle or western 
part of the basin being, as a rule, not so wtll adapted to coking as that in the eastern. 

The greatest development in the manufacture of coke is in the Connellsville region of western Pennsylvania, 
a small ti-ough 50 or 60 miles long by 3 miles wide. The Connellsville coke is regarded as the typical coke of this 
country, as the Dui'ham is of England. Some other regions iu this field may produce a coke equal to the Connellsville, 
but as a blast-furnace fuel especially, which is the pui'pose to which most coke is put, it is so well adapted, its use 
is so extensive, and its characteristics so well known, that it fully deserves the designation "typical". Coke is 
made at other points iu Pennsylvania, especially in the Allegheny Mountain region, iu the Ligonier valley, and 
near Pittsburgh. As a rule, nou^ of these cokes equal the Ceunellsville. In some cases the cokes are lower in 
ash but inferior in physical structure, while in others washing is neccssiiry to produce a fuel for blast-furnace uses. 

In West Virginia the New Rfver coal furnishes the most and also the best coke. Analysis shows it to be 
lower in ash than the Connellsville, and its producers assert that it is fully equal to it as a blast-furnace fuel ; but 
this is by no means conceded. The Preston County beds, which are regarded as the equivalent of the Ligonier 
Valley coal of Pennsylvania, are also msed to a considerable extent, but the coke is not equal to the Ifew River coke. 

In Ohio most of the coals are coking coals, but the deposits are much thinner than in either Pennsjivania 
or West Virginia, and generally, thoi^^h not always, contain an objectionable amount of sulphur. The coals are 
coked oBly to a limited extent,- and the manufacture of coke is not increasing as rapidly as in Pennsylvania, West 
Virginia, and Alabama. 



20 



MANUFACTURE OF COKE. 



In Tennessee the Sewanee seam furnishes most of the coke, while in Alabama coals from both the "Warrior and 
the Oahaba fields were coked, furnishing a most excellent fuel. The extreme eastern outcrop of the Appalachian 
basin cuts the northwestern corner of the state of Georgia, furnishing a small patch of coking coal, from which some 
coke was made in the census year. 

Two important facts regarding the character of the coal in this Appalachian field have been pointed out. 
These are the debituminization eastwardly of the coal and the similarity of the composition of the coals in the same 
basin. These laws are of considerable importance in connection with the coke industry, the one indicating generally 
the location of the seams of best coking coal, the other bearing on the future supply of this coal, (a) 

The fact of the debituminization of the coals eastwardly has been pointed out by Professor Eogers. Whether 
this has been accomplished by the heat evolved by the dynamic crust-flexing force or by conditions in the coal flora 
is immaterial in this connection. Certain it is that the most abnormal condition of the coal is found in the extreme 
eastward coal-fields, in the natural coke or anthracite coal. From this anthracite range westward the bituminous 
element in the coal-beds increases gradually until the zone of full pitchy or gaseous coal is reached in the vicinity 
of Pittsburgh. 

The following analyses exhibit these extremes : 

Fixed carbon, (MM, p. 17, No. 180) (6) 

Volatile matter 

Ash - 

Sulphur - 

Phosphorus 

Moisture 

The following table shows the increase westwardly of volatile or hydrogenous matter in the Tipper Coal- 
Measures (McGreath) : 



Per cent, of 

bituminons. 

48.769 ■ 


Per cent, of 

anthracite. 

89.06 


40. 995 


3.45 


7.020 


5.81 


2.206 


0.30 




0.024 


1.010 


1.35 



Coal-fields. 


Moisture. 


Carbon. 


Volatile 
matter. 


Ash. 


Sulphur. 


Reports 

Pennsylvania 

Second 

Geological 

Survey. 




1.35 
0.893 
1.665 
1.26 
1.02 
1.41 


89.06 
74. 289 
68.774 
59.62 
61.34 
54.44 


3.45 
15. 622 
22.35 
30.11 
33.60 
37.66 


6.81 
9.'296 
5.965 
8.23 
3.28 
5.86 


0.30 
0.714 


L, p. 133. 
H3 Ti im. 






1.246 1 




0.78 
0.86 
0.64 


MM, pp. 23, 24. 
MM, p. 22. 









This table leaves a gap of 30 miles between Salisbury and Gonnellsville without analysis of the great Pittsburgh 
bed, the Upper Coal-Measures, including the great Pittsburgh bed, having been swept away with the exception of 
the Salisbury and Fairfield basins, from a belt of 35 miles broad, west of the Allegheny mountains. 

The following table shows the character of the Lower Coal Series in the Allegheny field (McCreath) : 



Coal-fields. 


Moisture. 


Carbon. 


Volatile 
matter. 


Ash. 


Sulphur. 


Reports 

Pennsylvania 

Second 

Geological 

Survey. 




1.35 
0.77 
1.40 
1.18 
0.92 
0.96 


89.06 
73.34 
61.84 
74.46 
62.22 
52.03 


3.45 
18.18 
27.23 
16.54 
24.36 
38.20 


5.81 
6.69 
%93 
5.96 
7.59 
5.14 


0.30 
1.02 
2.60 
1.86 
4.92 
3.66 


H4. 

M 3, p. 66. 















The gradual increase of volatile matter from the Broad Top coal-field of the east to Armstrong county in the 
west, a distance of about 75 miles, is very marked, showing an increase of 0.267 per mile. Making a comparison 
of coals from the second bed in the Lower Coal-Measures, bed " B " of the Second Geological Survey of Pennsylvania, 
we find that this bed at Bennington contains 27.23 per cent, of volatile matter, which exceeds its legitimate 
richness westward 2.38 per cent. At Johnstown, in the second sub-basin, this bed "B" contains 16.54 per cent, 
of volatile matter, or 10.98 per cent, less than its westward position should afford. This is a remarkable exception 
to the law of general bituminization of coals westward. 

So far as determinations have been made on coals in this second sub-basin north and south of Johnstown, this 
condition of " dryness " in the coal-bed has been found extended and uniform. How far it may reach northeast and 
southwest has not been determined. 

Blairsville, 55 miles west from Broad Top, has coal containing 24.36 per cent, of volatile matter. This is 8.50 
per cent, under its normal richness, showing the broad range of the operation of the causes that have produced 
these exceptional results. In fact, this Blairsville coal is lower in volatile matter than the coal at Bennington, 30 
miles eastward. 

a For the followiDg statement I am indebted to Mr. John Fulton, M. E. 

& These letters refer to the various reports of the Second Geological Survey of Pennsylvania, 



MANUFACTURE OF COKE. 21 

Armstrong County coal attains a mature condition, and is constituted with its full share of volatile matter, 
38.20 per cent. This last result unfolds a truth that has been clearly pointed out by Professor J. P. Lesley : the 
.similarity of the elements of coals in beds in a common basin. Taking- the Salisbuiy coal as an illustration, and 
its congener, the Berlin bed, below, in the same geological range, they are constituted as follows : 

Salisbnrr (Pittsburgh). lieiiin bed. 

(HHU, p. 78.) (HHH.p. 34.) 

Fer cent. Per cent. 

iloist uie 1. 385 2. 010 

Fixed carbon 09. 352 68. 321 

Volatile matter -.il. 470 iO.b'io 

Ash 7.030 8.390 

.Sulpliuv 0.763 0.744 

The slight increase of volatile matter in the higher beds of Salisbury and Johnstown sub-basins has been 
observed. 

The coals in the lower and upper series in the western counties of the state show as follows : 

Pittsburgh bed 

(M3, p. 56). Kittanning coal. 

Per cent. Per cent. 

Water — 0.800 0.96 

VolatUe matter 3G. 900 38.20 

Fixed carbon 50. 230 52. 03 

Sulplinr 3.040 3.66 

Ash 9.030 5. 14 

These results confirm the view of the uniformity in elementary matter in coal-beds in the same basins, with 
slight variations. 

The importance of this law will appear when the future supply of coking coals shall be considered. 

The coal-measures of the Illinois basin very nearly equal in area those of the Appalachian ba.sin, covering about 
47,188 square miles, (a) but they by no means equal the latter in the character of their coking coal. This basin 
occupies the larger part of the state of Illinois, the southwestern portion of Indiana, and the western part of 
Kentuckj'. Its eastern limit is the rocks of the Cincinnati axis, which separate it from the Appalachian basin, 
while its western margin is formed by the bed of the Mississippi river, which has been excavated through it and 
separates it from the Missouri basin. The beds of coal in the Illinois field are not as thick as in either the Appalachian 
or the Missouri basin, though their number is about the same as in the former. "The coals themselves are more 
apt to be impure," (6) being high in sulphur and ash. This is not uniformly the case, however, as will be evident 
from an inspection of the analyses of the Big Muddy and Cartensville coals of southwestern Illinois. The character 
of the coals of this basin, and the difficulty of adapting them to the manufacture of coke, is shown in the fact that 
but 8,600 tons of coke were made from them in the census year. At present (1880) the successful manufacture of 
coke in the Illinois basin is confined to the two localities in southwestern Illinois mentioned above : Mount Carbon 
and Cartersville. 

In Indiana the coals of the " eastern zone " of Professor Cox's rej)orts, or the lower measures, are non-coking, 
being the well-known block coal of the state, which can be used raw in smelting iron. The " western zone ", or 
uiJlier measures, which are much more extensiv ethan the lowei", contain deposits of good coking coal, generally,- 
however, so far as they have been tried for making coke, high in ash and sulphur. 

The coals of the northern part of this basin in Illinois are too sulphurous to make good coke, but in the 
southwestern jiart of the state there are several small deposits of quite pure coal, which, although dry-burning, 
makes a very good coke when crushed, washed, and charged wet. The portion of this field lying in Kentucky, like 
that part of the Appalachian field lying in the same state, has not been utilized for the manufacture of coke. 

But little is known of the extent of the coking coal in what I have termed, for want of a better name, the 
Colorado basin ; but from the coal mines of the Trinidad region, which are the highest above the sea-level worked 
in the country, some coke was made in the census year. For many years it was believed that all the coals of this 
section were lignites or brown coal ; and speaking as late as 1875 Professor Hayden says of this region : 

According to Dana's classification, I should term these coals caking or hinding bituminous coal. The term lignite is generally used, but 
speaking from the strict standpoint of a mineralogist this name is not applicable. 

The term "lignite" applied to these coals has no doubt given a widespread but erroneous idea as to their 
character, which the success of the Colorado Coal and Iron Company in coking them has entirely removed. There 
are other extensive beds of coking coal in this region, but little is known of them except of the most general 
character. 

Of the adaptability of the coals of the other basins of the country to the manufacture of coke, our information, 
so far as relates to actual attempts on a commercial scale, is very limited. The coal of the Rhode Island basin is 
anthracite, and is a natural coke. In the Missouri basin some coke has been made in Iowa, and it is rumored that 

a statistical Atlas of the United States, page 12. Some authorities make this 68,000. b Ibid., page 13. 



22 



MANUFACTURE OF COKE. 



some ovens have been built to test the coal of this basin in Missouri. The coals of the Michigan basin are reported 
as not being adapted to coking. ISTo trials have been made of the coals of the Texas basin, and but little is known 
of them. A number of trials have been made with Utah coal, and there is said to be a number of deposits of good 
coking coal in that territory. 

In the following table will be found analyses of a number of the most important coking coals of the United 
States, and the oven cokes made from the same. These all appear in the remarks regarding coking in the different 
states, and are brought together here for convenience of reference and comparison. The cokes are supposed to be 
industrial cokes, unless it is stated otherwise : 



Districts or localities. 



PEKSSTLVASIA. 

GonnellsYille 



Irwin's -. 

Allegheny Mountain 



AllegTieny Eiver. 
Beaver county . . . 



WEST VlRGraiA. 

New River 



Leetouia 

Steubenville . 



TEKKESSEE. 



Tracy City . 
Whiteside .. 



Mine or seam. 



Broad Ford 

Coketon * 

Penn Gas Coalt 

Bennington " E " 

Lilly's Station " E ".. 
Amot, Seymour vein J 

Lower Freeportt 

Hulmos Sl Bro. I 



Quinnimont.. 
Fire Creek . . 



Longdale . . 
Nuttallburg 



Washingtonville . 
Shaft Coal 



Eockwood Koane Iron Company'e 

ALABAMA. 

Warrior Field 



ILLINOIS. 

Big Muddy 

COLOKADO. 

El More 

Crested Buttes . . 



Mount Carhon. 



ElMoro 

Crested Buttes. 



Ferct. 
30. 107 

21. 850 
38. 130 
27. 226 

22. 250 
21. 586 
35. 825 
38. 110 



18. 190 
22. 340 



21. 380 
29. 590 



39. 600 
30. 900 



Per ct. 
50. 616 
65. 720 
54. 880 
61.843 

70. 518 

71. 674 
54. 223 
54.619 



76. 890 
75. 020 

72. 320 
69.000 



56. 040 
65. 900 



6.930 
5.058 
4.763 
7.340 



6.270 
1.070 



61. 000 7. 800 
21. 100 74. 200 2. 700 



63. 740 7. 820 



31. 480 
34:370 



38. 230 
23. 200 



61. 600 
59. 580 



55. 860 
72. 600 



5.416 
6.060 



3.690 
3.100 



JPerct. 
0.784 
0.700 
0.960 
2.602 
1.459 
0.007 
1.312 
0.791 



0.300 
0. 660 



0.530 
0.980 



Trace 
0.700 



0.918 
0.660 



Perct. 
1.260 



1.400 
0.715 



0.940 
0.610 

1.030 
0.340 



2.660 
1.400 



Per ct. 
80. 676 
89. 150 
88. 240 
87. 580 



93. 860 
92. 180 



93. 006 
92. 220 



93. 750 
90. 630 



94. 560 
84.187 



6.370 II 88.180 



87. 470 
92. 030 



Per ct. 
9.113 
9.650 
9.414 

11. 360 



13. 345 

11. 463 

12. 636 



6.730 
7.530 



15.440 
4.650 



11. 315 
15. 216 



10. 680 
6.620 



Per ct. 
0.821 
1.200 
0.962 



0.270 
0.910 



0.870 
0.270 



0.142 
0.790 



0.563 
0.445 



Per ct. 
0.030 



0.302 
0.683 



Per ct. 
0.460 



0.722 
0.623 
0.633 



1.850 
1.350 



Authorities or chemists. 



McCreath. 
B. Crowther. 
Carnegie Bros. & Co. 
McCreath. 

Do. 

Do. 



C. E. Dwight. 



Professor Wormley. 
Coal, Professor Wormley ; 
coke, Dr. Wuth. 

Coal, Robertson ; coke. Land. 
Coal, Professor Shale : coke, 

Etna Coal Company. 
Land. 



Professor McCalley. 
Coal, Eureka Iron Company ; 
coke. Professor McCalley. 



* Average of top and bottom of vein. 

t Analysis is of washed slack and coke from same. 

X The coal is " run of mine " ; the coke is made irom washed slack. 



HISTORY OF THE MAJSTUFACTUEE OF COKE IN THE UNITED STATES. 

The first date I have been able to find at which it is claimed that coke was used in this country is that given 
in French's history of the iron trade, (a.) which states that coke was employed a few years before the Eevolution 
in the manufacture of pig- and refined bar-iron. 

While this is possible, it is hardly probable that coke was used in the blast-furnaces and refineries of this country 
at this early date. It was not until 1735 (b) that Darby used coke successfully at Coalbrookdale, in Shropshire, 
England, and it was not until 1750 that it came into anything like general use in that country as a blast-furnace fuel. 
The repeal by the British parliament in 1750 of the import duty on pig-iron from the American colonies stimulated 
its production in this country, but it was the scarcity of wood for fuel in Great Britain that led to this action, and 
it was charcoal pig-iron, not coke pig, to supply the demand of English iron works, that was sought for export. It 

a History of the liise and Progress of the Iron Trade of the United States, by B. F. Frenoli (New York, 1S58), page 58. 
b See cliapter on "History of Coke in England" for difference among authorities as to this date. 



MANUFACTURE OF COKE. 23 

is bardly probable that there would be any demand for foreign coke-iron in England at that time, especially at the 
price at which it could be made in America and transported to the British iron works. Even charcoal pig-iron could 
hardly have been exported with profit were it not for its comparatively high price in England, caused by the 
scarcity of wood fuel. The great abundance of wood in this country — large tracts being burned for the ashes — and 
the fact that coal suitable for coking, if it existed at all, was found only to a limited extent in that portion of the 
country in which iron was made prior to the Eevolution, would seem to preclude the idea that coke was used for 
the manufacture of pig-iron, as stated by French. When, in addition to this, we recall the imperfect knowledge 
of the method of manufacture and use of coke iu this country, the diflSculties of transportation, and the prejudice 
in favor of charcoal iron, it would seem, iu the absence of other and more definite information, that French's 
statement must be wrong. 

"With the close of the Eevolutiou and the subsequent emigration fi-om England numbers of skilled iron 
workers found their way to this country notwithstanding the stringent laws against such emigration and the 
heavy penalties imposed upon those discovered in the attempt to emigrate. Among these workers were doubtless 
some skilled iu the manufacture and the use of coke. This supposition is borne out by an advertisement 
which appeared iu the Pittsburgh Mercury of May 27, 1813, in which one of these emigrants otters his services to 
instruct blast-furnace managers in the method of manufacturing coal into coke. The advertisement was as 
follows : 

To proprietors of IJasl-fiiriiaces : 

John Beal. lately from England, being informed that all the blast-furnaces are in the habit of melting iron ore with charcoal, and 
knowing the great disadvantage it is to proprietors, is induced to offer his services to instruct them in the method of converting stone 
coal into coak. The advantage of using coak vrill be so great that it cannot fail becoming general if put to practice. He flatters 
himself that he has had all the experience that is necessary in the above branch to give satisfaction to those who feel inclined to alter 
their mode of melting their ore. JOHN BEAL, Iron Founder. 

N. B. — A line directed to the subscriber, postpaid, will be duly attended to. 

I have been unable to learn whether Mr. Beal's proposition was accepted. 

Shortly after this, however, in ISIO-'IT, Colonel Isaac Meason built the first rolling-mill erected west of the 
Allegheny mountains, to puddle iron and roll iron bars, at Plumsock, in Fayette county, Pennsylvania. At this 
mill, which went into operation September, 1817, coke was used iu the refinery. This is the first definite statement 
that I have been able to find of the use of coke iu this country. It is an iuteresting fact that it was made on 
Eedstoue creek, about midway between Connellsville and Brownsville, in Fayette county, the county that produced 
the largest number of tons of coke iu the last census year. 

This mill was built under the direction of Mr. Thomas C. Lewis, one of the English emigrant iron-workers 
before referred to. The next notice I have been able to find of the use of coke was at a blast-furnace built under 
his management, the Bear Creek furnace, situated in Armstrong county, Pennsylvania, oue mile from Lawreuceburg, 
the present Parker's Landing. This furnace was built to use coke, and went into operation iu 1819. It was 
unsuccessful, however, the blast beiug too weak, and the furnace chilled after making two or three tons of iron, 
and the attempt to use coke was probably abandoned. 

The rapid disappearance of the forests of Pennsylvania and the abundant deposits of bituminous coal caused 
widespread attention to be given to the use of coke iu the manufacture of pig-iron, and during the next few years 
attempts were made in the westeru part of that state to utilize bituminous coal for this purpose. In 1825 the 
acting committee of the Pennsylvania Society for the Promotion of Internal Improvement sent Mr. William 
Strickland to England as their agent to study various subjects relating to internal improvements, and also charged 
him with investigating the methods employed in the manufacture of iron, allowing him £100 for expenses of the 
iron investigation. 

In their letter of instruction to Mr. Strickland the committee say: (a) 

Attempts of the most costly kind have been made to use the coal of the western part of our state in the production of iron. 
Furnaces have been constructed according to the plan said to be adopted in Wales and elsewhere ; persons claiming experience in the 
business have been employed, but all has been unsuccessful. In large sections of our state ore of the finest quality, coal iu the utmost 
abundance, limestone of the best kind, lie iu immediate contiguity, and water-power is within the shortest distance of these mines of 
future wealth. The prices which are obtained for iron on the western waters are double those of England, the demand is always greater 
than the supply, and thus nothing but knowledge of the art of using these rich possessions is wanted. 

We desire your attention to the following inquiries on the subject of the manufacture of iron : 

1. What is the most approved and frequent process for coking coal, and what is the expense of the process per ton or caldren ? 

•2. In what manner are the arrangements or buildings, if any, constructed for the coking of coal, obtaining drawings and profiles 
thereof? 

3. Are there different modes for coking coal ; and if they have any differences iu principle, what are they ? 

4. In wh.^t manner are the most approved furnaces for the smelting of ore constructed? Drawings and sections of the same to 
accompany the information which may be obtained upon this inquiry. 

5. The mode of drawing off the pigs, the plan adopted for keeping supply of ores, if peculiar or superior to that used in this 
country ? 

a The First Jnnval Report of the Jcting Committee of the Societtj for the Promotion of Internal Improvement in the Commonwealth of 
Pennsylrania (Philadelphia, 1826), pages 37, 38. 



24 MANUFACTURE OF COKE. 

The report was signed bj' Matthew Carey and others, who were well acquainted with the state of the iron 
industry at that time, and indicates that before 1825 coke had been used in the blast-furnaces of western 
Pennsylvania, as the reference in the first paragrai^h could hardly have been to the use of raw coal. This 
probability is strengthened by a passage referring to the investigations. of their agent. In 1825 Mr. Strickland 
forwarded a complete statement as to the method of making coke in England, In the first annual report, before 
quoted, occurs the following on this subject : (a) 

The next report receireil from Mr. Stricliland Tras dated the 16th of June, 1825, which, as far as its contents are connected with 
railways, maybe considered as a supplement to the first rei^ort. It contains "adescriptiouof the Duke of Portland's tram-road", and a very 
particular account of the mode of coking bituminous coal and of making cast and blister steel. The drawings, which form a part of this 
report, exhibit in detail the processes which are in successful use in England for the production and manufacture of the articles mentioned. 
To those sections of our country where bituminous coal abounds, and where no method of coking it for the purposes of smelting iron 
has yet been in successful operation, the plans of the ovens, bj' which this process is accomplished, may be essentially important; and the 
information communicated upon this grand desideratuai in the making of iron in western Pennsylvania may be employed to remove 
the difficulties which have hitherto baffled all the efforts of those who have endeavored to use that coal in their smelting-furuaces. 

This certainly indicates that attempts to use coke in smelting iron in western Pennsylvania had certainly been 
made ])rior to 1825, and gives color of probability to the statements made in the History of Fayette County. 

There can be no doubt that these reports of Mr. Strickland had much to do with the experiments that shortly 
after their publication began to be made in the use of coke in blast-furnaces in various parts of Pennsylvania, and 
its advantage as a fuel for iron-smelting at last attracted the attention of the legislature of the state. In a report 
on coal made by a committee of the Pennsylvania senate, of which the Hon. S. J. Packer was chairman, and read 
in the senate March 4, 1834, it was stated that — 

The coking process is now understood, and our bituminous coal is quite as susceptible of this preparation and produces as good coke 
as that of Great Britain. It is now used to a considerable extent by our iron manufacturers in Centre county and elsewhere. 

I have not been able to learn any of the details of the use of coke in the furnaces referred to by Mr. Packer. 
Mr. James M. Swank (&), in his report on iron and steel, expresses the opinion that at the time Mr. Packer wrote his 
report coke could not have been used in blast-furnaces in any other way than as a mixture with charcoal, and then 
only experimentally; but it is probable, iu view of the attention that had been given to the subject and the 
publication of Mr. Strickland's report, that attempts had been made to use coke alone, (c) 

In 1835 the Frankliu Institute of Pennsylvania offered a premium of a gold medal to '' the person who shall 
manufacture in theUnited States the greatest quantity of iron from the ore during the year, using no other fuel than 
bituminous coal or coke, the quantity to be not less than 20 tons". The phraseology of this offer would lead to the 
belief that coke had before this been used in the manufacture of iron, as Mr. Packer states; but the best results 
obtained had been in connection with other fuels, as the oflfer of the Institute is for "iron made by the use of no other 
fuel than bituminous coal or coke". This would also seem to indicate that in the experiments made, if they had been 
made with coke only as a fuel, even so small a quantity as 20 tons of pig-iron had never been made with this fuel. 

In the same year that this offer was made Mr. William Pirmstone was successful in making good gray forge 
iron for about one month at the Mary Ann furnace, in Huntingdon county, Pennsylvania, with coke made from 
Broad Top coal. 

Mr. Isaac Fisher, of Lewiston, Pennsylvania, who states iu a pamphlet published in April, 1836, that " successful 
experiments have lately been tried in Pennsylvania in making pig-iron of coke", probably had Mr. Firmstone's 
experiment in mind. Mr. Firmstone is doubtless entitled to the honor of having been the first successful 
manufacturer in this country of coke pig-iron. It is also interesting to note that his blast was just one hundred 
years after the date usually assigned to Darby's successful use of coke in England. 

In 183() or 1837 F. H. Oliphant made at his Fairchance furnace, near Uuiontown, Fayette county, Pennsylvania, 
a considerable quantity of coke-iron, probably more than 100 tons, and in a letter to the Franklin Institute, 
dated October 3, 1837, Mr. Oliphant suggests that possibly he was entitled to the premium offered by them. 
Accompanying his letter was a piece of pig-irou and samples of the raw material from which it was made. Mr. 
Oliphant, however, did not continue the manufacture of iron with coke, but returned to the use of charcoal as a fuel. 

Between 1830 and 1839 other attempts were made to use coke at Pennsylvania furnaces, but they were 
unsuccessful or unfortunate, [d) The legislature of Pennsylvania, June 16, 1836, passed au act to encourage the 
manufacture of iron with coke or mineral coal, which gave the governor authority to charter comi)auies, with ample 

a The First Annual liejwrt of the Acting Committee of the Society for the Promotion of Internal Improvement in the Commonwealth of 
Fennsijlvania, page 20. 

b Statistics of the Iron and Sieel Production of the United States, James M. Swank (Tenth Census), p. 143. 

c The History of Fayette County, Finnsylrania, page 242, states that coke was made and used at the Allegheny furuace, Blair 
county, Pennsylvania, in 1811, and speaks of this as authenticated. If this is correct, it was an earlier use of coke than that mentioned 
at the Plumsock refinery. The same work also states that the Howard furnace, in Blair county, put in operation iu 1830, and the 
Elizabeth furnace, built iu the same county in 1832, were constructed with a view to the use of coke, and furnaces in Clearfield, Clinton, 
Lycomiug, aud Armstrong counties, Pennsylvania, erected between 1835 and 1838, made repeated attempts at the manufacture of coke- 
iron, all of which resulted in failure, from the fact that cold blast was used and at a very low pressure. I have not been able to verify these 
statements, aud give them solely on the authority of the work referred to. 

d Attemiits were also made in Ohio, which will be spoken of in another part of this chapter. 



MANUFACTURE OF COKE. 25 

powers for the purpose of prosecutiug tbis brauch of industry. At Farrandsville, in Cliutou county, coke was used 
to a considerable extent from 1837 to 1839, about 3,o00 tons of pig-iron being made. The manufacture was abandoned, 
however, owing to the impurity of the coal and the difficulty of transportation. At Kai-thaus, in Clearfield county 
Mr. Peter Eitner succeeded iu using coke in making pig-iron as early as 1838, if not in 183-1 (n). Coke was also 
used iu 1839 iu this furnace, but at the close of that year the enterprise was abandoned, owing to the lack of 
transportation facilities. In Mather's second report of the Geology of Ohio, published iu 1838, the following statement 
regarding this furnace is given : ■ 

Through the enteqnise and rerseverance of Mr. Peter Kituer, of Karthaus, Clearlield county, Pennsylvania, the same practice has 
been introduced into this country, and at the last information was in most successful operation. His experiments were made in a common 
charcoal stack, 45 feet from the hearth to the trundle-head : diameter at the top. G feet ; at the hoshes, ir! feet ; hearth 2 feet G inches 
square. Coke from Phillipshurg \vas used in the operation, the details of which, relative to consumptiou, blast, product, etc.. have been 
freely and unreservedly given me by Sir. Kitner : 

Bushels of chiircoal necessary to make a ton of jiig, 200; bushels of coke, 75: charge of coke, 10 bushels, Tveight 45 pounds per 
bashel ; burden, about one-fourth the charge in weight ; blast, 4,000 to 6,000 cubic feet per minute, under a pressure of 2J to 2A pounds to 
the square inch ; yield of furnace, Co to 70 tons per week ; ordinary yield of charcoal stack, 23 to 27. Mr. E. says, under date of August 
23. 1838 : " As to quality, there can be no doubt of its being as good as that made from coke in any part of the world. It has been tested 
by the committee appointed by the treasury department to try the strength of boiler-iron, and bore 68,869 pounds to the square inch. 
We have also caused it to be rolled into bars .and plates, and find it an excellent article. Finished bar-iron can be made in this region at 
a cost not exceeding -535 per ton, and I hope to see the time when it will be. 

I am informed of another furnace at Kittanning, Armstrong county, Pennsylvania, now in operation with coke as a fuel. 

A furnace at Frozen Eun, iu Lycoming county, made some coke pig-iron in 1838, but returned to the use of 
charcoal in 1839. 

It was in Maryland, however, that coke was first successfully used for any considerable length of time in blast- 
furnaces in this country. In 1837 the George's Creek Coal Company built the Lonaconing furnace, 8 miles northwest 
of Fro.stburg, Maryland, to use coke, and in June, 1839, according to Johnson, {h) it was making about 70 tons per week 
of good fouudery coke-iron. This furnace was 50 feet high by 14i in the boshes. Its highest yield in a campaign 
of four mouths was 92 tons per week ; the lowest, 62. In 1810 two large blast-furnaces were built by the ilouut 
Savage Company to use the same fuel. These furnaces were for several years successfully operated with coke. 
Their success, no doubt, was due to their having been constructed with sufficient blast-power and hot blasts, especially 
for using coke. The coke made at these furnaces was from the seam of coal knowu as the Mount Savage fawn ash 
coal, containing about 78 per cent, of fixed carbon and 7 per cent, of ash. It also carried quite a large percentage of 
snlphuret of iron, which greatly injured its value both for funiace and foundery purposes. The coke was made iu 
ojjen pits, as was all the coke produced in Maryland so far as I have been able to learn. Both the rectangular pit 
and the circular mound were used. The coke produced was hard, bright, and carried a good burden iu the furuace, 
making, it is claimed, a ton of iron with a ton and a quarter of coke. The pressure of blast used in this furuace was 
from 2^ to 3J pounds^, and the temperature about the melting point of lead, 012° F. The furnaces were 11 feet boshes 
by 45 to 50 feet high. Xo doubt the success of these furnaces iu making long blasts was due to their great blowing- 
power, the gTcatest in the country at the time, and to their hot-blast capacity. Most of the attempts to use coke prior 
to this had been with the weak blasts of charcoal furnaces, blowing the air into the furnaces cold. The yield of the coal 
in coke was about 52 per cent. From 1840 to 1850 between 50,000 and 75,000 tons of coke were made at the Mount 
Savage works, most of which was used at the furnace, but some of it was used at founderies. In the next decade 
a portion of the coke used was from what is known as the big vein of Alleghany county, but the coke was 
unsatisfactory. From 1800 to 1870 all the coke made was from another portion of the big vein, which produced 
a good coke. These furnaces have not been in blast for some years. 

In 1845 the Antietam furnace, which was built about 1730 as a charcoal furnace, and which had been several 
times rebuilt, was again rebuilt and blown in with half coke and half charcoal, running in this way uutil 1848, 
when all coke was used. From this time until 1857 short blasts were made, using coke entirely, the coke being 
chiefly from the Frostburg Coal Company's and the Cumberland Coal aud Iron Company's mines, though iu the 
last three or four years part of the coke was made at the furnace. From 1857 to 1807 there was but one short blast, 
when the present proprietor bought it. From this time until 1879 the coke used was made at the furnace. At itJS 
last blast, beginning in 1879, Connellsville coke was used. 

As I have indicated, all of the coke made in Maryland was burned iu open-air pits, and I have not been able to 
find the record of the existence of a single oven. Duriugthe last few years coke has only been used to utilize the 
fine coal from the dumps. The last company making coke at Cumberland was the Cumberland Coal and Iron 
Company, which made some as late as 1878 aud 1879, aud these were the only parties producing any for a number 
of years. So far as I have been able to learn, no coke is now made in Maryland. 

a Jlr. John Irwiu, jr., of Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, writes me that "in the year 1834 Loy & Eitner made some coke-iron at this 
furnace. The coke was made in pits from a superior vein of bituminous coal, six feet in thickness. I do not remember anything in regard 
to the quality of the coke. They, however, succeeded in making some pig-iron, but not having means to carry on the business, and being 
dependent altogether on the uncertain river (.Susquehanna) channel to reach a market, they soon abandoned the business". 

b See Avthracitc Jron. by VTalter 1!. Johnson, pages 7 and 8. 



26 MANUFACTURE OF COKE. 

While these experiments were in progress in Pennsylvania and Maryland similar ones were being conducted in 
Ohio. In the First Annual Report of the Geological Survey of OMo, page 18, published in 1838, but submitted at 
the close of 1837, Professor Mather says : 

Coke is now manufactured in Ohio from several of the coal-heds. Hon. Daniel Upson, of Portage county, makes a coke of 
excellent quality from a coal of his mine in Tallniadge. Mixed -with charcoal, it is used in the high furnace at Akron, in the smelting 
of iron ore. Mr. Ford, of Akron, by mixing 40 bushels of coko per day -with the charcoal, is stated to have increased the quantity of iron 
smelted 33J per cent. The coal-bed is from 3 to 5 feet thick, and from 2 to 3 feet of the coal make excellent coke, which is found to be a 
perfect substitute for anthracite coal in the cupola furnaces. 

An analysis of this coal and coke is given in the second report, page 35. (a) 

In this same report (6) Professor Mather, after stating that most of the pig-iron produced in Ohio was smelted 
with charcoal, notwithstanding the inexhaustible supplies of coal fitted lor the manufacture of "coke, or the 
charcoal of bituminous coal", says : 

In my first aunual report to this legislature I mentioned that coke ivas begiuning to be used in three of our furnaces. Whether it 
has increased during the past season I have not been informed, but it is novr extensively used for melting iron for castings. Anthracite 
coal Avas formerly brought to various parts of this state from Pennsylvania for this purpose ; but in consequence of the great expense, 
coke has been substituted, and is equally effective. One ton of coke will melt from 5 to 10 tons of iron, but 7 tons is considered an 
average. This variation is due to the greater or less purity of the coal. The coal may be used raw in the furnace, where it cokes itself, 
or it may be previously coked in a coke oven, or in a heap in the opeu air. By coking it loses about one-half its weight, but increases 
about one-fourth its bulk. 

In this second report, Mr. Whittlesey, after constantly referring to the possibility of coking the coals of Ohio, 
showing that the thought of this use was an ever present one, says : (c) 

The Tallmage coal undergoes this jirocess in the open air without any covering, but it is more economical to use close ovens, in which 
the refuse and inferior coal may be reduced. 

Coke is already in general use in the cupolas throughout the northeastern part of the state ; but the great demand for this article 
must soon come from the manufacture of pig-metal. 

Coke, however, did not come into favor rapidly as a furnace fuel. In 1849 there was not a coke-furnace in 
blast in Pennsylvania. In 1856, however, according to Lesley's Iron Manvfacturers' Guide, there were 21 furnaces 
in Peunsylvania and 3 in Maryland using coke, which made in that year: Pennsylvania, 39,953 tons; Maryland, 
4,528 tons. The Pennsylvania furnaces were chiefly in what is known in this report as the Allegheny Mountain 
region. There was not a furnace using Conuellsville coke unless the Valley C furnace near Ligonier is regarded 
as in the Connellsville region. Lesley also mentions a coke-furnace called the Potomac, at Point of Eocks, Virginia, 
which used charcoal until 1848, that made 60 tons a week. Coke seems also to have been used at the Clay furnaces, 
in Mercer county, Ohio, in the latter part of 1845, in connection with charcoal, but coke was rapidly supplanted in 
this section by raw coal. 

It was not, however, until the development of the Connellsville region, Pennsylvania, that the use of coke as 
a blast-furnace fuel or the manufacture of coke itself in this country assumed any importance. • 

The history of the early attempts to make coke in this region are involved in considerable obscurity, though 
some of the parties are still living who helped build the first Connellsville coke oven. As early as 1817, as has 
already been stated. Colonel Meason used coke at his Plumsock refinery. It is also stated that some attempts were 
made in 1819 to use this coke in the blast-furnaces of the neighborhood. This early coke was all made " on the 
ground", and it is probable that up to 1841 no coke was made iu ovens. 

It was in this year, 1841, that two carpenters, Provance McCormick and James Campbell, overheard an 
Englishman, so the .story runs, commenting on the rich deposits of coal at Connellsville and their fitness for making 
coke, as well as the value of coke for foundery purposes, and they determined to enter upon its manufacture. 
Mr. McCormick, who is still living, an old man of eighty-four, has given me an account from memory of this 
enterprise, which I quote : 

James Campbell and myself heard, in some way that I do not now recollect, that the manufacturing of coke might be made a good 
business. Mr. John Taylor, a stone-mason, who owned the farm on which the Fayette coke works now stand, and who was mining coal 
in a small way, was spoken to regarding our enterprise, and proposed a partnership — he to build the ovens and n^ake the coke, and Mr. 
Campbell and myself to build a boat and take the coke to Cincinnati, where we heard there was a good demand. This was in 1841. Mr. 

a The following is a recapitulation of the items determined in the composition of coal from D. Upson's mine, Tallmadge Portage 
county, OMo; Peromt. 

Coke containing the earthy and metallic matter of the coal 55.425 

Bitumen = 39. 503 volatile matter — 0.274 sulphnr= 39.231 

Sulphur volatilized with the hitumen 0.274 

Hygrometric water , 5.067 

Loss i 0.003 

The coke in the above recapitulation is composed as follows: 

Composition of coke of Hon. D. TJpson's mine : Per cent. 

Carbon 96. 355 

Trotosalphuret of iron 1-375 

Earthy matter 2.270 

Some of the determinations in this analysis having been made by differences, they necessarily show no loss, although a small loss 
was undoubtedly sustained. 

6 Second Annual lieport of the Geological Survey of Ohio, page 11. This was submitted late in 183B. 

c Idem, page 62. 



MANUFACTURE OF COKE. 27 

Taylor built two ovens. I think they were about 10 feet in diameter. My recollection isthat the charge was 80 bushels. The ovens 
were built in the same style as those now used, but had no iron ring at the top to prevent the brick from falling in when filling the oven 
■with coal, uor had we any iron frames at the mouth where the coke was drawn. The top and mouth had to be repaired when they fell in. 
In the spring of 1842 enough coke had been made to till two boats 90 feet long — about 800 bushels each — and we took them to 
Cincinnati, down the Youghiogheuy, Monongahela, and Ohio, but when we got there we could not sell. Mr. Campbell, who went with 
the boats, lay at the landing some two or three weeks, retailing out one boat-load and part of the other in small lots at about H cents a 
bushel. Miles Greenwood, a founderyman of that city, oflfered to take the balance if he would take a small patent flour-mill at |12.5 in 
pay, which Mr. Campbell did. He had it shipped here. We tried it, but it was no good, and we sold it to a man in the mountains for 
$30, and thus ended our coke business. 

These gentlemeii lost heavily in their vejiture. Mr. Greenwood sent part of his coke to Dayton, to Judge 
Gebhart, who was formerly a resident of Connellsville, and who owned a fouudery at Dayton. He wa.s so much 
pleased with the fuel that he visited Connellsville, and, as Mr. McCormick states — 

Wanted us to continue to make coke, and he would take two boat-loads a year, delivered at Cincinnati, and pay the cash on delivery; 
also that he would insure us sale for all the coke we could make and deliver at Cincinnati at 8 cents per bushel; but we had gone into 
other business, and refused to do anything more with the coke. 

This was the beginning of the coke business in the Connellsville region, (a) For some years but little coke 
was made, though a few ovens were built, and that knowledge acquired which was necessary for the coming 
development of the trade. In 1843 the ovens built by Taylor were leased to three gentlemen named Cochran, a 
name that from that time to the present has been connected with coke-making in this region. They made 13,000 
bushels and floated it down to Cincinnati, where it was sold to Miles Greenwood, at 7 cents a bushel. Between this 
date and 1850 three or four ovens were built by Stewart Strickler, who sold his product to the Cochrans. In 1851 
improved ovens were built, and the trade increased somewhat, but in 1855 it is stated there were but 26 coke ovens 
above Pittsburgh. It was not until the Baltimore and Ohio railroad was completed to Pittsburgh, and Connellsville 
coke had been used successfully in the Clinton furnace of Graff', Bennett & Co., at Pittsburgh, that its value as a 
furnace fuel was thoroughly demonstrated and the foundatiou laid for the demand that has resulted in such a 
development of coke manufacture in the Connellsville region. This furnace was blown in iu the fall of 1859, to 
make ])ig-iron from coke. The coke was at fir.st made from Pittsburgh coal near the furnace on the south side of 
the Monongahela river, uearly opposite the Point, at Pittsburgh. The furnace was run for about three luonths, 
when, the coke made in this way not proving satisfactory, it was blown out, and arrangements made to secure a 
supply from the Connells\ille region. The furnace blew iu again early in the spring of 1860, the coke used being 
from the Fayette coke works on the Baltimore and Ohio railroad, made at first on the ground iu pits. The result was 
so satisfactory that 30 ovens were built iu 1800 and arrangements were made to secure a continued supply. Wheu 
it is remembered that this was only twenty years ago, the development of this industry, as shown in this report, is 
remarkable. 

Though there have been many attempts to coke Indiana coals, some of which were at quite an early date, 
this industry has never prospered iu this state. Before the building of railroads made it possible to procure coke 
from Pennsylvania at a i-easonable cost Indiana founderies were compelled to depend for their supplies upon the 
coal of the state, and ac a number of coal-banks coke was made in small quantities for melting iron. In the 
Report of the Geological Survey of Indiana for 1872 (page 361) is the following statement, which assigns the earliest 
date to the manufacture of coke in this state I have been able to find: "Coke Oven Hollow is named from the 
business conducted in it by William G. CofBn about thirty-five years ago. He had a fouudery at Mount Etna, near 
by, and procured his pig-iron from Cincinnati, Hanging Eock, and Pittsburgh. It was transported by wagons 
from Cincinnati, and in order to have loading economically both ways he mined and coked coal in this hollow, 
which reaches Sugar Creek just below the Feeder Dam, and would make sale of it either iu Indianaiiolis, Eichmond, 
or Cincinnati." 

If this statement is correct, it would api)ear that coke was made iu Indiana as early as 1837, only two years 
after Firmstone's successful experiments in Huntingdon county, Pennsylvania, and four years before the first coke 
oven was built in the Connellsville region. 

The Geological Report for 1870 (page 224) refers to the production of coke in Sullivan countj' as early as 1845, 
for the supply of the Terre Haute founderies. Some fragments of the coke were found iu 1870 by Professor Collett 
"after an exposure to the elements of a quarter of a century as bright and lustrous as if fresh from the oven". 
Some time prior to 1873 further attempts were made to coke the Sullivan county coals, a bee-hive oven being erected 
by Mr. Charles E. Peddle, at the instance of Mr. Chauucey Eose, to test the adaptability of the coal to coke-making. 
Mr. Peddle writes regarding this attempt : 

I built the oven and coked some of the coal, and, though it came out of the oven all right iu appearance, there was evidently more 
or less sulphur or some other ingredient that hardened the iron and rendered the coke unfit for foundery purposes. The coke was lighter 
than Connellsville, weighing about 37 pounds to the bushel. The founderymau who tried it reported that it required 5t)l pounds of 
Connellsville coke to melt 3,000 pounds of iron and 609 pounds of the Shclbnm coke to do the same work. The coke did not swell in 
burning, so that the bulk of the coke was about the same as of the coal charged. 

a In the History of Fayette County, elsewhere mentioned, a statement is made that some coke ovms were built between 1830 and 
1836, at or near the mouth of Furnace run. While making the statement and indorsing the credibility of the informant, the Bhtory 
seems to imply that there may be a mistake of dates. 



28 MANUFACTURE OF COKE. 

Some time about 1849, so Mr. W. B. Seward, of Bloomiugton, Indiana, writes me, his father built two coke ovens 
at Arney's coal-bank, in Owen county, Indiana, and one at Bloomington for the purpose of coking the Arney coal, for 
use in his foundery at Bloomington. These ovens he describes as being "very much like the old Dutch bake-oven", 
evidently "bee-hive ovens". For a number of years, and until the building of a railroad to Bloomington enabled 
him to procure it from Pennsylvania, all the coke used in Mr. Seward's foundery was made in these ovens. In 
speaking of the coke Mr. Seward writes : 

With proper care in managing the ovens a good article of coke was made, but it was not equal in quality to that made from what 
is tnown here as "Pittsburgh coal". The Arney coal runs together better than any other Indiana coal I have seen, but not enough to 
make large coke from fine coal. We always used the large lumps for coking. It was as free from sulphur as Pittsburgh coke, and, when 
properly made, melted iron about as well. We discontinued its use some twenty years since, when we got a railroad, as we had to 
transport the Arney coke 30 miles in wagons. I have examined all the specimens of Indiana coal I have been able to procure from 
time to time with a view to testing their coking qualities, but have not as yet found any that is superior to the Arney coal. 

In 1868 Wilson, Ostrander & Co. began the manufacture of coke in mounds at Washington, Daviess county, and 
made some 25,000 or 30,000 bushels, but they were so far from market that it was difficult to dispose of it, and its 
manufacture was abandoned. In 1879 Cabel Wilson & Co., the successors of the before-mentioned firm, erected two 
ovens to make coke out of slack, but as no arrangements were made to wash the slack the enterprise was a failure. 

Coke has also been made in other counties. Of the Fountain county attempt some account is given in another 
part of this report. Some years since coke was made in Parke county, near Clinton, by the Indiana Furnace 
Company, but with what success has not been learned. A number of attempts have also been made in Clay and 
other counties, but I have received no details of importance concerning them. 

But little has been learned regarding the history of coke in other states, and that of a most fragmentary 
character. The location of the coal mines and the slight preparation and expense necessary in experimental coking 
in pits or " on the ground " are not conducive to the preservation of the records of early trials, and it is not until 
ovens are built that a permanent record is made. Even then in many cases the location of these ovens is such 
that information about them is only found in the books of the coke-maker or in his memory. 

In Virginia coke was made many years ago at the mines in the neighborhood of Eichmond, but it was not of 
a very good quality, and during the war of the rebellion coke was also made for use in the founderies of the state. 
In the northwestern part of the state some furnaces were run on coke between 1840 and 1850, but it is supposed 
the fuel caoie from Maryland. 

In West Yirgiuia the first ovens in the New Eiver region were built in 1874. In this year the Quinnimont 
furnace was put in blast, using, with most gratifying success, the New Eiver coke. The opening of the Chesapeake 
and Ohio railroad through this region in 1873 aided largely in its development, and made it possible to bring the 
coke and iron ores along its route together and furnish an outlet for the product. As is elsewhere stated, the 
development of this section since this date has been very rapid. 

Coke to some extent was made in Alabama during the late war, being mainly used in the manufacture of cannon 
at the Selma (Alabama) foundery of the confederate government, and many openings were made along the veins in 
the immediate vicinity of the Cahaba river. On Pine Island branch, on what is known as the Gholson seam, 
coke was made in the open air, and was hauled over the hills to the railroad for shipment to Selma. Considerable 
quantities were also made at the opening in towushi]) 'I'l of sections 12 and 13, known as the "coke seam", and at 
various other places in the Cahaba coal-field. Some time in ISOG or 1867 the Glasgow Coal Company opened a 
mine on what is known as the Gould seam and made some coke, but after a wliile the work was discontinued, partly 
on account of the small demand for the coal and coke. In the Coosa fields some coke was made in 1863 and 1864 
by Captain Schultz for the confederate army, and was floated down the river. 

Though no coke was made in Kentucky in the census year, (« ) some years ago attempts were made to run a number 
of charcoal furnaces in this state on coke, in some instances using coke entirely, and in others part charcoal and 
part coke. The old Airdrie was thus run, and in volume one, new series, Kentuclcy Geological Survey, page 147, is an 
analysis of coke made at this furnace, which has been weathered sixteen years. This analysis shows 82.90 per 
cent, fixed carbon, 5.40 per cent, ash, 11.70 per cent, moisture and volatile matter. I am also informed that some 
ovens were erected in Carter county for testing the Coalton coal, but the percentage of sulphur was too high at 
the particular trial made, being 2.026 ijer cent. 

a I am informed while this report is going through the press that good eoko is made at Earlington, Hopkins county, Kentucky, 
by the Saint Bernard Coal Company. Eecent investigations show the existence of a coal in southeastern Kentucky remarkable for 
thickness, purity, and its high percentage of carbon, which has been named by Mr. John E. Proctor, the director of the Kentucky 
geological survey, to whom I am indebted for th" information, the "Elk Uorucoking coal". These coals wore coked by officers of the 
geological survey by building ricks on the ground, and were also sent to coke ovens at Cincinnati and in Coniiellsville, Pennsylvania. 
Analyses of these cokes by Dr. Peter gives the following results, selecting those highest and lowest in carbons : 

Per cent Per cent. 

Moistnro "f" -86 

Fixed.arbou "^-3* ^f'^* 

Ash 



Salpliar 

The cokes are firm, bright, and, as will be seen, quite pure. 



0. 786 0. 844 



MANUFACTURE OF COKE. 



29 



As to the early history of coke in the other states, the information in my possession is given in counectibn with 
the paragraphs on the coke industries of these states. 

THE COKE INDUSTEY IN PENNSYLVANIA. 

In any statement concerning the coke industry of this country Pennsylvania must occupy the first place. It 
was in this state, so far as the record remains, that coke was first manufactured, and it is here that the development 
of this industry has been the greatest, its production being largely in excess of that of any other state. 

Coke was produced in western Pennsylvania commercially at least sixty years ago, but it has only been within 
the last decade that its manufacture has attained to a magnitude and an importance that entitle it to separate 
consideration. Its magnitude is shown in the statistical tables of this report, and its importance is evidenced by the 
fact that not only has it built up a large pig-iron industry in a section where there are no ores, but it is used in the 
smelting of much of the iron ore of the country from the Hudson to the Mississippi. Indeed, the commercial 
success attained in the smelting of these ores west of the Allegheny mountains with mineral fuel is due to this 
coke. In addition to the ores of iron, it smelts most of the ores of the precious metals of the Eocky Mountain region, 
its value for this purpose being so great that it is carried to points where the freight in many cases exceeds the cost 
of the coke at the oven 1,000 per cent. > 

There were produced in Pennsylvania in the census year 2,317,149 tons of coke, all west of the Allegheny 
mountains. This was valued at $4,190,136, or $1 80 per ton. In its manufacture 3,60S,09o tons of coal, valued at 
$2,031,305, or 56.3 cents a ton, were consumed. This would make the yield 64.2 per cent. At the close of the census 
year there were 7,808 ovens built, of which 7,524 were bee-hive. In addition to this 1,469 were building June 1, 
1880, all bee-hive; 2,441 persons were employed in its manufacture, to whom $983,431 wages were paid. 

The following table, condensed from Table I, will show the chief statistical items concerning the manufacture 
of this coke : 



Total . 



Allegheny 

Armstrong 

Beaver 

Blair 

Butler 

Cambri.i 

Clarion 

Clearfield* 

Fayette 

Jefferson* 

Lawrence 

Tioga 

Washington — 
Westmoreland . 



No. of 

estab- 

Ush- 

ments. 



104 I H 262, 525 



325, 150 
30, 000 



200 

106, 000 

30,200 

25, 000 

1,956,450 

10, 000 

38, 500 

50, 000 

2,000 

1, 578, 625 



Number of 
employ68. 



190 




^ 




119 




60 








4,188 


1,082 





31 


98 




152 




8 




2,488 


210 



59, 485 
4,000 



19,870 
7,200 



3,004 
25, 321 



Tons used. Value. 



3, 608, 095 ! $3, 031, 305 



166, 700 I 

13,400 

1,012 

155, 453 

750 I 
85, 000 
16, 200 i 



78, 500 I 
4,050 ! 



95, 685 j 
7,000 1 



51, 950 I 
10,800 i 



235, 915 
13, 000 



1,200 
110, 894 
13, 500 



7,500 

53, 777 

2,200 

1, 195, 824 



3,750 
67, 221 



3,941 
33, 572 



20,651 

100, 716 

2,400 

1, 410, 946 



* Building, and not in oper,ition during any part of the census year. 

The bituminous coal regions of western Pennsylvania were divided by Professor Eogers, in his report of the 
First Geological Survey of Pennsylvania, into six principal basins, numbered from the Allegheny mountains on the 
east to the Ohio river on the west. Five great anticlinal waves of remarkable persistence and regularity separate 
these basins, one of these, the anticlinal that bounds the Connellsville basin on the west, running from the Virginia 
state line to Elk county, a distance of 100 miles, in an absolutely straight line. («) Some of these basins coincide 
with the physical division of the surface. The first basin, for example, lies between Laurel Hill and the Allegheny 
mountains, and the second between Chestnut Eidge and Laurel Hill. Other basins, however, are onlj' geological, 
and have no strongly marked corresponding surface depressions, {b) 

In all of these basins coke was made during the census year. The bulk of the product, however, was from the 
Allegheny Mountain and the Connellsville regions. Most of the coke was made from the coal of the great Pittsburgh 
seam, which is, on the whole, the most extensive and economically important coal-bed in the Appalachian basin. 
It is the main seam workedat Pittsburgh, on the Monongahela and Youghiogheny rivers, at Connellsville, Wheeling, 
and many other places, and is estimated to underlie, in the states of Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia, 14,000 
square miles. In southwestern Pennsylvania Professor Lesley estimates that this bed, after all the erosion it has 

« See Report H, Second Geological Survey of Pennsi/lvania, page 16. 

b For a discussion of these basins, their extent and subdivision, more thorough than can be given here, the reader is referred to the 
different publications of the Second Geological Survey of Pennsylvania, p.articularly reports H and KK. It will of course be understood 
that in this report we are speaking only in general terms regarding these basins. 



30 



MANUFACTURE OF COKE. 



uudergoue, is found over an area of somewliat less than 3,000 square miles, so situated that every square yard of it 
can be reached. He also states that the present British coal trade could be supplied for twenty centuries from this 
single coal-bed, as developed in western Pennsylvania, (a) This bed does not everywhere show the same thickness 
as m wesiern Pennsylvania, where it is generally about 8 feet, gradually increasing eastwardly to the Cumberland 
(Maryland) region, where it is 14 feet ; nor does it always make as good a coke as that of the Connellsville region, 
where it is seen at its best. 

This Connellsville region, or basin, thegreatcoke-producingcenter of the country, is situated in the southwestern 
part of the state of Pennsylvania, in the counties of Westmoreland and Fayette, some 50 or 60 miles from 
Pittsburgh. It is a slender prong, separated from the Upper Coal-Measures, and may be regarded as extending 
from near Latrobe, on the Pennsylvania railroad, in a southwesterly direction, to the Virginia state liue, forming a 
basin some 3 miles wide and 50 miles long, almost without a fault, the beds yielding from 8 to 10 feet of workable 
coal. The same trough that contains the Connellsville coal extends northwesterly from Latrobe through the 
remainder of Westmoreland county, and through Indiana and Clearfield counties, but the Connellsville region is 
regarded as extending no farther north than the vicinity of Latrobe. The coal in the northern part is inferior as 
a coking material to that in the southern part, though both physically and chemically the coal of this basin on the 
Conemaugh seems the same as that on the Youghiogheny. The latter, however, produces the typical Connellsville 
coke, compact, silvery, and lustrous, while the coke from the coal on the Conemaugh, or in any locality north from 
the Pennsylvania railroad, is tendei-, dull, and soon loses what little luster it has. Even in some portions of what 
is known as the Connellsville region proper the coal and coke is not of equal value. Coal at Coketon, in the 
northern part of the immediate Connellsville basin, just south of the Pennsylvania railroad, produced wretched coke 
when coked as it came from the mines, but when washed it produced a coke regarded as fully equal to the 
Connellsville. The coal at Latrobe and at Loyalhanna, in the same locality, must also be washed before coking 
to produce the best results. 

As showing the character of the coal in this part of the Connellsville basin and the coke made from it I give 
the following analyses, which have been furnished by Mr. Benj. Crowther, of the Isabella Furnace Company: 



ANALYSES OF COKETON (PENNSYLVANIA) COAL. 



Bituminous matter 

Fixed carbon , 

Asli 

Sulpliur 



Top of vein. 
Per cent. 


Bottom of vein. 
Per cent. 


25.52 


18.18 


70.91 


60.57 


3.34 


20.08 


0.23 


1.17 



ANALYSES OP COKETON (PENNSYLVANIA) COKE. 



Constitnsnts. 


Unwashed. 


WASHED. 


No.l. 


No. 2. 




Fer cent. 

1.26 
86.58 
10.67 

1.49 


Per cent. 


Per cent. 




89.15 
9.65 
1.20 
4.67 


83.93 
14.80 
1.27 
6.12 













Mr. Crowther states that No. 1 coke from washed coal is about the average result when the washer is working 
right. 

A comparison of the above analyses with those of the Connellsville coal and coke from the neighborhood of 
Broad Ford will show the difference in the character of the coal and the similarity of the coke from the washed coal. 

This variation in the Connellsville coal seems to have been discovered at an early daj^ in the history of coke 
manufacture, for the coke-making area is confined to that portion of the trough which lies south from Sewickley 
creekj and the works are by no means important until one comes near to Jacob's creek. Thence southward to near 
Uniontown, in Fayette countj^, the eastern outcrop of the bed is lined with coke ovens. There appears to be 
prejudice in favor of the eastern outcrop; and although several m'anufacturers have told me that the coal on the 
western outcrop is somewhat inferior, facts do not seem to justify this prejudice. The extensive coke works near 
Dawson, on the Youghiogheny river, are upxDU the extreme western outcrop, but the coke made there is not inferior 
to any made along the eastern outcrop from Mount Pleasant to Lemost furnace. (6) 

Regarding the Connellsville region projier as including all the ovens in the basin from Latrobe and vicinity 
south, there were built in this region at the close of the census year, May 31, 1880, 6,364 ovens, all of which ^^ere 
of the bee-hive pattern. There were also three pits or mounds. At the same time there were actually 1,242 ovens 



a Atlas of I'mnaylvania, with description (Philadelphia, 1872), page 17. 
i Second Geological Survey, Report KKK, by J. J. Stevenson, page 200. 




^Tair3i/m£eI\jrnaB3£i^ 




IiB/:3ia/^^ii77Uisa€h 



MANUFACTURE OF COKE. 



31 



in process of construction in this rcK'iti'i' "H bccbive. Deducting from tlio totals lV)r Fayette and Westniorelaud 
counties, as {jiven in the tabic on page 2!), the totals for tlK)sc establislinients that cannot properly be regarded 
as iu the Oounellsvillc basin, we Lave the following statistics for the Connellsville region : 





Ko. of 
CBlab- 
lish- 
ments. 


Capital. 


OVEKB. 


Number of 
emi>loy6». 


Wages paid. 


COAL. 


COKB. 


Counties. 


Number i Number 
built. ' building. 


Tons used. 


Value. 


^rceT- ^"l- 


Fayette 

Westmoreland 


« 

19 


$1,939,450 
1, 295, 500 


4,100 1 1,082 
2, 158 1 160 


1,030 
826 


$489, 682 
284, 573 


1,808,799 
984,499 


$926,464 
COO, 872 


1,253,743 $2,o:.I,120 
639,457 1,149,772 


Total 


61 


8,234,950 


6,267 


1,242 


1,850 


774,455 


2,883,298 


1,633,33(1 


1,893,200 3,200,808 



From this table it appears that abont 02 per cent, of all the ovens in the United States at the close of the 
census year were in the Connellsville region, and that Oil per cent, of all the coke made that year was made in 
the same district. Of the extensions in progress June 1, 1880, judging by the number of ovens building, about 58 
per cent, were in the Connellsville region. Since the census year its development has been remarkable, large 
tracts of land, in which the coal lies at a considerable depth below the surface, being now utilized, and the 
number of ovens has increased, until it is estimated that there are now 9,0(10. The accom])anyiiig map, showing 
the extent of the Connellsville region, the localities of the ovens, and their relation to rittsburgii, is based on a ma|> 
furnished by H. C. Frick & Co. 

The coal-bed from which all the so-called Connellsville coke is luade is the Pittsburgh bed of I'rofessor Hoger.s' 
report of the First GcoUxjical Survci/ of Penn.'iylrania of 1842, and is de.seribed in the second volume of the final 
report of 1858. The continuation of the Pittsburgh area of this bed witli the Connellsville area is broken off by 
the Youghiogheny river, the bed taking an niiward course and descending again, tlie intermediate ])()rtioii being 
swci)t away. This has led to a jiopular belief that the bed at Connellsville is dillerent liom thai at Pittsburgh, 
but careful surveys have established their identity. It is a fact, however, that at Pitlsbuigli this bed is not in its 
best condition, while at Connellsville it is at its greatest thickness and is of the linest (juality. It is also true that 
the coke made from the bed at Pittsburgh is not as good as that made at Connellsville. In the Connellsville basin 
the coal ranges from 8 to II feet iu tliickness, with one small slate parting, the "bearing-iu slate", («) 18 inches 
above the floor. The roof is only passable ; the rooms can only be run 12 feet wide, and the pillars will average 10 
feet, a large amount of which is lost in drawing. The floor is even and quiet, the coal is of a remarkably good and 
uniform (sharacter, and is soft and easily mined. On wagers, 23 wagons (57,(i84: i)ounds) have been dug and loaded 
inside of 10 hours by a man and a boy. The greater portion of this work is to shovel the (ioal into wagons, the 
digging or mining being the easiest part. Very little outside labor is retiuired, and the average output jier man jier 
day is from 8 to 10 wagons, the cost of digging being abont 25 cents jier ton. 

It is this ease of mining which, next to its chemical and physical characteristics, gives the Connellsville rxml so 
Biuch value as a material for coke, and has enabled the latter to coin])ete in such distant markets with other cokes 
and fuels. Mr. Fulton has i)ointed out in a letter that this ease of mining is also a distinguishing i)eculiarit.y in the 
Connellsville basin. East or west from this narrow strip the cost of mining increases; westward the coal hardens, 
eastward the beds become thinner. 

The coal is bituminous, with generally a dull, resinous luster, alternating with seams of bright, shining, 
crystalline coal, coated with a yellowish silt. It contains numerous jiarticles of slate and some crystals of ])yrites; 
is compact, with a tendency to break up into cubes; is a very tender coal, and is ill adapted for shiiipiiig. Suck a 
coal from the mines of the II. C. Frick Coke Company, at Broad Ford, is taken by the Pennsylvania geological 
survey as the typic.il coal of the Connellsville basin. Its analysis, as determined by Mr. McCreath, chemist of the 
survey, is : 

Trr cent. 

Water l.yOO 

Volatile matter 30.107 

Fixed carbon .")9. Glfi 

Sulphur 0.784 

Ash 8.2;i;! 

Color of ash, reddish gray; coke, per cent., 68.633 ; sulphur left in coke, 0.612. 

reicont. 

Percentage ol'suli)linr iu coke 0. 740 

Percentage of .'ikIi in coke ILtClli 

Percentage of carbon in coke HT.y.'i 

The coke from this region is si' silvery luster, cellular, with a metallic ring, tenacious, comparatively free from 
impurities, and is capable of bearing a heavy burden in the furnace. Its porosity and ability to "stand up" in the 

(I 'i'l)f iircsent or Second Crulogical Surrey is dovoting a great deal of labor to this coal-deld, and the r('i)OrtH that liave been 
publitilicil contain uinch valiiabbi information. 1 am greatly indebted to these reports, espeoiully repsrts L and KK, for data. 



32 MANUFACTURE OF COKE. 

furnace are what have given it such a reputation as a blast-furnace fuel, and have created such a demand for it for 
mixing with anthracite and bituminous coal in the east and west, especially where an opea iron, such as is used 
in the Bessemer process, is needed. Mr. John Fulton has conducted a series of very elaborate and ingenious 
exi>eriments on the physical properties of coke for furnace use, embracing the typical coking coals of Pennsylvania. 
Some of these results are given in a table in connection with the remarks on the Allegheny Mountain region, and 
will be referred to at further length in the chapter on " Coke as a Blast-furnace Puel". 

In coking the Connellsville coal, the bee-hive oven is in universal use in the Oonnellsville region, these ovens 
varying at the different works from 11 to 12 feet in diameter, and from 5 to 6 feet in height, (a) The working is very 
simple. The coal is dumped through an opening in the crown of the furnace and spread evenly on the Moor to 
the average depth of 2 feet for 48-hoiir coke and 2 J feet for 72-hour. The front opening, through which the coke is 
discharged, is at first nearly closed with brick, luted with loam. The heat of the oven from the previous coking 
fires the charge, and as the coking progresses the air is more and more shut off by luting the openings and 
finally closing the roof openings. The average charge is 100 bushels (76 pounds each) of coal, and the yield in coke 
is from 63 per cent, to 65 per cent. The average time of coking is 48 hours, with 72 hours for that burned over 
Sunday ; 24-hour coke is sometimes made. The 72-hour coke is a firmer coke than either of the others, but it 
is questionable whether it is a better furnace coke. When the coke is thoroughly burned, the door is removed, and 
the coke is cooled by water, thrown in from a hose, and then drawn. 

We have given an analysis of what was regarded as the typical coal from this region from the mines of the 
H. 0. Frick Coke Company at Broad Ford. The analysis also gave the results of coke in the laboratory. A 
sample of the coke from these mines made in the ovens of the firm, analyzed by Mr. McCreath, gave the following 
results. This coke is exceedingly coherent and compact, with a silvery luster, and contains some slate : 

Per cent. 

Water 0.030 

Volatile matter 0.460 

Fixed carbon 89. .576 

Sulphur 0.821 

Ash 9.113 

Mr. Piatt, of the Pennsylvania geological survey, in his report on coke, takes this as the typical coke, " as 
being thoroughly burned and as well made as can be produced in the Connellsville basin." Probably the most 
thorough analyses of the coke from this region were made by Mr. J. Blodgett Britton, of Philadelphia. It is the 
average of a laige number of analyses of all sorts of Connellsville coke, and cannot, therefore, be regarded as a fair 
analyses of good coke : 

Per cent. 

Moisture ' 0.490 

Ash 11.332 

Sulphur , 0.693 

Phosphoric acid 0.029 

Carbon, by difference 87.456 

Mr. E. 0. Pechin gives a typical verified analysis of this coke as follows : 

Per cent. 

Volatile matter 1.296 

Carbon, hydrogen, and nitrogen 89.147 

Ash : 9.523 

Water 0.032 

Sulphur , 0.084 

Ash ignited : 

Silica 5.413 

Alumina , 3.262 

Sesquioxide 0. 479 

Lime 0.243 

Magnesia 0.007 

Phosphoric acid 0. 912 

Potash and soda traces. 

In commenting on this analysis, Mr. Pechin, who has had considerable experience with Connellsville coke, says : 
A large number of analyses of Connellsville coke have been made, showing less carbon and more sulphur. As regards carbon, I have 
had a number of analyses made at different times out of different lots, showing somewhat more carbon than the above. 

It will be noted that Mr. Pechin's analysis corresponds very closely with that given above from the 
Pennsylvania geological survey, and from the best evidence I have been able to obtain I regard these two as 
fairly representing the average of good Connellsville coke. At the Edgar Thomson steel works, near Pittsburgh, 
a large amount of coke is used from the works of the H. C. Frick Coke Company, and frequent analyses for .i^u 
are made. The average of a large number of these analyses, covering the deliveries of 150,000 tons, extending 
from May 25 to November 18, 1882, gives 9.75 per cent, of ash, the range being from 9.11 to 10.91 per cent.; 9.75 
may therefore be regarded as the average ash in good Connellsville colfe. 

a Drawings of these ovens are given in the chapter on "Bee-hive Ovens". 



MANUFACTURE OF COKE. 33 

It is almost impossible to arrive at tlie average detailed cost of making coke in this region, as the mines and 
facilities for manufacture greatlj' dift'er. 

When engaging in the manufacture of coke, no one should have less than 200 acres of coal to 100 ovens. Goal 
advantageously located canfiot on thp average be had for less than $400 per acre, and the ovens, with all the 
necessary plant, cannot be built for less than $40,000. Then we have : 

200 acres of coal, at §400 per acre : |idO, 000 

100 ovens complete 40,000 

Total cost .' 120,000 

At least 8 per cent, per annum interest should be expected ou an investment of this character, which gives us : 

luterest $9,600 

100 ovens use per annum fully ~ acres of coal. $400 2, 800 

Total cost 12,400 

So it will be seen that at least $12,400 should be first made yearly out of an investment of this kind to pay 
interest and make up depleted capital. It is not possible to make on an average more than 39,000 tons of 2,000 
pounds each of good coke yearly with 100 ovens, and by the above figures it will be seen that it will require about 
32 cents per ton to coverinterest and replace cajiital. 

At the best arranged works in the Conuellsville region, and at the present prices of labor, the cost of 
manufacturing a ton of 2,000 pounds of coke is about as follows : 

Mining coal fot 1 ton of coke §0 38 

Drawing coke 25 

Loading, hauling, and incidental.. 10 

Repairs '. 10 

Total 83 

For the total we have : 

Interest on capital, and allowance for coal used, per ton, say $0 32 

Cost of manufacture, per ton 83 

Total, per ton 1 15 

The above calculation is, if anything, too low, as the investment in ovens, etc., is lost when the coal is all 
gone, and the cost of manufacture will increase as the front coal is used up. This calculation is based ou coal that 
will drain itself, as the cost will exceed this when drainage is added. Until recently most of the coal was brought 
out through entries, but now a number of shafts are employed, the great increase of ovens necessitating the mining 
of coal at points where the coal-measures are from 300 to 500 feet below the surface. 

A statement furnished by Mr. John Fulton as to the cost of a plant of 400 ovens erected by the Cambria Iron 
Company at Morrell, Pennsylvania, and also as to the cost of producing coke, differs considerably from that given 
above. The cost of the plant at Morrell was as follows : 

Water-works |29, 113 80 

Houses • 30, 598 48 

Slope 50,000 00 

400 ovens 118,673 46 

Total : 228,385 74 



This would make the cost of a hundred ovens $.57,096 43J. Taking the cost of workmen's houses, $30,598 48, 
from the above, the cost of the 400 ovens, not including such houses, would be $197,787 26, and of 100 ovens 
$49,440 81i, or very nearly $50,000. This Mr. Fulton regards as the cost of 100 ovens where the coal is worked 
by slope or shaft, the estimate being based on a slope 2,000 feet long or a shaft 300 feet deep. Of course when a 
"Simple adit is run the expense would be less, but adits are exceptional. This is 25 per cent, less than the estimate 
above given, but is based on the actual cost of a bank of 400 ovens recently built. 

The actual cost of making coke at the works of the Cambria Iron Company, at Morrell and Wheeler, near 
Connellsville, is given ou page 34, the mining of coal being based on 25 cents per ton for mining the room coal and 
32 cents per ton (2,000 pounds) for heading coal. 

CO, VOL. IX 3 



34 MANUFACTURE OF COKE. 

MINING COAL. 

Mining coal, per ton (2,000 pounds) .• $0 27. 6 

Hauling 07.3 

Hoisting and dumping ^ 03.8 

Superintendent, foreman, and clerk 01. 6 

Lumber, ties, and props '. 02.9 

Repairs and supplies 06.8 

Cost of coal per ton, delivered at ovens 50.0 

COKING. 

1.6 tons of coal, at 50 cents '. $0 80. 

Labor (drawing, loading, charging, superintendent, and clerk) 41,2 

Supplies 02.6 

Repairs 05.2 

Cost of coke per ton 129. 

It is estimated that at these works 20 cents per ton on all coke made should be added to this to pay for real 
estate and interest on improvements. This would make : 

Cost of improve EC ents and allowance for coal used per ton of coke $0 20 

Cost of manufacturing coke per ton 129 

Total 1 49 

It will be noted that this estimate of the cost of manufacturing coke is considerably in excess of that first 
given. These two estimates, from two reliable manufacturers, are given for the purpose of showing how difflcult 
it is to arrive at exact figures. 

The result of a careful survey lately made puts the amount of coal yet remaining in this region at 72,000 acres. 
As each acre furnishes .5,500 tons of coke, this would furnish, say, 400,000,000 tons, which will supply the present 
output, say, 200 years. This only applies to the Pittsburgh bed. Other seams in this same field not now worked 
will no doubt, when needed, furnish a supply of coking coal. 

Before speaking of the Allegheny Mountain region, the next most important coking district in western 
Pennsylvania, it may be well to refer to those coke works in Fayette and Westmoreland counties iiot properly 
belonging to the Connellsville region. In these counties are two coal-basins, or, more properly, sub-basins or 
troughs, in addition to the Connellsville, one the Greensburgh, of small extent and lying only in Westmoreland 
county, the other the Lisbon or Irwin, which is much larger than the Connellsville, extending from near the 
northern boundary of Westmoreland county in a southwesterly direction, through Fayette and Greene counties, into 
West Virginia. In both of these troughs the Pittsburgh bed remains, from which considerable coke was made in 
the census year, mainly from slack. 

Following the line of the Pennsylvania railroad, the first of these troughs (the Greensburgh) lies west of the 
northern extremity of the Connellsville basin, and some five or six miles from Latrobe. It is of but little importance 
as a coking-field, only 4,154 tons of coke from unwashed slack being made in its limits in the census year. 

The second of these troughs, still following the line of the Pennsylvania railroad westward, the Irwin, is less than 
10 miles distant from the Greensburgh, and includes the mines of the Penn Gas Coal Company and the Westmoreland 
Coal Company, so well known for the production of coal of excellent gas-making qualities. The coal from the 
Pittsburgh bed in this portion of the Irwin trough makes an excellent coke, and contains, except in very rare cases, 
but little sulphur and a very low percentage of ash. The coal, however, is much harder than the Connellsville, and 
will bear shipping, which the Connellsville, as a rule, will not, being too friable. The coal of this trough also 
contains a large proportion of volatile combustible matter, and consequently the percentage of coke per ton of coal 
is much less than in the Connellsville region. For these two reasons, and to utilize what would otherwise be not 
only a waste product but one very inconvenient to dispose of, but little lump coal is used in coking, most of the 
coke being made from slack, 9,200 tons only out of 215,045 tons used being lump coal or " run of the mine ". 

The largest works in this trough is that of Carnegie Brothers & Co., limited, who have a large number of 
ovens, with necessary washers, near Larimer station, on the Pennsylvania railroad, washed slack chiefly from the 
mines of the Westmoreland Coal Company and the Penn Gas Coal Company being used. This coke is of good 
quality, in some respects equal to the Connellsville and lower in ash, and has been used in Pittsburgh furnaces 
with good results. An average of three analyses of the Penn Gas Company's coal, made by Mr. A. S. McCreath, 
chemist of the Pennsylvania geological survey, is as follows : 

Per cent. 

Water 1.427 

Volatile matter 37.980 

Fixed carbon 54.598 

Sulphur 0.638 

Ash 5.357 

From Messrs. Carnegie Brothers & Co., limited, we have the following analyses of the slack, both washed and 
xinwashed, and the coke made from the same. It will be noted, on comparing the analysis of the unwashed slack 



MANUFACTURE OF COKE. 



35 



■with that of the coal above given, that the amount of suli)hur and ash are both very much higher in the unwashed 
slack than in the coal, -while the volatile matter is somewhat lower. By washing, the slack is made to very nearly 
equal in ijurity and contents the unwashed coal : 



ConstitnWnts. 


SLACK. 


Coke. 


Unwashed 
coal. 


"Wiishea 
coal. 




Per cent. 
56.57 
31.68 
11.08 
1.26 


Per cent. 
54.88 
38.13 
6.98 
0.96 


Per cent. 
88.240 
1.384 
9.414 
0.962 











Southwesterly from the Pennsylvania railroad, on the Youghiogheny and Monongahela rivers, several 
banks of ovens have been erected to utilize the slack from various mines. This slack, however, contains, when 
nnwashed, fragments of slate, which interfere with the reputation and the use of coke made from it. At Cat's run, on 
the Monongahela, near the Virginia state line, where ovens and washers have been erected, an analysis of the coal 
is as follows : 

Water 1040 

Volatile matter 32.815 

Fixed carbon 60.214 

Sulphur 1.249 

Asli , 4.655 

The slates of this coal are somewhat thicker than in the Connellsville basin, and the coke is not apt to find a 
ready market, owing to the injury caused by projecting bits of slack. 

We give below a statement showing the manufacture of coke in these two counties outside of the Connellsville 
region : 





No. of 
estab- 
lish- 
ments. 


Capital. 


OVENB. 


Number of 
employes. 




COAL. 


COKE. 


Troughs. 


Number 

built. 


Number 
building. 


Wages paid. 


Tons used. ; Value. 


Tons pro- y j 
duced. 1 




1 $3, 125 
6 ; 297, 000 


10 
399 




4 
133 


$1,653 
48,299 


7,750 
215,055 


$3,410 
71, 409 


4, 154 1 $6, 231 




50 


116,590 1 271,693 






Total . 


7 1 300.125 


409 


50 


137 


49, 952 


222, 805 1 74. 819 


120,744 1 277,924 















The most important coking district in western Pennsylvania, next to the Connellsville, is the Allegheny 
Mountain, which district includes that part of Blair and Cambria counties that lie in the first bituminous basin 
along the sides and near the summit of the Allegheny mountains. This basin extends both north and south of 
these counties, but the coke made from its coal in the census year was all made in the counties named. 

The coal in the different sub-basins of this district differs widely in its coking qualities. In the eastern portion of 
the region, on the eastern slope of the mountains, near the summit, it cokes readily in the bee-hive oven, forming a 
hard, silvery coke, but little, if any, inferior to the Connellsville; but west of the summit, on the slope, bee-hive 
ovens are also used, and the coke, which is from a different bed of coal, is not as good as that at Bennington and 
other localities in Blair county. Still west of this a few miles, at East Conemaugh, pits were used and a good 
coke made, while a short distance farther west the coal is so dry-burning that the Belgian oven is employed. 
This distance, say, from Altoona to Johnstown, less than 40 miles, thus becomes one of the most interesting coking 
districts in the country. The coal varies from a true coking coal, making in the bee-hive oven an admirable blast- 
furnace coke, to a dry-burning coal that cannot be coked to advantage in the bee-hive oven, requiring the heat of 
the Belgian to coke it properly. In tbis same district could be studied in the census year the three typical 
methods of coking: in pits, in bee-hive ovens, and in Belgian ovens. The experiments made for the Cambria Iron 
Company by Mr. John Fulton, their mining engineer, in the use of different coals and methods of coking, as well 
as those relating to the value of cokes, have been the most careful and thorough of any made in this country. 
They have already been of great value, and must be of increasing importance. 

The coal most extensively used for coke, as well as that making the best coke in the district, is bed "B" of 
the geological survey. An analysis of this coal as it is mined at Bennington, in Blair county, where it is called the 
Miller seam, and the coke from it, is as follows: (a) 



Water 1-400 

Volatile matter 27.225 

Fixed carbon 61.843 

Ash t)-930 

Sulphur 2.602 

a From Report Second Pennsylvania Geological Survey, HH, page 16. 



87.58 
11.36 
1.06 



36 



MANUFACTURE OF COKE. 



This coal is semi-bituminous, and lias a shining luster, contains considerable pyrites, and in the vicinity of 
Bennington the bed is about 3J feet thick. All of the coke made in Blair county (bee-hive ovens being used) is 
from this seam, and closely resembles the Gonnellsville, is sonorous, cellular, and tenacious, reasonably pure, and 
has great calorific vigor. 

On the western side" of the summit of the AUeghenies, at Lilly's station, in Cambria county, coal from bed 
E, commonly known as the Upper Freeport bed, is coked. An average analysis of this coal at this point is as 
follows :{a) [ 

Per cent. 

Water 0.715 

Volatile matter 22.250 

Fixed carbon 70. 51S 

Sulpliur , 1.459 

Asli 5.058 

This coal has a bright, shining luster, is rather friable, and contains numerous thin i^artings of mineral charcoal 
and jiyrites. Coke was made from this coal in open ricks until December, 1879, when some bee-hive ovens were 
put in operation. 

The Lilly's Station mine is in the Wilmot sub-basin of the first bituminous basin. A short distance west an 
anticlinal rises, which separates this sub-basin from the Johnstown sub-basin, where bed E is again used at the 
East Conemaugh ovens. This coal is reasonably pure, is low in ash but high in sulphur, and makes a dense coke. 
It is also low in volatile matter. 

Though this coal was coked in open ricks during the census year, Belgian ovens are now (1882) being erected 
to use it. 

At Johnstown, bed E, or the Upper Freeport, the same bed as is coked at Lilly's station and East Conemaugh, 
is coked in Belgian ovens. An analysis of this coal by T. T, Morrell, chemist, is as follows : 

Per cent. 

Moisture 0.160 

Volatile matter 18.630 

Fixed carbon 74.950 

Asli 4.860 

Sulpliur 1.400 

Phosphorus 0.011 

Mr. John Fulton has prepared for this report the following statement as to the coals and cokes of this region: ' 
The Allegheny section affords three types of coking coals : Connellsville, Allegheny -Bennington, and Portage. 

Gonnellsville and Bennington types are coked in bee-hive ovens, and make excellent coke. 

The dry coals approaching Johnstown basin would require to be coked in Belgian ovens, as they do not inherit 
sufficient pitchy matter to fuse in the slow heat of a bee-hive oven. 

The following table exhibits the typical coals of the Allegheny region for coking : 



Constituents. 


! Gonnellsville 

(Pittshurgh 

coal). 


Bennington 
(MUlcr, 
hed B). 


Portage (TTp- 

per Free- 
port, hed E). 


Moisture 

Volatile niiittev 


1 Per cent. 

j 1.260 

30.107 


Per cent 
1.400 
27. 225 
61.843 
6.930 
2.602 


Per cent. 


23.24 
68.94 
8.82 


Ash 

Sulphur 


... . j 8.233 
0.784 





These three types of coking coals embrace the main supply of the eastern section of the Allegheny region. 

The Connellsville (Pittsburgh bed) is 8 feet thick, with soft, easily -mined coal; Bennington (Miller bed B) 
3 feet thick, affording also a soft coal, and the Lemon bed, or Upper Freeport (bed E), 4 feet thick, gives a very 
desirable coal for coking. 

The detached Broad Top coal-field in Huntingdon and Bedford counties affords coking coal which produces a 
hard, bright, cellular coke, second only to Connellsville. The Kemble Coal and Iron Company coke for two blast- 
furnaces at Eiddlesburg from the Kelly or " E " bed in bee-hive ovens. Eobert Hare Powell, esq., is coking the 
^'A" or Fulton bed in Belgian ovens. 

The East Broad Top Eailroad and Coal and Iron Company coke a dry coal in Belgian ovens with indifferent 
success. 

The three types submitted, which embrace Broad Top and Clearfield coals, can be coked to good advantage, and 
the cokes take a first rank for metallurgical uses. Outside of these there are two extremes that will require special 
treatment to produce a moderate quality of coke : the very dry coals of the east, holding from 16 to 18 per cent, of 
hydrogenous matter, and the very fat coals of the west, holding from 30 to 50 per cent, of volatile matter. The first 
requires to be charged into a hot oven to fix its small iiercentage of fusing matter ; the latter requires to be coked 
slowly under i)ressure to repress an excessive cell development. 

a Bepori of the Pennsylvania Geological Survey. IIH, page 33 (McCreath). 



MANUFACTURE OF COKE. 



37 



The following table exhibits the physical character of the cokes of the Allegheny border, taking the 
Connellsville as a standard : 





GRAMS POi:XDS | 
IN OSE CUBIC IX OXE CUBIC PERCEXTAGE. 
INCH. 1 FOOT. 


|.| 

0*3 


11 


1 

8 

■2 
o 


1 
w 


1 
1 


CHEMICAL AXALY6IS. 




Localities. 


Dry. 


"Wet. 


Dry. 


Wet. 


Coke. 


Cells. 


Hi 


If 


§ 
1 


i 

i 


< 


1 


e 

.d 

a. 

A 

Pi 


1 
1 


Bemarks. 


Standard coke, Con- 
Dellsville. 

No. 1 big vein, Salis- 
bury. 

No.2, oviT lis v.in. 

No. 3, lender big vein. 

Ko. 4, iintl(-r bi{: vein. 

Blair Cor.l nnd lion 
Co.. r.cijniDKton. 

Kemblc Co.-il and Iron 
Co., Broad Top. 

Clearfield Coal Co., 
Cle.irlield. 

Mnnson cote, Clear- 
field. 

Hon. Dy. Eawle.But 
ler county. 


12.46 
12.98 
12. T3 

12. C5 

13. Tl 
13.19 

11.76 

14.79 

14.09 

13.35 


20.25 
23.33 
22.94 

22.78 

22. 35 
20.69 

20.18 

19.86 

19.37 

21.11 


47.47 
49.52 
48.50 

45.92 

85.15 
50.25 

44.81 

56.35 

53.71 

50.66 


77. 15 61. 53 
89.01 1 56.07 
67. 39 55. 49 

86. OS i 52. 49 
65. 15 1 60. 68 


38.47 
44.93 
44.51 

47.51 

39.12 
36.59 

41.73 

25.57 

"■" 

41.32 


284 
162 
171 

127 
167 


114 
65 
69 

61 
67 


1* 


3.5 
3.25 
3.00 

3.00 

2.75 
3.30 

3.20 

3.60 

3.00 

3.30 


1.500 
1.501 
1.645 

1.644 
1.546 


Pr.ct. 
87.46 

89.31 

84.42 

66.27 

91.59 

R7 as 


Pr.ct. 
0.490 

0.420 

0.030 

0.010 
0.150 

0.005 
0.520 


Pr. et. 

11.32 

9.45 
12.92 

11. 68 

7.08 
11.36 

9.66 

9.41 

13.74 

7.18 


P.ct. 
0.69 

0.82 

1.63 

2.02 

1.16 
1.0« 

1.06 


Pr. ct. 
0.029 

0.019 

. 0. 100 

0.020 
0.020 


Pr. ct. 
0.011 


Almost equal to 
Connellsville. 

Little hi^h in sul- 
phur a'nd phos- 
phorus. 

Little high in snl- 
phur. 

Very good cokOL 


76.88 
76.69 
72.30 
60.46 


58.27 
74.43 
72.23 
58.68 


240 
319 
180 
266 


96 
128 

70 
107 


89.28 

1.560 89.67 

1 
1.186 .84.30 










0.667 




1.41 

0.78 


0.022 


ist. 
Do. 

Do. 




\ 









From the above table it will be seen that the Allegheny coal region aflbrds a wide area for coke-making, and 
it i.s remarkable that, so far as disdo.sed in the practice hitherto, economy of production and good quality of coke 
are closely allied. It also aflbrds a wide field for the application of ovens adapted to the peculiar wants of each 
family of coking coals. 

It may be urged that the Connellsville and Allegheny Mountain belts may become exhausted. To this it may 
be shown that the law of similarity of composition of coals in each basin would afford a large additional supply of 
coking coal. The lower productive coal-measures in the Connellsville basin must produce at least twice as much 
coking coal as the great upper bed, and the belt of coals between the Johnstown sub-basin and the Connellsville 
basin should also aflbrd a very extensive supply of coking coals. It would appear, therefore, that the present 
demands the utilization of the best coking coals with the utmost economy in the production of coke. 

Though no coke was made in Somerset county in the census year, I am informed that there are 30 bee-hive 
ovens at Ursina, built a,bout 1868 or 1870, but as the coal failed to make a marketable coke these ovens were 
abandoned, and have not been in operation for some years. The company has recently been reorganized, and 
the ovens will be repaired and put in operation. Coking is also now being done at other places in this county. 

The Appalachian coal-field, at its northern extremity, breaks into a number of small detached coal-basins. 
From the coal of one of these, the Blossburg, in Tioga county, 33,572 tons of coke were made in the ceusus year, 
all from washed slack, 53,777 tons being consumed. Slack both from the Bloss bed (Upper Kittanning) and the 
Seymour bed, which lies some 150 feet above, is used, but the Seymour-bed slack furnishes much the larger 
proportion. This bed is from 3 to 3i feet thick. The coal is semi-bituminous, bright and shining, and is very- 
tender, carrying numerous thin partings of iron pyrites and a large amount of mineral charcoal. An average 
specimen of the coal from this bed, as analyzed by A. S. ^IcCreath, gave the following result: 

Per cent. 

Water 1. IHO 

Volatile matter 21.586 

Fixed carbon '1. 574 

Sulphur 0.907 

Ash 4.753 

I have no analysis of the slack, washed or unwa.shed, but an analysis of the washed coke is given in report 
MM of the Pennsylvania Geological Surrey, page 110, as follows : 

Per cent. 

Water 0. 175 

Volatile matter 0- 722 

Fixed carbon ^4. 760 

Snlphnr 0.998 

Ash 13.345 



38 



MANUFACTURE OF COKE. 



The screenings are thoroughly washed and coked in bee-hive ovens, the yield being about 62 per cent, of the 
washed slack. The ovens are burned from 48 to 72 hours, and the coke is watered in the oven. When properly 
burned, it is an open, porous, cellular, ringing, and strongly coherent coke, and its physical structure is very good. 
From its location the manufacture of coke at this point is commercially of considerable importance, a large portion 
of New York state being supplied with this fuel. Two ovens were erected at Mclntyre, in Lycoming county, during 
the census year, and experiments looking to the utilization of this so-called Mclntyre coal were made. 

But little coke is made from the coal of the Pittsburgh bed at or near Pittsburgh. There are two reasons for 
this. In the first place the coal does not make as good a coke for smelting iron as that from the same bed at 
Connellsville, which is only some 60 miles distant. While the coke is as pure, indeed somewhat purer, the coal 
contains so much volatile matter that the coke is generally too porous for blast-furnace purposes when the lump or 
run of the mine is used. In addition to this, the coal at Pittsburgh is more valuable for other purposes than for coke, 
and'by using an oven adapted to coking this coal, good coke could be made, but under present circumstances it 
would not pay. 

Notwithstanding these facts, Allegheny county ranked fourth in order of production among the counties of 
Pennsylvania in the census year. It also made more coke than any of the states except Pennsylvania, Ohio, and 
West Virginia, its production being only 35 tons less than that of the latter state. There were produced in this 
county 95,685 tons of coke from 166,700 tons of coal, all but 10,618 tons of which were slack. Most of the slack was 
washed. It will be noted that while the larger number of ovens were bee-hive, 140 were Belgian, nearly half of those 
in the United States. Considerable success has been reached in coking Pittsburgh slack in this oven, and it is a 
curious fact that in western Pennsylvania, where the bee-hive oven is used so extensively, and, indeed, where it is 
the best oven for most of the coal now coked, the Belgian oven has also been used the most successfully, these 
Pittsburgh ovens and those at Johnstown showing the best results of any flue ovens in this country. It is also 
worthy of note that the coke is watered inside the Belgian ovens at Pittsburgh. Probably this practice obtains 
nowhere else. 

A noticeable feature of the manufacture of coke in Pittsburgh and vicinity is that it is chiefly to utilize what 
would otherwise be a waste product. Slack is used in other sections, but nowhere to the extent that it is used at 
Pittsburgh. In what is sometimes called the Pittsburgh district, which includes Allegheny county and those 
portions of Fayette and Westmoreland counties outside of the Connellsville region, in which 216,429 tons of coke 
were made in the census year from 389,505 tons of coal used, only about 25,000 tons, or 6 per cent, of the whole 
amount, was lump coal or run of the mine, and more than half of this was used, as has already been explained, in 
bee-hive ovens for the purj)ose of manufacturing gas, the coke being a by-product, so that of the entire amount of 
coal used in this Pittsburgh district directly for the manufacture of coke about 2 J per cent, only was lumj) coal. 

The following table gives the chief statistical items concerning the make of coke in Allegheny county in the 
census year : 





No. of 
estab- 
lish- 
ments. 


Capital. 


OVENS. 


Nximber of 
employ6s. 


Wages paid. 


COAL. 


COKE. 


County. 


NumbeT 
bnilt. 


Number 
building. 


Tons used. 


Value. 


Tons 
produced. 


Value. 




17 


$325, 150 


«6 


20 


171 


$59,485 


166, 700 


$119, 718 


95, 685 


$235, 915 





Outside of the districts already mentioned the manufacture of coke in the state of Pennsylvania was of 
comparatively small importance, although the total make of these counties is much greater than the entire make 
of a number of the states. The coke, however, is either produced for the purj)ose of utilizing screenings, which 
would otherwise be wasted, or to supply some local blast-furnace with fuel. 

In the Allegheny Eiver region, which may be regarded as including the ovens in the valleys of the Allegheny 
and Eedbank rivers above Pittsburgh, coke was made in Armstrong, Butler, and Clarion counties in the census 
year. But 7,000 tons were made in Armstrong county, all in pits or mounds. This coke was made from Upper 
Freeport coal, Mr. McCreath's analysis of a fair average specimen being as follows : 

Per cent. 

Water 1.700 

Volatile matter 35.520 

Fixed carbon 05. 545 

Sulphur 0.335 

Ash (3.630 

Yield of coal in coke 63.0100 

Phosphorus incoal. , 0. 0684 

Phosphorus in coke 0.1085 

The coking is badly done in open-air ricks, requiring from 8 to 10 days in the operation, according to the state 
of the weather. The coke is very tender, and is an inferior fuel; crushing and washing the coal before coking 
would improve it. It is used in a local blast-furnace. Another works was in course of construction, (a) 

a At this works, which is now (1882) in operation, the coal is washed, and a very good blast-furnace fuel is made. 



MANUFACTURE OF COKE. 



39 



In Butler county coke (400 tons) was made at oue small works for the purpose of utilizing slack from the mine. 

In Clarion county there are two coke works, but one of which was in operation in the census year. The idle 

■works, when in operation, supply coke to a blast-furnace which was idle during the entire year. The coke made 

is from the Upper Freeport coal, the bed ranging from 2 feet 6 inches to 4 feet 3 inches, the coke showing the 

following analysis : 

Water 0.230 

Volatile matter 1.106 

Fixed carbon 88. 3(j0 

Suli)hur 1.07<j 

Ash 9.22S 

At the works which were in operation in this county coke was only made for the utilization of slack, the coal 
in this case being the Lower Freeport, and the yield in coke being G7 per cent. The coal is from 5J to GA feet thick. 
The slack is mixed with considerable slate and fire-clay, necessitating careful washing, which is done by a Stutz 
washer. The following analyses show the effect of washing on the coal and coke : 

Unwashed slack. Wa-shed alack. 

Per c^nt. Per cent. 

Water 1.260 1.300 

Volatile matter 3.1.130 35.625 

Fixed carbon 51.397 54.223 

Sulphur 1.988 1.312 

Ash 10.225 7.340 

COKE FROM WA.SHED SLACK. 

Water 0.033 

Volatile matter 0. 023 

Fixed carbon 85. 777 

Sulphur 2.107 

Ash 11.463 

The cost of washing is about 12 cents a ton, but on a large scale it would be somewhat less. The coke is 
bright, silvery, of rather an open structure, with small masses of slate included. 

In Washington county 1,200 tons of coke were made in the census year; but like most of the other coke made 
on the Pan-Handle railroad near Pittsburgh, it was only made to utilize a portion of the slack at the mine, as at 
times it is more profitable to sell the slack. 

In Beaver county there was one small works, making altogether but 506 tons of coke from slack produced at 
a small mine. The coal used is from the Kittanniug bed. This bed is in two benches, the upper a hard, dull, open- 
burning coal, with some pyrites, and the lower a bright, oily, .soft coking coal. Much of the lower part comes 
out as slack and nut coal, and is coked. The coke is firm and porous, has a bright silvery luster, and is used in 
the steel cutlery and other works at Beaver Falls. The analysis of this coal and coke is as follows : 

Coal. Coke. 

Per cent. Per cent. 

Water 2.400 0.010 

Volatile matter 3-^. 110 0.633 

Fixed carbon 54.619 84.727 

Sulphur 0.791 1.994 

Ash •.. 4.080 12.636 

It is evident that the coal is a picked specimen, and that the slack from which the coke was made contained a 
larger proportion of slate tha-n coal. 

In Lawrence county 3,941 tons of coke were made in the census year, washed slack from the mines in the 
vicinity of New Castle being used. These works had been idle for some years, but owing to the increased demand 
for coke that sprung up in the census year the works were repaired and run. There are also some coke-ovens 
connected with the "Wampum furnace, but these were idle the entire year. When running, they make coke from 
the Darlington or Upper Kittanning coal. The coke is mixed with Connellsville and is used in the fiu-nace. 

THE COKE IXDUSTET IX WEST YIKGIXIA. 
Coke to the amount of 95,720 tons was made in four counties of West Virginia in the census year. The 
following table, condensed from Table I of this report, gives the chief statistical items concerning its manufactui-e : 





Ifo. of 
estab- 
Itoh- 
ments. 




1 OVEXS. 


Numberof 
employes. 


Wages paid. 


COAL. 


COKE. 


Counties. 


Capital. 


1 Number 
1 built. 


If umber 
building. 


Tons used. 


Value. 


Tons 
produced. 


Value. 






134 


99 
5 

2 
57 


$27, 612 

2,000 

480 

18, 850 


88,769 
4,200 
2,180 

53, 331 


$84,444 
2,100 
2,000 
47, 400 


57, 943 
2,800 
1,200 

33, 777 


$127, 588 


Marion 


1 14,000 


' 36 

3 

130 


1 
16 


3,000 
82, 000 




i 


74,000 








330,000 






163 


48,942 


148.480 


135,944 


95, 720 


216,588 











40 



MANUFACTURE OF COKE. 



In order of production West Virginia ranked third among the states, producing 3.48 per cent, of the entire 
make. In yield of coal in coke the returns contained in the table on page 11 show that Indiana coal surpassed 
that of West Virginia ; and, disregarding the Indiana manufacture as little more than experimental. West Virginia, 
in this respect, stands first, closely followed by Pennsylvania. Indeed, the yield in coke of the coal of these two 
states may be regarded as the same. 

The most important, as well as the best known, of the coking coal-fields of this state is the jSTew Eiver field, which 
lies principally in Fayette and Ealeigh counties, extending along the course of the New river («) and its tributaries 
about 40 miles. Reports of recent investigations include the Plat Top coal-field in the New Eiver district, which 
would extend this district to Mercer county, and make its total length 80 miles. The relations of these fields to 
the New river and the Chesapeake and Ohio railway and the Norfolk and Western railroad will be seen by an 
inspection of the accompanying map, prepared specially for this report, by Major Jed. Hotchkiss. 

Along the sides of the escarpment of these mountains, fronting on the caiion of New river and its many 
tributaries, the outcroppings of several veins of bituminous and semi-bituminous coal are exposed, varying in 
thickness from a few inches to over seven feet, (b) five of them being workable, containing 3 feet of coal and 
upward. The coking property of these coals, in view of their relations to extensive deposits of iron ore, makes 
them very valuable, the coke made from them being an admirable blast-furnace fuel, second to none in the country.. 
It " stands up " well in the furnace, has a high percentage of carbon and low percentage of ash, sulphur, and 
phosphorus, and in the practical test of furnace work has shown results that have not been surpassed by any other 
coke in the country. At the Longdale furnace, with 72-hour coke and an ore with 50 per cent, metallic iron, 5 
per cent, silica, and of an aluminous nature, a ton of pig-iron has been made with a ton of coke, and this not for a day 
at a time, but for some weeks in succession. The average consumption for the entire blast would be in excess of 
this. As a result of this excellent character, coke is rapidly coming into use in the iron furnaces of Virginia and the 
Ohio valley, and the number of ovens has largely increased since the census year, (c) 

The bee-hive oven was the only form of oven used in this region in the census year, but ovens on the Copp^e 
system are being constructed in Virginia to coke the New Eiver coal. The charge of coal to each oven is three tons ; 
the time of coking is 48 hours, except on Fridays and Saturdays, when the charge is increased and the coking 
continued for 72 hours. The coal yields about 64 per cent, of coke. This is to be understood as the average, not 
the uniform yield. The yield at Sewell in 1879 was 65f per cent.; at Quinnimont, for five months, 66.7 per cent. The 
chief points in New Eiver region at which coke was manufactured during the census year, following the line of the 
Chesapeake and Ohio railway, are Quinnimont, Fire Creek, Sewell (Longdale Iron Company), Nuttallburg, and 
Hawk's Nest. Below we give analyses of the coals of this region, and the furnace cokes made from them : 





QUrNHIMONT COAL. 


FIEE CKEEK COAL. 


Longdale 
ooal.§ 


MCTTALLBUKG COAL. 


Hawk's 
Nest 
coal. 11 


Anstead 
coal. 




No. 1.* 


No. 2, lump 
coal.t 


No. 3, 
slack.t 


No. l.{ 


No. 2. 


No. 1.5 


No. 2.t 




Per cent, 
75.89 
18.19 
4.63 
0.30 
0.94 


Per cent. 
79.26 
18.65 
1.11 
0.23 
0.76 


Percent. 
79.40 
17.57 
1.92 
0.28 
0.83 


Per cent. 
75.02 
22.34 
1.47 
0.56 
0.61 


Per cent. 
75. 499 
22. 425 
0.805 
0.536 
0.735 


Per cent, 
72.32 
21.38 
5.27 
0.27 
1.03 


Percent. 
69.00 
29.59 
1.07 
0.78 
0.34 


Per cent. 
70.67 
25.35 
2.10 
0.57 
1.35 
0.08 


Per cent. 
75.37 
21.83 
1.87 
0.26 
0.93 


Per cent. 
63.1* 
32.61 




Ash 










Phosphorus 
























Total 


100.00 


100. 01 


100.00 


100. 00 


100. 000 


100. 27 


100. 78 


100.12 


100. 26 









'Analyst: J. B. Britton. t Analyst: Professor Egleston. J Analyst : Dr. Eioketts. § Asalyst : 0. E. Dwight. || Analyst: J. W. Mallet. 

As the Flat Top coal is now (1882) included in the New Eiver region, and is rapidly assuming importance as a 
coking coal, we give the following analysis by A. S. McCreath : 

Per cent. 

Water 0.932 

Volatile matter 20.738 

Fixed carbon 73.728 

Sulphur 0.618 

Ash 3.984 

Laljoratory coke 78.3300 

Phosphorus 0.0013 

a The upper part of the Kanawha is called the New river. 

6 Four feet is the generally-stated maximum thickness of any of these seams, but a letter from Major Hotchkiss puts it at 12 feet. 
This probably refers to the Flat Top region, and not to that section where coke was produced in the census ye.ir. In Professor McCreath's 
section of this coal at Pocahontas, published in Mineral Wealth of Virginia, 4 feet 8 inches of the 11 feet 8 inches is described as "coal 
with irregular thin slate streaks". With such a coal, if it is included, an analysis showing but 3.984 per cent, of ash is remarkable. 

c Mr. Jed. Hotchkiss, in the October (1882) number of his journal, The Virginias, published at'Staunton, Virginia, gives the number 
of coke ovens in operation on the line of the Chesapeake and Ohio railway as 731, very nearly double the entire number of ovens in the 
state in 1879-'S0, and more than three times the number in the New River region at that date. 



MANUFACTUKE OF COKE. 



41 



The folio wiug are analyses of industrial coke made from New Eiver coals: 



Constituents. 


QUIKNIMOKT. 


FIRE CREEK. 


Longdale.J 


NuttaU- 
burg.t 


No. 1.* 


No. 2.t 


No.,1.* 


No. 2. 




Per cent. 


Percent. 


Per cent. 


Per cent. 
0.492 
91.940 
6.928 
0.538 
0.102 


Per cent. 


Per cent. 




93.85 
5.85 
30 


93.11 
5.94 
0.82 


92. 180 
6.680 
0.618 
0.110 


93.00 
0.73 
0.27 


92.22 
7.53 
0.92 






M t 


Total 










100. 00 


09.87 


99.588 


100. 00 


100. 00 


100.67 



J. B. Britton. t Analyst : Professor Egleeton. J Analyst: C.E.Dwight. 

The relation between the ash in the coals and cokes of which analyses are given will not fail to be noted. In 
but two of these analyses (Qninnimont No. 1. and Longdale) is the per cent, of ash in the coal and coke near what 
it .should be theoretically. In all of the others the ash in the coke is much in excess of that which should be 
found in cokes made from coals of which the analyses are given. The ash in these cokes, however, is very low, 
but the cokes could not have been made from coal containing no more ash than the analyses show. 

There are now (December, 1882) 200 coke ovens in the Flat Top region in process of construction. The coal-beds 
are reached at railway level, so that no inclines are needed. Of the large vein opened at Pocahontas Major 
Hotchkiss writes : 

I have been into it oter half a mile, and have had it fully proved for miles to the northeast, along the Bluestone slope of Flat 
Top. The New Kiver coal-beds begin to thicken as soon as you cross New river from the Chesapeake and Ohio railway, and, from what 
we now know, attain their greatest thickness in the Flat Top region. No coal was coked from this partictilar bed during the census year. 

The only other county in which coke was made to any considerable amount in the census year was Preston, all 
in beehive ovens, and most, if not all of it, for use in the local blast-furnaces, generally by the owners or lessees 
of the furnaces. Professor Maury, in The Besonrces of West Virginia, describes the Preston County coal-basin as 
bounded on the east by the Briery mountains, on the west by Laurel ridge, and is the southerly continuation of 
the Ligouier valley of the Pennsylvania survey. At the Irondale furnace a seam 4 feet thick is worked, giving a 
coke, which is used in the furnace, with the following analysis : 

Per cent. 

Fixed carbon 89.30 

Volatile matter 0.54 

Moisture 0. 16 

Sulphur 0.70 

Ash 1 9.30 

The coke made in Marion and Ohio counties is commercially of but little importance, that of the former county 
being only made to utilize the waste coal from a gas-coal mine. The ovens were operated but seven months, and 
during that time sometimes 5 and at other times 10 of the 3C ovens were operated, and at no one time were more 
than 15 ovens burning. The Ohio County ovens were run to supply a glass-works with coke, Wheeling coal being 
used. 

THE COKE INDUSTRY IN VIRGINIA. 

During the census year no coke was made in Virginia. A number of attempts have been made to coke the 
coal from the mines near Richmond, and some coke was made in this vicinity during the recent war for cupola use, 
but it was very poor stuff, and could only be used under the exceptional circumstances then existing. At the present 
time Virginia coke cannot compete in quality with that from New river or from Connellsville ; indeed there is little 
or no coal in Virginia that has as yet been developed that can be adapted to the manufacture of coke. The 
Lowmoor Iron Company, at Lowmoor, Virginia, were building ovens during the census year, but made no coke. 
Their supjilies of coal are to be drawn from the New river, in West Virginia. The Iron and Steel Works Company of 
Virginia, limited, have since the cen.sus year begun the building of SO Coppee ovens at Goshen Bridge, Virginia, 
but in this case also the coal will be brought from the New River region of West Virginia. 

THE COKE INDUSTRY IN OHIO. 
Ohio held the second rank among the states in the production of coke in the census year, producing 109,296 
tons, or 3.98 per cent, of the entire amount. The following table, condensed from Table I of this report, gives the 
chief statistical items concerning its manufacture : 





No. of 
estab. 
lish- 
ments. 


Capital. 


o\'E.«;s. 


Number of 
emploj 68. 


Wages paid. 


COAL. 


COKE. 


Counties. 


Number 
built. 


Number 
building. 


Tons used. 


Value. 


Tons 
produced. 


Value. 




1 
2 
3 
6 
2 
1 


$2, 000 
57, 500 
14, 000 
61,512 
2,000 
7, 000 


8 
195 
22 
344 
10 
40 


12 


7 
27 
13 
99 
3 
4 


$375 

11, 965 

4,012 

34,645 

480 

500 


1,130 
67, 646 
14, 922 
107, 189 
1,361 
1,600 


$960 

101, 469 

16,471 

104, 553 

1,779 

3,200 


565 


S2. 097 




39, 424 125, 652 






9, 806 ! 42, 887 


Jeffurson 




57,684 ; 156,902 


Mahoning 




1 017 1 3.808 






800 


3,200 










15 


144, 012 


619 


12 


153 


51,977 


193, MS 


228, 432 


109, 296 


334, 546 









42 MANUFACTURE OF COKE. 

While mucli of tlie coal of this state is excellent for many purposes, there is but little as well adapted to the 
manufacture of coke as some of the coals of Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Alabama, though most of the seams 
of coking coal are geologically the same as those of the former. They appear, however, at their best as they approach 
the mountains. Much of the coal iised in OhJb gives a coke that is soft and brittle, and often high in sulphur 
and ash. This is not true of all the cokes, however, some being remarkably pure. The yield in coke is not as great 
as that of the coal of the same seams in the states mentioned above, being on an average only 58.64 per cent., one 
of the lowest yields in the country, Tennessee and Illinois only showing a lower yield. 

The chief localities in which coke was made in Ohio in the census year were Columbiana and Jefferson counties, 
which produced 97,108 tons of the 109,296 tons made in the state, or about 89 per cent. Most, if not all, of this 
was consumed in the blast-furnaces located at or near the ovens, the Columbiana coke being used at the Leetonia 
furnaces and the Jefferson County coke at the Steubenville furnaces. 

Of the coal from which the Columbiana County coke is made Professor Newberry says : " It is remarkably pure, 
and makes a coke of superior quality." (a) A i)ortion of the coke reported as made in Columbiana county was made 
in Mahoning county, the Cherry Valley iron works, which are situated in the former, having ovens in the latter and 
finding it impossible to separate the product of the two. " Mr. J. C. Chamberlain, of this works, writes me regarding 
their coal and coke as follows : 

We have a mine and coke ovens on the Mahoning county side, another mine and coke ovens on the Columbiana county side, and a mile 
and a half south, af Leetonia, we have still another mine and coke ovens. All three of these mines are working the same seam of coal; this 
is positive, and there is no material difference in the coke; if anything the middle mine produces coal a little freer from sulphur. It is 
from this mine that the " Washingtonville coke" received its name. We call all our coke by that name. The coal is, according to 
Professor Newberry's classification, " No. 4," but further and later examinations wiU place it one if not two veins higher in the series. 
The greatest thickness of the seam is 3 feet, the average is 30 inches, of which from 4 to 6 inches of the top of the seam we do not coke, 
but use in the furnace in its raw state. This upper G inches is very hard and a little slaty. The bottom 2 feet we coke, using slack and 
lump coal or slack only, just as circumstances require. Generally we run the coal over a 2-inch screen and sell or use the lump coal 
at the furnace or rolling-mill, coking only the screenLugs. The coal is remarkably pure, is free from sulphur, and has a very low per 
cent, of ash. 

The following is an analysis of No. 4 seam coal, Leetonia, Ohio, thickness 2 feet G inches : 

Per cent. 

Water 2.56 

Volatile combustible matter 39.60 

Fixed carbon 56.04 

Ash 1.80 

Sulphur 0.53 

Siiecific gravity 1.213 

Coke compact; ash white. 
Two analyses of oven coke made at Leetonia are as follows : 

Per cent. Per cent. 

Carbon 93.75 95.50 

Ash 5.38 3.30 

Sulphur -.- 0.87 1.20 

Silica in ash 3. 02 

Mr. Chamberlain writes me that the analysis of 1,20 of sulphur is the only one he has ever seen of this coke that 
showed over 1 i)er cent. This coke is not so compact as that at Couuellsville, and will not stand transportation so 
well, but it is used in the Leetonia furnace, and is regarded as better than Connellsville for the native ores. It is also 
claimed that it will carry as much burden by weight as Connellsville coke. 

This coal, when coked in bee-hive ovens, yields from 55 to 58 per cent, in coke, and is mined, paying for slack 
and " top " coal at 69 cents per ton of 2,100 pounds. The miners keep the top coal separate. 

An analysis of picked samples of the coal used for coking at Steubenville, Jefferson county, shows a very 
pure coal, containing less than 2 per cent of ash. As this coal is somewhat slaty, the samples from which the 
analysis was made must have been a very good selection. Mr. William H. Wallace, president of the Jefferson 
iron works at Steubenville, which was the largest producer of coke in Ohio in the census year, writes regarding 
Steubenville coke as follows : 

In reply to your inquiries in regard to Steubenville coke I would say: It is soft and brittle; it breaks very easily, and a large 
proportion of it becomes fine and like dust, even in transporting it from the ovens to our blast-furnaces, a few hundred yards distant. 
As compared with Connellsville coke, it is difficult to give more than an approximate statement. We have not used the Connellsville 
coke alone, but usually iu the proportion of one-half Connellsville and one-half Sttubenville coke. We find that it not only increases 
the output of the furnaces from 25 to 35 per cent, when used in this way, but the amount consumed per ton of pig-iron is less, being 85 
to 90 bushels of Steubenville, and but 77* bushels when mixed half and half. The Connellsville coke does not improve the quality of 
the iron when mixed with the Steubenville coke, and our forge manager, a practical boiler of many years' experience, has said that the 
ii'on is deteriorated in quality by the admixture. As we use a large proportion of good lump coal in making our coke, it costs us not far 
from 4i cents per bushel, or $2 25 per ton. The Connellsville coke costs us from ^1 25 to $1 75 per ton at the ovens; freight to Pittsburgh 
$1 16f. and freight fi-om Pittsburgh to Steubenville §1 ; making it cost here from §3 41J to §3 915- per ton. If we could get the 

a Geology of Ohio, vol. iii, page 124. 



' MANUFACTURE OF COKE. 43 

Conuellsville coke at %i 75 per tou it would not pay us to make our own coke, as the superior quality of the Couuellsville coke would 
overcome the dili'erence iu the cost. Our coal contains considerable slate, to which is ascribed, by some, the brittle character of the 
coke ; but it also contains a large amount of charcoal, and it is believed that fu crushing and washing the coal to remove the slate this 
charcoal would be wasted. We use the bee-hive oven, and the views above expressed are the result of opiuions formed from experience 
with coke made in this way. What dili'erence a different process for its mauufacture would make, and what improvement in quality 
might result therefrom, we have no means of ascertaining at present. 

The seams of coal at Steiibeuville are from 3 feet 9 iuclies to 5 feet thick. The following analyses by Wormley 
are of shaft coal No. G and of coke made from the same iu the Steubenville Furnace and Iron Company's ovens : 

Per cent. 

Fixed carbon 65.90 

Volatile combustible matter 30.90 

Ash l.SO 

Sulphur 0-98 

Water 1-40 

Specific gravity - 1.30S 

Coke from this coal analyzed by Wuth as follows : 

Per cent. 

Fixed carbon 90.63 

Asb 8-38 

Sulphur 0.27 

Hydrogen 0.72 

All of the ovens used at Steubenville are of the beehive pattern, and vary somewhat in their dimensions, 
some being 11 feet iu diameter by 5 feet high iu the clear, and arched from the bottom, others lOi feet in 
diameter with 36-inch .spring of arch above wall, 5i feet high in the clear. Iu some cases, with a charge of 100 
bushels of coal, 72-hour coke is made, and iu others, with 75 bushels of coal to the charge, 48-hour coke. 

But little coke was made in the great Hocking Valley coal-field during the census year, the single establishment 
rei)orted as in existence having been built during the year aud operated from March only. While much of the coal 
in this region is adapted to use in the blast-furnace raw, aud therefore does not need to be coked, other coals are well 
adapted to the manufacture of coke. Dr. T. Sterry Huut («) thinks that coal No. 7 will yield a good coke, while 
the lower four feet of the great Pittsburgh seam, so fully developed in Big Run, gives a coke of superior appearance. 
Mr. E. C. Pechin, whose long experience iu the manufacture of iron in the Conuellsville region gives his views 
special weight, says : (Z») 

Iu coal No. 7 the district possesses a co.al for making au admirable coke which will shortly play a most important part in the 
metallurgical operations of the district. 

Mr. Pechin, in the same article, refers to a peculiar product of one of the coals of this valley, which he calls 
" charred coal", which has many of the properties and can be put to many of the uses to which coke is put. He 
says: 

I inspected the oven at XX furnace, which had been experimenting on various coals. The attempt at coking the small coal and slack 
was not successful, as the heat of the oven was not sufBcient to agglutinate the slack ; but in charging the slack several large pieces of the 
coal had gone iu with it and had been drawn unbroken. They had retained their original shape, aud were extremely hard, resonant, aud 
lustrous. The use of this charred coal will prove of special importance in those districts where coal No. 7 is either uot found or becomes 
too impure for smelting purpo.ses. 

But little coke is reported as made iu Mahoning county. A part of that reported in Columbiana county, however, 
was made in that couuty, aud all information received is to the effect that some very good seams of exceedingly pure 
coking coal exist there. At Washingtouville there is one of the purest coals iu the state, containing very little 
sulphur and not more that 2 per cent, of ash. The vein is 2i feet thick, and some little coke was made from it at 
this point. The coke made iu Columbiana county was nearly, if not quite, all from the same seam. Formerly this 
Washingtonville seam is reported to have been extensively coked, and to have furnished a fuel regarded as excellent 
for blast-furnace purposes. One reason probably why this coal has not been more extensively used is that 
Mahoning couuty furnishes the well-knowu Brier Hill or Mahoning coal, called locally "block coal", used largely 
for irou-smelting. Though this coal has more bitumen aud less carbon than well-known coking coals, it is non- 
coking, and can be used raw in the furnace. 

It will also be noticed from the table on page 41 that some little coke was made iu Tuscarawas couuty; 
but though this couuty contains some coal fairly well adapted to coking, and though many attempts have been 
made to establish the manufacture of coke on a commercial .scale within its limits, they have up to this time been 
unsuccessful, the failures arising chiefly from unskillful management and the necessity of thoroughly washing the 
coal to remove the ash and sulphur. There is no doubt that some of the coals of Tuscarawas couuty, especially 
coal No. 5 and coal No. 6 of the geological survey, by proper washing will give good coke. That already nuide is 
generally strong, adhesive, has a high heating power, and is capable of bearing a heavy burden ; but its high 
percentage of ash and sulphur precludes its use unless thoroughly and carefully washed, which has uot yet been 
done. 

a (Joal and Iron of Southern Ohio, T. Sterry Huut, Salem, Massachusetts, 1874, page 78. 
h Metullurffival Hcrieic, vol. i, jiage 107. 



44 



MANUFACTURE OF COKE. 



The attemi^ts to use the coal of Tuscarawas county at the Glasgow-Port Washington furnaces resulted' in' 
the loss of large amounts of capital invested in iron and coal land plant and operations by a company of Scotch- 
capitalists, (a) t 

All of the coke in Hamilton county was made from the screenings of Pittsburgh and other coals gathered from' 
the coal-boats and coal-yards. 

Some attempts have also been made to use the Vinton County coals, and others of the Hanging Eock region, 
for the manufacture of coke, but with little success so far, though with proper methods and care a fair coke can no« 
doubt be produced. A block of Belgian ovens are standing at the Vinton furnace, but they have been idle for 
some years, and there was no coke made in the census year. 

THE COKE INDUSTEY IN TENNESSEE. 

Coke to the amount of 91,675 tons was made in Tennessee in the census year at four works located in three- 
counties. The following statement, condensed from Table I, will give the chief statistical items concerning its,- 
manufacture : 





No. of 
estab- 
lish- 
ments. 


Capital. 


0VEN6. 


Number of 
employfes. 


Wages paid. 


COAL. 


COKE. 


CoDjities. 


Number 
iDuUt. 


Number 
"building. 


Tons used. 


Value. 


Tons 
produced. 


Value. 




1 
2 
1 


$125, 000 
56, 021 
19, 000 


404 
118 
67 


102 
30 
20 


79 
18 
17 


$24, 000 
7,820 
7,000 


120, 000 
19, 311 
40, 000 


$56, 200 
27, 937 
40, 000 


60, 000 
11, 675 
20, 000 


$120, 000 




42, 493 




50, 000 








4 


200, 021 


589 


152 


114 


38, 820 


179, 311 


124, 137 


91, 675 


212,493 







As a coke-producing state Tennessee holds the fourth rank, supplying 3.33 per cent, of the entire product. In 
no other state, however, was the average output so great as in Tennessee, the average for each of the four works 
being 22,919 tons, Pennsylvania, which was the next, averaging 22,280 tons. 

The coal-fields of Tennessee, which are a continuation of the great bituminous deposits of western 
Pennsylvania and West Virginia, are computed to cover an area of 5,100 square miles. These fields extend 
through the state from northeast to southwest, are coextensive with the Cumberland table, about one-half the 
area being in middle Tennessee and the other in eastern Tennessee, and form an irregular quadrilateral, 71 miles 
wide at the northern border and 50 at the southern. In the southern portion of the field, on the eastern side, is a 
deep gorge, canoe-shaped, with sharp escarpments rising from 800 to 2,000 feet above the valley, through which the 
Sequatchie river flows. The Sequatchie valley or trough thus formed is 160 miles long, the Tennessee part being 
60 and the Alabama 100 miles in length. It was in this valley, and that of its feeder, the Little Sequatchie, that 
most of the coke produced in the census year was burned. 

The most important as well as the best known of the coke-producing localities of Tennessee are the Sewanee 
mines, in Grundy county, in the Little Sequatchie coalfield, sometimes called the Tracy City mines. This coal-seam 
is in the Upper Measures, is supposed to correspond to bed B of the Pennsylvania geological survey, and is to the 
state of Tennessee what the Pittsburgh seam is to the state of Pennsylvania. It will average 4J feet in thickness,, 
its largest development being 10 feet 4 inches, its smallest 2 feet, and varies somewhat in its characteristics and 
constituents in different localities. The Sewanee coal, as mined at Tracy City, is semi-bituminous, conchoidal in 
fracture, reasonably low in ash, and almost wanting in sulphur. The cohesion of this coke is slight, having the 
same tendency to disintegrate on exposure to the atmosphere that the Connellsville coke has. For this reason, and 
from the fact that it is an excellent coking coal, it is more largely used for coke than it otherwise would be. The 
coke is made in part from the slack, which contains, of course, a larger amount of slate than the coal, and accounts 
for the large percentage of ash in the coke as compared with the ash in the coal. Analyses of the Sewanee coal 
and coke are as follows : 



ANALYSIS OF THE SEVS^ANEE (TENNESSEE) COAL. 



Constituents. 


No. 1.* 


No. 2.t 


No. 3.t 




Fer cent. 


Per cent. 


Per cent 
1.6 
29.3 
61.0 
7.8 
Trace. 




29.9 

63.5 

6.6 

Trace. 


29.0 
65.5 
5.5 




Ash 








Analyst : H. T. Taran. 


t Analyt 


t : F. Zwicke. 


J Analj 


st: KobertsoD 



a Report for 1882 of Mr. Andrew Roy, ruiue inspector of Ohio. 



MANUFACTURE OF COKE. 



45 



ANALYSIS OF SEWANEE (TENNESSEE) COKE. 

[Analyst, W. S. Land] Per cent. 

Fixed cirbon .- 83.364 

Ash 15.440 

Sulphur 0.142 

Undetermiued 1.054 

The coke made at Tracy City was all burned iu bee-bive ovens, of which 404 were built at the close of the census 
■year and 102 were being built. The ovens at these works vary iu size and shape, the old ones of the regular bee-hive 
pattern being 10 feet iu diameter and 4J feet high inside, while the latest built are 11 feet in diameter and 8 feet 
high. The larger ovens seem to work the best, making the most compact and the densest coke. From 100 to 120 
bushels of coal are charged into each of these ovens, aud the coke is burned 48 hours. The yield is about 58 per 
cent. At the Rattlesnake mines of this company the ovens are oval or egg-shaped, 9A by 14 feet aud 5J feet high 
inside ; eighty bushels are charged. The labor at these mines and works is largely done by convicts, 306 convicts 
and 300 free hands being employed at the close of 1880. 

In Marion county, which joins Grundy county, there were two coke works iu the census year, the Etna and 
the Southern States Coal and Iron Company. At the Etna works two veins, called the Kelly and the Oak Hill, are 
worked. From the Kelly mine a coke is made for foundery use exclusively, while from the Oak Hill coke for blast- 
furnace use is made. The Kelly seam is frequentlj' regarded as the equivalent of tlie Sewanee at Tracy City, and 
J. B. Killebrew, the commissioner of mines of Tennessee, shares in this opinion. It is asserted, however, by the 
Etna Coal Company, who mine the Kelly coal, that iu appearance and general characteristics these coals are as 
different as two coals of the same formation can well be, aud samples of both seem to bear out this claim. In 
Professor Safiford's Geology of Tennessee (pages 309-382) the difference between the two measures can be readily 
distinguished. The impression as to the identity of these two coals probably arises from the fact that both lie in 
the upper plateau of their respective regions. The Etna Coal Company claim, however, that the "Kelly", the 
" Oak Hill", and the " Slate " veins do not appear at any other point in this region. At Tracy City only eight 
veins are shown, while the Etna Coal Company claim eleven at their mines. A section at the Kelly mines shows 
two conglomerates, while at the Sewanee mines there is only one. 

About one-fourth of the product of the mines is coked, all in bee-hive ovens. The coke from the Kellj' seam is 
sent all over the South, where it has an especially enviable reputation for foundery purposes, commanding at the 
present time for this use $6 25 per ton on cars at the mines. This coal is not washed before coking. Below will 
be found analyses of the Kelly coal and of the Kelly and the Oak Hill cokes : 



ANALYSIS OF KELLY COAL. 

[AD.tlyst, Professor Shale, Xew Tork.] Per ceDt. 

Water 1.30 

Volatile matter 21.10 

Fixed carbon ' 74. 20 

Ash 2.70 

Sulphur 0.70 

ANALYSIS OF KELLY AND OAK HILL COKES. 



Constituents. 


ELelly.* 


Oak Hill.* 




Per cent. 
94.56 
4.65 
0.79 


Per cent. 
83.05 
16.95 


Ash 









* Analyst : William Mantbey. 

The coke at these works is made in bee-hive ovens ranging from 9 feet in diameter and 5 feet high to 11 feet iu 
diameter and 6 feet high. In the smaller ovens 80 bushels of coal are charged, and in the larger from 100 to 120 
bushels. The Oak Hill (blast-furnace) coke is burned from 48 to GO hours, and the Kelly (foundery) coke 72 hours. 

The other works in Marion county is that of the Southern States Coal and Iron Company. The coal from 
these mines resembles the Sewanee iu structure, but contains a large quantity of sulphur in balls and plates from 
the size of a pea to pieces 8 or 10 inches long and from 1 to 1 J inches thick. For manufacture into coke it is 
therefore all crushed aud washed. The ovens are of the usual bee-hive pattern, and are from 10 to 11 feet iu 
diameter and C feet high to the crown of the arch. 

In lioane county, toward the eastern part of the coal-field, the Eoane Iron Company makes coke for its blast- 
furnaces from a seam of coal nearly identical with the Sewanee vein. The average thickuess of this seam is about 
5 feet. The coal is easily mined, and makes a dense and valuable coke. Nearly the entire product is converted 
into coke and used at the works of the company at Eockwood, where the mines and furnaces are located. On 
page 40 will be found and analysis of the coal and coke at Eockwood. 



46 MANUFACTURE OF COKE. 

ANALYSIS OF ROCKWOOD COAL. 

[Chemist, 'W. S. Land.J 

Per cent. 

Moisture 1.49 

Sulplinr 0.33 i 

Volatile matter 26.62 

Fixed carbon 63. 74 

Ash 7.8a 

ANALYSIS OF ROCKWOOD COKE. 

[Cliemist, W. S. Land.J 

Per cent. 

Fixed carbon 84.187 

Ash --.. 14.141 

Sulphur 182 

Undetermined , 1. 490 

The coke at these works is made in the ordinary bee-hive oven, from 9 to 11 feet in diameter and from 4J to 6' 
feet in height. Forty-eight hours are allowed for coking. The coke is taken in bogies hot directly to the furnaces^ 
which are situated contiguous to the ovens. Since the close of the census year the works at this point have been 
largely increased. 

THE COKE INDUSTEY IN ALABAMA. 

Alabama possesses three distinct coal-fields or basins, in all of which coking coal is found in abundance. 
These are the Coosa, which is the most easterly, containing some 300 square miles; {«) the Cahaba, with some SSO" 
square miles ; and the Warrior, which is the southern end of the great Appalachian coal-field, and which is much 
the largest of the Alabama basins, covering nearly 4,700 square miles. As in other states, these basins are divided 
into a number of sub-basins, but little is known of them, owing to the incompleteness of the geological survey,, 
except of a most general character. It is estimated, however, that the Alabama coal-flelds underlie more than 
5,000 square miles, divided as stated. 

The coke made from some of the seams of coal in these fields, especially in the Warrior and the Cahaba fields, the 
Coosa not being so well known, is an excellent fuel for blast-furnace and fouudery purposes, and was largely used by 
the confederate government at their cannon foundery at Selma, one of the officers pronouncing it " to equal the very 
best English cokes". Its value has become so manifest that large investments have been made, both during and 
since the census year, in iron and coal properties, and several blast-fnrnaces to use coke are either building or have' 
recently been completed. 

Alabama ranked sixth as a coke-producing state during the census year, producing 42,035 tons, or 1.53 per 
cent, of the entire amount, from 67,376 tons of coal, a yield of 62.1 per cent. All of this was made in bee-hive 
ovens, of which there were 216 built May 31, 1880, and 206 were building. The capital invested in coke works was- 
$135,500; 64 persons were employed, to whom $38,500 of wages were paid. 

The coke made during the census year was made in the Warrior and the Cahaba fields. These coal-fields lie very 
near each other. Below Birmingham, in the vicinity of which are situated the blast-furnaces which consume most 
of the coke made, they are never more than 7 or 8 miles apart. In the Warrior field coke was made at the Pratt mines- 
and at New Castle, and in the Cahaba field at Helena, by the same company that operates the ovens at the Pratt 
mines. Both at Pratt and at Helena the works are quite extensive, but at New Castle but little is made. 

The Pratt seam is economically the most important of the coals of Alabama, supplying not only a large 
proportion of the coal used for railroads, mills, and for all general purposes, but nearlj' all of the coal made 
into coke, (b) The Pratt Company coke a large amount in its own ovens, and sell a still larger amount to furnaces,, 
to be coked at the furnace ovens. The seam at the Pratt mines is 4J feet thick. The coke is made from unwashed 
screenings from a 3-inch screen, which accounts for the large amount of ash in the coke as compared with that in 
the coal, as shown in the analyses. 

At New Castle, in this same (Warrior) field, as is stated, but little coke was made, the ovens having been built ta 
use up the slack from the mines at this point. The coke was too high in sulphur for use in smelting iron. A small 
vein, called the Bla«k Creek, in the Warrior field, has also been used to some extent in coking, and it is stated the 
coke was superior as a blast-furnace fuel to any other made in the state. The vein, however, is so small, only 2 feet,, 
that it cannot be worked economically. 

The first coke made for blast-furnace use in Alabama was from coal of the Cahaba field at Helena, and a portiou 
of the coke used at the Maat-fumaces in the state in the census year was supplied from this field, but it is 
so high in ash, due probably to careless mining, that the Pratt coke is now used in its stead. The only veins in 

a I am informed by Prof. Cook, state geologist, that recent investigations make this field some 300 square miles in extent, but 100- 
square miles will probably include the productive portion of the field. 

6 At the present time (December, 1882) most of the coke used in the blast-furnaces of Alabama is made from the coal of this seam as 
mined by the Pratt Coal and Coke Company. This seam has also been opened at another point, at which some coke is now being made. 



MANUFACTURE OF COKE. 



47 



this Cahaba field that have beeu used for coke are the Wads worth and the Helena. Both make a fair coke, but 
that from the Pratt seam is so much better that it has entirely displaced the Helena for furnace use. 

Attempts have been made to use the "Black Shale" seam, of which an analysis is given below, but it was 
found to have some iron pyrites which carried arsenic, and though its analysis showed it to be a "pure" coal, low 
ill sulphur and ash, it would not make satisfactory metal in the furnace. 

Below is given analyses of the coals used in coking in this state, with cokes made from the same: 

ANALYSES OF COALS USED IN COKING IN THE WARRIOR FIELD. 



Constituents. 


PRATT 


BEAM. 


KEW CAETLE OB MILNEE 
BEAU. 


BLACK 


CBEEK. 


No. 1. * 


No. 2jt 


No. 1. } 


No. 2.) 


No. 1. 


No. 2.5 




Per cent. 
1.300 


Per cent. 
1.29 


Per cent. 

1.38 


Per cent. 
1.30 


Per cent. 
1.36 


Per cent. 






61.600 
31. 480 
0.918 
5.416 
1.508 


64.30 
32.08 
0.47 
2.08 
1.07 


59.69 

28.24 
0.64 

10.92 
0.50 


55.18 
36.17 
1.38 
7.83 
1.12 


71.64 
28.24 
0.64 
2.03 
0.12 


63.12 
31.25 
0.89 
5.63 






















73.67 


68.75 













Professor McCalley. t Analyst : N. T. Lapton. J Analyst : Otto Wuth. § Analyst: Eureka Iron Company. 
ANALYSES OF COKES MADE FROM COALS OF THE WARRIOR FIELD. 



Constituents. 


FROM PRATT COAL. 


No. 1. • 


No. 2. t 


No. 3. t 


No. 4.t 


No. 5. f 


No. 6. : 


No. 7. } 




Per cent. 
93.01 
0.16 
6.83 


Per cent. 
88.15 

0.60 
11.25 

0.70 


Per cent 
86.090 

0.910 
13. 000 

0.721 


Per cent. 
83.27 

0.93 
15.06 

0.74 


Per cent. 
85.81 
0.78 
12.80 
0.61 


Per cent. 

88.224 
0.990 

11.315 
0.563 
0.362 


Per cent. 

84.653 
1.329 

13. 317 
0.897 
0.671 

























• Analyst ; Fred. P. Dewey. t Analyst : Eureka Iron Company. ; Analyst : Professor McCalUy. 

The analyses No. 2 of Pratt coal and No. 1 of coke were furnished by the Pratt Coal and Coke €ompany» 
ANALYSES OF COALS USED IN COKING IN THE CAHABA FIELD. 







HELENA BEAH. 


Wadsworth.J 


Black Shale.; 




No. l.» No. 2.t 


No. 3.: 


Specific gr 




Per cent. \ Per cent. 
1.12 1.32 


Per cent. 


Per cent. 


Per cent. 












66.81 58.69 


■ 59.59 
34.37 
0.66 
6. OS 


60.53 
34.60 
0.68 
4.87 


70.00 
27.01 
0.79 
2.99 








"■ 




Ash -. 


1.21 

2.54 


3.82 
1.74 


















1 65. 03 


65.40 








1 






♦ Analyst: K. P.Eothwell. 
ANALYSES OF COKES MA 


t Analyst : Lupton. < 
DE FROM THE COA] 


Analyst: Eu 
LS OF THt 


reka Iron Com 
CAHABA 


pany. 
FIELD. 




Constituents. 


Helena.* 


Wadsworth.* 


Not stated, f 








Per cent. 
1.659 


Per cent. 
1.693 


Percent 














84.035 
0.066 
0.445 

15.216 
0.683 


88.903 
0.413 
0.342 

10.144 
0.540 


93. 252 
0.730 
0.601 
5.380 
0.300 



































* Analyst : Professor McCalley. t Analyst : Professor McCreath. 

Theflrst ovens built iu this state for furnace-coke were Belgian, on the Copp^e system, but they werenot successful, 
and were abandoned and bee-hive ovens were erected in their stead, and since that time no others have been used.. 



48 MANUFACTURE OF COKE. 

THE COKE INDUSTEY IN GEORGIA. 

But one coke works was reported in existence in Georgia in the census year, at whicli 70,000 tons of coke were 
made from 117,000 tons of coal, a yield of 59.8 per cent. No information lias been received as to the extent of the 
coal-fields or the character of the coal or the coke made from the same. All of the labor at these ovens, of which 
there were 140, was performed by convicts, the superintendent, mining overseer, and the guards being the only 
labor not convict. Most of the coke is used at the Eising Fawn furnace, in the same county, and gives fairly good 
satisfaction. It has considerable ash, but it is thought to be more economical to iiux this out in the furnace than to 
wash it out before coking. («) 

THE COKE INDUSTEY IN INDIANA. 

Though the Geological Survey of Indiana reports that "the seams of coking coal in Indiana are locally not less 
than fifteen in number ", (&) some of which are 7 or 8 feet thick, the manufacture of coke can hardly be "said to have 
existed as an industry in this state in the census year, but 1,000 tons being made. The coking coals of this state, 
according to the various reports of the geological survey, are found in fourteen counties, and some of the seams are 
said to be " rich-looking and pure ". The percentage yield of coke in the laboratory ranges from 52 to 64.50 jjer 
cent., and the ash from 0.50 to 7. (c) 

Notwithstanding this asserted abundance of coking coals and their xiurity, the manufacture of coke up to and 
-during the census year had not been, in a commercial sense, a success, though repeated attempts to make it so are 
recorded. Possibly one reason has been that Indiana has not been a large iron-producing state, and for the little 
iron ore that has been smelted the block coal furnished an excellent fuel. It is also possible that the physical 
constitution of the coke made from Indiana coals is not such to justify its use as a blast-furnace fuel. Professor 
Cox, in the Report of the Indiana Geological Survey, published in 1879, page 12, states: 

The coking coals of Indiana swell and fuse to a pasty mass when burning, hut the coke which is made from them is not strong, 
. and is filled with large cells, that give it a sort of honey-comb appearance. 

Probably the most thorough and careful attempt yet made to coke Indiana coal was that of the North Chicago 
EoUing Mill Company, made since the census year. The coal used was screenings of Coal Creek coal from Fountain 
county. These screenings contained from 15 to 20 per cent, of ash, which was reduced by washing, so that the 
coke contained only from 10 to 12 per cent. The sulphur, however, was from J to 1^ per cent. Belgian ovens with 
Endres' modifications were used. The coke, beside being high in sulphur, was siDongy and soft, and would not 
carry a burden in the furnace ; but when mixed in the proportion of from 10 to 15 per cent, with Connellsville coke 
fairly good results were obtained. Mr. O. W. Potter, president of the company making the exjjeriments, writes : 

We are not sure but further experiments in using lump and nut coal and crushing to remove the slate may give us better results 
than we have had up to this time. 

Some attention has been given to charring or coking the block coal of this state, (d) The block coal found at 
Brazil differs but little in chemical composition from the coking coals of western Pennsylvania. The physical 
difference is, however, quite marked, the latter having a cuboid structure made up of bituminous particles lying against 
each other, so that, under the action of heat, fusion throughout the mass readily takes place, while block coal is 
formed of alternate layers of rich bituminous matter and a charcoal-like substance, which is not only very slow of 
combustion, but so retards the transmission of heat that agglutination is prevented and the coal burns away, layer 
by layer, retaining its form until consumed. The experiments in charring the coke above referred to arose out of 
a failure to coke the alack. The lumps as they came from the mine were charged into a hot bee-hive oven, and after 
a proper interval were drawn, not materially changed in size or shape, but greatly changed in character, being 
liard, compact, and silvery, like coke. This product was charged into the furnace instead of Connellsville coke 
(350 pounds of charred coal in the place of 385 pounds of Connellsville coke) with the most satisfactory results, the 
quantity of iron produced remaining about the same, but of a somewhat higher grade. 

Professor Cox has also made some extended experiments on coking Indiana coals under pressure, and is of the 
opinion that the dry-burning or block coals of Indiana can be made under pressure into a remarkably strong and 
dense coke. 

THE COKE INDUSTEY IN ILLINOIS. 

Of the four coke works reported in existence in Illinois in the census year, but one was in operation during any 
part of the time, and this made 7,000 tons of coke, the entire production of the state, from washed slack. One of 
the works resumed operations June 1, 1880, one of the others is still idle, and the ovens and machinery at the 
fourth have been wrecked and a portion of the materials and machinery removed to another point in the state, (e) 

Much of the coal of Illinois is coking coal, but its chemical and i)hysical nature is such that as yet no coke has 

a The comjiany, in December, 1882, were constructing 140 additional ovens. 

6 Seventh Annual JBejiort of the Geological Surveij of Indiana, Professor E. T. Cox (Indianapolis, Indiana, 187(5), page 11. 

c Second Annual Report Geological Survey, (Indianapolis, 1871;, page 180. 

d In vol. iv, page 99, Transactions of the American Institute of Mining Engineers, will be found a paper on " Coking Indiana Block 
'<;oal", contributed by Mr. John Alexander. 

« Since the census year, however, two of the existing works have been enlarged and others built, and the product of coke at prcst-nt 
<1882) in this state is much greater than during the time covered by this report. 



MANUFACTURE OF COKE. 



49 



been made from it equal to the Coniiellsville as a furnace fuel. The deposits, however, are so large aud so uear 
the rich and abundant iron-ore fields of Missouri and lake Superior that the efforts to utilize Illinois coal for 
the manufacture of coke for metallurgical purposes have been unceasing during the past ten years. Much of 
this experimenting has been to ascertain what form of oven was best adapted to coking. The bee-hive has not 
answered the purpose, and not one was in use in the state in the census year. The coals that are low in sulphur 
and ash are, as a rule, too dry-burning, and the bee-hive is too cold an oven for them. Modifications of the 
beehive, similar in plan to the Welsh ovens, have to a considerable extent been used with fairly good results in 
southwestern Illinois, though equally good results are obtained with the Big Muddy coal in bee-hive ovens that 
have been erected as a trial plant. The tendency, however, is to the use of some form of the Belgian oven, and 
from the results of experiments with the different forms it is manifest that this oven is not in all cases a corrective 
of all the evils that gather about coke-making in Illinois. 

Many of the Illinois coals which are not dry-burning are high in sulphur and ash, that of the northern part of 
the state being especially sulphurous, and for this evil even the Belgian oven is not a cure. It requires careful 
and thorough washing, and even then, in many cases, the result is not satisfactory. In one case the washing was 
so thorough that 60 per cent, of the coal was washed away, and still there was an excess of ash and sulphur in 
the coke. Some of the coals also show no tendency to coke until crushed and washed, and a washing plant is 
generally a necessary part of a coking plant in this state. 

The coal of the Big Muddy region, in the southwestern part of the state, is a marked exception in purity to 
most Illinois coal, the coke from it being reasonably low in sulphur and ash. Previous to 1876, at which time the 
furnaces were torn down, the Grand Tower Mining, Manufacturing and Transportation Company made Bessemer 
pig from Iron mountain and Missouri hematite ores, using four-fifths raw Big Muddy coal and one-fifth coke made 
from washed screenings of the same in small Welsh ovens. The furnace was 16 by 72 feet. The iron exhibited at 
the Centennial was awarded the medal for purity and structure. This field, or pocket, occupies an area of about 
4,000 acres, of which 250 have been worked out. The coal is uot as well adapted to coking as that of the fields 
that bound it on the north and east, but these latter coals are too high in sulphur to produce a coke for smelting 
iron, with the exception of a pocket of limited extent at Cartersville. The Big Muddy seam lies almost horizontal, 
with a slight dip to the north, and varies from 5 to 7 feet in thickness, with a thin slate between the bottom and top 
coal. The coal is a hard, semi-bituminous, free-burning fuel, showing no inclination to run together, even under 
extreme heat, unless ground fine and wet. The following analyses of the coal and coke, with the exception of No. 
3 coke, are furnished by Mr. Thomas M. Williamson, the superintendent of the Saint Louis Ore and Steel Company's 
works at Grand Tower and vicinity, where they coke this coal : 



ANALYSIS OF MOUNT CARBON BIG MUDDY COAL. 

Per cent. Per cent. 

Water fi.37 G.02 

Volatile matter ;il.93 33.71 

Fixed carbon -'J. 13 57. 06 

Ash l.Sl 3.21 

Sulphur (separately determineil) 0.76 1.19 

ANALYSIS OF MOUNT CAEBON BIG MUDDY COKE. 



• Constituents. 


No. 1. 


No. 2. No. 3. 




Per cent. 


Per cent. , Per cent 
! 0.28 




0.83 
87.32 
11.85 

1.08 


0.33 1.46 
88. 18 88. 74 
10. 07 9. 71 

0. 61 ; 0. 97 
47.00 




Ash 

Snlphur (separately deterraiued) 







Another analysis shows 1.17 per cent, hydroscopic moisture and 46.33 silica in ash. 

As has been stated, this coal is much too dry-burning to allow of the successful u.se of the ordinary bee-hive 
oven. The Saint Louis Ore and Steel Company coke it in ovens known as the "English drag". This oven is 36 
feet long, 7 feet wide, and 3J feet high, with a capacity of 300 bushels of coal. It is a solid wall oven, discharged 
by a drag laid on the oven floor prior to the beginning of the operation, the drag being operated by a windlass. The 
coal is crushed as fine as beans, the screenings also being cru.shed, and both are washed. The charge of each oven is 
11 tons; the time of burning, 90 hours. The yield is only about .55 per cent., as much of the carbon is necessarily 
wasted in furnishing the heat necessary to coke the coal. These ovens have not worked entirely satisfactorily, 
though they have been in use for some years, and the company expect to erect Belgian ovens. 

The Carbondale Coal and Coke Company, at Cartersville, produced the only coke made in this state in the 
census year from one of the comparatively pure coals of southwestern Illinois, found near the Big Muddy deposit, 

CO, VOL. IX 4 



50 MANUFACTURE OF COKE. 

before described. This coal is sligMly more bituminuous than the Big Muddy, and contains more sulphur and 
ash, and the seam is 9 feet thick. I have no analysis of the coal, but an analysis of the coke is as follows : 

ANALYSIS OF CARBONDALE COKE. 

[Analyst, Chauvenet.] 

Per cent. Per cent. 

Water "^-^S 

Volatile matter 2,42 1.58 



Fixed carbon 
Ash 



6. 79 80. 14 

8. 31 18. 28 

0. 88 2. 03 



Sulphur 

The coal is washed before being coked, and the ovens used are called " tunnel ovens", and are of the same general 
plan as those used at Mount Carbon, except that they are smaller, being only 15 feet long, 7 feet wide, and 32 inches 
deep below the arch, and 3J feet from the bottom of oven to top of arch. The charge is 6 tons, and the time of 
burning 72 hours, and the yield of coke was 50.7 per cent. 

At East Saint Louis the Meir Iron Company have made careful and expensive experiments in using the slack 
and nut of the Belleville coal, which is high in sulphur and ash, for the manufacture of coke. The analysis of this 
nut and slack is as follows : 



U"o. 1. ITo. 2. 

er cent. Per cent. 

15. 35 15. 09 



Moisture and g;is 

Condensed voliitikt matter 10.59 15.74 

Fixed carbon 53.62 52.62 



20. 44 16. 55 



Asb 

These represent the slacks; the coals are much better. No. 1 was slack of ordinary quality; No. 2 slack 
from Duquoin. The slacks used when these works were in operation contained from 16.55 to 23.35 per cent, of 
ash but by careful washing and preparation the ash in the coal was reduced to 6 per cent., and in the coke to 10 
or 11 per cent. In the ovens used, which were Belgian of the old Prangois pattern, modified by the Messrs. Meir,. 
washed slack yielded 65 per cent, of coke. Mr. Adolphus Meir, who has been so persistent in his efforts to utilize 
this coal for coking, writes me: "Good coke has been, and will be, made from Illinois coals. A strong prejudice 
exists against such coke, but we have proof of melting from 7 to 8|- pounds of iron per pound of our coke in cupola 
furnaces in Saint Louis." 

In northern Illinois all attempts to utilize the coal for coke have so far ended in failure, for while it contains 
more bituminous matter than that of the Big Muddy region, and is a truer coking coal, it is, however, very 
sulphurous and high in ash. Washing has reduced the percentage both of ash and sulphur somewhat, but not 
sufaciently low, in view of other characteristics, to make it desirable as a metallurgical fuel. In the experiments^ 
at the Joliet steel works, the ovens used being Belgian or a modification of the Belgian, the resulting coke, while- 
not exceedingly high in ash or sulphur, was too porous for the blast-furnace. 

Mr. H. S. Smith, the general superintendent of the Joliet Steel Company, at my request, and in view of the- 
fact that the record of a failure is ofteu as valuable as of a success, has furnished a statement of the experiments 
at these works, from which the following facts are derived. 

The first experiments made were in 1872. The ovens used, of which there were twenty, were known as. 
Belgian, and were 22 feet long and 20 inches wide on the inside, and 8 feet high to the top of the arch. The flues 
in the sides were horizontal, and from a pencil sketch accompanying Mr. Smith's letter I should judge they were 
either Smet or Dulait ovens; at least they were the earlier forms of the Belgian, and not the latter, like the Copp^e- 
or Appolt. These ovens were charged through openings on the top, and the gases escaped through short chimneys. 
The ovens were discharged by a ram, and the coke was watered outside. The coal used was chiefly slack from the- 
northern lUinois mines, which was crushed and washed to reduce the percentage of ash and sulphur, which was- 
quite large. The experiments were quite extensive, several thousand tons of coke being made, and the results were- 
the same in all cases. The sulphur was reduced so much that, consideriug its content of sulphur alone, the coke 
could have been used for smelting iron, but it was still too high in ash and was too porous and weak to carry a 
liroper burden in the furnace. 

In 1879 still further experiments were made, Mr. J. J. Endres' modification of the Belgian oven being adopted,, 
the width of the old ovens reduced to 16 inches, and flues put in the walls and bottom approaching the later Belgian 
ovens in plan. This experiment was a most thorough one, and was participated in by the steel company, the mines,, 
and railroads. It was continued several months, the coal being carefully and thoroughly washed, and was then coked 
under Mr. Endres' supervision, but the result was no better than before. The washing removed considerable of 
the ash and a large percentage of the sulphur. In some cases the sulphur and ash were low enough to make a 
good coke, that from the Diamond mine having but 7.05 per cent, of ash and 1 per cent, of sulphur, but the coke- 
was weak and porous, and was not adapted to carrying the burden in a furnace. Mr. Smith has kindly furnished 
a table (see page 51) showing the percentage of ash and sulphur in the coal, washed coal, and coke from a number 
of mines. 



MANUFACTURE OF COKE. 



51 



CHEMICAL RESULTS OF EXPERIMENTS ON COKING ILLINOIS COAL MADE BY MR. ENDRES IN 1879. 



PEHCESTAGK OK ABH. 



PEIICEXTAGE OF SULPHUR. 



Name of coal. 



H shaft . . . 
G shaft... 
Diamond., 
Coal City , 
Eureka . . . 
Do... 
Streator. . 



Do 



Pontiac 

Braidwood — 
SpriDgtiC'ld. . . 

Indiana 

Grape Creek. 



Crushed Washed „.v. Crushed ' Waahed ^„. . 
coal. coal. ^°''*- I <-/.ni ! ,.noi I'Oke- 



10.95 
5.51 
8.22 
7.27 
6.95 
9.07 
8.23 



7.10 
11.53 
10.21 

6.66 



4.51 
4.57 



0.96 
8.02 
4.49 



8.11 
7.21 
7.05 
8.96 
8.60 
7.75 

12.68 
9.42 

21.01 
8.11 

16.10 

13.34 



1.70 
2.37 
2.83 
2.27 
4.42 
4.70 



2.16 
1.71 
2.23 
1.93 
1.67 
3.59 
2.62 
2.25 
2.55 
3.23 
1.77 



1.10 
1.11 
1.00 
1.26 
1.21 
1.05 



1.27 
1.30 
1.90 



These experiments have beeu entirely abandoned, the ovens wrecked, and a portion of the machinery was used 
in building another bank of ovens in another section of the state; and the Joliet Steel Company have erected ovens 
in the Connellsville region. The result of these experiments, however, was to indicate that certain of the coals 
tried might, with proper manipulation, make a fair coke, and ovens are being erected to test these coals still further. 

The Illinois Central Iron and Coal Jlining Company have erected at Saint John's since the census year a 
number of Thomas Pettral ovens for using the Paradise coal, which they mine. The following table, for which I 
am indebted to Mr. M. C. Wright, of the Saint John's coke works, gives the physical and chemical properties of 
certain Illinois coal: 

TABLE EXHIBITING PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF CERTAIN ILLINOIS COAL. 

[Chemist, T. T. Morrell.] 





GBAUS IN ONE 
CUBIC INCH. 


POUNDS IN ONE 
CUBIC FOOT. 


PEBCENTAGE. 


-it 
III 


11 u 


■ 1 

S 
a 


d 


I 




CHEMICAL 


ANALYSIS. 






P 


i 
^ 









=3 


1 
1 


'^ 


■5 


i 


• 

E 
1 


1 

> 


ParadiRe 


11.00 
12.80 
10.39 
10.99 
11.80 


17.86 
21.10 
16.25 
19.14 
18.49 


41.91 
48.77 
39.59 
41.87 
44.96 


68.15 
80.39 
61.91 
72.92 
70.44 


61.59 
60.66 
63.93 
57.41 
63.87 


38.41 
39.34 
36.06 
42.59 
36.13 


204 
206 
130 
129 
150 


78 
81 
52 
51 
62 


u 


3.0 
3.0 
2.0 
2.5 
3.0 




Per ct. 
90.44 
89.68 
87.56 
81.63 
81.98 


Per ct. 


Peret. 
8.76 
9.38 
11.30 
16.02 
15.78 


Per ct. 
0.80 
0.94 
1.14 
2.35 
2.24 


Per ct. 
0.01 
0.067 
0.014 
0.01 
0.011 


Perct. 


Do 













THE COKE INDUSTRY IN COLORADO. 

The manufacture of coke in Colorado, which has been but recently undertaken on a commercial scale, has been 
of the utmost importance to the industries and the development of that state, and has made possible the utilization 
of its valuable iron resources. The production of pig-iron from native ores has been successfully established, one 
furnace being in blast and another building, and with this has come the manufiicture of nails and Bessemer steel rails. 
In addition to this, much of the coke used for smelting the ores of the precious metals in this region is now produced 
in the state, and the long and expensive transportation from the Connellsville region of Pennsylvania is avoided. 

The only point at which coke is reported as made daring the census year is some C miles south of El Moro, in 
Las Animas county, near the boundary-line of New Mexico, in what is known as the Trinidad or El Moro coal-field. 
The coke was made from the coal of one of a number of small and isolated basins into which this field is divided. 
The El Moro field lies along the eastern foot of the Rocky mountains, beginning at the Huerfano river, south of 
Pueblo, in Colorado, and extending southward into New Mexico as far as the Cimarron river, the basin being about SO 
miles long and perhaps 10 miles broad. The beds are Upper Cretaceous or Lower Tertiary. The field is worked near 
its northern extremity by the Colorado Coal and Iron Company at Walsenbnrg, on the main line of the Denver and 
Rio Grande railroad. At this point there are three beds, respectively 4, 7, and 6 feet thick, producing a very good 
quality of steam coal, which, however, does not coke. These beds are distinctly traceable to the southern boundary 
of Colorado. From a thickness of 4 feet at Walsenburg, they increase to 11 feet in the neighborhood of Trinidad, the 
(piality changing from a non-coking coal to an excellent coking coal. South of EI Moro, in Las Animas county, at 
the Colorado Coal and Iron Company's works, where the coke made in the census year was produced, a horizontal 
vein 10 to 12 feet thick is worked, and at Starkville, in the same county, the Trinidad Coal and Coking Company 
is mining coal, both companies making coke. («) Some 2.5 miles farther south, in New Mexico, near Raton, the 
field is worked by the Ratou Coal and Coking Company, the veins being from 5 to 7 feet thick. The coal at this 
point is an excellent steam coal, and will coke, but there is made from it. 

a There are now (1882) 250 coke ovens near El Moro, and between 40 and .'50 at Starkville. 



52 



MANUFACTURE OF COKE. 



The seam from whicli coke was made duriug the census year is, according to Professor W. H. Chiindler, who 
made an examination in 1877, 14 feet 2 inches thick, with 12 feet 9 inches of coal, the coal being separated by three 
small layers of slate from 2 inches to 1 foot thick. Analyses of these four strata of coal are given as follows : 



Constituents. 


No. 1. 


No. 2. 


No. 3. 


No. 4. 




Fer cent. 

1.32 
38.23 
55.86 

3.69 


Per cent. 

1.36 
36.77 
56.37 

5.50 


Per cent. 

1.34 
35.79 
54.75 

8.12 


Per cent. 

1.66 
34.48 
60.08 

3.78 






Ash 





In Hay den's Report of tlie Geological Survey of Colorado for 1875 an analysis of this coal is given, which is as follows : 

Per cent. 

Water 0.26 

Volatile matter 29.66 

Fixed carbon 65.76 

Ash 4.32 

Sulphur 0.85 

These analyses show the coal to be quite pure, but on coking it from 16 to 23 per cent, of ash was found, the 
large percentage of ash being due to the presence of a large amount of bony coal, which did not show in the coal 
analysis. A car-load of the same coal was sent to Pennsylvania to be crushed, washed, and coked, and the coke 
produced, after being thus treated, analyzed as follows : 

Per cent. 

Water and volatile matter 1.85 

Fixed carhon , 87. 47 

Ash.-l 10.65 

Sulphur 0.85 

This indicated the necessity of a crushing and washing apparatus, and machinery designed by Mr. S. Stutz, of 
Pittsburgh, was erected. The result is a coke answering aU the purposes of a metallurgical fuel, being cellular, of 
a silvery appearance, and having a physical structure to fit it for furnace use. Its content of ash is from 2 to 3 
l)er cent, more than that in Oonuellsville coke. The coke is made in bee-hive ovens, only 70 of which were completed 
at the beginning of the census year, but at its close there were 128, with 72 more in process of construction. The El 
Moro mines are worked through drifts, and the coal is Of a remarkably uniform character. The price paid for 
digging in 1881 was 50 cents per ton of 2,240 ijounds, and the actual cost of the coal loaded on the cars at the 
mines 73 cents. The product of coke in the census year was but 18,000 tons ; in 1881 it was 47,186 tons. 

Though no coke was made at any other locality in the census year, there are other deposits of excellent coking- 
coal that have since been utilized for this purpose, and still others at which preparations are in progress for its 
manufacture. At Crested Buttes, north of Gunnison, on the Denver and Eio Grande railroad, some coke of a 
most excellent quality, very low in ash, was made in 1881 in open pits from two seams of coal 5 and 6 feet 
jespectively. Analyses of this coal and coke are as follows : 

ANALYSES OF CRESTED BUTTES (COLOEADO) BITUMINOUS COAL. 

Per cent. 

Water 1.10 

VolatUe matter.... 23.20 

Fixed carbon 72. 60 

Ash 3.10 

Theoretical yield of coke - 75.70 

ANALYSES OF CEESTED BUTTES (COLOEADO) COKE. 

Per cent. Per cent. 

Water and volatile matter 1.35 0.42 

"Pixed carbon 92.03 90.71 

Ash 6.62 8.87 

Sulphur 0.58 

At the close of 1881, 484 tons of coke only had been made, but yards were being prepared for making 200 tons 
per day. All the slack and line coal which passes through the shute-screens is used in the coke-yards, and the 
coke made is of good quality and runs low in ash. This coke commands $7 per ton on cars at the works. 

THE COKE INDUSTEY IN UTAH. 
There have been for some time past iu the Sani^ete district, in Utah, a number of coke ovens, but no coke 
has been made iu them recently. Most of the coke used in Utah comes either from Connellsville, Pennsylvania, 
or from England, the English coke being delivered at San Francisco, or some point on the Pacific coast, and sent 
by rail to Utah. A lino of railroad is now building from Salt Lake City to connect with the Denver and Eio Grande 
railroad, which will enable El Moro and Gunnison coke to be delivered at the Utah smelting works. 

THE COKE INDUSTEY IN NEW MEXICO. 
In central New Mexico, 9 miles east from San Antonio station, on the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe railroad, 
is the San Pedro coalmine, where there is a bed of coking coal 6 feet thick, (a) 

a Ovens are now (1882) being erected at San Autonio station, ou the Eio Grande river, for coking this coal. 



Per cent. 

0.44 
24.17 
72.30 

3.09 
75.39 

Per cent. 

0.41 

92.44 

7.15 

0.37 



MANUFACTURE OF COKE. 53 

Part III.— COKING IN EUROPE. 



HISTORY OP COKE IK ENGLAND. 

But little Is kno\VTi concerniug the history and the uses of coke in England until the beginning of the seventeenth 
century ; but as it would be impossible to burn pit or mineral coal for domestic or any other purposes by the methods 
in use in early days in Great Britain without producing coke as cinders, in the same way that cinders were 
produced in burning wood, it is very probable that coke in the form of coal cinders was known at a very early day. 
It is proved beyond doubt that coal was used by the Romans during their occupation, and cinders of the Roman period 
are frequently met with. This view of the early use of coke is strengthened by the extract from M. Jars' work on 
metallurgy, quoted in the chapter on bee-hive ovens. 

While it is probable that coke was not unknown at an early period in Britain, it by no means follows that it 
was made for use in the arts, either domestic or manufacturing, as the immense forests at that time would make it 
unnecessary to seek for a substitute for wood. The method of charring wood was well known in these early times, 
and the charred wood was a better fuel than the charred coal, so that there would be no inducement to use coke 
until charcoal should become scarce and high-priced. It is also well known that for many years a prejudice existed 
against burning " stones", as the coal was called, and in ignorant minds it was coupled with a species of witchcraft. 

As the wood failed, however, the outcrop of the seams of coal would naturallj' be used, especially in the 
manufacture of iron, in which such large amounts of fuel were consumed, and it would be but natural to subject the 
coal, which was well known as a fuel, to the same treatment as wood, and coking in pits or mounds would be the 
result. 

One of the earliest references to the coking of coal is in a patent granted to Thomas Proctor and William Peterson, 
in 1589, for making iron and steel and melting lead "with earth-coal, sea-coal, turf, and peat". The scheme proved 
a tailure, two tons only having been made, so report says, at an iron works in Yorkshire, at a cost of 200 marks 
(£GC 13.S. id.) per ton. The chronicler quaintly remarks, " It is deere iron." In this patent is a distinct allusion to a 
preparatory treatment of the coal by "cooking". A short time alter this, in 1590, a patent was granted to the Dean 
of York '' to purify pit coal and free it from ott'ensive smell". In 1G20 a patent was granted to a company conip'osed 
of Sir William St. John and other knights, esquires, and gentlemen, with a Hugh Grundy, who was the "practical" 
man, for "charking" sea-coal, pit-coal, stone-coal, turf, peat, etc., and employing the same for smelting ores and 
manufacturing metals and other purposes. The project originated with Grundy, and referred specially to the 
making of coke by a process invented by him some time before. 

About this time considerable attention began to be paid to the chasring or coking of coal, not only in 
connection with the smelting experiments which were going on, but with a view to its employment for other 
purposes as well. In 1627 a patent was granted to Sir John Hacket and one Octavius de Strada (who two years 
before had been making attempts to smelt with coal in Hainaut) for a method of rendering sea-coal and pit-coal 
as useful as charcoal for burning in houses, without offense by the smell or smoke. A few years afterward 
flG33) another. patent was granted to a company consisting of Sir Abraham Williams and others for a new way of 
"charking" sea coal and other earth-coal, and for " preparing, dressing, and qualifying them so as to make them 
lit for the melting and making of iron and other metals and many other good uses". 

During the next three or four years some eight or nine patents were granted for the employment of smokeless 
preparations of coal ; and though the application of coke to the smelting of minerals was not successfully accomplished 
till long afterward, it came into use at this time for several other purposes, particularly for making malt. Houghton 
tells us that up to about 1040 the malt was made with straw fuel in Derbyshire, but that it then came to be made 
with coke, which occasioned an improvement in the quality of the brewings, " and brought about that alteration 
which aU England admired." 

A little later an attempt to substitute coke for coal in house fires was made by Sir John Winter. The project 
is referred to by Evelyn in his diary under date of 11th of July, 165G, in the following terms : 

Came liome by Greenwich Ferry, where I saw Sir John Winter's new project of cliarring sea-coale to bnrne out the sulphiue and 
render it. sweete. He did it by burning the coals iu sucheartlieu i>ots as the glasse men mealt their mettal, so firing them without 
consuming tliem, using a barr of yrun in each crucible or pot, which bar has a hook at one end, that so the coales, being mealted in a 
furnace with other crude sea-coals under them, may be drawn out of the pots sticking to the yron, whence they are beaten ofl' in greate 
halfe-eshausted cinders, which being rekindled make a cleare pleasant chamber fire, deprived of their sulphur and arsenic malignity. 
What success it may have, time will discover. 

Sir John sent some of his " cooked coal ", together with a new-fashioned grate, to several great men for a trial, 
but his project did not succeed. 

In 16G2 Dr. Fuller wrote : 

It is to be hoped that a way may be found out to charke sea-coal in such manner as to render it useful for the making of iron. All 
things are not found out in one age, as reserved for future discovery ; and that perchance may be easy for the next which seems impossible 
to this generation, (a) 

a For many of these details I am indebted to the History of Coal Mining. R. C. Galloway. London, 1882. 



54 MANUFACTURE OF COKE. 

Dr. Plot, in his Natural History of Staffordshire, published in 1686, states : 

They liave a way of charring the coal, in all particulars the same as they do wood, whence the coal is freed from those noxious 
steams that would otherwise give the malt an ill odor. The coal thus prepared they call "cokes", which conceives as strong a heat, 
almost, as charcoal itself, and is as fit for most other uses, hut for melting, fining, or refining of iron, which it cannot be brought to do, 
though attempted by the most skillful and curious of artists. 

Swedenborg, who was an able metallurgist, in his book on the Subterranean Kingdom, published in 1734, states 
that in certain districts in England coke was employed,ia smelting iron, and that cinders and coke were synonymous 
terms. This would indicate that the date (1735) usually given as that of the successful introduction of the smelting 
of iron with coke is erroneous. 

Jars' statement, made in 1769, that coke was made in England, not only in heaps, but also in closed ovens, 
is elsewhere mentioned. His statement would lead to the belief that the method of coking in heaps was in use on 
the ^jontinent of Europe ; a belief that is confirmed by the fact that the iron manufacturers of Li^ge, a short time 
after this publication, adopted with success the method of coking in closed ovens. 

About the same time, according to Home, (a) coking in ovens was carried on in the villages around London, 
the coke being prepared for the use of maltsters and for some other purposes. He gives the following description 
of the process : 

These ovens being from time to time charged with a proper quantity of coals, they set them on fire. Near the front or opening of 
these ovens the chimneys are placed, at which outlets, when the coals become sufficiently ignited, the flames which play round the interior 
parts of the oven make their exit, carrying along with them a very considerable part of crude sulphur. The workmen employed at these 
ovens, when they imagine the coals are sufficiently burnt, draw them out with an iron raker vyioTi the ground before the oven, where they 
endeavor to stifle the yet remaining part of the sulphur by quenching them with a deluge of water. Thus they go on charging, discharging, 
and suffocating till they have completed their intended quantity. 

An experimental coke oven, on a i^lan proposed by Home, was erected in Staffordshire, and, it is stated, with 
a successful result. The details of the plan are not given. It appears, however, that the oven consisted of a 
closed arched chamber, and that on trial it was found to be desirable to leave some outlet " in the toj) of the 
crown" for the escaj)e of vapop, in order to prevent the blowing up of the oven. In 1781, according to Bishop 
Watson, the application of coke to the smelting of iron had become general in England, and coke ovens were in 
operation at Newcastle-on-Tjme, and even at Cambridge, whiere the coke was used for drying malt. (6) 

It was this extension of the use of coke in the smelting of iron that gave its manufacture prominence. Up to 
early in the seventeenth century charcoal was the only fuel used in iron-smelting; but during the reign of James I 
several patents were granted for the exclusive right to manufacture iron with pit-coal, none of which were 
successful until 1619, when Dud Dudley succeeded and obtained a i^atent for fourteen years. 

At this time many of the iron works were idle from want of wood. Remarking on the rapid exhaustion of the 
forests of England, Mr. David Mushet (c) estimates that the amount of charcoal necessary for the manufacture of 
iron alone in the year 1615 would be gS,063,000 cubic feet. Supposing an acre of ground to afford 2,0i;0 cubic feet of 
timber, he estimates that 14,031 acres of land were annually stripped to suj)ply the iron manufactories. Though pit- 
coal had been mined at Newcastle prior to 1272, and vast quantities of it had been annually exported to Holland and 
the low countries for the use of the smithies and other manufactories requiring an intense and continued heat, yet in 
England prejudice was very strong against its application to the manufacture of cast or malleable iron, and smithies 
and nail forges and manufactories of every sort were still carried on by means of charcoal. As a result of this the 
price of iron advanced, and those manufacturers whose supply of wood was undiminished were, of course, hostile 
to any improvements by which other fuels could be used. 

Dudley continued his experiments with pit-coal with varying success and under many discouragements for a 
number of years. Other patents were also taken out for the manufacture of irou with coal, in one of which, that of 
Captain Buck, it is believed Cromwell was a partner. In 1663 Dudley applied for his last patent, setting forth in his 
application that at one time he was able to produce 7 tons of pig-iron weeklj'. His uncommon success produced 
combinations against him, which terminated in hostile attacks upon his works. This rivalry in the business, and 
his attachment to the royal cause during the civil war, brought successive misfortunes upon him, and interfered 
with the use of his improvements, and the refusal of a new patent after the restoration prevented him from again 
entering into the business. 

Mr. I. Lowthiau Bell, the well-known authority on blast-furnace phenomena, believes that if Dudley had met 
with encouragement instead of persecution he would ultimately have been led to treat mineral fuel as they had 
previously done the vegetable, viz, char it. {d) 

Though Dudley's last application for a patent was in 1663, his experiments really ceased in 1657, and from 
that time for nearly eighty years the art of making iron with pit-coal was lost. Abraham Darby's invention of the 
use of coke in blast-furnaces completed the work of his unfortunate predecessor, though in the meantime efforts 

a Essays concerning Iron and Steel, by Henry Home. Loudon, 1773. 

T> See Percy's Metallurgy, London, 1875, page 416. 

c Papers on Iron and Steel, Practical and Experimental, by David Mushet. Loudou, 1840. 

d See Chemical Phenomena of Iron Smelling. Loudon, 1372. 



MANUFACTURE OF COKE. 55 

to use coal had not entirely ceased, and in some cases even coke was used in the blast-furnace. Leigh tells us in 
his Natural History of Lancashire that shortly before 1700 iron was being made " by means of cakes of pit-coal " 
(t. e., coke). 

It is generally conceded that the credit of the first successful and continued use of coke in the blast-furnace 
is due to Abi'aham Darby. The date of Darby's invention seems in doubt, (a) some authorities placing it as early 
as 1713, others about 1735, and still others at 1750. The statement of Swedenborg, before referred to, would indicate 
that it must have been at least as early as 1735, and this is the date usuallj' assigned. 

Percy thus describes his experiments : {b) 

Young Abraham Darby entered upon the management of the Coalbrookdale Iron Works about 1730. As the supply of charcoal 
■was fast failing, Abraham Darby attempted to smelt with a mixture of raw coal and charcoal, but did not succeed. Between 1730 and 
1735 he determined to treat pit-coal as his charcoal-burners treated wood. He built a fire-proof hearth in the open air, piled upon it a 
circular mound of coal, and covered it with clay and cinders, leaving access to just sufficient air to maintain slow combustion. Having 
thus made a good stock of coke, he proceeded to exi)erimeut upon it as a substitute for charcoal. He himself watched the filling of his 
furnace during six days and nights, having no regular sleep, and taking his meals at the furnace-top. On the sixth evening, after many 
disappointments, the experiment succeeded, and the iron ran out well. He then fell asleep in the bridge-house at the top of his old- 
fashioned furnace, so soundly that his men could not wake him, and was carried to his house, a quarter of a mile distant. 

While the change in fuel from charcoal to coke was being brought about the manufacture of iron in England 
declined so rapidly that in 1740 the number of furnaces was only 59, a reduction of 25 per cent., and the make of 
pig-iron only 17,350 tons. The production rapidly advanced, however, under the stimulus of Darby's discovery, until 
17SS, when of 61,300 tons of pig made 48,200 were smelted with coke and but 13,100 with charcoal. It is also but 
just to state that Watt's improvements in the steam-engine, and the great changes that took place about this time 
in the form and construction of furnaces, contributed to this advance. At the present time little or no charcoal 
iron is made in Great Britain. 

We have entered thus fully into the history of the progress of the manufacture of pig-iron with coke, as this 
industry and that of coke-making are so closely identified that it is almost impossible to state the history of one 
without making it also a history of the other. Outside of the use of coke in the iron industries its consumption 
is but comparatively small. lu all attempted improvements in ovens and methods of manufacture of coke the ' 
ruling question as to their adoption is, " What kind of a blast-furnace fuel is the resulting coke "? " and as the coke 
is improved or injured for this purpose by the new methods the improvements have been adopted or rejected. 

As has been already stated, the earlier method of making coke in heaps or mounds soon gave place, as the 
demand for coke for iron-smelting increased, to the bee-hive oven, and this in turn, in some countries, though to 
no great extent in England, to the improved forai of ovens commonly known as the "Belgian". These changes 
and improvements will be treated of under their ai)propriate heads. 

In addition to these changes methods have been adopted for utilizing the waste heat of the ovens for raising 
steam, and, as is stated in the chapter on the utilization of waste products, for utilizing the ammonia and tar from 
the waste products of combustion. In at least one case, also, these waste gases, having first been enriched, are 
used for lightiug purposes. 

Outside of the improvements already noted but very few changes have been made iu the methods of operating 
the ovens, and these mostly iu the Hue of greater economy iu charging the coal, discharging the coke and 
watering it, and loading it upon cars. '• Hoppers," " trolleys," and "larries" have been substituted for charging the 
ovens, instead of the old plan of throwing the coal through the door by means of shovels, drags and mechanical rams 
for discharging the ovens have taken the place of hand-labor and a hook, and the coke is quenched with a hose 
and nozzle instead of the primitive bucket. In the management of the oven, also, practically three levels are 
used, the flrst or highest containing the track on which the charging larries are run, the second on a line a little 
below the bottom of the oven, called the " coke-wharf" in_ this country, upon which the product of the ovens is 
discharged, while the third level, a little lower still, is occupied by the railroad, the top of the cars being on a line 
with the wharf, thereby giving greater facility for loading. It is impossible to follow chronologically the course 
and the development of these improvements; the best that can be done is to indicate their results. 

COKING m GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND. 

No complete statement of the present condition and extent of the manufacture of coke in the United Kingdom 
has been obtained; indeed, it is doubtful if such a statement exists in any form accessible to the public. Coke is 
generally regarded as a form of coal, and its statistics are included with those of coal, the coke sometimes being 
reduced to its supposed equivalent in coal and sometimes not. Even the Mintral Statistics of the United Kingdom 
furnish no complete statistics, nor do they give data from which even the make of coke can be estimated. 
Coal and coke are usually reported together, but the exports of coke are given separately. It is possible to 

a See Jevon's Coal Question; also Scrivener's History of the Coal Trade, which puts it at 1713. Mr. M. M. Johnson, of the Kingawood 
colliery, England, iu a lecture delivered before the Bristol Mining School, published in the Collieri/ Guardian of February 3, 1877, page 
161, also gives the date as 1713. 

h J'ercu's iln'uHDryu, " Irou and Steel," page 888. 



56 



MANUFACTURE OF COKE. 



estimate the consumption of coke, in the blast-furnaces of certain districts, and some of the railroads distinguish 
between the coal and coke carried over their lines, but in the tables of total production coke disappears. Statements 
as to the amount of coke consumed in certain industries are sometimes published, but all such statements, as well 
as those professing to give the output for certain districts, are only estimates more or less accurate, while statements 
showing even the estimated total production of the United Kingdom for recent years are almost, if not quite, 
wanting. 

jSTotwithstanding this dearth of positive information regarding English coke, sufficient is known to warrant 
the classification of its manufacture among the important industries of Great Britain; important, not only by 
reason of the aggregate tonnage produced, which must be considerably in excess of 6,000,000 tons gross annually, 
but also because of the wonderful development of the British iron trade which its manufacture has made possible. 
The pre-eminence of Great Britain in the manufacture of iron is due to its possession of abundant deposits of coal. 
When the kingdom had been well-nigh stripped of its forests to furnish charcoal to smelt its iron ores, and 
tlie high price of pig so smelted promised to send this manufacture at least to countries having abundant 
supplies of charcoal, it was Darby's invention or rediscovery of the use of coke for smelting that gave to its blast- 
furnaces a new life, reduced the cost of pig-iron, and retained its manufacture in Great Britain. As other countries 
have advanced in the manufacture of iron, there can be no question that the United Kingdom has retained its 
pre-eminence in the iron markets chiefly by reason of the excellence, abundance, and cheapness of its coke. These 
have made possible the utilization of its low-grade ores in the production of pig-iron at a low cost, and have 
rendered feasible the continued competition of English iron with that of other nations, not only in the general 
markets of the world, but often in the home markets of these nations. 

The most important coking district in Great Britain, and consequently in the world, is the Diirham, which lies 
in the northeastern part of England. The production of this district is not only largely in excess of that of any 
country in the world, but the Durham is a typical blast-furnace coke, bright, resonant, cellular, and low in ash 
and other impurities. Taking the average of numerous analytical results of the best varieties of Durham coke, 
6 per cent, of ash and about 0.60 per cent, of sulphur may be considered as the proportion of these constituents. 

As to the extent of the Durham coal-fields that produce the coking coal there seems to be some difference of 
opinion. Mr. T. Y. Hall, in a paper published in the proceedings of the ISTorth of England Institute of Mining 
Engineers, includes in this field the coal-seams from Etherly on the south to Wylam on the north, an average 
distance of 20 miles long by about 8 wide, or 160 square miles. Mr. A. L. Steavenson, however, in a paper read 
before the Iron and Steel Institute of Great Britain, states that the field of coking coal extends from Bradbury 
station, on the Northeastern railway, on the south to Gateshead on the north, 23 miles long by 11 miles wide, or 253 
square miles. Mr. Steavenson is probably more nearly correct than Mr. Hall, the difl'erence in the estimates 
arising probably from a difference of opinion as to the classification of the coal in certain seams. 

The typical Durham coal is high in carbon, low in sulphur and ash, and with but little care or preparation burns 
into a most excellent coke. The best coal is obtained from the lower seams. The Brockwell and Busty seams, 
in the Brancepeth district, may be taken as fairly representing this coal. The analyses of these coals, are as 
follows : 



Constituents.* 


■BVSTI BEAM. 


Brock-well 


Upper pjirt. 


Lower part. 


Carton 


Per cent 
81.22 
4.70 
9.45 
0,85 
3.28 
0.81 


Per cent 
78.46 
4.42 
8.82 
0.99 
6.17 
1.83 


Per cent. 
83.40 
4.40 
7.18 
0.90 
3. BO 
1.00 




Water 

Ash 

Sulphur 

Total 


. 100. 31 


100. 69 


100. 38 



* Authority, I. Lowthian Bell. 

The coal of the above seams yields from 60 to 65 per cent, of its weight of coke. Its purity will be seen 
Jfrom the appended analyses of the coke made from the seams in the following collieries: 



Collieries. 


Carhon. 


Ash. 


Sulphur. 


Water. 




Per cent. 
92.55 
91.88 
91.06 
93.41 


Per cent. 
6.36 
6.91 
6.69 
5.30 


Per cent. 
0.81 
0.84 
1.21 
0.91 


Per cent 
0.21 
0.37 
0.54 
0.36 











MANUFACTURE OF COKE. 57 

This coke is extremely hard and strong, and is capable of resisting a very high column in the blast-fnrnacte. a 
cnbe 3 inches square, made at the Clarence iron works, having supported a weight of 25 hundred-weight when cold 
and 20 hundred-weight when hot before it was crushed. 

The oven used, almost without exception, is the bee-hive, and at some works are larger than those used in 
this country. At the Consett iron works they are 11 by Hi feet. At the Browney colliery an oven with flues 
similar to those in Cumberland and other districts is used, aud at least at one works the Carves oven is used. The 
bee-hive oven, though not giving as high a yield as others, is believed to produce the best coke for iron metallurgical 
purposes. The coal, however, cokes readily, and produces a good fuel without much care. Tliere are from 1.^,000 
to 16,000 of these ovens («) in use in Durham, in which about $5,000,000 are invested, (b) The time of burning 
varies from 21 hours to as high as 120 hours, according to the weight of the charge and the use to which the coke 
is to be put. Shipping and smelting coke is burned from 72 to 90 hours ; the Silkstone coal, crushed and washed? 
when intended for use in steel works, is burned from 72 to SO hours. 

The annual production of coke is estimated by Mr. Meade at 4,000,000 tons, (c) and the value as exceeding 
$10,000,000. Coke-drawers to the number of 2,000 were employed. Mr. I. Lowthian Bell estimates the output of 
coke of the counties of Durham and Northumberland at 6,000,000 tons annually, and his opportunities for making an 
estimate are so good that the statement may be accepted as correct. In this case more than 2,000 drawers would 
be employed. A good man can draw coal and do a share of the charging of six ovens. The coke is not only 
largely used locally in locomotives and the various operations of iron-making, but is largely exported to other 
districts of England and to foreign countries, and is chiefly used in iron smelting, though the hard-burnt is used in 
ShefSeld to some extent in melting crucible cast-steel in the form of steel furnaces known as "coke-holes", or "coke- 
furnaces". 

In recent years the quality of Durham coke has not been so uniformly good as formerly. Not only has 
considerable coke been made from washed coal, but some seams are now used for coking that formerly were not 
regarded as sufficiently pure for the purpose; at least the coke could not compete with that made from the best 
seams of coal. Mr. E. Windsor Eichards, in a paper read before the Cleveland Institute of Engineers, in November, 
1880, remarks that there was no hiding the fact that large tracts of the best coking coals in the county of Durham 
had been worked out, and though there was still a very large quantity of good coking coal left, yet some of the inferior 
seams were being largely worked with very little attention to the cleaning of the coal. Attempts are made in 
many cases to reduce the impurities to a minimum by crushing and washing, but even this is not successful. The 
washer used is the old trough type, which is not only wasteful of coal, but is an imperfect separator. 

Concerning the other districts of England in which coke is made, still less information is obtainable than 
concerniug Durham. In none of them is the coal so well adapted to coking or so pure as Durham, and the 
coke produced is not as good, especially for use in the manufacture of iron. In most of these districts but little 
attention was paid to the production of a good quality of coke until within the past few years, when colliery 
owners found that it would pay to make coke suitable for inni-smelting. The best appliances are now being 
introduced, and the manufacture of it is extending in the districts outside of Durham, aud, by using care in 
its j)roduction, a very good quality is made, which is not only consumed in the local iron works, but is shipped 
to other districts of England and to foreign countries. 

It must be borne in mind, in speaking of the character of the cokes of other districts as compared with the 
Durham coke, that the latter is an extraordinarily good and pure fuel, and while the cokes of all of the other 
districts are inferior as compared with Durham, yet, as compared with those of France or Belgium, they are in 
many cases equal, if not superior. 

It is also worthy of note in this connection that the production of coke is not now confined to those districts 
and seams which yield the best coking coal. The introduction of recent improvements in the manufacture of 
coke has enlarged the area, permitting its production from coal that would have been previously rejected as unfit 
for that inirpose. 

Next to Durham the most important coking district is South Wales. The manufacture of coke is here carried 
on quite extensively, the greater part of which is used in the manufacture of Welsh iron, copper, and tin, though 
some is sent to other districts of Great Britain and to foreign ports. 

The coals of this district vary considerably in their composition, the seams occupying the northeast side of 
the Welsh basin being chiefly coking or semi-bituminous, those of the northwest anthracite, while the seams in the 

a The Pall Mall Gazette estimated them at 16,000 iu 1879. Mr. Steavensou's estimate in 1877 was 14,000. 

h The Iron and Coal Industries of the United Kingdom, page 15. I am informed by a gentleman who has had considerable experience in 
building ovens iu this district that the cost of a 11-foot oven in 1869 was about £25. In 1876 the contract price at the Brythorpe colliery 
was "£52 odd". 

c The Pall Mall Gazette in 1879 estimated the production at 5,000,000 tons and the number of coke- drawers at 1,700, each drawing 
2,^00 tons a year. Thirty years before, the production of all England was, according to the Pall Mall Gazette, 2,500,000, and twentj years- 
before 3,500,000 tons. 



58 MANUFACTURE OF COKE. 

center of the coal-field are semi-bituminous. Truran gives the following analysis of a coal from the northeast side 
of the basin near Pontypool, which was used for coking : 

Per cent. 

Carbou. 80.4 

Hydrogen "•' 

Oxygen •'■ ^ 

Nitrogen ^-^ 

Sulphur 0.9 

Earthy materials ti-S 

Specific gravity, 1.29; yield of coke, 66 per cent. The earthy matter shows the portion of ash. (a) 

Of the coal that is classed as coking some seams yield a very good quality of coke without washing, but with 
much of the coal a previous washing is necessary to give a coke of sufficient purity and freedom from ash to be 
desirable as a furnace fuel. 

The oven used most generally in South Wales differs from that in use in Durham, the latter being, as before 
stated, of the well-known bee-hive form, while the Welsh oven is a modified bee-hive, almost rectangular, and is 
adapted to discharging by mechanical means. As generally built this oven is about 14 feet long, 5 feet high, and 6 
feet wide at the front and 5 feet at the back, this difference between the width of the front and back being to 
allow of ease in drawing the charge. The coke is drawn by means of a windlass attached to a wrought-iron bar 
laid along the length of the oven, another being laid transversely across it at the back, both being placed in 
position before the oven is charged. The ovens are generally built back to back, with a chimney between, sometimes 
with side and bottom flues, the Welsh oven in these respects anticipating the Belgian, and are in some cases 
charged through the top, in others through the door. The coke is sometimes cooled in the oven and. sometimes 
after it is drawn. 

The charge is about 4^ tons for the first three days in the week and 5 tons for the remaining four days. For 
the coking of the smaller charge 12 hours are generally allowed, and for the larger 96. As is noted elsewhere, 
at the Ebbw Vale, l>owlais, and other works the Coppee oven has been introduced. 

As is stated in another chapter, the manufacture of coke in the ordinary way in South Wales, although 
exceedingly hard and dense fuel is produced, does not appear to have attained all the economical results possible. 
Experience has shown that the carbonization of the coal is not complete, the long, deep fissures in the coke thus 
manufactured exhibiting, on examination, a considerable amount of dark carbonaceous matter not carbonized. 
No statistics of the output of coke or of the number of ovens in this district have been obtained. 
Considerable coke is also made in Lancashire, though the coal is even less adapted to coke-making than either 
the Durham or the South Wales, and most of it is crushed and washed before coking. At the works of the Wigau 
Coal and Iron Company the slack from their extensive pits is coked after being washed, the coking being done in 
S-ton ovens, the process occupying five days. Some Copp<5e ovens are also used in this district with good results. 
I am indebted to the kindness of Mr. W. H. Hewlett, of the Wigan Coal and Iron Company, limited, for the 
following description of this field : 

The coke district of Lancashire is divided into two parts, southwest Lancashire, of which Wigan may be considered the center, and 
which Is some 23 miles from Liverpool, and northeast Lancashire, of which Burnley may be considered the center, some 45 miles from 
Liverpool. 

Beginning with the former we take first the nature of the coal from which coke is produced. 

The coke here is inade altogether from slack (that is, riddlings which pass through a mesh of three-quarters of an inch) from the 
Arley mine seam. This seam, a bituminous coal, is the bottom seam of the Wigan district (save the mountain measures, which are too 
thiu hero to be profitably worked), and varies in depth in the district from some 140 to 800 yards. The coal from the seam is used, the 
largest for house ijurposes, the next size for gas purposes, and the slack, as hereinbefore named, for the manufacture of coke. 
The following may be considered a good average analysis of the quality : 

Per cent. 

Ash *« 

Sulptor 100 

Volatile matter i i>2. 15 

Fixed carbon 62. 21 

To make this slack into coke there are something like 1,700 ovens in this district, of which the company I represent owns about 700. 
The .slack is washed to remove pyrites and dirt, and is at the larger works (our own, for instance) crushed afterward before being 
coked. 

The following may be regarded as a fair average analysis of the coke produced : 

Per cent. 

AsH ' 8'0 

Solpliur , 1-26 

Volatile matter "-SO 

Water "■ '^ 

Fixed carbon , 88.40 

The ovens are beehive almost entirely. The coke is used principally at blast-furnaces, but commands some 
trade among the founderies in the neighborhood. 

In the Cumberland district, where there are large deposits of rich hematite ores, most of the coke used is 
brought from Durham, at a cost of (June, 1880) from 8s. to 10s. a ton for freight alone. It is stated that 1,000,000 

a Truran On the Maunfacture of Iron, third edition (London, 1S65), page 11. 



MANUFACTURE OF COKE. 59 

tons of coke were used at the iron works of this district in 1877, of wliicli but 50,000 were made iu the district. 
Though the coal of Cumberland has an excess of ash and is high in sulphui-, it is believed that both of these cau 
Tie much reduced by careful washing and coking. The Copi^ee oven, which is especially designed for coking finely- 
divided coals, is being used successfully, though ordinary ovens are used also. In 1878 and 1879 there was 
considerable activity in the Cumberland coal-field in building ovens and making coke. At this date three or four 
seams of coal were worked in the West Cumberland coal-field from which coke was made. A large part of the 
coke, however, was made from slacker screenings and small coal, generally washed. The largest coke manufactory 
at the time was at the Clifton colliery of the West Cumberland Iron and Steel Company. Early in 1879 this company 
had 92 ovens at work and were making about 26,000 tons of coke from 46,000 tons of coal, the coal being crushed 
and washed at an expense of ud. a ton. There were also coke ovens at several other collieries. These ovens, while 
they were built somewhat on the bee-hive plan, differed from the ordinary bee-hive in being built back to back 
with large flues between the backs running the entire length of the row, each oven having a connection with this 
flue, the flue being connected at the end with a large chimney. The ovens are charged through the top and drawn 
in the ordinary way. 

In some cases the waste gases from the oven, after passing through the flues and before passing into the chimney, 
are conducted under boilers and the waste heat is utilized, these boilers supplying steam for working the machinery 
in crushing and preparing the coal, for the engines pumping the water from the pits, and in drawing the coke, 
where mechanical means are used. 

The great coal-field which occupies so large an area of Yorkshire is the most continuous of the coal-fields of 
Great Britain, its length from north to south being upward of 06 miles and its breadth from 5 to 20 miles. Sheflield 
occu;ues the center of this great body of coal. In the southern jiart of Yorkshire the great seam is the Barnsley, 
which far exceeds in thickness any other of the known seams, except the Silkstone. This latter seam is the most 
highly prized in the Yorkshire field. Indeed, these two are practically the only seams wrought, and it is probable 
that no others will be touched, except for local consumption, until they are exhausted. 

It is from the " smalls", or the fine coal of these two seams, that practically all the South Yorkshire coke is made. 
Up to a few years ago the production of coke was limited to the requirements of the Sheffield trade, chiefly for 
steel melting; but with the development of the Barnsley coal and the contemporaneous discovery of the oolitic 
ores of Northampton came a demand for a grade of coke which the small coal from the Barnslej' seam without 
washing was well calculated to produce. This coke contains more carbon and less ash and other impurities than 
the Silkstone, and as a resu^lt thousands of tons of this fine coal, instead of going into unsightly and useless piles 
or being used to ballast railways, are utilized in coke-making. Latterly it is stated that the condition of the 
market for coal has been such that it has been more profitable to make the "run of the mine" into coke, and a 
large number of ovens, upward of 1,000, were erected iu the Barnsley district in 1881. The coke from this coal 
is competing with that from the Silkstone seam, and even with the Durham. Bee-hive ovens 11 feet in diameter 
are most common iu this district. The coal is generally crushed iu a Carr's disintegrator. 

The following shows the range of the analyses of the Barnsley coal from six collieries: 

Per cent. 

Carbon 80. 500 to 82. 520 

Hy diogeu 5. 025 to 5. 500 

Oxygen 6. 205 to 8.243 

Nitrogen 1.496 to 2.120 

Sulphur , 1.144 to 2.100 

Ash 1.S26 to 4.100 

Yield of coke .... 62.000 65.520 

Specific gravity =^^ =j=^^ 

The Silkstone seam, so named from the village where it was first worked, also furnishes a coal well adapted 
for coking. («) Its analysis is as follows : 

Per cent. 

Carbon c^O. 46 

Hydrogen - - 5. Od 

Nitrogen - . 1. 67 

Oxygen 6. 80 

Sulphur 1. 65 

Ash 3.30 

Moisture 1.04 

When coked, the yield is about 60 per cent. The coal from this seam raised at the Hoyland colliery yields 
64.48 per cent, of coke. This coal is extensively coked, and produces a pure, strong coke, which is in good demand 
in the steel works of Slieffield, where it is largely employed. 

Of the coke made in the other districts of the United Kingdom our information is of the most meager 
description, aud covers very little else than the fact that it is made. 

In Staffordshire some coke is manufactured, though the supplies for South Staffordshire come from Derbyshire. 

a See Meade, page 41. 



60 



MANUFACTURE OF COKE. 



These disiricts and Yorkshire, with Durham, Lancashire, and South Wales, should be regarded as the chief seats 
of the coke manufacture of the United Kingdom; but here, as elsewhere, concerning output, ovens, etc., the report 
must be, " ^o returns," 

In London some coke is made from the screenings of the coal-yards, similar to that made at Cincinnati. There 
are quite a number of these establishments in London, one having 21 ovens, another 12, another 9, and others 
various other numbers, and are mostly situated on the river banks. 

Eegarding coke in Scotland, the only definite information received is that in 1878 there was a bank of 160 
ovens at the Haugh works of Messrs. William Baird & Co., in Lanarkshire, which at that time was the most 
extensive works of the kind in Scotland. 

Concerning Ireland, the statement is made that, owing to the great competition with English coke, its 
manufacture scarcely pays the cost of production and carriage. 

During the past few years many attempts have been made to utilize the gases and save the waste products of 
combustion, especially ammonia and tar, but the success has not in most cases been such as to justify the adoption 
of the process. The waste heat is used at many places in making steam, and the experiments in collecting the 
waste products have shown that it can be done. The coke, however, was found to suffer much in quality, so that 
what was gained in one way was counterbalanced by a loss in another. Some recent experiments are said to have 
been more successful, so that there is every probability of the valuable products of the gas being obtained without 
injury to the coke. Messrs. Pease & Partners have recently adopted the Carv6s system with excellent results, 
and other systems are being tried. These will be referred to in another chapter. 

As has been stated, there are no reliable statements as to the amount of coke produced in Great Britain. Mr. 
Richard Meade, to whose work (The Iron and Coal Industries of the United Kingdom) I am so much indebted for 
information, writes me on this subject : 

The Newcastle and Durham districts of the Great Northern coal-field are the most important and extensive iu Britain. Mr. A. 
L. Steavensou, a vice-president of the North of England Institute of Mining Engineers, in a paper read before that body and printed in 
.their transactions (vol. viii, 1859-60) gives the following estimate of the coke trade for the year 1858 : Coke used in the iron trade, 
4,032,070 tons; coke exported, 227, 55"2 tons; railways, etc., 641,611 tons; total for 1858, 4,901,233 tons. The number of coke ovens 
employed, about 16,660 ; and the number of hands employed in the kingdom, about 4,000. 

In the same year, in Durham and Northumberland, the production of coke was about '2,000,000 tons, employing 1,600 hands, the 
capital embarked in the coke trade being about £500,000, yielding about 10 per cent, annually. 

In the year 1880 the consumijtion of Durham coke alone iu pig-iron mauufactiire amounted to 4,500,000 tons, and as the make of 
pig-iron in the same district has increased since 1S80 the coko manufacture will have increased in j)roportiou. There is, however, no 
information of which I am aware showing the extent of increase that is at all reliable. 

As a large number of the iron works in this country manufacture their own coke, it is a very difficult matter to arrive at the 
production even approximately. 

From page 41 of the Annioal Report of the British Iron Trade Association for 1881 1 extract the following: 

The production and consumption of coke during 1880 has exceeded all former experience. In Cleveland, Cumberland, and North 
Lancashire, unitedly, about 4,000,000 tons of pig-iron were made last year, exceeding by nearly a million tons the largest quantity made 
in any former year. And if an average consumption of 22i cwt. of coke per ton of iron is assumed, it follows that iu the three districts 
named the quantity of coke used was about 4,500,000 tons, chiefly supplied from the South Durham coal-field. During the last twelve 
or fifteen months coke has fluctuated very much in value. Commencing in Durham to rise from about 8s. per ton iu August, 1879, it 
advanced before the close of the year to 13s. Gd., and iu the early part of 1830 large quantities were sold between the latter figure and 
20s. per ton. In the latter months of the year, however, prices became easier, (a) 

a As this report is going through the press a statement, prepared by the secretary of the British Iron Trade Association, is at hand, 
■which contains some interesting information concerning the use of coke in the blast-furnaces of that country in 1882, from which the 
following is extracted : 

"There are no reliable statistics of the production and consumption of coke iu the Uuited Kingdom, but the demand for this form of 
fuel is known to have very largely increased within the last few years. This has chiefly been due to the development of the iron trade, 
but the demands for locomotive and export purposes have also been extended iu a material degree. The economies that have been 
introduced in blast-furnace practice have, however, so considerably reduced the consumj^tion of fuel per ton of iron smelted that the 
effect of the greatly increased production of pig has not been so apparent in this industry as it otherwise would have been. The following 
figures show what the consumption of coke would be in the manufacture of pig-iron in 1882 compared "with 1879, assuming for each year 
an average of 23 hundred-weight of coke per ton of pig: 

CONSUMPXION OF COKE IN 1879 AND IN 1682, ALLOWING AN AVERAGE OF 23 HtJNDEED-WEIGHT OF COKE PER TON OF PIG-IRON 
MADE, WITH INCREASE OF CONSUMPTION IN EACH DISTRICT IN THE LATTER YEAE. 



CleTeland *... 

West CumlKM-land . 

South Wales 

North Wales 

So-jtU Staffonlsliire 
Nuitli Staffoi-.lsliii-c 
Liucolnshire 



Tons. 
2, 032, 448 
Oil, 383 
770, 330 
21, 796 
374, 047 
241, 930 
151, 429 



1882. 



Tom. 

3, 091, 947 

1, 151, 358 

1,015,801 

56, 0?.0 

458, 209 

364, 684 

231, 796 



Tons. 
1, 069, 499 
539, 975 
245, 465 
84, 224 
83, 562 
122, 754 
80, 366 



Lancasliire 

Northamptonshire 

West and South Yorkshire 

Derbyshire and Notts 

Shropshire 

Gloucestershire, Wiltshire, etc . 
Total 



CONSUMPTION OF COKE. 



J879. 



Tons. 
726, 044 
190, 114 
251, 026 
335, 173 
09, 908 
46, 000 



5, 822, 834 



1SS2. 



Tons. 
900, 150 
220, 932 
321, 141 
512, 595 
92, 540 
55, 200 




2, 649, 544 



^ In South Staffordshire probably one-half of the fuel used in iron smeltine; is raw coal, but as the exact proportions are unknown the whole is dealt with as coke. 

"These figures show an increase of 2,649,544 tons, or 46 per cent., within four years ; but it should be noted that the average 

consumption per ton of pig is likely to have been higher in 1879 than iu 1882, because of the e-Kten^ive introduction of more economical 



MANUFACTURE OF COKE. Gl 

The followiug table shows the exjiorts of coke from Great Britain for 187S, 1879, aud 1880, and the value of 
the same : 



Countries to which exported. 



Kassia : 

Northern ports 

Southern porta 

Sweden 

Norway 

Denmark 

Germany - 

Holland 

France 

Portugal, Azores, aud Madeira. 

Spain and Canaries 

Italy 



Tons, 2, 240 
pounds.* 



52, 511 

18, 411 
10,128 

4,902 
23,044 

2,363 
17, 180 

3,872 
92, 603 
15, 476 



Tons, 2, 240 
poojlds.t 



24, 140 
10,960 
6,280 



100, 990 
24, 420 



Countries to wliich exported. 



Greece 

British India : 

Continental territories 

Straits settlements 

Ceylon 

United States of America on the 
Pacific. 

ChiU 

Brazil 

other countries 

Total 



Tons, 2, 240 
pounds.* 



5,562 
2,437 
11, 114 



Tons, 2, 240 
ponnds.t 



17, 600 
7,020 



11,290 
3,100 
12, 628 



18, 750 
3,418 
17,597 



Value: £201,708. 



t Value : 4231,071. 



♦ Value: *338,259. 



COKING m BELGIUM. 

The coal-fields of Belgium are among the most important of the continent of Europe, and have given to this 
little bit of territory an industrial importance and competitive power second only to that of Great Britain. These 
fields extend across the country from east to west, but vary greatly as to their accessibility, the coal at one place 
cropping out some 600 feet above the level of the sea, while at Mons it is found some 7,000 feet below the level. 

The coal-fields are divided into five ilistricts: Mous, Centre, Charleroy, Namur, and Li6ge. The first three 
districts named are included in the province of Hainaiit, aud statements aud reports couceruiug the coal of this 
country frequently speak only of the provinces or districts of Hainaut, Namur, and Liege. The province of 
ISTamur, however, is of little importance as a coal-producing district, its output being only 3 or 4 per cent, of the 
product of the country. 

The quality of Belgian coal, thougl), as inmost countries,itvaries greatly, is on the whole good, the deepest seams 
being the best and thickest. Nearly half the total production is a close-burning coal, and is used principally for 

bliist-lieatiug apparatus, aud also because of the much larger make of hematite relatively to other qualities of iron ia the latter year. 
The (litfereiico, therefore, against 1879 is likely to have been even greater than the foregoing figures indicate. The followiug table shows 
the cousuuiption of coke in the manufacture of pig-iron in 1862, both as coke and in the form of coal, Scotland being, of course, excluded, 
iu consequence of the general use of raw coal in the blast-furnaces of that country. 

CONSUilPTION OF COKE IN THE PRODUCTION OF PIGIEON IN THE UNITED KIXCDO.M IX 1882, THE AVEEAGE BEING TAKEN AT 23 

HUNDRED-WEIGHT PEE TON OF THE IRON MADE. 



Equivalent of 
I coal, taking 60 
I PLT cent, of 

coKe as 100 per 
cent, of coal. 



CleTeland 

West Cumherlaud 

South Wales , 

North Wales 

South Staffordshire 

North Staffordshire 

Lincolnshire 

Lancashire 

Northamptonshire 

West and South Voikshire 
Derhyshire aud Notts - . . 

Shropshu-e 

Gloucestershire, Wiltshii'c 



3, 091, 947 
1,151,358 
1, 015, 801 
50, 020 
458, 209 
364, 684 
231, 795 
900, 130 
220, 932 
321, 141 
512,595 



i, 153, 245 
,, 918, 930 
, 693, 001 
93, 366 
763, 681 
C07, 806 
360, 325 
, 500, 250 
368, 220 
535, 235 
854, 325 
154, 243 
92, 000 



Total ... 
Add coal 



ed in Scotland. s.iy 



, 120, 027 I 
:, 300, 000 I 



"It is probable that the average yield of the United Kingdom will be nearer 56 to 57 per cent, of coke per 100 of coal, 60 per cent, 
being indeed about the best average result that is obtained in the coke manufacture. It is probable, also, that the average consumption 
of coke per ton of pig made will, in the country generally, be nearer 25 than "23 hundred- weight. The foregoing table is therefore subject 
to these two modifications. " 



62 



MANUFACTURE OF COKK. 



domestic purposes, and to some extent for gas- and coke-making. IJhe production of true coking coal is small^ 
only about 27 per cent, of the entire amount raised. Of this only a portion is coked, less than 17 per cent, of the 
entire production of coal being made into coke. 

The beginning of the manufacture of coke on an extensive scale in Belgium dates from the erection of the first 
blast-furnace, in 1826, by John Cockerill, at Seraing. In 1830 the number of these furnaces had increased to 5, while 
there were still 72 charcoal blast-furnaces in existence. Many of these charcoal furnaces were out of blast, however, 
and coke furnaces gradually took their place until 1865, when there were 56 of them in blast. Iifotwithstanding this 
increase, the development of the manufacture of pig-iron in Belgium has not kept pace with the manufacture 
of coke. The output of iron ores has largely decreased in the last fifteen years, and while their importation has 
more than doubled in the same period, the production of pig-iron and other uses have not been sufficiently large 
to consume the coke made, and a large proportion of it has gone to the furnaces of other countries. In 1881 nearly 
one-half the coke made, or 914,885 out of a production of 1,834,669 metric tons, was exported. 

Wliile the production of coke in Belgium has thus been of great moment to the industries of contiguous countries,, 
it has not been wholly the amount that has given the manufacture of coke in Belgium so much importance, but 
rather the improvements that have been made in coke ovens in that country. Bee-hive ovens were at first used, 
but as the demand for coke increased it became necessary to adopt better and more economical forms, as well as 
ovens adapted to coking coals of an inferior character, and the Belgian or flue ovens are the result. These ovens, if 
they did not originate in Belgium, certainly have received the most attention and reached their best development in 
this kingdom, and the name Belgian, which has been applied to all flue ovens, is therefore exceedingly appropriate, (a) 

The of&cial statement as to the number of coke ovens in Belgium and the production of coke in 1881 is as 
follows : 





Localities. 


SUMBBK OF COKE OVENS. 


Number of 
men employed. 


Consumption 

of coal, 

net tons (2,000 

pounds). 


Production in 

coke, 

net tons (2,000 

pounds) . 


Value per 




In operation. 


Idle. 


net ton (2,000 
pounds). 


.... „ . 




2,680 
1,443 


826 
608 


1,598 
760 


1, 972, 261 
778, 334 


1, 441, 398 
580, 257 


1 $2 80 


^ .'. .' ,..^ 








^°*'' 


4,123 


1,434 


2,358 


2, 750, 595 


2, 021, 655 









While all the ovens in use in Belgium are flue ovens, heated from the bottom and sides, the variety is- 
considerable, but no statement of the number of each kind is given in the oflQcial publications. Most of the ovens- 
are horizontal, sometimes with the floor slightly inclined, and are generally placed in single or double lines or 
banks, but are occasionally clustered [en ruche). In some cases the pitch and other products of combustion are- 
saved. The Appolt or vertical oven is also used to some extent, and for some years has been growing in favor,, 
notably at Seraing. (b) 

There are 57 firms engaged in the manufacture of coke, and the number of each class of ovens built is as follows :. 

A. — Horizontal, in lines or banks 4, 397 

B. — Horizontal (e« ritche) - 1^* 

C— Vertical - 1.008 

Total 5,557 

Two hundred and fifty-nine ovens of class A and 48 of class B are arranged for the saving of the waste products; 
of combustion. 

The following tables give in detail the statistics concerning the production of coke in Belgium in 1881 : 

PEOVINCE OF HAINAUT.* 





First district. 


Second district. 


Third district. 


Fourth district. 


Fifth district. 


Province of 
Hainaut. 




413 

77 


443 
130 


1,188 
124 


398 
228 


238 
267 


2,680' 




326 






Total 


490 


573 


1,312 


626 


505 


3,50& 


Xumbr of workmen 












1, 398- 




283, 183 
194, 001 


251,272 
175, 477 


948, 398 
702, 610 


330, 693 
257, 940 


158, 733 
110, 782 


1,972,279' 




1, 441, 410- 







' Eeport of the engineer-in-chief, director of mines of the province of Hainaut. 

The average value of the coke was 16.03 francs per 1,000 kilograms, or $2 81 per ton of 2,000 pounds, and the 
prodiiction exceeded that of 1880 by 722,545 net tons. 

a This subject is discussed at lengtli in the chapter on " Belgian Ovens". 

b This statement is based on a. letter from M. M.ax Goebel, editor of La Semaine TnduslrieUe, Li^ge, to whom I am indebted for 
many of the facts given concerning Belgian coke. 



MANUFACTURE OF COKE. 

PROVINCE OF LifiGE.* 



63 



Number of ovens in operation . 
Number of orens idle , 



Eighth district. Ninth district. ' Tenth district. 



Number of workmen 

Coal consumed, tons of 2,000 pounds 

Production of coke, tons of 2,000 pounds 



174, 981 
132, 057 



54,588 
39, 812 



503,743 I 
373,917 I 



45, 029 
35, 177 



Province of 
Li6ge. 



778, 341 
580,963 



* Report of the engineer-in-chief, director of mines of the provinces of Li6ge and Namur. 

The value of the coke was |2 77J per net ton, and the quantity of coke made in 1880 was 20,025 tons less than in 187<J. There are no 
coke ovens at. the mines of the sixth district. 

It sliould be noted that, in addition to the amount given above, a little coke is made in Belgian Luxembourg. 
The ofBcial statistics, ho"wever, give no statement of the amount. 

From these tables it appears that 2,7.50,020 net tons of coal were used iu the production of 2,022,373 tons of 
coke, a yield of 73.5 per cent. — much in excess of that attained in the bee-hive ovens in the United States or 
England. This excess iu yield is largely, though not entirely, due to the use of the flue oven. The output per 
oven was a little over 490 tons for the year. 

The production of coke in Belgium for the five years, 1876-'80, by provinces, is as follows : 



Tear. 


Hainaut. 


Li^ge. 


1876 


Tons. 
914, 415 
899, 447 
1, 056, 401 
1, 004, 930 
1, 270, 024 


Tons. 
459, 451 
■ 448,169 
462, 477 
480, 990 
560, 938 


1877 


1878 


1879 


1880 





As has ab-eady been stated, a large percentage of the coke produced in Belgium is exported, chiefly to France. 
Some little coke is imported. 

The following table, from the report of the Belgian ministry of finance, shows the imports and exports for the 
years 1877, 1878, and 1879 : 

EXPORTS. 



Exported to — 


1877. 


187S. 


1S79. 




Net tans. 

10, 163 

194, 918 

.122, 343 

3,136 


Net tons. 


Net torn. 

11 

119, 209 

432, 142 

2,832 




153, 388 

362, 021 

3,360 






Totiil .... 


530, 560 


518, 769 


5.')4,194 





Imported from— 


1877. 


1878. 


IS79. 




Net tons, 
16, 157 
4,290 
176 


Net tons. 
13, 795 
5,733 
90 


Net toM. 
4,410 
5,222 
89 


France 


Total 


20,623 


19, 618 


9,721 



The exports of coke have largely increased since 1879, being 937,345 net tons in 1880 and 1,008,487 tons in 1881. 

The apparent anomaly presented by the above tables of the importation into Belgium of coke from Prussia, 
and even a small quantity from France, to which Belgium sends so much coke, is explained by the location of the 
works using it relative to lines of transportation, they being of easier and cheaper access to the French and 
Prussian coke manufactories than to the Belgian. 



64 MANUFACTURE OF COKE. 

COKING IIS" FRANCE. 

The Freuch coals, even of the coking variety, are, as a rule, not well adapted to the manufaiture of coke, 
being, as comiiared with the English and the Belgian coals and those of Westphalia, very impure and high in 
ash, the amount being such that the fuel would hardly be used at English or American blast-furnaces. By carefully 
washing the coal and by proper attention to coking, however, the difficulty is reduced to a minimum. The results 
obtained in French iron works with their fuel is most creditable to their management. 

There are in France six j)rincipal coal-producing districts, {a) 

1. The northern coal-field. — This district extends over a part of the departments of the Nord and Pas-de-Calais, 
from the Belgian frontier up to and beyond the city of Bethune, and more particularly in the environs of Valenciennes 
and Douai. The coal-measures comprise a rather large number of seams, generally varying in size from 0.50 to 
1 meter, (ft) Various kinds of coal are produced, including anthracitic, semi-bituminous, and coals suitable for 
making coke. These coals vary also as regards the percentage of ash, and a like observation applies to the coke 
I)roduced. Two kinds of coke are made in the department of the Nord, viz : the washed coke, containing from 7 
to 8 per cent, of ash, and the unwashed, containing from 12 to 14 per cent., and sometimes more. This coal-field has 
the advantage of possessing a great number of railways and canals in connection with the Seine, Marne, and 
Meuse, so that its products are conveyed a considerable distance. 

2. The Burgundy coal-field. — This district occupies a portion of the department of the Saone and Loire between 
Autun and Charolles, its principal collieries being those of Blanzy, Epinac, and Creusot. There are but few seams, 
and those of somewhat varied characteristics, the thickness being not unfrequently considerable, while the seams 
are worked by means of shafts sunk to a depth of 250 or 300 meters, or more. At Creusot the coal is nearly an 
anthracite, but it undergoes a change eastward, where it becomes very flaming, and, to a certain extent, is adapted 
to coke, without, however, being really a coking coal. The small coals have to be washed in order to produce coke 
with even as little as 12 per cent. ash. The Creusot coal is not suitable for carbonization, except when mixed with 
a considerable proportion of coking coal of the Saiut-Etienne district. 

3. The central coal-field. — This is situated in the department of the Allier, and the principal collieries are 
those near the town of Commentry and the village of Bezenet. A line seam, with but little incline and an average 
thickness of, say, 14 meters at the former place and a somewhat irregularly formed seam at the latter, is worked. 
The coal is flaming and gaseous, and yields a rather light kind of coke, which, when produced from washed coal, 
contains from 10 to 12 per cent, of ash. To this main coal district may be attached some small outlying coal-basins, one 
of which is the Saiiit-Bloy basin, in the neighboring department of the Puyde-D6me, supplying coal and coke, with 
a good proportion of ash. 

4. The Loire coal-field. — Next to the coal district of the Nord the Loire district is the most important, more 
especially in the vicinity of Saint-Etienne and Eive-de-Gier. It comprises a number of seams of no inconsiderable 
extent, the total accumulated thickness of which is calculated at from 50 to 70 meters, the whole depth of the coal- 
measures being about 1,800 meters. The proportion of ash in the coke obtained from the small washed coal is 
generally from 13 to 13 per cent. 

5. The Aveyron coal-field. — This district is situated in the department of the same name, and the chief collieries 
are those of Decazeville and Aubin. The seams are nearly horizontal, and are of but little depth. The coal here has 
to be carefully washed in order to obtain such a kind of coke as would be suitable for use in blast-furnaces. This 
coke, which is not verj' dense, generally contains from 10 to 12 per cent. ash. 

6. The Alais coal-field. — This ranks as the third important coal district in France, and is situated in the 
department of the Card. The seams differ in thickness (from 0.30 to 2 meters), and yield sundry kinds of coal, 
varyiug from the anthracite to the flaming sort, including the intermediate coking and bituminous qualities 
suitable for coke. Coke of good quality and with but little sulphur is made from the washed small coals, with from 
10 to 14 per cent, ash in the kinds suitable for blast-furnaces. 

As regards the center of France, mention may be made of the Brassac basin in the Haute- Loire (which sends 
its coking coal as far as Creusot), and the Ahun basin, department of the Creuse, also producing coking coal and 
supplying two or three smelting works in the neighborhood. 

In the east the Eonchamp coal formation, situate on the southern slope of the Vosges, department of the Haute- 
Sa6ne, furnishes a certain quantity of fuel to the Franche-Comt6 iron works. 

In the southwest the Carmaux basin (department of the Tarn) supplies coke to some iron works, particularly 
those near the Pyrenees, and the Graissesac basin (Herault) produces also coal fit for coke. 

Generally speaking, coke is no louger mantifactured in France except in the Belgian ovens, chiefly of the Smet, 
Copp6e, or Appolt systems. The Smet and the Coppee ovens are principally used in the Anzin, Commentry, Saint- 
Etienne, Aveyron, and Grand-Combe collieries; the Appolt at Blanzy, Creusot, Bezenet, Portes, and other places. 
A number of ovens on the Carves system, for utilizing the waste products, are in use with good results, especially 

a Condensed from a paper by Professor S. Jordan, of Paris, read before the Britislj Iron and Steel Institute, at its Paris meeting, 1878. 
i The meter is 39.370 inclies. 



MANUFACTURE OF COKE. 



65 



at Saint-lStienue and Terreuoire. Almost all the small coal usetl is washed, as with few exceptious French coal 
would not be otherwise pure enough to produce a sufficiently clean coke for manufacturing purposes. 

It is very difficult to arrive at the yield of the French coal in coke. Jn the Saint-lStienue coal-field at one iioiut 
there are 122 Belgian ovens, using crushed and washed coal, 175 tons of coke being made per day. The charge is 
from -1 to 4J tons, and it is burned 18 hours, yielding about 3 tons, or 72 per cent. The average ash in the coal is 
13J per cent., but by double washiug it is reduced to from li to S per cent. At Saint-fitienne 80,000 tons of coal are 
burned per year, producing as follows : 

Tods. 

Large coke.. -. 52, 008 

Small coke 3,500 

Graphite 30 

55, 538 

or 69.4 per cent, of coke, beside 2,400 tons of tar and 300 tons of ammonia product. The best information is to the 
effect that the average yield of coal in coke in France is 70 per cent. 

The price of coke in 1878 varied from 20 to 27 francs ($3 86 to $5 21) per ton at the ovens, according to the 
purity of the article and the situation of the coal-fields. 

In addition to the fuel from French collieries, the French metallurgical works import coal and coke from foreign 
countries, as, for example, from England- (the cargoes being discharged at the channel and ocean ports), as well as 
from Belgium, and, via the Belgian frontiers, Westphalia. It would even be possible to quote an establishment 
in the southwest of France which receives its coke, via Rotterdam and Bordeaux, from the Euhr carboniferous 
district (Essen, in Westphalia). 

Considerable coke is brought into France from other countries, and some small amounts are exported, the 
imports and exports for 1881 by countries, and for 1870 and 1880 by totals, being as follows : 



Germany 

Switzerland 

Ita]y 

other conntries- 

Totall881... 
TotallSSO... 
Total 1879. . 



Tons.* 
902, 771 
190, 487 



1, ni,054 
943, 416 
700, 529 



7,275 
7,585 
9,754 



24, 614 
40, 905 
20, 589 



* This ton ia probably the metric ton of 2.205 pounds. 

The of&cial publications of the French government contain no returns of the annual production of coke. 
Pechar estimates it at 1,400,000 metric tons (1,543,234 tons of 2,000 pounds), requiring about 2,000,000 metric tons 
(2,204,020 tons of 2,000 pounds) of coal. This would indicate the same yield as is .stated above, 70 per cent. Adding 
to this the imports and subtracting the exports, it would leave for consumption in France, in 1880, 2,302,511 metric 
tons, or 2,538,081 tons of 2,000 pounds. 



COKING IN GERMANY. 

The introduction of the steam-engine into the mines and iron works of Germany in 1784 gave, as it did in 
other countries, a strong impetus to the development of its coal and iron industries, as also to the production of 
coke. The first coke blast-furnace was erected at Gleiwitz, in Upper Silesia, in 1796. This was followed by the 
introduction of coke-furnaces in Konigshiitte in 1802, in Hohenlohhiitte, which was the first private works, in 1805, 
and in the district of the Saar in 1848. 

The chief coke-producing region of Germany, as well as the source of nearly half its coal, is Westphalia. 
The coal-basin of this district, which is also called, after the river which runs through its southern part, the basin 
of the Euhr, is about 70 kilometers in length and 20 kilometers in breadth (say 43.5 miles in length and 12.43 miles 
in breadth). In this space of about 0.50 square miles are rai.sed more than 20,000,000 tons of coal annually — 55 per 
cent, of all produced in Prussia, and about 49 per cent, of all produced in the German empire. («) There have 
been developed 74 workable seams of over 20 inches each, the total thickness of coal being 70 meters, or 229f feet. 
The coking coal belongs to the third group of seams, and includes 23 seams. Nearly all the collieries possess 
apparatus for separating and washiug their coals. 



a The meeting of the British Iron and Steel Institute at Dilsseldorf in 1880 was the occasion of the presentation of a series of papers 
ou the coal and iron industries of Germany. It is from Dr. Gustav Natorp's paper on the "Coal Industry of the Lower Rhine and 
Westphalia" that most of the facts in this chapter are derived. 
CO, VOL. IX 5 



66 



MANUFACTURE OF COKE. 



The percentage of ash, which varies in the coal between 10 and 15 per cent., is reduced by preparation to an 
average of from 4 to 5 per cent., even in the least clean descriptions, such as nuts and dust coal. 

While the larger descriptions of the prepared product are used for domestic fuel and boiler and other industrial 
purposes, the dust coal, as well as the greater part of the smallest class of nuts, which are crushed for the purpose 
in disintegrators and mixed with the dust coal, are used for the fabrication of coke, and when manufactured from 
this mixture contains on an average from 6 to 7 per cent, of ash. 

For the manufacture of coke out of Westphalian coal there existed early in 1880 about 2,400 coke ovens at the 
collieries, 1,700 at the iron works, 1,200 in private hands; in all, 5,300. This number increased in 1880 about 500. 
By far the greater number of these ovens is constructed on the so-called Copp(5e system, which has, however, in 
late years undergone, some improvements in the brick-work and in the volume of the oven, There are only 500 
coke ovens on an entirely different system, approaching the English bee-hive in shape. While the Coppee ovens, 
and especially those of improved construction, coke from to 7 tons of coal in 48 hours, with a production of 70 
per cent., the bee-hive ovens hold only 5 tons of coal, require 72 hours to coke the same, and produce from 54 to 60 
per cent, of coke. 

Although it is the opinion of some iron engineers that the coke produced in the hee-hive ovens is superior in many respects to that of 
the Copp6e ovens, tlie former have, nevertheless, not been generally adopted, since a coke can be far more cheaply produced in the Coppee 
ovens, which answer all the requirements, not alone of our own native iron industry, but that of Belgium, Luxembourg, and France, (a) 

The approximate number of ovens, quantity of Westphalian coal used for coking, and of the coke manufactured, 
is shown by the following table : 



Coking "works. 


!Nmnber of 
coke ovens. 


Coal used. 


Coke produced. 


1. Collieries 


2,400 
1,700 
1,200 


Tons. 
1,630,000 
1, 057, 500 
765, 000 


Tom. 

1, 020, 000 
750, 000 
510, 000 






5,300 


3, 353, 500 
633 


2,280,000 
430 









Through the kindness of Dr. Hermann Wedding I am enabled to give the following statement regarding the 
production of coke in Prussia. These statistics are not gathered officially, either as to the amount produced or as 
to the number of coke ovens, but the following figures, derived from sources not official, may be considered very 
nearly correct : Tons. 

District of Upper Silesia 434,199 

District of Lower Silesia 127,596 

District of Lower Westphalia (Ruhr district) 2,280,000 

District of the Saar '. 510,103 

District of Aix-la-ChapclIe 13,259 

District of Oberkirchen 33,096 

Total J - 3,397,253 

In Upper Silesia the coal is somewhat inferior in character, and as a rule does not coke. However, some 
coking coal exists at Zabize, and from the slack from the mines at this place some coke is made in bee-hive and 
Belgian oveiis. From the non-coking or poor-coking coals of the eastern district of Konigshiitte, etc., coke, as a 
rule, is produced either in heaps or in open kilns. Large bee-hive ovens or closed kilns are used to a still less 
extent, and recently some Belgian ovens have been introduced, the coke made being for furnace use. The number 
of ovens or heaps is not known. 

Lower Silesia contains some good coking coal, which is coked in Belgian ovens, generally on the Coppee 
system, and is mostly for foundery purposes. A statement regarding the coking coals of Ehenish Westphalia is 
given above. 

In the Saar district there are some good deposits of coking coal, but the coke made is not as good as that of 
Westphalia. Belgian as well as some Appolt ovens are used, as in,Silesia. 

In Aix-la-Ohappelle the deposits of coking coal are extensive. There are 257 Belgian ovens in use, with some 
ovens on the system Liirmaun for poor coal. The cokes made in this district are for blast-furnace purposes. 

In Oberkirchen, where the coal is very pitchy, light, porous coke is made in open kilns, and is used mostly 
for lead and copper smelting. 

The designation of ovens in Germany is so peculiar as to demand a word of explanation. The terms used are 
open ovens, closed ovens, narrow ovens, and Appolt. The open oven is what we have termed the open kiln, the 
closed oven either the bee-hive or its modification, the rectangular oven, without flues, the narrow oven the 
horizontal Belgian oven, and the Appolt oven the vertical Belgian. 

a See Dr. Natorp's paper. 



MANUFACTURE OF COKE. 67 

I^early all iron works iu the ueighborhood of coal-mines have their own coke ovens and use the escaping gas 
to heat the boilers, but the greater part of the iron works situated at some distance from the mines purchase 
coke, while some is brought from Belgium. 

The total output of the coke works of Germanj- in 1S7S is given iu the Colliery Guanlian at 5,403,392 tons. 
Prices have fluctuated considerably recently. At the beginning of 1S79 furnace coke was quoted at 22.s. a ton, 
a decline, as compared with 1S7S, of IG per cent. In May, 1879, Silesian and Westphalian coke were quoted at 
Berlin at from 19s. to 20s. per ton. As showing the cost of freight, these same cokes were quoted at the ovens 
at from 7s. Gd. to Ss. Gf7. In January, 1880, coke at Dortmund was quoted at 2Gs.; in February, at the same ijlace, 
28s.; in April, at the pit, £1 8s. 3rf., and in May, 1880, Westphalian coke at Hamburg was 50s. About this time 
speculation lost its power, and coke sold at the close of 1880 at from 9s. to 10s. per ton at the pits. 

COKING IN AUSTEIA-HUNGAEY. 

Though some portions of Austria-Hungary are among the oldest iron-producing districts of the world, the 
small supply of coal of a coking character, and its distance from the best deposits of iron ore, have seriously 
interfered with the development of its iron resources, and consequently \vith the use of coke. The distribution of 
these two minerals is also such that the best ores and the good coking coal are not together. In the Austrian 
alpine countries, Styria and Carinthia, which are very rich in excellent iron ores, charcoal is at present almost 
the exclusive fuel used for making pig-iron. This section has no coking coal, and the long distances and high railway 
tariifs admit only of a limited use of coke from other sections and countries. In Bohemia, Moravia, and Silesia there 
are large deposits of good coking coal, but the ores are inferior to those of Styria and Carinthia. It was not until 
1838 that pig-iron was made with coke in this district, the first blastfurnace, which was also the first in Austria, 
having been erected at Witkowitz in this year; but since the year 1870 its use has become more general, and at 
present one-half of the production of j^ig-iron is with coke. 

It is in these provinces of Austria that nearly all the coke made in Austria-Hungary is produced, the chiei 
centers of production being Kladno and Pilsen in Bohemia and Ostrau-Karwin in Silesia. The coke from the latter 
district is an excellent furnace fuel. That froiu Kladno is used at the works of the Prague Iron Company, the 
most extensive coke blast-furnaces in the empire. The average yield of the coal of the Ostrau-Karwin district in 
coke is estimated at from 55 to 61 per cent. About 8 per cent, of the output of the district is coked. At present 
the production is limited by the high cost of transportation to the iron works. 

The manufacture of pig-iron iu Hungary has advanced much in the course of the last few years, but a scarcity 
of suitable coking coal also prevails here. Of the 68 blast-furnaces of Hungary but one uses coke entirely, 
and one other part charcoal and part coke. Only small quantities of Ba^natian coal are made into coke, but this 
is excellent, and the yield is the highest in the empire. For the other opei-ations of iron and steel making most 
of the fuel used is brown coal or lignite, of which Austria-Hungary possesses rich deposits of a most excellent 
character. There are, however, some deposits of coal of a coking quality well adapted for use in furnaces, and, 
though inconveniently situated in respect to the ore deposits, those metallurgists who know the country best are 
sanguine as to its availability in the near future. "While some quite successful experiments have been made in 
producing coke from lignite, the amount made is quite small. 

The statistics of coke-making in this empire are very meager. The following quantities of coal were, according 
to Pechar, used for coke in the year 1876 : 

Metric tons. 

In the Ostrau district 126, 419 

Iu the Kladuo district 71, 973 

In the Pilstn district 43,281 

In the Schatzlar-Schwadoiiitz district 7,340 

In the Rossitz district 7, 129 

In Hungary 2, 974 

Total 259,116 

Assuming the yield to be 58 per cent., this would make a total production of about 150,287 metric tons. 
From another source the following statement of .the make of coke iu Austria in 1878 is given : 

iletric centners. 

Bohemia 1,192,566 

Moravia 574, 026 

Silesia 1,073,445 

Total 2,843,037 

or 175,503 net tons, a result that does not differ much from the production estimated above. A portion of this, 
some 13,100 metric centners, was exported in 1878 to Prussia and Kussia. 

The same causes that result in a high price of coke and fluctuations in the price iu other countries rule in 
Austria, though the high price is more largely due to the heavy cost of railway carriage. In 1879 coke cost, 
delivered at Loeben, 17 florins 40 kreutzers, or, at 48 cents the florin, $8 48 per ton, and at Bordenberg 16 florins, 
or $7 68. 



68 MANUFACTURE OF COKE. 

COKING IN OTHBE EUROPEAN C0UNTEIE8. 

But little coke is manufactured iu contiueutal Europe outside of the countries already named, viz, Belgium, 
Prance Grermany, and Austria- Hungary. In the other states the coal is either non-coking or is so situated with 
reference to transportation, ores, and centers of demand that it is more economical to use other fuel. In Norway 
no coal is mined; in Sweden the only coal worked is in the Lias, and is non-coking. There are a few coke 
ovens less than ten, at Stockholm, which make coke from English coal and its slack, for use iu small passenger 
river steamers. As no coke is used in the Swedish blast-furnaces, the demand is very small, and, witli the 
exception noted, is supplied from England. Denmark proper has no coal-beds. There are two small mines in 
the island of Bornholm, a dependency of Denmark, but the whole output is used on the island, chiefly in the 
manufacture of brick. Lignite is also found in Iceland, but no coke is made from it. Eussia has very extensive 
deposits of coal, some of which is well adapted to coking, but the immense forests of this empire furnish such 
boundless supplies of charcoal that most of the iron is smelted with this fuel. The means of transportation are 
also so inadequate and expensive that it is cheaper to purchase iron abroad, and as a result, the demand for coke 
is light, and but little is made. The Donetz coal, which is coked to some extent, yields from 51.75 to 81.99 per 
cent, in coke. In Holland coal is found only in the province of Limburg; but the output is insignificant, and no 
coke is produced. Coal is found in many places in Turkey and Greece, but very little of it is mined and no coke is 
made, though some of it is of a coking character, and many deposits of iron ore exist. The coal deposits of Italy 
are mostly lignite, and of Switzerland anthracite and lignite, little or no coking coal being found. In Portugal 
there are but two coal-fields worth mentioning, and no coke is made. 

But little is known of the production of minerals in Spain, with the exception of iron ore, and that little not 
of recent date. The Spanish coal-basins are of considerable importance, furnishing some coal adapted to coking, 
and, on the whole, are well situated with respect to outlet, the deposits of iron ore being among the most extensive, 
richest, and purest in the world. Notwithstanding these natural advantages, however, Spain imports fully half 
the coal she uses, and exports nearly all the iron ore, instead of working it into the various forms of cast and 
manufactured iron. Some pig-iron is made in Spain with coke, chiefly imported, however, but the fuel generally 
used is charcoal. Probably the main obstacle in the way of the development of its coal, and, consequently, of its 
coke industries, is the lack of transportation in the interior of the country. In 1872, in the province of Cordova, 
5,717 metric tons of coke were produced; in 1871, 1,707 metric tons ; and in 1870, 2,589 metric tons ; but as the estimated 
annual consumption of coal in the iron and metal industries of Spain is 500,000 metric tons, this is probably below 
the actual make. 

At the close of 1882 there were in Spain five coke works. At one of these, that of Sociedad Anonima, at 
Mieres Asturias, three methods of coking were used. 

First : A bank (maoizo) of 40 furnaces, Smet system (Belgian), with a capacity of 3,000 kilograms each of 
washed coal. The burning lasts 40 hours, and a yield of 60 per cent, is obtained. 

Second: A bank of 30 ovens, similar to the Copp6e, but modified by the society. Each oven holds 3,000 
kilograms of coal, and yields 63 per cent, in 30 hours. 

Third: Beside this, some 7,000 or 8,000 tons of coke are produced annually in heaps in the open air with the 
same class of coals, but in this system the yield does not exceed 48 per cent. 



MANUFACTURE OF COKE. 69 

Paet IV.— coal, COAL-WASHING, ETC. 



COKIIs^G AND NON-COKING COALS. 

Certain kinds of bituminous coal when lieated to a temperature varying somewhat with their character swell, 
become pasty and sticky, and throw off bubbles or jets of gas, which bui-n with a bright flame as they escape 
into the air. When lumps or particles of these varieties of coal are thus heated to the pasty condition they 
lose all ti'aces of their original form, appearance, and structure, and unite into a coherent mass, or, in technical 
language, are said to " coke" or " cake ", and the coal which thus cokes or cakes is termed a " coking " or " caking ^ 
coal. («) On the other hand, a non-coking coal (b) is one that, under similar treatment, either coheres feebly or not at 
all, the forms of the original particles or lumps being clearly distinguishable. The solid j)roduct or the carbonaceous 
residue of the burning or heating of both the coking and non-coking coals is termed " coke ", though in the arts this 
word is generally applied only to that coke which is made from true coking coal, or from admixtures of non-coking 
coal in proper proportions with coking coal or pitch, by which a firm coherent coke can be produced. 

It is important to distinguish clearly between what may be termed "industrial coke" and "crucible" or 
" laboratory coke ''. The latter is the coke produced in a small waj' in the laboratory of the analyst, and includes 
not only the carbonaceous residue obtained in the analysis of coal, but that from pitchy and other carbonaceous 
substances as well. " Industrial coke " includes only the firm coherent cokes made from coal on a large scale for use 
in the manufacturing or industrial arts. The percentage of ^-arbon and other elements in " industrial coke " and 
"laboratory coke" from the same coal will differ very materially, owing to the difference in the methods of 
manufacture and the greater care exercised in the production of the latter. It is important, thei-efore. in making 
comparisons of the analyses of different cokes and the yield of coal in coke, to know that the cokes were made in a 
similar manner, industrial coke being compared with industrial coke and laboratory coke with laboratory coke. Any 
comparisons of the analyses of industrial with those of laboratory cokes will be misleading unless due consideration 
is given to the fact that they are not made in the same way, and unless the necessary deductions are made. Much 
costly disappointment has arisen from a failure to make this distinction. 

Industrial coke can be broadly divided into two classes: " oven coke," or that made in ovens, pits, or mounds, 
and which is a direct product, the manufacture of coke directly being the object of the carbonization of coal ; and 
"gas coke", or the solid carbonaceous residue of the process of manufacturing gas. In this report I deal chiefly 
with that termed " oven coke ", and unless otherwise specially noted the word coke will be synonymous with " oven 
coke ". 

Coke is not the result of simple fusion, the temperature necessary to produce it being above that at which 
the coal suffers decomposition. In the process the volatile bodies are driven oft' and a portion of the non-volatile 
compounds are decomposed, their carbon becoming to a great extent fixed, their hydrogen and oxygen being 
dispersed. The earthy and non-volatile substances of coal and those not decomposed by heat are nearly all found 
in coke. 

The coking power of difierent coals differs greatly, and the quality of the coke made under different conditions 
and in different ovens from the same coal will show marked difterences of character as well as of economic efiSciency. 
A coal that in its natural state will make a very poor coke will, when crushed and washed, sometimes give very 
good results, (c) Some coals that are practically uon coking when treated in the usual way, will, when rapidly 
exposed to a high temperature, give a fairly solid, hard coke, (d) It is therefore evident that something beside 
analysis or a trial in a single oven is necessary to determine whether or not a given coal is adapted to the making 
of coke. Analysis ^ill give some indication of this fact, and the character of the laboratory coke obtained from 
the coal still further indications; but the most satisfactory evidence of the value of a coal for making coke is given 
by a practical trial in ovens or pits, and even then, in case of failure, it is not fully settled but that in different 
ovens, under different conditions of preparation and coking, different results might not be obtained. 

These uncertain relations between coal and the character of its coke have led to many investigations, having 
fcjr their object the determination of the element or elements upon which its coking properties depend. In a 
general way, it can be said that as a coal approaches the vegetable on the one hand and the anthracite on the 
otber it loses its coking qualities; but so far investigation has failed to show which is the element or elements the 
presence or absence of which in a greater or less degree determine its value in coke-making, or has failed to show, 
if it is not so determined, upon what the coking power of a coal depends. It certainly is not the carbon, nor is it 
the amount of volatile matter, for the non-coking coals contain these in the largest amount. With this uncertainty 
as to what is the element on which coking depends, analysis would of course fail to show the value of a coal for 

a The terms " cukia^ " and " eakc " are used much less frequently in this country than in Europe. 
b "Free-burning" and "non-coking" .ire synonymous terms, as are "binding" and "coking", 
c See Second Geological Surrei/ of Pennsylvania, Report KKK, page 200. 
d See Percy's iletallurgy : FueJ, page ;!09. 



70 



MANUFACTURE OF COKE. 



the manufacture of coke. Indeed, Professor Stein, of the polytechnic school of Dresden, has shown that coals 
having the same ultimate analysis may in the one case be coking and in another non-coking, (a) The same has 
been noticed of American coals. Mr. J. J. Stevenson, of the geological survey of Pennsylvania, notes that the 
coal of the Conemaugh is apparently the same as that obtained on the Toughiogheny. The coke of the latter is 
compact, silvery, and retains its luster for an indefinite period, whereas that from the Conemaugh is comparatively 
tender, dull-looking, and on exposure soon loses its little luster, (b) Mr. John Fulton, mining engineer of the 
Cambria Iron Company, gives the opinion that " ordinary analyses fail to indicate the essential qualities of a good 
coking coal". It has sometimes been claimed that it is the amount of hydrogen and oxygen, or the relation of the 
amount of oxygen to the carbon, that determines the coking qualities of coal ; but both Percy and Fulton refuse 
to accept this, and suggest that the coking properties of a coal depend, not on the elements or their proportion, 
but rather on the presence of different kinds of bitumen, or, in other words, on the manner in which the elements 
other than the ash are combined ; that is, on the proximate, not the ultimate, analysis. Considering the difficulty 
of reaching the true proximate analysis, it will still hold true that the only sure way of determining the adaptability 
of a coal to the mauufactare of industrial coke is to try it and study the result. 

It also appears that, in addition to this uncertainty as to the coking value of coals, judged by their analysis, 
there are other conditions that materially aifect this property. For example, some coals speedily lose their power 
of coking after leaving the pit : in some cases after the expiration of one or two days ; in others, after having been 
exposed to the weather for some weeks or months. In other cases, coals from pits in which fire-damp occurs 
lose their coking powers on exposure to a certain temperature (300° C). It has also been noted that while the 
presence of a large amount of inorganic matter, or what would be the ash, in the coke diminishes, and beyond 
certain limits destroys, its coking qualities, yet examples are not wanting in which a coke with as much as 21 
or 22 per cent, of ash has retained its coking property. 

The following analyses, in addition to those found in other parts of this report, will show the composition of 
the coking coals of G-reat Britain and the continent of Europe that are used in the manufacture of industrial coke. 
When not otherwise stated, the yield and composition of the coke given is of laboratory coke : 

BEITISH COKING COALS.* 





Localities. 


Specific 
gravity. 


COMPOSITION, EXCLUSIVE OF WATEE OSLY.t 


Water. 


Coke. 


COMPOSITIOK, EXCLUSIVE OK 
HITROGEH, SULPHUR, ASH, 
AMD WATER. 


1 


Carbon. 


Hydro- 
gen. 


Oxygen. 


Nitrogen. 
(}) 


Sulphur. 


Ash. 


Carbon. 


Hydro- 
gen. 


Oxygen. 


1 






Per cent. 
78.65 
82.42 
81.41 
78.69 
77.40 
82.56 
83.44 
83.00 


Per cent. 
4.65 
4.82 
5.83 
6.00 
4. 96 
5.36 
5.71 
6.18 


Per cent. 
13.66 
11.11 
7.90 
10.07 
7.77 
8.22 
5.93 
4.58 


Per cent. 


Per cent. 
0.55 
0.86 
0.74 
1.51 
0.92 
0.75 
0.81 
0.75 


Per cent. 
2.49 
0.79 
2.07 
1.36 
3.90 
1.46 
2.45 
4.00 


Per cent. 


Per cent. 


Per cent. 
80. 67 
83.09 
85.58 
83.05 
85.88 
85.88 
87.77 


Per cent. 
4.76 
4.85 
6.12 
6.33 
5.50 
5.57 
6.00 
6.59 


Per cent. 
5 14. 57 
§ 12. 06 


9. 


do 










3 


do 


1.276 
1.259 


2.05 
2.37 
1.55 
1.65 
1.66 
1.49 


1.35 


66.70 


4 


do 


10.62 


S 




3.60 


63.18 




R 






8.55 


7 


do 








6.23 


8 


do 








4.88 



















* Percy's Metallurgy .- Fuel, pages 322 and 323. 
t The -water is included in the case of Ko. 5. 



X The nitrogen, when not quantitatively determined, is included in the number indicating oxygon. 
§ Includes nitrogen and sulphur. 



COKING COAiS OF THE CONTINENT OF EUROPE. 



COMPOSITION, EXCLUSIVE OF WATER. 



Carbon. ^ydro- q^^^^^ Mitro- g^j^^^^ ^^^ 



Hydro 
gen. 



Oxygen 

and 
nitrogen. 



fipinac 

Alais, department du Gard. 
Kive-de-Gier 



C6ral, department de I'Aveyron.. 

Saint-Girona 

Mons 



1.288 
1.294 
1.316 



Charleroi 

Valenciennes . 
Pas-de-Calais.. 
Hungary 



.do. 



-do. 



1.295 
1.300 



1.378 
1.350 



89.27 
87.45 
82.04 
75.38 
72.94 
85.10 
80.55 
86.38 
86.47 
84.84 
86.78 
86.93 
80.95 
80.07 
69.59 
79.63 



4.85 
5.14 
5.27 
4.74 
5,45 
5.49 
5.53 
4.48 
4.68 
5.63 
4.98 
4.35 
4.13 
4.38 
4.12 
4.46 



3.93 
9.12 
9.02 
17.63 
7.25 
9.52 
6.09 
5.30 



6.47 
6.76 
6.30 
9.35 
4.68 



0.86 
0.99 
2.83 
5.53 



1.41 
1.78 
3.57 
10.86 
4.08 
2.16 
4.40 
3.05 
3.55 



0.89 
2.85 



11.41 
10.33 



1.20 
1.14 
1.04 
1.57 



78.00 
68.00 
72.00 
58.40 
44.80 
72.90 
69.15 
80.58 
84.43 
67.75 
77.05 
78.85 
83.14 
82.82 
77.81 
81.55 



90.55 
89.04 
85.08 
84.56 
76.05 
86.98 
84.26 
89.10 
89.05 
87.28 
88.91 
88.72 
88.85 
88.30 
83.76 
89.69 



4.92 
5.23 
5.46 
5.32 I 
5.69 , 
5.61 : 
5.78 ; 
4.02 
4.85 



4.00 
4.23 



4.97 
5.03 



4.53 
5.73 
9.46 
10. .12 
18.26 
7.41 
9.90 
6.28 
5.50 
7.03 
5.99 
6.62 
0.92 
6.90 
11.27 
5.28 



* Except when the sulphur is not separately stated. t The nitrogen, when not quantity tivoly determined, is included in the nnmber indicating oxygen. 

a See Fercy's Metallurgy : Fuel (London, 1875), page 308. h Report KICK, piiges 109 auil 200, iin'oiid lleologka! Survey of Peiinsylvania. 



MANUFACTURE OF COKE. 71 

As has already beea indicated, neither tiie composition of a coal nor the analysis of the coke made fi'om it in 
the laboratory is an unfailing evidence of its value as a coking coal or of the character of coke it will make. The 
quality and some of the properties of coke depend, not only upon the composition and character of the coal from 
which it is made, but also upon the manner in which the coking process is conducted, upon the oven used, and in 
some cases upon the previous preparation of the coal. In view of this, it is especially true that the only way to 
judi^e properly as to the value of a coking coal is first to study the character of the coal to be coked and endeavor 
to adopt the plan best suited to its character, and then try the plan and study the coke. 

It should also be borne in mind that the yield of coke, as shown by analysis in the laboratory, is generally in 
excess of the actual yield in the oven. The laboratory coke made fiom Conuellsville coal in one of the analyses 
given is 68.633 per cent., but the actual yield in the bee-hive ovens in the Connells%-iUe region, as shown by the 
reports to the special agent, is from 62 to 07 per cent., averaging about 64 per cent. Some samples of the Miller 
coal at Bennington, Pennsylvania, yield theoretically, or in the laboratory, 77.25 i^er cent., but the actual yield, 
when coked in open pits, was 59.10 per cent. This discrepancy between the theoretical and the actual j'ield is due 
largely to a partial consumption of the carbon of the coal in the process of coking. For exami^le, in coke made from 
■Conuellsville coal, in which the amount of carbon in the coal used was 59.62 per cent., which amount should have been 
found in the coke if none had been burned, the actual carbon was but 54.25 per cent., the ash and the sulphur being 
the same in both the laboratory and the industrial coke ; in other words, but 91 per cent, of carbon was found in 
the coke. In the Miller coal at Bennington, above referred to, the carbon found by analysis was 68.50 per cent., 
whereas the actual amount found in the coke vv-as only 50.35 per cent., or but 73J per cent, of the amount of carbon 
actually in the coal. It would therefore follow that by those methods of coking in which the air is the more 
iwrfectly excluded from the oven less of the carbon of the coal would be consumed in the process of coking, and 
consequently the yield of the coal ia coke would be greater. This is borne out in actual experience. As, for 
example, the Miller coal above referred to, when coked in open pits, yielded 50.33 in a possible 68.50 x)er cent, of 
fixed carbon, or 73.5 per cent., whereas the same coal coked in a Belgian oven yielded 61.25 in a possible 68.50 per 
cent, of fixed carbon, or 89.4 per cent, of the amount of carbon in the coal, showing a loss of but 10.6 per cent, of 
the fixed carbon when coked in the Belgian oven, as compared with 26.5 per cent, when coked in open pits. 
The.se facts show again the necessity of not depending fully on analyses, and also the importance of having careful 
practical trials made before deciding on the manufacture of coke. 

PEOPERTIES AND COMPOSITION OF COKE. 

Industrial cokes differ greatly iu their external appearance, their physical character, and their chemical 
constitution. In external appearance coke may be light gray and bright, or, as it is generally termed, " silvery " or 
of " metallic luster", or it may be dull and black. Occasionally it is iridescent. It is generally rough surfaced, but 
sometimes, especially that portion of a charge near the walls of the oven, it is smooth and glassy, having the 
appearance of polished graphite. Sometimes also hair-like threads are observed on masses of ordinary coke. 

In its physical structure it may be porous and light, or compact, dense, and heavy ; hard and capable of sustaining 
a high crushing and compressive strain or load, or soft and brittle, with a low crushing jjoiut and compressive 
strength. Its " ring " or sound, when struck, is in some samples almost metallic, and in others dull and heavy. Its 
degree of combustibility, as well as its ease of ignition, also varies. 

The terms "dense" and "hard" as applied to coke have a special meaning that should be carefully noted. 
All coke is more or less cellular in its structure. The less the cell space the denser the coke ; the greater the cell 
space the more porous; that is, "dense" and " porous" are opposite conditions. Hard is a term properly applied 
to the cell walls of the coke, and not to the cell space, and coke is hard or soft as the cell walls are hard or soft. 
Coke may, therefore, be very dense and not hard ; that is, its cell space may be small and the walls of the cells 
weak, or it may be porous and hard, or its cell space may be large and the walls hard and strong. Physically, 
the typical coke for blast furnace use should be bright silvery, hard and porous, with a metallic ring, and some of 
these conditions of physical structure are of more importance in determining its value than has been generally 
apprehended, and are deserving of more careful consideration than has usually been given them. It is no doubt 
important that the amount of certain of the chemical constituents of coke should be as high, and of others as 
low, as possible; but it is equally true that for certain purposes, for iron-smelting for example, unless certain 
physical conditions exist, the coke is comparatively useless. The content of carbon may be the highest and of ash 
and sulphur and volatile matter the lowest ; but if the coke is soft and brittle its value as a furnace fuel is very 
small. A dense coke, or one with a small amount of cell space, other things being equal, is within certain limits 
inferior to one that is porous or with considerable cell space ; while a hard coke, or one iu which the walls of the 
cells are hard and strong, is superior to one in which the cell walls are brittle and weak. The importance and 
bearing of these i)hysical properties of coke will be treated of in later pages. 

In its chemical composition coke is essentially carbon and ash, which is the fixed, inorganic matter of the coal 
from which it is derived. It contains also hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, phosphorus, and sulphur, and, iu the coke 
of commerce, more or less water. All of these constituents, with the exception of the carbon, are impvu-ities, and 
the value of cokes of the same physical structure is inversely as the amount of these impurities. 



72 



MANUFACTURE OF COKE. 



In au analyses of coke the impurities are usually grouped under tlie general terms ash, volatile matter, sulphur, 
and in some cases other impurities are given separate from the ash. Ash is the unbiirnt and unvolatilized residue 
of the complete ' carbonization of coal or coke. Its chief constituent is silica, with considerable alumina and 
sesquioxide of iron. In the description of the Connellsville region of Pennsylvania an analysis of coke by Mr. E. 
C. Pechin is given, in which there is 9.523 per cent, of ash. A complete analysis of this ash is as follows : 

Per cent. 

Silica 5.413 

Alumina 3. 262 

Sesquioxide of iroji 0. 479 

Lime 0.243 

Magnesia --.... 0. 007 

Phosphoric acid 0.012 

Potash and soda traces. 

9.416 

Another analysis of the ash in Connellsville coke is as follows : 

Per cent. 

Silica 44.64 

Alumina , 25.12 

Sesquioxide of iron 22. 73 

Lime 6.95 

Magnesia 1. 91 

The chief objection to most of the impurities is their reduction of the calorific value of coke. The phosphorus 
and sulphur, however, exert a decidedly deleterious effect upon the iron if coke is used in furnace or cupola work. 
For these reasons cokes that are low in ash, if high in either of these ingredients, are of but little value. 

The amount of water in coke is also an important consideration, and all commercial cokes contain more or less 
of it. As cokes are usually dried before analysis, analyses do not usually indicate the amount of water present 
in the coke in the condition in which it is supplied to purchasers. It should not exceed 2 or 3 per cent., but at 
times it is as high as 5 or 6 per cent. As the presence of water reduces the value of coke as a fuel, it should be as 
low as possible. This water comes chiefly from that used in quenching the coke, and it is therefore of the greatest 
importance that some method should be used which shall leave the least water. The evidence seems to indicate 
that coke quenched in the oven, as in the bee-hive plan, contains less water than that quenched outside, as in the 
Belgian. 

The amount of oxygen in coke is also a very important consideration, especially if it is to be used for smelting 
iron, where the process is essentially the combination of the oxygen of the ore with the carbon of the coke ; and if 
the coke has already absorbed a portion of its oxygen, its heat value is reduced to that extent. Cokes that, so far 
as ash is concerned, would seem to be of a fair quality are, more frequently than is supposed, really inferior fuels, by 
reason of the presence of water, oxygen, and other substances, which not only reduce the percentage of carbon, but 
in some cases require the expenditure of a portion of what remains in the coke to expel the injurious elements. 

From what has been said, it is evident that when it is necessary to arri^'e at the approximate true value of a 
coke, without actuallj' testing it in furnaces, which is oftentimes expensive and sometimes involves great risk, not 
only is a thorough analysis necessary, but a most careful consideration of its physical structure should be made. 

In various parts of this report, especially in the chapters on " Coking and Non-coking Coals" and those devoted 
to the coals and cokes of specified localities, a number of analyses of coke are given. In this place it is only 
necessary to bring together analyses of certain of these cokes that may be regarded as types, giving here only 
analyses of industrial cokes, or those made commercially, and not in the laboratory. It is not claimed that these 
analyses are of the best specimens, or of average specimens even, unless so stated, and it is fair to presume that 
Ijarties in selecting specimens for analysis would not select the poorest. 

ANALYSES OF EUEQPEAN INDUSTRIAL COKES. 



Englisli : 
Durham. 



Mine or seam. 



BrowTiey, average. 



SoTitli Brancepetli . 



S6raing 

Westphalia 



91. 580 

91. 490 

92. 980 
93. 150 
91. 300 
91. 590 
80. 850 
86. 060 
91. 772 
83. 487 
86. 460 



Snlphnr. 



6.86 


6.32 


4.61 


3.95 




6.20 













16. 510 
6.400 
6.033 

10. 309 
8.540 



Hydrogen. 



0.230 
0.460 
0.300 
0.720 



0.510 
0.860 
1.255 



Oxygen. 



ITitrogen. 



2.110 
0.900 



2.130 
7.680 
0.040 



Authority. 



I. Lowthian Bell. 

Do. 

Do. 
Eichardson. 
M. de Marsilly. 

Do. 
I. liOwthian Bell. 
Dr. F. Muck. 

Do. 

Do.. 

Do. 



MANUFACTURE OF COKE. 

ANALYSES OF AMERICAN INDUSTRIAL COKES. 



73 



Mine or seam. 



Pennsylvania: 

ConneUsville Broad Ford. 

Do Coketon. 

Irwin's ; Penn Gas Company.. 

Allegheny njonntains Bennington "B" 

Elossburg Amot Seymour vein . 

Allegheny River Lower Freeport 

Beaver county ' Hulmes A: Bro 

West Virginia; 

New River Qninnimont 

Do Fire Creek 

Do I Lougdale 

Do Nuttallbnrg 



Obi. 



Leetonia i ■Washingtonville. 



Steubeiiville 

Tennessee : 

Tracy City 

Whitesides 

Rockwood 

Alabama: 

"Warrior field ... 

Cahaba field.... 
Illinois: 

Big Muddy 

Colorado : 

ElMoro 

Crested Buttes . 



Sewanee 

Kelly 

Roane Iron Company. 



Pratt seam... 
Helena seam . 



Mount Carbon. 



ElMoro 

Crested Btittes. 



9.113 
9.650 
9.414 
11. 360 
13. 345 

11. 463 

12. 636 



Snlphn 



0.821 
1.200 
0.962 
1.060 
0.998 
2.107 



0.300 
0.618 
0.270 
0.910 

0.870 
0.270 



0.330 

0.100 




0.722 
0.623 

0.633 



Authority. 



McCreath. 
B. Crowther. 
Carnegie Bros. & Co. 
McCreath. 

Do. 

Do. 

Do. 

J. B. Britton. 



Professor "SVormley. 
Dr. ■Wuth. 

Land. 

Etna Coal Company. 

Land. 



Professor McCalley. 



0. 930 Thomas M. Williamson. 



COAL-WASHING. 

"Coal-washing," so called, is, strictly speaking, not washing, but the separation or classification of the coal 
<-,n(l its impiu-ities so far as the latter are mechanically mixed with the coal and can be separated from it. To 
accomplish this separation advantage is taken of the different specific gravities of the coal and of the schist, pyrites, 
and other minerals that form the impurities. , The action of all coal-washing or coal-cleaning appliances depends 
upon this difference. 

It will be evident that the problem of coal-wa.shing is an extremely complicated one. The specific gravity of 
the coal itself as it comes from the mine varies greatly, that from the same pit and the same lump varying 
oftentimes from that of pure coal to that of shale, while the shale or schist presents all the intermediate gravities 
from that of schist to that of coal. In washing it is evident that the denser coals and lighter schists would be 
clas.sifled together, and thus the object of cleaning would not be accomplished, or the process would be so wasteful 
as to make the washing a commercial failure. 

The problem is still further complicated by the impossibility of securing a uniformity in the sizes of the 
particles of the coal. In washing it is necessary that the particles to be treated do not exceed a certain size, which 
varies somewhat with their character. Preliminary screening, and in some cases crushing, are therefore necessary, 
but after such screening there will be certain sizes smaller than the mesh through which it has passed, including 
considerable dust. This dust will be carried away with the water, and is either wasted or requires some arrangement 
for settliug and collection, while the difference in weight of the different sizes causes the heavier pieces to arrange 
themselves with the lighter impurities. In addition to these difficulties, some coals are of such a character that 
washing, though necessary to remove slate and similar impurities, is so wasteful of the coal and certain constituents 
of the same as to forbid its use. As is explained in the portion of this report treating of Ohio coke, the Steubenville 
coal is not washed, because of the large amount of "mineral charcoal" contained in it that would be wasted in the 
process. The same is true of some coals poor in hydrogenous matter. 

It will be evident from the above that coal-washing is an operation that does not admit of any definite rules 
suitable for general application with absolute reliability in all localities, and the advisability of washing and the 
method to be employed are subject to variations dependent upon the collieries, the localities in which they are 
situated, the commercial conditions affecting them, and the amount of water available. It is thus evident that 
coal-washing, in the language of M. Marsaut, " is a function of a great number of altogether independent 
variables, among wliich no sort of connection exists." For this reason it cannot be expected that any one washing 
apparatus can prove perfectly satisfactory for all cases. 



74 



MANUFACTURE OF COKE. 



In tliis report it will not be possible to enter into a full discussion of coal-washing, but only to indicate in a 
general way its principles, metliods, advantages, and disadvantages. {«) 

In Germany the cleaning of coal is done to some extent by the use of air. The coal, first crushed quite small, 
is fed into a strong inclosed current of air, the larger and heavier particles being first deposited by the winnowing 
and the smaller and lighter carried farther on. This process could, no doubt, be economically adopted in sections 
where water is scarce, aud perhaps with some coals that would be hurt by cleaning with water. 

Though the method by air may be used in exceptional circumstances, coal-washing is generally done by the 
use of water. The washing or separation is effected either — 

First, by a running stream of water, carrying the materials along with it and depositing them, according to th eir 
specific gravity ; 

Second, by the fall of the materials through water ; or, 

Third, by the action of an upward current of water. 

In most recent works on coal- washing the first method is ignored, as being too antiquated and wasteful ; but 
as this plan of washing by a stream of water in boxes or sloping spouts or troughs is still largely used in England, 
and is regarded with great favor, a description is given, though the process is wasteful, and can only be used to 
advantage where water is plenty and coal cheap and dirty. 

The accompanying cut shows in plan aud section one form of the trough-washer, (b) 

The method of operation of this trough or channel will be readily seen. The trough is constructed of wood, 
varying in length from 30 to several hundred feet, in width from 2 to 4 feet, and in depth from 12 to 15 inches. 
This trough is divided into compartments by means of cross-boards or flash-boards from 4 to inches high and from 
10 to 25 feet apart. A. screen of wire-cloth or perforated sheet-metal is placed at the lower end of the trough for 
separating the washed coal from the water before the coal reaches the car or hopper in which it is shipped. Sliding 
gates are provided in the sides of the trough for clearing it from stones and other imi^urities. The operation is as 
follows : The slack coal, with a large and constant stream of water, is introduced at the upper end of the channel. 
By the action of the water-current the fragments of coal, having a lower specific gravity than the impurities, are 
carried down and over the steps, while the imj)urities find their way to the floor of the trough, and are kept back by 





Fig. 4. — Plaa and section of trough -waslier. 

the cross-boards. To preveut the, larger pieies from becoming too much mixed with the impurities, especially 
behind the steps, the material is stirred with poles. These operations are continued until the bed of the channel 
above the cross-boards is filled with impurities to near the top of the boards, when the inlet of slack is stopped. 
The water is kept flowing and the material stirred from the upper dam downward until all the coal has been floated 
away, leaving only the impurities at the bottom of the trough. Then the sliding gate near the screen is opened, and 
communication with the coal-hoi)per is closed and established with the outside. The steps are removed, commencing 
with the lowest one, aud the channel is washed out to be ready for a new round. The cleaning of the trough has 



a Those desirous of investigating this siibject further are referred to Rittinger's Lehrbuch clcr AufhereUangskunde, Ernst und Korn, 
Berlin, ld67, M. Marsaut's treatise reprinted iu Engineering, London, vol. 29, 1877, and to Coal-Washing Machinery, by S. Stutz, 
Pittsburgh, 1881. 

6 For this and the cuts of the Hartz jig I am indebted to Mr. David Williams, of the Iron Agi\ New York. 



MANUFACTURE OF COKE. 75 

to be repeated every three or four hours, varying with the amount of impurities in the coal, and during this cleaning 
the process of separation is interrupted. The effectiveness of this washer depends largely upon the carefulness 
of the workmen. 

According to Mr. Stutz, the amount of coal that can be washed in a day in a single trough from 40 to 50 feet 
long varies from 2,000 to 3,000 bushels, according to the amount of impurities. About live men are required, 
and, estimating labor at from $1 to $1 25 a day, the expense of washing per ton is from 10 to 12 cents. The volume 
■of water used is very large ; it may be estimated at from 300 to 400 gallons per minute for a single trough. 

In the cut on the preceding page iT is the coal-hopper, from which the slack is let into the trough T, water being- 
supplied by the pipe P, flowing down over the steps s, carrying the coal with it over the screen 8 into the car G. 
The water, after passing through the sieve, passes out by the drain D to catch-tanks, where the fine coal is allowed 
to settle. The gate g at the side of the trough is used for removing the impurities which drop into the car G\ 

In the washers most commonly in use the separation is accomplished by the action of an upward current of water, 
or by washers of the third class, and in constructing them for the cleaning of a given coal it is important to know 
and regulate two things : 

First, the size of the pieces of coal to be operated upon. 

Second, the speed of the upward current of water. 

Herr Eittinger, who has so fully investigated the mechanical dressing of ore, has shown that if sijherical 
pieces or grains of any substance of difi'erent diameters and different densities are allowed to fall through still 
water they severally acquire in an exceedingly short time a limiting velocity of descent, which thenceforth continues 
uniformly for each separate piece respectively. By a series of calculations and experiments he has deduced a 
formula giving the mean uniform velocity of irregular-shaped pieces of any substance, coal in particular, when 
falling through water or when subjected to the action of an ascending regular current of water. This formula is : 

Velocity in feet per seconds 1.28 \/D(d—l], d being the density of the material and D the diameter of the 
mesh riddle or screen, or virtually the diameter of the pieces to be operated upon. From this formula tables can 
loe deduced showing the rapidity of the fall of coal and its impurities when these are known for a given coal, which 
will indicate what must be the sizes of the coal to be operated upon, and consequently the size of the mesh of the 
riddle used in separating prior to washing. 

This will also indicate the velocity of the upward current of water, as it must be proportioned to the size of 
the material treated. M. Marsaut has shown that if a mixture of coal, slate, etc., is subjected to the action of an 
ascending current of water the following conditions may occur : 

1. The speed of the upward current may be exactly equal to the limiting velocity of fall of the pieces of coal 
or other substances through still water, in which case the corresponding fragments will remain stationary. 

2. The speed of the current may be greater than the limiting velocity, and in this case the fragments will rise 
with a velocity equal to tlie diflerence. 

3. The speed of the current may be less than the limiting velocity of the pieces, and in such case the latter 
will fall with a velocity also equal to the difference. 

In all cases, however, the formula of Kittiuger is applicable. 

It is evident that the velocity of the upward current should neither exceed nor fall short of certain limits. A 
■current too strong will interfere with the classification, while a velocity inferior to that of the larger or denser 
fragments of coal will be incapable of separating the latter from the surrounding pieces of slate. It is also 
necessary that the upward current be uniform throughout the whole of the mass of material, since differences in 
this respect at particular points will produce unequal displacement of pieces, which otherwise would fall with equal 
velocity. 

In the action of the washers about to be described the coal is fed upon screens, and the upward current permits 
of the arrangement according to gravities and in accordance with the law of Eittinger. The particles do not have 
the same independence of motion as when falling through water isolated from each other, but any interference is 
obviated if sufficient time and space are given for the action of this intermittent current. 

M. Marsaut divides coal-washing machines into three principal classes : 

1. Machines in which the water absolutely filters through the coal to be washed. This is the case of the old 
piston or Hartz jig in its different forms, whether worked by machinery or by hand. 

The filtering action of the water comes fullj^ into play in this machine, and slack of poor quality may be treated 
to advantage, since the action caused by the back suction is brought to bear upon the fine particles of imijurities 
forming the slimes. For this verj- reason, however, it causes a serious loss of combustible matter in the shape of 
fine coal, and the apparatus is therefore wasteful. 

We give on page 76 cuts of two forms of the Hartz jig, in one of which the coal is removed from the sieve by 
rakes or by hand (Fig. 5), and in the other by the revolving scraper E (Fig. 6). The operation of these machines 
will be readily understood from an inspection of the drawings. 

The water flows into the settling-tank through the pipe^i, and by the action of the iilunger P is given a 
reciprocal motion, which forces it up through the sieve S, into which the coal is let from the hopper J, in Fig. 1. 



76 



MANUFACTURE OF COKE. 



As tlie water flows over the delivery bridge h, with eacli stroke of the piston it carries with it into the channel c a 
certain amount of coal. By means of the screw «, the impnrities are let into compartment d, through which they 

reach the ontside throngh the opening e. As is 
already explained, this process is somewhat waste- 
ful. Mr. Stutz estimates that from 1.50 to 200 bnshels 
per square foot of surface of screen can be washed 
per day of ten hours, requiring a volume of water of 
from 5,000 to (J, 000 gallons, or from 30 to 35 gallons 
per bushel of washed coal. Generally two men are 
snCficient to wash from 2,500 to 4,000 bushels per 
day, making the expense from 3 to 5 cents per ton. 

2. Machines in which the filtration of water 
througli the material is either entirely or xjartially 
obviated, and in which a continuous or intermittent 
ascending current of water produces the separation. 
These washers possess the great advantage over 
the former class of machines of effecting a more 
complete separation, and thus the loss of fine coal is 
reduced to a minimum. They also require far less 
driving-|iOwer for their working. Great improve- 
ments have been made in the arrangements of some 
of these machines, in view of the quantity of washed 
coal i)roduced and in the economy of attendance; 
but here I may state that at some places the free 
delivery or overflow of the washed coal is the source 
of the greatest trouble, as the machine is pushed 
and made to deliver more than can be properly 
washed. The dischai'ge by the overflow being con- 




FiG. 5. — Hartz jig. 



trolled by the quantity of water let into the machine, some machines are forced to turn out double the intended 
amount, and the consequence is that the coal is badly washed. A certain time is of absolute necessity to obtain 

a good cleansing, and the quantity of washed 
coal has a direct and invariable relation to the 
surface of the sieve of the washer. 

An illustration is given on page 77 of the 
Stutz form of this class of machines, most 
largely in use in this country. 

Two wooden boxes, A and B, strongly 
bolted together by tie-rods and flat iron bauds, 
contain, respectively, the sieve *Si and the 
plunger P. The water is taken into the ma- 
chine by the pipe .c/, and the current is pro- 
duced by means of the plunger P and a differ- 
ential cam, C, and its action may be easily regu- 
lated to suit the size of any substance, la 
this apparatus the yoke of the cam G is con- 
nected with the plunger-rod by a swiveled 
screw-nut, and can be raised or lowered, ac- 
cording to the current required. This is done 
by the hand-wheel h. F is a spring-buffer, to 
limit the downward stroke of the iiluuger, and 
V are valves to prevent the filtration or back- 
suction of the water. The arrangement of the 
curved partition n has for its object to direct 
the fresh water upward through the sieve and 




Fig. 6. — Hartz jig, with revolving scrapar. 



the layer of the material, and to prevent its being mixed with the slimy and muddy water of the lower portion of 
the box A. Coal is brought upon the sieve from the bin J by passing below the gate h. At each fall of the plunger 
P, a certain volume of fresh water being driven through the openings of the valves v into the box yl, a sudden rise of 
the water-level and the layer of the material is thus produced, causing an equal volume of water to flow over the 
bridge to into t he channel c, carrying with it an amount of pure coal. Before leaving the washer the mixture of water 



MANUFACTURE OF COKE. 



77 



\ir§ 




78 MANUFACTURE OF COKE. 

and coal i^asses over a drying sieve, i, leading the coal to the elevator buckets, while the water goes out through 
the meshes of the sieve and flows out below. By their greater density the pieces of slate,, sulphur, etc., form the- 
layer immediately upon the sieve S, and, being forwarded at the same time as the coal, will pass through the valve 
iTiuto the slate-chamber J^. The inlet of the slate into the valve iZ"is regulated by the lever d, according to its 
percentage. From the chamber N the impurities are let to the outside of the gate o, worked by the lever 1, and 
reach the trough t, from which they are carried away by the waste water. The fine particles of slate, etc., forming 
the slimes, settle below the partition n and are discharged by the valve /r. The use of a differential cam for the 
working of the plunger allows the material after each stroke the necessary time to deposit, according to gravity. 
An eccentric or crank cannot produce the same movement. The usual size of the sieve is 3 feet by 4 feet 6 inches,, 
or by 4 feet 9 inches, hence its surface is 13J or li^ square feet. Washers with one or more sieves are constructed. 
An apparatus with two sieves of the above dimensions can prepare from 200 to 300 tons of slack per day of ten 
hours. The amount of water required varies from 12 to 25 gallons per bushel (70 pounds) of coal, and sometimes 
even more, according to the percentage and nature of the impurities contained in the material. 

Mr. Stutz estimates that from 3,000 to 4,000 bushels of coal can be washed per day in this machine with a simple 
screen. x\t the works of Charles H. Armstrong & Son, at Pittsburgh, an apparatus of two screens 3 by 4 or 4| feet 
washes daily from 6,000 to 7,000 bushels. A 4-gallon pump, running at from 50 to 60 single strokes per minute,, 
furnishes the necessary water, thus giving from 20 to 25 gallons of water per bushel of coal. 

The labor needed to the above amount is : 

Oue man attending engine and washing-machine, at $2 50 

One man attending to boilers, etc., at 1 25 

Total 3 75 

or from IJ to 2 cents per ton. 

At the works of the Colorado Coal and Iron Company, near El Moro, in Colorado, where the coal is crushed- 
and washed in this machine, the cost of crushing and washing 200 or 250 tons daily is from 4J to 5| cents, as will 
be seen from the following statement, the amount washed being, as above given, 200 or 250 tons : 

Interest per ,day on $12,000 at 10 per cent, per annum $4 00 

Coal, oil, packing, etc 1 50 

One machinist 2 50 

Ooe fireman 1 75 

One laborer 1 50 

Total 11 25 

The third method of washing of M. Marsaut includes a number of plans of sorting by equivalents, none of 
which are in use in this country, and which it is not necesssary to refer to here. 

As many of the coals of Illinois especially require washing, I give a cut and description of a washer that has- 
been especially adapted to these coals. It is the Osterspey jig, improved by the Messrs. Meier, of Saint Louis. (See 
page 79.) 

The upper box A B is composed of 2-inch plank, feathered at the joints, and bolted to a stout bottom frame of 
4-by-8 inch scantling and an upper frame of 3-by-6 inch scantling. The bottom frame serves to rest it on floor timbers^ 
either lengthwise or crosswise, as most convenient. The lower box C, also of 2inch plank, fits into it, secured by 
heavy feathers and bolts. It is pointed toward the bottom to cause the fire-clay, etc., to settle around the mud- valve' 
M, through which it is discharged. 

The upper box has a rear chamber, B, with plunger P, and is separated from the forward chamber A, with; 
screen bottom g g, by m^ans of the diaphragm E. This is double, and admits the water-supply pipe W and 
the mud-valve rod r, both of which pass through the cross-jilate e, which forms a fulcrum for the mud-valve level 
in and a support for the housing H, carrying the two shafts. The forward shaft carries a pulley, S, and a slotted 
cross-head, T, in which a T-headed bolt, I, is clamped at a point giving the desired stroke. A sleeve on the bolt I 
works in boxes sliding freely on the guides G attached to the rear shaft, thus giving a quick down-stroke and slow 
up-stroke to the crank K and the i)lunger P. 

The bed g is made of fine wire-cloth, supported On coarser netting, or on perforated plates of iron, braced by 
six small angle-irons crosswise and two heavier ones lengthwise, held down by key-bolts, a a, and resting on a 
narrow cast-iron frame,//. 

By driving back the keys and unshipping the six bolts a a the whole bed can be lifted out and replaced in tea 
minutes. By having a few extra bed-screens on hand, we avoid delays in case of choking up by fire-clay, or in case 
of repairs to screens. 

The screen-plates perforated with fine holes in use in Europe will not answer, frequently choking up with fire- 
clay several times a day. 



MANUFACTURE OF COKE. 



79 




80 MANUFACTURE OF COKE. 

The coal is fed tliroiigli a hopper, F, aud uuder the slide J, which regulates the quantity. It is jigged along the 
whole length of the sci-eeu rj, the washed coal discharging over the bridge through the hopper D. The slates and 
dross pass through a slot flush with the bed-screen and through the valve V, aud drop into a pocket, from which 
they are occasionally drawn by means of the slate-valve O. 

The main valve V consists of part of the periphery of a cylindrical roller which has been perforated by a 
number of parallel triangular prisms. This presents to the discharge-slot a number of triangular openings, giving, 
equally distributed over its entire width, just as much free area as is required to continuously discharge the dross 
as it accumulates on the bed g. 

When it becomes necessary to open the valve O, the valve Y is momentarily closed by turning the lever v until 
V presents its smooth cylindrical surface to the discharge-slot. Then O is thrown suddenly open, the dross washes 
out, O is as rapidly closed, and V slowly returned to the position previously determined as giving the required 
discharge area. The plunger has valves, 1 1, of such opening as to prevent any possibility of suction. The feedpipe 
w supplies water when needed to fill the jig or to supply the waste when V is closed and O open. The value of 
having the lower discharge as far as possible from the feed and of the full width of the screen, whether in 
washing coal or concentrating ores, will appear upon reflection, and can be shown by ocular demonstration when 
working a jig. 

A certain number of strokes will be necessary to create regular layers of materials of different gravities, and 
within certain limits this classification must be improved with each stroke. These layers will, in uniform action of 
the upward currents of water, be of equal thickness across the jig, i. e., perpendicular to the line of travel. 

The quantities washed, preserving the quality above given, varied from 30 pounds for the smallest size, I, to 
223 pounds for size IV per hour. On Pennsylvania coal the same machinery could easily furnish 60,000 pounds 
per hour. 

As to the advantage and benefits of coal- washing, there can be no doubt that in many cases where the coal 
to be coked is impure, containing a large mixture of slate or sulphur in the form of pyrites, it is advantageous 
to crush and wash i>revious to coking. It would also be advantageous to wash slack in which there is a large 
amount of the same impurities, but it by no means follows that all coals would be improved by washing, even 
though the impurities might to some degree be removed. The Kemble Goal aud Iron Company, at Eiddlesburg, 
Pennsylvania, Avhich for some time used a modification of the Berard washer, abandoned it some two years ago. 
The operation carried away the hydrogenous matter, which made a desirable x^hysical structure and afi'orded heat 
in the coke oven. Other works in this country using other forms of washers have ceased washing. A coal 
with a large surplus of pitchy matter can be washed without serious loss ; in fact, in some instances, with gain ; 
for it has frequently too much of this matter, and a reduction is advantageous. This fact should be carefully 
borue in mind in deciding as to the advisability of washing a coal to reduce the percentage of ash. Connellsville 
coal, no doubt, would be injured by washing, and the small excess of ash or slate in the coke, if aluminous, 
is not objectionable in a furnace working mainly with lake ores. It may be that in this statement will be found 
an explanation of the fact that a good many cokes, with what might be termed an excess of ash but a good physical 
structure, are superior as blast-furnace fuels to cokes with a less amount of ash. 

In some cases, where washing is uot advisable, it has been found that simply crushing the coal prior to washing 
has a very good effect. Mr. I. Lowthian Bell stated before the Iron aud Steel Institute of Great Britain that he 
found crushing the Durham coal prior to coking a great advantage, and in many jjarts of England the coal is 
thoroughly crushed before coking. 

In many sections of this country the coal is washed prior to coking, and it has been found to be decidedly 
advantageous. Illustrations of this are given in the remarks on coking in the different states. It is also found in 
some sections of Europe that great advantage results from careful washing. Waishers are largely used in Belgium, 
and in Westphalia especially a great deal of ingenuity has been expended in improving the methods of washing. 

COKE AS A BLAST-FUENACE FUEL. 

By far the largest part of the coke made in the world is consumed in blast-furnaces in smelting iron; indeed, it 
has been with its use in these furnaces that its manufacture in any country may be said to have begun. It was 
Darby's successful use of coke at Coalbrookdale that made coking an English industry, as was the use of the 
Connellsville coke at the Clinton furnace of Graff, Bennett & Co., at Pittsburgh, the beginning of the wonderful 
development of that region. 

It is impossible to say how much of the i)ig-irou of this country is made with coke as a fuel, either in whole or 
in part. In 1879 1,438,978 net tons, out of a total of 3,070,875, were made with bituminous coal as a fuel, either raw 
or as coke ; in 1880 1,950,205 tons out of 4,295,414. Nearly all this was with coke. lu addition to this some of 
the iron reported as made with charcoal is made with charcoal and coke mixed, while a much larger proportion of 
the anthracite iron is made with part coke. Mr. James M. Swank, special agent, states that 2,128,255 tons of 
coke were used in the manufacture of pig-iron in the United States in the census year, while 2,615,182 tous of 
anthracite and 53,909,828 bushels of charcoal were used in the same time. 



MANUFACTURE OF COKE. 



81 



Tlie use ol' coke bas been rapidly iucreasiug siuce 1871. For .some years prior to this date considerable coke had 
been used, but a large portion of the iron made with bituminous fuel was made with raw coal. In 1872 the Lucy and 
Isabella furnaces, at Pittsburgh, went into blast, and the results obtained with Coiniellsville coke undoubtedly 
attracted attention to this fuel. No other furnaces in the world, except the Edgar Thomson, also located ai. 
Pittsburgh, and usiug the same coke, have ever made so much iron in a week. The results obtained led some 
anthracite furnaces at the time of the great strike in the anthracite region in 1875, which cut off the supi^ly of coal, 
to try coke, with most remarkable results, and a practice begun from necessity was continued from choice. The 
make of the furnaces has been largely increased, accompanied with an economy of fuel. 

It is not within the scojje of this report to enter into a disciis.sion of the relative value of coke and anthracite; 
but it may be said that the superiority of coke as a furnace fuel is largely due to its physical structure. It is not as 
dense or as pure a fuel as anthracite, but its physical conditions are such as to especially fit a good, well-made coke 
for a blast-furnace fuel, {a) It bears a heavy burden, retains its shape as it passes down the furnace, does not splinter 
or grind awaj-, allows the passage of the blast, is swift in combustion, and acts with great energy. Some of these 
characteristics explain how it improves the yield of anthracite furnaces. Its swift combustion and energy assist 
the slow-burning anthracite, and by retaining its shape without splintering it gives a better draft to the blast. 

While not entering into a discussion of the relative merits of these two fuels, it may be well, however, to 
iudicate the resultsobtainedin practice, both when usedsingly and when usedtogetheriuthe furnace. The following- 
table, furnished by Messrs. Taws & Hartman to Mr. James M. Swank, special agent, and published in his report on 
the statistics of iron, page 173, shows the consumption of fuel, together with other necessary details for comparison, 
at eleven prominent coke and anthracite furnaces in the United States, taken from an average of six consecutive 
weeks' work in each case in the summer of 1881 : 



Bosh feet. J 18 

Height do I 78 

Fuel to ton of pig-iron ponnds.J 2,227 

Carbon in fnel, per cent. . 85 

Ore to ton of pig-iron pounds.. 2,610 

Kolling-mill cinder to ton of pig-iron do 1,030 

Limestone to ton of pig-iron do , 1,546 

Quality of pig-iron nnmbers.. 1,2,3 

Heat of blast 1, 150° 

Kind of fnel nsed | Coke. 

I 
Average weekly production of pig-iron in tons \ 700 
of 2,268 ponnds. ' 



No. 3. No. 4. 



2,264 I 2,314 ' 2,900 



4,816 


4,099 


2,481 
1,230 


1,355 


1,815 


1,756 


3,4 


1 


1,2.3 


750O 


1, 050O 


1, 150O 


Coke. 


Coke. 


Coke. 


170 


562 


986 



1, lOOC 
Anthracite. 



70 I 
2,822 i 



2,603 

87.4 
3,413 



2, 490 

85 

3,971 



1, 815 I 1, 050 
2 2,3,4 



1,348° 870° 

Anthracite. 'Anthracite. 



4,212 
2, SOD 



3 


1 


2,3 


1, 371° 


1, 080° 


765° 


icoke,Jan- 
thracite. 


Coke. 


Jcoke,! an- 
thracite. 


359 


1,274J 


527 



a In a recent discussion as to the requisites of a good blast-furnace fuel, Mr. John Fulton, in a letter to the Keystone Courier, 
mentions four characteristics as essential ; 1. Hardness of body ; 2. Well developed cell structure ; 3. Purity; 4. Uniform quality. 
CO, VOL. ES 6 



82 MANUFACTURE OF COKE. 



Part V.— OVENS. 



COKING IN PILES. 



Coking is essentially a process of distillation, its object being to expel from the coal the volatile matter at the 
least expenditure of its carbon, which remains in the form of a firm, hard coke. To accomplish this three methods 
of coking are employed : 

First: In piles or mounds, a method analogous to that used in the manufacture of vegetable charcoal. -■ 

Second : In rectangular kilns, having brick or stone sides, and entirely open at the toil. 

Third : In closed kilns or ovens of brick or stone. 

The simplest of these methods, and the least expensi^'e in plant, but the most wasteful and expensive in coal, 
is that in heaps, piles, or mounds. This method is termed in various parts of the world " coking in coke-fires", 
on "coke-hearths", "in ricks," "racks," and "on the ground". The earliest method of coking in piles, and one 
evidently suggested by the method employed by charcoal-burners in charring wood, is in a small circular heap. The 
coal, which must be in lumps, is piled in the open air in circular mounds, the lumps being set on their sharpest 
angle, so that air-spaces are left, and as small a surface as possible touches the ground. This process is at first 
conducted without any external covering and with a free access of air. As it progresses the burning is checked at the 
proper time by the application froui the base to the top of a coating of breeze coke, or earth. When sufficiently 
burned, all access of air is prevented, the burning stopped, and the coke is allowed to cool. The coke heap is always 
erected on the same " station ", where sufficient breeze soon accumulates for dami^ing the fire in the heap. This 
process is very wasteful, the yield often being less than 50 per cent. It is still used, however, especially in sections 
where the demand for coke is small and its manufacture has just oegun. 

Instead of the circular heap, i^yramidal piles, with narrow, rectangular bases, are sometimes used. This 
method is iireferred to that of the small circular heap, as it is not so wasteful, and a much larger amount of coal can 
be operated u])ou. Usually these piles are quite long, oftentimes from 100 to 200 feet, and instead of one long pile, 
frequently a number of short ones, parallel to each other, are used. At the Coalbrookvale iron works, in South 
Wales, pits or piles 12 feet wide by from 3 feet 6 inches to 5 feet high in the center are burned, the pits containing 
from 2 tons 10 hundred- weight to 3 tons per linear yard. This method seems to have been used at an early date in 
the history of coking in England. Mushet, in an article written prior to 1800, thus describes the method as 
practiced at that time: 

In prepariug pit-ooal for the blast-furnace, well imderstood among manufacturers by the term ' ' coking ", flat surfaces are appropriated. 
These are firmly beat and puddled over with clay, so as to pass the necessary cartage without furrowing or loosening the earth. These 
spaces form squares, more or less oblong, and are called hearths, upon which the pieces of coal are regularly placed, inclining to each 
other. Great care is taken to place each piece ujjou the ground layer on its acute angle, in order that the least surf.-ice possible may come 
in contact with the ground. By this means large interstices are preserved for the admission and regular communication of the air 
necessary to excite and effect complete ignition. 

The quantity of coke charred in one heap or hearth is various at different and even at the same works. Aboiit 40 tons of coal form 
the smallest fires, and some hearths again will admit of 80 or 100 tons. The length of the fire is in proportion to the quantity of coal 
built ; the breadths and heights are also subject to no determined standard, but are from 30 to 50 inches high and from 9 to 16 feet broad. 
In building each fire they reserve a number of vents, reaching from top to bottom, into which the burning fuel is introduced. This is 
Immediately covered by small j^ieces of coal beat hard into the aperture ; these repress the kindling fire from ascending, and oblige it to 
seek a passage by creeping along the bottom, which is most exposed to air. In this progress the fire of each vent meets, and, when united, 
it rises gradually and bursts forth on all sides at once. 

If the coal contains pyrites, the combustion is allowed to continue a considerable time after the disapiiear.ince of smoke ; the sulphur 
then becomes disengaged, and part of it is found in flowers upon the surface of the heap. If the coal is free from^his hurtful mixture, 
the fire is covered up in a short time after the smoke disappears, beginning at the foiindation and iiroceediug gradually to the top. 

The length of time necessary to ijroduce good coke depends upon the nature of the coal to be coked and the state of the weather. 
In fifty, sixty, or seventy hours the fire is generally completely covered over with the ashes of char formerly made. The coke, thus entirely 
secluded from the air, soon cools, and in twelve or fourteen days may be drawn and wheeled to the furnace, (a) 

The practice at the present time in England where piles are used does not differ much from that described by 
Mushet. In preparing these heaps the ground is first leveled and covered with a layer of small coal, from 12 to 
16 inches thick, upon which the large coal is stacked, inclining toward the middle in such a manner as to leave 
air-passages all through the inside of the pile, the outside being covered with a layer of small coal. The piles 
are ignited on the top at intervals, and the pi'ocess of coking is conducted downward. If the heaps are long, the 
coking is facilitated by a series of chimneys that are formed by building into the pile stakes of wood, which, 
after being withdrawn, are replaced by burning coals. The fire is thus communicated to the mass in so many 

a Mushet On Iron and Steel (London, 1840), page 53. 



MANUFACTURE OF COKE. 



83 



parts at the same time that ignition soon becomes general, and coking proceeds throughout the whole extent. 
As the flames ascend upon the outside of the pits, the coker damps them with wet coke dust until the coal is 



CAMBRIA IRON COMPANY, 

BENNINGTON COKE-PITS. 

JOHN PULTON, E. M. 



completely coked throughout, when the wet dust is carefully 
packed down, the entrance of air is prevented, and the fire 
deadened. The heap is allowed to remain two or three days to 
cool, care being taken to supply it with thicker covering on the 
side that is exposed to the wind than on that which is opposite 
to it. When the fire is nearly extinguished the coke is with- 
drawn and quenched by the use of water. This method, as well 
as that in circular heaps, is far from economical, and the coke 
made is bj' no means uniform. 

In this country the method of coking («) in open heaps or 
pits, as practiced by the Cambria Iron Comi)any in the Allegheny 
Mountain region, is probably the most systematic and thorough 
of any. The accompanying engraving gives a good idea of the 
pits used. 

The coke-yard is prepared by leveling a piece of ground and 
surfacing it with coal dust. The coal to be coked is then 
arranged in heaps or pits, with longitudinal transverse and 
vertical flues, suflicieut wood being distributed in these to ignite 
the whole mass. Beginning on a base of 14 feet wide, the coal 
is spread to a depth of 18 inches, A. On this base the flues are 
arranged and constructed as shown in the plan, the coal being 
piled up, as shown in section B. These flues are made of refuse 
coke and lump coal, and are covered with billets of wood. When 
the heap is ready for coking, fire is ajjplied at the base of vertical 
flues, C, C, igniting the kindling-wood at each alternate flue. 
As tlie process advances the fire extends in every direction, until 
the whole mass is ablaze. Considerable attention is required in 
managing this mode of coking — in diffusing the fire evenly 
through the mass, in preventing the waste of coke by too much 
air at any place, and in banking up the heaps with fine dust as 
the oi)eration progresses from base to top. 

When the burning of the gaseous matter has ceased, the 
heap is carefully closed with dust or duff and nearly smothered 
out in this way. The final operation is the application of a 
small quantity of water down the vertical flues, which is quickly 
converted into steam, permeating the whole mass. This gives 
coke, if carefully applied, the least percentage of moisture. 

The time necessary for coking a heap with the Bennington 
coal is from 5 to 8 days, depending mainly on the state of the 
weather. 

The coke made in this way is beyond any doubt excellent, and its yield accurately determined at Bennington 
and Hollidaysburgh is as follows : 

BENXINGTON. 

Gross tons. 

• Coal used 56.87 

Coke drawn 33.63 

Loss 23.24 

Yield of coke, 59. 1 per eeut. ; loss, 40.9 per cent. ; 1. 69 tons of coal to 1 ton of coke. 




(xrounil JPIan. 

Fig. 9. 



HOLLIDAYSBURGH. 

Gross tons. 

Coal used 63.80 

Coke drawn 38. 02 

Loss 25. 78 

Yield of ceke, 59.6 per cent. ; loss, 40.4 per cent. 

a Report L of the Penntylvania Geological Survey, p. 122. 



84 



MANUFACTURE OF COKE. 



The yield at both these places is substantially the same, 59 per cent., exhibiting a loss of 24 per cent, of the 
carbon contained in the coke. The surface of the heap is coked before the central jiarts are reached, and the outside 
is, therefore, burning to waste while the central portions are but little acted upon. 

This method of coking in heaps or piles is practiced to but a small extent in this country, though it is still 
used in some parts of Europe. It has the advantage of requiring but little capital and the erection of inexpensive 
structures, only necessitating a slight preparation of the surface; but it has the disadvantage of requiring that the 
greater ])ortion of the coal be in lumps. The coke obtained is lacking in uniformity, and the yield is comparatively 
small, from 50 to 55 per cent., that by other methods yielding from 60 to 70 per cent. The manufacture in i^iles 
or mounds is justifiable only when building material is high-priced and coal very cheap. 

As is already stated, the circular heap is not used to any great extent in England at the present time, and an 
imx^rovement on this method, in which a chimney is used .in the centre of the pile, is thus described by Percy in 
his Metallurgy. 

The accompanying cut, from Jordan's MetcMiirgy, shows the circular pile in use in France, the measurements 
being in meters. 

COKING LARGE COALS IN CIRCULAR PILES. 




,-^-J 



Fiif. 2. FXan, 




_S-._ 



, Fig. 10. 

A large circular pile, containing some 20 tons of coal (1 ton =2640 pounds), is stacked around a chimney built 
of bricks without mortar. The diameter of this pile at the base varies, in some instances being 18 and in others 
30 feet, the height at the center nearest the chimney being from 5 to 6 feet. The bricks in the chimney are laid 
BO as to afford openings for the escape of gas and flame, a large flat brick at the top serving as a damper, and 
the heat of the pile is sufficient to vitrify the surfaee of the bricks of which the chimney is built and to bind 
them together. The outside is covered with wet coke dust. The pile is lighted at the top from the chimney, and 
combustion is downward through every part of the mass. Too free combustion is checked by wet coke dust 
appUed with a spade, including the space around the bottom previously left uncovered, and, if necessary, the 
chimney is left unclosed. About 10 days are required for coking by this method, water being thrown upon the pile 
before it is drawn. In some cases, instead of lighting fi-om the top, coals are dropped to the bottom of the chimney, 
and the pile is lighted from the middle of the bottom outward. 



MANUFACTURE OF COKE. 



85 



tioored with brick set (i-.i edge, lieui'Utli wbicli is ;i layer of 

COKING IN RECTANGULAR KILNS. 



COKING IN OPEN KILXS. 

As coking in the circular monutl dc\eloiR'il iuto the l)ee-hivc oven or kiln, s^o coking iu long rectangular piles 
resulted iu the open kiln. This process of coking in open kilu is only the long-pile process, with permanent ^\'all8 
for retaining or holding the sides. 

The kiln as used in Silesia, which is shown in the accompanying cut, consists of a rectangular inclosure, 
having two parallel side walls of brick, a a (Fig 
glassy blast-furnace slag, broken small, through 
which jnoper drainage is secured. The inner 
.surface of the walls and the bottom is of tire- 
brick ; the outer wall may be of red brick or 
stone. The walls are 5 feet high, S feet apart in 
the clear, and from -14 to 60 feet long (Prussian 
measure). In each of the walls a is a series of 
openings, e (Fig. 1), 2 feet apart and the same 
distance above the floor of the kiln, so placed 
that those on one side of the kilu are opposite 
the corresponding ones on the other. From each 
of these openings rises a vertical chimney, d. 

Dr. Percy thus describes the process of 
charging, firing, and burning this kilnj 



=[5] [u m [5] 



[si o Is] a [He 




Fiff.l. Rectarufultzr Kiln -^ siti^ elevtxti/jn. 



\ 


l 


: 


\ 


r * 


1 1 1 


I- 

C:- 


: 


; 


1 


'.a 



Pig.S. :FUm. 




The space e between the two walls at oue end ot" the 
kilu is brickeil up, aud through the opposite end coal 
slack is wheeled iu, spread over the liottoui, watered, 
aud stamped down so as to foriu a solid stratum iuclies 
thick, or as high as the lower edges of the openings u c, 
etc. Indeed, this height may lie made 2 feet with .ndvan- 
tage, if the coal be snitahle. Pieces of wood (> inches in 
diameter at one end aud 4 at the other, and in length 
equal to the width of the kihi, are then passed through 
the openings iu one wall, .so that their opposite euds nuiy 
respectively lie in the corresponding jpeniugs iu the other 
wall. Wetted coal slack is spread over the pieces of wood 
and stamped carefully down. The kiln is then tilled np 
with'slack, which at every 6 inches of additional height 
should be watered aud stamped dowu. lirand well re- 
marks tluit the mode of tilling just described is very hard 
worli when the kiln exceeds 40 feet iu length. After the 
tilling is completed the top of the coal is covered with a 
layer, 2 or 3 inches thick, of coal dust, or, failing this, of 
loam. The end opening, through which the kilu has been 
charged, is at last bricked up. The pieces of wood are 
now carefully drawn out, and thus a series of channels 
is left in the coal, upon the maintenance of which the 
success of the process essentially depends. Should an 
injury occur to any of the channels at the commencement it can hardly be repaired afterward. Before lighting the kiln all the 
chimneys on oue side are stopped by placing a brick, rf', on the top of each, those on the opposite side being left open, while on the second 
side the openings or draught -holes are stopped by bricks, t c' (Fig. 3), the holes on the lirst side being left open, as at c (Fig. 1). The kiln is 
now lighted by means of sticks of easily inflammable wood introduced into all the openings c on the left. A current of air is established 
through the transverse channels iu the coal. After the lapse of six or eight hours the fire will have reached the opposite euds of these 
channels, when the chimneys on the left, d, and the draught-holes on the right, c, must be opened, and the chimneys on the right, rf, and 
the draught-holes on the left, c, must be closed. This, however, should only be done when the fire has regularly spread through the 
entire extent of the channels. Special care in this respect at the commencement will prevent further trouble afterward. According as 
the weather is, stormy or settled, the direction of the currents of air through the kilu may be changed from every two to four hours. 
Should the coking be found to proceed irregularly, it may be necessary to keep open some of the chimneys ou one side longer than others, 
and, consequently, not to change the direction of all the currents at once. Irregularity iu the coking may result either from the quality 
of the coal or negligence in piling it iu the kilu ; and in either case the yield will be diminished. 

In the management of the process the work of the coke-burner is reduced to keeping open the transverse channels in the coal by 
raking out any pieces of coal which may tall into them and obstruct the passage of the air, and by preventing their sides trom sintering 
together. For this purpose he uses a slender iron rod, somewhat bent at oue end. The reopening of a channel which has once become 
stopped is attended with much difficulty, aud is generally impracticable ; aud if several neighboring channels are closed, the process is 
thereby much impeded. In windy weather the draught of air through the kiln must be carefully regulated by closing, in a greater or less 
degree, the chimneys. Any cracks which may occur during the process in the covering ou the top of the coal must be well stopped in 
order to prevent the ascent of currents through them. The pro|)er regulatiou of the draughts through the kilu has au important influence 
upon the quality as well as the yield of coke. 

In about eight days the process will be completed, as may bo known by the escape of white flame from the chinmeys aud the hardness 
which is perceived ou plunging an iron rod through the cover on the top. All the openings nmst now be closed, aud iu the course of two 



Section on tJte li. 

Fig. 11. 



86 MANUFACTURE OF COKE. 

days afterward the fire will have become gradually extinguished. One of the end walls is now taken down and the coke removed. The 
coke at the height of the channels will be separated into two distinct layers; that in the upper layer especially is remarkably beautiful 
[sicj, dense, hard, aud when carefully withdrawn is frequently in pieces 3 feet long and 1 foot .in diameter. The yield per 7.7C8 English 
cubic feet of coal rauged from 241.25 to 2G1.87 pounds avoirdupois. The loss in weight is 20 per cent, of the coal, an amount which) 
according to the quality of the coal, is often much reduced. 

The theory of coking by this method is perfectly iutelligible. The coal surrounding the transverse channels 
is ignited and through these are established currents of air. Heat is thus developed partly by the combustion of 
the coal in the vicinity of the channels and partly by that of the volatile products arising from its destructive 
distillation. The coking will therefore proceed simultaneously upward and downward. No currents, as has 
already been stated, can ascend through the coal above the channels if the kiln be properly attended to, and 
obviously none can descend from above; consequently, the air which sustains combustion can only enter the kiln 
through the lateral draught-holes. At the conclusion of the process an accumulation of tarry matter always 
occurs immediately under the coal at the top of the kiln, which would further tend to prevent the descent of air 
from above as well as the ascent of currents from below; and it is there that the most solid coke is produced. 

In South Wales and in other districts kilns of this kind have been erected of not less than 15 feet in width 
from wall to wall, measured within. The transverse channels have been made by suitably piling lumps of coal 
without the use of poles. When the coal ia of different sizes, it is advantageous, according to Mr. Rogers, to place 
the smaller pieces toward the top of the mass. In these larger kilns the mass becomes well ignited in from 24 to 
36 hours. During the process the workman walks on the top of the coal, and from time to time he thrusts through 
different parts of the surface an iron bar, which is easilj^ pushed down until it reaches the mass of coke, and in this 
way the height to which the coking i^rocess has reached is satisfactorily ascertained. If he finds it to have progressed 
higher at one part than at another, he closes the chimney communicating with that part, and so retards the process 
there. When the mass has been coked up to the top, which takes place in about seven days, it is quenched with 
water, and the coke is withdrawn in the manner already described. 

Mr. Eogers writes to Dr. Percy as follows : 

The new kilns have proved entirely successful ; they are already in use .at some of the largest iron works in the kingdom, and are 
being erected .it a number of other works. The great saving in the first cost of oven, economy in working and maintenance, increased 
yield, and improved quality of coke, Tvill probably soon cause this mode of coking to supersede the others now in use. The kilns are most 
advantageously made, about 14 feet in width, 90 feet in length, and 7 feet 6 inches in height, this size of kiln containing about 150 tons of 
coal. 

Mr. Rogers asserts that an outlay in plant of only £4 was required to produce one ton of coke per day from 
the Welsh coals, and that the cost of working does not exceed (id. per ton. In some places the coal has been 
actually tipped into the kiln from the colliery wagons, and the coke wagons were afterward run into the kiln to be 
loaded direct from the mass of coke produced, thus reducing the labor to a minimum. The kilns need only to be 
Jbuilt of rough rubble-work, with a i^lain lining of fire-brick, and without any iron work, so that the expense of 
repairs amounts only to a small sum. 

As to the results from the use of these kilns, Dr. Percy makes the following statement: 

In 1859 I visited several of the large iron works in South Wales, -where these kilns had been tried, and I inquired particularly 
concerning the results. Opinions on this subject were certainly not concordant. At the Dowlais iron works they were erected, and, after 
repeated trials, abandoned. Mr. Menalaxis, the manager of those works, considers them to have been a complete failure, aud informs me 
(June, 1873) that, after making allowance for the water in the coke, the yield was very bad indeed. 

The Ebbw Vale Iron Company also made a trial of them, and Mr. Adams, the then manager, informed me that they appear to be 
suitable for one kind of coal, but that for their usual good coal they are wasteful and expensive. Much of the large coal which is used to 
form the transverse channels is burned away, and, as he quaintly observed, "You might hunt badgers through the coke." At the 
Pontypool works I inspected one of these kilns from which the coke had been partially drawn, and I remarked that a good deal of the 
coal in the vicinity of the draught-holes appeared to have burned away. Some of these kilns were much higher than I had seen elsewhere. 
Experiments have been made at these works with kilns having double rows of draught-holes on each side ; but I was informed the result 
was unsatisfactory. 

THE BEE-HIVE OVEN. 

The method of coking in piles can be used to advantage only in exceptional cases. Where coal is very cheap 
and oven-building materials are expensive, or in those localities where the demand for coke is light, or in cases of a 
large increase in demand at high i>rices, especially if this increase promises to be temporary, coke can be burned 
to advantage in heaps; but under ordinary circumstances of maniTfacture and condition of the market it is too 
wasteful of coal, requires too much care ia management, and the product is too uncertain in quality and variable 
in density to make this method economical or desirable. It therefore happens that as the demand for coke 
increases and becomes reasonably certain the long pile gives place to the open kilu and the circular mound or 
heap to the bee-hive oven, which is evidently such a mound or heap with a permanent covering of fire-brick, 
instead of a temporary one of slack and clay or wetted coke dust. 

The earliest form of the closed kiln or oven is the "bee-hive", so named from its general resemblance to the 
old-fashioned conical-shaped bee-hive. This is a flat-bottomed, vaulted chamber of fire-brick or other refractory 
material, with an opening in the top or crown, through which the oveu is charged, and which also serves as an 



MANUFACTURE OF COKE. 



87 



outlet for tlie waste products of combustion, while an opening or sliglitly-arclied doorway in the side at the bottom 
serves as an inlet for the air necessary for couibustion, and also for drawing the coke. lu the process of coking 
this opening is either built up with bricks, or a door with a frame- work of iron filled iu with fire-brick is used, the 
frame-work being either hinged or raised by a chain passing over a pulley with a counterpoise weight at the other 
end, or a pair of hinged doors may be used. These ovens are not usually built separate, but in long banks, and 
sometimes in blocks of two banks, back to back, with the .spaces between the ovens filled in with some material 
that retains the heat, generally in this country loam, thereby preventing radiation of the heat left iu the walls, 
keeping them at a more even temperature, and facilitating the coking process. 

PLAN OF COKE OVENS NEAR NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNE. 




A. B. ires. 




Graurt'X' J*l<tn. 



The bee-hive oven iu its earlier and most common form was solid-walled and vaulted, as described above. 
In the improvements, however, that experience showed to be advantageous botli on the score of economy of time 
and material, and in .some cases of product, this has been changed. The bee-hive developed and extended into a 
long oven, in some ca.ses oval, in others rectangular, while the solid wall of the oven was ])ierced with flues, and 
finally developed into that form of oven known as the "Belgian". These forms will be treated of in another part 
of this report. 



88 MANUFACTURE OF COKE. 

The earliest recorded use of coke ovens is in 1763, in Newcastle, England. M. Jars, in a work published in 
1774, says : 

There are nine kilns at Newcastle, upon the edge of the river, to deatroy the sulphur contained in the coal and reduce it to what is 
called " cinders and coaks". The principal use of the cinders is to heat the malting-kilns ; it is also used by a silversmith. I have seen 
a manuscript uijon "the art of working coal-mines", in which the first attempts in this manufacture were given as of very ancient date, 
being made in England, (a) 

The cut on page 87 shows the plan of these ovens as figured by M. Jars. 

Home's statement regarding the use of coke ovens near London (see page 54) is of about the same date as this 
of M. Jars. 

Fi'om this time quite frequent notices of the use of ovens are found. About A. D. 1800 coke ovens were 
found on the outcrops of the Brockwell coal-seams, at various pits in the southern part of the county of Durham, 
the coke being used for breweries and founderies. Parkes, in his Chemical Catechism, published early in the present 
century, describes oveus of this kind which were used at the Duke of Norfolk's colliery, near Sheffield. He 
describes each oven as a circular building, 10 feet in inside diameter, with a floor of common brick, set edgewise. 
The wall, which was 18 inches thick, rose perpendicularly 19 inches above the floor, and was surmounted by a conical 
roof, of which the apex within was 22 inches above the floor, the entire height from the floor to the top of the 
arch, outside measure, being 5 feet, and the floor was raised 3 feet above the ground, in order that a wheelbarrow 
or low wagon might be placed under the doorway to receive the coke as it was raked from the oven. After this 
notices of the use of ovens are so frequent as not to require mention. 

Experience has shown this form of oven to be so well adapted to coking those coals that have furnished most 
of the English coke that the bee-hive oven, with the exception of the Welsh oven, which is either a modified bee- 
hive or an inclosed rectangular open kiln, was for many years, and until quite recently, the only one used in England. 
Latterly, however, Belgian ovens of various forms, especially the Coppee, are coming into some favor, though 
the bee-hive is still the one chiefly used. 

In this country, as will be seen by the statistical tables, the oven almost universally in use is the bee-hive, 
though the Belgian also is meeting with some favor. The bee-hive ovens, as built in the Connellsville and 
Allegheny Mountain regions, diucr ^'ut little in size at the different works, being from 11 to 12 feet in inside 
diameter and from 5 to 6 feet in he. from the floor to the crown of the roof. The floor is slightly inclined to the 
front. The method of constructing an^^/en in the Allegheny Mountain region and its relation to wharf and tracks 
are shown in the accomiaanying sketch of the oveus built by Mr. John Fulton, of the Cambria Iron Company, at 
their Bennington coke works, (b) 

These ovens are circular, the diameter being 11 feet 6 inches, and ;ire 6 feet high from the level of the floor 
to the crown of the dome, the charge filling the oven as far as the dotted line in the left completed oven. The 
radius of the dome, which is built up on centers, as the right-hand oven shows, is 6 feet 10 inches, the diameter of 
the charging-hole being 1 foot. 

The Bennington coke ovens are placed in a double row, inclosed between two strong retaining- walls of sandstone 
masonry. Between these walls, and up to level of the floors of the ovens, the space is carefully filled and compactly 
rammed with clay and loam, constructed in horizontal layers of 12 inches each. Under all an ample drain is laid 
longitudinally under the bank of the oven. The ovens are founded on this thoroughly-packed filling, having a fall 
in their floors toward the doors of inches to each. The order of the work of construction consists of four 
consecutive operations : 

1. The setting np on front walls of the iron door-frames, with the necessary anchors built up with the shaped 
jamb-brick. 

2. The building of the vertical circular section to the springing of arch or dome, the circular line of oven 
being i)reserved by a wooden sweep pivoted on pin in center of oven. 

3. The laying of the 3-inch floor-tiles and the erection of the wooden centers to build dome of ovens. These 
wooden centers consist of seven sections, made of boards and laths, which are shaped and fit together like the 
sections of an orange when cut by a plane at right angles to its stem-line. These sections are supported at the 
base by small benches, easily adjustable, and are supported under the crown by a single post, capped by a circular 
collar, and are made of a size to be easily taken out through the oven doors. 

The fourth opei'ation consists iu building the dome, which is completed by wedging in carefully and firmly 
the annular chai-giug-ring, which becomes a keystone of the arch as well .as the chars'ing-hole of the oven. 

The filling in around ovens or backing should follow the progress of the brick-work as closely as possible, the 
material, clay and loam, being laid down in horizontal layers of 12 inches deep, and carefully rammed. The track on 
the top of the ovens is laid with iron tie-pieces, and has a gauge of 6 feet, to allow space for lorrie containing 5 tons 
of coal. The water for cpienching the coal is sui^plied by 3-inch cast-iron pipes, with taps and hose between the oveus. 

a I quote from a paper by Mr. A. L. Steavenson, published iu the North of England Institute of Mining Engineers' Transactions, vol. viii, 
1860, pages 111, 112. 

6 These drawings are taken from the Report of the Bureau of Statistics of thi State of Pennsylvania for 1877 and 1878. 



PLAN, ELEVATION, AND 



Coke R.K. Car. 








CAMBRIA IRON COMPANY. 
PLAN, ELEVATION, AND DETAILS OF BEE-HIVE COKE-OVENS AT BENNINGTON SHAFT. 

1878. 



Colm n.n. Car. 





iUccUan of doer Arch. brieK oeer <t*or. 










s^'ttfjj 



JNO. PULTON. 

Gcn'l Mtnlntr E^aff. 



PLAN OF MOREWOOD COKE GO'S OVENS. 

MOUNT PLEASANT, PA. 



on »(»««• 




MOREWOOD COKE COMPANY. 

GROUND PLAN AND SECTION OF BANK OVEN, 




Fig. 15. 



MANUFACTURE OF COKE. 89 

As showiug the style of these ovens, as well as the general plan of a coke works in th* Connellsville region, 
I have given the accompanying cuts, representing the works of the Morewood Coke Company, limited, one of the 
latest and best built coke works in that section. The method of operating these ovens in the Connellsville region 
is quite simple, and may be taken as the usual practice in this country. The coal is generallj' brought to the oveu 
in loiTies holding each a full charge, 125 bushels, for dS-hour furnace coke. The lorrie is run to the chargiug- 
hole on a railroad over the top of the oven, and the coal is dumped through the hole in the crown of the roof and 
carefully leveled by means of a long iron hook in.serted iutothe door. This door is bricked up and plastered or daubed, 
except some small interstices at the top, so as to admit only suiiicient air above the coal to carry on combustion. 
The heat which the oven acquired in the preceding operation is always suificieut to ignite the new charge, combustion 
being carried on by the entrance of the air through the doorway, and the coal soon begins to emit aqueous and 
sulphurous vapors, followed by a thick, black smoke and reddish flame all around the sides. At this stage of the 
process the gases are particularly offensive. The heat of the oven at this time is a low red. In a few hours the mass 
of burning coal cracks downward, enabling the volatile matter below the surface to pass off, and by its ignition to 
generate additional heat for carrying on the process. In about 12 liours a clear, bright flame prevails over the entire 
surface, which increases almost to a white heat. Basaltiform columns are formed, which allow the gases to rise as 
the heat ascends. Finally the clear, bright flame dies oft' gradually, and the coke becomes a glowing red mass. 
Jfow the sooner the oven is quenched and drawn the better, for the coke will continue to take up air in spite of 
every precaution, and the red-hot coke will waste, lose heat, and become inferior as a fuel. 

A description of the coking process in bee-hive ovens in the Durham region is thus given by Mr. iteade: 
Whi^u the oven is refilled with a proper charge, the coal is fired at the surface by the radiated heat from the roof, enough air being 
admitted to consume the gases given off by the coal, and thus a high temperature is maintained in the roof of the oven. The coal is by 
this means melted, and those portions of it which, under the influence of a high temperature, can of themselves form gaseous compounds, 
are given off. forming at the moment of their liberation small bubbles, or cells. The coke now left is quite safe from waste, uuless a 
further supnly of air is allowed to h.ave access to it. At this stage of the process the coke assumes a pentagonal form and columnar 
structure. When the coke is left exposed to heat for sou^e time after it is formed it becomes harder aud works better, from being less 
liable to crush in the furnace or to decrepitate on exposure to the blast. 

In England the coke was formerly drawn from the bee-hive oven in a heated state and afterward cooled by 
water thrown on with buckets outside, but this method has been discontinued, and the coke is cooled inside of the 
oveu by water thrown upon it, either from buckets or with a pipe and hose. The only drawback t® the method of 
([uenching is that the oven is cooled by the contact of the water with the hot bricks. It is generally believed, 
however, that coke cooled inside of the oven absorbs less water than when cooled outside. The quenching 
causes the coke to .separate or crack open and facilitates the drawing. 

In drawing the coke from the oven the usual plan is to pull it out, piece by piece, with long bars of iron 
turned up at the end, similar to a large ])oker or hook. This method is the only one that can be used in the 
ordinary bee hive oven. Other methods of discharging by what are termed "drags" are used in modified forms of 
the bee-hive oven and in the Belgian oven. 

It will be noted that the coking process is essentially a process of distillation, the oven being the retort, the 
heat in the bee-hive oven necessary for volatilization after it is once heated being derived from the burning of the 
volatile products, and the heat remaining in the walls of the oven instead ©f being applied from the outside. Some 
of the heat is at the expense of the carbon of the coal, as it is impossible to prevent the destruction of a portion 
of the carbon by the admission of the air necessary for combustion, though it is avoided as much as pos.sible. The 
combustion is maintained over the top of the coal, and the coking or distillation proceeds in the bee-hive oven 
downward from the top, and also slightly inward from the sides, the current of inflammable gas and vapor arising 
through the coal and meeting the air admitted through the doors above the burning in what may be called the 
•• combustion chamber", until the lowest stratum is converted into coke. It is evident that air should be admitted 
only over t^e top, as, if the air enters below or through the coal, coming in contact with it when hot, a portion 
will be consumed, and the coking will not be effected exclusively by the heat resulting from the combu.stion of the 
volatile products, as it shoidd be, but largely at the expense of the coke, which should be avoided. 

As has already been noted, considerations of economy in various directions have led to many changes and 
improvements in the construction of coke ovens, and it is imjjossible to describe the numerous forms that these 
improvements have taken. They seem to have had for their object, first, the more rapid discharging of the ovens ; 
second, the avoidance of the rapid cooling of the oven by watering the coke inside the oven; third, the utilization 
of the heat in the escaping gases by passing them through tines, where they are burned; and, fourth, the exclusion 
of air from the coking chamber, the heat necessary for coking being applied from the outside of the oven. 

In providing for the more rapid discharging of the oven and the cooling of the coke outside, chiefly for the 
purpose of greater ease of handling, and to prevent cooling, the oven assumed the rectangidar shape, and one of 
the best of these forms, which may perhaps also be regarded, not as a development of the bee-hive oven, but as 
a rectangular kiln, closed in at the top, is known as the ■' old Welsh oven". This is simply a rectanguliir chamber, 
7 by 12 feet, with an arched roof 6 feet high. As generally built, they are set in rows, back to back, with one 
chimney to each pair to carry off' the gases, the length of the oven requiring a greater draught than a vent-hole 
would supply. A flue from the roof of the oven about one-third way from the back wall leading into the chimney 



90 MANUFACTURE OF COKE. 

conveys the gases to it. The whole front of this oven is movable, and the coke is drawn by means of a "drag". 
This drag has various forms, but is essentially a strong piece of flat iron laid across the back of the oven prior to the 
charging, having attached to it at right angles a rod of iron sufficiently long to extend beyond the front. The 
protruding end is attached to a chain, operated either by a windlass worked by hand or by a small engine, and the 
whole mass of coke is drawn at once. In some ovens only the transverse piece of the drag is left in the oven during 
coking, the rod of iron being inserted after the process is completed through a gutter left in the middle of the Coor 
the end of the rod being shaped something like a fish-hook barb. This rod is pushed in with the bent-up part or, 
barb flatwise until the end passes under and behind the drag, when the rod is turned, the barb catches on the drag, 
and the coke is drawn out in one mass. Sometimes the transverse piece or drag is a short length of an ordinary 
rail; sometimes, also, instead of a single piece of iron attached to the center, which might bend the drag or 
transverse piece in drawing, two rods, attached near the ends and brought together outside of the oven, are used. 

This Welsh oven seems to be preferred in many parts of Great Britain either to the bee-hive oven or to the 
recent forms of the Belgian oven, as being easily managed and yielding a homogeneous and well-burned coke. 
Sometimes these rectangular ovens, and also the bee-hive ovens, have bottom flues, through which the escaping 
gases pass to flues running between the two banks of ovens placed back to back. In this way a portion of the 
waste heat is utilized for keeping up the heat. In other cases the heat so escaping passes into flues between the 
two banks of ovens, where the heat isiitilized in raising steam for boilers. Such a method is shown iu the 
accompanying drawings of the ovens at the Browney colliery, in the Durham region, England. These ovens will 
also show the size and general appearance of thtj Durham bee-hive ovens. 

These ovens ai-e in double rows, back to back, as usual, but the flues between are mucli larger, averaging 6 J feet 
iu height and 3 feet 6 inches iu width. To each chimney of 106 feet in height are connected about 100 ovens, an 
equal number on each side, and the flues and boilers, four in number, are so arranged that the heat can be carried 
past when cleaning or repairs are requisite, the small connecting flues being built as compact and tight as possible, 
and thus the remarkable freedom from smoke seems owing to the air-tight and perfect characterof the flues, the small 
amount of surplus air present not cooling the gases to a point below which the hydrocarbons es -ape imperfectly 
burnt. This has been tested by admitting a large surplus of air, when smoke was immediately evident. 

No coal whatever is used for boiler purposes at these works, and the product of the pit at the colliery where 
these ovens are situated is drawn from a depth of 100 fathoms, and the water pumped, whereas before this system 
was adopted (JOO tons of coal i^er ibrtnight was the amount virtually wasted. At another colliery belonging to the 
same firm, and where the small coal is valuable for coking purposes, the advantages of the system described are 
equally evident. 

As to the economies in the use of ovens of the Browney type and arrangement, Mr. A. L. Steavenson, in a 
paper read before the British Iron and Steel Institute {Joiirnal, 1877 , page 406 et seq.), makes the following 
calculation and statement, which contains many imijortant facts that are not generally known to coke-makers : 

In order to ascertain the amount of heat available for evaporative purposes, the first step ■was to measure the volume and 
temperature of the gases passing to one pair of boilers from 50 coke ovens at the rate of 230 tons of coal in 84 hours. The temperature 
was found to be 1,500° F. The volume, measured by taking the velocity of the current in a given length of the flue, was ascertained 
by introducing sodium at one point and noting the time required to effect a flame, made by jiuttlng a little coal into the flue, 
spectroscopically at another, to he 1,187 feet per minute, which, multiplied into the area of the flue, 24 square feet = 28,488 cubic feet 
per minute. This exceeds l)y 4,005 cubic feet the theoretical quantity of the gases, supposing that only just sufficient atmospheric air is 
admitted to eftect the complete combustion of the known weight of material lost in coking 230 tons of coal ; and this 4,005 cubic feet 
represents roughly the unavoidable excess of air used in coking, and the presence of which was evident by the ease with which a piece 
of charcoal burned when loweredinto the flue. 

The theoretical quantity above referred to was thus obtained: 230 tons of coal of the following approximate 
composition — 

yons. 

Oxygen 15.3 

Carbon 195. 3 

Hydrogen 10,3 

Nitrogen - 2.3 

Sulphur : 1.4 

Ash 5.3 

229.9 
yield, on coking, about 60 per cent, of coke, of the following approximate composition : 

Tons. 

Carbon 132.7 

Ash 5.3 

138.0 
Therefore, the composition and weight of the materials lost in coking are : 

T0P8. 

Carbou 62.6 

Hydrogen 10. 3 

Nitrogen 2.3 

Sulphur 1.4 

Oxygen 15.3 



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MANUFACTURE OF COKE. . 91 

To complete the combustion of these into CO2, H2O, and SO2 are required 1,023.4 tons of air, making a total 
weight of waste gases of 1,115.J: tons, of which 790..3 tons are nitrogen, 329.5 tons carbonic acid, 92.8 tons steam, 
and 2.8 tons sulphurous acid, which, at a temperature of 1,500° F., will occupy a space of 123,399,000 cubic feet; 
and since the coking of 230 tons of coal occupies, on an average, 84 hours, we have 24,483 cubic feet per minute, or 
4,005 cubic feet less tban the observed quautity. 

Next, as to the heat commonly wasted : We have 1,115.4 tons of mixed gases, at a temperature of 1,500° F., 
which, if they could be reduced to the temperature of the atmosphere (say, 60° F.), would have the following heating 
value in tons of HoO raised 1° F. : 

Tons. T^-'^fp'-;'*,"^";: D'-S-TonsH.O. 

N 790.3x1,440x0.244 = 277,680 

COi 229.5xl,440x0.21fi= 71,. 384 

HjO 92. WX 1,440x0.475= 63,475 

S0.2 2. 8 X 1,440x0. 155= 625 

Tons HjO 413,164 

which is equivalent to evaporating 415 tons of water at 212° F. But, owing to the fact that the temperature of the 
gases was only reduced 750° F., iu,stead of 1,440° F., the above quautity is reduced to about ouehalf, or 216.1 tons, 
evaporated in 84 Lours, or 2.6 tons in one hour. This was tested iu an actual experimeut (on the two boilers supi)lied 
with the gases from 50 oveus, coking 230 tons iu 84 houi's), the quantity evaijorated in one hour being 2.4 tons, an 
approximation quite as close as can be expected. 

The total theoretical heat actually developed in the process of coking at the above rate is equivalent to 
evaporating 17 tons of water per hour, which is thus expended : 

Tons. 

Heat utilized by boilers 2. 40 

Heat e3cax>iiig iu cliimney 2. 54 

Heat lost in radiation from ovens and tines and watering tbe coke 12. 06 

Total 17.00 

Thus, even iu the plan described, but a small percentage of the total heat generated in the oveus is utilized, 
although if this evcu was carried out throughout the district of South Durham, where in colliery boilers not more 
than pounds of water on an average are evaporated per 1 pound of coals, we should have a saving of 1,085,869 
tons of coal per annum, or a mouey vnlue of £271,467. But this by uo means represents the total saving to the 
colliery owners, as foremen are entirely avoided, with the exception of one man on each shift to attend the boilers, 
so that the total economy which would be efiected, were the system generally adopted in the country, would be 
fully £.300,000 per annum. 

THE BELGIAN OR FLUE OVEN. 

Under the general term "Belgian ovens " is included a number of forms of coke ovens, not all of which, however, 
are of Belgian invention, which have certain points of resemblance, but all differing from the bee-hive or solid- 
wall oveus in two, or possibly three, particulars : 

First. In the exclusion of air from the coking-chamber, the heat necessary to coking being api^lied from the 
outside. 

Second. In the utilization of the waste heat and waste ga.ses to facilitate the process of coking. 

Third. In the more rapid discharging or drawing of the ovens and in cooling the coke on the outside, thereby 
saving labor and reducing the loss of heat in drawing and cooling. 

Coking iu oveus on the Belgian plan is of the nature of distillation in a close vessel or retort, the process 
proceeding at the same time from the sides, bottom, and top inward toward the center of the mass, the heat for 
distillation being applied from without and being sui>plied by the combustion in flues of the waste gases 
supplemented by the heat retained in the walls. Theoretically this should give all the carbon in the coal; 
practically there is some waste, but much less than iu the bee-hive. 

Coking in bee-hive oveus is from the top downward gradually through the mass, the heat necessary to expel 
the gases being supplied partly by the heat in the walls and the burning of the escaping gases iu the coking chamber 
above the coal and partly at the expense of the carbon of the coal. The coke is cooled inside the bee-hive oveu 
by throwing water ujiou it before drawing, thereby cooling the oven also. In the Belgian oven, almost without 
exception, the coke is first drawn out and then cooled, the oven losing but little heat in drawing. 

It will be seeu, therefore, that, considering only the yield of coal in coke, theoretically the Belgian i)lan is the 
better, as it shoidd give more coke to a given weight of coal than the bee-hive oven. The ju-actice is found to agree 
with the theory, the yield of coal in coke in the Belgian oven being greater than in the bee-hive. Yield, however, 
is not conclusive as to the economic value of coke, and in deciding which is the better plan, the original cost of 
the oven and expense for repairs, as well as the character of the coke produced, should be considered. Whidi is 
the better oven for making a fuel for blastfurnace purposes is discussed iu another jilace. 



92 . MANUFACTURE OF COKE. 

To attempt even a brief description of the various forms of the Belgian oven •would far exceed the limits of 
this report. The three that have been selected for description (the Dulait, the Oopp^e, and the Appolt) are 
regarded as presenting the most important principles of construction and as being of the most practical importance 
to the coke manufacturer. These are all flue ovens, but differ in shape and in the location and arrangement 
of the flues. In all of them the air is excluded as far as possible from the coking chamber, and the volatile matter 
is expelled from the coal by heat applied outside the walls of the coking chamber, the coke being discharged 
from the ovens before cooling. It should also be noted that the discharging of these ovens, which is by mechanical 
means, is facilitated by building them not quite rectangular in form, but with the walls slightly diverging, and, in 
the case of those which are horizontal, the bottom slightly sloping downward toward the front. 

The Dulait ovens are horizontal, long, and narrow, and are heated by the combustion of their volatile 
products in horizontal flues placed in the sides and bottom, numerous jets of heated air being supplied to the gases 
in their passage through the flues. They are built in pairs, one oven heating the adjoining one. This division into 
couples also exists in the Copp6e system. 

As generally constructed, these ovens are 7 meters (a) long, 0.75 meter wide, varying somewhat, however, 
according to the quality of the coal, and 1.15 meters high to the base of the arch, the arch being 0.10 meter in 
height. The incline of the bottom of the oven to the front is 0.02 meter to the meter. To prevent waste of 
heat and the penetration of air the oven is furnished with double doors, the outer one, which is on a plane with 
the front, being of sheet-iron 0.005 meter thick, and the inner one, which is 0.30 meter from the first, of cast-iron. 
The space occupied by the coal is thus reduced to 6 meters. The ovens are charged through hoppers closed both 
at the top and bottom, the lower part being shut by a cast-iron slab cemented with clay in the brick-work, while 
the upper opening is closed by a cover, the edges of which rest in a channel fiUed with powdered coal. 

The flame from the coking chamber of one oven passes out and descends directly below the bottom of the 
other member of the pair, where it is divided into four currents, which flow in between the partition walls, and 
after traversing every flue reach the chimney. To supply the air necessary for the combustion of these products 
one of the walls of the flues through which the gases pass is built of two rows of hollow bricks, superposed. 
These bricks have a section of 0.10 by 0.12 meter, and are pierced by a longitudinal hole 0.05 met6r in diameter, in 
such a manner that by their juxtaposition they form two superimposed channels as long as the whole flue. The 
lower channel is open at the front of the oven and closed at the other extremity, where it rises in order to 
communicate with the upper parallel channel. This is pierced by holes 0.008 meter in diameter, placed at a 
distance of 1 decimeter from each other, and opening into the flues in which the combustible gases are circulating. 
By this arrangement the external air taken in by the draught penetrates into the lower channel, where it becomes 
heated, and, reaching the upper passage, is projected across the stream divided into innumerable streamlets, 
which increase the surface of contact, thus effecting perfect combustion and producing the highest possible degree 
of temperature, so that the gases are in this way fully utilized. As a result, if the coal is of the right quality, 
the combustible gases are produced in suiflcient quantity to secure a complete distillation of the coal and the 
regular and continuous heating of the whole of the apparatus. This system does awaj- with the necessity for 
providing openings into the coking chamber for the admittance of air or secures a theoretical absence of draught, 
limited only by the care with which the clay has been applied to the doors. 

The Dulait is a very hot oven, somewhat expensive in its first cost, bat requiring only slight repairs, works 
large charges, and gives a yield nearly equal to the theoretical maximum. It requires, however, constant and 
careful attention to secure the best results. The charge of coal is from 5,000 to 10,500 pounds, about 7,000 being 
the average. With the medium or lighter charge the time of coking is 24 to 30 hours, with the heavier 48 hours. 
The yield as compared with the Smet oven, which it has in some cases superseded, is much greater. Coal that in 
the Smet oven yielded 71 per cent, yields in the Dulait 70.] 7 per cent, of large and 1.75 per cent, of small coke, 
or 80.92 per cent. The cost in Belgium in 1873 for a Dulait oveji to produce 5,300 pouuds of coke every 24 hours 
was 2,700 francs. (&) In that year there were 1,100 of these ovens in Belgium and 700 in France, Prussia, and 
Austria. 

The Oopp6e oven is designed for coking only finely-divided coal. It resembles the Dulait oven in being 
horizontal, long, and narrow, but its side flues are vertical, instead of horizontal, as in the Dulait and Smet ovens, 
and the methods of supplying air for the combustion of the waste gases, as well as of firing and utilizing the waste 
heat, are improvements on the Dulait and Smet. 

As generally built, the Copp6e ovens are in banks or batches of thirty, arranged in groups of two each, one oven 
of each pair being charged when the couti-iits of the other are half coked, and vice versa. Connected with each oven 
of a pair are a number of vertical flues, or chambers, through which the volatile products from both ovens are 
conveyed downward to a horizontal flue under one of them. After passing under this oven to its end, the gases 
return by a similar flue under the other and enter a channel running at right angles to the ovens and under 
them, passing from this channel either directly iuto a chimney or carried under boilers and used to generate 
steam. Air is supplied to these vertical flues in the sides by a smaller vertical flue, oue o r two to each oven, 

a The meter is 39.370f inches. 

h .Journal of Iro i anl Sleel [iinlUiUo, No i, lSr:3, pa-^o 34r>,, from wliich the details of cost aud yieUl are taken. 





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MANUFACTURE OF COKE. 93 

connected with tlie top near the center charging-hole, the air becoming heated while passing through the flue. 
The ovens are charged from the top through three hoppers, and are drawn by means of a mechanical ram propelled 
by a cogged driving-wheel, worked by a small portable engine. At each end of the oven are two iron doors 
moving on hinges and fixed securely in metal frames, the lower 3 feet high, the npper 1 foot. The nsual 
dimensions of the ovens are 26 feet G inches long, about 19 inches broad at the back and 17 at the front, and 4 leet 
high. Ovens of this size are charged every 24 hours; others, arranged to be charged every 48 hours, are 5 feet 7 
inches high and 5 feet broad. The thickness of the brick-work between is 13.2 inches, (a) 

The accompanying drawing will give an idea of this oven. 

The operation of the ram used in discharging the oven by pushing will be readily seen from an inspection of 
the drawing. 

In working the ovens it is necessary first to heat them thoroughly, which is done by lighting fires of coal at 
the end of every oven close to the doors. When sufficiently hot, the first few charges of coal are in small lumps, 
the coke produced being of an inferior qnality ; but in a few days the ovens become so thoroughly hot that crushed 
coal of the consistency of very coarse meal is used, it being washed, if necessary, to remove impurities. 

As has already been stated, one oven of the pair is charged when the coking in the other is abont half completed. 
When ready to charge, the previous charge not having yet been withdrawn, the front and back doors are opened, 
and the mass of coke pushed out by a ram. The ram is then quickly withdrawn, and the two lower doors are closed. 
The oven is charged through the three hoppers or openings, and the coal is leveled, by means of rakes, by two men 
working through the upper doors at each end. The doors are then closed and carefully luted, and carbonization 
commences immediately. The processes of emptying and refilling the ovens need not occupy more than eight 
minutes. The coke is quenched immediately upon being withdrawn. Six charges are coked in each oven per week, 
each charge yieldiug about 2 tons of coke. 

Eegarding the yield of the coal in coke it is claimed that within 2 per cent, of the theoretical yield is obtained. 
Mr. E. Windsor Kichards stated to Mr. Percy that at the Ebbw Vale iron works (?;) 13,400 tons of coal (containing 
nearly 20 per cent, of shale) were sent to the washing-machine, and that 8,400 tons of coke were obtained, which is 
equal to a yield of C2.7 per cent, of the unwashed coal. If the washing process be effective in removing the shale, 
the yield of the washed coal must be considerably greater. Mr. Richards, however, found as much as G per cent, 
of water iu the coke— a point of considerable importance in estimating the yield — the large quantity of water being 
due to the fact that the coke is quenched outside the oven, aud to the want of sufficient care in performing this 
operation. A series of determinations, recently obtained from Bolckow, Vaughan & Co., limited, of Middlesborough, 
of the quantity of water in coke made in bee-hive ovens at their Newfield collieries and quenched inside the ovens, 
gave an average of only 0.8 per cent. ■ 

At Ebbw Vale, where there is a bank of these ovens, the work of coking is let to a contractor, who commences by 
filling the trams from the bin containing the crushed coal; and he finds all the labor for filling the ovens, discharging 
their contents (inclusive of working the cokeram), and loading the coke into trams, for one shilling per ton of 
coke. The additional cost of crushing the coal in a disintegrator must be borne in mind. 

In France, in 1878, the cost of making a hundred- weight of coke was about 28 cents, with 20 cents per ton for 
repairs and incidental expenses. 

On page 99 will be found a statement made by Mr. Bainbridge, of the Duke of Norfolk's colliery, regarding 
the work of the Copp^e oven. The advantages claimed for this oven by its inventors are rapidity of coking, 
largely increased yield, and better coke. It is further recommended by them on the ground that — 

Some qualities of coal which are not sulficiently bituminous to coke in the old oven (or bee-hive) make good coke when burnt 
in the Copi)6e ovens ; that there is a slight saving of labor by the Copp^e system, and that the waste gases of the oven may be 
utilized for the raising of steam without involving extra expense in the construction. 

It may be questioned whether a coal which cannot be coked in a bee-hive oven will make good coke in a 
Copp^e oven. Coke can be made from such inferior coals in the Copp6e, but it will be inferior coke. The occasion 
of the invention of the Belgian oven was to utilize these inferior coking coals, to make it possible to coke them ; but 
it is evident that no oven treatment can supply the lacking chemical elements demanded in making good coke. 

In 1873 there were in operation in Belgium 524 Coppee ovens, and 192 were in course of erection. In Prussia 
305 were at work and 138 building ; in France 186 at work, and in England 30 at work and 30 building. According 
to Professor Jordan the cost of each oven is from $300 to $350 in France (2,500 to 2,750 francs), (c) 

Though not strictly a flue oven, being more of the nature of a retort entirely surrounded by flame, the Api^olt 
oven is very properly treated in connection with the Belgian ovens, as it may be regarded as surrounded by one 
large flue. 

The Appolt oven dift'ers materially from those previously described. It is upright instead of horizontal, and 
the soke is discharged from the bottom by gravity, instead of being pushed out by a ram. The method of supplying 
air for the combustion of the waste gas is also theoretically more perfect than in either of the other systems. 

a A full description, with working drawings of this oven, may be found in Percy's Metallurgy : Fuel. London, 1875. 

b Percy's Metallurgy : Fuel, page 5*4. 

c Album to Course of Lectures on Metallurgy, by S. Jordan, C. E. (London, 1878), page 20. 



94 MANUFACTURE OF COKE. 

This oven consists of a series of upright rectangular retorts, the longer sides of the rectangle being two or three 
times the length of the shorter. The retort is also wider at the bottom than at the top, to facilitate the discharge 
of the coke. These retorts, in groups of 12, 18, or 24, as the case may be, are inclosed in a large rectangular 
brick chamber, which may be termed the combustion chamber, the retorts being surrounded on all sides by 
air-spaces, these spaces being in communication, and the walls which form the sides of the retorts connected 
together by solid blocks of fire-brick. Between the fire-brick walls of the combustion chamber and an outside 
brick wall is a space filled loosely with some i)0wdered substance, as sand or other bad conductor of heat, which 
allows a certain degree of expansion and contraction of the fire-brick wall of the combustion chamber within. The 
combustion chamber for a group of 12 retorts would be about 17 feet long by 11 feet 6 inches wide and 13 feet 
high. The retorts are about 4 feet long and 1 foot G inches wide at the base, and 3 feet 8 inches long and 13 
inches wide at the upper part, the walls being about 4^ inches thick. The distance between the corresponding 
walls of the neighboring retorts varies from 7f to 9f inches, {a) The ovens are placed in two rows, back to back, 
the bottoms being provided with cast-iron doors, strengthened by transverse bars of wrought-iron. The partition 
walls of each chamber, at a distance of from 16 Inches to 2 feet from the base, are traversed by two rows of small 
horizontal openings 5J inches long and about 3J inches high, 9 on each wide and 3 on each narrow side. At the 
upper part there are three similar openings on each wide side only. Through these openings the volatile products 
evolved during the coking of the coal pass into the surrounding open spaces of the combustion chamber, where 
they are burned by atmospheric air admitted through holes in the wide sides of the outer wall of the oven. In the 
wide side walls are the flues which receive the products of combustion from the flues surrounding the spaces and 
convey them to the chimneys. There are twelve vertical flues in all, three below and three above in each of these 
walls. 

In operating the oven it is first heated with coal, as in the case of the Copp^e oven, until the walls have become 
red hot. After eight or ten days firing the oven will be found to have attained a temperature of from 1,200° to 
1,400° C. (&) 

In order always to insure an equal degree of heat through the oven, and to simplify the management of the 
latter by the dampers and air-flues, it is expedient to charge the two series of compartments alternately, the 
temporary grate and brick lining at the bottom being removed from the compartment which it is proposed to charge. 
The door is closed and securely fixed, and is then covered with a layer of coke dust about 1 foot thick. This is done 
to protect the door from heat, to close effectually the bottom of the compartment, and to prevent loss of heat. The 
charge of coal is now introduced, and a cover is placed over the top, luted with coke dust or clay. 

The gases, which are immediately evolved when the coal comes in contact with the red-hot sides of the compartment, 
pass into the surrounding free spaces, where they are burnt, and so sustain the heat of the oven. An hour afterward 
a second compartment is charged in like manner, and so in succession until all have been charged. As the amount 
of gas produced increases during the day with the number of charges, it is necessary to open the dampers, and all 
that is required to be done during the night is gradually to shut them again in proj)ortion as the evolution of gas 
decreases. Carbonization being completed at the end of the 24 hours, on the following day the coke is drawn from 
the first comiiartmeut at the same time as the charging took place on the previous day. Immediately afterward 
the compartment is charged again. The process is thus continued without interruption, the coke being drawn from 
each compartment 24 hours after it has received a charge of coal. No inconvenience arises from the use of washed 
coal which still retains moisture. By suitably decreasing the admission of air and the exit of gases from the oven 
the charging may be omitted on particular days, and yet the heat will continue sufficiently high to enable the 
charging to be effected on the following day. 

The advantages claimed for this oven are as follows: (c) 

1. The calcination is etiected in a close chamber solely by the combustion of gas disengaged from the coal, a condition favorable to 
a high yield. 

2. The heating surface is very considerable, reaching 190 square meters for a charge of 1.5 tons. The comparatively small size of 
tlie retort secures a rapid and regular carbonization. 

3. The flames from all the compartments uniting in a common chamber, "which surrounds them, insure a uniformity of temperature. 

4. The vertical position of the compartments, beside the facility of rapid charging and emptying, gives more compactness to the 
coke, while the arrangement occupies less sjiace. 

The following are the inconveniences incident to the system : 

1. If the general arrangement does not allow of the coal being led directly out upon the loading platform, lifts must be provided to 
raise it. 

i. Masses sometimes adhere to the sides of the retorts, which have to be broken by bars before the coke can fall. 

3. The management of these ovens is not so simjjle as in some other systems, and when repairs are required for one compartment 
the whole group has to be stopped. 

In the Appolt oven the yield is very nearly the theoretical maximum. At the Blauzy collieries, in France, an oven 
of 18 compartments is charged with about 24 tons of coal and 3 tons (2,240 pounds) of ashes and dust for covering the 

a These dimensions ace to be regarded as about the dimensions, they being the equivalents in English feet and inches of the meters. 
of the original paper. 

6 Percy's Meiallurgy : Fuel, pages 449, 450. 

c Journal Iron and Steel Instiliite, 2, 18%, page 348. 



MANUFACTURE OF COKE. 



05 



movable bottoms. The opemtiou lasts 24 hours, aud produces 17 tons G huudred-weight (2,240 pouuds) of coke. 
Taking into consideration the water in the coal (5 per cent.) and in the coke (10 per cent.), the yield would be GSJ 
per cent., about the yield in a crucible. The cost of the construction of au oven of 18 retorts is about $10,000 
(50,000 francs); the cost of coking at a French colliery, including the mixing and breaking of coal and maiuteuauce 
of oven, amounts to about 43 cents per ton (2 francs 15 centimes). 

Dr. Percy, in summing up regarding the Appolt oven, makes the following remarks: («) 

This oven difters much iu construction from most other coke ovens, and appears completely to fulfill the conditions of a close vessel 
or retort. Although it certainly is a costly structure, yet according to the inventors the cost iu proportion to yield is less than in auy 
other kind of coke oven. Xow. it has heen previously stated that the non-coking, thick coal of South Staft'ordshire Tvill cake aud produce 
a solid coherent coke, provided it be rapidly exposed to a high temperature iu a perfectly close vessel ; aud a prodigious amount of the fine 
slack of such coal has either heen wasted or left in the pits because it could not be raised with profit. It may be possible to imitate on 
a large scale the conditions of the experiment in a crucible and to heat rapidly a large mass of slack to bright redness; but of all the 
coke ovens known to me, th.at on the Appolt system seems to be one of the most favorable to the solution of the problem. 

Mr. Meuelaus, however, informed Dr. Percy (June, 1873) that some years before he saw the Appolt ovens at 
work near Saarbriick, and that the late M. de Wendel, to whom they belonged, and who was an excellent judge 
of coke ovens, did not, at least at the time of Mr. Menelaus' visit, see any great merit in Appolt's scheme. 

While it thus appears that theoretically the Appolt oven is the nearest to a perfect coke oven, it is not used to 
the same extent as either the Smet, the Dulait, or the Coppee. It is by far the most expensive to construct, aud, as 
has already been noted, the stoppage of operations to repair one retort necessitates the stoppage of all. 

As to which of the many forms of the Belgian oven is the best, but little iuformatiou has been obtained, as 
results of comparative trials have in but few instances been made public; indeed, it would be almost impossible 
to arrive at a general conclusion on this point. It will doubtless be found that one form will give the best results 
with one kind of coal, while another form will be better adapted to the coking of coal of a different character, but 
it will always be found true that inferior coal of whatever character will invariably give an inferior coke. Some forms 
of oven may give a better coke than other forms with the same coal. The true method is to study the character of 
the coal and adopt the oven that seems best suited to it, having in view economy of operation. At the Cockerill 
works, at Seraing, Belgium, where a number of Smet ovens had been used for some time, a trial was made of the 
Dulait, but after careful aud thorough experimenting it was abandoned and the preference given to the Smet. On 
the other hand, at the works of the Societe Auouyme des Charbonnages de IMarihaye, Belgium, some experiments 
have been made as to the relative value of the Dulait and the Appolt ovens, with the following result as to the 
contents of the coke produced : 



1 WASHED. UXWASHED. 


Constituents. i 

Treated in the Tre.ited in the Treated in the 
Dulait oven. Appolt oven. , Dulait oven. 


Per cent. Per cent. Per cent. 

Ash 2.8400 ' 4.4000 ' 9.3400 

Water ■ 0.5100 0. 4S00 0.5800 

Carbon ! 96.6500 : 95.2300 90.0800 







In England, in the South Wales district, where the Belgian oven has been introduced, and iu other parts of 
England having coals of similar or inferior character, the preference seems to be given to the Coppee ovens, with 
modifications in some cases, suggested by the experience of the English engineers. While other ovens have been 
tried, no record has been found of any other form of Belgian oven iu use at the present time. The Cox oven, of 
which the Dulait is in .some respects an imitation, and which was at one time used at the Ebbw Vale works, does 
not seem to meet with continued favor, as at this works, as stated elsewhere, Coppee ovens have been lately built. 
As noted by Percy in his Metallurgy, all of the Belgian ovens, with the exception of the Appolt, seem to be 
improvements of the old rectangular Welsh oven. In this process of development the Smet, Dulait, and Coppee 
seem to be successive steps, and the late action of the English coke manufacturers would indicate that with the 
inferior coals of that country the last step in this development, that is, the Coppee oven, is the best. 



SPECIAL ADAPTATIONS OF EACH FORM OF OVEN. 

A question of the utmost importance in connection with the manufacture of coke is which is the best oven, 
and is as dilBcult to answer as it is important. The form of oven that might be the best, the most econouiical, and 
produce the best coke under certain conditions, would not necessarily be the best when these conditions are 
changed. The oven that would give the most satisfactory results with the coals of Durham, England, or 
Connellsville, in this country, would not necessarily be the best for the inferior coals of France or Belgium. 

n A full description of this oven can be found in Percy's Metallurgy : Fuel.- 



96 MANUFACTURE OF COKE. 

This question as to which is the best form of oven, while it is one contingent on circumstances, is nevertheless 
answerable as to a given coal. It has been thoroughly investigated in the chief coke-producing countries of the 
world, and some decided results have been reached as to the best ovens for the coals of the several districts-. As 
there is so great a variety of coals in this country, it may not be unimportant to give these results. 

It seems to be quite well settled that with coals similar in character and cost to those of Durham, England, 
and Counellsville, Pennsylvania, the bee-hive oven, not only as to the character of the coke, but on the score of 
economy of operation, is the better form. The yield of these coals in coke is no doubt greater in the close distilling 
ovens on the so-called Belgian plans, where the time of coking and consequent exposure is shorter than it is in the 
bee-hive ovens, and the coke, in burning, is more or less exposed to the action of highly-heated atmospheric air, 
but it has been found in blast-furnace practice that this greater yield is more than compensated for by .the larger 
amount necessary to make a ton of iron. This is a somewhat remarkable statement, but it has the sanction of the 
best authority. Mr. I. Lowthiau Bell, the distinguished English manufacturer and writer on blast-furnace 
phenomena, while acknowledging, in speaking of the Belgian and bee-hive oven, (a) that the yield was much greater 
in the latter, " almost the whole of the fixed carbon being obtained as a coke, the exception being a very minute 
loss incurred in drawiog,"(6) nevertheless found the useful effect in the furnaces inferior to that obtained from 
the coke made in the ordinarj' oven. In consequence of this all his more recently erected ovens have been 
constructed upon the old fashion. 

Mr. Bell also stated, at a meeting of the British Iron and Steel Institute at Paris in 1878, (c) that his firm, 
among many others, undertook, at considerable expense, the inquiry as to whether it was possible to treat 
English coal in the same way as coal was treated in France in the manufacture of coke. Both the Knab and the 
Apijolt ovens were tried, and while in both these systems the yield obtained was quite equal to their expectations, 
they found in i)ractice that whatever advantage was gained in yield was so much lost in the blast-furnace; that the 
quantity of coal actually consumed in the manufacture of a ton of iron remained pretty much the same in each case. 
In other words, he found if 30 hundred- weight of coal made 20 hundred-weight of coke in a bee-hive oven and 22J in 
an Appolt, that it would require the 22^ hundred- weight of Ajipolt coke to do the same work in the blast-furnace 
as the 20 hundred- weight of bee-hive coke. They were compelled, therefore, to go back to the old bee-hive oven, 
and, as n result, were using a considerably gi'eater quantity of fuel than ought to be the case if the coke made in 
the better description of ovens had produced an article equal in quality to that produced in the bee-hive oven. 
He suggested, as one reason for this fact, that the extra coke was consumed in great part in the upj)er part of 
the blast-furnace, but another and more simple reason was that as they invariably used a much greater quantity 
of water in quenching the coke made in the Gopp6e and Appolt ovens than they did with the bee-hive, a portion of 
the increased yield was due to the presence of water, and therefore more apparent than real. 

There is perhaps another reason for this greater consumption of the coke made in Belgian ovens than of that 
made in bee-hive ovens. The flued ovens make a denser coke than the bee-hive, and it takes more of it to smelt a 
ton of ])ig-iron than of the more cellular coke of the bee-hive. In a word, the difference of consumption maj' be 
largely due to the physical condition of the coke; and here it may be pertinent to say that the physical condition 
of the coke produced with the several ovens is not receiving the attention its importance demands, {d) 

Mr. A. L. Steavenson, a North of England engineer and writer on coke, went further than Mr. Bell, and claimed 
that coke was made in bee-hive ovens in the Cleveland district of England that it would be impossible to produce 
in any of the Belgian ovens. After a study of coke-making in England extending over a period of twenty-five 
years, he was quite sure that there was not any oven equal to the old-fashioned round oven for producing coke 
economically for the manufacture of iron, (e) 

These statements are fully borne out, so far as relates to the cokes made from our Broad Top and OonnellsviUe 
coals, by the careful and thorough experiments of Mr. John Fulton, mining engineer of the Cambria Iron Company. (/) 
Speaking of the Connellsville coal, Mr. Fulton says:{g) 

The best quality of Counellsville coke treated in the Belgian ovens of the Cambria Iron Company produced a coke of very 
objectionable density, especially in the bottom and middle of the charge. 

A direct test to determine the relative calorific values of cokes made in bee-hive and Gobeit ovens, using 
the same quality of coal in each kind, was made at the furnaces of the Kemble Coal and Iron Company, in 
the Broad Top coal region, Pennsylvania, by William Lauder, the general superintendent. The furnace in which 

a Chemical Phenomena of Iron Smelting, I. Lowthian Bell, London, 1872, pages 314, 315. 

i Transactions Institute of Mechanical Engineers, 1871. 

c Journal of the Iron and Steel Institute, No. 2, 1878, pages 346, 347. 

d Mr. Fulton suggests that the denser coke may not be as vigorous a fuel as the more cellular, or, in other words, that as many tons 
of pig-iron could not be made in a week in a furnace using the denser coke as in one using the cellular. A comparison between the makes 
of furnaces using Counellsville coke and those using anthracite, which is practically a dense coke, will illustrate what is meant by a 
"vigorous fuel". 

e Journal of the Iron and Steel Institute, page 354. 

/ See Second Geological Survey of Pennsylvania, Report G (Harrisburg, 1878), pages 235 et seq. Also Eeport L, pages 117 et aeq. 

g Eeport G, page 248. 



MANUFACTURE OF COKE. 97 

the tests were made is 14 by 60 feet, vrith modern blowing macliiuery and hot-blast oven. The ores are from the 
Clinton group (No. V), well known as the Juniata fossil ore, containing 30 ± per cent, of metallic iron. The increased 
density of coke made in the Gobeit was very manifest. It was found that with careful management in both trials 
it required 2,300 pounds of Gobeit coke to carry the same furnace burden as 1,900 pounds of bee-hive coke. Mr. 
Lauder confesses his surprise at the results. While this coke was in the furnace it took 5,190 pounds to 1 ton of 
pig-iron; with the bee-hive coke 4.1uG pounds for the same work. The loss, per ton of jjig-iron made, is 1,040 pounds 
of coke, or 20 per cent. If the furnace makes 250 tons a week, the loss will be 115i tons of coke, at $2 25= 
$259 87 per week. 

This testimony in favor of the use of the bee-hive oven for coking the coals of western Pennsylvania is further 
strengthened by the action of certain coke manufacturers in that region, who, after having thoroughly tried certain 
forms of the Belgian oven, have, on increasing their coke-plant, built nothing but beehive ovens. 

It may be assumed that, for coking, the character of coals, of which the Durham and the Connellsville may be 
taken as the type, and having in consideration the fact that the use to which coke is most largely put is in blast- 
furnace work, the bee-hive oven is the best. It may be possible that in the development of the iron business and 
the increased demand for coke, coupled with the exhaustion of coal-beds and the necessity of going deeper and 
further into the hills for coal; in a word, with the increased cost of the .character of coal which is so admirably 
adapted to the manufacture of coke, some modification of the bee-hive oven that will give a similar character of 
coke without so great waste will be adopted; but we are speaking, of course, of the present and the present 
conditions. 

In noting these results and opinions it is scarcely necessary to state that in the experiments recorded all forms of 
the so-called Belgian oven have not been tested and the results compared with those obtained in the bee-hive ovens. 
It is fair to presume, however, that tests made by such eminent engineers as Messrs. Bell and Steaveuson in 
England and Mr. Fulton in this country would be carefully and thoroughly made, and that the Belgian oven 
selected for trial would be regarded as the best form for the coal used with which they were acquainted at the time 
the test was made. 

It should also be noted that in these statements the coke is considered only as to its A-alue as a blast-furnace 
fuel; the economy of coking is not taken into account. 

It is also fair to state that the experience of Messrs. Lauglilin & Co., of the Eliza furnaces at Pittsburgh, is 
fiivorable to the use of the Belgian ovens. The oven they use is the old Frangois oven, improved by Mr. Henry 
Laughlin, and are 22 feet long, IS inches wide, and 5 feet high, flues being arranged vertically in the side walls, 
which are 13 inches thick. Mr. Laughlin states that he has used Connellsville coal in these ovens with very good 
results, the time of coking being very much shorter and the coke produced equally as good as that made from 
the same coal in bee-hive ovens, but the yield was greater. They also use at times a mixture of Connellsville coal 
and the fine slack from the Monongahela rivei-, but for the most part use the latter alone after careful washing, 
it making a lighter and more porous coke than the Connellsville coal. They get every 24 hours about 2,000 pounds 
of coke from each oven. A remarkable difference between their practice and that ordinarily used with the Belgian 
oven is that the coke is watered in the oven as in the bee-hive and is pushed out cold, and it may be possible that 
the better quality of the coke from these Belgian ovens is in part due to this watering inside. 

So far this question of the relative value of different forms of ovens has been considered only with reference 
to the coking of coals similar to those of Durham, England, and of Connellsville, in this country, and it seems well 
established that with these coals the bee-hive oven has so far given the best results; but all coals are not of the 
character of these, nor are they so easily coked. Mr. E. Windsor Eichards, of Blockow, Vaughan & Co.'s steel works 
at Eston, England, very aptly remarked of the Durham coal : " It would be very difficult not to make good coke with 
it;" (a) and a similar statement may be made of the Connellsville coal. The question arises, regarding those coals 
that in the bee-hive oven have made inferior coke, or, as they are termed, the "inferior coking coals": Are any 
better results obtained with these coals in the Belgian oven than in the bee-hive or similar forms'? 

The evidence seems conclusive that, with certain inferior coals, the Belgian oven produces a better coke than 
tlie ovens of which the bee-hive is the type. In a word, certain inferior coking coals can be coked in the Coi>pee 
or some other form of Belgian oven which cannot be coked in the bee-hive. Many coals do not contain sufficient 
hydrogenous matter to thoroughly ignite and agglutinate in the bee-hive; they lack the pitchy matter to su]iply 
heat and bind the coal together in coking. In the Belgian oven, however, by reason of the greater heat, these 
coals catch more readily, and, the ])rocess being quicker, they bind together better. In many cases where the 
Belgian oven is used onthe.se dry coals it is found advisable to mix them with coals containing more "pitch''. This 
has been done at the works of the Cambria Iron Company with their Belgian ovens. At the same time, however, 
it seems to be a fact that the invention of the Belgian oven was the result of necessity, not of advanced scientific 
method. The European coals lor which this oven was designed were very dry material for coke — could not well 
be " stuck" together iu the old circular oven, and hence a costly appliance had to be used to make it possible to use 
these inferior coals in coke-making. 

Up to 1852 coke was made iu Belgium in bee-hive ovens, or iu others with solid walls, somewhat similar iu 

a Journal Iron and Steel Institute, No. 2, 1378, page 343. 
CO, VOL. IX 7 



98 MANUFACTURE OF COKE. 

construction to the bee-hive. At this time the cost of the bituminous coal used increased to such a figure that it 
■was necessary to use inferior coal for coking or to abandon iron-making. Out of this have grown the many forms 
of the so-called Belgian oven, the principles of which are described in the chapter treating of ovens. 

The fact that the old forms of oven have been entirely abandoned in Belgium is the most convincing evidence 
that for the Belgian coals they are not the best form. The testimony as to which of the many forms of the Belgian 
is the best is not conclusive, but it seems generally conceded in Belgium, as the result of careful and long-continued 
experiments and comparisons, that almost any form of the oven is better than the bee-hive for their coal. 

A similar statement is true of France. The French coals chiefly used for coking are not typical coking coals,, 
being dry and quite impure, and consequently higii in ash. In that country the coke is generally made in the 
Copp6e or Appolt forms of the Belgian oven. In the discussion of Professor Jordan's paper, which has been 
before referred to, Mr. Windsor Eichards stated that his impression was that without the Copp6e or Appolt oven 
coke-making in France would be impossible, (a) In discussing this further, Professor Jordan said : (&) 

The improved coke ovens, Belgian or Appolt system, yield with the same quantity of coal a higher percentage of coke than the old 
■foee-hive ovens, because there was a smaller loss by combustion in the oven, and also because the proportion of small coke or cinders -was- 
smaller as was also the cost of working. It is a fact universally known to be true by the French and Belgian coke manufacturers that 
the cost of production of a ton of coke in a Bolgian or an Appolt oven is smaller than in a bee-hive oven. There is less coal and less labor 
required. For the blast-furnace process, coke must be considered as to its percentage of ash, and as to its porosity and friability. A 
percentage of ash can be obtained as low in the improved coke ovens as in the old form ; indeed, by using the same coal, a purer coke 
is produced iu the new ovens, since the yield is higher. As to the porosity and friability, which depend above all on the qu&lity and the 
physical state of the coal used, and also on the thickness of the layer of coal in the coke oven, the French manufacturers certainly obtain 
in their improved ovens coke as dense and as hard, indeed, perhaps more dense and more hard, than in the old bee-hive ovens.(c) 
Therefore, Professor Jordan said he could not find an explanation of the fact recorded by Mr. Bell. He was not aware of any trial made 
by iron-masters for comparing the two kinds of coke for blast-furnace use, but all the blast-furnaces in the Loire district had formerly 
used coke made in bee-hive ovens, and actually now used coke manufactured iu improved ovens, and they hadneverhad any disadvantage 
resulting from the change. 

Professor Jordan, referring to Mr. Richards' remarks, agreed with them. The only coals to be got by French 
iron-masters were generally inferior to those of Durham for coke-making. In old times, when the consumption of 
coke was not very extensive in "i'rance, it was manufactured from caking coals in bee-hive ovens; this, for example, 
■was the case with the Loire coal-field. Now, however, that the wants of the iron trade have increased other kinds- 
of coal are largely employed. 

Professor Jordan believed {d) that, in spite of the unfavorable results referred to by Mr. Bell, the Durham coke- 
makers would adopt in due time the improved systems of coke ovens used in France, Belgium, and Westphalia. The 
failures reported by Mr. Bell had also been incurred by German manufacturers in the Loire coal-field, where formerly 
coke was made only from caking coal in bee-hive ovens. There the improved systems had been introduced in 
practice later and more slowly than elsewhere, because the first trials had been made with systems of ovens which, 
though having merits for other qualities of coal, were somewhat inappropriate for that used. He ventured to 
say that the same had perhaps happened to Mr. Bell. It should always be remembered that when making trials 
■with coke ovens of the Smet, Coppee, Appolt, or other class failure might result instead of success, in consequence 
of a difference of some inches, more or less, in the breadth of the oven or the dimensions of a flue, or probably of 
some units too much or too little in the percentage of humidity of the coals prepared for carbonization. These 
improved ovens required also more attention and care than the old ones. 

In Westphalia, though the coal is superior to the French for coking, being somewhat similar to the Welsh 
steam-coal, it has been found that better results are secured by the use of the Belgian ovens than by the old style 
of bee-hive ovens. The details and experience in the use of these ovens iu this part of Germany have not been 
procured, but the relative number is conclusive evidence as to which form is deemed best. Of the 5,300 ovens 
reported in the Westphalia district, the far greater number are of the Coppee system. Dr. Gustav Natorp, in his 
paper read before the British Iron and Steel Institute, says : 

Although it is the opinion of some engineers that the coke produced in the bee-hive ovens is superior in many respects to that of the 
Coppee ovens, the former have, nevertheless, riot been generally adopted, since a coke can be far more cheaply produced in the Coppee 
ovens, which answers all the requirements, not alone of our native iron industry, but of that of Belgium, Luxembourg, and France as- 
well. 

Even in England itself there is strong evidence of the superiority of the Belgian ovens of the Coppee system 
for the manufacture of coke from certain of the British coals, especially those of South Wales. 

Mr. Richard Meade, in his recent work on The Coal and Iron Industries of the United Kingdom, page 201, says : 

The coke manufactured in the ordinary way in South Wales, although exceedingly hard and dense, does not appear to have attained 
all the economical results possible. Experience has shown that the carbonization of the coal i^ not complete, the long, deep fissures in the 
coke thus manufactured exhibiting, on examination, a considerable amount of dark carbonaceous matter not carbonized. 



a Journal Iron and Steel Institute, No. 2, 1875, page 348. 

b Idem, pages 349, 3S0. 

c A contusion of deusencss and hardness of coke may exist in some of these cases. Dense coke is not desirable; hard coke is. As 
is explained under "Properties and composition of coke", a hard coke is one in which the oell-waUs iu the fuel are hard ; a dense coke 
is one in which tbe number of cells iu the coke is small. 

d Journal Iron and Sleel Institute, No. 2, 1878, pages 352, 353. 



MANUFACTURE OF COKE. 



99 



At the Ebbw Yale iron works, in South Wales, GO ovens were constructed on the Coppee system in 187-4, and so 
successful has been their use with the coals at these works that 00 more were erected in ISSO. In the same year the 
Dowlais iron works decided to erect two blocks of 72 ovens each, and it was also reported that the Barrow Hematite 
Company had decided to make a trial of their coal, which is a very much poorer coking coal than even the Welsh, in 
these ovens. In Pembrokeshire, where the coal is not at all caking, good coke was obtained in the Coppee oven 
with the mixture of 50 per cent, of anthracite dust with bituminous coal and some pitch. 

At the Dowlais works the first block of 72 ovens on this system was put into fidl operation early in lS8i, 
at which time they produced 1,000 tons a week of excellent coke from a coal containing but in a slight degree 
those qualities that are considered necessary for coke-making. The success of these ovens at Dowlais led to the 
erection, in 1S81, of a block of 72 similar ovens by the Ehymney Iron Company. («) 

From what has been said we think it is evident that while for coals similar to those of Durham, England, 
and Couuellsville, Pennsylvania, under the present conditions as to prices and demand, the bee-hive oven is the 
best form for coking. We think it is also evident that for other coals, which may be termed inferior coking coals, 
similar to those of France, Belgium, Westphalia, those mentioned in South Wales, and the Cumberland district, 
the Belgian system, or some form of the Belgian system, is better than the bee-hive or a solid-walled oven. 

As to the relative cost and results of the two systems, many comparisons have been instituted. Mr. Emerson 
Bainbridge, who has gone very fully into the respective merits of the bee-hive and Coppee systems of coke 
manutactnre, has prepared the following summary of the chief points of comparison, which exhibit some interesting 
features : (b) 



Copp6e 



First cost per 2 tons of coke per day £119 7« 

Time of burmng ' 48tol20 honrs . . . 

Area per ton of coke daily ! 1.21S square feet. 

45 per cent 

1.002 sqtiare feet.. 

60 minutes 



Per cent, of yield 

Outside cooling-surface per 2 tons 

Time in emptyiug and refilling 

TTnits of heat inwaate gases per oven j 966.710 

Labor charge per ton ' Is. 3d.. 



£100. 
24 hours. 
234 square feet. 
59 pel' cent. 
175 square feet. 
8 minutes. 
1,401.584. 
lid. 



Mr. Fulton, in discussing this point, says : (c) 

The relative cost of making coke in each kind of oven is hereby given, with original cost of ovens and annual cost of repairs. The 
estimate contemplates hanks of ovens to produce 100 tons of coke per day, or 30,000 tons per year. Coal at §1 per ton delivered at ovens. 

BEE-HIVE OVENS. 

80 ovens, at iJ200 $16,000 

Interest on investment, 10 per cent, per annum 1,600 

Annual repairs and renewals, at §10 800 

S2,400 

Then = 8 cents per ton of coke. 

."^0,000 tons. 

COST OF COAL AND COKING. 

l.CO tonsof coal, at J;! per ton $1 60 

Labor at ovens, charging and drawing 27 

Interest on cost of ovens and annual repairs 8 

Coal, SI 60; coking, etc., 35 cents 1 95 

BELGIAN OVENS. 
65 ovens $45,200 

Engine for pushing coke out of ovens 3,000 

Annual repairs to engine 50 

Tracks for engine 300 

Annual repairs to ovens 310 

Annual interest on investment (§48,800), at 10 per cent 4,880 

85, 240 

Then S4,880+S310+.$50 = = 17A cents, nearly. 

30,000 tons. 

a Mr. Edward P. JIartin, manager of the Dowlais iron works, writes me under date of November 23, 1882: 

With regard to the question of yield of coke, we cousider that the yield in the Coppee oven is better than in ordinary ovens ; how 
much, it is difficult to say, as we do not weigh the products. With regard to the question of cost, taking into consideration the greater 
output per oven, we do not think that the cost per oven per ton of coke made is in excess of ovens built on the ordinary plan. The time 
of coking with us is 24 hours. The coke, if we u.se a fair quality of co.al, is good and hard, but it has not that silvery appearance so 
taking to the eye which we get from good coal from ordinary ovens. Chemically and mechanically there is no difference in the quality, 
as far as we are able to judge, on the blast-furnaces. The cost per oven in this country is about £100 each, includiug roads, foundations, 
etc. The labor expense is less than in operating ordiuary ovens. We have 72 ovens, and these 72 ovens burn ont about 1,000 tons per 
week, or 14 tons per oven per week. 

b Ure's Dictionary of Arts, Manufactures, and Mines, vol. iv, page 262. 

c Seoond Geological Survey of Pennsylvania, Report G, pages 249, 250. 



100 MANUFACTURE OF COKE. 

COST OF COAL AND COKING. 

Coal, 1.42 tons, at $1 per ton x $1 42 

Labor at ovens, charging, luting, pusMug, etc 23^ 

Interest on cost of ovens and annual repairs 17^ 

Coal, SI 42 ; coking, etc., 41 cents 1 83 

The Belgian plant of ovens is the more costly in construction, but less expensive in repairs and coking. 

The economy in this class of ovens consists in the saving in coal to make 1 ton of coke, the saving in the work of discharging the 
coke out of ovens, and in their annual repairs. 

The bee-hive oven is less costly in construction, but more esijensive in anuiial repairs. Regarding the two systems in the aspect of 
absolute economy, embracing the iuterest of invested capital iu their construction with annual repairs of each, and without any reference 
to the value of the coke made by each kind of oven, the Belgian exhibits an economy of 12 cents per ton of coke in its favor. 

Mr. Fulton sums up the Tyhole question as follows : (a) 

The inquiry as to the best oven will be confined to a comj)arison of the bee-hive and Belgian, the Appolt being regarded as iilauned 
for peculiar cases which are not embraced in the limits of the present investigation. 

The advantages of the bee-hive arc mainly as follows: iirst, it produces from the coal the best possible physical structure of coke ; 
second, it yields a uniform quality of coke ; third, its coke watered out in the oven is produced in the driest condition ; fourth, in rabbling 
it out it is separated into diminutive pieces ; and fifth, the operation of coking in it is simple, and the cost of oven and repairs moderate. 

The Belgian or Fransois oven has its advantages : first, it produces a uniform quality of coke ; and second, it is the most economical 
method of coking. 

Its disadvantages consist mainly with the ordinary coking coals in making a dense coke. It requires skill in its coking operations; 
it requires its coke to be quenched outside in a clumsy manner, producing a damp fuel ; its cost is large, but its repairs moderate. 

It is only especially adapted to the family of coals demanding pressure in coking, to prevent too inflated a physical structure, and 
to the peculiar cases hitherto noticed consisting of coals holding a minimum of volatile matter and requiring washing. 

Perhaps at present it is possible to secure coke made iu the bee-hive ovens from the excellent coals of the 
Allegheny mountains at such rates as would not justify the attempt to coke what might be termed the " inferior 
coking coals" of the states of the Mississippi and Ohio valleys outside of the Allegheny region, but in the near 
future the question of the coking of these inferior coals will be one of considerable moment, and it is for this reason 
that it has been discussed at length here. 

THE UTILIZATION OF WASTE PEODUGTS. 

The enormous waste iu coking has been a subject of earnest consideration on the part of coke-makers for many 
years, and various methods have been suggested and tried for saving this waste. The waste heat has been 
l)artially utilized — 

First, by changes in the construction of the ovens, building them iu bauks or blocks, and by the use of iiues in 
their sides and bottoms. 

Second, by carrying the heated gases under boilers and utilizing them for raising steam. 
This waste of heat, however, is a mere bagatelle to the waste of the by-products that pass off during the 
distillation of coal. In the manufacture of gas one of the principal soitrces of income is the sale of tar and 
ammoniacal liquors, and the amount and the value of these by-products in gas-making would scarcely be credited 
did it not have the sanctiou of such high authority, {h) 

The color industry utilizes practically all the benzine, a lajge ])roportion of the solvent naphtha, all the 
anthracene, and a portion of the naphthaline resulting from tb.e distillation of coal-tar, and the value of the 
coloring matter thus produced was given as £3,350,000. The present production of 1,000,000 tons of liquor yields 
95,000 tons of sulphate of ammonia, which, taken at £20 10s. a ton, represents an annual value of £1,947,500. 
The total annual value of the by-products of the gas-works of the United Kingdom may therefore be estimated 
as follows : 

Coloring matter £3,350,000 

Sulphate of ammonia 1,947,500 

Pitch (325,000 gallous) 365,000 

Creosote (25,000,000 gallons) 203,000 

Crude carbolic acid (1,000,000 gallons) 100,000 

Gas coke, 4,000,000 tons (after allowing 2,000,000 tons consumption in working the retorts) at 12s 2, 400, 000 

Total .■ 8,370,500 

Taking the coal used, 9,000,000 tons, at 12s., as equal to £5,400,000, it follows that the by-products exceed in 
value the coal used by very nearly £3,000,000. In using raw coal for heating purj)oses these valuable products are 
absolutely lost. 

a Second Geological Survey of Pennsijltania, Report G, pages 248, 249. 

T) Dr. Siemens, in his address as president before the British Association at Southampton, August, 1882, estimates that 9,000,000 tons 
of coal were iised annually iu the gas-works of the United Kingdom, producing 500,000 tons of tar, 1,000,000 tons of ammoniacal liquors, 
and 120,000 tons of sulphur. 



MANUFACTURE OF COKE. 101 

It is evideut from tbis that tbe value of these products \7asted iu cokeuiaking, which is essentially the same 
as gas-making, is enormous. Ou the basis of the above estimate, assuming a consumption of 7,000,000 tons of 
coke annually iu the blast-furnaces of Great Britain, there would be a loss of by-products to the value of nearly, 
£4,643,333|!i. Dr. Angus Smith, the English inspector under the alkali acts, estimates that 20 pounds of ammonia 
are given otf in the combustion of every ton of coal manufactured into coke. This would equal 27,524 net tons of 
ammonia as the product of coke-making in the United States in the census year. It is well known that there 
exists an almost unlimited demand for sulphate of ammonia for agricultural purposes, all the more so as the natural 
manures, such as guano, saltpeter, etc., are getting scarcer and scarcer, or deteriorating with respect to the quantity 
of nitrogen they contain. Latterly the ammoniacal liquor has also been used in the manufacture of soda under the 
Solvay patents. 

A number of attempts have been made in England, extending through a series of years, to utilize these by- 
products, and ovens have been built and appliances attached to the ordinary bee-hive ovens for this purpose, but 
with very little success until recently. While no difiBculty was experienced in collecting these waste products in the 
earlier trials, the coke was inferior, and there was some ti'ouble in maintaiuing the necessary flues. Messrs. Pease 
& Partners, in the north of England, have quite recently started a block of 2.3 ovens, (a) to which they have applied 
the Carves plau, of whose success they speak very favorably. This plan has reached its best development at 
Bessfeges, France, at the works of the Ten-enoire Company, though it is in successful operation at other places on 
the continent of Europe. On pages 102 and 103 will be found drawings of these ovens as modified by Mr. Henry 
Simon, with a full statement of the working of the ovens and the results attained, (b) 

In this oven the coal is rapidly carbonized by subjecting a comparatively thin layer to a high temperature in a 
closed and retort-like vessel, the volatile products being burned around the outside of this vessel after they are 
deprived of the tar and ammoniacal liquor. 

Each oven is in the form of a long, high, narrow cliamber of brick- work — a Belgian oven in fact — a number 
being built side by side, with partition walls between them sufficiently thick to contain horizontal flues. Flues 
are also formed under the floor of each oven, and at one end of these is a small fireplace, consisting of a fire-grate 
and ash-pit, with suitable door, the fire-door having fitted above it a nozzle, through which gas produced from the 
coking is admitted to form a flame over some fuel burning on the grate. Only a very trifling amount of such fuel, 
consisting exclusively of the small refuse coke, is used here, its function being really more that of igniting the gas 
than that of giving off heat. These grates when iu regular work are not chai'ged with fuel more than twice every 
twenty-four hours. 

The products of combustion pass from the fireplace along a flue under the oven floor to the end farthest 
from the fire, and return along another flue under the floor to the fire end. They then ascend by a flue in 
the partition wall to the uppermost of several horizontal flues formed therein, and descend in a zigzag direction 
along these flues, finally passing into a horizontal channel leading to a chimney. Thus the coke oven is heated 
not only at the bottom in the usual manner, but also evenly at the sides, and the coal with which it is charged 
becomes rapidly and completely coked. Xo air is allowed to enter the ovens. These ovens are fed with coal 
through openings in the roof, over which coal-trucks are run on rails; and the coal is evenly distributed by rakes 
introduced at end openings provided with doors faced with refractory material, which doors are closed and kept 
tightly luted while the oven is in operation. The feed-holes iu the roof are also provided with covers. Through 
the middle of the roof rises a gas-pipe provided with a hydraulic valve, which closes the passage by a lip projecting 
down from it into an annular cavity surrounding its seating, in which it is immersed in a quantity of tar and 
ammoniacal liquor lodged there during previous distillations. The volatile products of the coal-distillation rise by 
the gas-pipe and are led through a range of pipes kept cool by external wetting, so that the tar and ammoniacal 
liquor become condensed and separated from the combustible gas. 

The quautity of these by-products depends, of course, mostly on the nature of the coal used, as the richer the 
coal is in bitumen or gas the greater the value of the by-products. 

Much also depends on the proper conduct of the temperature at the different stages of the coking process, for 
it is quite possible to obtain even from the same coal different proportions, quantities, and qualities both of the 
coke and the byproducts. Practical experience must in each case determine what is best adapted to local 
requirements and circumstances. 

The cooling-pipes are conveniently arranged in pyramidal form, surmounted by a water-pipe having numerous 
holes, so that a shower of water descending on the uppermost and the outermost is scattered over all their 
surfaces. 

The gas, when thus separated from the condensed materials, is further passed through scrubbers or vessels 
containing coke moistened by the ammoniacal liquor, which, on being repeatedly used, becomes stronger and 
stronger, until it reaches saturation, when it may be run off into reservoirs, to he treated in the ordinary way for 

a Now (December, 1882) building additional oreus. 

i Partlj- from a paper read before the British Iron and Steel Institute by Mr. Henry Simon, and partly from Dr. Angus Smith's 
fourteenth and tifteenth reports under the alkali acts. 



102 



MANUFACTURE OF COKE. 



the preparation of ammoniacal coinpouuds, or sold in its crude state for the manufacture of soda. All valuable 
by-products having thus been withdrawn from the gas, it is led by pipes to the nozzles at the fireplaces under the 
sole of the ovens, where it is burnt. 

SIEMENS-CARVES OVEN. 




It has been found that the extraction of the gas from the ovens by artificial means (say a Beal's exhauster, 
similar to those used in gas-works) is more regular, and therefore preferable to extraction by the natural draught 
of the chimney only, as the latter varies often according to wind and temperature. 



MANUFACTURE OF COKE. 



103 



When a charge is uearlv finished and ready to be taken from the oven some trucks full of coal are placed 
Teady on the rails going along on the top of the ovens and over the charging-holes. The two end doors are then 
opened. The mass of coke, measuriug about 30 feet long by 2 feet thick and G feet high, is pushed out at the 

SIEMENS-CARVES OVEN. 




wmd:^^. 



'^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 




Tlg.6. 




back of the oven and upon the bank by means of a ram or piston, worked by a portable steam-engine running on rails 
in front, and similar to the well-known arrangement used with the Coppee ovens. The ram can be brought 
opposite to each oven in turn. The coke is then quenched as usual. 



104 MANUFACTURE OF COKE. 

Immediately after the discharge of an oveu the tops are opened, and the coal from trucks emptied into the 
hot oven and raked level. The doors and top openings are then closed again, and the process begun afresh. The 
operations of discharging and refilling, when ■well conducted, need not take more than ten or fifteen minutes. 

The Terrenoire Company, in Prance, originally introduced this process in the year 1867, and has since then^ 
from time to time, increased the number of ovens at their different works; but their proportions and method of 
construction have, during these years, undergone continued and considerable alteration and improvement. 

Experience has shoWn that a great deal depends upon the dimensions of the vertical sections of these ovens. 
At the outset they were made too wide and too low, and the density or hardness of the coke was, under such 
circumstances, not siich as was desirable; but from a width of 6 feet 6 inches, they have been gradually reduced, until 
at present they are 2 feet only, with a height of at least 6 or 7 feet. 

The effect upon the hardness of the coke by the reduction in width has been quite beneficial. M. Jouguet, the 
director of the Besseges works of the Terrenoire Company, gives the following table, showing resistance to crnshing 
of six different kinds of coke, experimented on by him in 1880 : 

[Resistance per square centimeter in Mlograms.] 

Kilograms. 

1. Coke from Carvfes ovens of 70 centimeters -widtli (27 f^ inclies) 66.46 

2. Coke from Carves ovens of 66 centimeters width (26 inches) 79. 72 

3. Coke from Carvfes ovens of 50 centimeters width (19fJ inches) . . 92.32 

4. Coke from bee-hive ovens of 50 centimeters width 43.92 

5. Coke from Belgian ovens of 50 centimeters width 53.12 

6. Coke from Coppde ovens of 50 centimeters width 80.50 

Nos. 1 to 3 show clearly that the hardness of the coke increases as the width of the oven or the thickness of 
the layer of coal treated decreases. 

The time required for each charge varies according to the description of coal and the dimensions of the oven. 
In ovens of a width of 2 feet a charge is finished every 48 hours ; in ovens of a width of 3 feet 60 to 70 hours 
are required. 

At the Besseges works steam is produced to the extent of about 45 pounds and of 4J atmospheres pressure 
per hour and per ton of coal coked, and under more favorable circumstances it is thought 59 pounds of steajtn 
should be obtained. As at Besseges 1,400 kilograms (3,080 pounds) of coal are carbonized per oven and per 
24 hours, it follows that, taking about 17^ pounds of steam as necessary to produce one horse-power per hour, 
each oven gives about 3| horse-power of motive power, and could be driven to about 4f horse-power. («) At 
Besseges all the machinery required in the manufacture of coke and its by-products is now being driven by 
steam raised in this way, and there remains a large surplus, which is used in the blowing- engines for the Bessemer 
process for lifting charges to furnaces, etc. 

At Saint -fitienne, in France, coke was for many years made upon a somewhat similar system, but the 
manufacture was discontinued in favor of Carves' system, which gives greatly superior results in every way. 

There can be no doubt that much of the prejudice existing against these ovens and this system as the results 
of early trials was just. The latter results also seem to indicate that the disadvantages of the earlier ovens 
have been removed. The present increased heating surface of the ovens is the principal cause of this change for 
the better ; for whereas in the first ovens the heating surface per ton of coal charged was only 18 square feet, and 
was applied exclusively under the sole of the oven, in the last ovens the heating surface per ton of coal charged 
amounts to about three times as much, namely, 54 feet, and surrounds almost entirely the charge of coal, which 
is much thinner than before. 

The cost of ovens varies considerably, according to local circumstances. On solid ground much less expense 
is occasioned in foundations. 

I annex a translation of the actual expense incurred in constructing the last battery of a hundred ovens at 
Terrenoire, which are each 19 feet 8^g inches (6 meters) long, 2" feet 6 inches (0.73 meter) wide, and 5 feet 7 
inches (1.70 meters) high. The length of the ovens but for local circumstances would have been greater, as 
thereby the power of production per oven is increased, with almost no increased expense of working. Each of 
these ovens takes a charge of 5 tons of coal, and produces at the rate of from 1,100 to 1,400 kilograms (22 to 28. 
hundred- weight) of coke per 24 hours, according to the quality of coal used and the quality of coke required. The 
time occupied by one operation with this size of oven is from 60 to 72 hours. 

a Or, to express it more clearly, a battery of 100 ovens will furnish steam for about 400 horse-power over and above the making of 
the coke and the rendering of the by-products. 



MANUFACTURE OF COKE. 



105' 



COST OF CONSTKUCTING ONE HUNDRED COKE OVENS ON THE CARVES SYSTEM AT TERRENOIRE, FRANCE. 

[One cubic meter=1.3 cnbic yard.] 



. Ovens complete, including fines: 

Digging out foundation 

Concrete 

Kongh stones 

Eed brick 

Fire-brick 

. Discharging platforms; 

Digging out foundation 

Kongh stones 

Dressed stone 

Ked brick 

, Four cMmnoyR : 

Digging out foundation 

Rough stones 

Eed brick 

Fire-brick 

Flues to Beal's exhauster, pumps, and 
condensing pipes: 

Digging out foundation 

Rough stones 

Ked brick 

, Engine-house : 

Digging out foundation 

Concrete 

Rouiih stones 

Red brick 

, Foundation for engine: 

Digging out foundation 

Concrete 

Red brick 

Dressed stone 

Foundations for Real's extractors : 

Digging out foundation 

Concret e 

Rough stones 

Dressed stone , 

Pump foundations: ^ 

Digging out foundation 

Concrete 

Rongh stones -. , 

Dressed stone 

, Masonry under engine floor: 

Rou^ib stones 

Red brick 

Masrnry for Field's boilers: 

Digging out foundation 

Rough ttones , 

Redbrick 

Fire-brick 

, Feed-water tank : 

Red brick 

. Scnibbers: 

Digging out foundation , 

Rough stones 

Red brick 

, Settling tank: 

Digging out foundation 

Rough stones 

Redbrick , 

, Condensing tank: 

Digging out foundation 

Rough stones 

Red brick 

. Other tank : 

Digging out foundation 

Rough stones 

Redbrick 

. Tar reservoir: 

Digging out foundation 

Rough stones 

Red brick 

. Tank for ammoniacal ■water : 

Digging out foundation 

Rough stones , 

Red brick 



Number 
of cubic 
meters. 



100. 00 
1, 82S. 82 
1, 35S. 00 



6.40 
79.40 

94.01 
77.10 
340.08 
16.28 



18.59 
3.36 



3.24 
1.60 



1.65 
3.04 



3.03 
88.34 



36.89 
11.11 



26.47 
8.43 



100. 10 
26.32 



70.68 
1.48 
0.68 

3.es 

23.15 



3.67 
11.04 



Price 
per cubic 

meter. 



Francs. 
2.00 
12.00 



2.00 
11.00 
60.00 



274. 55 


2.00 


549. 10 


119. 49 


11.00 


1, 314. 40 


2«.4o 


25.00 


711. 25 


277. 81 


2.00 


555.60 


55.12 


12.00 


661. 45 


143.85 


11.00 


1, 582. 35 


18.72 


26.00 


468.00 



25.00 
60.00 



12.00 
11.00 
60.00 



12. 00 
11.00 
CO. 00 

11.00 
25.00 

2.00 
11.00 
25.00 
90.00 



2.00 
11.00 
25.00 

2.0« 
11.00 



2.00 
11.00 
25.00 

2.00 
11.00 



2.0O 
11.00 
25. 00 



11.00 
25.00 



Francs. 
1, 321. 75 
9. 645. 00 
1, 100. 00 
45, 720. 30 
122, 220. 00 

64.00 

70.40 

384.00 

1, 985. 00 

188. 00 

848.10 

8, 502. 00 

1, 465. 20 



Masonry. 



464.75 
201.60 

7.40 
32.30 
35.65 
96.00 

3.30 
19.80 
33.45 
111.60 



176. 70 
305. 60 
922. 25 
999. 90 



34.00 
291. 15 



200. 20 
289. 50 
43.75 



18. "Woodwork, etc., for eDgine-honse : 
Timber for house and shafting- 
Four windows and two doors. .. 

Painting 

Glass 

Tiles 

Fixing 



EaQway lines, doors, and fitting 



19. Railway lines : 

Rails and chairs 

Stone underchaira 

20. Doors: 

Cast-iron 

"Wrought-iron 

21. Fittings: 

■Wrought-iron 

22. Discharging-machine or ram : 

Machine for discharging coke from 
ovens. 

Sleepers , 

EaUs 

Chairs 

Laying lines and fixing machinery. . . 

23. Apparatus used in coUecting the by- 

producte : 

Pipes supporting the valve-boxes, 
cast-iron. 

Pipes connecting the valve-boxes, 
cast-iron. 

Valve-boxes with covers, cast-iron-.. 

Valves with rods and keys, cast-iron. 

Cocks, cast-iron 

Nozzles, cast-iron 

Furnace fronts and doors, cast-iron . . 

Grate-bars, cast-iron 

Pings for top charging holes, cast- 
Gas exhanst pipes, cast-iron 

Pipes conducting gas back under 
furnace, cast-iron. 

Pipes receiving gas from the ovens, 
cast-iron. 

Return gas-pipes to furnace, cast- 
One steam-enjjine, 15-inch cylinder, 
31i-inch stroke. 

Two field boilers, with fittings 

Two pumps 

Two BeaVs extractors 

Twelve scnibbers 

One water-tank 

Two safety-boxes, cast-iron 

Two safet.v-boxes, cast-iron 

Lead for joints 

Six wrought-iron tanks, each 60 cubic 
meters capacity. 

Pulleys, cone pulleys, bearings, gear- 
ing, and pmions for shafting, cast- 
Brass for bearings 

Wrought-iron work for shafting 

Eleven leather belts 

Bolts 

Pipes between furnaces and exhaust- j 
ers and vice versa, pipes for pumps, 
steam-pipes, feed-pipes, pipes for 
cooling water, etc., cast-iron. 1 

Packing for .ioints, etc., sundry ex- j 
pense (oil, coal, felt, laces, etc.). 

24. Scrubbers : j 

Timber- framing 

Quartz I 

25. Laying down of pipes forming integral , 

parts of ovens and other apparatus. i 

26. Sundries 

Total 



Xtlmber Price 

of cubic per cubic 
meters. meter. 



Quantities. 



Kilograms. 
10, 780 
15,050 

30, 380' 
5,200 



12,100 
2,250 



19, 000 
1,000 
3,700 
2,900 
35,700 
13,200 



11, 500 
9,000 

28, 000 

8,000 



2,000 
1,400 



1, 828 
62, 000 



. 5 cub. m. 

151, 600 



25.00 
30.00 



25.00 
25.00 



25.00 

25.00 
2.'i. 00 
25.00 
25.00 
25.00 
25.00 
25.00 

25. 00 
25.00 

25.00 

25.00 



40.00 
65.00 



4.50 
100.00 



80.00 
25.00 



106 



MANUFACTURE OF COKE. 



The table shows altogether, say, about £15,500, or £155 per oven complete, with all machinery and apparatus 
for collecting the by-products, and including rail connections, coke platforms, etc. 

The repairs of these ovens are— care and completeness in their first erection being presupposed — very low. 
At Terrenoire they are given as three halfpence per ton of coke, which will compare very favorably with those 
incurred in other systems. At Besseges, where there is a lot of very old ovens, the cost of repairs, materials and 
labor included, stands now, according to the very exact accounts of M. Jouguet, at under fourpence per ton oi 
coke made. The principal repairs are the renewal of fire-bricks over the grates in the sole of the ovens and the 
renewal of the cast-iron doors, which crack and break after a time. The last lot of ovens established at Besseges, 
in August, 187S, had not iu 1880 required the slightest repairs. Muck, of course, depends upon the temperature 
employed during the process, which, in its turn, depends upon the kind of coal coked and the dimensions of the 
ovens. Narrower ovens, with more rapid carbonization, are subject to higher temperatures, and consequently to 
greater extremes of temperature and liability to injury. Experience goes to show that after the first two years or 
;so each oven maj' on an average lose one or two days a year through repairs. It will therefore be seen that 
although the original cost of the ovens is large, the outlay for repairs is very much smaller than in the bee-hive 
and others. 

At Terrenoire the number of work-people employed on a battery of 100 ovens, producing over 100 tons of coke 
per day, is 48 per 24 hours. This includes 2 foremen and 2 masons for repairs. Their wages are 184^ francs, or, 
^ay, £7 10s. per day, being at the rate of, say, Is. 6d. per ton of coke for labor. 

On the other hand, the cost of producing the coke is given by M. Jouguet, of Besseges, as about 3 francs, or, 
say, under 2s. M. per ton, including all labor and materials and the cost of repairs. 

Mr. Simon claims the following advantages for these ovens, viz : 

1. Greater yield of coke by about 10 per cent. 

2. Greater purity of coke. 

3. A yield of about 4s. worth of useful by-products per ton of coke. 

4. An almost entire absence of smoke or noxious vapors. 

5. In comparison with any other existing system of coke-ovens, equal facilities for utilizing the heat, and a 
reduced cost for repairs. 

The following table shows the results obtained by the ovens at Besseges duringthe last twelve years, and up 
to the end of 1879 : (a) 

AVERAGE RESULTS OF OVENS ON THE CAEVES SYSTEM AT THE BESSEGES WORKS OF THE TERRENOIRE COMPANY. 



1867. 18GS. lS<i». 18T0. 



1872. 1873. 1874. 1875. 1876. 1877. 1878. 1879. 



'Coal cODSumed tons.. 

I^TuBiber of coke ovens 

Ooke produced tons.. 

Production of coke per oven and per year do 

Tar obtained do 

Amnioniacal liquor obtained do 

Sulphate of ammonia roade^ do 

"Tield of coke according to books percent.. 

Tield of coke after deduction of water contained in 
washed coal, per cent. 

Tar per ton of coal kilograms.. 

Tar per ton of coke ^ do... 

Ammonjacal liquor per ton of coal do... 

AniuiDuiacal liquor per ton of coke do... 

Small fuel consumed under grates per ton of coke made, 
kilogi-.tnjs. 



15.6 
24.3 



17.6 
29.0 



118.0 
46.0 



65.3 
69.8 

20.0 
30.0 
76.0 
117.0 
28.0 



17. » 
25.0 
73.0 
109.0 
16.0 



14, 632 

25 

9,760 



76.5 

18.3 
27.4 
66.9 
10O.4 
17.0 



35,451 

(*) 
24, 462 



41,797 
(t) 



55.7 
85.5 
18.6 



17.0 
25.7 
62.5 



69.0 
73.0 

18.6 
27.1 
108.5 
157.0 
21.4 



69,0 


1.B 
09.9 


73.4 


74. 4 


16.5 


17.1 


24.0 


24.5 


91.0 


98.3 


132.0 


140.6 


22.7 


11.5 



73.8 

17.1 
24.7 
98.2 
141.8 
11.0 



137.0 
15.2 



70.5 
§ 75 



132.7 
15.9 



* During the first eight months of 1875, 53 ovena were at work. During the last four months of 1875, 85 ovens were at work. 

t Daring the first four months of 1878, 85 ovens were at work. During the second four months of 1878, 53 ovens were at work ; during the last four months ef 
96 ovens were at work. 

J The making of sulphate of ammonia was given over in December, 1878 ; since then the ammoniacal liquor is sold direct. 
§ Tield calculated after deduction of the water contained in the coke as well as of that contained in the coal after it is washed. 



In all industries the subject of waste is a most important one, and in many the profit of to-day is from the 
waste of ten years ago, which better methods have saved. Our resources of coal to-day may be enormous, and the 
need of economy not apparent, but every waste of these resources is the act of a spendthrift. Dr. Angus Smith 
says in one of his yearly reports that " the present method of making coke in England has all the appearance of 
roughness and savagery which extravagance always produces". He migkt extend the charge to coking in this 
■countrj-. 

a There were at the close of 1882 three works in France using the Carvfes system— Tamaris, Terrenoire, and Bessfeges. The total 
■amount of coke produced by this system at these works is about 300 tons per day. 



IISTDEX TO COKE. 



A. 

Page. 

Acres of coal land connected with coke works 5 

Act of Pennsylvania legislature to encourage manufacture of 

iron with coke 24 

-Adaptation of each form of oven 95-100 

Advantage of using Belgian oven with inferior coals 97 

Advantages of Appolt oven 94 

Advantages of Carvfes oven 106 

Advantages of coal washing — 80 

Advantages of coke as a blast-furnace fuel 81 

Advantages of Copp^e oven - 93 

Advertisement concerning coke manufacture in the United 

States in 1813 23 

Air, cleaning of coal by use of 74 

Alabama, coke industry in 46 

Alabama cokes, analyses of 22 

Alabama coking coals, analyses of 22 

Alabama, description of coal-fields of 4(5 

Alabama, description of coke made from the Pratt seam 46 

Alabama, history of coking in 28 

Alabama, statistics of coking in, in the census year 46 

Alabama, use of Belgian ovens in 47 

Allegheny Mountain coals, exhaustion of 37 

Allegheny Mountain coking district of western Pennsylvania, 

description of... 35 

Allegheny Mountain region, analyses of typical coals of 36 

Allegheny region, physical character of cokes of 37 

Allegheny River regiou, Pennsylvania, manufacture of coke in 38 

American industrial cokes, analyses of 73 

Ammonia, waste of, in coking in the United States 100 

Amount of coal washed 7 

Amount of coke used in the manufacture of pig-iron 80 

Analyses of Alabama cokes 22 

Analyses of Alabama coking coals 22 

Analyses of American industrial cokes 73 

Analyses of ash of coke 72 

Analyses of Barnsley's coal (England) 59 

Analyses of Belleville coals 50 

Analyses of Big Muddy coke 49 

Analyses of British coking coals 70 

Analyses of coals not determinative as to coking properties. . 70 

Analyses of coals of the United States 22 

Analyses of cokes made from coals of the Cahaba field, Ala- 
bama 47 

Analyses of cokes made from coals of the Warrior field, Ala- 
bama 47 

Analyses of cokes of the United States 22 

Analyses of Ceketon, Pennsylvania, coal 30 

Analyses of Coketon, Pennsylvania, coke 30 

Analyses of coking coals 22 

Analyses of coking coals of the Cahaba field, Alabama 47 



Page. 

Analyses of coking coals of the Warrior field, Alabama 47 

Analyses of Colorado coal 52 

Analyses of Colorado coke 53 

Analyses of Colorado cokes SB 

Analyses of Colorado coking coals 22 

Analyses of Connellsville coke 32 

Analyses of Durham, England, coke 56 

Analyses of Durham, England, coking coals 56 

Analyses of European industrial cokes 72 

Analyses of New River coals 40 

Analyses of New River cokes 41 

Analyses of Ohio cokes 22 

Analyses of Ohio coking coals 22 

Analyses of Pennsylvania coals 20,21 

Analyses of Pennsylvania cokes 22 

Analyses of Pennsylvania coking coals 22 

Analyses of Tennessee cokes 22 

Analyses of Tennessee coking coals 22 

Analyses of typical coals of the Allegheny Mountain regii .n . . 36 

Analyses of West Virginia cokes 22 

Analyses of West Virginia coking coals 22 

Analysis of Beaver County, Pennsylvania, coal 39 

Analysis of Beaver County, Pennsylvania, coke 39 

Analysis of Big Muddy coal ' 49 

Analysis of Carbondale coke 50 

Analysis of Cat's Run coal 35 

Analysis of coal from Sewanee coal seam 44 

Analysis of coal of bed " B ", Miller seam 35 

Analysis of coal of Upper Freeport bed 36 

Analysis of coal of Upper Freeport bed at Johnstown, Pei.u- 

sylvania 36 

Analysis of coke from Columbiana (Ohio) coal 42 

Analysis of coke from Sewauee coal seam 45 

Analysis of coke from Upper Freeport coal 39 

Analysis of coke from washed slack in the Irwin basin 35 

Analysis of coke of bed "B"', Miller seam 35 

Analysis of coke of H. C. Frick Coke Company, at Edj;.ii- 

Thomson Steel Works 32 

Analysis of Columbiana County coal (Ohio) 42 

Analysis of Connellsville coal 31 

Analysis of Connellsville coke 31 

Analysis of Flat Top coal 40 

Analysis of Illinois coke 22 

Analysis of Illinois coking coal 22 

Analysis of Kelly coal 45 

Analysis of Kelly coke 45 

Analysis of Lancashire coke 58 

Analysis of Lancashire coking coal 58 

Analysis of Oak Hill, Tennessee, coke 45 

Analysis of Preston County, West Virginia, coke 41 

Analysis of Eockwood, Tennessee, coal 46 

107 



108 



INDEX TO COKE. 



Page. 

Analysis of Rociwood, Tennessee, coke 46 

Analysis of Stenbenville coal 43 

Analysis of Stenbenville coke 43 

Analysis of Upper Freeport coal, Pennsylvania -• 38 

Analysis of washed slack in the Irwin hasin 35 

Analysis of Welsh coking coals 58 

Anthracite, relative value of coke and, as hlast-furnace fuels 81 

Appalachian coal basin, description of the 19 

Appalachian field, debituminization of coal of the '30 

Appalachian mountains, coke made in Coal Measures of the. 4 

Appolt oven 93-95 

Ash in New River cokes 41 

Ash of coke, analyses of 72 

Austria-Hungary, coking districts of 67 

Average cost of labor and material to a ton of coke 18 

Average selling price of coke i 12, 18 

B. 

Barnsley, England, coal, analysis of - 59 

Bear Creek furnace, Pennsylvania, use of coke at, in 1819... 23 

Beaver County, Pennsylvania, coal, analysis of 39 

Beaver County, Pennsylvania, coke, analysis of 39 

Beaver County, Pennsylvania, coking in 39 

Bed " B ", Miller seam, analysis of coal of 35 

Bed '■ B ", Miller seam, analysis of coke of 35 

Bed " B ", Miller seam, character of coal of , 36 

Bed "B ", Miller seam, character of coke of 36 

Bee-hive and Belgian ovens, theoretical efficiency of 91 

Bee-hive coke-ovens, earliest recorded use of 88 

Bee-hive oven 86-91 

Bee-hive oven, development of, from coking in piles 86 

Bee-hive oven, early form of 86 

Bee-hive ovens in the Connellsville region, coking in 89 

Bee-hive ovens in the Durham region, England, description 

of coking in 89 

Bee-hive ovens, nature of coking in 91 

Bee-hive ovens of the Connellsville region, description of the. 89 

Bee-hive oven, steps in the development of 87 

Bee-hive ovens used in the United States, description of 88 

Belgian and bee-hive ovens, relative economy of 99, 100 

Belgian and bee-hive ovens, theoretical efliciency of 91 

Belgian coal, character of 61 

Belgian coke, exportation of 62 

Belgian coke, imports and exports of 63 

Belgian coke, production Of, from 1876 to 1880 63 

Belgian or flue oven 91-95 

Belgian oven, development of 62 

Belgian ovens, general description of 91, 92 

Belgian ovens in South Wales 99 

Belgian ovens, nature of coking in 91 

Belgian ovens, number of 4 

Belgian ovens, relative value of different forms of . 95 

Belgian ovens, use of, in Alabama 47 

Belgian ovens, use of, in England 95-98 

Belgian ovens, use of, in France 64, 98 

Belgian ovens, use of, iu northern Illinois 50 

Belgian ovens, use of, in Westphalia 98 

Belgian ovens, yield in 96 

Belgian ovea, use of, at Pittsburgh 97 

Belgian oven, use of, with inferior coals 97 

Belgian province of Hainaut, statistics of production of coke in 62 

Belgium, coke ovens in, in 1881 62 

Belgium, coking in 61,63 

Belgium, description of coal-fields of 61 

Belgium, history of the manufacture of coke in 62 

Bulgi urn, production of coke in 62 

Belgium, yield of coal in coke in 63 

Belleville coals, analyses of 50 

Belleville coals, use of, in coking 50 

Bell, I. Lowthian,on the relative value of Belgian and bee- 
hive ovens 96 



Bennington, Pennsylvania, coke ovens 88 

Bennington, Pennsylvania, coke ovens, description of succes- 
sive stages of ma.uufacture of 88 

Besseges, economic results of Carvfes system at 104 

Besseges, results of working the Carvfes ovens at . .' 106 

Big Muddy coal, analysis of 49 

Big Muddy coal , description of coking 49 

Big Muddy coke, analysis of 49 

Bituminous coal, percentage of total production used at coke 

works 5 

Bituminous coal regions of western Pennsylvania, descrip- 
tion of 29 

Blast-furnace fuel, advantages of coke as a 81 

Blast-furnace fuel, coke as a 80, 81 

Blast-furnace fuels, relative value of coke and anthracite as- 81 

Blast-furnaces, consumption of coke in British 60 

Blast-furnaces, consumption of fuel in 81 

Blast-furnaces, consumption of New River coke in 40 

Blast-furnaces, Darby's use of coke in 55 

Blast-furnaces, early use of coke in 2 

Blast-furnaces, nse of New River coke iu 40 

Blast-furnace, use of Stenbenville, Ohio, coke in 42 

Block coal, attempts to coke 48 

Blossburg coal, analyses of 37 

Blossburg coal-field, manufacture of coke in 37 

Blossburg coke, analysis of 37 

British blast-furnaces, consumption of coke in 60 

British coking coals, analysis of 70 

British coking, statistics of 60 

British iron trade, development of, due to coke 56 

Broad Top coal-field, character of coals of 36 

Browney (English) coke ovens, description of 90' 

Building, coke works 2, 3 

Building coke works, statistics of, at the census of 1880 16, 17 

Burning coke, method of, in Tennessee 45 

Bushel, weight of, in different states 8 

Butler county, Pennsylvania, manufacture of coke in 38 

C. 

Cahaba field, Alabama, analyses of cokes made from the coals 

of 47 

Cahaba field, Alabama, analyses of coking coals of 47 

Calorific value of coke, effect of impurities on 72. 

Capita] invested in coke works 4 

Capital invested in manufacture of Durham coke 57 

Carbondale coke, analysis of 50 

Carnegie Bros. & Co.'s works, coking with washed slack at.. 34 

Cars, coke, used at coke works 5,6 

Carvfes oven 104-106 

Carves ovens, use of, in England 101 

Carvfes ovens, use of, in France 64 

Carvfes system of coking 60 

Cat's Run coal, analysis of 35 

Charcoal iron, early manufacture of, in the United States 23 

Charcoal of Indiana 48 

Charcoal, substitution of coke for 53 

Charge of coTse ovens in the Connellsville region 32 

Charred coal of Hocking valley, Ohio 43 

Chemical comx)Osition of coke 71 

Circular piles, description of coking in large 84 

Clarion county, Pennsylvania, manufacture of coke in 38 

Cleaning of coal by use of air 74 

Clinton furnace of Graff', Bennett & Co., use of coke at, in 

1859 27 

Coal basin, description of Illinois 2]_ 

Coal basins furnishing coal for coke in the census year 19 

Coal, bituminous, percentage of total production of, used at 

coke works 5 

Coal, Connellsville, character of 30 

Coal, consumption of, at coke works 5 

Coal, deposits of coking, in the United States 1 



INDEX TO COKE. 



109 



Page. 
Coal-fields and coal in the United States in their relation to 

the manufacture of coke iu the census year 19-22 

Coal-fields of Alabama, descrijitiou of 46 

Coal-fields of Belgium, descriirtion of 61 

Coal-fields of l-'ranee, description of 64 

Coal-fields of Tennessee, description of 44 

Coal land, acres of, connected with colie works 5 

Coal Jleasiu'es of the Appalachian mouutaius, coke made in 

the ; 4 

Coal-miniusr, statistics of, not included in report 1 

Coal of bed '"B", Miller seam, character of 3G 

Coal of Missouri basins, character of 21 

Coal of Rhode Island basin, character of 21 

Coals, analyses of coking 22 

Coals, descriiitiou of Indiana 21 

Coals in the same basin, similarity of composition of 20 

Coals of Illinois basins, character of 21 

Coals of Indiana, results of attempts to coke the 48 

Coals of Michigan basin 22 

Coals of Texas basin 22 

Coals of United States, analyses of 22 

Coal to a ton of coke, value of 18 

Coal used at coke works, value of, per ton of coal 6, 7, 13 

Coal used at coke works, value of, per ton of coke 6, 7, 13 

Coal, variation of. In difi'erent parts of the Connellsville basin. 30 

Coal washed, amount of 7 

Coal-washers used at coke works 5,6 

Coal- wiishiug ■ 73-80 

Coal-washing, advantages of 80 

Coal-washing, cost of 39, 75, 76 

Coal-washing, HeiT Rittinger on 75 

Coal-washing, Marsaut on 75 

Coal-washing, methods of 74 

Coal-washing not always advisable 80 

Coal-washing, principles involved in 73 

Coal yet un worked, area of Connellsville 34 

Coke as a blast-furnace fuel 80,81 

Coke basins of western Pennsylvania, description of 29 

Coke, could not be used for iron working, belief that 54 

Coke, definition of 1,69 

Coke from washed slack in the Irwin basin, analysis of 35 

Coke furnaces iu 1849,1856 26 

Coke industry in Alabama 46 

Coke industry iu Colorado 51 

Coke industry iu Georgia 48 

Coke industry in Illinois 48-51 

Coke industry iu ludiaua 48 

Coke industrj- in Ohio 41-44 

Coke industry in Ohio, statistics of 41 

Coke industry iu New Mexico 52 

Coke industry in Tennessee, statistics of 44 

Coke industry in Utah 52 

Coke industry iu Virginia 41 

Coke in Fayette and Westmoreland counties, Pennsylvania, 

outside of the Connellsville region 34 

Coke iron in 1857, Pittsburgh's sources of supply of 3 

Coke made iu Belgian ovens iu France 98 

Coke manufacture in the United States iu 1813, advertisement 

concerning 23 

Coke of bed "B", Miller seam, character of 36 

Coke of Columbiana county, character of 42 

Coke ovens at Steubenville, descrijition of 43 

Coke ovens, first, in the Connellsville region 26 

Coke ovens, kind of : 4 

Coke ovens iu Germany 66 

Cove ovens in Tennessee, description of 45 

Coke ovens, number of 4 

Coke oveus of Flat Top region 41 

Coke-producing belt 4 

Coke-producing regions of Germany 65 

• Cokes, analyses of 22 



Page. 
Cokes made from coals of the Cahaba field, Alabama, analyses 

of '... 47 

Cokes made from coals of the Warrior field, Alabama, analy- 
sis of 47 

Cokes of Allegheny region, physical character of 37 

Cokes of United States, analyses of 22 

Coketou, Pennsylvania, coal, analyses of 30 

Coketon, Pennsylvania, coke, analyses of 30 

Coke used iu malting in Englaud 54 

Coke, use of, iu the United States before the Revolution 22 

Coke works building 2,3 

Coke works idle 2,3 

Coke works, niunber of 2 

Coke works of Colorado, location of 51 

Coking and non-coking coals, description of 69 

Coking, a process of distillation 89 

Coking at Pittsburgh 38 

Coking coal, deposits of, iu the United States 1 

Coking coal of Georgia 20 

Coking coals, analyses of 22 

Coldug coals of Colorado, description of 51 

Coking coals of Germany 66 

Coking coals of Illinois, character of 48, 49 

Coking coals of Indiana, character of 48 

Coking coals of Ohio 19 

Coking coals of Tennessee 20 

Coking coals of the Cahaba field, Alabama, analyses of 47 

Coking coals of the Continent of Europe, analyses of 70 

Coking coals of the AVarrior field, Alabama, analyses of 47 

Coking coals of United States 22 

Coking coals of West Virginia 19 

Coking districts of Austria-Hungary 67 

Coking Illinois coal 49 

Coking in A.labama in the census year, statistics of 46 

Coking in bee-hive ovens in the Connellsville region 89 

Coking iu bee-hive ovens in the Durham region, England, 

description of 89 

Coking in Belgium 61-63 

Coking in Denmark 68 

Coking in France 64,65 

Coking in Germany I^. 65-67 

Coking in Great Britain and Ireland 55-61 

Coking iu Great Britain and Ireland, meagerness of informa- 
tion concerning 5S 

Coking iu heaps or piles, economy of 83 

Coking in heaps or piles, loss iu 83 

Coking in heajis or pits in the United States, description of- 83 

Coking in Norway 63 

Coking iu open kilns, description of 85 

Coking iu Pennsylvania in 1834 24 

Coking in piles, description of 82 

Coking in Russia 63 

f 'okiug iu Spain 63 

Coking in Sweden 68 

Coking iu the Connellsville region, description of the process. 32 

Coking iu the United States 19 

Coking plant iu Connellsville region, cost of 33,34 

Coking powers of difi'erent coals, diftereuce iu 69 

Coking iiroperties, analyses of coal not determinative as to.. 70 

Coking proi)erties, influences that determine 70 

Coking properties of coal, on what they depend 69 

Coking qualities of coal in Allegheny Mountain district of 

western Pennsylvania, diftereuce m 35 

Coking under pressure 48 

Colorado coal, analyses of 52 

Colorado coals, crushing and washing 52 

Colorado coke, analyses of 52 

Colorado, coke industry iu 51 

Colorado cokes, analyses of 22 

Colorado coking coals, analyses of 22 

Colorado, description of the coking coals of 51 



110 



INDEX TO COKE. 



Page. 

Colorado, location of coke -works of 51 

Cohinibiaiia County, cliaracter of coke of 42 

Columbiana County (Ohio) coal, analysis of 42 

ColuDil liana County (Ohio) coal, analysis of coke from 42 

Columbiana County (Ohio) coal, description of 42 

Columbiana County (Ohio) coal, sulphur in coke from 42 

Columbiana County (Ohio) coal, yield of, in coke 42 

Composition of coals in the same hasin, similarity of 20 

Composition of coke, chemical 71 

Connellsville basin, variation of coal in different parts of the. 30 

Counelisville coal, analysis of 31,32 

Connellsville coal, area of, yet unworked 34 

Connellsville coal, best oven for coking 97 

Connellsville coal, character of. -. 30 

Connellsville coal, exhaustion of 37 

Connellsville coal region, description of the 19 

Connellsville coke, analysis of 31, 32 

Connellsville coke, cost ;)f, at Steubenville, Ohio 42 

Connellsville coke, first shipment of 23 

Connellsville, coke ovens at, in 1870 5 

Connellsville coke, physical jiroperties of 31,32 

Connellsville coke, price of in 1878 9 

Connellsville coke region, cheapness of production in the ... 31 

Connellsville coke region, description of 30 

Connellsville coke region, ovens in 30,31 

Connellsville coke region, percentage of production in the .. 31 

Connells^ i!le coke region, statistics of the 30,31 

Connellsville coke, the typical coke 19 

Connellsville region bee-hive ovens, description of 89 

CounellsvilUi region, charge of coke ovens iu the 32 

Connellsville region, coking in bee-hive oveps in the 89 

Connellsi i lie region, cost of coking plant in 33,34 

Connellsville region, description of Morewood ovens in the.. 89 

ConnellKville region, description of Pittsburgh coal-bed iu the 31 

Connellsville region, description of the processof coking in the 32 

Connellsville region, first coke ovens in the 2G 

Counells, iHe region, location of 2 

Connellsville region, mining coal in the 34 

Connellsville region, ovens used in the 32 

Connellsville region, Pennsylvania, history of coke-making 

in the 2'3 

Connellsville region, production of 2 

Connellsville region, time of coking in the 32 

Consumption of coal at coke works 5 

Consumption of coke in British blast-furnaces 60 

Consumption of fuel in blast-fnrnaces 81 

Consumption, points of 2 

Convicts, employment of, in manufacture of coke in Tennessee 45 

Copp^e oven 92, 93 

Coppee ovens building iu Virginia 41 

Cost of Appolt oven 95 

Cost of coal-washing 75, 76 

Cost of coking in Appolt oven 95 

Cost of coking in CopiiiSe oven 93 

Cost of Connellsville coke at Steubenville, Ohio 42 

Cost of Coppfo oven 93 

Cost of crushing and washing 7 

Cost of Dulait ovens 92 

Cost of making coke iu the Connellsville region 33, 34 

Cost of ovens on the Carv6s system 104, 105 

Cost of repairs to Carves oven 106 

Cost of Steubenville, Ohio, coke 42 

Cost of washing in Stntz washer 78 

Cost, relation of, to selling price 18 

Counties in order of production 11 

Counties, relalive productive rank of 10 

" Crucible coke", how used 69 

Crushing and washing Colorado coals 52 

Crushing and washiug, cost of 7 

Crushing and washing in Durham region, England 57 

C'rnshiiig strength of various cokes 104 



Cumberland district, England, coking in the 59' 

D. 

Darby's use of coke, difference of opinion as to date of 22' 

Darby's use of coke in blast-furnace 55 

Date of Darby's invention in doubt 55 

Debituminization of coal of the Appalachian field 20 

Definition of coke 1, 69 

Definition of establishment 2 

Definition of gas coke 1 

Definition of oven coke 1 

Denmark, coking in 68 

Dense and hard, as applied to coke, meaning of 71 

Deposits of coking coal in the United States 1 

Deterioration of Durham coke 57 

Development of the bee-hive oven from coking in piles 86. 

Development of the Belgian oven 62 

Development of the British iron trade due to coke 56 

Development of the manufacture of coke in western Penn- 
sylvania 29 

Difference of coking qualities of coal in the Allegheny Moun- 
tain district of western Pennsylvania 35 

Discharging the Copp^o oven 93 

Distillation, coking a process of 89- 

Drag coke ovens 5 

Drawing coke 89" 

Dryness of coals 20' 

Dudley, Dud, experiments of, in manufacture of coke 54 

Dulait ovens 92.- 

Durham district, England, description of 56 > 

Durham (England) coal, best oven for coking 97 

Durham, England, coal-fields, descriirtion of 56 

Dirrham, England, coal-fields, extent of 56 

Durham (England) coal, yield of, in coke 56- 

Durham (England) coke, analyses of 56 

Durham (England) coke, capital invested in manufacture of. 57 

Durham (England) coke, character of 56, 57 

Durham (England) coke, crushing strength of 57 

Durham (England) coke, deterioration of 57 

Durham (England) coke, method of manufacture of 57 

Durham (England) coke, oven used in the manufacture of .. 57 

Durham (England) coke, statistics of 57 

Durham, England, coking coals, analyses of 56 

Durham region, England, coking in the 89 

Durham region, England, crushing and washing in 57 

Durham region, England, number of ovens in 57 

IE. 

Earliest recorded use of bee-hive coke ovens S8 

Early form of bee-hive oven 86^ 

Early form of coke oven used near Newcastle-upon-Tyne 87 

Early use of coke in blast-furnaces 2. 

Early use of coke in refining iron 2 

Earnings iu coke manufacture, wages and 8 

Ease of mining the Pittsburgh coal-bed in the Connellsville 

region 31 

Economic results of Carvfes system at Bessfeges 104 

Economy of bee-hive and Belgian ovens, relative 99, 100 

Economy of coking in open kilns 86 

Economy of coking iu piles or heaps 83 

Economy of Stutz washer 78 

Edgar Thomson steel works, analysis of coke of H. C. Frick 

Coke Company at 32 

Ett'ect of impurities on the calorific value of coke 72 

Efficiency of bee-hive and Belgian ovens, theoretical 91 

Efficiency of Dulait oveus 92 

EmploycSs, number of 8 

England, history of coke in 53-55 

England, Mr. William Strickland sent to, to investigate pro- 
cess of coking - 23 

England, use of Belgian oveus in 95, 98- 

England, use of Carvfes ovens in 101 



INDEX TO COKE. 



Ill 



Page. 

English drag oven, use of, in Illinois 49 

English Lron workers, early emigration of, to the United 

States 23 

Establishment, detinition of 2 

Establishments at which coke was made, statistics of 3 

Establishments, increase in number of 2 

Europe, analyses of the coking coals of the continent of 70 

European industrial cokes, analyses of 72 

Exhaustion of Allegheny Mountain coals 37 

Exhaustion of Connellsville coal 37 

Exportation of Belgian coke 62 

Exports of coke from Great Britain 61 

F. 

Fairchance furnace, coke made at, by F. H. Oliphant, in 1836 24 

Farrandsville, Pennsylvania, use of coke at 25 

Fayette and Westmoreland counties, Pennsylvania, outside of 

the Connellsville region, coke in 34 

Fine coal, use of, in South Yorkshire 59 

Firmstoue's, Mr. William, successful manufacture of coke iron 24 

First coke ovens in England 54 

First mention of coke in the United States 3 

First use of coke in the United States 22 

Fisher, Mr. Isaac, on early manufacture of coke in Pennsylvania 24 

Flat Top coal, analyses of 40 

Flat Top region, coke ovens of 41 

Flue oven, Belgian or 91,95 

France, character of coke made in Belgian ovens in 98 

France, coking in 64,65 

France, description of coal-fields of 64 

France, production of coke in 65 

France, use of Belgian ovens in 64,98 

France, use of Carvfes ovens in 64 

Franklin Institute, premium otfered by the, for the manu- 
facture of coke iron 24 

French coal, yield of, in coke 65 

French coke, price of 65 

French imports and exports of coke 65 

Frick Coke Company, H. C, analyses of coke of, at the Edgar 

Thomson steelworks 32 

Frozen Run, Pennsylvania, use of coke at furnace at 25 

Fulton, expression of obligation to Jlr. John v 

Fulton, Mr. John, on the relative value of Belgian and bee- 
hive ovens 96 

Furnaces, coke, in 1849, 1856 26 

Furnace, test of coke in, necessary to determine its value ... 72 

O. 

Gas coke, detinition of 1 

"Gas coke", word, how used 69 

Gases from coke, utilization of 1 

Georgia, coke industry of 48 

Georgia coking coal 20 

German coke, price of 67 

Germany, coke ovens in 66 

Germany, coke-producing regions of 65 

Germany, coking coals of 66 

Germany, coking in 65-67 

Germany, production of coke in 65,66,67 

Graff, Bennett & Co., use of coke at Clinton furnace of, in 

1859 27 

Great Britain and Ireland, coking in 55-61 

Great Britain, exjiorts of coke from 61 

Great Britain, production of coke in 55 

Great Britain, pre-eminence of, in the manufacture of iron due 

to coke 56 

Gieen.sburg basin, coking in 34 

Greensburg basin, statistics of the manufacture of coke in. . . 35 

Growth of coke industry in ten years 2 

H. 
Hainaut, statistics of the production of coke in the Belgian 

province of 62 



Page. 

Hartz jig, description of 75,76' 

H. C. Frick Coke Company, analysis of coke of, at Edgar 

Thomson steel works 32 

Heaps or piles, economy of coking in 83 

Heaps or pits in the United States, description of 83 

Heat developed in the process of coking 91 

History of coke in England 53-.">.5 

History of coke-making in the Connellsville region, Pennsyl- 
vania 26 

History of coking in Alabama 28 

History of coking in Indiana 27, 28 

History of coking in Virginia SS 

History of coking in West Virginia 28 

History of manufacture of coke in Belgium 61 

History of manufacture of coke in Ohio 26 

History of manufacture of coke in the United States 22-29 

History of use of coke in Maryland 25 

Hocking valley, Ohio, charred coal of 43 

Hocking valley, Ohio, coal, description of 43 

Idle coke works 2,3 

Idle coke works, statistics of, at the census of 1880 16, 17 

Illinois basin, character of coals of 21 

Illinois, character of coking coals of 48, 49 

Illinois coal basin, description of 21 

Illinois coals, chemical results of attempts to coke 51 

Illinois coals, physical and chemical properties of 51 

niinois, coke industry in , 48-51 

Illinois cokes, analyses of 22 

Illinois coking coals, analyses of 22 

Illinois, northern, attempts by Joliet Steel Company to coke 

coal of 50 

Illinois, northern, attempts to coke coal of 50 

Illinois, northena, sulphur in coals of 50 

Illinois, northern, use of Belgian ovens in 50 

Illinois, use of English drag oven in 49 

Illinois, use wf tunnel ovens in 50 

Imports and exports of Belgian coke 63 

Imports and exports of French coke 65 

Improvements in coke manufacture 55 

Improvements in construction of coke ovens 89 

Impurities, effect of, ou the calorific value of coke 72 

Increase in number of establishments 2 

Indiana, character of coking coals of 48 

Indiana, charcoal of 48 

Indiana coals, description of 21 

Indiana, coke industry in '. 48 

Indiana, history of coking in 27, 28 

Indiana, results of attempts to coke coals of 48 

"Industrial coke", how used 69 

Industrial cokes, analyses of American 73 

Industrial cokes, analyses of European 72 

Inferior coals, use of Belgian oven with 97 

Influences that determine coking properties 70 

Intervals of payment 9 

Iowa, coke made in 21,22 

Ireland, coking in 60 

Ireland, coking in Great Britain and 55-61 

Iron manufacture, change from charcoal to coke in 55 

Iron working, belief that coke could not be used for 54 

Irwin basin, coking in 34 

jr. 

Jig, Hartz, description of 75, 7G 

Jig, Ostcrspcy, description of 7'^, 80 

Joliet Steel Company, attempts to coke coal of norlhern Illi- 
nois by - 50 

K. 

Karthaus, Pennsylvania, use of ool;e at 25 

Kelly coke, Tennessee, description and analysi.-: of 45 



112 



INDEX TO COKE. 



Page. 

Jfentucky, history of cokiug in 28 

Kilus, description of cokiug in open 85 

Kilns, economy of coking in open 86 

Kilus, Rogers' method of coking in open 86 

^Kinds of coke ovens in use 4 

Labor and material to a ton of coke, average cost of 18 

"Laboratory coke", how used 69 

Labor, cost per ton of coke 8 

Lancashire coke, analysis of 58 

Lancashire coke districts, description of 58 

Lancashire coking coals, analyses of 58 

Lancashire, coking in 58 

Lawrence county, Pennsylvania,' coking in 39 

Legislature, act of Pennsylvania, to encourage manufacture 

of iron wit)) coke 24 

Letter of transmittal v 

Lifege, statistics of production of coke in the province of 63 

Localities in which coke was made 3 

Localities in which coke was made in 1850 3 

Localities in which coke was made in 1860 3 

Localities in which coke was made in 1870 4 

Locomotives used at coke works 5, 6 

Louaconing furnace, Maryland, use of coke at 25 

London, cokiug in 60 

Loss in cokiug in heaps or piles 83 

Loss of weight of materials in coking 90 

Lump coal used in coking 7 

M. 

Mahoning county, Ohio, description of coal of 43 

Mahoning county, Ohio, mauufacture of coke in 43 

Malting in England, coke used iu 54 

Marion county, Tennessee, manufacture of coke in 45 

Marsaut on coal-washing 75 

Maryland, early mauufacture of coke in 25 

Maryland, history of use of coke in 25 

Material other than coal, value of, to a ton of coke 7, 18 

Materials used iu the mauufacture of coke, value of 7 

Material to a ton of coke, average cost of labor and 18 

Meir ovens 50 

Method of burniug coke in Tennessee 45 

Method of coking iu open kilns 85 

Method of ni anufacture of coke iu South Wales 56 

Method of manufacture of Durham coke 57 

Method of manufacture, value of coke partly determined by. 71 

Method of operating Appolt oven 94 

Method of operating Copp^eoven 92 

Method of operating Dulaitoveu 92 

Method of operating Simon-Carves oven 101 

Method of selling coke , 12 

Methods of coal-washing 74 

Methods of payment 10 

Michigan basiu, coals of 22 

Miles of railroad track used at coke works 5, 6 

Mining coal iu the Connellsville region 34 

Missouri basin, character of coal of 21 

More wood coke ovens, Connellsville region, description of.. . 69 

Mounds, pits or 5 

Mount Savage furnace, Maryland, use of coke at 25 

IV. 

Newcastle-upou-Tyne, early form of coke oven used near 87 

New Mexico, coke industry iu 52 

Kew Eiver coal, analyses of 40 

New Eiver coal-field 40 

New River coke 40 

New River coke, consumption of, in blast-furnaces 40 

New River cokes, analyses of 41 

New River cokes, ash in 41 

New Eiver coke, use of, in blast-furnaces 40 



Norway, cokingiu 68 

Number of Belgian ovens 5 

Number of coke ovens = 4 

Number of coke ovens in western Pennsylvania in 1870 5 

Number of coke works 2 

Number of Coiiii^e ovens in use 93 

Number of Dulait ovens 92 

Number of employfe 8 

O. 

Oak Hill, Tennessee, coke, analysis of 45 

Ohio, coke industry in 41-44 

Ohio cokes, analyses of 22 

Ohio coking coals 19 

Ohio cokiug coals, analyses of 22 

Ohio coking coals, character of 42 

Ohio, descrii^tiou of Columbiana County coal of 42 

Ohio, history of the mauufacture of coke in 26 

Ohio, localities of coke mauufacture in 42 

Ohio, production of coke in 41 

"Old Welsh " oven, descrii^tion of 89, 90 

Oliphant, F. H., coke made at Fairchance furnace by, in 1836. 24 

Osterspey jig, description of 78-80 

Oven, adaptation of each form of 95-100 

Oven, bee-hive , 86-91 

Oven, Belgian or flue 91-95 

Oven, best for coking Connellsville coal 97 

Oven, best for coking Durham coal 97 

Oven coke, definition of 1 

"Oven coke", word, how used 69 

Oven, description of Apjiolt 93 

Oven, description of Simon-Carves 101, 102, 103 

Oven, development of the Belgian 62 

Oven, early form of, used near Newcastle-upon-Tyne 87 

Ovens, Bennington, Pennsylvania 88 

Ovens, Browney (English), description of 90 

Ovens building in Virginia, Copp^e 41 

Ovens, coke, at Steubenville, description of 43 

0%'ens, coke, description of, in Tennessee 45 

Ovens, coke, in Belgium, in 1881 62 

Ovens, description of Copp^e 92 

Ovens, description of Dulait 92 

Ovens, description of old Welsh 89,90 

Ovens, drag coke 5 

Ovens, early use of, iu England 54 

Ovens, genera! description of Belgian 92 

Ovens in the Connellsville coke region 30-32 

Ovens iu the Connellsville region, charge of 32 

Ovens, kind of coke 4 

Ovens, Meir 50 

Ovens, number of Belgian.! 5 

Ovens, number of coke 3 

Ovens, number of, iu Durham region, England 57 

Ovens of Flat Top region 41 

Ovens, tunnel coke 5 

Ovens, use of Belgian, iu Alabama 47 

Ovens, use of Belgian, in France 64,98 

Ovens, yield of coal iu different 71 

Oven used iu South Wales 58 

Oven, use of Belgian, with inferior coals 97 

Oven, \ise of English drag, in Illinois 49 

Oxygen in coke 78 

P. 

Patents for making coke granted in England 53 

Payment, intervals of 9 

Payment, methods of 10 

Payment, periods of 9 

Payments, truck 10 

Pennsylvania coals, analyses of 20 

Peuusylyania cokes, analyses of 22 



INDEX TO COKE. 



113 



Pennsylvania coking coals, analyses of 22 

Pennsylvania, coking in, in 1834 24 

Pennsylvania, Mr. Isaac Fisher on the early manufacture of 

coke in 24 

Pennsylvania, production of, 1850 to 1880 11 

Pennsylvania, statistics of the production of coke in 29 

Pennsylvania, the coke industry of 29-39 

Pennsylvania, western, number of coke ovens in, in 1H70 5' 

Percentage of total production of bituminous coal used at 

coke works 5 

Percy, Dr. , on Appolt oven 95 

Periods of payment 9 

Physical properties of coke 71 

Pig-iron, amount of coke used in the manufacture of 80 

Piles, description of coking in 82 

Piles, description of coking in large circular 84 

Piles, development of bee-hive oven from coking in 86 

Pits or mounds 5 

Pittsburgh coal-bed in the Connellsville region, description of 31 

Pittsburgh coal-bed in the Connellsville region, ease of mining 31 

Pittsburgh coal-seam 29, 30 

Pittsburgh, coke ovens at, in 1855 and 1870 5 

Pittsburgh, coking at 38 

Pittsburgh, production of coke at 38 

Pittsburgh's sources of supply of coke iron in 1857 3 

Pittsburgh, statistics of manufacture of coke at 38 

Pittsburgh, use of Belgian ovens at 97 

Pittsburgh, use of slack for coking at 38 

Plant in Connellsville region, cost of coking 33, 34 

PlumsockjPenusylvania, use of coke at, in 1817 23 

Points of consumption 2 

Pratt seam, Alabama, description of coke made from 46 

Pre-eminence of Great Britain iu the manufacture of iron, due 

to coke 56 

Premium offered by the Franklin Institute for the manufac- ■ 24 

ture of coke iron 24 

Pressure, coking under 48 

Preston County, West Virginia, coals, description of 41 

Preston County, West Virginia, coke, analysis of 41 

Price of coke 2 

Price of coke, average selling 12 

Price of Connellsville coke in 1878 7 

Price of French coke 65 

Price of German coke 67 

Production of Belgian coke from 1876 to 1880 63 

Production of coke at Pittsburgh 38 

Production of coke in Austria-Hungary 67 

Production of coke iu Belgium 62 

Production of coke in Belgium iu 1881, statistics of 62 

Production of coke in France 65 

Production of coke in Germany 65, 66, 67 

Production of coke in Great Britain 55 

Production of coke in Ohio 41 

Production of coke in Pennsylvania, statistics of 29 

Production of coke in Tennessee 44 

Production of coke in the Belgian province of Hainaut, sta- 
tistics of 62 

Production of Connellsville region 2 

Production of Pennsylvania, 1850 to 1830 11 

Production, jiercentage of, in the Connellsville coke region.. 31 

Productive rank of the counties, relative 10 

Productive rank of the states, relative 10 

Profits of coke-making not given 1 

Quenching coke 89 

R. 

JSailroad track, miles of, used at coke works 5,6 

Jlange of wages paid employes at coke works 9 

JReduction of vertical section of Carvfes oven 104 

CO, VOL. IX 8 



Paga. 

Refining iron, early use of coke in 2 

Relation of cost to selling price 18 

Relative calorific value of coke made in bee-hive and Gobeit 

ovens 96,97 

Relative economy of bee-hive and Belgian ovens 99,100 

Relative value of different forms of Belgi an ovens 95 

Repairs to Carves oven, cost of 106 

Report, this, scope of 1 

Restriction of stat istics to manufacture of coke 1 

Results of working the Carvfes ovens at Besst^ges . . . - 106 

Revolution, use of coke in the United States before the 22 

Rhode Island basin, character of coal of 21 

Rittinger, Herr, on coal- washing 75 

Roane county, Tennessee, character of coal in 45 

Roane county, Tennessee, coke made in 45 

Rockwood, Tennessee, coal, analysis of 46 

Rock wood, Tennessee, coke, analysis of 46 

Rogers' method of coking in open kilns 86 

Russia, coking in 68 

8. 

Scope of this report 1 

Scotland, cokiug in 60 

Selling coke, method of 12 

Selling price of a ton of coke, average 18 

Selling price of coke, average 12 

Selling price, relation of cost to 18 

Silkstone seam, England, analysis of 59 

Similarity of composition of coal in the same basin 20 

Simon-Carves oven , description of 101, 102, 103 

Slack, coking with washed, at Carnegie Bros. & Co's works . 34 

Slack for coking, use of, at Pittsburgh 38 

Slack used in coking 7 

Sources of supply of coke iron in 1857, Pittsburgh's 3 

South Wales, coke ovens used in 58 

South Wales coking district 57 

South. Wales, method of manufacture of coke in 58 

South Wales, use of Belgian ovens in 99 

Spain, coking in 68 

Staffordshire, coking in 60 

States, relative productive rank of the 10 

Statistics for 1880, summary of 1 

Statistics of British coking 60 

Statistics of building coke works at the census of 1880 16,17 

Statistics of coal mining not included iu report 1 

Statistics of coke manufacture for 1850, 1860, 1870, and 1880. 2 

Statistics of coking in Alabama iu the census year 46 

Statistics of Durham coke 57 

Statistics of establishments at which coke was made 3 

Statistics of idle coke works at the census of 1S80 16, 17 

Statistics of manufacture of coke at Pittsburgh 38 

Statistics of production of coke in Belgium in 1881 62 

Statistics of the coke industry iu Ohio 41 

Statistics of the coke industry iu Tennessee 44 

Statistics of the Connellsville coke region 30, 31 

Statistics of the manufacture of coke in the Irwin basin 35 

Statistics of the manufacture of coke in the United States in 

1880, by states 13 

Statistics of the manufacture of coke in the United States in 

1880, by states and couuties '. 14,15 

Statistics of the iiroduction of coke in Pennsylvania 29 

Statistics of the production of coke in the province of Li6ge. 62 

Statistics, restriction of, to manufacture of coke 1 

Steavenson, A. L.,ou the relative value of Belgian and bee- 
hive ovens 96 

Steps in the development of the bee-hive oven 87 

Steubenville (Ohio) coal, analysis of 43 

Steubenville (Ohio) coke, analysis of 43 

Steubenville, Ohio, description of coke ovens at 43 

Steubenville, Ohio, coal, character of 42 

Steubenville, Ohio, coke, cost of ."^ 42 



114 



INDEX TO COKE. 



Steuben ville, Ohio, coke, use of in the blast-furnace 43 

Strickland, Mr. William, sent to England to investigate pro- 
cess of coking 93,24 

Stutz washer '- - 76-80 

Sulphur in coals of northern Illinois 50 

Sulphur in coke from Columbiana County coal 42 

Summary of statistics for 1880 1 

Sweden, coking in 68 

X. 

Tennessee, analysis of Eockwood coal 46 

Tennessee coal, yield of, in coke 45 

Tennessee, coke, analysis of Rock wood 46 

Tennessee cokes, analysis of -- 22 

Tennessee coking coals, analyses of 22 

Tennessee, description of coal-fields of 44 

Tennessee, description of coke ovens in 45 

Tennessee, employment of convicts In manufacture of coke in- 45 

Tennessee, method of burning coke in 45 

Tennessee, production of coke in 43,44 

Texas basin, coals of 22 

Theoretical efficiency of Belgian and bee-hive ovens 91 

Time of coking in Appolt oven 94,95 

Time of coking in the Connellsville region 32 

Transmittal, letter of...: iii 

Trough washer, description of 74 

Tunnel coke ovens 5 

Tunnel ovens, use of, in Illinois 50 

Tuscarawas county, Ohio, character of coke made in 43 

Tuscarawas county, Ohio, coke of 43 

Tuscarawas county, Ohio, coking coal of 43 

Typical coke, Connellsville, the 19 

u. 

United States, coking in the 19-52 

United States, deposits of coking coal in the 1 

United States, first mention of coke in the 3 

Upper Freeport bed, analysis of coal of 36 

Upper Freeport bed at Johnstown, Pennsylvania, analysis of 

coal of 36 

Upper Freeport bed, character of coal of 36 

Upper Freeport coal, Pennsylvania, analysis of 38 

Upper Freeport coal, Pennsylvania, analysis of coke from. .. 39 

Use of coke in refining iron, early 2 

Utah coal 22 

Utah, coke industry in 52 

Utilization of gases from coke 1 

Utilization of waste products - 60, 100-106 

Utilization of waste products in France 64 

V. 

Value of cote partly determined by method of manufacture. 71 

Value of coal to a ton of coke 18 

Value of coal used at coke works per ton of coal 6 

Value of coal used at coke works per ton of coke 6 

Value of material other than coal to a ton of coke 18 

Value of materials used in the manufacture of coke 7 

Value of waste products of coking 100 



Virginia, coke industry in 41 

Virginia, Coppfe ovens building in 41 

Virginia, history of coking in 28 

Wages and earnings in coke manufacture 8 

Wages paid employes at coke works, range of 9 

Wages paid per ton of coke 18 

Warrior field, Alabama, analyses of cokes made from coals of 

the 47 

Warrior field, Alabama, analysis of coking coals of 47 

Washed slack, coking with, .at Carnegie Bros. & Co.'s works. 34 

Washed slack in the Irwin basin, analysis of 35 

Washer, description of Stutz 76,77,78 

Washer, description of trough -74 

Washing Colorado coals, crushing and 52 

Washing, cost of crushing and 7 

Washing in Durham region, England, crushing and 57 

Washington county, Pennsylvania, coking in 39 

Waste of ammonia in coking in the United Kingdom 100 

Waste products, utilization of 60, 100-106 

Waste products, utilization of, in France 64 

Water in coke 72 

Weight of bushel in difterent states 8 

Welsh coke, character of 58 

Welsh coking coals, analysis of 58 

Welsh coking coals, character of 57 

Western Pennsylvania, description of Allegheny Mountain 

coking district of 35 

Western Pennsylvania, description of bituminous coal re- 
gions of 29 

Western Pennsylvania, description of coke basins of. 29 

Western Pennsylvania, development of the manufacture of 

coke in 29 

Western Pennsylvania, number of coke ovens in, in 1870 — 5 
Westmoreland and F.iyette counties, Pennsylvania, outside 

of the Connellsville region, coke in 34 

Westphalia, use of Belgian ovens in 98 

West Virginia, analysis of Preston County coke 41 

West Virginia coal, yield of, in coke 40 

West Virginia coals, Preston county 41 

West Virginia coking coals 19 

West Virginia coking coals, analyses of 22 

West Virginia, history of coking in 28 

West Virginia, the coke industry in 39,40 

Wilmot sub-basin, coal of ; 36 

Tf. 

Yield in Appolt oven 94,95 

Yield in Belgian ovens 96 

Yield in Copp^e ovens 93 

Yield of coal in coke in Belgium 63. 

Yield of coal in diff'erent ovens 71 

Yield of Columbiana County coal in coke 42 

Yield of Durham coal in coke 56 

Yield of French coal in coke 65 

Yield of Tennessee coal in coke 45 

Yield of West Virginia coal in coke 40 



REPORT 



THE BUILDING STONES 



UNITED STATES, 



STATISTICS OF THE QUARRY INDUSTRY 



IPOI^ 1880. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



Pago. 

LETTER OF TRAXSMITTAL xi-xiii 

Chapter I.— INTRODUCTION 1-14 

The collection 1-^ 

The minerals in building stones 4,5 

Methods of stcdy 5-12 

Classification 12,13 

Decomposition of stones --• 13,14 

Preservation of stones - 14 

Influence of climate 14 

Strength of materials 14 

Chapter II.— MICROSCOPIC STRUCTURE 15-29 

The crystalline siliceous rocks 15 

Granite 16 

Muscovite granite 19 

Biotite granite 19,20 

Muscovite-biotite granite - 20,21 

Hornblende granite 21,22 

Hornblende-biotite granite 22 

Epidote granite *2 

Syenite ^ 

Gneiss 22,23 

Mica-schist 23,24 

Diabase "4 

Basalt 24,25 

Porpliyry (porphyritic felsite) 25 

Sandstones 25-27 

Limestones and marbles 27,28 

Serpentine 29 

Chapter III.— CHEMICAL EXAMINATION 30-32 

Chapter IV.— QUARRY METHODS 33-44 

The use of explosives 3.?-38 

The working of sl.\te 38-41 

The general methods of dressing the various classes of rocks 41-43 

Description of plates illustrating quarries and quarry methods 44 

Chapter v.— STATISTICS OF BUILDING STONES 45-105 

Table I.— General statistics of the quarrying lndustrles of the United States : 1880 46, 47 

Table II.— Statistics of the quarrying industries of the United States, showing number of quarries and pro- 
duction, by- kinds of bock and by states and territories: 1880 48,49 

Table III. Extent to which building stones and slates are quarried for purposes of construction in the 

United States, and the capital, labor, and appliances devoted thereto 50, 51 

Table IV. —Tables indicating the amount and kinds of rock quarkied in the different states .52-99 

Table V.— Table showing the extent of stone construction in some of the principal cities of the United 

States 100-105 

Chapter VI.— DESCRIPTIONS OF QUARRIES AND QUARRY REGIONS '. 107-279 

General report on the building stones of Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Malne 107-115 

General conditions of the building stones of New England 107 



Limestones 



107 



White marble 1*"' 



Red marble . 
Black marble , 



107 
107 



Sandstones and conglomerates - 1"° 

Fine-grained, reddish, and brown sandstones 1"° 

Conglomerates and coarse grits 



108 



iv TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

Page. 
Chapter VI.— DESCRIPTIONS OF QUARRIES AND QUARRY REGIONS— Contimi^d. 
General conditions of the building stones of New England — Continued. 

Slates and clay-stones lOS 

Clay-slates 108 

Clay-stones or argillites ' 108 

Highly metamorplwsed rochs 108, 109 

Granitic rocks 108 

Schistose rocks (gneiss and mica-scMst) ■ 108 

Trappean rocks .' 109 

Serpentines and steatites ( verd-antiques and soapstones) 109 

A GENERAL ACCOUNT OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE QUARRY INDUSTRIES IN RHODE ISLAND, MASSACHUSETTS, AND MAINE.. 109-115 

Ehode Island - 110 

Massachusetts 110-113 

Maine - 113-115 

General relations op New England building stones to the markets op the United States 115 

Details regarding quarries 116-279 

Maine lie-123 

New Samp shire , 124-126 

Granites 124-126 

Vermont 126 

Marbles and limestones 126 

Granites 126 

Slates 126 

Connecticut 126-129 

Brown and red sandstone, Triassio formation ^ 126, 127 

Granite and syenite - 127-129 

Serpentine and verd-antique marble 129 

New York 129-139 

Granite 129,130 

Sandstone - -. 130 

Blue-stono district 130-135 

Marble 135-139 

Neiv Jersey 139-146 

Archaean granite, gneiss, and marble 139 

Localities where granite quarries have been opened 139 

Marbles 139 

Potsdam sandstone and Green Pond Mountain conglomerate 140 

Magnesian limestone 140 

Hudson River slate 140 

Oneida conglomerate and Medina sandstone '. 140 

Lower Helderberg limestone group 140 

Upper Helderberg group — Onondaga and corniferous limestones 140,141 

Triassic age — sandstone, freestone, and brownstone 141-144 

Flagging-stone - 144 

Trap- rocks 145,146 

Later formations — brown sandstone and conglomerate 146 

ilvania 146-174 

Building-stone resources - - 146, 147 

Archiean rocks 147,148 

Serpentine and soapstone 148, 149 

Limestone - 149-156 

Lower Silurian 149 

Montgomery County marble 149-154 

Devonian 154, 155 

Sub-Carboniferous - 155 

Carboniferous 15<i 

Triassio — 156 

Sandstones 156-162 

Triassio , ,. 156,157 

Lower Silurian 158 

Upper Silurian 158 

Devonian 158-161 

Sub-Carboniferous 161,162 

Carboniferous conglomerate 162-163 

Carboniferous - 162-168 

Quartz porphyry 168 

Slate 168-174 

Peach Bottom quarries 172, 173 

General considerations 173, 174 

Analysis of ordinary Welsh roofing slate (blue) 174 

Analysis of dark blue slate from Llangynog, North Wales 174 

Analysis of the material of the green bands in the bluish-purple elates of Ltanbenis 174 

Analysis of the purple slates of NantUe 174 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. v 

Page. 
Chapter VI.— DESCRIPTIONS OF QUARRIES AND QUARRY REGIONS— Continued. 

Details regarding quarries — Continued. 

Maryland IT.VITB 

Crystalline siliceous rocks 175-177 

Sandstone 178 

Slate 178 

FirgiHia 179-181 

Slate 180,181 

Marble and limestone 181 

Soapstone 181 

North Carolina 181-186 

Triassic rocks 181,182 

Archiean rocks 182-185 

Marble and limestone 185, 166 

Soajistone 186 

Florida 186,187 

Tennessee 187,188 

Ohio .• 188-215 

Sandstone 188-200 

Sub-Carboniferous 188-198 

Carboniferous 198-200 

Limestone 201-215 

Cinciun.ati group 201,202 

Ni.ag.ara group -. 202-206 

Helderberg 207-210 

Corniferous 210-213 

■ Sub-Carboniferous 214 

Carboniferous 214, 215 

Indiana 215-219 

Limestone 216-219 

Illinois 219-226 

Silurian 219-223 

Lower maguesian 219 

Saint Peter sandstone 219 

Treuton group 219,220 

Cinciun.ati group 220,221 

Niagara group 221-223 

Devonian 223 

Carboniferous 223-226 

Ki nderhook group 223 

Burlington limestone 223 

Keokuk group , 223,224 

Saiut Louis group 224,225 

Chester group .- 225,226 

Michigan 226-229 

Wisconsin 229-244 

Silurian 229-234 

Potsdam 229,230 

Lower magnesian 230, 231 

Saint Peter sandstone 231,232 

Trenton group 232,233 

Niagara group 233,234 

Archajan 234-239 

Black River valley 238,239 

ArcbiEan outci'ops within the Silurian area 239-244 

Minnesota 244-256 

Crystalline siliceous rocks 244-247 

Sandstones 247-249 

Limestones .■ 24y-2.")5 

Slate : 255 

Paving-stone 255 

Flagging 2,=;6 

Iowa 256-265 

General geological section 257 

Quaternary period - 257 

Drift 257 

Cretaceous period 257, 258 

Inoceramus 257 

Woodbury 257 

Nishnabotna stage ^ 258 

Fort Dodge 258 



vi TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

Page. 
Chapter VI.— DESCRIPTIONS OF QUAKEIES AND QUARRY REGIONS— Continued. 
Details regarding quarries- Continued. 
lotva — Continued. 

Carboniferous period - 258-261 

Upper Coal 258 

MiddleCoal 259 

Lower Coal. 259 

Saint Louis 259,260 

Keokuk 260 

Burlington 260,261 

Kinderhook 261 

Devonian period 261-263 

Hamilton 261-263 

Upper Silurian period 263 

Niagarii - 263 

Lower Silurian period 263-265 

Maquoketa 263,264 

Galena 264 

Trenton 264 

Saint Peter 264 

Lower raagnesiau 264 

Potsdam 265 

Sioux 265 

Missouri 265-274 

General geological section - 265 

Archaiau 260,267 

Sedimentary rocks 267-274 

Sub-Carbouiferous 269,270 

Saint Louis quarries 270 

Jefferson City quarry 270, 271 

Boonville quarry 271 

Sedalia quarry 271 

Clinton quarry 271 

Kansas City quarries 271-273 

Quarries of sandstone 273,274 

Kansas 274-277 

Geological section 274 

General description 275-277 

Sub-Carboniferous 275 

Carbouiferoiis 1 275 

Cretaceous 275 

Quarries 275-277 

Colorado, California, Montana, Utah, etc 277-279 

Chapter VII.— STONE CONSTRUCTION IN CITIES 280-363 

Akron, Ohio 280 

Albany, New Yoi:k 280 

Allegheny, Pennsylvania 280 

Allentown, Pennsylvania 280,281 

Altoona, PennsylvvVNIa 281 

Atlanta, Georgia 281 

Baltimore, Maryland 281,282 

Bangor, Maine 282 

BiNGHAMTON, NeW YoRK 282 

Boston, Massachusetts 282-292 

Bridgeport, Connecticut 292 

Burlington, Iowa 292 

Cambridge, Massachusetts 292 

Camden, New Jersey 292,293 

Canton, Ohio 293 

Cedar Rapids, Iowa 293 

Chattanooga, Tennessee 293 

Chelsea, Massachqsetts ,. 294 

Chester, Pennsylvania 294 

Chicago, Illinois 294-997 

Cincinnati, Ohio 298 

Cleveland, Ohio 298 

Columbus, Ohio 29d 

Concord, New Hampshire 299 

Cumberland, Maryland 299 

Davenport, Iowa 299 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. vh 

Page. 
-Chapter VII.— STONE CONSTRUCTION IN CITIES— Continued. 

Dayton, Ohio ^^ 



300 

Derby, Connecticut 



Denver, Colorado 

300 



Des Moines, Iowa , 



300 



DcBUQUE, Iowa ^1 



301 
301 



Easton, Pennsylvania 

Elizabeth, New Jersey - 

Elmira, New York ■ 

Erie, Pennsylvania - 301,302 



301 



Evansville, Indian.a 



309 



Fall River, Massachusetts. 



302 

FiTCHBURG, Massachusetts *^ 

Fort Way-ne, Indiana ^'^ 

Galveston, Texas 302,303 

Gloucester, Massachusetts ^"^ 

Harrisburg, Pen-nsylvania •'*'•* 

Hartford, Connecticut 3"* 

Haverhill, Massachusetts "'*'* 

Indianapolis, Indiana ^ 

Ithaca, New York 



^^^^^^ ,„„„ 305 

Kingston, New. York . 
La Fayette, Indiana , 



305 

Lancaster, Pennsylvania 30o,306 

Lawrence, Massachusetts ■ 



306 



Leavenworth, Kansas 

LocKPORT, New York ■ 

Logansport, Indiana 

Louisville, Kentucky 

Lowell, Massachusetts 

Manchester, New Hampshire 307 

middletown, connecticut 307 

Memphis, Tennessee ■ 



306 
306 
306 
307 
307 



Minneapolis, Minnesota - - ■ 

Mobile, Alabama ■ 

Nashville, Tennessee 309 



303 
309 



New Albany, Indiana 



309 



Newark, New Jersey 309,310 

New Bedford, Massachusetts 310 

New Brunswick, New Jersey 310 

Newburgh, New York 311 

Newburyport, Massachusetts 311 

New Haven, Connecticut 311 

New London, Connecticut 312 

New Orleans, Louisiana 312 

Newport, Rhode Island 312 

Newton, Massachusetts 312 

New York city and environs 313-335 

I. — The buildings of New York and adjacent cities ; theirnumbera and common materials 313-316 

New York 314,315 

Brooklyn 315 

Stateu Island 315 

Jersey City --- 315 

Hoboken 315 

The metropolis - 315,316 

11.— The building stones 316-335 

A. — Varieties, localities, and edifices ,. 316-324 

B. — Pnblic buildings and improvements .--- - — 325-335 

Table showing statistics of buildings (numbers and materials) in New York city and Brooklyn 329 

Table showing statistics of buildings (numbers and materials) in the suburbs and in the entire metro- 
polis 329 

Table showing statistics concerning the physical properties of the building stones used in New York 

city 330-335 

North Adams, Massachusetts 336 

Northampton, Massachusetts 336 

Ogdensburg, New York 336 

Orange, New Jersey- 336,337 

Oswego, New Y'ork 337 

Paterson, New Jersey 337 

Pawtucket, Rhode Island - 337,338 

Peteksburg, Virginia 338 



viii TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

Chapter VII.— STONE CONSTRUCTION IN CITIES— Continued. ^^^^' 

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 338-346 

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 346,347 

Pittsfield, Massachusetts 347 

Portland, Maine 347 343 

Pottsvillb, Pennsylvania .• 343 

poughkeepsie, new yoek 348 

Providence, Khode Island , 349,35a 

QuiNCY, Massachusetts 350 

Reading, Pennsylvania 35O 

Richmond, Indiana .' 350- 

Richmond, Virginia 35O 351 

Rochester, New York 351 

Rome, New York 351 

Rutland, A'^ermont 35I 

Saint Paul, Minnesota 351,352 

Salem, Massachusetts 35jj 

Salt Lake City, Utah 352 

Sandusky, Ohio 352: 

San Francisco, California 352 353. 

Saratoga, New York ^ 353 

Savannah, Georgia 353; 

Schenectady, New York 353 

Sceanton, Pennsylvania 353 354 

Springfield, Massachusetts 354 

Springfield, Ohio 354 

Steubenville, Ohio 354, 

Taunton, Massachusetts ■. 354 

Terre Haute, Indian.- 355 

Toledo, Ohio 355. 

Topeka, Kansas 355 

Trento.v, New Jersey 355,356 

Troy, New York 356 

Utica, New York 356 

Waterbuky, Connecticut 356^ 

Watertown, New York ; 355, 

Washington, District of Columbia 357-361 

Wheeling, West Virginia 361 

Wilkesdarke, Pennsylvania 361,362 

williamspokt, pennsylvania 362 

Wilmington, Delaware 362 

Winona, Minnesota 362 

Woonsocket, Rhode Island 362,363 

Worcester, Massachusetts 363 

YoNKERS, New York 363 

York, Pennsylvania 363 

Zanesville, Ohio 363, 

Chapter VIII.— THE DURABILITY OF BUILDING STONES IN NEW YORK CITY AND VICINITY 364-393 

1.— Effects of weathering upon the building stone op New York, etc 365-371 

2. — External agencies of destruction 371-376 

A. — Chemical agencies 371 372 

^.—Mechanical agencies 373-375- 

C. — Organic agencies 375 375 

3. — Internal elements op durability 376-381 

A. — Chemical composition 376 377 

B. — Physical structure 377-379 

C. — Character and position of surface 379-381 

4. — Methods op trial 381-385 

A. — Natural methods 381-384 

B. — Artificial methods 384,385 

5. — Means op protection and preservation 386-393 

A. — Natural j>rinciples of construction 386-389' 

B. — Artificial means of pi-eservation 389-393 

APPENDIX 395-399 

Exportation of stone 397 

Importation of stone into the United States 397,398 

Tahles shou'ing imports and exports of marble and stone, by countries, for the year ending June 30, 1881 398 

Egyptian breccia 398,399 

Chlorite rock 399^ 

Algerlvn alabaster 399 

Italian marble (Carrara) 399 

Statement of the exportation of marble from the consular district of Carrara in the year 1879 399^ 

Statement of the exportation of all Undsfrom 1872 to 1879, inclusive (Carrara) 399' 



TABLE 01' CONTENTS. ix: 

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 

Page. 

Plate I. — Mnscovite Granite, Barre, Vermont 19 

II. — Biotite Granite, Dix Island, Maine 19 

III. — Biotite Granite, Sullivan, Maine 19 

IV. — Hornblende Granite, Peabody, Mississippi 21 

V. — Hornblende Biotite Granite, Saint George, Maine 22 

VI. — Hornblende Biotite Gneiss, Middletown, Connecticut 23 

VII. — Mica Schist, Wasbington, District of Columbia 23 

VIII. — Diabase, Weehawken, New Jersey 24 

IX. — Olivine Diabase, Addison, Maine 24 

X. — Basalt, Bridgeport, California 25 

XI. — Quartz Porphyry, Fairfield, Pennsylvania 25 

XII. — Orthoclase Porphyry, Stone Mountain, Missouri , 25 

XIII. — Sandstone, Portland, Connecticut 26 

XIV. — Siliceous Sandstone, Potsdam, Nevr York 26 

XV. — Conglomerate, Estelville, New Jersey 27 

XVI. — Quartz Schist, Berks county, Pennsylvania 27 

XVII.— Marble, Rutland, Verniont 28 

XVIII. — Serpentine, Chester county, Pennsylvania 29 

XIX to XXVI. — Plates illustrating quarries, quarry methods, and machines used in quarrying 44 

CHROMOLITHOGRAPHS (at end of volume). 

Plate XXVII.— Biotite &ranite, Ked Beach, Maine. 

XXVIII. — Biotite Granite with Epidote, Lebanon, Grafton county, New Hampshire. 
XXIX. — Biotite Granite, Fitzwilliam, New Hampshire. 
XXX. — Marble, Mallett's Bay, Vermont. 
XXXI.— Marble, Mallett's Bay, Vermont. 
XXXII. — " Lepanto" Marble, Isle La Motte, Grand Isle county, Vermont. 
XXXIII.— M.arble, Sutherland Falls, Vermont. 
XXXIV.— Marble, Rutland, Vermont. 
XXXV.— Marble, Swauton, Vermont. 
XXXVI.— Marble, Mallett's Bay, Vermont. 
XXXVII.— Marble, West Rutland, Vermont. 
XXXVIII.— Hornblende Granite, Peabody, Massachusetts. 
XXXIX.— Biotite Granite, Westerly, Rhode Islaud. 

XL. — Hornblende Biotite Gneiss, Middletown, Couuecticut. 
XLI. — Hornblende Granite, Grindstone Island, Jefferson county. New York. 
XLII. — Marble, Port Henry, Esses county, New York. 
XLIII. — Sandstone, Hummelstowu, Dauphin couuty, Pennsylvania. 
XLIV. — Marble, King of Prussia, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania. 
XLV. — Triassic Sandstone, Seneca creek, Maryland. 
XLVI. — Limestone Breccia, Point of Rocks, Maryland. 
XLVII. — Serpentine, Harford county, Maryland. 
XLVIII. — Marble, Swain county. North Carolina. 
XLIX. — Biotite Granite, Burnet county, Texas. 

L. — Marble, Rogersville, Hawkins county, Tennessee. 
LI. — Saudstoue, Amherst, Loraiu couuty, Ohio. 
LII- — Waverly Sandstone, Sunbury, Delaware county, Ohio. 
LIII. -^Limestone, D.ayton, Montgomery county, Ohio. 
IjIV. — Limestone, Bedford, Lawrence county, Indiana. 
*LV. — Biotite Granite, Iron township, Iron county, Missouri. 
LVI. — Marble, Payson, Utah. 

LVII. — Stalagmite Marble, Solano county, California. 
LVIII.— Marble, Indian Diggings, El Dorado county, California. 



* Plat« LV : for Maryland, read ' ' Missouri ". 



LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL. 



Washington, D. C, February 19, 1883. 
Hon. Chaeles W. Seaton, Superintendent of Census. 

SiE: In accordance with your request, I have examined and revised the following report upon the building 
stones and quarry industries of the United States. 

This work was undertaken jointly by the Census Office and the National Museum, and placed in charge of the 
late Dr. George W. Hawes, then curator of the department of mineralogy and lithology in the National Museum. 

The work as planned by him comprised the collection "of very full and comijlete statistics from all quarries in 
the United States doing business during the census year to the extent of $1,000, and the making of a collection of 
quarry specimens for examination for the purpose of this report and for deposit in the National Museum as a 
reference collection. These plans contemplated also a thorough study of the building stones with reference to their 
hardness, durability, beauty, chemical composition, microscopic structure, and geological relations. Dr. Hawes 
lived long enough to see his plans well under way, the collection practically completed, aud much of the microscopic 
and chemical work done. His health failed in the fall of 1881, and he was obliged to give up work, when his principal 
assistant, Mr. F. W. Sperr, was placed in temporary charge. Dr. Hawes' health continued to fail, and at last, on 
June 22, 1882, he died, at Colorado Springs, Colorado. 

Not long after, Mr. Sperr's health failed, and he was obliged to give up the control of the work, when it was 
left in charge of Mr. Thomas C. Kelly, by whom it was brought to its present stage. 

As assistants in the field-work of this investigation Dr. Hawes enlisted the services of many of the most 
prominent geologists and mineralogists of the country, and to them is due in great measure whatever success may 
have been attained in this investigation. They have devoted to it much valuable time and attention, and in every 
way have shown the utmost interest in prosecuting it thoroughly. Manj- of these gentlemen have also rendered 
valuable services in furnishing manuscript notes regarding the quarries of their respective districts, which, from 
the local knowledge of the author, is of great value. The statistics and the information concerning the quarries 
were gathered by the following gentlemen in the areas indicated : 

In Maine, Rhode Island, and that portion of Massachusetts east of the Connecticut river, Professor N. S. Shaler, 
of Harvard university, Cambridge, Massachusetts. 

In New Hampshire, Vermont, and that portion of Massachusetts west of the Connecticut river, and of New 
York east of the Hudson and above the latitude of the north line of Connecticut, Professor C. H. Hitchcock, of 
Dartmouth college, Hanover, New Hampshire. 

In Connecticut, and New York east of the Hudson and south of the latitude of the north line of Connecticut, 
Mr. Harrison R. Liudsley, of New Haven, Connecticut. 

In Manhattan Island and cities in the immediate vicinity of New York, Professor Alexis A. Julien, of the School 
of Mines, Columbia college. New York city. 

Ill the portion of New York west of the Hudson, and New Jersey outside of the immediate neighborhood of 
New York, Professors George H. Cook, director of the geological survey of New Jersey, and James C. Smock, of 
New Brunswick, New Jersey. 



xii LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL. 

In Pennsylvania, Mr. Charles Allen, of Harrisburg, Professor J. P. Lesley, state geologist, and Messrs.- 
Ashbumer, Lehman, D'Invilliers, and other members of the second geological survey of that state, and Messrs. F. 
W. Sperr and Thomas 0. Kelly. 

In Maryland, Delaware, and Virginia, Professor J. H. Huntington, Boston, Massachusetts, Professor Charles 
E. Munroe, United States Naval Academy, and Mr. H. K. Singleton, of Mississippi. 

In Ohio and Indiana, Professor Edward Orton, Columbus, Ohio. 

In Kentucky, Professor J. E. Procter, state geologist, Frankfort, Kentucky. 

In Michigan, Wisconsin, and Illinois, Professor Allen D. Conover, Madisoii, Wisconsin. 

In Minnesota, Iowa, and Dakota, Professor IST. H. Winchell, state geologist of Minnesota, Minneapolis, 
Minnesota, and Mr. W. J. McGee, Parley, Iowa. 

In Missouri and Kansas, Professor G. C. Brodhead, state geologist of Missouri, Pleasant Hill, Missouri. 

The statistics in the southern states were collected by Mr. Henry E. Cotton and Dr. A. Gattinger, of Nashville, 
Tennessee, and those of the west by Mr. William Poster, of Denver, Colorado. 

A number of assistants, who also rendered much valuable service, was employed by the gentlemen above 
mentioned. In addition to the above list of regular assistants upon this work, a great. many persons aided in 
extending the scope of the work, especially by bringing to notice some of the great undeveloped resources of the 
country. 

The unfortunate death of Dr. Hawes necessitated a considerable change in the character of the report. It 
became necessary to curtail what might be called the scientific portion, that relating more purely to lithoiogy, thus 
giving greater relative prominence to the economic side of the subject. With this exception the original plans of 
Dr. Hawes have been carried out as far as possible. 

The following is a sketch of the topics under which the report is arranged : 

Pollowing the introduction, which consists of the discussion of general matters relating to the subject, are tables 
showing the number of quarries, the capital invested in them, product in the census year, and its value, and other 
details regarding labor, means of transportation, etc. These tables are given by states and by general classes of 
rocks, and form a general exhibit of the extent of the quarry business in the country. The quarries of each state 
which is of importance in this respect are then taken up in detail, the general facts regarding the individual 
quarries being given in tabular form, with location, kind of rock, structure, quality, color, geological formation, etc. 
Descriptive text follows each table, and is intended to fill out and complete the matter in the tables in such a way 
as to give the details which are desirable to be known regarding the quarries of importance. Then follow a 
description of the use of stone in most of the principal cities of the country, the extent to which it is employed, the 
kinds of stone principally used, and other matters of importance connected with this subject. This description is 
accompanied by a table showing the proportion of stone buildings in each city, the class of stones principally used, 
and their sources, and the stone employed for foundations, pavements, etc. A short table of exports and imports 
of stone and a brief discussion of a few notable foreign ornamental stones close the report. 

In the following report it will be observed that a comparatively small portion of the work bears the name of 
Dr. Hawes as author, but the amount of this matter must not be taken as in any way the measure of the share 
which he had in the work. Not only are the inception and plan of the entire work due to him, but a large 
proportion of the material from which this manuscript was made was collated and drafted roughly by him, though 
not put in shape for publication. He plowed, sowed, and cultivated that others might reap. 

The chemical work of the report and the classification of the limestones were done by Mr. P. P. Dewey, of the 
Smithsonian Institution, and his report upon the general methods em ployed by him is included in the introductory 
matter. 

The microscopic examination of the rocks commenced by Dr. Hawes was completed by Mr. G. P. Merrill, 
of the Smithsonian Institution, and his report upon this subject also is included in the introductory matter. 

The illustrations of polished rock surfaces, representing some of our most beautiful and serviceable rocks, were 
drawn in water color by Mr. Henry J. Morgan. 

The chapter upon methods of quarrying, machines, and tools used in such operations was prepared by Mr. 
P. W. Sperr. 

The great bulk of the text, consisting of descriptions of the quarry regions and individual quarries, and of the 
use of stone in construction in the principal cities of the country, was in the main compiled by Messrs. Sperr and 



LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL. xiii 

Kelly from descriptive notes furnished by the different special agents enumerated above. The degree of fullness 
of these notes depends, therefore, not so much upon the importance of the quarry industries in the different districts 
as upon the extent of the descriptive matter furnished by the different special agents ; and it is doubtless true that 
undue prominence has on this account been given to certain regions. For example, the quarries of the state of Ohio 
have been described in great fullness of detail, while the marbles of Tennessee receive but a passing mention. It 
does not, however, appear to be advisable to throw away a large part of this information for the mere sake ot 
producing uniformity. 

The notes of Professor Shaler regarding his district are so full and elaborate that it has been thought best to 
present them, with little change, over his own name. The same is the case with those for Illinois, Wisconsin, and 
Michigan, by Professor Conover ; for Iowa, by Mr. W. J. McGee, and a portion of the notes concerning Missouri, 
by Professor Brodhead, the state geologist. 

In the chapter upon stone construction in cities New York city is treated exhaustively by Professor A. A. 
Julien, who in addition to this furnished a paper on the very important subject of the durability of the building 
stones in actual use in the country. 

It should be borne in mind that the statistical tables deal in general only with quarries which produced during 
the census year to the value of $1,000 or upward. This excludes not only a large number of small quarries, but 
also many which have in years past produced very extensively, but which were worked little or not at all during 
the census year. 

Nearly all the quarries of the southern states, with the exception of the marble quarries of Tennessee, fall 
within one or the other of these classes. For instance, out of a large number of quarries in North Carolina, scarcely 
one, under the above definition, should be represented in the tables. 

In this portion of the country this industry is yet in its infancy. The slight demand for stone in construction, 
owing to the relative cheapness of other building material, especially wood, and the fact that the region contains 
but a small urban population, have combined to delay its development, and to-day the south is but beginning to 
realize its immense resources of this kind. 

The reader will doubtless find in the text, and especially in that portion relating to stone construction in cities, 

many references to quarries which are not represented in the tables. These apparent omissions, in the majority ot 

cases, fall into one or the other of the above classes of intentional omissions, that is, of quarries whose importance is 

not sufficiently great to give them place in the statistical tables, or where the quarries, although large and important, 

are worked spasmodically, as occasion requires, and were not worked extensively during the census year. Still, as 

this is practically the first attempt which has ever been made to obtain the statistics of this industry, it is very 

possible that some important quarries have escaped notice, although every precaution for obtaining comiileteness 

which had suggested itself to those having the matter in charge was taken. Wherever practicable, the local 

knowledge of the state geologists, and of others more or less directly interested in this industry, was utilized, and 

it is believed that, under the circumstances, the omissions have been reduced to as, small a quantity as possible. 

Very respectfully, yours, 

HENEY GANNETT, 

Geographer and Special Agent Tenth Census. 



N 



TOE BUILDl^'G STO.\ES OF THE IJXITED STATES AND STATISTICS OF TDE QUARRY INDL'STRY. 



Chapter I.— INTRODUCTION. 



By Dr. George W. Hawes. 



Materials for building may be divided iuto two classes, natural and artificial. Of the former class may be 
mentioned, as tbe principal members, wood and stone, and of tbe latter class, brick, artificial stone, and iron. The 
industry of extracting stone for building purjjoses has been, for convenience in this report, denominated the quarry 
industry. This term is not accurately descriptive, since all the materials extracted from quarries or open mines 
are not here described. Coal, metallic ores, limestone when quarried for lime or for fertilizing, and phosphate 
of lime when quarried for the latter purpose, may be noted as exceptions. 

The importance of this investigation will be recognized when it is known that the subject has received little or 
no attention heretofore in this country, although immense sums are spent annually uxjon stone as a material in 
construction. \ 

The first, and indeed the only attempt, so far as known, to bring into notice our resources in building stone was 
made at the late centennial exposition at Philadelphia, when a general invitation was sent to quarrymen to forward 
specimens for exhibition. This was generally responded to, and a beautiful collection was the result ; but it was 
by no means exhaustive or representtive, inasmuch as it was a purely voluntary collection. 

Many experiments upon the strength of building stoue have been made, notably by the ofiflcers of the United 
states engineer corps, and the results, i^ublished only in a fi-agmeutary way, are more or less inaccessible. 
Strength, however, is but one of the factors which determine the relative value of the stone. The factor, primarily, 
is its accessibility, as the most valuable stoue is of but little use for extensive building operations if far from water 
or railroad transportation. Next in importance is its durability, as well as its capability of resisting climatic 
influences ; and this is a subject upon which very little has been said or written. It is a subject upon which it is 
extremely difficult to experiment, and yet in this resjiect it is most desirable that we should possess information. 
Such knowledge can be gained only by experience, and in many cases dearly -bought experience, and it is therefore 
imiiortant that all facts relating to the durability of stone under the influences of climate should be collated and 
brought into juxtaposition with one another. 

THE COLLECTION. 

The considerations already advanced show the desirability, in connection with a work of this kind, of making 
a systematic collection of specimens of building stones. The popular names given to building stones vary in 
different parts of the country, and the same name is in some cases applied to most diverse materials. Such 
words as granite, trap, blue-stone, flag-stone, etc., do not designate stones in such a manner as to enable one 
to judge of their appearance or characteristics, and, beyond its necessity for purposes of classification, a collection 
is of such value to architects and builders as to justify its accumulation at government expense. At the centennial 
exhibition in Philadelphia in 1876 many of our best stones were jilaced in direct comparison with those from 
foreign countries, and visitors were surprised to fiud that our country possessed materials for which we have been 
in the habit of looking to other lands. This collectionwasmadethesubjectof a report by Professor J. F. Newberry, 
of the School of Mines, Columbia College, New York city, which report forms one of the most prominent 
contributions to the literature upon the general resources of the country in stone. 

1 



2 BUILDINa STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

This collection, however, did not claim to be either systematic or complete. The Census Office has aimed at 
system and uniformity in the collection and treatment of specimens, in order to insure fair comparison. The size of 
the specimens was determined by such considerations, it having been the intention that every quarry of importance 
in the country should be represented in the collection by a cube with edges four inches long. These specimens are 
dressed in the following manner: 

Polished in front. 

Drafted and pointed on the left-hand side. 

Drafted with rock-face upon the right-hand side. 

Entirely rough behind. 

Eubbed or chiseled upon top and bottom. 

The aim has been to show the appearances of the stone when subjected to such treatment as it will receive 
when applied to construction and ornamentation. The polished surfaces render prominent many peculiarities 
of structure and composition which are not evident upon rough surfaces. The only modification that has been 
allowed has been in the treatment of the front face, which, when incapable of being polished, has received the 
highest finish which it can be made to receive. 

The specimens are of such size as to admit of easy handling and close examination, and are easily accessible to 
all interested in their study and comparison. The centennial collection has been united with these, and the whole 
forms one of the attractive features of the ISTational Museum in Washington. 

A number of treatises upon building material have been issued in European countries, and the crudeness of 
their statements concerning the quarries of America is most striking when one notes the size of this collection 
and the diversity of its specimens. The statements, however, are not to be wondered at, since the authors 
have had little accessible American literature. It might, however, be assumed that a country of this extent, 
possessmg so great diversities in physical features, would possess a great vai-iety of building stones. 

It may be said in general that at this stage of the development of the stone industry in the country there are 
few quarries which do not produce material possessing something or other to recommend them and to give them 
an excuse for existing. This can scarcely be otherwise in a laud which possesses such an immensity of undeveloped 
resources in stones of the finest quality. 

The collection, however, brings one thing most prominently forward, and that is that at the very doors of 
buildings constructed of stones brought from great distances materials equal or superior are often found. The 
lack of confidence in home resources has very frequently caused stones of demonstrated good quality to be carried 
far and wide, and frequently to be laid down upon the outcropping ledges of material in every way their equal. 
Development of local resources follows in the wake of good information concerning them, for the lack of confidence 
in home products cannot be attributed to prejudice. The first stone house erected iu San Francisco, for example, 
was built of stone brought from China, and at the present day the granites mostly employed there are brought 
from New England or from Scotland. Tet we have no stones in our collection possessing more qualities to 
recommend them than Calilornia granites. 

Some of the results of this general ignorance of the resources that this country affords in the way of building 
stones is shown by the use of stones brought from the Atlantic sea-board in the public buildings of the Mississippi 
valley. Some of the prominent public and private buildings in Cincinnati, for instance, are constructed of .stone 
that was carried by water and railway a distance of about 1,500 miles. Within 150 miles of Cincinnati, iu the sub- 
Carboniferous limestone district of Kentucky, there are very extensive deposits of dolomitic limestone that afford a 
beautiful building stone, which can be quarried at no more expense than that of the granite of Maine. Moreover^ 
this dolomite is easily carved ; it requires not more than one-third the labor to give it a surface that is needed by 
granite. Experience has shown that the endurance of this stone under the influences of weather is very great. A 
building in Bowling Green, Kentucky, which has been standing over forty years, retains the chisel marks with all 
the clearness they had the day they were made. Yet, because of the want of some authority of an absolute sort, the 
fear to use this stone has so far kept it from finding a market and has led to the transportation of stone half-way 
across the continent. 

In all other mining industries the product shows the fitness for its use almost at the moment of its production, 
so that, if the government secures the exercise of proper precaution in the carrying on of the work, the character 
of the protlucts maj' be left to be determined by the laws of trade. But iu building stoues there is always the 
question of endurance under the action of the weather, which cannot be determined in any easy way. The external 
aspect of the stone may fail to give any clue to it ; nor can all the tests we yet know determine to a certainty in 
the laboratory just bow a given rock will withstand the tests of absorption of our own variable climate and the 
gases of our cities. The cities of northern Europe are full of failures iu the stones of important structures. The 
most costly building erected in modern times, perhaps the most costlj' edifice reared since the great pyramid, 
the parliament-house in London, was built of a stone taken on the recommendation of a committee representing 
the best scientific and technical skill of Great Britain. The stone selected was submitted to various tests, but 
the corroding influence of a London atmosphere was overlooked. The great structure was built, and now it 
seems questionable whether it can be made to endure as long as a timber building would stand, so great is the 



INTRODUCTION. 3 

effect of the gases of the atmosphere upon the rock. This is only one of the numerous instances that might be 
cited in which a neglect to consider the climatic conditions of a particular locality in selecting a building material 
has proved disastrous. Stones having a high ratio of absorption, or which absorb water readily, are not likely 
to be durable in a climate subject to alternations of dampness and hard freezing ; and, as before mentioned, the 
acid atmosphere of manufacturing cities is injurious to stones made up largely of carbonate of lime. Professor 
Hull, in his work on the building and ornamental stones of Great Britain and foreign countries, gives the following 
as the most instructive exanaples of "buildings in Great Britain of limestones and dolomites which have shown 
disintegration from the influence of rain charged with acid : Saint Mary's, Eedcliffe, in Bristol ; the new houses of 
parliament, and the chapel of Henry YIII in Westminster Abbey. The first is built of oolitic limestone, the second of 
dolomite, the third of Caen stone, the white limestone of Xormaudy, of Jurassic age ". Professor Hull states further 
that the presence in humid or wet climates of smoke, or sulphurous, hydrochloric, and other acids, powerfully aids 
the destructive eifects of rain or moisture, as the rain itself takes a considerable amount of the acid from the air 
and spreads it over the exposed surfaces of the buildings; and that, therefore, for such climates limestone of 
especially soft, granular, and porous kinds should as far as possible be avoided ; also, sandstones which contain 
a notable percentage of calcareous matter in the form of cement should not be used. 

Some of the "black granite" or diabase rocks of 'Sew England decay rapidly when exposed to the weather, yet 
they are, in appearance, of enduring quality. 

In a communication to the Census Bureau, Professor N. S. Shaler, of Cambridge, Massachusetts, says : 

A few years ago I found the stone from one of these diabase quarries heing used for the foundations of the most costly buildings ever 
erected by Harvard college. A century of exposure vrould be sure to convert a large part of the faces of these foundation stones into dry 
sand. It was by a mere chance that I was able to make an effective protest against its use in this building. I know that it has been used 
in scores of other buildings iu the same region. 

There are many other stones iu use in this country that are open to the same objections ; they are fair looking, 
but have not the necessary endurance, under certain atmospheric conditions, which makes them fatal elements of 
weakness in any architectural work of importance. 

It is not possible for the architect or the builder to make tests and accumulate information concerning the 
particular qualities of this or that stone ; nor is it possible for any association such as the national societies of 
architects to do justice to the problem. The result is that it is very hard to bring a new quarry stone into use unless 
it is essentially like some of those already extensively employed. No one builder is willing to assume the risk that 
may come from the experiment, especially when he is not likely to have the profit that may arise from the use of the 
cheaper stone. There can be no question that in this way we are debarred from the use of many of the best and 
cheapest building stones that the country affords. Professor Shaler advises substantially the following plan : 

In proposing to myself a method whereby a source of necessary information concerning the building stones of the country may be 
established, I have taken care to make the element of interference on the part of the state as small as possible. It seems to me that the 
following plan may serve to accomplish the end in view without undue expenditure or overregulatlon. There should in the first place be a 
national collection of building stones whereat the architect may be able to see a sufficient representation of all the building stones the 
country affords. 

The admirable system followed by the Tenth Census has already accumulated at Washington an excellent foundation for such a 
collection. By the simple plan of having large specimens of the stones heretofore used in all public buildings added to this collection, 
and further by letting it be known that architects would confer a favor by submitting specimens of the stone used by them, a very valuable 
collection could be accumulated. In addition to this interior cabinet there should be an open-air collection designed to show the effects 
of weathering upon the various classes of building materials. This collection would necessarily occupy a good deal of ground, for iu 
many cases several courses of stone, one on top of the other, would be necessary to show the full effect of weathering. The attitude of 
the wall with reference to the sun, frost, etc., is a matter of importance. It should also include water-cement, roofing materials, and 
various forms of terra-cotta, from common brick to decorative work. In fact such a collection should be essentially an experimental 
station on construction materials. 

With the view of accomplishing more perfectly the large purposes that could only be accomplished by such a museum, I would suggest 
that the whole matter of strength of materials used in public edifices should be placed in the control of its superintendent; and that, on 
the payment of a small fee, the laboratory connected with the museum might examine into the composition and character of building 
material submitted to it. Each subsequent decennial census will give a chance to revise and extend the researches of this museum. 

In addition to the ordinary specimens of building stones, quarry-owners were invited to represent their material 
in the National Museum by a larger specimen, dressed by themselves and forwarded at their own expense. To 
this invitation many quarrymen have responded by sending dressed foot cubes or slabs, pedestals, etc., many of 
which are very beautiful. We have not allowed the prominence thus given to individual quarries to modify or 
prejudice our opinion of the material. No injustice has thus been done, as no effort was made to gather these 
blocks, and any one had, and still has, the opportunity, if he wishes, to supplement his exhibition with such blocks. 
Our i-inch cubes are, however, to us the most satisfactory specimens, as showing the nature of the material and 
forming a systematic collection which it would be impracticable to attempt to make of larger blocks. 

One of the large halls in the National Museum at Washington has been set apart for the exhibition of this 
census collection of building and ornamental stones, and no trouble has been spared by the authorities in the 
attempt to show each specimen to the best advantage. They are placed in glass cases, in front of a suitable back- 
ground; each rests on a block, and a card designating the stone and the features of particular interest in 
connection with it is tacked upon this block, where it can be easily read. 



4 BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

Tlie centennial collection before mentioned, or so mucli of it as was presented to the Smitlisonian InstitatioiQ, 
is placed in the liall. The addition which it has made to the census collection is mostly composed of foreign stones. 
^ The supervising architect of the treasury, Mr. Hill, has also kindly given a large portion of the collection 
which has accumulated in his office, to be used in the study and in supplementing the collection. 



THE MINEEALS IK BUILDING STONES. 

A Stone is of little consequence for purposes of construction unless it exists in large quantities, and therefore 
the principal constituents are the commonest of minerals and few in number. Microscopic examination increases 
the number of the gpecies quite considerably, and at times those present in smallest amount are of great importance 
in the determination of economic properties. As these minerals are sufSciently described in any mineralogical 
treatise, it is only necessary to mention the names of those which occur in building stones. 

The mineral compositions of stones are much simplified by the wide range of conditions under which the 
commonest minerals can be fomid, thus allowing their presence in all classes of rocks. Thus quartz, feldspar, 
mica, hornblende, and pyroxene can be found in a mass cooling from a state of fusion ; they can be crystallized 
from solution, or be formed from volatilized products. They are, therefore, excluded from no classes of rocks, 
since there is no process of rock formation which determines their absence. 

Most of the commonest minerals, like feldspar, mica, hornblende, pyroxene, and the alkaline carbonates, possess 
also the capacity of adapting themselves to a wide range of compositions. Feldspar, for example, can take more 
or less silica, lime, soda, or potash into its composition. Hornblende and pyroxene may be pure silicates of lime 
and magnesia, or iron and manganese may take the place of a portion of these bases. Lime carbonate may 
be very pure, or magnesiai may take the place of any proportion of the lime. 

These considerations indicate the reason of the extreme simplicity of rocks as regards their chief constituents, 
and that whatever may be the composition of a mass within the limits which nature allows, and whatever may be 
the conditions of its origin, the probabilities are that it will be essentially formed of one or more of a half dozen 
Httinerals in some of their varieties. 

But however great may be the adaptability of these few minerals, they still are subject to very definite laws 
of chemical equivalence j there are elements which they cannot take into their composition, and there are 
circumstances which retard their formation while other minerals are crystallizing. Therefore, in a mass of more 
or less accidental composition, other minerals may always be expected to form in considerable numbers and minute 
quantity. 

For convenience we may therefore divide the minerals into two groups : the first to contain those minerals with 
tlieir varieties which compose the mass of rocks, and any one of which may be the chief ingredient of a rock ; 
and the second to contain those which never compose the mass of a building stone, and are, when present at all, 
usually present in small amount. 

The following is a list of the mineral constituents of most building stones : 



1. Quartz. 

2. PelcLspar. 

2a. Oi'tlioclase. 

■26. Microcliiie. 

Sc. Albite. 

■&d. Anorthite. 

'3e. Labradorite. 

•^. Aud<isite. 

^. Oligoclinse. 

2/i. Trlcllnic feldspar (undetermined species). 

3. Mica. 

3a. Muscovite. 
3». Biotlte. 
:'ie. Phlogopite. 
:3(Z. Lepidolite. 

4. Amphibole or hornblende. 

Aa. Tremolite. 
42;. Actinolite. 
4«. (Coiraniou Hornblende, 

5. Pyroxene. 

5a. .Malaoolite. 
5b. Sablrte. 
."5c. iDiallaffe. 
:5d. Augite. 

6. Oalcite. 

7. Dolomite, 
fi. Serpentine. 
a. JTalc. 



10. Iron. 

11. Copper. 

12. Carbon. 

13. Graphite. 



ELEMENTS. 



SULPHIDES. 



14. Galenite. (Lead glance.) 

15. Sphalerite. (Zinc-blende.) 

16. Pyrrhotite. (Magnetic pyrites.) 

17. Pyrite. (Pyrites.) 

18. Chalcopyrite. (Cojjper pyrites.) 

19. Marcasite. (White pyrites. ) 

20. Araenopy rite. (Mispickel, or arsenical pyrites. ) 

CHLORIDE. 

21. Halite. (Common salt.) 

FLUORIDE. 

22. Fluorite. (Fluor-sj^ar. ) 

OXIDES. 

23. Tridymite. 

24. Opal. 

25. Corundum. CEmery.) 

26. Hematite. (Specular iron.) 

27. Menaccanite. (Titanic iron.) 

28. Magnetite. (Magnetic iron.) 

29. Chromite. (Chromic iron.) 



INTRODUCTION. 



OXIDES — continued. 

30. Limonite. (Hydrous iron oxide, rust.) 

31. Spinel. 

32. Kutile. 

33. Pyrolusite. (Manganese binoside.) 



ANHVDKOUS SILICATES. 



Enstatite. 

Hypersthcne. 

Acmite. 

Glancopliane. 

Beryl. 

Chrysolite. (Olivine.) 

Daualite. 

Garnet. 

Zircon. 

Epidote. 

Allanite. 

Zoisite. 

lolite. (Cordierite.) 

Seapolite. 

Elacolite. 

Sodalite. 

Cancrinite. 

Chondrodite. 

Tourmaline. 

Andalusite. 

Fibrolite. 

Cyanite. 

Topaz. 

Datolite. 

Titanite. (Sphenc.) 

Staurolite. 



HYDROUS SILICATES. 



60. 


Petalite. 


61. 


Laumontite. 


62. 


Prehnite. 


63. 


Thomsonite. 


64. 


Natrolite. 


65. 


Aualcite. 


66. 


Chabazite. 


67. 


Stllbite. 


68. 


Heulandite. 


69. 


Harmotome. 


70. 


Kaolin. 


71. 


Chlorite. 


71a 


. Jeflfersonite. 


72. 


Ripidolite. 


73. 


Penuinite. 


74. 


Prochlorite. 


75. 


PHOSPHATE 

Apatite. 




SULPHATE. 


76 


Gypsum. 




CAKBONATES 


77. 


Aukerite. 


78. 


Siderite. 


79. 


Ehodochrosite. 


80. 


Aragonite. 


81 


Malachite. 


82 


Azurite. 



METHODS OF STUDY. 

The methods usually applied to the study of building materials are eminently practical. The required qualities 
of good stones are well uuderstood, and direct processes are employed in order to ascertain the strength, hardness, 
and durability. Experience most of all has aided in the development of knowledge, and this sometimes has been 
gained at great expense. Though the results of actual iiractice are the final criterions, they are too slowly gained, 
and hence scientific and practical study can be combined to the advantage of those using stone. 

On the other hand, the application of scientific methods to economic problems, while bringing the later results 
of study into the domain of daily life, has never been carefully performed without incidentally developing some 
things of interest and value to science. There are no absolute rules to lay down by which stones are to be judged, 
however simply such are recorded in the text-books. 

Stones which have lain in the quarry for years, and which show the effects which time can produce, are usually 
inferior specimens that have been rejected, and quarries which have produced bad materials may also subsequently 
produce the best, and vice versa. 

The methods which have been emploj-ed in the study of compositions and structures are, however, such as 
require some explanation. 

The purposes of the work demand a determination of the compositions and structures of the various rocks, as 
these in combination with the location and geological features determine the applicability of the stones and explain 
their peculiar properties. The microscopic examination of thin sections leads most directly to the desired results. 
This method of study in the hands of the microscopic lithologist has been most fruitful in developing valuable and 
interesting knowledge of a scientific character. By its means the nature and the composition of almost all of the 
commonly-occurring rocks have been determined, and geological progress in later years has been modified and directed 
to a certain extent by the results of microscopic study. Exactly those same features which are of importance in 
scientific study are the ones which determine the value and appearance of building stonesj and there is no distinction 
between the scientific and the practical. 

The method will here be described with the least detail that will render the accompanying plates comprehensible 
to those who are interested in the results but unacquainted with the method. Any who wish to apply the method 
will seek fuller information in the treatises devoted to the subject. 

A thin fragment of stone with a circumference equal to that of a silver quarter-dollar is knocked from tlie 
larger block with a hammer or a pitching- tool; or when difiBculties are encountered in obtaining thus a favorable 



6 



BUILDINa STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 



piece, the same is sawed oS from the block with a diamond saw. When a flat, smooth surface has been ground 
upon one side of this chip, and which reaches the outer circumference of it at every point, the chip is glued firmly 
upon a slide of glass, by means of hot Canada balsam, in such a way that the new, smooth surface is very nearly 
in contact with the glass. The Canada balsam hardens on cooling, and the stone will adhere to the glass with 
great tenacity. The glass slide thus furnishes a support, by means of which the stone can be held in contact with 
a revolving disk supplied with wet emery, and ground away on the other side viutil it becomes thin and transparent. 
By means of graded emery the stone is reduced to a very thin film; a good section being less than one-thousandth 
of an inch in thickness; and under this treatment even the most opaque stones which are employed for building 
purposes become transparent. It will be seen that in a section thus prepared the film which remains is comi)osed 
of sections through the components of the rock, and that its grains or crystals have been undisturbed. An 
examination of the section by means of the microscope will show not merely the various substances which compose 
it, but also the method according to which they are arranged and by which they are attached to one another. 
With a magnifying power the minutest inclusions can be recognized, and by the application of optical methods 

the ingredients can all be determined. It is found that 
the stones which we ordinarily employ are much more 
complex in composition than once was thought, and the 
minerals which compose the stones are frequently different 
from what would be supposed by examination with the 
unaided eye. For the improvement and preservation of 
the section it is usually transferred to a new, clean slide, 
and covered with a thin film of glass, which is firmly fixed 
by gluing with Canada balsam. 

The examination of thin sections has been found most 
useful to botanists, zoologists, and pathologists, who have 
long employed the method for most important examina- 
tions. The method was recommended to the mineralogists 
by Cordier in 1816, but neither chemical nor optical methods 
were then enough advanced to render its use practicable. 
Thin sections were made by Mr. H. Whitham in 1831, when 
studying the microscopic structures of fossil plants, which 
necessitated making thin sections of materials practically 
according to the method described. Mr. H. C. Sorby first 
applied the microscope to lithology, and discovered many 
facts. Since that time a score of lithologists have occupied 
their time in cutting sections of all possible stones, and 
have developed a knowledge of their compositions, struct- 
ures, and features, but as a rule with strictly scientific ends 
in view. 

The optical examinations. — If sections prepared 
as described are placed upon the stage of the microscope, 
simple observation will indicate that most stones are com- 
plex; that their ingredient minerals are more or less im- 
■^ pure ; that they possess peculiarities of cleavage, fracture, 

and color ; that in some cases they are more or less decom- 
posed ; that they are united with one another in very difierent ways in different cases, and that a variety of minerals 
is frequently present in small amount not visible to the unaided eye. 

It will also be noticed that all the sections of the same minerals do not look alike, and that there is a probable 
difference between many which do look alike. This is especially the case in the white minerals which are present in 
considerable numbers in building stones, and other minerals with weak colors become white when ground so thin. 
In order to identify the minerals present it is necessary to use certain optical appliances which develop more 
individual i)eculiarities. When the polished surface of a stone is examined, its appearance is determined by the 
character of the light which it reflects. The amount of light reflected from the outer surface determines its 
brilliancy, the light reflected from internal surfaces imparts iridescence and reveals structure, and the light 
absorbed determines the color of the stone. But when a section of a stone is examined the appearance of this 
section depends upon the character of the light which it trailsmits. The colors which are reflected from a surface 
may be quite different from those which are transmitted by the body, and the general appearance of a section, 
therefore, is entirely different from that of a surface. 

When light enters from a medium of one density into a medium of another density, as, for example, when it 
enters from the air into water, if its direction is oblique to the surface separating the two substances it is deflected 
toward a perpendicular to the surface. This is called refraction, and the relative amount of the deflection which 




INTRODUCTION. 



is caused when light enters different substances from the same medium is expressed by the index of refraction. 
Minerals possess great differences in their indices of refraction, these differences being manifested in thin sections. 
A mineral which possesses a high index of refraction, and which consequently deflects a beam of light to a greater 
degree, is apparently thicker than a mineral with a small index of refraction, since the refraction causes a 
retardation of the light, which is equivalent in effect to the thickening of a mineral with a less refractive index. 
Moreover, the surface of a section being covered with Canada balsam, the appearance of this surface is modified by 
the refractive properties possessed by a section. If a mineral possesses a high index of refraction there is a greater 
difference between its index and the index of the balsam than in the case of a mineral with a low index of refraction, 
and consequently its surface will appear rough, since all the asperities which this surface possesses will become 
evident oq account of the alteration in direction and the change of velocity which will take place when the light 
emerges from the surface of the section. The minerals of crystalline rocks possess generally quite high indices of 
refraction, and the beauty of polished surfaces is much enhanced thereby. The effects of refraction are much 
modified by the crystalline structure of the minerals, and are dependent upon this structure. 

A crystal, in the modern acceptation of the term, is a homogeneous substance, the ultimate particles of which, 
are definitely arranged. The i)hysical properties, such as 
cleavage and hardness, which are of importance in build- 
ing stones, are determined by this molecular arrangement. 
If a crystal develops in a space surrounded by fluid or 
by plastic substances, it will develop into a form bounded 
by planes which, in jjosition and direction, are character- 
istic of the substance. In rocks, as a general rule, there 
has been no opportunity for such crystalline development, 
and the substances by their mutual contact have so inter- 
fered with one another in their development as to give 
them forms which are arbitrary and, to a certain extent, 
accidental. The internal arrangement of the substances in 
crystalline form is, however, as perfect as if the external 
forms were characteristically developed. Eocks may there- 
fore be said to be made up of crystals which, in some cases, 
as in porphyries, possess characteristic form, but which 
usually are granular and irregular in form, and are either 
united upon their edges or cemented together by some 
interposed foreign substance. 

One of the fundamental properties of crystals is that 
the light which passes through them passes in definite 
directions and is submitted to definite modifications. An 
ordinary beam of light is composed of vibrations which 
dift'er from the vibrations of sound in that while sound is 
propagated by vibrations the axes of which are parallel 
with the direction of propagation, light is composed of 
vibrations which take place in all directions perpendicular 
to the direction of the beam. The color of a beam of 
light depends upon the duration of the vibration, and the 
intensity depends upon the amplitude. If a beam of light 
enters from the air into a non crystalline structure it 
suffers no further modification than the simple refraction ; Pj^, g 

if it enters a crystal it may pass through it as through 

a noncrystalline substance, or it will be modified in such a way as that the vibrations which have been stated 
to take place in every direction about the axis of transmission will all be reduced to two planes which are at 
right angles to each other and are definite in direction. As to the method in which the light is modified in passing 
through the crystal, that depends upon the nature of the substance and the degree of symmetry which the crystal 
possesses. The simplest illustration of .such a modification is seen by examining a dot through a piece of the 
ordinary calcite or Iceland spar; the dot will appear double, and the two apparent dots will have different 
appearances, dependent upon the difference of refraction of the two parts of the ray, which are separated in the 
ciystal and are vibrating at right angles to each other. If a ray of light has passed through a crystal, and has 
had its vibrations thus all reduced to two planes, one of the two portions of light is what is called polarized ; and 
the effects of this kind of light can be much better observed if by means of some contrivance one of the sets of 
vibrations can be absorbed so that a light can be obtained, all the vibrations of which take place m a single plane. 
Polarized light, then, as distinguished from ordinary light, is light the vibrations of which occur in one plane 
instead of taking place in an indefinite number of planes, as in ordinary light. Such polarization can be effected 




8 



BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 



in a variety of ways. By passing through a plate of tourmaline cut parallel to the axis of the crystal the light, as 
previously explained, is divided into two sets of vibrations at right angles to each other, one of the sets being 
almost entirely absorbed, while the other is mostly transmitted as a polarized beam. Polarization is ordinarily 
effected by passing a beam of light into a crystal of calcite, which is cut in such a manner that one set of 
vibrations is allowed to pass through while another set is reflected away. A crystal so modified as to accomplish 
this object is called a Mcol prism, as such prisms were first made by the celebrated scientist Mcol. 

Let us suppose that a beam of light is allowed to pass through a Nicol prism, and that its vibrations are all 
reduced to one plane, which vibrations take place parallel to the shorter diagonal of the Nicol prism, as represented 
in the accompanying Fig. 1; PP will then represent the plane of vibration of the light. If the aforementioned 
plate cut from a tourmaline crystal be now placed above this Mcol prism so that the long axis of the crystal plate 
shall coincide with the line P P, the crystal when looked through will be illuminated by light, the vibrations 
of which take place parallel to its axis, and it will appear of a color brown or blue, according to the variety of 
^ tourmaline thus examined. If upon this same 

Mcol prism the plate of tourmaline be laid with 
its long axis perpendicular to the line P P, as 
shown in Fig. 2, the light passing through the 
Nicol prism will have its vibrations confined to 
a plane perpendicular to the axis of the tourma- 
line, and in this direction, as has been before 
mentioned, the tourmaline allows but little light 
to pass. A tourmaline crystal, therefore, placed , 
above a Mcol prism, will appear light when 
placed with its axis parallel to the short diagonal 
of the Nicol prism, and dark when placed with 
this axis parallel to the long diagonal ; and in 
general the appearance of crystals may depend 
more or less upon the relation of their axes ta 
the planes of vibration of the light which passes- 
through. This difference is expressed by the 
word dichroism. A great many minerals are 
dichroic, as is abundantly illustrated in the 
figures. 

If the Mcol prism shall remain in the same 
position as before, and the tourmaline crystal 
shall be placed in a diagonal position, then the 
light which, after passing through the Mcol 
prism, vibrates in the plane P P meets the tour- 
maline crystal in a plane which coincides neither 
with its longer axis or the perpendicular thereto, 
as shown in Fig. 3; it therefore cannot pass 
through the crystal in the plane P P, since, as 
before explained, the only planes in which the 
light can pass through this crystal are a plane 
parallel or a plane perpendicular to the axis of 
the crystal. Meeting now the crystal in an 
oblique direction, the ray can only pass through 
it by resolving itself into two parts, according 
to the parallelogram of forces. 
Let a 1) represent the intensity of the vibration as it emerges from the Mcol prism ; this ray will divide itself 
into the part 6 c, which will pass through the crystal in the plane T T and into the part b d, which is perpendicular 
to the line T T, and which, as far as possible, will pass through the crystal in this direction. The crystal in this 
position will be illuminated by the light which passes parallel to the two directions at right angles to each other 
in the crystal, and will apj)ear as if examined by ordinary light. 

The above exiDlanation of dichroism will explain a great many of the differences in the appearances of minerals 
when seen in their sections under the microscope ; and it also explains a number of appearances which are commonly 
observed without the aid of instruments. For example, when one looks through a crystal of mica in a direction 
perpendicular to the laminse, the color is determined by the light which vibrates in directions parallel with the 
laminae, and is of a certain color. If one looks at a crystal of mica in a direction parallel with the laminae the 
crystal is illuminated partly by light which vibrates perpendicular to the laminae, and the color is consequently 
different. The dichroism of minerals, thus determining a great many of their appearances, is of both economic and 
scientific importance. 




INTRODUCTION. 



If the light which has passed through the Nicol prism in the plane P P, as before explained, shall be compelled 
to pass through another JSTicol prism exactly like the first one, but placed iu a direction with its short axis 
perpendicular to the plane P' P', the light will meet this Nicol prism in such a way that the light cannot pass it ; 
for this JTicol prism, being like the first, reflects away all of the vibrations which enter it parallel to its longer diagonal. 
Through two Nicol prisms placed in this position light cannot therefore pass, and the portion of the field covered 
by both of them will appear dark ; and if the tourmaline plate be interposed between them with its long axis parallel 
to the short diagonal of the lower Nicol prism, the light after passing through the lower Nicol prism will pass through 
the tourmaline as before explained, and will be cut off as before by the ujiper Nicol prism. The interposition of the 
tourmaline will therefore produce no effect, and it will appear black when thus placed between two Nicol prisms, as 
indicated iu Fig. 4. 

But let it be supposed that two Nicol prisms be placed together, with their shorter diagonals in the directions 
P P and P' P' ; that the crystal of tourmaline be placed between them in such a way that its axis does not correspond 
with the diagonal of either Nicol prism, as shown in Fig. 5, the light will, as before shown, be resolved into two parts 
in order to pass through the tourmaline iu 
the planes a c and a d. If we follow the 
course of the ray a c, we find that it meets 
the second Nicol prism in a iilane which 
does not correspond to either its shorter 
or its longer diagonal ; as the light must 
jiass into the prism parallel to one or both 
of these diagonals, the ray a c is again 
divided according to the parallelogram of 
force and enters the Nicol prism iu two 
planes with an intensity and a direction 
represented by a e and a g. The light 
vibrating in the plane a g is in the upper 
Nicol prism reflected away, and only the 
light represented by a e passes through it. 
If we follow the course of the ray rejire- 
sented by a cl in like manner, it is seen that 
it must be divided into two parts, vibrating 
in planes respectively parallel to the shorter 
and the longer diagonal of the Nicol prism, 
and in like manner represented iu direction 
and intensity by the lines a k and a m; a k 
in the upper Nicol prism is lost by total 
reflection, and a m passes through. We 
now see that by the iuterxiosition of the 
crystal with its long axis placed diagonally 
a decomposition has been brought about 
by means of which two rays, represented 
by a e and a m, are caused to vibrate in the 
same plane after having passed through 
different experiences. The possibility of 
interference becomes immediately evident, 
for if a greater retardation has been effected 
by passing through the crystal in a direc- '^"^ "*' 

tion parallel to the prism than in passing i^erpendicular to the prism, then the two parts can no longer vibrate in 
unison, and when they are brought back into the same plane with each other they will be sure to interfere. This 
interference, in fact, takes place under such circumstances, and the result is the production of most brilliant colors, 
the tints of which are dependent upon the nature of the substance, the thickness of the plate of the crystal 
interposed, and the position of the plate or section with* reference to the diagonals of the Nicol prisms. 

As the position with reference to the Nicol prisms brings about such modification, it is evident that the 
employment of polarized light will develop many peculiarities of structure and arrangement which could not 
otherwise be detected. In polarized light, minerals which may give no indication of their nature in ordinary light 
may exhibit such distinctive properties as render their determination very easy. 

Those crystals through which light passes in two planes at right angles to each other, as distinguished from 
those substances through which the light passes without any further modification than a simple change of direction, 
are called double refracting crystals. These crystals show such peculiarities in their double refraction that it is 
possible to classify them into systems identical with those which would result from a study of their outer forms 
"were they possessed of perfect external development. 




10 



BUILDINa STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 



The mode of crystallization determines, therefore, the way in which light is modified by its passage through a 
section, and individual substances possess in addition their own peculiarities which enable them to be determined. 
The optical characteristics depend upon the degree of symmetry which crystals possess, and the following are some 
of the properties which substances of like crystalline character will exhibit : Amorphous substances, such as glass, 
which occurs in the volcanic rocks, and which are without any crystalline structure, will possess the property of 
single refraction, will not modify the light by changing the planes of its vibration, and consequently the effects of 
dichroismand of color with Nicol i)risms will nOt appear, except as they may be caused by a strain or unequal 
pressure which may give to such a substance a temporary structure. 

A crystal belonging to the isometric or regular'system is symmetrically developed about the central point. In 
such bodies the molecular arrangement is therefore such that sections cut in any direction are alike as regards 
two lines which may be drawn in the section at right angles to one another ; there is consequently no double 
refraction, and such minerals are optically like amorphous substances, save that they may possess definite cleavage, 
crystalline outlines, inclusions arranged in a definite manner, or some other peculiarities which may demonstrate 
that they belong to the group of regular crystals. Garnet, fluor-spar, and some other substances that are found in 
the rocks belong to this class. 

Crystals built in the form of a square or of a hexagonal prism, like tourmaline and calcite, posse&s, however, 

a different degree of symmetry. In a section of 
such a prism parallel to the base, any two lines 
drawn through the center perpendicular to each 
other would intersect the crystal section in the 
same manner, and the two lines would be therefore 
crystallographicallj* identical; there would be no 
cause for double refraction, and the section would 
therefore appear between Nicol prisms like the pre- 
ceding. 

If, however, a section be cut from such a prism 
parallel to the long axis, two lines drawn in this 
section perpendicular to each other will divide the 
section in very different manners, and these lines 
wOl bear different relations to the crystal section. 
A line parallel to the longer direction of the section 
or a line perpendicular thereto will each divide the 
crystal into two symmetrical halves, which, however, 
in the two cases are quite different. Such a section 
will be double refracting, and when jjlaced between 
the two Mcol prisms will modify the direction of the 
vibrations which will take place in two planes, one 
parallel and one perpendicular to the crystal, and 
one of these sets of vibrations will be retarded 
more and refracted more than the other by passing 
through the crystal. Such a section will therefore be 
colored in whatever position it may occupy between 
the Mcol prisms, save when its long or its short 
axis is parallel with one of the diagonals, as shown 
in Figs. 4 and 5. 

If a crystal be developed in such a way that length, breadth, and height are all different, but so that the 
sides of the prism are perpendicular to the base, as in the case of mica, then sections cut in any direction parallel 
■to the sides of this prism will possess the properties which have been above described as belonging to a section 
cut parallel to the long direction of a square prism, for such sections will possess the same degree of symmetry 
and therefore the same optical propertie 

If a crystal is developed in such a way that one of the faces of the prism is perpendicular to the base and 
the others are not, as in the case of common feldspar, thefi sections parallel to the base and to one side would be 
■parallelograms resembling the long section from a square prism, aud would have like optical properties. Other 
sections cut parallel to the oblique faces of the prism would be rhomboidal in form, and would not possess such 
lines of symmetry. Lines parallel to the edges of the prism would not divide the section into two parts which 
would be alike on the two sides of the lines, and these lines would therefore no longer determine the planes in 
which the light will pass through the section. Ko two lines perpendicular to each other in such a section can be 
crystallographic lines, and as the light must pass through such a section, like all others, in two planes which 
are at right angles, these directions must be independent of the crystal edges, and will depend on the individual 
mineral rather than on a general system of crystallization. One single example will illustrate all these principles. 




INTRODUCTION. 



ir 



Let Fig. 6 represent a crystal of feldspar which belongs to the monoclinic system, last described, and which, if 
thus simply crystallized, would have the planes on the two sides of the lines a c and a d at right angles to each 
other, while the planes on the sides of a 6 would form an obtuse angle. Sections cut parallel to the base and the 
front face of this prism would then be right-angled parallel- 
ograms, and lines through the centers of these faces and 
parallel to the sides would be at right angles to each other, 
and would divide them into equal and symmetrical halves. 
These represent, therefore,, the planes in which the light 
must vibrate in passing through the crystal, and are the 
planes which must coincide with the diagonals of the Nicol 
prisms, or interference and colors will be produced. 

The iilane on the side, however, is not a parallelogram, 
and lines parallel to its sides are uot perpendicular to each 
other. The light, therefore, finds two directions, for ex- 
ample, eg and h i, which are at right angles to each other, 
in which its vibrations take place. These directions, which 
make a certain angle with the lines parallel to the edges a 
•c and a d, have the same position in all crystals of like 
substances, and occupy dilferent positions in crystals that 
belong to this system, but are of different substances. 
These lines are the lines which correspond with the lines 
parallel to the edges of the crystal in the sections parallel 
to the other faces, and the angle made bj^ the optical and 
ithe crystallographic lines can be measured, and its determi- 
ination may identify the species of the substance. 

Only one case remains to consider. If a prism is so 
•developed that it possesses no right angles, then sections 
parallel to any face are like the face on the side of the 
prism in our example, and therefore all its sections will 
have the properties attributed to sections parallel to that 
face, and no sections will be found in which the planes of 
vibration of the light are parallel to the edges of the prism. ^"^- '^• 

A great many more optical effects can be produced by causing other modifications in the light ; for example, 
nay making it convergent by means of lenses before it passes into the section. Effects thus obtained elucidate 
those that have been described, which are seen in simple parallel light. In this work only the optical features 
that have been described are referred to. 

When these principles are applied to the microscopic examination of thin sections we are able to identify all 
•of the constituents which the rock contains by means of the differences which the minerals exhibit either in 
ordinary or in polarized light. The determination is simplified by the circumstance that the number of minerals 
•which take part in the composition of common building stones is not large. 

When a section is placed upon the stage of the microscope most of the ingredient minerals are transparent, 
and the number which do not become transparent under this treatment is so small that there is no great diflficulty 
in discriminating between them. To determine the opaque ingredients the light is cnt off from beneath the stage 
of the microscope, when the color of these opaque minerals, as they appear by a reflected light, is seen ; magnetite 
is bluish-black, pyrites yellow, etc. 

Those minerals which are more or less transparent in the section exhibit the colors which they possess by 
transmitted light; but, in accordance with the principles already explained, sections of the same substance may be 
•differently colored according to the directions in which their crystals are intersected. A considerable number of 
the minerals may be identified by their colors and appearances, and others may be identified by known peculiarities 
of fracture, cleavage, and decomposition. 

If a Nicol prism is inserted beneath the stage of the microscope it will not essentially modify the appearance 
of most of the minerals, but as it will reduce the vibrations of the light which illumines the section to a phxne, the 
phenomena of dichroism will become apparent, and by means of these phenomena some of the ingredients will be 
identified. 

If a second iSTicol prism is placed above the first, so that the section lies between the two, then all the phenomena 
of polarized light become evident; and if these iSficol prisms are placed in such a position that their shorter 
diagonals are crossed at right angles, and that the direction of these shorter diagonals is accurately known, 
then the relationship between the diagonals of the Nicol prisms and the planes in which the light vibrates when 
passing through the crystal section can be determined, and little doubt concerning the composition of any mineral 
in ordinary rocks will remain after the application of all these methods. 




12 BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

GLASSIFICATIOF. 

The nomenclature in general use for materials of construction is very simple. It consists of a few poioular 
names with no defiued significations. These names are derived at times from certain characteristic appearances, 
and sometimes from the uses to which stone is applied. They answer most of the purposes of constructors ; but, 
when examined more critically, stones which pass under the same name are frequently found to be so different as 
to necessitate their wide separation from one another iu classification. 

Some so-called granites in the United States do not contain one of the minerals which compose certain other 
well-known granites, and possess nothing in common with them except their granular structure. Such diiierences 
in composition essentially modify the economic properties of the stone, and there is for this reason a positive 
advantage in a more extended nomenclature. Closer discrimination in this direction will also necessitate a more 
critical consideration of the stones from diiierent sections of the country. We hear very frequently of such things 
as Ohio sandstone, Maine granite, etc., which are terms that include stones that are incapable of being grouped; 
and the cases are not rare in which, by reason of such generalizations, the good or bad reputation of certain stones 
has unjustlj^ passed over to its neighbors. 

Individualities of structure and composition of the greatest scientific interest are usually identical with the' 
features most important from a practical standpoint, and therefore for our use the scientific nomenclature of rocks- 
can scarcely be improved. This nomenclature differs biit slightly from that in common use, and this is due to the 
circumstance that the old popular names given by miners and quarrymen to ores and stones have always been 
used in mineralogical and geological studies. The great variety of practical applications which these studies find 
in the arts has rendered difficult and impracticable the introduction of such a system of generic and specific names 
as characterizes the more modern sciences, which are not so directly applied in common life ; but it is noticeable 
that many old names, like trap, greenstone, lava, etc., which still are used iu the popular nomenclature, have long 
since been banished from scientific works as meaningless. 

The earth is covered with hard rocks and the loose products of their disintegration. If the hard rocks have 
resulted from a cementation and consolidation of what once was loose material, they maintain the stratified 
character of the original bed. When heat, moisture, or any other agencies have rendered them very compact and 
resistant, they still retain some traces of their original stratified character; and whenever it can be shown that 
a given rock was once composed of those loose products of the disintegration of older rocks, it is called stratified. 
The different members of the stratified group of rocks are often very unlike one another. They are sometimes 
comjiosed of merely cemented masses of sand or pebbles, and their origin is very plainly seen; at other times the- 
original constituents and the original structures are both nearly obliterated by subsequent processes of modification. 
Their stratification is in some cases very plain, and modifies the processes which are used in quarrying and in 
dressing the stones, as well as the uses to which they are applied. In other cases the stratification is with difiQculty~ 
detected, and shows itself only when large masses of the stone are seen, or in the greater ease with which the stones- 
are worked in given directions. 

The process of cooling from a molten state, through which the earth has passed, has necessitated a constant 
change of volume and consequent strain upon its crust. Thus in every age of the world's history clefts have been' 
formed through which materials have issued in molten condition from the interior of the earth, and have been 
poured forth in greater or less quantity upon its surface. Such materials cooling from a molten condition do not 
possess stratification, but are massive and crystalline. The modern volcanic rocks belong to this class ; some of 
these are light, porous rocks, which are easily worked and are much used iu countries where they abound. They 
are not employed to any extent in the United States, because there is little construction in those regions where they 
are abundant. The older granitic rocks of this class are hard, compact, and durable. Mechanical forces which have 
acted upon their surfaces for long ages have worn down and removed any soft and porous materi2,l which might have 
existed. They are quarried with more difficulty, and consequently are not so extensively employed as the sandstones- 
and the limestones of the stratified group, but they possess such properties as make them favorite materials of 
construction. In general, the sedimentary and the volcanic rocks possess structures that render them more easily 
cut and worked, while the ancient massive rocks are more hard and durable. The ready accessibility of the granitic 
rocks in the most thickly settled portions of America has caused them to be more extensively used among us than 
in any other country in i)roportion to the amount of stone construction. 

These considerations divide rocks into two principal groups, each of which may be subdivided. The further 
subdivision depends upon the mineralogical composition of the individual stones, as is indicated in the following 
classification. 

If this classification is rigidly adhered to, numbers of rocks which are related by those physical properties that 
determine the uses to which they are applied are quite widely separated from one another. Gneiss, for example, 
is so much like granite that it is often used in the same way for the same purposes. The rocks which are related 
iu composition are conveniently grouped together as being the material of one and the same industry, even though 
their mode of origin is recognized as different. 



INTRODUCTION. 13 

The followiDg tabulation forms the basis for comparisou of the industries considered in this work, and for 
convenience a name is given to each group, which is either that of its predominant member or that by which the 
stones that compose it are commonly known: 

1. Granite. Conglomerates. 
Syenite. Breccias. 

Gneiss. 3. Carbonates (limestones). 
Crystalline schists. Common limestones and dolomites. 

Diabase. Crystalline limestones and dolomites. 

Diorite. Shell limestones. 

2. Fragmental rocks (sandstones). Calcareous tufa. 
Siliceous sandstones. 4. Seri)entine. 
Feldspathic sandstones. 5. Slate. 

In this report, then, the rocks at present used for purposes of construction in the United States are for 
convenience divided into the following classes: 

1. Crystalline siliceous rocks. 

2. Sandstones. 

3. Marble and limestones. 

4. Serpentine. 

5. Slates. 

Eocks pojiularly known as marble and limestone are classed together, owing to the diflSculty of drawing a 
•definite line between the two; all distinctively calcareous rocks are included in this table. 

The group headed "Sandstone" comprehends all the siliceous rocks not included in the tables of the crystalline 
siliceous rocks and serjjentiue. Materials commonly known as sandstone, freestone, ilag-stone, some of the so-called 
"blue-stones", quartzite, and all the conglomerates, except the calcareous conglomerates, come under this heading. 

In the class of crystalline siliceous rocks are placed those popularly known as granite, syenite, gneiss, mica- 
schist, trap, basalt, porphyry, and volcanic rocks. 

Serpentine was quarried during the census year, to a sufficient amount to admit of tabulation, only in 
Pennsylvania, and even here the product was small as compared with that of previous years. The greater part of 
the slate product tabulated has been used for roofing, though a portion of it was emiJloyed for sidewalk paving, 
tiling, and other purposes of construction. 

States and territories wherein any one of the classes of rocks above described are not quarried for purposes 
-of construction are, of course, omitted in the tables devoted to that particular class, though many states and 
territories are rich in the undeveloped material. 

DECOMPOSITION OF STONES. 

There are many more factors which determine the value of stones for purposes of construction than are often 
considered in the elementary treatises upon this subject, and the rules laid down are often determined by the local 
circumstances. A more extensive study of building stones frequently vitiates the rules which apply in limited 
kreas. It is, for example, stated that, in order to determine whether a stone will withstand the action of the 
weather, one should visit the quarry and observe whether the ledges that have been exposed to the weather are 
deeply corroded, or whether these old surfaces are still fresh. This is not a fair criterion, because the applicability 
of such a test is modified by geological phenomena. North o'f the glacial limit all the products of decomposition 
have been planed away and deposited as drift formation over the length and breadth of the land. The rocks are 
therefore in general quite fresh in appearance, and possess but a slight depth of cap or worthless rock. The same 
classes of rock, however, in the south are covered with the rotten products resulting from long, ages of atmospheric 
action. They may be rotten to great depths, and the removal of the worthless rock is often difficult. This is due 
to the circumstance that no agencies have here operated to scrape off and remove the loose material from their 
surfaces in recent geological time. 

There are other peculiarities of decomposition regarding which too absolute rules have been laid down. Pyrites 
is considered to be the enemy of the quarryman and constructoi', as it decom])oses with ease and stains and discolors 
the rock. But here, too, there are features which very seriouslj' modify the eii'ect of this decomposing substance. 
Pyrites, in sharp, well-defined crystals, sometimes decomposes with great difficulty. If a crystal or gi'ain of pyrites 
is embodied in soft, porous, light-colored sandstones, like those which come from Ohio, its presence will with 
certainty soon demonstrate itself by the black spot which will form about it in the porous stone, and which will 
permanently disfigure and mar its beauty. If the same grain of pyrites is situated in a very hard, compact, 
non-absorbent stone, the constituent minerals of which are not rifted or cracked, this grain of pyrites may 
decompose and the products be washed away, leaving the stone untarnished. 

We believe that the microscopic study of these stones is, even in such simple cases as this, necessary for a 
correct determination as regards the influence of decomposing agents upon the stone. 



14 . BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

Again, some of the constituent elements of rocks are so frequently found in a decomposed condition that they 
are considered to be deleterious, when present in large quantity, on account of their well-known tendency to- 
decompose. For example, olivine indicates a very marked tendency to decompose, as indicated bj' the vast 
accumulations of serpentine which are so frequently found to be a result of its decomposition ; but the circumstances 
which in past time have brought about this decomposition may have been very different from those which are at 
present active, and the prejudice against olivine in a rock is not supported by any observations which indicate 
that it will decompose under the present influences. We wish to bring prominently forward that we consider 
that a decision as to the probable action of the agents producing decomposition in rocks should be largely dependent 
upon careful microscopic examination of the structure of the rock. Our experience has demonstrated that a rock 
of a given character, as regards ultimate composition and mineral constituents, may be easily affected by the 
weather if its constituent minerals, as indicated by their microscopic structure, are so fractured that they are laid 
open to atmospheric agencies through rifts, no matter how small, while the same stone, with the same constituents^ 
may be eminently resistible to decomposing agencies if its constituent minerals are sound, whole, and impermeable, 
as indicated by the microscopic structure. 

In the old world, where immense cathedrals, planned long ago, have been in the process of construction for 
hundreds of years, it has not been uncommon to see portions of the building fall into decay before the structure 
was finished, and the process of restoration often consumes large sums of money while the process of construction 
is yet going on. It thus very frequently happens that a variety of stones is used in the construction of the same 
building, because in this process of construction experience is gained indicating inapplicability of the stones used 
for durable structures. In this case it is experience alone which linally dictates the most suitable material; and 
even to this day, here in America, there is no other criterion to aj)i)ly to a building stone save the test of experience; 
and the result is that buildings can be pointed to which, like those old, immense structures before referred to, are 
already crumbling while yet in the process of construction. 

PRESERVATION OP STONES. 

Disintegration of stone and the method by which this can be arrested has furnished a topic for considerable 
study. The methods which have been aijplied with most success are to bathe the stones in successive solutions, the 
chemical actions between which bring about the formation of insoluble silicates in the pores of the stone. For 
example : If a stone front is first washed with an alkaline fluid to remove dirt, and this subsequently followed by 
a bath of silicate of soda or potash and allowed partially to dry, and then bathed again ; and if the surface is then 
bathed in a solution of chloride of lime, chlorate of sodium or of potassium, according to what is used, an insoluble 
lime silicate is formed. The soluble salt is then washed away and the insoluble silicate forms a durable cement and 
checks the disintegration. If lime water is substituted for chlorate of lime there is no soluble chlorate to wash 
away. 

INFLUENCE OP CLIMATE. 

In addition to the consideration of the humidity of the atmosphere, the influence of the purity of the atmosphere 
is also important in deciding on a building material. Por example, in the smoke of Pittsburgh it would make very 
little difference what the material employed for construction might be, so far as appearances are concerned, since 
it would soon assume the gray color peculiar to all the buildings of the city; but the capacity of a stone to resist 
acid vapors would become very important, since the only point necessary to be considered in selecting a stone- 
would be as to whether ornamental structures are defaced and disintegrated by the vapor fumes i)eculiar to this- 
atmosphere. 

STRENGTH OP MATERIALS. 

In practice it is not common to place stones where they are obliged to bear more than one-sixth or one- tenth 
of the weight which their crushing strengths, as determined by experiments, indicate that they are able to bear. 
Beside this, there are many considerations which demonstrate that reliance upon experimental data is unsafe. A 
stone that will crush under a given pressure to-day may, if exposed to the weather, crush under a very much smaller 
or very much larger weight after the passage of years, according to the action of the weather upon it. Stones,, 
when they crash, usually break in certain lines of weakness, which lines may be arbitrarily situated in the stone 
and difficult to detect, or may be definitely situated and dependent upon structure. As stones from difi'erent parts- 
of the same quarry, and even from different places in the same layer, frequently vary greatly in strength, it is quite- 
important to develop methods by which the strength of stones and their variability in this respect can be more 
easily detected than by the laborious experimental tests upon small cubes. Results of studies made upon the 
structure asd composition of those stones which have been very accurately tested as to their strength are valuable 
contributions in this direction. 



MICROSCOPIC STRUCTURE. 15 



Chapter II.— MICEOSCOPIC STRUCTURE. 



By G. p. Merrill. 



It is not the iuteution iu this chapter to present a purely scientific treatise on microscopic lithology, but rather 
to give a short tlescriptiou such as together with the plates will enable any one with but a slight knowledge of the 
subject to appreciate the variations in structure and mineral composition of some of the more common kinds of 
building stones. What may be considered as typical specimens of the various kinds of rock quarried have been 
selected, and from the thin sections, prepared as already described, enlarged ithotographs have been made from which 
the plates have been reproduced. They therefore show the exact structure as seen under the microscope, excepting, 
of course, in the matter of color. In preparing the text the manuscript notes left by Dr. Hawes have been utilized 
so far as possible. 

THE CRYSTALLINE SILICEOUS ROCKS. 

Eocks that are commercially designated as granites arc composed in some cases of minerals which are eutirelj^ 
absent in other rocks that are also designated as granites. For exami;ile, some of the so-called black granites are 
diabases or diorites. But tbe circumstance that the minerals, although different, are all very nearly of the same 
hardness; that the rocks therefore ofi'er the same difficulties iu cutting, in dressing, and in polishing, and that the 
similarities of their appearance render them applicable to like purposes, unite these rocks into a well defined group. 
In it are included the various granites, syenites, trap-rocks, gneisses, and crystalline schists. 

The structural differences that exist among the rocks of this class, although indicating very different modes of 
origin, are fully recognized iu grouping these rocks thus together. 

The nomenclature for these rocks iu use among quarrymeu shows that they are all related as economic 
products; for example, the gneisses are frequently called "bastard" granites or "striped " granites, as are also 
frequently the mica-schists. The trap-rocks, where they are quarried, are very commonly called "black" granites 
or "gray" granites, and as a rule no distinction whatever is made between the granites and syenites. Therefore,, 
in a tabulation which shall indicate the extent to which the hard crystalline rocks are quarried, and shall give the 
data for comparing one well-defined industry with the others, these rocks are uatura'.ly associated together. 

Although, as shown, these rocks do possess common characters that unite them into a well-defined group, they 
possess diiierences which allow the group to be subdivided both according to the appearances and uses of the stones- 
The granites and gneisses, for example, possess the common characters already referred to, but the resemblance 
extends no further. It is therefore a positive disadvantage to the industry to classify them, as is so frequently 
done, under a common name. Therefore, in the tabulation the common name by which the stones are sold will be 
given, accompanied by the scientific designation. 

These rocks are found chiefly among the older formations and in regions where there have been such 
disturbances a« have cleft the crust of the earth and given egress to the fused matters which underlie it. The 
crystallization of these molten materials which have thus been erupted has given rise to many of the rocks. which, 
on account of their massive homogeneous structure, are most iirized. Quarries of these rocks occur in all the 
Atlantic states, the Lake Superior states, and in the mountainous regions of the far west. Thus the great interior 
basin of the continent is left without rocks of this class, if we except some isolated areas iu Missouri, Arkansas, 
and Texa-s. 

It is not, however, to be inferred that all of the rocks of this group are as old as the rocks which characterize 
these regions. The gneisses and the crystalline schists are very old rocks, belonging mostly to the Archtean period. 
The other members of the group are eruptive rocks which have at some period in the earth's history been molten, 
and have been forced through clefts in these older rocks. There is, therefore, no method of determining their exact 
age in all cases, since the time of their eruption can only be determined as being later than the time when the 
rocks which they intersect were accumulated. It is, however, known that a great many of them are very old, and 
that the time of their eruption was probably identical with the elevation of the mountains and the disturbances 
which would have naturally resulted in producing the clefts through which they were eru[>ted ; and it is also known 
that some of them are quite modern in age, since they intersect sandstones which were accumulated in later periods 
of the earth's history. 



16 BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

GEANITE. 

The essential components of the true granites are quartz and potasli feldspar. Althougli tlie essential minerals 
are but two in number, the rocks are rendered complex by the presence of numerous accessories which essentially 
modify the appearances of the rocks and those properties which render them of importance as building stones. 
These additional minerals are either present in such amount as to be conspicuous and to exercise an influence upon 
the apppearance and structure of the rock, when they are called characterizing accessories, or they are present in 
such small amount as to be invisible to the naked eye, when they are called microscopic accessories. If all the 
minerals which by careful examination have been found in granites should be considered as constituents of the 
rock, then the latter would aj)pear as very complex. At least two-thirds of all the known elements exist in granitic 
rocks, and the number of minerals that are liable to be present in special cases is very large. 

The following list does not include all of those minerals which have been identified in this rock, for many have 
been found under circumstances Avhich are so isolated that their occurrence is entirely exceptional. All of the 
minerals in this list are liable to be found at any time, and may therefore be considered as common constituents of 
the rock, although the presence of them all together is not to be expected, and some of them may be present in such 
minute amount as to be of no practical importance. Any one of them, save the two essential constituents mentioned 
above, may be absent from an individual specimen, or from a granite from a given locality ; and any one may be 
present in the specimens from a given locality in such amount as to give a character to the rock. Thus almost any 
one of those minerals which are given as microscopic accessories may assume the character of a characterizing 
accessory ; this is especially true of the iron oxides, which sometimes are present in such amounts as to become 
characteristic : 

Essential :" Microscopic accessories : 

Quartz. Sphene. 

Feldspar. Zircon. 

Orthoclase. Garnet. 

Microcline. Danalite. 

Albite. Entile. 

Oligoclase. Apatite. 

Labradorite. Pyrite. 

Pyrrhotite. 
•Magnetite. 
Hematite. 
Titanic iron. 
Characterizing accessories : Decomposition products: 

Mica. Chlorite. 

Muscovite. Epidote. 

Biotite. TJralite. 

Phlogopite. Kaolin. 

Lepidolite. . Iron oxides. 

Hornblende. • Calcite. 

Pyroxene. Muscovite. 

Epidote. 
Chlorite. 
Tourmaline. 
Acruite. 

Inclosures in cavities: 
Water. 

Carbon dioxide. 
Sodium chloride (salt). 
Potassium chloride. 
The feldspar, which is so easily recognized by its cleavage surfaces in all of the granites, is by far more complex 
in composition than has usually been supposed. It is exceptional to find a granite which contains but one kind of 
feldspar, and not merely are two or three species usually present, but the structure and condition of their crystals 
are far from simple. The potash feldspar sometimes exists iu the form of orthoclase and someti)ues in the form of 
microcline. Microcline is a feldspar of the same composition as orthoclase, but differs from it iu crystalline form 
by belonging to the triclinic system, which possesses no right angle. The orthoclase is very commonly seen in 
crystalline grains, in each of which one-half bears the relation to the other half of one crystal revolved 180° about 
an axis in another. Such are called twin crystals. They render themselves cojispicuous to the eye in some granites 
by the different positions in which one receives the bright reflections from the two sides. The microcline is divided 



MIGROSCOPie STRUCTURE. 17 

into such a multitude of twiuued parts that they are only recognized by a microscopic examination, and in addition 
two different systems of twinning combine to make the structure more complex. Therefore, in the thin sections, 
■while the orthoclase at the most is divided into two parts by a straight line, the microcline as seen in polarized light 
possesses a reticulated structure, which is due to the interweaving of the multitude of laminre. that stand iu the 
relation to one another of twin crystals. This structure will be noticed in the plates. 

The discovery of this species of feldspar has been one of the develoi^ments of microscopic mineralogy, and 
examination has proved microcline to be one of the prominent constituents of granites. 

The albite, oligoclase, and labradorite are identified iu thin sections by the circumstance that they possess also 
a complex twinned structure; but one system of twinning preponderates, so that they possess a banded structure 
■which evinces itself iu the tine parallel striation that is frequently seen on its bright cleavage sni-faces with the 
unaided eye, aud in thin sections the same is much more plainly shown by the banded structure that its sections 
possess in polarized light when the crystals are cut in some plane that is not parallel with the plane of the lamination. 
The optical properties of the individual species render it possible to still furtlier identify them ; or they may be 
analyzed when it is possible to separate them from the rock. 

The different kinds of feldspar that exist in these granites are sometimes separated from one another in distinct 
grains, and sometimes are interlaminated with one another, forming com])lex grains. For exani]ile, orthoclase and 
albite ai-e frequently combined in the same crystal or grain. 

All of these circumstances of comiiosition and structure are important, for the appeai-ances of granites depend 
largely upon the feldspathic ingredient. The different species are often quite differently colored, and thus at times 
a beautiful mottled appearance is imparted to the stone; if, for example, the orthoclase feldspar is red and the 
albite or oligoclase is white, the effect of this mixture of colors is strikingly manifest. If both kinds of feldspar 
are white, one may be opaque and the other transparent, or one may be opalescent and the other dull. In general, 
many of the most striking characteristics and a large proportion of the immense diversity in granitic rocks are 
due to this complexity in the feldspathic constituent, and its consideration is one of the most important elements 
of their study. 

The feldspar has also an influence upon the cutting of the stone and its shade of color. The so-called hard 
granites consist of quartz with a compact, transparent, nearly glassy feldspar, which is quite difQcult to cut, and 
■which allows the light to enter it aud be absorbed, thus imparting to the stone^a dark color, as in the case of the 
Qiiincy granite. The cause of the hardness of these rocks is not entirely due to the quartz, as is often supposed 
Quartz is always brittle, and is not very variable under tools. The hardness of hard granites is due to the condition of 
their feldspathic constituent, which is variable. The soft granites, however, consist of the same constituents, but 
the feldspar is porous and is thereby rendered soft aud less resistant to the tools. The light is reflected under these 
circumstances from the surface and the rock is rendered white. It bears the same relation to the feldspar of the 
hard granites as does the foam of the sea to the water, but of course in a less marked manner. The Concord 
granite may be mentioned as au example. 

The structure of the feldspar modifies the resistibility of the stone to decay, the quality of the polish which 
may be imparted, aud the ease or ditficulty with which the stone may be discolored or stained. 

The quartz is much more simple in structure, and is subject to many variations iu form and appearance, but to 
none iu composition. 

Although belonging to what we call the infusible substances, it is evident that in the solidification of the 
granitic rocks such agencies were active as rendered this substance more easily fusible than the other ingredients, 
and it was therefore the last element to take final form in the solidification. This is shown by the waj' in which 
it occupies the interspaces which were left after the other minerals had crystallized, and it therefore, to a certain 
extent, acts as a kind of cementing material to the other ingredieuts. Some granites contain large, imperfect 
quartz crystals, which must have been one of the first products of the solidification, but in nearly all granites the 
last substance to solidify is the quartz. 

The microscope indicates that the quartz almost always contains pores which are partially filled with fluids. 
The number and size of these pores are of considerable importance, as they tend to exjjlode when heated, and this 
aids to disintegrate the rock at a high temperature. It is important to note, however, that the various minerals 
■which compose granites possess different expansibilities, and this is a cause of the well-known tendency of granites 
to disintegrate in the fire. Granite usually contains about eight-tenths of one per cent, of water, and is capable 
of absorbing a few tenths more. The water permanently present is largely contained in these pores when the rocks 
are fresh, aud the capacity for further absorption is due to the rifts and empty pores that are largely confined 
to the feldspar. 

At times quartz and feldspar constitute almost the whole of the rock, and at other times the accessories become 
Tery prominent. These accessories vary with the locality, and give the characteristics to the various kinds. 

Mica is the most common of the accessory ingredients, and its presence constitutes what is called mica granite. 
If the mica is the white muscovite, the granite may be very light in color and may be almost white, as in the case 
of the Hallowell granite, or the granite from Barre, Vermont. If the mica is exclusively the black variety of 
VOL. IX 2 B s 



18 BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

biotite, the granite will be dark in proportion as this mineral is present. If both species are present, as is 
frequently the case, the granite will be speckled with alternating black and white shining spots, as in the case of 
the Concord granite. 

The amount of the mica present is economically important. It does not polish as easily as do quartz and 
feldspar, owing to its softness, and the presence of a large amount therefore renders the rock difficult to polish.. 
When polished it does not retain its luster so long as do the other minerals, and its surfaces become dulled by 
exposure. Its presence in large amount is therefore deleterious to stones which are intended for exterior use as 
polished stones. The condition in which it exists is also important in this respect. A large amount of mica 
scattered in very fine crystals through the rock iniluences its value as a polished stone less than does the presence 
of large and thick crystals of mica scattered through the rock in smaller number. The method of arrangement of 
the mica is very important; if scattered at haphazard, and lying in all directions among the quartz and feldspar 
crystals, the rock will work nearly as easily in one direction as in another. If it is distributed through the rock in 
such a manner that its laminae are arranged in one deiinite plane, it imparts a stratified appearance to the rock, 
and when this stratified appearance becomes marked, the stone is called gneiss. One or two causes may give rise 
to this structure, but so far as it exists in granites it is easily explained by the circumstance that slight motions in 
a given direction in a plastic mass will cause all of the flat and long constituents to arrange themselves in a definite 
plane. If, for example, some mica scales or any other thin flat scales are mixed in clay so that they lie scattered 
through it in all directions, and if this clay is pressed so that it is flattened out a little, a section through the clay 
will show that the scales have arranged themselves in a definite plane, an effect produced by the motion of the 
plastic mass induced by pressure. 

As granite is supposed to have cooled from a condition of fusion, the circumstances must plainly have existed 
under which this laminated structure could have been produced, for the mica was crystallized before the rock was 
entirely solid, as is evident from an examination of its microscopic structure, which shows that the mica invariably 
crystallized before the quartz had taken form. The effects of the parallel arrangement of minerals in granites are 
often evident, even when this arrangement is invisible to the unaided eye. Apparently massive granites cleave 
more readily in one direction than in another, and this i^lane of more easy cleavage is always detected by quarrymen 
with experience. 

If hornblende is the characterizing accessory, the granites are usually without any evident stratification, as this 
mineral exists in the granites in granular form. Hornblende is subject to as wide variations of composition as is 
mica, but its white and very light colored varieties do not frequently appear in the granitic rocks. Its green varieties 
occur and give a characteristic shade of this color to the stone, as is illustrated, for instance, in the granite of 
which the new Mormon temple is built. It cleaves parallel to two planes which make an angle of 124° with eacb 
other, and is thus distinguished from mica, which invariably has but one cleavage. It is easier to polish than mica, 
and its presence is favorable on this account. The hornblende granites are to be classed among the best. 

Pyroxene as a characterizing accessory in granites is more abundant than has usually been supposed. Indeed, 
all rocks which contain pyroxene abundantly have usually been confounded with the hornblende granites. The 
distinction between pyroxene and hornblende is important from an economic standpoint, as hornebleude possesses 
a much better cleavage than pyroxene, while the pyroxene is much more brittle than hornebleude, and cracks out 
with greater ease in working. The cracking out of little pieces from the black ingredient of the Quincy granites 
has been frequently noticed, and is due to the circumstance that this granite is not the hornblende granite that it 
has been usually supposed to be. Hornblende is very tough, but the Quincy granite contains a peculiar variety of 
pyroxene, which is so brittle that it is difficult to make a large surface on a Quincy granite which does not show 
some little pits, due to the breaking out of a portion of the black grains of pyroxene. 

Although pyroxene and hornblende may be identical in composition, they are frequently associated together in 
the same rock, a circumstance which is very evident in thin sections, but not in the massive stones. The rocks 
which contain hornblende also frequently contain mica, but it is noticeable that under such circumstances the mica 
is always of the dark-colored variety, and an example of a granite which contains both hornblende and muscovite 
is not known. 

Bpidote is quite characteristic when present in the granite, giving to it its deep green color. Its crystals are 
always green so far as observed in granite, and the polishing of the stone develops the brightness of this color. It 
is sometimes an apparently original constituent of the rock, and at other times a decomposition product. 

The Dedham, Massachusetts, granite is one of the most marked examples of an epidotic stone. It is also, 
frequently present in all the varieties of granite previously mentioned, and more or less modifies their appearances. 

The tourmaline granite usually occurs in veins of inconsiderable size. Such granites are associated with those 
that are extensively worked, and in themselves are often beautiful, but they do not exist in accumulations of such 
size as to warrant the opening of quarries to work them exclusively. The tourmaline granites must, therefore, be 
considered as accessory products that exist in connection with the quarried stones, but which are not extracted for 
economic purposes. — G. W. H. (a.) 

a The chapter to this point is from Dr. Hawes' aotee. 




MuscovitG Granite, 
BarrE, lit, 




BiDtitB G-ranitG, 
Dix Island, Me, 




BintLtB G-ranitG, 
Sullivan, Me, 



MICROSCOPIC STRUCTURE. la 

The granites at present quarried throughout the United States may be classified as follows: 

Muscovite granite. 

Biotite granite. 

Muscovite-biotite granite. 

Horneblende granite. 

Hornblende-biotite granite. 

Epidote granite. 

Granitell, or granite without any accessory. 

Although it is possible to classify all the granites under these heads, the lines of distinction between them are 
by no means sharply drawn, but the different varieties merge into each other by continual gradations. For instance, 
nearly all the muscovite granites contaia a little biotite, and vice versa ; also, nearly all the hornblende granites, as 
those of cape Ann and other localities, contain some mica, although not in all eases enough to be visible without 
the aid of the microscope. lu these cases the dividing line must necessarily be drawn somewhat arbitrarily, and 
it is the prevailing accessory which has given the specific name to the rock; or when two are present in suck 
abundance as to be both evident to the naked eye, then the two descriptive names are employed, as in the case of 
the muscovite-biotite granite of Concord, New Hampshire, which contains both micas in nearly equal proportions. 

MUSCOVITE GRANITE. 

Since muscovite itself is very nearly colorless, the granites bearing this mica as their chief accessory are very- 
light in color, being in fact the lightest of all our granitic rocks. Pure muscovite granites are not at present 
extensively quarried. That found at Barre, Vermont (see Plate I), is a coarse, light gray rock of almost marble 
whiteness, a polished surface of which presents a somewhat mottled appearance due to the ijresence of quartz and 
mica. The prevailing constituents are quartz, orthoclase, plagioclase, and white mica or muscovite. When examined 
in thin sections under the microscope the interstices between the larger crystalline grains are found to be filled with 
very many smaller grains of quartz and feldspar, together with shreds of mica and numerous accessories, giving 
rise to the structure known to lithologists as " drnsy ". 

The mica as seen in ordinary light is quite colorless, but between crossed Nicol prisms it gives a most beautiful 
iridescence. It occurs usually in ragged shreds, bat rarely in small forms with definite crystalline outline. A 
very little biotite is also present. The feldspars are the predominating minerals and occur in more or less perfect 
crystals, while the quartz grains fill the interspaces. The chief accessory mineral in this rock is epidote, which 
occurs in small irregular grains without definite crystalline outlines and is traversed by numerous fractures. In the 
thin sections it is of a very faint greenish color. Some apatite is also present in the form of small, colorless, six- 
sided crystals, which are never large enough to be visible to the naked eye. 

A fine gray muscovite granite of a slightly darker shade, though inuch more even in texture, is quarried near 
Atlanta, Georgia. This rock is richer in both quartz and mica than its representative from Vermont, but contains 
less epidote. A large i^art of the feldspar of this rock is microclme, as is shown by its peculiar reticulated structure 
when viewed in polarized light. 

BIOTITE GRANITE. 

This constitutes the most widespread group of our granitic rocks, and presents also the most diversified color 
and structural peculiarities. A large proportion of all the granites at jiresent quarried in the United States is 
referable to this group. In color they vary from light to dark gray and almost black, according to the amount of 
mica they contain and the color of the feldspar ; the red granites, many of which belong here, owe their color to 
the flesh-red orthoclase, which is the i^revailing ingredient. Asa general thing these granites are much tougher and 
harder than those of the preceding group, and, if we except the porphyritic varieties, possess a more even texture, 
lacking the drusy structure characteristic of muscovite-bearing rocks. The texture, however, varies almost 
indefinitely, and it is obviously impossible to select rocks from any one locality as typical for the group. Perhaps 
the more common varieties are those represented by the granites from Dix island, Maine, Westerly, Rhode Island, 
and Richmond, Virginia. 

The essential constituents of biotite granite are quartz, orthoclase, and biotite, but a plagioclastic feldspar is 
almost invariably present, together with some magnetite and apatite. The usual accessories are microcline, 
hornblende, muscovite, apatite, epidote, sphene, and zii-con. It is stated by Rosenbusch (a) that the biotite granites, 
as a class, usually contain less quartz and a correspondingly larger proportion of plagioclase than those of the 
muscovite-bearing group. 

As representatives of this group Plates II and III are given from sections of the granites from Dix island and 
Sullivan, Maine. These are both coarse, gray rocks, containing a considerable proportion of plagioclase in conuectioa 
with the orthoclase. The biotite in thin sections is of a yellowish-brown color and bears numerous inclosures of apatite 
and magnetite. The pores in the quartz of these rocks are neither abundant nor large ; in the Dix Island granite 
they are often arranged in fine wavy lines traversing the quartz grains in directions nearly parallel to one another. 

a MilcrosJcopiache I'hijaionraphk der Maasigen Gesteine, p. 20. 



'20 BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

The biotite granites from Mancliester, Virginia, and vicinity are practically of the same constitution as these, 
although differing in details of texture. Small zircon crystals and scattering flakes of muscovite, together with 
a few garnets, are found in these rocks. 

The granites of Westerly, Ehode Island, are hiotitic, but differ from those just mentioned in being usually 
of a finer texture and more rich in accessory minerals, containing frequently small crystals of fluor-si^ar, sphene, 
menaccanite, magnetite, apatite, epidote, and pyrite; the quartz contains also many of the small, thread-like crystals 
so characteristic of rutile. Many of the Westerly granites are of a flesh-red color, but otherwise than this they do 
not differ materially from the ordinary gray granites, the red color being as usual due to the red orthoclase they 
contain. 

The red granites quarried at Eed Beach and at Jonesboro', Maine, have biotite as their characterizing accessory. 
These are coarse, compact rocks of even texture, and tough and hard. They bear but few accessory minerals, a 
little apatite and magnetite only being observed. The mica occurs usually in small ragged shreds of a greenish color. 

The red granite quarried at Lj^me station, Connecticut, differs from the last in being of a still coarser texture, 
and in the feldspars occurring in beautiful large glassj^ crystals. The proportion of plagioclase is much larger 
than in the Maine red granites, and it contains little if any apatite and magnetic iron. The quartz contains 
numerous quite large pores or cavities, in many of which moving bubbles were noticed, while in others the bubbles 
were motionless. 

The Leetes Island and .Stony Creek red granites are of a much lighter shade than those of Lyme, the feldspars 
being only light pink or flesh-red in color, and of a more gneissoid structure. Some muscovite is present, together 
with the biotite and a little epidote; the quartz contains but few cavities. A i)art of the Leetes Island rock has a 
IDorphyritic structure, and is of a mottled pink and gray color, due to the larger pink feldspar crystals being 
surrounded by a finer admixture of small grains of quartz and mica. 

A coarse red granite is quarried in the vicinity of Iron Mountain, Missouri, a part of which differs from any 
of the preceding in containing n6 characterizing accessory, to the unaided eye the stone ai:)pearing to consist only 
of quartz and feldspar. Under the microscope a few grains of magnetite are visible, as well as a few scales of 
hematite. Other granite from this locality contains black mica, which is usually more or less altered into chlorite. 
A red granite comes from Burnet county, Texas, which is of a fine, even texture, and contains much plagioclase. 
So far as observed this stone is lacking in tenacity, but this is very probably due to the fact that ftie quariies have 
not yet been worked to sufficient depth to bring to light the better portions of the rock, the feldspars showing 
signs of decomposition such as are ijroduced by weathering. 

The red biotite granite from the government quarries at Platte caQou, Colorado, is much coarser than the last, 
and contains many blood-red scales of hematite. The biotite is very dark and opaque. 

So far as observed, all our porphyritic granites are biotitic. A part of the Bast Bluehill (Maine) rock is a 
beautiful example of this variety. This is a fine dark-gray rock, the uniformity of whose texture is broken by a 
plentiful sprinkling of snow-white orthoclase crystals of an inch or more in length, the crystals being usually in the 
form of Carlsbad twins. In many of the East Bluehill rocks the biotite is found altered into a chlorite, in which 
case it contains numerous inclosures of magnetite. Muscovite is also frequently present in small quantity, together 
with the usual colorless apatite crystals. 

MTJSCOVITE-BIOTITE GKANITE. 

As its name denotes, this variety combines the properties of both muscovite and biotite granite, and may be 
considered as intermediate between the two. Transition stages between this and true muscovite or biotite granite 
are continually met with, and, as already stated, no sharp line of distinction can be drawn between them. The 
essential constituents are quartz, orthoclase, muscovite, and biotite; small transparent crystals of apatite are 
nearly always present, together with more or less plagioclase ; zircons occur quite rarely. 

Of this variety, the so-called Concord (New Hampshire) granite may be considered as typical. It is a fine- 
grained, light-gray rock, showing under the microscope a somewhat drusy structure. The feldspars are in nearly 
every case more or less turbid through decomposition and impurities, while the quartz is penetrated in every 
direction by small needle-like crystals of rutile. Fluidal cavities are quite small and not at all abundant. According 
to Dr. Hawes, (a) the plagioclase of this rock is oligoclase; some microcline is also present. The micas usually 
occur in small, irregular flakes, without definite crystalline outline, but occasionally a small, perfect crystal of 
muscovite can be seen. 

Between the Concord and the lighter colored of the Fitzwilliam granites there is no essential difference. 
Microscopic particles of zircon were found in the Fitzwilliam rocks, which were not noticed in those of Concord. 

The granites quarried at Allenstown, Sunai^ee, and Eumney ofl'er no differences of practical value. As a general 
thing they are much like the Concord, presenting only slight variations in the way of color and texture. The 
feldspars as seen by the microscope are sometimes in a little fresher state and contain fewer impurities, while the 
quartz usually contains less rutile, that from Eumney having none at all, and fluid cavities are perhaps a trifle more 

a Mill, and Lith. of N. H., p. 194. 




HnrnblendE G-ranite, 
Peatindy, Mass, 



MICROSCOPIC STRUCTURE. 21 

abuDtlant. The Manchester granite differs from any of the preceding in being of coarser texture, with a tlesh-red 
color, and containing very little biotite, but a much larger proportion of microcline. The quartz frequently contains 
small colorless crystals resembling fibrolite ; brilliantly red scales of hematite are also occasionally met with, as well 
as many large opaque grains of magnetite. 

Outside of Xew Hampshire, muscovite-biotite granite is quarried quite extensively at Eyegate, Vermont, and at 
Xorth Jay, Lincolnville, and Hallowell, Maine. The Eyegate rock is of coarser, more even texture, and contains a 
larger proportion of quartz than that of Concord. The quartz is almost entirely free from rutile inclusions and the 
feldspars are in a vei'y pure condition, in both of which respects it closely resembles the Jay rod;. The Hallowell 
and Lincolnville granites resemble the Concord closely, both in color and in structural peculiarities, even to the 
presence of the rutile inclusions. It contains, however, a much larger proportion of the feldspar microcline. A 
few garnets unobserved elsewhere are present in the Hallowell rock. 

A rather coarse biotite-muscovite granite is quarried near Fi-edericksburg, Virginia. The feldspars in thi*s rock 
are quite impure and frequently contain numerous inclosures of muscovite. Microcline is quite abundant in this 
rock, as is the case also with that of Hallowell and Augusta, Maine. 

HOENBLENDE GRANITE. 

As has already been stated, no sharp lines of sepaiMtion can be drawn between the different varieties of granite, 
and in no case is this better illustrated than in those rocks bearing hornblende as their chief accessory, nearly all 
of them containing more or less black mica. This is well illustrated in the case of the granite quarried at Gloucester, 
Eockport, Lynntield, and other localities in Massachusetts. From specimens of these rocks forwarded to the Museum 
it appears that while with one or two exceptions they would, from a simple macroscopic examination, be classed as 
hornblende granites, the microscope shows a constant gradation from those in which biotite is easilj' distinguishable 
in the hand specimen to those in which apparently there is none, more or less mica appearing in all. The distinction 
must, therefore, be somewhat arbitrary, and only those have been called hornblende granites in which no biotite 
was visible to the naked eye. («) 

As typical of this group, Plate IV is given. It is from a magnitied section of the rock quarried at Peabody, ' 
Massachusetts. This rock, which agrees so closely with that quarried at the other localities named that a single 
description will do for all, is a coarsely crystalline rock comjiosed essentially of quartz, orthoclase, and hornblende, 
the orthoclase being frequently of a faint greenish or bluish tinge, while the quartz varies from light o-lassy to 
dark smoky tints. The rock is of quite uniform texture, exceedingly hard and tough, and may be ranked as one of 
our most durable granites. Under the microscope it is seen that the feldspar of this rock is nearly all orthoclase 
in a very fresh and undecomposed condition, and as orthoclase is the hardest and toughest of all the feldspars the 
predominance of this variety over all others easily explains the hardness of the rock. In none of the granites 
quarried during the census year are the plagioclastic feldspars entirely absent, though sometimes prevalent in very 
minute quantities, as is well illustrated in the hornblendic granites of Gloucester, Eoxbury, Lynntield, Peabody, etc., 
and especially in that of the last-named locality, where it exists only as minute microscopic crystals, filling the 
interspaces between the larger crystals of oithoclase. The quartz, which is quite abundant, contains the usual 
cavities, in some of which moving bubbles occur. The hornblende is of a deep green, almost bluish, color, and never 
occurs in ]ierfect crystals, but rather in broken fragments and ragged shreds bearing numerous inclusions of apatite 
and zircou. Zircon is especially abundant in the Gloucester granites, where it occurs usually in small, square prisms 
scattered irregularly about or clustered around the ragged edges of the hornblende crystals. Some magnetite is 
usually present, and an occasional shred of black mica. 

A very beautiful deep-red hornblendic granite is quarried at Otter cxeek. Mount Desert, Maine. It is a very- 
compact rock, though not quite as tough as those from cai)e Ann. Under the microscope the feldspar is found to 
be quite opaque through impurities. The hornblende is deep green, nearly black, and some chlorite and apatite are 
present, together with cpiite large epidote granules and a few zircon crystals. 

Two varieties of hornblende granite, one red iu color and the other gray, are quarried at Saint Cloud, Minnesota. 
They differ, however, from their Massachusetts representatives, being of more uneven texture and containing a 
larger proportion of hornblende. The hornblende, which is frequently much decomposed, is of a deep brown color 
iu thin sections and strongly dichroic. It contains numerous inclusions, such as apatite, magnetite, and zircon, 
although these last are not as prevalent as in the Gloucester rock; some biotite is also present. The feldspar, as 
in the Massachusetts rock, is nearly all orthoclase, is quite impure and opaque, and the quai-tz contains many 
inclusions and cavities, some of which are quite large. Although of the same mineral constitution as the Cape Ann 
granites, these are of decidedly inferior quality, being softer and less tenacious. It is more than probable, however, 
that when the quarries have been worked to a sulficieTit depth a far better quality of rock will be produced. 

o It is very jirobable that much of the black mica of our granites is not hiotite, hut lepidomelane or annite, these being the names 
given by Professors Dana and Cooke to the blacl< mica of the Cape Ann granite. Such difler from biotite in containing sesquioxide of 
iron in place of the protoxide, and in being more opaque aud less clastic. Their ojitical ijroperties are, however, identical with biotite, 
and in the present work no such iltstinctiou has been deemed advisable. All black dichroic micas have, therefore, been called biotite. 
(.See Bawes' Jiliii. and LilJi. ofX. E., p. 82.) 



22 BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

A coarse, red horiiblendic grauite is quarried at Grindstone island, ISTew Tork, in wliich, however, the hornblende 
has undergone extensive alteration, and which contains so large an amount of calcite as to effervesce distinctly 
when treated with a dilute acid. A little mica is present, which is of a ooi)i:)er-red color in the thin section, and 
a few small apatite crystals, together with numerous crystals of zircon. The rock contains considerable pyritte, 
which may be easily observed on a ijolished surface of the stone as small specks of a yellow metallic luster. The 
quartz occurs only in very small grains groui^ed together in the interspaces between the feldspars. 

HORNBLENDB-BIOTITE GRANITE. 

The ro^ks of this group stand intermediate between true hornblende and biotite granites, and combine to a 
certain extent the properties of both. The essential constituents are quartz, orthoclase, hornblende, and biotite, 
with the usual accessories. To this group belong some of our most beautiful granites. Plate V is from a magnified 
section of a granite of this class — the so-called black granite of Saint George, Maine, the black color being due to 
the abundance of hornblende and black mica. Under the microscope it is seen that the rock contains a small 
amount of quartz and a proportionately large amount of plagioclase, and that the hornblende predominates over 
the mica. The feldspars are very fresli in appeaiance, and the quartz contains but few cavities. Magnetite and 
pyrite are jnesenr, togetlier with a, little ;ii)atiie. This rock also contains a very considerable amount of calcite, 
which must have an iiii[)(n-tant bearing ujion its weathering qualities. It is a very beautiful rock, acquiring a fine 
polisli. 

Ill tliis iiroiip must also be placed a jiart of the granite quarried at cape Ann, Massachusetts, although the two 
rocks ill oeiiejal a])[:earance are totally unlike; tlie ('ape Ann rock being coarsely granular and of a slight greenish 
tinge due to the orthoclase, which is the ])ie^'ai!iiig constituent. Quartz is abundant, and the black mica and 
horublenile are in about equal ])ro]iortioi:s, ITndcr the microscope the feldspar is ibund to be moderately pure, 
and bat little plagioclase is present, the fehlspar, as is usual in rocks rich in quartz, being nearly all orthoclase. 
jSTumerous (piite large raicroscojiic zircon crystals are Ibund intermingled with the hornblende aud ujica. 

A third hornbleiule-lnotite-beariug ruck is quarried at Sauk Eapids, Minnesota. This is a dark gray granite, 
of which the general uniforuiity of structure is interiirpted by frequent black blotches of about the size of a pea, 
which are caused by segregation of mica. The feldspar is of a slightly pinkish tinge, and by the microscope is 
seen to be very impure and murky. The (|uartz contains very many inclusions and cavities. The general quality 
of the rock is much inferior in point of beauty to those previously mentioned. 

ETOJO'J'H GRANITE. 

Although Very many of our gianites bear epittote in small proi^ortions, usually visible only with the aid of a 
microscope, the cases in which it is of siifticieut abundance to give a specific character to the rock are rare, the 
epidotic grauite quarried at ]>Gdhaiii, Massachusetts, being at jjresent almost the sole representative. This is a 
fine, even-grained lock of a light piuk color, spotted with small specks of light green, which are due to the included 
epidote crystals. Under the microscope the epidote appears usually in irregular grains of a faint yellowish-green 
color, aud is but faintly pleoclir>.ic. A little biotite is present, which has in nearly every instance become altered 
into a green chloritic product. The I'eldsiiar of this rock is quite impure and opaque. Owing to ,its fine, even 
texture the locic works easily and takes a good polish. The granite quarried at Lebanon, New Hampshire, contains 
epidote in ((aisiderahle (juantity, a thin section under the microscope showing innumerable small, nearly colorless, 
crystals scattered tluoughoQt the mass of the rock. They usually occur in groups or clusters, aud are the cause of 
the light green blotches seen on a polished surface of the rock. 

SYENITE. 

If in a granite the quartz is absent, or becomes so small in amount as to become a merely accessory constituent, 
the rock is called sycjnite. 

Syenite is quarried to a very small extent in the United States. In the system of classification there are just as 
many varieties of syenite as of granite which are characterized by the presence of the same accessory ingredients. 
Lithologically, many of these varieties are known to exist; mica syenites of the various kinds, hornblende syenites, 
augite or pyroxene syenites, and epidote syenites are all recognized; but none of the extensively-quarried building 
stones in the United States are syenites, although very beautiful rocks occur which would be much admired if they 
were introduced into the market. — G. W. H. («) 

GNEISS. 

The gneisses or stratified granites are extensively quarried. Stratification is a circumstance very favorable to 
the extraction of stone for some purposes. For example, the perfection of cleavage in certain directions makes it 
easy to split large slabs from the mass, to be used for cui'bings, pavings, steps, etc. The stones can also be split in 

a This paragraph is from Dr. Hawes' notes. 




HarnblEndE BiDtLtB G-ranite, 
■St, G-BorgE, Me, 




HarntlEndB BiatitB G-neiss, 
MiddlEtDwn, Conn, 




Mica Schistj 
Washington, □, C 



MICROSCOPIC STRUCTURE. 23 

such a way as to always possess two parallel flat surfaces, a circumstance whicli simplifies the construction of walls 
from them. The stratification is caused principally by the arrangement of the mica with its flat cleavage planes 
arranged in parallel directions. 

Quartz and feldspar are again the essential constituents, and the same accessories constitute a series of gneisses 
identical with the granite series. We thus have biotite gneiss, muscovite gneiss, hornblende gneiss, pyroxene 
gneiss, etc. 

There are no uses to which granite is applied to which the gneissoid rocks cannot also be applied ; and .some 
of the largest quarries in the United States which are called granite quarries really produce gneiss. In common 
nomenclature these rocks are called granite, or at best "bastard" granite or "stratified" granite, or granite with 
some other adjective prefixed. There is reason for this in the circumstance that they are used for the same i)urposes 
and very often have had the same origin, and differ from one another only in that some slight movement in the 
mass at the proper time gave a stratification to the rock. In certain cases also the stratification is verj- faintly 
evident, so that it is difficult to recognize as stratification. Indeed, there is no line of division between the granites 
and the gneisses when the structure alone is considered. 

There are many gneissoid rocks which are very markedly stratified, which consist of alternate layers of very 
different compositions, and which were ajiparently deposited like the limestones and sandstones, and subsequently 
hardened and crystallized. Even in scientific classification it is now impossible to separate gneisses that have been 
deposited in stratified layers from those which have become stratified, as explained, by movements in a plastic 
mass. In this work there is no necessity for any distinction, and rocks of the composition of granite, but stratified 
in structure, will all be cousidered as gneisses, for, from the economic standpoint, structure is of more importance 
than questions as to the mode by which it was produced. 

MICA-SCHIST. 

Mica-schist is a rock that consists essentially of quartz and mica. It usually i^ossesses a distinct schistose 
structure due to the i)arallel arrangement of the quartz and mica, as was noted in the gneisses, from which it may 
be said to differ only in its lack of feldspar. It is a rock which is supposed to have been formed by the deposition 
and subsequent crystallization of sediments, and consequently the structure of these minerals and their arrangement 
are markedly stratified. The peculiarities of the schists are not such as to render them favorites for i)urposes 
of fine construction. They are, however, broken out from the ledge with great comparative ease, and for rough 
construction, such as foundations and bridges, they are extensively employed. 

The mica of the schists may be either biotite or muscovite, or both ; in short, the schists may be characterized 
by one or more of the same accessories as are the granites and gneisses, and we may have just as many varieties. 
Through a diminution of the amount of mica these rocks pass into quartz-schists, and, by an increase of feldspar, 
into gneisses. The relative amounts of quartz and mica vary almost indefinitely. The percentage of silica, which 
is dependent largely ujion the amount of quartz, varies from 40 to SO per cent. The finer grained, more compact 
varieties of mica-schist make very fair building material, but the coarser varieties are not to be desired, especially 
if the mica be biotite and in great abundance. 

In accessory minerals mica-schists are i^articularly rich. Some of the more common of these are garnet, 
feldspar, epidote, cyanite, hornblende, chlorite, staurolite, magnetite, pyrite, tourmaline, and rutile. Through 
an increase in the amount of hornblende or chlorite the rock frequently passes gradually into hornblende and 
chlorite schists. 

As an illustration of the microscopic structure of a biotite schist, Plate YII is given. This is from a magnified 
section of the schist quarried in the vicinity of Washington, District of Columbia, and popularly called "Potomac 
blue-stone". As will be noticed, this rock consists almost wholly of quartz and biotite, the quartz being iu irregular 
grains, while the mica occurs in ragged shreds. The prevailing schists throughout the vicinity are, however, by 
DO means of so simple a structure. 

As a general thing the District rocks are distinctly schistose, the mica laminae being arranged in parallel layers, 
and the rock consequently splitting easily in the direction of its schistosity. In some cases, however, the various 
mineral ingredients are so evenly commingled that all traces of schistosity are lost in small specimens, and the 
rocks, especially if they contain hornblende, more closely resemble basic rocks of eruptive origin, for which they 
have at times been mistaken. 

Under the microscope the mica is seen to be frequently of a greenish color and to bear numerous iuclosures of 
apatite, magnetite, and garnet. More or less white mica is frequently present, though never in sufficient abundance 
to give any distinctive character to the rock. Hornblende, when present, is usually iu the form of slender rhombic 
prisms, which are often broken transversely. It is of a yellow or greenish-blue color, ijolarizing iu deeper blue, or 
the lighter varieties in lively yellow and red, closely resembling augite. The crystals are quite imperfect, and are 
in many cases filled with iuclosures of apatite, magnetite, and mica. It is frequently observed to have undergone 
an alteration into a greeni.sh chloritic product. 



24 BUILDINa STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

One of the more abundant accessories in these schists is apatite. This occurs in small, perfect crystals which 
are nearly colorless in thin sections, though polarizing in faint yellow and bluish colors. The crystals are usually 
quite small, seldom exceeding 0.3™" in length. Small, nearly transparent epidote crystals are also sometimes- 
present, and quite often a triclinic feldspar, which is apparently oligoclase. 

Another accessory of by no means so common occurrence, though quite abundant in some of these schists, is- 
rutile. This occurs in the form of minute four- and eight-sided prisms, seldom more than one or two millimeters in 
length, and of a deep brownish-red color. Very small crystals are frequently found grouped together in nests of half 
a dozen or more, but the larger ones are always single and scattering. Geniculate forms, so characteristic of rutile,. 
are met with but rarely. Their striking color renders them especially noticeable in spite of their small size. 

Garnets are quite abundant, nearly every section showing one or more, and frequently they are so large as to- 
be visible without the aid of the microscope. They are of rounded or irregular form, seldom with a perfect crystalline 
outline, and of a delicate salmon color, as seen in the section. They are sometimes quite pure, but mauy contain 
numerous inclosures of a black, opaque substance, which is probably magnetite, and also numerous quartz grains^ 

An accessory of more practical importance than any yet mentioned is the bisulphide of iron, or iron pyrites, 
which is only too abundant in much of this rock, occurring in cubical crystals and irregular grains of a brassy- 
yellow color and often of considi rable size. On weathering, the pyrites oxidizes and disappears, but leaves its- 
characteristic stain behind, and frequently produces the more serious result of disintegration. 

DIABASE. 

Under the term diabase is included a majority of the rocks commonly known as trap-rock and black granite. 
They consist essentially of augite and a triclinic feldspar, which is usually labradorite, though oligoclase and 
anorthite are uot uncommon. As microscopic accessories they nearly always contain magnetite, titanic iron, and 
frequently apatite and black mica; hornblende and chlorite are not rare as products of alteration, a process to which 
these rocks, owing to their basic nature, are extremely liable. In texture the diabases are usually too fine to allow 
a determination of their mineral constituents with the naked eye, although porphyritic varieties are not rare. The 
color varies from dark gray to nearly black or greenish, according to the varying proportions of the different 
constituents. 

These rocks are frequently called by the quarrymen and others black granite, although, as will be noticed, they 
differ from granite most decidedly, in containing no quartz, and in the feldspars being all triclinic; orthoclase, which 
is usually the predominating ingredient in the granites, being here entirely wanting. They are basic eruptive 
rocks of ante-Tertiary origin, and generally occur in well-defined dikes, cutting the surrounding formations in a, 
manner very noticeable even to the most careless observer. 

Plate VIII is from a magnified section of the diabase quarried at Weehawken, New Jersey. Identical 
(practically) with this are the trap-rocks quarried at various localities in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Virginia j 
and a similar rock, but of finer texture, comes from Kew Haven, Connecticut. The diabase quarried at Medford,. 
Massachusetts, differs from those just mentioned iu being of much coarser texture and in containing a pinkish 
feldspar and an abundance of black mica. An abundance of apatite is also present, and considerable chlorite. The 
feldspars in this rock are much decomposed, frequently so much so as to be almost unrecognizable. A micaceous 
diabase is also quarried under the name of black granite at Addison, Maine. This rock has a very complex 
structure. Besides mica, considerable hornblende is present, which results from the alteration of the augite, it 
being not infrequent to find a crystal the boundaries of which are unmistakably hornblende, while the center is 
still unaltered augite. A very similar rock, but containing olivine, is found at Indian Eiver, Addison township, 
Maine. Olivine, however, is a mineral of vei'y unstable composition, and is rarely found in an unchanged condition. 
In the present case almost the entire mineral has become changed to a serpentinous product, leaving but a small 
portion of the original substance near the center of the crystal still unaltered. Both of these diabases contain two 
varieties of plagioclase, and in addition to the minerals already named there are present chlorite, biotite, apatite, 
magnetite, and titanic iron, the last named being usually much decomposed and taking on very fantastic forms. 
A section of this rock is given on Plate IX. 

An olivine-bearing diabase is also quarried at Viual Haven, Maine, though in this case the olivine is much less 
altered than in the Addison rock. A little chlorite is present, and some biotite, but the composition of the rock is 
much less complex than is that of the stone from Addison. 

BASALT. 

True basalt is but little used for building puri^oses. Like diabase, it consists essentially of a triclinic feldspar, 
augite, and titanic iron or magnetite, or both. Olivine is also almost invariably present, while nepheline, leucite, 
hauyne, apatite, and mica are common accessories. It differs, however, from diabase iu being usuallj' of finer 
texture, and of. more recent origin. 

Of the same composition as diabase we would naturally expect to find the included minerals undergoing the 
same processes of alteration, which is often the case. Calcite, zeolites, chalcedony, and carbonate of iron often 




Diabase I 
WeehavirkEn, N, J. 




Dlivlns niabasE, 
RddisDii, Mb, 




Has ait, 
BridgEpnrt, Cal. 



*t>^W\X?t ^»\MxM M, 




Quartz Porphyryj 
•FairfiEld, Pa, 




DrthaclasB P arphyry, 
StDHE Mauntain, Mo, 



- 1»\M\»4 6(i„ 



MICROSCOPIC STRUCTURE. 25 

occur as secondary products, lining the walls of the small cavities or amygdules with which the rock is frequently 
filled. The feldspar of basalt can be either oligoclase, audesite, anorthite, or labradorite, and it is usually the 
prevailing ingredient; the spaces between the individual crystals are frequently filled with an uncrystalline, glassy 
magma, containing often numerous opaque, elongated, hair-like bodies, called "trichites". 

Microscopic sections of basalt present many interesting features. The plagioclase usually occurs in small, 
slender crystals, showing in polarized light the customary banded structure, due to twinning. It is usuallj' quite 
liure and free from all inclusions or cavities. The olivine appears rarely in well-defined crystals, but rather iu 
rounded grains, traversed by many irregular curvilinear lines. They are sometimes of considerable size, so as to be 
easily distinguished by the naked eye. The augite iu basalts is generally rich in inclosures of glassy inatter, and 
in rocks which have undergone considerable decomposition both the augite and olivine are often represented merely 
by psendomorphs of a green matter, either serpentine or some other hydrous silicate. Plate X is from a basalt 
quarried at Bridgeport, California. This is a fine-grained, brownish-gray rock, in which the included olivine 
crystals appear as small, greenish, rounded grains, often the size of a pin's head, scattered throughout the fine gray 
ground mass, the separate ingredients of which cannot be detected by the unaided eye. In the plate they appear 
as large, rounded, dark grains, surrounded by the smaller crystals of augite and plagioclase, like islands around, 
which the semi-fluid mass has flowed. 

POEPHYET (POEPHYEITIC FELSITE). 

Under the term porphyry it is usual to include a class of flue-graincd, compact, felsitic rocks, the composition 
of which is not determinable by the naked eye, owing to the minuteness of the constituent minerals. The rocks- 
consist essentially of quartz and orthoclase feldspar, one or both of which substances is frequently, though not 
always, present in crystals of considerable size, which lie embedded iu the close, compact ground mass. 

Under the microscope these rocks, as represented by the building-stone collection, can be divided into two 
classes, (1) those in which the ground mass is easily resolved into a crystalline aggregate of quartz and feldspar 
grains, and (2) those in which the ground mass gives between crossed Nicol prisms the polarization colors of an 
aggregate, which, even by high powers, cannot be resolved into its constituent minerals, owing to their minuteness. 
In both classes larger crystals of either quartz or orthoclase may or may not be developed to give rise to the well- 
known structure called porphyritic. According to which of these minerals is thus doveloj)ed we have two kinds of 
porphyry — quartz porphyry and orthoclase porphyry. These two varieties are shown ou Plates XI and XII. Plate 
XI is a quartz porphyry from Fairfield, Pennsylvania. The large white body in the center of the field is quartz, 
while the surrounding material is an intimate mixture of the same mineral and feldspar, but iu so finely divided a 
state as to be inseparable by eveu the highest ])owers. Plate XII is of an orthoclase porphyry from Stone mountain, 
Missouri. In this rock it will be noticed that the ground mass is distinctly granular, and the porphyritic structure 
is due to large crystals of orthoclase, in place of the quartz as in the preceding. Both rocks are much alike in 
general appearance, although difleriug so decidedly in microscopic structure. 

Porphyries are usually of eruptive origin, occurring in dikes, after the manner of what are po]mlarly called 
trap rocks. The well-known porphyries in the vicinity of Boston are, however, according to some authorities, 
metamorphosetl sedimentary deposits, (a) 

Porphyries present considerable variation iu color; whitish, llesh-tolored, red, blue-black, black, and green are 
common varieties. They are very close-grained, compact rocks, and take an excellent polish. They are also almost 
indestructible, withstanding for ages the effects of weathering without apitreciaWe <'hauge. Their hardness and 
lack of stratification, however, are great drawbacks to their extensive use, since they can be taken from the quarries 
only in small, very irregular blocks, and are cut with extreme difficulty. Tliey are at ])resent but little used for 
building purposes iu this couutry. In Great Britaiu they are used chiefly lor causeway stones and road metal, for 
which their hardness and toughuess render them especially suitable. 

SANDSTONES. 

Sandstones are composed principally of rounded and angular grains of sand that have become cemented together 
through the aid of heat and pressure, forming a solid rock. The cementing material may be either silica, carbonate- 
of lime, or an iron oxide. Upon the character of this cementing material is dependent to a considerable extent the 
color of the rock and its adaptability to architectural purposes. If silica alone is present the rock is light colored, 
and frequently so intensely hard that it can be worked only with great difliculty. Such stones are among the most 
durable of all rocks, but their light colors and poor working qualities are something of a drawback to their extensive 
use. The cutting of such stones often subjects the workmen to serious inconvenience ou account of a sharp and 
very fine dust or powder made by the tools, and which is so light as to remain suspended for some time in the air. 
The hard Potsdam sandstones of New York state have been the subject of complaint on this score. Professor 

a T. T. BoUTd, Pioc. of Boston Soc. of Xat. History, 1862, p. 57 ; 1876, p. 217. 



26 BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

Geike, in writing on the decay of rocks, («) mentions an instance in wliicli a fine siliceous sandstone, erected as a 
tombstone in an English church-yard in 1662, and afterward defaced by order of the government, had retained 
the marks of the defacing chisel upon its polished surface perfectly distinct after a lapse of over two hundred 
years. 

On the other hand, those rocks in which carbonate of lime is the cementing material, although soft enough to 
work well, are frequently too soft and crumble easily, beside disintegrating rapidly when exposed to the weather. 
On many accounts the rocks containing the ferruginous cement are preferable, since they are neither too hard to 
■work readily nor are they liable to so unfavorable alteration when exposed to atmospheric agencies. These rocks 
also have a brown or reddish color, which is usually considered as something in their favor. The celebrated Portland 
browustoue, used so extensively for building purposes in New York city, is a good representative of this variety. 

Sandstones are of a great variety of colors ; light gray (almost white), gray, buff, drab or blue, light brown, 
brown, and red are common varieties, and, as already stated, the color is largely due to the iron contained by them. 
According to Mr. G. Man (&) the red and brownish-red colors are due to the presence of iron in the anhydrous 
sesquioxide state; the yellow color to iron in the hydrous sesquioside state, and the blue and gray tints to the 
carbonate or the protoxide of iron. It is also stated that the blue color is caused sometimes by fluely-dissemiuated 
iron pyrites, and rarely by an iron ])hosphate. (c) 

In texture sandstones vary widely, from an almost impalpable fine grained stone to one in which the individual 
grains are the size of a pea. The looser varieties, in which the grains sometimes reach an inch or more in diameter, 
are called conglomerates, or if the pebbles are angular instead of rounded, a breccia. 

Sandstones are not always composed wholly ot quartz grains, but frequently contain a variety of minerals. 
The brown sandstones from Connecticut, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania are found on, microscopic and chemical 
examination to contain one or more kinds of feldspar and frequently mica, (d) having in fact the same comj)osition 
as granite or gneiss, from which they were doubtless originally derived. According to Dr. P. Schweitzer, (e) a fine- 
grained sandstone from the so-called palisade range in New Jersey contains from 30 to GO per cent, of the feldspar 
albite. That quairied at Newaik contains, according to his analyses, albite 50.46 per cent., quartz 45.49 per cent., 
soluble silica 0.30 per cent., bases soluble in hydrochloric acid 2.19 per cent., and water 1.14 per cent. This, however, 
must be regarded as an exceptional case, as very many sandstones contain no feldspar at all, being probably derived 
from a qnartzose rather than from a granitic rock. Some sandstones are thought to originate from chemical 
deposition rather than from the disintegration of pre-existing rocks. Certain of the crystalline sandstones of Ohio 
are of this class. (/) 

The minute cavities and moving bubbles so frequently seen in the quartz grains of granite are, as would 
naturally be expected, also occasionally found in sandstone, as is well shown iu a white Potsdam sandstone quarried 
at Fort Ann, in the state of New York. The cavities in this case are extremely small, but the imprisoned bubble, 
as it glides unceasingly from side to side of its minute chamber, is readily seen with a microscope of high magnifying 
power. 

Iron pyrites is a common ingredient of many sandstones, occurring frequently in cubical crystals or irregular 
grains of considerable size, and of a brassy-yellow color. Unless quite abundant, however, the chief danger to be 
apprehended from the use of such stone is the change of color it undergoes through the oxidation of the pj'rites, 
which causes rust-colored or dark stains to aj^pear wherever it exists. The beauty of many fine buildings has been 
sadly marred through the discoloration of the stone used for cappings and cornices by the oxidation of the included 
pyrites. Stone for such jjurposes should be subjected to careful examination, and all pieces in which the pyrites 
occur promptly rejected. 

Nearly all sandstones are more or less porous, and hence permeable to a certain extent by water and moisture. 
Manifestly, then, in localities subject to any extremes of temperature, only those stones in which this porosity is 
reduced to the minimum should be used for buildings, since disintegration must certainly result if, after the pores 
of a stone become filled with water, freezing ensues. It is on account of tbe destructive effects of freezing water 
that such porous limestones as those of Bermuda and of Florida are totally unfit for use in countries iu which the 
temperature falls frequently below the freezing point, although very durable iu warmer climates. All sandstones 
absorb water most readily in the direction of their lamination or grain. It therefore follows, as every stonemason 
knows, that stone to weather well should be laid with its bedding (lamination) horizontal, as it was first laid down 
by nature in the quarry; the stone will also offer the greatest amount of resistance to pressure if laid in this manner, 
and, it is said, will stand a greater amount of heat without disintegrating; an important fact iu cities, where any 
building is liable to have its walls liighly heated by neighboring burning structures. The porosity of some sandstones 
is characteristically shown by their manner of drying after a rain ; some will dry very quickly, while others containing 
a larger amount of water iu their pores will remain moist a long time. Ordinary sandstones will absorb from 3 to 

a Geological Sketches at Home and Abroad, p. 87. d See Plates XIII and XIV. 

6 Quarterly Journal of the Geological Soc., xxiv, p. 355. e American Chemiat, July, 1871, p. 23. 

c Note8 on Buildini/ Covslrubtion, Part III (South Kensiugtou series), p. 35. / J. Brainard, Proc. Am. Soc, 18G0. 




Sandstone, 
Fnrtland, Cnnn. 




SilicEous SandstnnB, 



Patsdam, N, Y, 




CanglnineratB, 
EstBlvillE, N, J, 




Quartz Schist, 
Berks Cn,, P enna, 



MICROSCOPIC STRUCTURE. 27 

IlO per cent., bj" weiglit, of water iu 24 hours. Stone weighing less than 130 pounds per cubic foot and absorbing 
more than 5 per cent, of its weight of water in 24 hours, and effervescing somewhat actirelj' with acid, is liliely to 
be a second-class stone as regards durability, {a) 

Some stones liable to the destructive effects of frost on first being taken from the quarries are no longer so after 
having been exposed for some time to the air, having lost their quarry water through evaporation. This difference is 
very manifest between stones quarried iu summer and those quarried in winter. It frequently happens that stones 
of very good quality are entirely ruined by hard freezing immediately after being taken from the quarry (this being 
partictuhuiy the case with souie marbles and limestones), while if they are quarried during the warm season of the 
year and have an ojjportunity to lose their quarry water by evajioiatiou prior to cold weather they withstand freezing 
perfectly well. This phenomenon is easily accounted for if we admit the claim ]>ut forward by some that tlie quarry 
■water of these stones carries in solution carbonate of lime and silica, whicli is deposited in the cavities of the rock 
as evaporation proceeds, thus furnishing additional cementing material and rendering the rock more compact. This 
•nill also account for the remarkable hardening of some stones after being quarried a short time, long since noted 
by those engaged upon stone work. ^Yheu first quarried they are so soft as to be ea.sily sawed and worked into any 
desirable shape, but after the evaporation of their quarry water they becoine hard and very durable, {b) 

Conglomerate difters from sandstone only iu point of structure, being coarser and of more uneven texture. 
This structure is well illustrated iu Plate XV, which is from a magnified section of a conglomerate from Estelville, 
New Jersey. The large white grains are of silica and the dark cementing material is an iron oxide. These rocks 
are but little used for building purposes. 

Quartzite is a hard, siliceous sandstone occurring iu regions of metamor))hic rock, and partially ii)etamori)hosed. 
It differs from ordinary sandstone in being harder and less friable. It soraetinu's jjossesses a well-defined schistose 
structure. Plate XVI is from a magnified section of a schistose quartzite from Berks county, Pennsylvania. Such 
rocks are very hard and compact, and would make very desirable building material. 

LIMESTONES AND MARBLES. 

Limestones consist essentially of carbonate of lime, though they are often more or less impure through the 
presence of organic matter and clay. It is usual to apply the name marble to those limestones that are highly 
crystalline iu structure and susceptible of taking a good polish. Tlie term is, however, very loosely applied, being 
sometimes made to include even siliceous crystalline rocks like granite. Limestones are mainly of organic origin; 
that is, they result from the deposition of organic remains, as shells, corals, etc. In many limestones these remains 
are still plainly evident, while in others they have become almost or entirely obliterated through metamorphism. 
The sliell and coral limestones of Florida and of Bermuda are good examj)les of the first kind. In these the broken 
and water-worn fragments are simply cemented together by the same material in a more finely divided state without 
a trace of crystalline structure; and from these to a perfectly crystalline marble, without a trace of fossil remains, 
there is a constant gradation. The red mottled and black marbles of Tennessee and of Isle La Motte, Vermont, are 
good examples of the semicrj-stalline varieties. In these the microscope shows very plaiulj' the remains of minute 
organisms, while at the same time the surrounding portions of the rock are crystalline. The oolitic limestones used 
so extensively for building purposes in Kentucky, Indiana, and Iowa are composed of the rounded grains of shells 
and corals closely cemented, and forming a very durable stone. They are generally quite soft and easily worked 
when first quarried, but become harder by exposure. The size of the individual graius is usually about that of a 
fishegg, though they .sometimes are larger, reaching the size of a small pea, when the stone is called pisolite. 
Some limestones are scarcely at all crystalline, nor do they show any trace of organic I'emains, but are perfectly 
honujgeneous throughout. The stones quarried at Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, and at Kokomo, Illinois, are good 
examples of this variety. These stones are sometimes quite easy to work, tliough, being dull in color and not 
capable of receiving a good polish, they are not very desii-able. They are usually very impure through the presence 
of clay and earthy matter. 

Of the perfectly crystalline limestones, the white and the blue marbles quarried so extensively at Sutherland 
Palls and Eutland, Vermont, are the best examples. These are supposed to have been originally common 
fossiliferons limestones, and to have become crystalline and had all their fossils obliterated through the aid of heat 
and pressui'e. In some of these marbles the process of metamoi'phism was incomplete, and the traces of fossils still 
remain. According to some authorities (c) many limestones result not from fossil remains of animals, but from 
chemical precipitates from sea-water. 

a Xotes on Building Construction, South Kensingtou series, Part III, \). 36. 

h See Chateau, Vol. I, p. -265. 

c T. S. Hunt, Chemical and Geological Essays, pp. 82 and 311. 



28 BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

The ^hite crystalline marbles vary greatly in texture, the finest being found in Vermont, and coarser varieties 
farther south and west. According to Dana («) the texture is less coarsely crystalline in Vermont than in 
Massachusetts, the crystallization of the limestone as well as of associated schists increasing in coarseness from 
north to south, or rather southwest, which is the trend of the limestone belt. The whitest marble of Eutland 
is not as firm as that mottled with gray, owing apparently to the fact that it was made white by the heat that 
crystallized it burning out any carbonaceous matter, while at Pittsford, IG miles to the north of Eutland, it is verjr 
firm, and is white, probably because it -was made with less heat from a whiter limestone. 

Statuary marble is a pure white crystalline marble of very even texture; it is sometimes called saccharoidal,, 
from the resemblance of its grain to that of pure loaf-sugar. Ophiolite or verd-antique is a mixture of limestone- 
and serpentine, as will be noticetl further on. 

Carbonate of magnesia is a common ingredient of many limestones in varying proportions, and such stones are 
called magnesian limestones. When, however, the substances are present in the proportion of 54.35 parts of 
calcium carbonate to 45.65 parts of carbonate of magnesia, the stone is no longer called a limestone, but a dolomite. 
These stones are highly valued for building purposes, and "the best varieties are those in which there is at least 
40 per cent, of carbonate of magnesia with 4 or 5 per cent, of silica". The nearer a magnesian limestone approaches 
a dolomite in constitution, the more durable it is likely to be. 

It is not merely the nature of the constituents or their mechanical mixture that gives dolomite its good qualities ; there is some 
peculiarity in the crystallization -which is all important. 

In the formation of dolomites, some peculiar combination takes place between the molecules of each substance ; they possess some- 
inherent po-wer by -which the invisible or minutest particles intermix or unite -with each other so intimately as to be inseparable by 
mechanical means. On examining -with a highly magnifying po-wer a specimen of genuine magnesian limestone * * * it -will be- 
found not composed of two sorts of crystals, some formed of carbonate of lime and others of carbonate of magnesia, but the entire mass- 
of stone is made up of rhomboids, each of which contains both the earths homogeneously crystallized together. -When this is the case, 
we know by practical observation that the stone is extremely durable, (b) 

The impurities in limestones are numerous. Many contain sand, which greatly injures their weathering 
properties; others contain clay and earthy matter, which are also elements of weakness, since they possess no 
strength in themselves, and, in addition, absorb water with the greatest ease, which renders the stone more liable- 
to disintegration by freezing. Iron pyrites is a common impurity of many limestones, and such are to be avoided.. 
Many of the Pennsylvania marbles contain talc or mica. A beautiful, coarse, rose-red marble. from Danville,, 
New Jersey, contains an abundance of black mica, which occurs in small hexagonal crystals. A limestone in 
the vicinity of Chicago, Illinois, contains petroleum to such an extent that blocks of it which have been used for 
building, become discolored by its exudation after a short exposure to the air, and this becoming mixed with the 
dust of the air forms a very unsightly tarry coating on the surface of the stone. "This rock, though porous and 
discolored by petroleum, is, when freed from this substance, a nearly white, granular, crystalline, and very pure 
dolomite, yielding 54.6 per cent, of carbonate of lime." (c) This oil is not always noticeable at first, but its presence 
can easily be detected by the well-known odor of petroleum which a sample of the rock gives off when struck with, 
a hammer. 

Oxide of iron is a common ingredient of many limestones, and to this substance is due the red color of the 
Tennessee, Mallett's Bay, and other red marbles. The blue or black color so common in limestones and marbles 
is due to carbonaceous matter derived from the decomposition of plants and animals in the waters in which the 
stones were originally deposited. Its carbonaceous nature is made very evident when the stone is subject to a high 
temperature by its becoming pure white through the burning out of this substance. 

Limestones and marbles, owing to their beautiful colors and the ease with which they may be worked, are- 
much esteemed for building and monumental work. They are not, however, the most durable of rocks, especially 
in cities where the air contaius any considerable amount of carbonic, sulphuric, or chlorhydric acid, since these, 
even in veiy small amounts, readily attack the surface of the rock and cause it to crumble. A great deal naturally 
depends upon the texture of the stone. The most durable are those which are compact and homogeneous in structure 
and composition and not too coarsely crystalline. As a general thing the blue and gray colors denote a more durable- 
rock than the pure white, for reasons already noted. 

Limestones weigh from 112 to 185 pounds per cubic foot, the lighter weight being that of a shell limestone 
from Saint Augustine, Florida, and the heavier a compact, fossiliferous, semi-crystalline rock from Dougherty ville, 
Tennessee. As would naturally be supposed, the heavier stone is much the more durable, being more compact and 
therefore less liable to injurious atuiospheric influences. But few experiments have been made in this country upon 
the absorptive properties of stones, but according to the results of various experiments made in England, limestones 
vary in the amount of water they will absorb from 1 to 12 per cent., by weight, in 24 hours. The microscopic structure- 
of a crystalline white marble from Eutland, Vermont, is shown on Plate XVII. 



a Manual of Mineralogy anil LUJiologn. p. 433. 

6 2^''otes on Bnihling ConslrucUon, South Kensington series, Part III, p. 58. 

c T. S. Hunt, Chemical and Gcologiml linmi/s, p. 172. 




Marble, 
Rutland, lit, 



PLATE XVIII. 




SerpEntinB, 
Chester Cd,, Penna, 



MICROSCOPIC STRUCTURE. 29 

SERPENTINE. 

Serpentine is essentially a lij-drous silicate of magnesia, consisting, when pure, of nearly equal proportions of 
silica and magnesia, witli some 12 or 13 per cent, of water. The massive varieties used for arcliitectural purposes 
are, however, always more or less impure, containing frequently from 10 to 12 per cent, of iron protoxide, together 
with small amounts of chrome iron, iron pyrites, clayey matter, and the carbonates of lime and magnesia. It is a 
tough, compact rock of quite variable color, usually greenish, though sometimes yellow, yellowish-green, brownish- 
green, or, more rarely, red, its colors depending, according to Delesse, [a] upon the degree of oxidation undergone 
by the included ferruginous material. 

The origin of serpeutiuous rocks has been a matter of considerable dispute. Formerly they were supposed to 
be eruptive, but later investigations have tended to show that this is not the case, but that they result from the 
metamorphism of magnesiau sediments, (6) or from the decomposition or alteration of gabbro, diorite, and other 
hornbleudic rocks, or from rocks rich in olivine, as Iherzolite. "SYe have already noted the extent to which the olivine 
in the diabase of Indian Eiver, Maine, had become altered into a serpeutiuous product, and it is hence easy to 
understand how large masses might be derived from the alteration of rocks in which olivine was the prevailing 
ingredient. Plate XVIII. is from a magnified section of the impure serpentine from Chester county, Pennsylvania. 
It is a fine-grained, porous, dull green rock, and so soft as to be easily cut with a knife. In thin sections under 
the microscope it is of a faint yellowish-green color, showing in polarized light a somewhat fibrous structure, the 
fibers forming an irregular network, the interspaces of which are filled in many cases with calcite. Many black 
grains are present, which in some cases are magnetite and in others chromite; the chromite usually occurs in small 
black kernels, which are quite opaque, or at best but faintly translucent upon the thin edges, where they show a 
faint reddish color. It is strongly magnetic; the magnetite is distinguished from the chromite by its entire opacity 
and its metallic blue luster as seen by reflected light. 

Serpentine is sutficiently soft to be easily carved into any desirable shape, and can be readily turned on a lathe. 
It acquires a good polish, and is one of our most beautiful stones for mantels, table-tops, and all manner of indoor 
work. For outdoor work the polished stone is entirelj" unsuited, since when exposed to atmospheric influences, 
especially in cities, it soon loses its gloss, and, the surface weathering unevenly, it soon becomes as unsighth' as it 
was once beautiful. Verd-antique is a marble or limestone through which green or yellowish veins of serpentine 
are disseminated. According to Hunt(c) the verd-antique marble of Eoxbury, Vermont, is a mixture of serpentine 
with talc and a ferriferous carbonate of magnesia. 

a Zirkel, Petrography, Vol. I, p. 3'20. 

b T. S. Hunt ou Opliiolites, An. Jour. Sci., Vol. XXUI, p. 239; also Chemical and Geological Essays, p. 317. 

c Silliman's Journal, 2d, xxv, p. 226. 



30 BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 



Chapter III.— CHEMICAL EXAMINATION. 



By Feed. P. Dewey, Smithsonian Institution. 



The optical method of study is not suited to solve all of the problems of lithology, and it becomes necessary 
to supplement it by chemical examinations. Even when the optical properties of a mineral have been thoroughly 
worked out, it can generally be determined with certainty only when sections of known relations to its crystalline 
form can be prepared. The sections of minerals ordinarily obtained in the preparation of microscopic sections of 
rocks are, however, hap-hazard iu their relations to the crystalline forms, and it is only by ascertaining these 
relations as far as possible, by an examination of outlines, cleavages, and other crystalline properties, that mineral 
species can be determined in rocks. The degree of accuracy which is thus obtained is sometimes insufficient for the 
desired purpose; for example, it can be determined that the feldspar in a rock is either tlie monoclinic orthoclase, 
the triclinic microline, or some one of the other species of triclinic feldspar, but which one of these it may be cannot 
with certalntj^ be determined by optical examination. This is sometimes an important point. Again, in the case 
of minerals which can be determined with the greatest certainty, it is sometimes quite desirable to know the 
chemical composition of the species ; for example, hornblende can, with almost entire certainty, be determined in 
thin sections of rocks, but this mineral is variable in its composition, and its properties as a constituent of a building 
stone may be quite different according as its composition varies, and especially according to the percentage of 
protoxide of iron it may contain. The composition of a rock as a whole, although important geologically, is of 
much less importance from an economic standpoint than the composition of individual ingredients, for the properties 
of the stone which fit or unfit it for use as a constructive material depend much more upon the peculiarities of its 
special ingredients than upon the ultimate composition of the whole. As is well known, a rock of a given ultimate 
composition may be a granite, a gneiss, a schist, a slate, or a sandstone, according to the circumstances of its origin 
and its subsequent transformation, and maybe composed of very different mineral species; therefore, rocks of the 
same composition may be very different in their physical properties, and hence, in their capacities for resisting 
decomposing agencies and disintegration. It is therefore desirable to subject many of the stones which are to be 
considered as materials of construction to processes by which their individual mineral constituents can be separated 
from one another and analyzed. This indeed has been the object of those who are interested in the science of 
lithology, and various extremely complicated methods have been proposed to accomplish the result. A method has 
recently been proposed, however, which is much more eiBcacious than any previously applied, and as some of our 
results have been achieved by this method it will be briefly described : 

The red iodide of mercury (Hglj), possessing the high specific gravity of 6, is but slightly soluble in water; it is, 
however, very soluble in a solution of the iodide of potassium (KI), which has a specific gravity of 3.08. If, therefore,, 
a saturated solution of the iodide of potassium is subsequently saturated with the iodide of mercury, a very heavy 
fluid is obtained, and the specific gravity of this fluid is such that many of the common minerals present in a rock 
will readily float upon it. This method of separation by means, of a heavy fluid is said to have been proposed 
by Fleurian de Bellevue et Cordier at the beginning of this century. The solution of the double iodide of potassium 
and mercury was proposed by Church, in 1877, for use in the separation of minerals from one another, (a) The 
method was improt'ed and new apparatus was proposed to be used with it by Thonlet, (6) who applied it with 
considerable success in the separation of minerals from granite and in determining the relative proportion of the- 
various species in rocks of this nature. A further advance in the perfection of this solution was made by 
Goldschmidt, (c) who succeeded, by a careful study of the most favorable proportions between the two salts, in 
increasing the specific gravity of the solution and in extending the utility of its application. He also fully studied 
its properties and demonstrated its great advantages as a separating fluid. According to Goldschmidt, the heaviest 
fluid is not obtained by saturating with iodide of mercury a previously-saturated solution of iodide of potassium,, 
but by dissolving the two salts simultaneously iu water, using a smaller proportion of iodide of potassium than 
that found by analyzing such a saturated solution. After some experimenting, the method of preparing this solution 
adopted by myself, and which gives a solution of the very high specific gravity of 3.28, is as follows: One 
part of iodide of potassium is v^eighed out and placed in a beaker, and one and one-fourth parts of iodide of 
mercury weighed out and placed on top of the iodide of potassium ; then water is added in the proportion of 10 c.c. 
per 100 grams of the mixed salts; in the course of a few hours, with frequent stirrings, the salts will go completely 
into solution. After filtering from the impurities of the salts, the solution is gently evaporated on a water-bath. 

a Mineralogical Magazine, November, 1877. 

b Bulletin de la Soc. Min. de France, 1879, No. 1. 

e Inaugural — Dissertation, Philoaophsche Facultat der Universetat Heidelherg, Victor Goldschmidt. Stuttgart, 1880. 



CHEMICAL EXAMINATION. • 31 

until crystals just begin to separate upon the surface; it is then removed from the water-bath and allowed to become 
thoroughly cold, bj' which means a considerable crop of crystals separates and a fluid of between 3.10 and 3.20 is 
obtained. By pouring off the fluid from the crystals and again heating gently upon the water-bath until crystals 
begin to separate, a further portion of water is driven off from the solution, and upon cooling there is a further 
separation of crystals, and a fluid of the gravity of 3.28 is obtained. My experience iu using this solution indicates 
that there is a double salt formed of the formula (HgL) (KI)2 soluble iu water, miu-Ai more soluble, however, in 
water containing a small amount of iodide of potassium ; but any increase of iodide of potassium beyond a certain 
small amount decreases its solubility, and consequently the si)ecific gravity of the solutions obtained. This solutiou 
is a very remarkable one, and besides its use as a separating fluid it finds many other applications; especially is it 
used by the physicists on account of its high index of refraction. 

For use in separating the mineral constituents of rocks it possesses peculiar advantages besides its high specific 
gravity, the most important being that it can be mixed with water without sutt'ering any change iu voluuie, thus 
allowing fluids of any desired specific gravity to be prepared; and also by a simple calculation the reduction of 
any known volume of fluid of any specific gravity to any desired specific gravity, the formula for this reduction 

being Yi= S, ^.^t^ , in which V equals volume of fluid, D its specific gravity, V, the volume of wat«r to be added, 

and A the specific gravity which it is desired the final fluid shall have. There are, however, some disadvantages 
connected with the use of the fluid, the most important being its poisonous and corrosive properties. 

In order to -separate the mineral constituents of a rock by the use of this fluid, the rock is first jiulverized sa 
that the particles will i>ass through a fine sieve, the size of the mesh being governed by the fineness or coarseness 
of the texture of the rock. It is desirable to reduce the rock to as fiue a powder as possible to avoid the presence 
of composite graius; at the same time it is not practicable to reduce it to anything like the fineness of dust, as that 
would remain for a long time suspended iu the fluid without either sinking or rising. The powder thus obtained 
is washed with water in order to separate from it the exceedingly tine portion which of necessitj' is formed during- 
the pulverization; when the mass has been so long washed with water that the particles all settle very quickly to 
the bottom, it is dried and placed iu a tube with two stop-cocks at the bottom, provided with a perforated india-rubber 
cork at the top, with a bent glass tube and an india-rubber tube for making connections, and also a capillary tube 
from between the two stop-cocks risiug nearly to the top of the tube; the tube is also graduated to admit of the 
ready measurement and consequent calculations of the fluids during the separation; the double iodide solution is 
added, and the whole throroughly mixed, preferably by drawing a current of air through the apparatus by means of 
the Buusen pump; after remaining at rest for some time all those minerals present in the rock which have a higher 
specidc gravity than that of the fluid fall to the bottom, and all that are lighter rise to the top; by opening the 
stop-cocks the portion which has settled to the bottom is drawn off; by closing the upper stop cock and drawing 
water into the lower portion of the lube by means of the capillary tube, the powder can be thoroughly washed from 
the apparatus; by adding water in successively calculated amounts to the fluid which remains in the tube, the other 
ingredients can be caused to fall to the bottom and be drawn ofi' one by one — not, it is true, in a state of perfect 
purity, but iu such a condition that the analysis of certain ones will very frequently lead to v^ry important and 
desired results. The material which falls to the bottom when the fluid is at its highest specific gravity, generally 
complex iu its nature, can be further analyzed by a variety of methods; a separation can very frequently be eflected 
upon the ferruginous minerals by employing electro-magnets of successively increasing power. In some cases a 
.separation can be eflected by employing a mixture of chloride of lead of the specific gravity of 5 and chloride of 
zinc of specific gravity of 2.5, which fuses at a low temperature. A suitable mixture of the two chlorides can be 
fused in an elongated crucible and kept fluid at the lowest possible teiuperature ; the heavy portion of the rock is then 
introduced and thoroughly incorporated with the liquid. After allowing a sufficient time for the rock materials to 
range themselves according to gravity, the heat is removed and the crucible is allowed to cool; by taking successive 
layers of the contents of the crucible and dissolving away the mixed chlorides a satisfactory separation can frequently 
be made. 

The utility and the faults of the method will both be clearly recognized. As an example of its faults it may 
be mentioned that in the pulverization of the complex crystalline rock, no matter to what degree the pulverization 
be carried, some of the graius will of necessity be complex and float in the fluid in positions where they are not 
desired. The control, however, is kept upon the material intended for analysis by microscopic examination; and, 
although the full weight of the objection above mentioned is recognized, still results can be accomplished by the 
use of this solution which have been heretofore impossible. 

There are cases of considerable importance in which the application of this method is especially satisfactory; 
for example, it is .sometimes desired to separate from a rock one of its constituents which is either much heavier or 
much lighter than the other, and this can be done with the greatest ease. There are, on the other hand, cases in 
which the method is entirely inapplicable on account of the manifest impossibility of freeing the mineral constituents 
fi'om one another, or o> separating them from one another, on account of the presence of minerals with nearly 
identical specific gravities; and iu general the perfection or the imperfection of the separations tbat may be effected 



32 BUILDING STONES AND THiy QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

and the consequeut value of the results can be determined by a consideration of the special cases as regards the 
minerals involved and the method of their combination, and by microscopic examinations of the sections and the 
separated products. 

In the examination of the group of carbonates the chemical method has been almost exclusively used, and the 
classification is based upon this examination. 

Of course the most satisfactory method would have been to make a quantitative analysis of each one, but 
with the large number to examine this was manifestly impossible, and a careful qualitative analysis giving an 
approximation to the relative amounts of the principal constituents was all that could be attempted. The method 
adopted was as follows : Measured portions of the powdered samples were introduced into test-tubes of the same 
size, and cold dilute hydrochloric acid was added, and the evolution of carbonic acid noted ; the solutions were then 
boiled, allowed to settle, and the amount and character of the insoluble portion were carefully noted, and, when 
necessary, further examined. In a large majority of cases, however, the solutions were immediately precipitated by 
ammonia, and the amount and character of this precipitate noted; the solutions were then diluted with boiling water, 
measured portions of solution of oxalate of ammonia added to each, and the whole thoroughly shaken ; they were then 
allowed to stand over night; the next morning the amount of precipitate of oxalate of lime was noted in each case; 
the solutions were then decanted into a second set of test-tubes, measured portions of phosphate of soda solution 
were added, and the whole rendered strongly alkaline by ammonia. After a thorough shaking they were allowed 
to stand twenty-four hours, when the amount of precipitate was noted. 

In this way a tolerably fair idea of the approximate composition of the samples was obtained, and while there 
must necessarily be more or less variation in individual cases, it is thought as a whole the names adopted are just. 
In this connection it may be well to state that this work presupposes that the samples sent are truly representative 
samples as judged by the collectors, and that variations in separate quarries rei)resented by specimens from one 
quarry, or even variations in the different parts of the same quarry, cannot justly be taken into consideration; and 
it must be borne in mind, too, that no classification of material so variable in comi)Osition as the carbonates can be 
rigidly exact. The system of names adopted is as follows: 

Limestone, consisting of carbonate of lime. 

Magnesian limestone, consisting of carbonate of lime with from 5 to 30 per cent, of carbonate of magnesia. 

Calcareous dolomites, consisting of two portions, one of which is a true dolomite and the other efifervescing 
freely in cold dilute hydrochloric acid. 

Dolomite, consisting of carbonate of lime and magnesia, containing 30 per cent, or more of carbonate of 
magnesia. 

Beside these, the following qualifjdng terms have been used: 

Arenaceous, containing sand. 

Argillaceous, containing clay. 

Bituminous, containing carbonaceous matter. 



QUARRY METHODS. 33 



Chapter IV.— QUAERY METHODS. 



By F. W. Speer. 



For quarrying each different class of rocks there is a characteristic method employed, which is however 
varied in detail in nearly every different quarry. The minor details of quarry methods are as various as the 
differences existing in the textures, structures, and modes of occurrence of the rocks quarried. 

The methods of draining the quarries and the methods of ordinary rock drilling are the same as those employed 
in mines. 

Machines in great number and variety for quarrying and dressing stones have been invented, but reference 
is made in this report only to such machines as are actually in use. 

THE USE OF EXPLOSIVES. 

All building-stone dejjosits have usually a certain amount of covering, consisting either of a portion of the same 
deposit which has been disintegrated by atmospheric influences or of a later deposit. This covering is called the 
"cap-rock" or "stripping"; the solid portions of it are broken up by blasting, and the whole is carted out of the way. 

After a sufficient space is stripped, the next step necessary, when the quarry rock does not stand out in cliffs 
or escarpments, is to excavate a narrow space on one side for a quarry face, either by blasting or by some of the 
methods of channeling described herein. 

For the purposes of stripping the cap-rock and "forcing" the face, the result to be attained by the use of 
explosives is the breaking up of the rock so that it may be taken out of the way with as little expense as possible, 
regardless of the shapes into which the pieces are broken ; for this no special skill is required in the manipulation 
of the blast. Much, however, depends upon how the blast is made for quarrying the stone which is to be used. In 
the first place, the directions in which a blast will break any kind of rock from the drill-hole are but two or three, 
and sometimes four, unless the explosive be too quick and forcible in its action. The limited number of directions 
in which the rock is most liable to break is determined by the structure of the rock and the shape of the drill-hole. 
Quick-acting explosives, like dynamite, have a tendency to shatter the stone and break it in many directions, the 
texture being affected by the sudden explosion in the same manner as by the blow of a hammer. Coarse gunpowder 
is generally preferred for quarrying stone ; and this is seldom used further than for detaching large masses, which 
are subsequently worked up by means of wedges. The drill-holes are put down to the depth to which the rock is to 
be split, and the requisite amount of powder is put in, covered with sand, and fired by means of a fuse. Sometimes 
numerous charges in a line of drill-holes are fired simultaneously by means of electricity. 

Light charges of powder lightly covered with sand are better, than heavy charges tamped in tight; and 
experience goes to show that better work is done by repeated light blasts in the same hole than by one heavy blast. 
By means of light charges often repeated a mass of rock may be detached without breaking up, which would be 
badly shattered by a single charge strong enough to detach the block. 

At Coushohocken, Pennsylvania, a peculiarly stratified limestone, containing some schistose seams or layers, is 
quarried by first detaching large masses by repeated charges of powder. The rift or stratification is nearly vertical. 
Holes are drilled for the blast, sometimes 20 feet or more in depth, as nearly as possible with the rift. After the 
rock is quite well opened (or "drawn") by the light charges, a charge of several kegs of powder is put in to throw 
out the mass, sometimes containing several thousand cubic feet. If a heavy charge is at first put in, the break, 
instead of taking the direction of the rift, is liable to go in three directions, as determined by the triangular shape 
of the bottom of the hole. It wiU always be observed that a hole when drilled with a steel-bitted percussion drill 
is never round at the bottom;, and when the hand-drill is used the hole is always triangular at the bottom, and 
a blast in such a hole breaks the rock in three directions. The influence of the shape of the hole upon the effects 
of the blast was observed in the brownstone (sandstone) quarries of Portland, Connecticut, many years ago ; and 
the following devices for controlling the blast have long been in use there: 

Deep holes, from 10 to 12 inches in diameter, are drilled by machinery, and the charges of powder are made to 
have definite shapes by being put in canisters, which are placed in the drill-holes and tamped in with sand, so that 
the effects of the blast are the same as though the holes were drilled of the shape of the canisters. To make one 
break across in a straight line the charge is made to have a horizontal cross-section bounded by two minor segments 
of a circle, the canister being made of two pieces of sheet tin, with the edges unsoldered and the ends made of 
paper or cloth. The plane passing through the edges of the canister is that in which the rock is broken by tlie 
blast. 

VOL. IX 3 B g 



34 BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

Two breaks may be made with a single blast in plaues crossing at right angles to each other by using a canister 
which is a square prism. 

The holes are drilled from 10 to 20 feet or more in depth. Sometimes two holes are drilled cloge together, so 
that the core between may be chipped out; aifd canisters 2 feet across from edge to edge are used with tremendous 
effect. 

In many of the large quarries of sandstone in this country explosives are not used for quarrying the stone; 
but in nearly all the smaller quarries gunjoowder is used. The influence of the shape of the drill-hole upon the 
effects of the blast does not seem to be generally known, and a great waste of material necessarily follows. 

Granitic rocks are less liable to be injured by the use of explosives than the softer rocks ; but even for quarrying 
granite powder is used no further than for detaching large blocks, except in rare instances. In every quarry of this 
class of stones there is found to be a certain direction in which the stone splits more easily than in others, even 
when the structure is most decidedly granitic, though quarries are often worked a long time before the cleavage 
plane is discovered. When the cleavage is not very marked it is called "the grain" by quarrymen; and when it 
is more decided, as iu gneissoid and schistose rock, it is called the "rift". In rifted rock there is a secondary 
cleavage plane at right angles to the rift, and this is called "the grain". "Across the grain" is in a plane at right 
angles to the grain and rift, 9r to the two cleavage planes. When the rift is horizontal, or nearly so, it is said to 
be " with the lift". 

In every different locality the structure of the rock must be carefully studied with a view to take advantage 
of the cleavage i)lanes and natural joints in the management of the blast. There must be at least one free end to 
allow the block to move out toward the face ; and the ends are often cut off by natural joints called " end joints". 
Horizontal joints, called "bottom joints", occur in most cases. 

To detach a block a bore-hole is put down to the first bottom joint, and light charges of powder, usually of 
about four pounds each, are repeatedly put in and fired to "draw the break"; and after the rock is well opened a 
heavy charge of one or more kegs of powder is made to move out the mass. In this manner blocks from 15 to 20 
feet in width and 100 feet or more in length may be detached. When the rift is vertical, as in the quarries at 
Monson, Massachusetts, a blast put in a simple bore-hole will break the rock with the rift, in one direction to the free 
end, and in the opposite direction to an end joint ; or, if there be no end joint in that direction, the break turns 
out more or less abruptly across the rift to the face. 

When the vertical bore-holes for the blast cross the rift the shape of the hole controls the directions- of the 
break as in other classes of rock. A hole with an elliptical, horizontal cross-section will always insure a single 
straight break in a plane passing through the long diameter of this cross-section. These holes are made by drilling 
two holes as close to each other as practicable, and then chipping out the core with a chisel-bar. They are called 
"lewis-holes" from their resemblance in shape to the lewis-hole made in the top of the dressed blocks of stone to 
receive the clamp or lewis by which the blocks are lifted. 

It sometimes happens that there are no bottom joints, except at great intervals. The method adoj)ted for 
detaching the blocks in a case of this kind at the Penryn quarries, California, has been described to me by Mr. 
William Foster, who was employed as special agent of the Tenth Census to collect the building-stone statistics in 
the western states and territories. An undercut is blasted out along the first bottom joint and from one end joint 
to another; a lewis-bole or line of lewis-holes 20 feet in depth is put down from 15 to 20 feet from the face, and the 
blast breaks out the block between the end joints and down to the bottom joint, which is about 80 feet from 
the top. Blasts put into rock in this manner act more nearly like wedges than the ordinary blasts, and are capable 
of splitting off blocks containing 100,000 cubic feet of stone. 

The trap-rock quarried so largely at Weehawken, New Jersey, for paving blocks is blasted out without regard 
to the shape or the size of the blocks obtained ; the main object of the blast being to throw out and break up as much 
rock as jDossible. Heavy charges heavily tamped with sand are the most effectual for this kind of work. The 
detached blocks are drilled again and blasted with smaller charges till they are reduced to about the size of 2 by 3 
feet by 1 foot, and these are broken into paving blocks by means of hammers. Sometimes a groove is "chased" 
across a block and a fire is built on the line of the groove to break open the block. 

Such limestones as the massive oolitic limestones of Indiana and the soft limestones of Kansas are quarried 
by channeling and wedging; but most limestones are used for rubble, cellar walls, and ordinary dimension work, 
for which cheapness is the first prerequisite; and therefore the stones are quarried by blasting. Undoubtedly the 
cheapest method of quarrying small blocks is by the use of explosives, unless the rock is quite soft; and for this 
reason explosives are most generally used in the newest portions of the country for quarrying building stones. In 
the case of limestones the badly shattered portions of the rock are usually burned for lime. Thin-bedded limestones 
are often quarried by raising the sheets with iron or steel bars. In a new country, if there are loose bowlders upon 
the surface, these furnish the first building stones used, and are usually broken up with powder or with fire. Such 
was the condition of quarrying at Quincy, Massachusetts, one hixndred and fifty or two hundred years ago, where 
are now some of the largest and most systematically worked quarries in the country. The method of breaking up 
bowlders by heating them with fire, and then striking them with heavy hammers or pouring water upon them, is 
perhaps the rudest and cheapest, and is certainly the most disastrous in its effect upon the quality of the stone. 



QUARRY METHODS. 35 

THE QUAKEYING OF STONE BY CHANNELING AND WEDGING. 

By channeling is meant the process of cutting long narrow channels in rock to free the sides of large blocks of 
stone. The method of cutting the channel depends upon the nature of the rock. Marble was, until quite recently, 
channeled by hand, using a long steel bar, chisel-shaped at one end, cutting a channel about IJ inches wide. This 
method is still in use to some extent, but it has been largely superseded by the use of machinery. 

Quite a large number of machines for quarrying stone have been patented in this country, but only the 
Wardwell channelingmachine and the Sullivan diamond channeling-machine have as yet proved successful. Each 
of these machines lias its special merits for certain kinds of work, and both of them are often used in the same 
quarry for different portions of the work. In marble, these machines taken together are capable of doing all 
kinds of channeling required. 

The machine illustrated in the cut, Plate Vfl, is a double-gang Wardwell channeler, it being the one mostly 
in use and adopted for all kinds of stone, except grit sandstone, and is represented mounted upon a steel-rail track 
on the bed of a quarry. The frame which supports the boiler, engine, and other machinery consists of one piece 
of forged iron weighing nearly a ton, thus furnishing great durability. The engine is of six horsepower, its shaft 
carrying a balance-wheel on each end, to which is attached an adjustable wrist-pin plate. The levers which operate 
the gangs of cutters are pivoted at their rear ends to an extension of the frame. The free end of the upper lever 
passes through a sliding stirrup or swivel attached to the wrist-pin plate (not shown), giving an up-and-down motion 
to that end of the lever as the balance-wheel revolves. The free end of the lower lever passes through a mortise 
in the back side of the lower clamp. Motion is communicated from the ujjper to the lower lever by means of clasps, 
between which the rubber springs are placed, as shown in the cut. The fi-ee end of the lower lever actuates the 
gang of cutters, which consists of five bars of steel sharpened at their lower ends and clamped together by head 
and foot clamps, the whole sliding freely on the standard. Of the five cutters, two have diagonal cutting edges 
and three have their edges transver.se. The object of the diagonal cutting edges is to insure an even bottom to the 
channel. The center cutter extends the lowest, and they all together form a stepped arrangement each way from 
the center ; thus when the machine is moving forward the center and two forward cutters operate upon the stone, 
and when moving in the opposite direction the other two with the center one perform the work. These bars of 
steel are from 7 to 14 feet in length, according to the depth of the channel to be cut. The upper ends of these bars 
are grooved to match corresponding grooves in the head clamp, for the purpose of preventing displacement of the 
cutters. The worm on the main shaft actuates the worm-gear upon the feed-shaft. The feed-shaft extends diagonally 
downward to the rear of the machine, where it terminates in a bevel pinion ; upon the rear axle are placed two 
bevel gears, and, by means of the lever shown, either of these bevel gears may be thrown into action with the pinion. 
The motion thus communicated serves to turn the axle either forward or backward, according to which wheel 
engages the pinion. When the machine is required to be stationary the gears are so placed that neither engages 
the pinion. The short lever locks the gears in any of the required positions. The windlasses on each side of the 
machine are for raising the gangs of cutters out of the channels. The opposite side of the machine is exactly the 
same as the one already described. Channels are usually cut from 4 to G feet deep and 1^ inches wide, except that 
in sandstone they are cut 2 inches wide; and they can be cut within 3 inches of a vertical wall. 

It requires three men to operate the double-gang machine ; from 300 to 400 pounds of coal are used per day, and 
the cost of operating is from $6 to $9 per day. This machine is calculated to cut from 75 to 150 square feet of 
channel in marble and limestone, and from 150 to 200 square feet in sandstone, per day, doing the work of fifty men. 

One form of the Sullivan diamond channeling-machine is illustrated on Plate VIII. The principle here involved 
is the communication of rotary and feed motions to drill-rods on .spindles; and the .special advantages held by the 
machine are that it is capable of cutting channels vertically or at any angle of inclination, and, with the machine 
detached from the boiler, that channels may be cut under an overhanging wall. At one end of the drill-rod is the 
di'ill-head, 1'^ inches in diameter, armed with carbon or black-diamond points, and supplied with small apertures or 
outlets for water, which is forced through the spindle and drill-head. The pump which supplies the boiler also 
supplies the drills, the feed to the ditferent parts being regulated by stop-cocks. The jets of water wash out the 
borings and keep the drill-head from heating. The drill-rods are made of varying lengths adapted to make any 
required depth of channel to 9i feet. 

A continuous open channel is cut in the rock by two operations. By the first, a series of holes is drilled, 
distant from each other a little less than the diameter of the drill-head. The rock partitions thus left between the 
holes are drilled out by the second operation. 

Holes are bored by the first operation, uniformity of distance between them being secured by a guide, and 
a short plain sleeve is used on the drill-rod just above the boring-head. For the second operation this sleeve is 
replaced by a double guide, whereby the action of the boring-head is confined to the rock partition between the 
holes previously bored. 

In the above figure the machine is supposed to move back and forth so as to cut a separate channel with each 
spindle, while on Plate VIII the machine is so mounted as to move sidewise and cut a single channel with the two 
spindles. 

For cutting vertical channels the Wardwell machine is considered the most economical, but for cutting oblique 
channels the Sullivan machine is used. When the excavation is carried with the inclination of the strata, as 



36 BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

illustrated on Plate II, the Sullivan machine is utilized to cut the oblique channel and portions of the vertical 
channels next to the overhanging wall. In such quarries the blocks do not come out rectangular in shape, 
and there is some waste of material, which becomes greater as the inclination of the strata becomes less. When 
the dip is not less than 50° the advantages of a horizontal quarry floor are sufficient to compensate for this loss of 
material • but when the dip is less than from 45° trf 50° the channels are cut perpendicular to the plane of stratification 
with the Sullivan machiue, and the blocks are quarried out rectangular in shape. A quarry with an inclined floor 
is illustrated. on Plate IV. 

After the requisite channel cuts are made about a block of stone it is necessary to undercut the block in order 
to release it. This is accomplished by drilling a series of holes about 8 inches apart along the bottom, and then 
splitting the block from its bed by means of wedges. 

The work of drilling the holes is by quarrymen called " gadding". In most of the large marble quarries of 
this country this is accomplished by means of a machine, using the diamond spindle drill on the same principle as the 
Sullivan channeling-machine, and called a " gadding-machine". The holes are drilled to varying depths, depending 
upon the width of the block to be raised. In many quarries the blocks are made from 4 to 6 feet in width, and the 
bottom holes are gadded from 18 to 36 inches deep. The split is made with the common plug-and-feather wedges, 
which consist of two half-round pieces of iron (called feathers), tapering to a point at one end, and a wedge-shaped 
piece of steel called the plug. The length of the plugs is a little greater than the depth of the drill-holes in which 
they are to be used. The feathers are a little shorter than the plugs, and when two of them are placed with their 
flat sides together the large end just fits into the drill-hole, in which they are so placed that the points are left 
protruding slightly and the large end nearly reaching the bottom of the hole. The plugs are inserted between the 
points of the feathers, and when they are all thus set they are driven simultaneously till the block splits from its 
bed. A few of the wedges are then overdriven to loosen the others, in order that they may be withdrawn and used 
elsewhere. 

In the Oockeysville marble quarries, near Baltimore, Maryland, the blocks are channeled from 8 to 15 feet in width 
by using one side of the Wardwell machine and cutting single instead of double channels. To raise these blocks the 
bottom holes are drilled 2, 4, and 6 feet in depth, and a wooden plug about 2 inches in length is put into the bottom 
of each hole. The wedges or plugs are round bars of steel of a diameter a little less than that of the drill-holes, 
and their lengths exceed the depth of the holes in which they are to be used by about 3 inches. The portion of 
the bar which is wedge-shaped is about 8 inches in length, and to this the feathers, of about the same length, are 
tied the large end projecting a little beyond the end of the wedge. The feathers and wedges thus tied together 
are placed in the holes against the wooden plugs, which allow the wedges to be driven through and beyond the 
feathers if necessary. A block 8 feet thick, 15 feet wide, and of any length may thus be raised. The gadding- 
machine is further used for gadding the holes for splitting the large blocks into sizes suitable for handling. This 
operation is illustrated on Plate II. When the machine is adjusted for work it is braced by driving the pointed 
legs near the trunk-wheels hard upon the quarry floor. The boring apparatus is attached by a swivel to a 
perpendicular guide-bar, which is secured to the boiler and forms'the main support of the machine. The boring 
apparatus may be raised and lowered upon the guide-bar and turned upon the swivel so as to bore in any direction 
within the plane of the swivel-plate. 

Steel-bitted machines have not yet been improved so as to cut or gad the holes along the bottom of the blocks 
sufficiently close to the floor, but for gadding the side holes such machines are used to good advantage. They are 
not capable of doing as much work as the diamond machines, but the high price of the carbon points places the 
latter machines at a disadvantage. 

In Eutland marble an ordinary day's work for one man is to channel by hand 3 square feet; to gad by hand, in 
depth, 12 feet. An ordinary day's work for the Wardwell channeler is 50 square feet ; an ordinary day's work tor 
the diamond channeler is 60 square feet, for the gadder 180 feet, and for the steel-bitted machine (a) 100 feet. 

The above figures do not indicate the capacities of the machines under wholly favorable circumstances, but 
only their usual work with the usual contingent delays. 

Guides cannot be attached to percussion drills so as to confine the action of the tool to a narrow rock partition 
between the holes, as is done with the diamond drill ; though in some granite quarries continuous open channels are 
cut with percussion drills by first drilling a series of holes, with a 2- or 2 J-inch drill-bit, about three-quarters of an inch 
apart, which is as close as they can be cut without running into each other and wedging the tool. The cores are 
then chipped out by replacing the drill-bit by a tool of the same diameter, having a circular cutting rim and a 
diametrical cutting edge. The tendency to run ofl' the core is partly obviated by the shape of the tool and partly 
by placing in the holes, on each side of the core, strips of hard wood of a thickness that will just allow the tool 
to go down between them. This seems to be the only practical method yet devised for channeling granite, 
though very little of this kind of work is done for the reason that the operation is very expensive on account of the 
hardness of the rock and because granite sustains less injury than the softer rocks by the use of explosives, which, 
therefore, may be employed for detaching large blocks without serious objection. 

a The Ingersol rock-drill is the steel-bitted machine used for gadding in the Eutland q.uarries. The Band drill is used in some other 
marble quarries. 



QUARRY METHODS. 37 

The work of breaking the large blocks of granite into smaller sizes is accomplished altogether by means of 
plug-aud-feather wedges. To break the largest blocks of gneiss or giieissoid granite with the rift plug-holes from 4 
to 6 inches deep and 8 inches apart are sufficient; but to break such blocks across the rift, or to split blocks having 
a truly granitic structure, about every third or fourth hole is drilled to a depth depending upon the thickness of the 
block and firmness of the texture, by which a more perfect fracture is insured. These deep holes are drilled with a 
strikiug-drill operated by three men, one holding and turning the tool and two men striking with lieavy hammers or 
sledges. The other holes are drilled with small hand-drills. The feathers or half rounds and plugs or wedges 
are smaller than those used in the softer kinds of stone. The i-iuch plug-holes, about tliieo-quarters of an inch 
in diameter, and wedges aud half-rounds 3 inches in length, are used for splitting blocks of <-onsiderable size. The 
wedges draw more perfectly if they are oiled before they are driven. 

In most of the large sandstone quarries, e.xcept those in the hardest kind of sand-rock, channel cuts are made to 
some extent. Usually in the softer sandstones channels about 18 inches in width and from 4 to 6 feet and sometimes 
even 15 or 20 feet in deptii are dug arouud the sides of the quarry with sharp steel picks, and the loosened material is 
thrown out with shovels. Other similar channels are often made, especially in large quarries, to cut off a certain 
portion of rock. Sometimes these channels are cut only on three sides of a quarry, to give a face and free ends. 
In the brownstone quarries of Portland, Connecticut, the channel necessary for a quarry face is made and the ends 
are broken off by blasting, as already described. 

Having a face and free ends in a bedded, stratified, or unstratified sand-rock, a groove i)arallel to the face is cut 
across the top. The distance of this groove from the face may depend somewhat upon the thickness of the bed. 
A row of wedges is set in this groove and simultaneously driven till the rock breaks open. A long rectangular 
block is thus detached, and afterward cut into smaller sizes by means of wedges. For splitting small blocks, 
instead of the continuous groove a short groove is cut for each wedge. 

Wheu wedges alone are not sufficient to split off a block, holes are drilled at intervals aud to depths as may 
be required, and plugs and feathers are used in connection with the wedges. When the rock is stratified, but not 
bedded, a row of wedges with or without plugs and feathers, as the case may require, is driven along the bottom to 
raise the block at the same time that the top row of wedges is driven. When the rock is neither bedded nor 
stratified it is best to channel olf blocks of such width that they can be raised by wedging along the bottom. 

The process of quarrying sandstone by the methods most commonly employed is illustrated on Plate V. 

The Wardwell channeling-machiue has recently come into considerable use for quarrying sandstone. The 
cutting-bars for this purpose are made to cut a channel 2 inches wide and 4 feet deep, and are sharpened at both 
ends so that they may be reversed wheu one end is dull. These cutting-bars need to be sharpened more frequently 
in sandstone than in marble. 

The work of channeling with picks aud shovels is very injurious to the health of the workmen on account of 
the sand-dust inhaled into the lungs. 

In the North River blue-stone quarries the rock is bedded and so jointed that no artificial channels are necessary 
for freeing the sides of large blocks. A quarry face is secured by excavating the rock between two parallel joints, 
which may usually be found but a few feet apart. This is called " forcing", and is done by drilhng holes aud blasting 
out the rock with powder. 

The blocks are raised by driving wedges into the bed joints, unless the beds are too thick, in which case a row 
of plug-holes for splitting the block is put in along a line of stratification. The lines of stratification are called 
"reeds", and mark the planes along which the stone can be split up into thin slabs; they usually occur at intervals 
of from 2 to 6 inches, though sometimes at greater intervals, wheu the stone cauuot be split up into flagging, but 
is suitable for dimension work. 

After the blocks are raised from their beds they are broken across by means of plug-holes, about 8 inches apart, 
drilled across the top. Small point-holes are also made between the plug-holes. The quarryman first drives the 
plugs tight and then drives the i^oint into one point-hole after another all along the line, the object of this being to 
assist the wedges and to secure a straight fracture. The wedges and point are driven alternately till the stone 
breaks. Small blocks can usually be split along the planes of stratification by simply driving the point in along a 
reed. 

Where the rock lies in thin beds or sheets the blocks are pried up with long steel bars. If slabs of less thickness 
than that of the natural beds are desired the blocks are split before they are broken across. 

A peculiar method of reducing large blocks by means of wedges is employed in the limestone quarries at 
Conshohocken, Pennsylvania. This limestone is magnesiau in composition, has a rifted or foliated structure, is 
capable of withstanding a great transverse strain, and works in a manner peculiar to itself. The large blocks are 
detached by blasting, as described on page 33, and are made to lie with the rift horizontal : lines of holes are drilled 
from the top as nearly through the blocks as possible without chipping out a piece at the bottom, and from one side 
horizontal rows of holes are gadded to a depth of from 1 foot to 3 feet, de])ending upon the size of the blocks. In this 
manner all the drill-holes necessary for reducing a large block with plug-and-feather wedges to blocks of required 
dimensions are drilled; the holes from the top crossing the rift (or '-split") are drilled about 8 inches apart, ami 
those from the side several feet aijart. The blocks are first split with the rift and then across it. 



38 BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

In the soft-limestone quarries at Winfleld, Kansas, a common auger, not pointed, is used for boring holes for 
the plug-and-feather wedges. A 1^-inch auger bores 6 inches in depth per minute. 

In soap-stone quarries the blocks are at once cut up by the channels into sizes suitable for handling, wedges being 
used for cutting off the bottom only. A wedge fracture in soap-stone is somewhat ragged. The channel is cut to 
its full depth at one end, from which it is then cut back by paring off successive increments from top to bottom with 
a long steel bar having the cutting end beveled from one side. These bars are called chisel-bars or channeling-bars. 

As all the softer rocks are more or less shattered when quarried by the use of explosives, the process of channeling 
has largely superseded that of blasting in this country for quarrying all kinds of rocks for building purposes, except 
slate and granitic rocks. It is the improved methods employed in quarrying that give the American marbles a claim 
to superiority over the Italian or Carrara marble. 

At Carrara, Italy, the marble stands in immense cliffs on the sides of steep and rough mountains, aud masses 
weighing many tons are blasted off aud allowed to fall sometimes from 400 to 500 feet before striking. The jar 
sustained, both by the blast aud by the fall, injures the texture of the stoue, and causes, what is noticed everywhere 
in our cemeteries, the cracking of Italian marble after a few years' exposure. («) 

The worst feature attending the use of explosives for quarrying stone is that incipient cracks are produced, 
which do not open while the stone is being handled and dressed. Costly buildings ar6 often marred and sometimes 
ruined by the cracking of some of the stones used in their construction. This disintegration is usually attributed 
to the non-resistance of the material to atmospheric influences, bat it is more often due to the incipient cracks 
started in the quarry. 

THE WORKING OF SLATE. 

As slate is distinct in structure from all other rocks, so is the working of it essentially different. A few of 
the technical terms used by slate-workers it will be necessary to explain before proceeding with the discussion of 
the manner of working. 

The SPLIT is the cleavage. 

The GrRAiN is a secondary cleavage at right angles to the split, aud usually to a regular system of natural 
joints. 

Flint is a term applied to hard clay stones, quartz, or any hard rock which may be interstratified with the 
slate rock or occur in veins or concretions. 

A QTJAERY is where good slate rock exists developed or undeveloped. 

Stock is the useful rock taken out of a quarry. 

The BUTT of a quarry is where the overlying rock comes in contact with an inclined stratum of slate rock. 

The NOSE of a quarry is the line of contact between the underlying rock and an inclined stratum of slate 
rock. 

End joints are vertical joints running back from and perpendicular to the quarry face. 

Back joints run parallel to the quarry face. 

Bottom joints are horizontal or nearly so. 

The ends of a block are the surfaces which cross the split and are perpendicular to the grain. 

The sides of a block are the surfaces which cross the split and are parallel with the grain. 

To SCULP is to split a block with the grain by driving a chisel into a notch made in the end of the.block. 

To PLUG is to drill a hole near the middle of and through a block, and drive in a plug-and-feather wedge or 
put in a blast of powder to split the block with the grain. 

To BREAK AC itoss is to break a block in a plane perpendicular to the grain and split by cutting a notch in one edge 
and then supporting the block at each eud on this edge and striking with a heavy wooden mallet on the other edge 
aud directly opposite the notch, or the block may be supported near the notch and struck near the ends on the 
opposite edge. 

To SPLIT is to separate the slate along the cleavage jjlanes. 

In this country the slate is all taken out of open quarries, and the successive steps to be taken in quarrying 
slate are similar to those taken in quarrying other kinds of rock : The weathered material near the surface is removed; 
a quarry face is made by excavating a narrow channel down into the solid rock ; large blocks are detached, and 
these are worked up into sizes suitable for handling, hoisted out of the quarry, and worked up by different processes 
for different uses. 

The method of working a quarry depends chiefly upon the inclination of the cleavage plane and upon the 
direction of the grain ; a quarry should always, however, be worked from the butt toward the nose. 

In the Maine slate region the cleavage or split is nearly vertical aud correspouds very nearly with the 
stratification. The grain in some of the quarries is vertical, and in others it is horizontal. The slate veins or 
strata occur alternately with flint veins, the former varying in thickness from 2 to 10 feet, the latter being less, but 

a Mr. Edwin Greble, a marble dealer of Philadelphia, says that when he visited the Carrara marble quarries the scene reminded him 
of the bombardment of a fort ; that he has examined blocks of marble in some of the old ruins of Rome and found that the stone was 
somewhat worn but not cracked, but that scarcely a block of marble quarried since the introduction of gunpowder can be found free from 
cracks. 



QUARRY METHODS. 39 

also variable in tliickness. The quarries are worked from the butt, a slate vein is excavated for the face, and the 
flint vein on the upper side is allowed to stand for a wall. The face is excavated from 20 to 30 feet in depth and about 
the same in length before any stock is taken out. The flint vein on the lower side is then blasted out with i)0 wder and 
the next slate vein will usually be found cut up into blocks of greater or less size by end joints aud bottom joints, 
and niay be detached by driving in wedges at the top. Sometimes a hole is drilled in from the top so as to strike the next 
lower flint vein at a depth of 8 or 10 feet, light blasts are made to loosen the back joints, which in this case are joints 
along the cleavage, and the blocks are pried ott' with bars. Whenever no bottom joint is available at or near the 
floor of the quarry, an undercut must be made, and this is called blasting oft" the roots. When the grain is horizontal 
the excavation is carried down in steps, each from 20 to 40 feet or more in height. When the grain is vertical the 
step system is not uniformly adopted; but each underlying bed or vein is allowed to stand until a bottom joint is 
reached, which is seldom at any great depth ; and, if the end joints are so far apart that the rock between them 
cannot be detached at once from the top, a space is blasted out at one end in the same manner as the roots are 
blasted off when the grain is horizontal ; a hole is drilled half way between the top and bottom and from 10 to 20 feet 
from the free end, and a blast put in this hole splits the block from top to bottom. For splitting (or " plugging ") 
oS" blocks in this manner the drill-hole must go through to a back joint; though such a joint may be made at any 
depth by putting a small charge of powder in the bottom of the hole and tamping it in tightly with sand, and the 
etfect of the blast will be to cleave the rock along the cleavage plane passing through the bottom of the hole. If 
the hole is filled nearly full with powder and covered lightly with sand, the eff'ect of the blast will be to make a 
clean break along the grain from top to bottom without shattering the rock ; but if the powder is made to fill but 
half the hole and is heavily tamped, the effect of the blast is to break up aud shatter the rock. 

Experienced slate quarrymeu show unusual sagacity by the manner in which they take advantage of the position 
of the rock as determined by the cleavage, grain, and natural jointu, and by manipulating the blast so that it will 
produce just the effects desired. In the Vermont slate region the cleavage dips at an angle of about 1.5°, and, if the 
quarries are opened in the butt, one face cut will be suflQcient for taking out all the rock which can be obtained 
without carrying the excavation under the overlying strata ; but small quarries are often opened near the nose, 
where there is but a small amount of slate above the underlying strata, and when this is taken out a new face cut 
must be started from the top. There are a great uumber of small quarries opened in this region without regard to 
future workings and without any idea apparently of developing large operations. The d6bris is thrown on good 
slate rock, and the progress of large quarries has already in some instances been stopped by these piles of debris. 

In the different Pennsylvania slate quarries may be found every dift'erent inclination of cleavage, direction of 
grain, and manner of jointing, but the general ijrinciples of quarrying are the same in all; that is, a face and free 
end are first made, after which large blocks are wedged off', pried oft" with levers, or plugged oft' with powder, and 
these blocks are plugged, split, and broken across till they are reduced to such sizes that they may be hoisted out 
of the quarry with derricks. If a block is small and less than one foot in thickness, it can be split by driving the 
sculp or paring-chisel into the edge of the block along a cleavage line ; if the block is large, and it is necessary to 
use wedges for splitting, a series of wedge-shaped holes is cut along a cleavage line with the paring-chisel, two 
thin strips of iron are placed in each hole, and the wedges are placed between the strips of iron and driven. 

Slate is used for a great variety of purposes, and if the blocks are to be worked up into roofing slate they are 
taken from the quarry to the splitters' shanties on small cars run on rail tracks between the quarry aud the shanties. 
At each shanty are a splitter and two assistants. The first assistant takes the block upon its arrival and reduces it 
to i^ieces of about 2 inches in thickness and of a length and breadth a little greater than those of the slates to be 
made. The splitter clea\'e8 these pieces into slates with the splitting-chisel. The second assistant trims the slates 
with irregular edges into rectangular shape aud to definite sizes. 

The process of sculjiing, which is carried out by the first assistant, is as follows : A notch is cut in one end of the 
block with the sculping chisel, and the edge of the notch is trimmed out with the gouge to a smooth groove extending 
across the end of the block and perpendicular to the upper and lower surfaces ; the sculping chisel is set into this 
groove and driven with a mallet, and thereupon a cleft soon starts, which by skillful manipulation is guided directly 
across the block. The upper surface of the block is wet with water so that the crack may be more readily seen. If 
the block were perfectly uniform in shape and textqre, aud the blows upon the sculp directed straight with the grain, 
the crack would follow the grain in a straight line across the block. Almost invariably, however, the crack will 
deviate to the right or to the left, and must be brought back by directing the blow on the sculp in the direction in 
which it is desired to turn the break, or by striking with a heavy mallet against the right-hand side of the notch, if 
the break is to be turned in that direction, and vice versa. Some slate rock can be sculped across the grain, but 
most of it has to be broken across the grain. 

Tlie splitter uses a broad thin chisel for his work. He always splits the piece of slate through the middle, aud 
continues to divide the pieces into equal halves until they are reduced to the required thinness. The edges of the 
blocks must be kept moist from the time the rock is taken from the quarry until it is split up, and when it is necessary 
to allow the blocks to lie a day or more some precautions must be taken to Iceep the edges moist. In some quarries 
the blocks split best from the side and in otheis from the end, and in some qualities of slate the splitting chisel 
may be driven in its whole length at once without danger of breaking the slate, while in others it is necessary to 
lead the split by driving the chisel slightly all around the edges of the block before driving it in at any one point. 



40 



BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 



There are many other little peculiarities which need to be -watched by the splitter, and almost every different quarry 
presents some characteristic features which modify the working of the slate. 

To trim slate by hand a straight-edged strip of iron or steel is fastened horizontally on one of the upper edges 
of a rectangular bloct about 18 inches in height; the trimmer lays the slate upon the block, allowing one of the 
irregular edges to project over the iron plate, and cutting it off by a chopping stroke with a heavy knife; in this 
manner he trims two edges at right angles to each other and then marks out the other two edges with a measuring 
stick before trimming them. The measuring stick has a nail through one end and notches or steps toward the other 
end at distances from the point of the nail corresponding with the lengths and breadths of slates made. 

The machine for trimming slates consists of a horizontal steel plate, with a beveled edge upward, past which a 
heavy curved knife is made to pass by being revolved on an axle like that of an ordinary straw-cutter, or by being 
hung on a hinge and pulled up by a spring and down by a treadle operated by the trimmer. Projecting at right 
angles from the plate, a little upward and toward the operator, is an iron arm upon which there are steps at 
distances from the knife-edge corresponding with the lengths and breadths of slates made, and which thus serves as 
a guide for making the slates both rectangular and of definite sizes. The trimmed slates are set on end outside of 
the shanties, each different size in a row or pile, by itself. Each square, which is the number of slates that will 
cover 100 square feet of roof, is set off in the piles by allowing one slate to project over the sides of the others. 

For many purposes slate is worked up principally by machinery. The blocks are taken from the quarries to 
the slate-mills and there split into slabs about 2 inches in thickness and sawed into the required sizes with circvilar 
saws. If thinner slabs are required the sawed pieces are split. The sawed slabs are planed on one side or on 
both sides, as may be required, with a planing-machine like the machines used for planing iron. The planer-chisels 
vary in width from 3 to 6 inches, according to the softness of the slate. The planed slabs are laid on the rubbing- 
bed and rubbed with sand put on with water. The rubbing-bed is a flat, circular piece of cast-iron, from 8 to 10 
feet in diameter, revolving horizontally on a shaft, The sand is put in a trough above the rubbing-bed. One end 
of the trough is a little lower than the other, and is near the shaft above the center of the bed, so that a small 
stream of water entering the upper end of the trough washes the sand slowly upon the bed and near its center. 
The sand gradually works to the outer edge of the bed, and is finally washed off as silt. The slabs of slates are 
prevented from being carried around with the bed by stationary arms or timbers extending across the bed, and 
within about one-quarter of an inch of its surface. w 

Slate does not receive a gloss polish, but if a finer surface is desired than that which can be given by the 
rubbing-bed it is rubbed by hand with fine sand or emery. Slates for billiard-table tops are jointed after being 
rubbed, the slabs being fastened to a table moving back and forth before a large revolving grindstone. 

For mantels, table-tops, etc., and all kinds of marbleized work, the softer varieties of slate are preferred ; they 
can be sawed with both circular and band saws, and are easily planed and rubbed. For tiling and other uses in 
which the slate is subjected to considerable wear the harder varieties are employed ; the slate from the quarries 
at Ohapmanville, Pennsylvania, is especially applicable for these purposes, and has to be sawed with diamond band- 
saws and diamond reciprocating saws. These saws are made by setting in teeth of black diamond or carbon points 
to do the cutting. In the quarries at Ohapmanville steel drills are used, but at the mills all the drilling is done 
with diamond-set tools. 

School slates are manufactured quite extensively at some of the quarries in the vicinity of Slatington, 
Pennsjdvania. A large part of the work is done by machinery, and the improvements which have been made in 
this line are important. The slates are quarried and split the same as for roofing. 

The following table shows the different steps taken in finishing the slates after they are split, and the number 
of persons required for one set of machinery capable of turning out about 20,000 slates per day : 



TRIMMIKG THE SLATES. 



Mai king into rectangleR and sawing witli small circular saws . . 
Shaving the surfaces smooth with draw-knives 



FRAMING THE SLATES. 



Sawing boards into lengths for frame-pieces 

Sawing and grooving frame-pieces 

Tenoning and mortising frame-pieces 

Gluing tenons, mortises, and grooves, and sticking together an end and two side pieces. 

Placing the frames on the slates 

Pressing the frames firmly on the slates with a machine-press 

Trimming the corners of the frames - 

Planing the frames - 

Printing rules on the inner edges of the frames ; 

Punching holes in the frames 

Sewing cloth upon the frames with shoe-strings 

Packing and boxing the slates 



Total. 



Number Number Number 
of men. of boys, of women. 



QUARRY METHODS. 41 

Thfe machine for printing the rules on the frames is a recent and valuable invention. The mles are diNaded 
into inches, half inches, and quarter inches. 

These slates now supply almost the entire market of this country, and are quite extensively shipped to England, 
Germany, and other foreign countries. 

THE GENEKAL METHODS OF DRESSING THE VARIOUS GLASSES OF ROCKS. 

1. The tools employed in dressing granite are the set, the spalling-hammer, the pean-hammer, the bush-hammer, 
the chisel, the bush-chisel, and the hand-hammer. The set is used for dressing the edges of a block to a line. The 
spalling-hammer is sometimes used for taking off larger projections than can be dressed off with the set ; but such 
projections are commonly taken off" with wedges (or " plugged off'"). The point is used for roughing out the contour 
of surfaces. With the pean-hammer the projections left by the point are cut down. The bush -hammer imparts a 
finish according to the number of cuts employed. The chisel is used for finishing moldings, for cutting drafts 
around rock-faced and pointed work, and for lettering and tracing. The bush-chisel is used for dressing portions 
of surfaces not accessible with the bush-hammer. The set, point, and chisels are driven with the haud-hammer. 

The steps in the process of dressing a granite surface are: ]st, dressing the edges to a Hue with the set; 2d, 
roughing out the surface with the point; 3d, cutting down the irregularities left by the point with the pean- 
hammer ; and, 4th, dressing down, with the 4-cut, 6-cut, S-cut, 10-cut, and 12-cut bush-hammers successively, the 
irregularities left by each preceding tool. 

This process is carried out to different degrees for the different kinds of finished dressing known as rock-faced 
work, pointed work, single-cut or pean-hammer work, and 4-cut, G-eut, 8-cut, 10-cut, and 12-cut work. For pointed 
work there is usually a draft chiseled around the face, after which the space within is dressed to a level with the 
draft or is given a certain projection, and may be rough-pointed or fine-pointed. Rock-faced work is sometimes 
drafted. The surfaces which come against other surfaces in masonry are dressed to a degree of fineness depending 
upon the closeness of joint required. Exposed surfaces are not often finished with the pean-hammer, the principal 
use of the single-cut being to prepare the surface for the next finer cut. 

The condition of the surface at the completion of any particular cut work should be such that each cut in the 
hammer traces a line its full length on the stone at every blow. Tiie single-cut should leave uo unevenuess exceeding 
one-eighth of an inch, and each finer cut reduces the amount of unevenness ; and the 12-cut should leave no 
irregularities other than the indeutations made by the impinging of the cuts in the hammer upon the surface of the 
stone. The lines of the cuts are made to be vertical on exposed vertical faces, and on the horizontal and unexijosed 
faces they are made straight across in the direction which is most convenient. 

For fine and accurate work all the tools designated in the complete process are used, except that a o-cut 
hammer is often substituted for the 4-cut and the 6-cut hammers ; but some of the tools are ordinarily omitted, 
the 6-cut being made to follow the pean-hammer, and the 10-cut to follow the 6-cut, etc. 

A machine operatiug a bush-hammer by steam has been used, but not extensively. The hammer can be made 
to strike with any force up to a certain degree, but it cannot be guided with the delicate accuracy with which the 
bush-hammers are manipulated by hand. There are two other inventions for dressing granite by machinery not 
yet extensively tried. One of these inventions is the sawing of granite with gang-saws by the aid of chilled-iron 
globules. 

Grauite has been sawed with gang-saws by the aid of sand and with diamond-toothed saws ; but the former 
process is too slow and the latter is too expensive to be profitable. 

The essential feature of the other invention above referred to is a tool- or cutter-holder called the "chuck", 
which is furnished with three or more circular cutters set at an angle to the plane of their track or the path described 
by the edges of the cutters as they are carried round in a circle by the revolution of the chuck upon its axis. 

Machiues are made with the chucks and cutters variously adjusted for dressing plain and curved surfaces, the 
top and sides of blocks, different kinds of stone, and for turning columns. 

The principal objections which have heretofore been urged against these machines are that the sand made by 
the dressing gets into the journals and between all the rubbing surfaces of the machinery, producing rapid wearing 
of these parts, and that the cutters are liable to chip out the edges of the blocks of stone. To overcome the latter 
objection an arrangement has recently been invented for produciug more perfect arrises. 

Granite is now used rock-faced in all cases where this mode of dressing is at all applicable. The use of granite 
for tombstones and ornamental work in general has greatly increased since the introduction of machinery for 
polishing. The cost of preparing a granite surface for polishing is, however, still great. 

Before the intioduction of machinery for polishing a polished granite surface was seldom seen; but now the 
polishing of granite is an extensive iudustiy. The surfaces are prepared for polishing with the 10-cut or the 12-cut 
bush-hammer. The process of polishing consists in : 1st, rubbing with sand; 2d, with emery; and 3d, with putty- 
powder. All these polishing materials arc put on with just sufBcient water to make a paste which is not gummy. The 
process is commenced with rather coarse sand. The sand constantly works off and is caught on a shelf or in a pit, 
and for a time fresh sand is supplied; but as the surface becomes smoother the sand is taken from the shelf or pit 



42 BUILDINa STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

and put back upon the stone, the sand being ground finer and finer at the same time that a finer surface is produced. 
The impali^able powder or mud produced is carried off by the water. Emery is applied in the same manner as 
sand after as fine a finish as possible has been given by the latter. Putty-powder is rubbed on with a felt-covered 
block to give the surface a gloss finish. Flat surfaces are brought to a horizontal position, and the sand and emery 
are rubbed on with a horizontally-revolving iron wheel made of several concentric rings. The rubbing-wheels are 
usually from 12 to 18 inches in diameter ; the machines are constructed on various plans, so that the wheels may be 
carried about over the whole surface to be polished, and so that the vertical shaft upon which the wheels are carried 
may be raised or lowered within certain limits by the operator to give different degrees of pressure. The felt-covered 
block for rubbing on the putty-powder is attached to the bottom of the wheel. Straight moldings are polished 
with blocks made to fit them, and worked back and forth by machines called "pendulum machines". Granite 
columns are polished in lathes. 

2. The steps taken in the process of cutting marble are : 1st, shaping up the block with the spalling-hammer and 
IDitching-tool ; 2d, roughing out the surface with the point ; 3d, cutting down the projection left by the point with 
the tooth-chisel; and 4th, cutting the surface smooth with the drove. 

The spalling-hammer is used for breaking off the larger projections, and the pitching-tool is used for dressing 
the edges to a line. Chisels having a bit more than one inch in width are called " droves"; smaller sizes are called 
"tools". 

A finished surface is usually drove, tooled, or polished. Eock-faced, pointed, and tooth-chiseled work are seldom 
employed. A tooled surface is made with the chisel, and has a ridged or wavy appearance due to the lines of 
indentations made by the tool. Surfaces are drove preparatory to polishing. The steps involved in the process of 
polishing are: 1st, rubbing with coarse sand; 2d, with finer sand; 3d, with coarse grit; 4th, with finer grit; 5th, 
with pumice-stone; 6th, polishing with Scotch hone; and 7th, glossing with putty -powder, with sometimes an 
addition of oxalic acid. Water is applied in every step of the process. 

It is usually specified in contracts for polished work that no oxalic acid shall be used, because a more durable 
polish is obtained by the use of the putty-powder alone. 

Small blocks are rubbed with sand on the rubbing-bed ; otherwise, machines similar to those used for polishing 
granite are used for ap])lying the sand and putty-powder. The grit consists of spalls from sand-rock which has a 
texture suitable for grindstones. The grit and pumice-stone and Scotch hone are applied by hand. Each step in 
this process must eradicate all traces of the preceding step; skillful workmen are required, and the work of 
imparting the gloss finish cannot proceed so long as there are any scratches whatever left in the surface. 

A dressed surface of most colored marbles will have cavities, which must be filled before the marble is 
polished. This filling is done with a wax made of shellac and colored with any non-oily substance, which is 
applied with a red-hot strip of iron, and before the wax cools a little of the marble-dust is rubbed into it. The 
same material is also used for cementing pieces of colored marble together. There is yet no substance known with 
which white marbles can be filled ; and, fortunately, the need of filling them is not often felt. White marbles are 
usually compact and colored marbles vesicular in structure. 

Marble is quite extensively sawed with machines called " gang-saws ", employing horizontally reciprocating 
saws which are aided by sand. The saws are plates of iron from 3 to 4 inches wide and one-eighth of an inch thick ; 
their edges are smooth, and the actual cutting is done by the sand. As many saws are used at once on a block of 
stone as there are parallel cuts to be made. The saw-frames are supported by iron rods working on hinge-joints 
at both ends. Some machines are so constructed that the pressure on the saws is simply the weight of the saws 
and frame ; but in other machines the frame is let down a certain amount at each stroke by screws worked by the 
machinery. By the latter arrangement the feed can be regulated to suit the texture of the stone. 

The sand is placed on the top of the stone and fed into the kerfs with a water-drip. The sludge from the ends 
of the saws is caught in a pit, the silt is carried off by the water, and the sand is shoveled back upon the stone. 

Iron plates, the cutting edges of which are segments of a circle, are revolved by a vertical shaft for sawing 
circular pieces out of marble slabs for sinks, wash-stands, etc. The saw prepares the surface for the process of 
polishing. 

Various machines have been invented for doing different kinds of work in marble dressing, but only a few of 
them are found at all in use, excepting those referred to above. 

In manj^ localities in this country thinly-bedded limestones are the only stone material near at hand for purposes 
of construction. The beds of these stones are usually smooth enough to be used in ordinary masonry without 
dressing; the ends are jointed with the pitching-tool and point, and the faces are commonly dressed rock-face. 
Such stones are not used to any extent for superstructures, except for church edifices, their principal use being for 
building foundations, bridge piers and abutments, and other like structures. 

Heavily -bedded limestones are commonly sawed with gang-saws, and the various kinds of finish given the faces 
are rock-face, pointed, tooled, drove, or rubbed. On some limestones the tooth-ax is used after the point, after 
that the ax-hammer, and then the diamond hammer. 

For carving marble and other stones, as for carving wood, chisels, gouges, and drills, of various sizes, and 
special tools for special kinds of work, are used. 



QUARRY METHODS. 43 

3. The steps in the process of cutting sandstone are similar to those in the process of cutting marble, except 
that the crandal takes the place of the tooth-chisel on large surfaces. The diamond-hammer is used after the 
crandal on some kinds of sandstone, and the bush-hammer is used on hard, comiJact, argillaceous sandstones like 
the North Eiver blue-stone. 

Blocks of sandstone are sawed with gang-saws, like blocks of marble. Some sandstones are so soft when first 
taken from the quarry that they can be sawed with gang-saws without the aid of sand. Diamond-toothed saws 
have been successfully used for sawing the Portland (Connecticut) brownstone. These saws, while they cut the 
harder varieties of sandstones more rapidly, are much more expensive than the ordinary gang-saws. 

A rubbed surface is the finest finish of which sandstone is susceptible. The surfaces may be rubbed with 
sand alone, or with sand followed by grit. 

Slabs of North Eiver blue-stone are ijlaned, like slabs of slate, before they are rubbed. 

4. The greenstone, or serpentine, which has been used so largely for the construction of dwellings and 
other buildings in Philadelphia, and to some extent in other eastern cities, is dressed rock-face. The rock is 
considerably broken up in quarries by natural joints, and is still more broken up by the i^owder used in quarrying. 
A greenstone building standing among other buildings presents a pleasing apiiearance, but many greenstone 
buildings together present a less agreeable appearance; there is a harshness which has become more apparent 
with the increased use of the stone, and which has finally driven the stone almost entirely out of use. But the 
greenstone is certainly capable of producing beautiful architectural effects by contrast. Thus far the quarries 
have been worked in the oiitcrop only. Upon the fui-ther development of the quarries, and more systematic 
working, larger blocks applicable to a greater variety of purposes, and a material more susceptible of dressing, 
may be produced. 

For carving stones, as for carving wood, chisels, gouges, and drills of various sizes, and special tools for 
special kinds of work, are used. 

There can hardly be said to have been any advance made in the method of carving stone since the stone age, 
when the savage chipped one stone with another ; but the sand-blast method bids fair to supersede the old method 
for some kinds of work. 

The sand-blast has been most extensively used for engraving glass, but it has been to some extent used for 
carving stones. At a high velocity of impact, grains of sand will cut or wear away substances much harder than 
themselves. For engraving or carving, sand, grains of quartz, or any other hard material is rapidly driven 
against the surface to be cut by any propelling force ; a rapid jet or current of steam, air, water, or other suitable 
gaseous or liquid medium is preferred. 

A peculiarity of the sand-blast is that the grinding or cutting action may be made to take place upon irregular 
surfaces, cavities, corners, and recesses hardly accessible to ordinary methods. 

The business of carving stones is yet in its infancy in this country, but it is rapidly increasing ; buildings, both 
public and private, being more ornamented with carved stones as the wealth of the country increases. 



44 BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

DESCRIPTION OF PLATES ILLUSTRATING QUARRIES AND QUARRY METHODS. 

Plate XIX. — Portions of several more or less connected excavations, Tvoried independently of eact other. Posts or pillars are left to 
support the hanging wall or roof. On the floor, in the foreground, is a Wardwell channeling-machine for cutting 
the marble into long rectangular blocks. Whenever it is necessary to make the quarry deeper (to " go down in 
the floor"), one of the long blocks is cut into short, nearly cubical pieces, called " key-blocks". The iirst key- 
block may be broken off more or less near the bottom by driving wedges into one of the channels. After the first 
key-block is completely removed (the bottom may have to be dug out in fragments) a row of holes is drilled along 
the bottom of the second key-block, and wedges are driven into these holes to raise the block from its bed. In 
this manner each succeeding key-block is taken out. A long block is then raised by driving wedges into holes 
drilled along the bottom. The long blocks are split, along the lines of stratification, into pieces which can be 
handled by the hoisting machinery. The small, waste material is raised to the surface in cages, which are 
shown attached to the derricks. 

Plate XX.— Small portion of the second excavation of Plate XIX, as seen from the opposite direction. The inclined channels on the 
hanging-wall side are cut with the diamond channeling-machine. The machine in operation is a diamond 
gadding-machine, by which the necessary holes for splitting up a long block are being drilled. The quarried 
blocks are attached to the derrick ropes, as shown in the foreground, and hoisted to the surface. 

Plate XXI. — Portion of the second excavation of Plate XIX, at an earlier period, when the excavation was just being cut through under 
the pillar. The excavations are usually carried down by steps, as shown on this plate. 

Plate XXII. — Excavation in nearly horizontally stratified marble. The quarry floor is kept parallel with the stratification, and the 
channels are cut at right angles to the stratification with bars by hand or with the diamond channeling-machines. 
The roof is strong and capable of supporting itself over a wide span. However, the pillars left in these quarries 
are not sufficient to support the roof properly, and large masses of roof occasionally scale off and fall into the 
bottom of the quarries. It can hardly be hoped that no serious accident will ever result from these falls, though 
it is claimed that no person was ever injured by them. 

Plate XXIII. — Illustration of the method of quarrying sandstone by channeling and wedging. The end of the quarry on the left of the 
picture is cut off by a channel about two feet in width, and the back of the quarry is out off by a similar channel, 
so that a block may be detached by a row of wedges parallel to the first channel. Two men are driving a row of 
wedges, ea.ch m.an striking an alternate wedge as he moves forward. Two others, with picks, are cutting grooves 
for rows of wedges. The manner of splitting the blocks with the stratification is shown in the foreground to the 
right. 

Plate XXIV. — Greenstone or serpentine quarry. The rock is naturally much broken up by joints, and it is still more broken up by the 
powder with which it is quarried. 

Plate XXV. — Wardwell channehng-machiue. For description, see page 35. 

Plate XXVI. — Two-spindle diamond channeling-machine. For description and use, see page 35. 



Depl. of the Interior 



PLATE XIX. 



Tenth Census of the U. S. 




Dept. of the Interior. 



PLATE XX. 



Tenth Census of the U. S. 




Dept. of the Interior. 



PLATE XXI. 



Tenth Census of the U. S. 




Dept. of the Interior. 



PLATE XXII. 



Tenth Census of the U. S. 




Dept. of the Interior. 



PLATE XXIII. 



Tenth Census of the U. S. 




Dept. of the Interior. 



PLATE XXIV. 



Tenth Census of the U. S. 




Dept. of the Interior. 



PLATE XXV. 



Tenth Census of the U. S. 




Dept. of the Interior. 



PLATE XXVI. 



Tenth Census of tne U. S. 




CHi^PTER V. 



STATISTICS OF BUILDING STONES. 



45 



46 BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

Table I.— GENERAL STATISTICS OP THE QUARRYING INDUSTRIES OP THE UNITED STATES: 1880. 



states aiid Territories. 



Number 

of <]uar- 

ries. 



Product in 
census year. 



For quar- 
rying. 



FordresS' 
ing. 



Total for United States 

TOTALS BY KINDS OF KOCKB. 

Marble and limestone (a) 

Sandstone 

Crystalline siliceous rocks 

Slate 

TOTALS BY STATES AND TEEEITORrES. 

California 

Colorado 

Connecticut 

Dakota 

Delaware 

Georgia 

Ulinois 

Iowa....'. 

Indiana 

Kansas 

Kentucky 

Maine 

Maryland.- _- 

Massachusetts 

Michigan 

Minnesota 

Missouri 

Nebraska 

New Hampshire - 

New Jersey 

New York 

Ohio 

Pennsylvania '- 

Khode Island 

Tennessee 

Vermont 

Virginia 

"Washington 

"West Virginia 

"Wisconsin 



Dollars. 
25, 414, 497 



10, 665, 497 
6, 229, 600 
5, 291, 250 
3, 328, 150 



Cubicfeet. 
115,380,133 



65, 523, 965 
24, 776, 930 
20, 606, 568 
4, 572, 670 



Dollars. 
18, 356, 055 



5, 188, 998 
1, 529, 985 



100, 000 

13, 500 

1, 730, 660 



60, 600 

2, 120, 000 

556, 775 

613, 560 

73, 700 

143, 250 
2, 285, 500 

307, 935 
1, C16, 860 

74, 700 

284, 225 
328, 550 
5,000 
128, 800 
231, 900 

1, 080, 445 
4, 160, 802 

3, 077, 885 
476, 000 
131, 700 

4, 733, 040 
721, 250 

2,500 
56,350 
286, 820 



413, 000 
662, 790 
3, 527, 400 
38,400 
45, 900 



13, 321, 199 
10, 929, 783 
8, 413, 827 
1, 400, 346 

1, 724, 675 
2, 465, 670 
1, 375, 917 
5, 408. 030 
648, 060 

3, 169, 113 

4, 699, 600 

330, 000 



6,057, 278 
19, 673, 309 
15, 310, 1,S4 



2, 468, 150 

1, 316, 556 

32, 500 

294, 700 

3, 981, 304 



173, 450 
50, 400 
1, 087, 425 
12, 000 
12, 600 



1, 342, 572 
670, 754 
633, 775 
142, 570 

92, 216 

1, 259, 086 

346, 639 

1, 711, 104 

79, 165 

255, 818 
613, 171 

15, 000 
303, 066 
514, 420 

1, 261, 495 

2, 641, 647 
1, 944, 208 

623, 000 
192, 695 

1, 752, 333 

410, 678 

3,044 

16, 689 
227, 065 



a "With "Maxble and limestone " is included one quarry of serpentine rocks. 



STATISTICS OF BUILDING STONES. 47 

Table I.— GENERAL STATISTICS OF THE QUARRYING INDUSTRIES OF THE UNITED STATES : 1880. 



KUHBER OF LAbOHEliS EMPLOYED DURING CEKBUB TBAB. 



HEAKB OF TBAHSPOETATIOII. 



OnfuU rf°*!!,';?5- On one- 
am,,. ^If^^^ ! half time. 



i, 160 i 
2,8.'i2 i 
1, 022- 



2,186 

2,0 

1,468 



Greatest !,,--»„ 
""?„'''/., I years Ot- 



is, 646 
0, 567 I 



2,315 
2,091 
1,788 



3,302 
4,802 
4,284 



15, 363 
9,428 

11, 340 
2,814 



2,287 
2,075 
1,701 



3,220 
4,856 
4,078 



Males 

below 16 

years of 

ago. 



-«=5aSSt 



11, 269 
6,623 



2,426 
2,943 
2,904 



1,219 
4,501 
1,364 



4,439 
2,091 



Number T^^^^o'^ 
of oxen. I ^^«^^^ 



1,571 
1,023 



Number 

of locomO' 

tives. 



48 



BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 



Table II.— STATISTICS OF THE QUAEEYIJTG INDUSTEIBS OF THE UNITED STATES, SHOWING 
NUMBER OF QUAEEIES AND PEODUCTION, BT KINDS OF EOCK AND BY STATES AND 
TEEEITOEIES: 1880. 



states and Territories. 



Number of 
quarries. 



Capital inTested. 



Product i] 
year. 



Value of product 
in census year. 



Total United States . - - 

MAHBLE and LDtEBTONE (a) . 



Indiana . 
Iowa 



Kentucky. 



Maryland 

Massacliuaetts . 

Michigan 

Minnesota 

Missouri 



Nebraska 

New York 

Ohio 

Pennsylvania (a) . 
Tennessee 



yermont - . . 
Yirginia . . - 
"Wisconsin . 



Colorado 

Connecticut. 

Dakota 

Illinois 

Indiana 



Iowa. 



Michigan . . 
Minnesota . 



New York 

Ohio 

Pennsylvania . . 

"Washington ... 
■\V"e8t "Virginia . 
"Wisconsin 



Ckystalline siliceous socks . 

California 

Colorado 

Connecticut 

Delaware , 

Georgia 

Maine 

Mai yland 

Massachusetts 

Minnesota 

Missouri 



t "With ' ' Marble and limestone " 



60, 000 

1, 625, 500 
106, 000 
1, 217, 150 
U,050 
35, 000 
i included one quarry of serpentine rocks. 



Dollars. 
25, 414, 497 



2, 101, 200 
539, 660 
552, 775 
59, 700 
143, 250 

142, 435 
284, 500 
61, 050 
159, 576 
242, 350 

5,000 
508, 620 
872, 102 
592, 160 
131, 700 

3, 886, 000 
35, OOO 
248, 420 



2,000 
1, 167, 500 

3,500 
18, 800 
73, 900 

4,000 
14, 000 
95, 800 
13,650 
113, 600 

51, 200 
210, 100 
510, 775 
3, 294, 700 
560, 825 

1,600 
55, 350 
38,400 



100, 000 
11, 600 



Cktlnc feet. 
115, 380, 133 



13, 013, 139 
8, 102, 115 

10, 772, 283 

1, 340, 346 
1, 724, 675 

70, 617 
99, 425 
97, 800 

2, 816, 298 
4, 419, 300 

330, 000 
2, 836, 025 

11, 098, 583 

3, 339, 722 
792, 621 

1, 192, 100 

20,000 

. 3,468,916 



108, 750 
988, 200 
38, 400 
308, 060 
311, 712 

157, 500 
66, 000 
729, 980 
550, 260 
324, 000 

194, 000 
2, 384, 791 
2, 980, 353 
8, 574, 726 
6, 229, 110 

14, 000 
294, 700 



413, 000 
554, 040 
2, 539, 200 
45, 900 
278, 960 

2, 203, 670 

1, 182, 500 

4, 623, 125 

28, 815 

86,300 



STATISTICS OF BUILDING STONES. 49 

Table n.— STATISTICS OF THE QUAEEYING INDUSTEIES OF THE UNITED STATES— Cont'd. 



States and Territories. 



Number of 
quarries. 


Capital invested. 


Product in census 
year. 


Value of product 




Dollars. 


Ouiic feet. 


SoUv.re. 


39 


128, 800 


1, 920, 340 


303, 06« 


2 


10,500 


820, 000 


99. 000 


3 


16, 000 


42, 400 


10, 000 


15 


243, 500 


3, 028, 222 


211,454 


17 


476, 000 


1, 352, 900 


623, 000 


12 


50, 140 


187, 140 


59, 673 


10 


C31, 250 


1, 181, 556 


331, 928 


1 


1,000 


18, 500 


1,044 






Squares. 




91 


3, 328, 150 


457, 267 


1, 529, 985 


1 


600 


1,000 


4.500 


6 


660, 000 


26, 200 


83, 800 


7 


59, 500 


12, 280 


60, 700 


2 


19, 400 


1,550 


7,000 


3 


11, 300 


4,683 


15. 000 


12 


45, 050 


19,850 


95,500 


30 


1,681,400 


^ 271, 313 


863, 877 


31 


795, 900 


108, 891 


352, 608 


2 


55, 000 


11, 50D 


51, 000 



■Crystalline biucbous liOCKS — Continned. 

Xew Hampsliire 

New Jersey 

New York 

Pennsylvania 

Khodc Island 

Vermont 

Virginia 

"Washington 

Slate 

Georgia 

Maine 

Maryland 

Massachusetts 

New Jersey 

New York 

Pennsylvania 

Vermont 

Virginia 



VOL. IX- 



-4 E 



50 



BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 



Table in,— EXTENT TO WHICH BUILDING STONES AND SLATES AEE QUAEEIED FOE 

APPLIANCES 

LIMESTONE AND MARBLE. 





States and Territories. 


Number 
of ^nar. 


Capital in- 
vested. 


Total 
amount of 
excavation. 


Product in 
census year. 


Value of 
product in 
census year. 


KUMBEK OF MACHDJEB KM- 
TLOTED. 


Value 
of explo- 
sives 
used in 

year. 


NUMBER OF MONTHS IN OP- 
ERATION IN CENSUS TEAR. 




For quar- 
rying. 


For 
hoisting. 


For 
dressing. 


On full 
time. 


On 

three- 
quarter 
time. 


On 

half 
time. 




Tli» United States.. 


615 


Dollars, 
10, 540, 497 


Cubic yards, 
50, 529, 854 


OuMcfeet. 
65, 373, 965 


Dollars. 
6, 846, 681 


190 


706 


497 


Dollars. 
61,358 


4,993 


87 


53 




38 
65 
128 
17 
19 
3 
4 
4 
33 
27 

1 
55 
119 
23 
13 
18 

2 
46 


2, 101, 200 
539, 660 
552, 775 

. 59,700 
143,250 
142, 435 
284, 500 
61,030 
159, 575 
242, 350 
5,000 
508, 620 
872, 102 
507, 160 
131,700 

3, 886, 000 
35, 000 
248, 420 


10, 073, 350 
5, 619, 495 
6, 491, 897 
219,390 
934, 460 
121, 424 
173, 000 
601, 130 

1, 305, 149 
822,775 
200,000 

7, 938, 628 

7, 681, 503 

4, 192, 000 

331, 265 

2, 438, 858 

1,280 
1, 464, 200 


13, 013, 139 
8, 102, 115 

10, 772, 283 
1, 340, 346 

1, 724, 075 

70, 017 
90, 425 
97, 600 

2, 816, 298 
4, 419, 300 

330,000 

2, 836, 026 

11, 098, 683 
3,189,723 

792, 621 

1, 192, 100 

20, 000 

3, 458, 916 


1,320,743 
593, 376 
666, 654 
131, 570 
92, 216 
65, 929 
230, 495 

26, 085 
281, 693 
421, 211 

15, 000 
431, 439 
669, 723 
230, 934 
192, 695 
1, 340, 050 

27, 730 
189, 320 


15 
13 
2 

2 

2 
10 


63 
90 
108 
34 
18 
2 
3 
1 
56 
8 
4 
103 
62 
27 
30 
81 


21 
14 
11 
3 
2 
1 


6,705 

1,690 

6,644 

35 

927 


296 
533 
894 
138 
160 
17 
39 
30 
173 
254 
8 


4 
5 
34 

¥ 

4 


23' 

13 
1 


















6 

7 
8 
9 
10 

11 




Massacliasetts 


35 

600 

3,522 

2, 626 

125 

7,839 

12, 140 

7,215 

605 

3,971 








3 


B 
6 


15 

4 


■MiRannri 






11 

10 
16 
14 
83 






20 


484 


4 


1 
1 






1, 029 1 3 


14 
15 


PennsylTania (a) 


2 

4 

404 

12 


232 
124 
170 
12 
400 


9 




2 
2 
4 





17 
18 




'Wartma'-n 


12 


16 


6,730 











a The quarry of serpentine included in this group in Table II is here omitted. 
SANDSTONE. 





ThelJnited States.. 


502 


6, 229, 600 


38, 185, 633 


24,776,930 


4, 780, 391 


40 


634 


95 


27, 671 


4,166 


22 


16 


1 

2 
3 
4 
5 
6 
7 
8 
9 


3 
6 
1 
5 
6 
3 
2 

15 
5 
5 
6 

20 
181 
126 

96 

1 

10 
14 


2,000 

1, 167, 500 

3,500 

18, 800 

73, 900 

4,000 

14, 000 

95, 800 

13, 650 

113, 600 

51, 200 

210, 100 

510, 775 

3, 294, 700 

560, 825 

1,600 

55, 350 

38, 400 


10, 000 

4, 357, 000 

7,260 

19. 900 

107, 730 

137, 000 

17, 000 

860, 000 

240, 600 

79, 822 

425, 185 

2, 384, 000 

7, 727, 523 

15, 219, 763 

5, 858, 650 

2,000 
561, SCO 
180, 600 


108, 750 

988, 20O 

38,400 

308, 060 

311, 712 

157, 600 

66, 000 

729, 980 

650, 260 

324, 000 

194, 000 

2, 384, 791 

2, 980, 353 

8, 574, 726 

0, 229, 110 

14, 000 

294, 700 

522, 388 


9,000 
680, 200 
12, 000 
21,830 
40, 400 
4,200 
11,000 
144, 294 
53, 080 
41, 160 
81, 960 
400, 420 
724, 666 
1, 871, 924 
627, 943 
2,000 
16, 6S9 
37, 745 




4 
26 

1 

5 
17 

1 




200 
4,329 
324 
100 
610 
215 


24 
53 
6 
18 
46 
20 
20 
144 
43 
35 
41 
212 
1,537 
1,054 
736 
12 
85 
81 






p . . "r 


18 




12 


3 


Tlnl ntfl 








1 


Indiana.. 


















X .. - - 










Massachusetts 




19 
12 

6 
15' 
23 
28 
385 
73 

1 
13 

5 


1 


2,026 

622 

210 

35 

1,424 

4,229 

6,623 

5,425 

20 

696 

483 


2 


6 , 




ri. = ^ 










^ 


luneso 


4 
2 


5 






in 


MisBoun 






1*> 






8 


i 








4 


79 
9 






U 


ennsy vania 






i-i 


"West Virginia 


3 
3 














3 









CRYSTALLINE SILICEOUS ROCKS. 





The United States.. 


313 


6, 291, 250 


27, 090, 841 


20, 500, 568 


5, 188, 998 


64 


763 


322 


70, 397 


2,832 


126 


38 


1 

2 


2 
3 
32 
3 
2 
68 
7 
92 
3 
2 
39 
2 
3 
15 
17 
12 
10 
1 


100, 000 
11, 600 

563,060 

4,800 

60, 000 

1, 626, 500 

100, 000 

1, 217, 150 

11,050 

36, 000 

128, 800 
10, 600 
16, 000 

243,500 

476, 000 

50, 140 

631, 250 

1,000 


377, 000 

114, 000 

1, 832, 9 

2,100 

5, 050, 000 
1,957,453 
1, 460, 000 

6, 985, 105 

14, 821 

15, 600 
4, 332, 666 

34, 700 

92, 823 

4, 008, 600 

1,024,224 

241, 760 

540, 900 

1,000 


413, 000 
554, 040 
2, 639, 200 
45, 90O 
278, 960 

2, 203, 670 
1, 182, 600 
4, 023, 125 

28,815 
86. 300 
1, 920, 340 
820, 000 
42, 400 

3, 028, 222 
1, 352, 900 

187, 140 

1, 181, 556 

18, 500 


172, 450 

41,400 

407, 225 

12, 600 

64,480 

1, 17.5, 286 

224, 000 

1, 329, 315 

13,075 

110, 000 

303, 066 

99, 000 

10, 000 

211,454 

623, 000 

59, 675 

. 331,928 

* 1,044 




6 
4 
90 
3 
2 
166 
20 
242 
5 
6 
109 
2 
5 
15 
43 
17 
28 


14 


1,000 

300 

9,261 


23 
36 

288 
30 
24 

656 
67 

866 
20 
21 

325 
20 
27 

159 

166 
99 

110 
5 






PI 1 *'"' 






• 




9 


5 


24 


2 


4 
5 
6 




Jjeiaware 


2 
20 

2 
11 




615 

9,494 

3.275 

26, 894 

80 

490 
4,216 
1,108 

220 
8,170 
2, 228 

215 
2,931 




22 
13 
34 
4 


17 
7 


Haine 


74 


8 


Massachusetts 


168 


in 




2 
1 


1 

14 


11 


New nampshire 


16 


4 


13 




3 
5 
6 

1 
2 




6 


2 






15 
16 


PI 1 T 1 d 


22 
16 
8 


10 .. 






vSfflnia 


4 


6 






10 



























SLATE. 


















The United States. . 


94 


3, 328, 150 


13,740,891 


o 457, 267 


1, 520, 985 


45 


184 


392 


32, 799 


1,022 


58 




1 


1 
6 
7 
2 
3 
12 
80 
31 
2 


600 
660, 000 
59, 500 
19,400 
11, 300 
45, 060 
1,681,400 
795, 900 
65, 000 


50, 000 

440.900 

403, 310 

84,000 

37, 344 

1, 198. 100 

6, 383, 437 

4, 973, 800 

170, 000 


1,000 
20. 200 
12, 280 
1,550 
4,083 
19, 850 
271, 313 
108, 891 
11,500 


4,500 
83, 800 
66, 708 
7,000 
15, 000 
95, 600 
803, 877 
352. 608 
61,000 








100 

5,250 

2,450 

400 

64 

2,481 

12,960 

8,114 

980 


12 
50 
69 
16 
33 
138 
324 
358 
22 








9 


12 
9 

1 
4 
16 
«5 
85 
2 


21 
18 


9 
9 
8 








4 


Massachnsetts 


1 










32 

200 

117 

4 


2 
25 
3 
2 








31 

4 












gmia 




i 



a Squares. 



STATISTICS OF BUILDING STONES. 



51 



PUKPOSES OF CONSTEUCTION IN THE UNITED STATES, AND THE CAPITAL, LABOK, AND 

DEVOTED THERETO. 

LIMESTONE AND MARBLE. 



1 

KUMBEK OF LABOREES EMPLOYED UUEIXG CESSU8 TEAR. ' 


KUMBEB OF ASIMALS EM- 
PLOYED. 


MEAK8 OF TBAS8P0ETATI0H. 


AVERAGE day's WAGES. 




Greatest 
nmnber 
employ (Ml. 


Males 

above 16 

years of 

age. 


Males 
below IG 
years of 

of age. 


Employed 

in (jnarry- 

mg. 


Employed 
in dressmg. 


Number 
ofhorses. 


Number 
of mules. 


Number 
of oxen. 


Number 

of 
wagons. 


Number 

of 
Tesaels. 


Number 
of cars. 


Number 
of locomo- 
tives. 


SkiUed 
labor. 


Unskilled 
labor. 




15,632 


15,349 


283 


11, 259 


2,752 


4,427 


586 


163 


1,566 


Ill 


363 


2 


$2 24 


$1 34 




2,208 

1,636 

2,U18 

404 

806 

153 

152 

45 

1,035 

354 

53 

1,291 

1,781 

642 

443 

1,896 

51 

660 


2,181 

1,573 

2,002 

392 

791 

147 

126 

43 

1,033 

335 

55 

1,209 

1,700 

632 

440 

1,802 

51 

657 


27 
65 
16 
12 
15 
6 
26 
2 
2 
19 


1,913 

1,054 
1,786 
257 
486 
113 
123 
45 
768 
267 
40 
744 
1,150 
577 


265 
132 
102 
101 
140 
30 
29 


355 

604 

798 
82 

199 
4 
10 
30 

316 
64 
23 

326 
1,041 

128 
18 

103 


38 




171 
137 
160 

23 

67 
3 
7 

10 
140 

59 


41 


51 
46 
40 




2 41 
2 32 
2 04 
2 41 

2 06 

3 00 
1 68 


1 55 
1 30 
1 35 
1 30 
1 41 
1 21 
1 25 
1 37 
1 58 
1 74 
1 75 
1 25 
1 20 
1 18 
1 05 
1 15 
1 05 
1 46 










323 
8 




6 






2 




4 


1 






") 


4 




5 


2 




10 








2 








210 
22 
15 

442 
98 
36 
an 


4 

75 








2 63 
2 44 
2 75 
2 48 
2 00 
1 70 
1 76 

1 93 

2 50 
2 16 












10 










11 


21 
10 
3 
34 


21 
22 
20 
65 


24 


1S6 
346 
95 
26 
53 


5 
14 


22 

4 

187 
















2 

38 






915 943 
45 6 


113 


5 




in 






17 


3 


427 


6 


12 


88 


2 


3 




IB 











SANDSTONE. 



9,567 


9,428 


139 


6,623 


1,219 


2,089 


140 


277 


1,023 


73 


72 


2 


$2 35 


$1 46 




39 
984 

35 
107 
150 

73 

30 
332 
155 

74 

169 

582 

1,830 

3,121 

1,560 

12 
154 
160 


39 

984 
35 
106 
128 
73 
30 
330 
147 
74 
169 
683 
1, 772 
3,096 
1,537 
12 
154 
160 




39 

791 

26 

74 

67 

33 

16 

271 

142 

69 

90 

389 

1,540 

1,793 

1,082 

6 

75 

130 




5 
43 
18 
26 
41 
26 
4 
55 
26 
14 
4 
70 
426 
812 
423 


5 

41 




2 
282 
9 
6 
16 








3 60 

1 98 

2 00 

2 08 

3 00 
1 60 

1 62 

2 05 
2 12 
2 50 
2 19 
2 30 

1 54 

2 15 
2 IS 

4 25 
2 71 
2 62 


2 17 
1 29 
1 50 
1 17 
1 60 
1 42 
1 13 
1 50 
1 31 
1 60 
1 66 
1 40 
1 13 
1 45 
142 
1 75 
1 40 
1 62 






172 


160 


25 
















1 
22 


33 
10 
6 
3 
61 
13 
15 
15 
r.'O 
176 
231 
280 
6 
42 
30 


1 






















20 
8 


1 


2 










12 


8 

32 

5 

7 

4 

65 

235 

170 

164 








2 
8 














2 














10 





15 
6 




, 










37 1 


5 
7 
16 
16 








58 

25 
23 








27 
17 


58 


31 
15 


2 












28 
62 






11 

7 


3 


20 
4 










2 




18 














CRYSTALLINE SILICEOUS ROCKS. 



11, 477 


11, 340 


137 


6,139 


4,501 


1,268 


106 


652 


981 


81 


144 


1 


$2 07 


$1 36 




195 

95 
918 

30 

136 

3,800 

422 

2,445 

66 
260 
595 
188 

38 
437 
962 
lit 
775 
4 


194 

95 
899 

30 

133 

3,733 

412 

2, 429 

66 
260 
596 
188 

38 
437 
953 
110 
764 
4 


1 


50 
90 

578 


100 


8 

12 

69 

7 

3 

206 

28 

. 306 

3 

3 

204 




16 


3 

7 
173 

2 
10 
167 
28 
175 

4 

6 
114 








3 37 
2 66 
2 46 
2 00 
2 50 

1 81 

2 58 
2 06 
2 53, 
2 08 

2 15 
1 50 

3 CO 
1 82 

1 78 

2 15 
2 22 
2 25 


2 12 
2 00 
1 55 
1 25 

95 
1 25 
1 28 
1 49 
1 02 
1 33 
1 35 
1 60 
1 68 
1 21 
1 24 
1 19 

97 


1 


13 








? 


19 


291 

14 

47 

1,973 

l.D 

803 

28 

85 

190 

4 

9 

16 

418 

1 

328 


106 


21 


15 




3 






3 

67 
10 
16 


77 
1,712 
293 
1,383 
38 
80 

323 

184 
28 
406 
342 
104 
447 


44 

2 

3 

6 










1 


218 
12 
148 


29 
2 
14 


23 










20 
















7 




10 




84 


3 




11 








1? 




3 
157 
134 
86 
29 














13 




14 


52" 

14 


150 
75 
38 
29 


10 

2 


68 
6 




14 


9 
1 
11 


1 


15 


23 


16 








17 










18 










\l 













3,033 


2,814 


219 


1,695 


1,364 


271 


20 


4 


110 




72 




tl 75 


»1 17 










10 
211 
126 

22 

42 

143 

1,631 

755 

113 


10 
203 
123 

22 

42 

141 

1,458 

722 

03 




81 
74 
18 
42 
114 
8'J9 
468 
62 


3 
83 
52 

4 


3 
35 
2 






3 

14 
1 








1 75 
1 76 

1 60 

2 CO 
1 76 
1 57 
1 70 

1 59 

2 00 


1 oe 

1 27 
1 11 
1 50 
1 21 
1 25 
1 14 
1 23 
80 


1 


8 
3 








62 




? 


6 








3 










4 




6 
18 
90 
92 
15 






3 
8 
37 
SO 
5 








5 


2 
173 
33 


20 

876 
2S6 
31 


2 
6 










6 






10 




7 


4 






8 


6 








9 















^2 



BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

Table IV.— TABLES INDICATING THE AMOUNT AND KINDS 



KOTE. — It will be noted that the numbers of quarries represented in tbia table do not in all cases agree with those given in the tables preceding. This is due 
"to the fact that the data for this table were not obtained lor all quarries from which statistics of business were received; and, on the other hanc^ it was judged 
advisable, for various reasons, to introduce certain quarries here, although their product duiing the census year did not reach a valuation of $1,000, 

MAINE— Crystalline Siliceous KoCks. 



Location of quarry. 



County. 



Name of the corporation, company, or 



SPECIFIC VAEIETT OF STONE. 



Popular name. 



Scientific name. 



2 miles east of Jonesboro' 

4 miles southwest of Indian Kiver, 
6 miles southeast of Addison Point. 
AVest Sullivan 



"West Sullivan . 



2 miles south of Mount Desert. . 
2^ miles south of Mount Desert- 
East Bluehill 



.do . 



Deer Isle 

Green's Landing 

Frankfort 

Prospect. 

Swanville 



Lincolnville 

3 miles north by west of Yinal 

Haven. 
Yinal Haven 



Hurricane island . 

Dix island 

South Tbomaston. 



South Thomaaton.. 



Saint Ge 
...do ... 



"Waldoboro' .. 
Jclicrsnn - . . . 
Hound Pond . 



2A miles east of Augusta. 
2 miles west of Augusta . 
Augusta 



2i miles west of Hallowell . 



"Wayne , 

2i miles southof S. Nonidgewock 



lilcs south of Xorridgewock . 



54 4 milesuoHheast of Chestervillo 

55 I IJi y ant's Pond 



56 3^ miles sonlh of Tni-ncr 

57 ' 2^ miles south of Brunswick . 

58 I 2A miles south of Pi)wnal 

59 ' sit miles south of Pdwnal 

60 liidd'-ford 



"Washington . 



Maine Ked Granite Company . 



Bodwell Granite Company 

H. B. Nash (Diamond Granite Quarry) . . 
Pleasant River Black Granite Company. 
J. H. Stimpson 



Crabtree & Harvey . 

Joseph H. West 

Blaisdell Brothers . . . 



Kennebunkpoi-t 

7 miles northwest of Kennobunk- 
port. 

8 miles north of Kennebunkport. . 
i) miles north of Kennebunkport.. 
4 milusaoutheastof South Berwick. 



Collins Granite Company . 

G."W. Collins & Co 

Chase&Hall 

Paul Thurlow & Co 

Owens & McGee 



Goss & Goss 

James & C. A, Bayard 

Mount Waldo Granite "Works, 
Edward Avery 

Oak Hill Granite Company 



Beach Grove Granite Company. 
John S. Hopkius 



Bodwell Granite Company . 



Davis Tilson 

Dix Island Granite Company . 
"Ward & Woodward 

Bodwell Granite Company 



MiiTick Sawyer 

M. T. Jamerson & Co 

Nathan Stanton - 

Atlantic Granite Company 

Clark's Island Granite Company . 



"Wild Cat Granite Company - . 
Loug Cove Granite Company. 



Dav&Otis. 

J.P.Glidden , 

Brown, McAllister & Co. 



A.A.TouDg 

Kennebec Granite Company . 

J. L. Dutton 

Wall & Packard 

Hallowell Granite Company. 



J.F.Gordon 

Lawton Brothers . 
Joseph Taylor 



A. W. AVoodman 

Maine Central Railroad Compatiy. 

EmiTson & Bryant 

J.H.Plnmmer 



Oxford ! Grand Trunk Railway . 



Gl i Biddoford York 



C.H. Barren 

A. P. "Woodside 

Charles H. Hudson . 
Thomas S. Reed.... 
J.M.Andrews 



C.H.Bragdon 

C.H. & A. Goodwin 

G"ocb&Haine 

Smith & Walker.... 
George "W. Ross 



York FiancisDay 

— do Leavitt & Do wnes . 

... do Albert L. Goodwin - 



Biotito granite.. 



Diabase 

Olivine diabase . 
Biotite granite.. 



Biotito granite. 



Biotite granite. 



Biotite granite (light) ; olivine dia- 
base (dark). 
Biotite granite 



Biotite granite 

Homblen de-bio tite granite (da: 
biotito granite (light). 

Biotito granite 

MuscoYite-biotile gneiss 

Biotite -granite 



Muscovito-biotite granite. 



Biotite granite . 



Musco-vite-biotite granite- 



Biotite granite. 



STATISTICS OF BUILDING STONES. 

OF BOOKS QUARRIED IN THE DIFFERENT STATES. 



53 



MAINE — Crystalline Siliceous Rocks. 



BTRUCTURE. 



; Coarse llassive 



Black 

...do 

Light gray . 



Vertical, transverse, aud 
i horizontal. 

do ■ Vertical and horizontal 

do Vertical and transverse . . 



' do I Indistinctly laminated .. ( Horizontal and vertical .... 

' Coarse Massive i Inclined sheets 

I Fine j .. do [ Irre;rnlar 

Vertical, transverse, and 



Coarse do . 



Light pinkish gray . 

Light gray 

...do 



-do I Indistinctlv laminated. 



Light gray I Coarse | Indistinctly laminated.. 



limizontal. 

Hon::ontal sheets . 
Inclined sheets 



Inclined sheets 



--do Tine ' Indistinctly laminated... 



Horizontal sheets -. . 

Hoi izontal and parallel, 



White, or very light gray . 
Dark gray 



j Pine Massive 

Coarse Indistinctly laminated. 



Light gray and black . 
Dark gray 



Coarse, porphyritic . 

Coarse 

Medium 

Coarse 



Dark gray . 



Indistinctly laminated — i Horizontal sheets. 



Irregular - 



do Horizontal sheets . 



Grav 

Dark gray . 



Fine, porphyritic i . . . tlo . 



Dark gray Fine . . 

Dark gray and black do. 



Gray do 

Light gray do Laminated 

Dark gray do Indistinctly laminated 



Indistinctly laminated Horizontal and parallel, 

j vertical. 

do Vertical, transverse, and 

I horizontal!. 

do i Horizontal sheets 

Irregular 

Broken, irregular 



Fine Massive . 



I Horizontal sheets . 



Wo. 



Wbite, or very light gray do I Indistinctly laminated""'! ]!!do!!]!" !"!"! 

Spotted, black, and white.. Coarse I Massive Irre^^nlar 

Darkgray Fine :... do !.*.!'!.... Horfzontarsbeets" 



--■do do Indistinctly laminated.. 



-do- 



Light gray Fine Massive Horizontal sheets 

...do ' ' - 

.. do 



Hoi izontal and parallel,* 
vertical, 
izontalsheets 



-do. 



■-■<^o do I Indistinctly laminated Horizontal and parallel, 

_ - , I I vertical. 

Darkgiay do |....do Irregular 



Darkgray i Fine Laminated | Horizontal and vertical. . 

Light gray ;j Coarse Massive ' Horizontal sheets 

Gray I line do ...do 



-do. 



Irregular. 



Light gray Coarse, porphyritic do '. 

Gray Coarse Massive ! Irregular 

"d** i-- do I... do ; Horizontal sheets. 

--.do do do ; Irrei'nlar 

Light gray do do Horizontalsheets. 

Gray ji... do ;....do IrregiUar 



Coarse - 



Massive Irregular . 



'Fine ludietinctiy laminated. 



GEOLOGICAL AGE OF FORMATION. 



54 



BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 



Table IY.— TABLES DfDICATIlil^G THE AMOUIi^T AND KINDS 

MAINE— Slate. 



Location of quarry. 



County. 



SPECIFIC VARIETY OP STONE. 



Popular name. 



Scientl&c name. 



2 miles north'west of Brownville . 



3 miles north of Blanchard . 



Adams H. Merrill 

Piscataquis Central Slate Company . 

Monson Pond Slate Company 

Dirigo Slate Company 

Hebron Pond Slate Company 



Blanchard Slate Mining Company.. 



MASSACHUSETTS— Crystalline Siliceous Rocks. 



Lynnfield 

.-..do 

AYest Andover. 



Ashland 

Framingibam- 
Westford 



Ayer 

Eitcliburg 
...do 



Leominster 

Clinton 

lilos northeast of "Worcester. . 
lit milca northeast of "Worcester , 
lA miles north of Milford 



Nortbbridg 

... do 

- do 

Charlton... 



M^orthfield . 
Deerfield . . 



Pittsfield . 
Becket ... 
Beclset — 
Monson . . - 



Brighton., 

do 

Bedham . 



Dedlmm 
Sharon.. 
Quincy . 



Berkshire 

Hampden . 

Suffolk ... 

.. do 

Korfolk 



Norfolk . 



.do. 



Stephen P. Andrews 

Cape Ann Granite Company . 
Trumble Granite Company - - - 

Solomon Trumble 

John Butman 



Barker Brothers 

Vernun Brothers 

Kockport Granite Company . . . 
Pigeon Hill Granite Company . 
J. fi. Jordan 



Tliomas K Kewhall . 

T..f.Newhall 

J. Maddox 



Town of Medford . 
Nicholas White . . . 
Judson W. Cole . . . 
J.G.Cloyse 
Andrew Pletclicr.. 



Prescott & Son 

David Keed 

Swett& Smith 

Sol. Spaulding 

Benjamin Palmer & Sons. 



S. L. Kittredge . . 

L.M.Allen 

G.D."Wobb 

B. Converse , . . . 
Eichard Carroll . 



Diamond Hill Granite Company. , 

Samuel Fowler, jr 

Georpe M. Blanchard 

Lamson & Woodbury 



Stone & Hiscox . . . 
Bassett f. Lyons . . 
"Westcott &. Ames 



J. G. Noakes 

E. L, Humphrey 

McClellan & Goodwin 

Chester Granite Company (York &, Bald- 
win). 
"W.N.Flynt & Co 

S. "W. Brown, jr 

...do 

M.Bullard 



John Delaney 

John Moyle '. 

James Marks 

JobnCNeal 

Kennedy &. Maban. 



Chnrcbill & Hitclict 

S.Dili 

Lee K. Faxar 

Barker & Sous 

McDonnell & Bros . 



Syenite 

Granite 

Bastard granite. 



Granite . . . 
Porphyry . 
Granite . . . 



Gneissoid granite. 



Gneissoid granite. 
Mica-schist 



-do . 



Limestone 

Gneiss 

Granite and gneiss. 
Gneiss 



Blue-stone . 



.do . 



Porphyry 

Granite 

Blue syenite., 



do . 



Dark bine syenite . 

Blue syenite 

Pink syenite 

Pink and blue sye- 
nite. 
Blue syenite 



Hornblende granite 

...do 

Hornblende-biotite granite. 

do .... 

Hornblende granite 



Hornblende granite. 



Hornblende granite. 

...do . .. ..': 

Muscovite gneiss ... 



Biotite guoiss (granitoid) . 
Diabase (micaueous) 



Muscovite gneiss (granitoid) 

.. do 

Biotite-muscovite gneiss (granitoid) . 

...do 

Muscovite gneiss (granitoid) 

Muscovite gneiss (granitoid) 



Muscovite-biotite granite . 
Biotite granite 



Biotite granite. 



Biotite gneiss 

.. do 

...do 

Muscovite gneiss . 



Biotite gneiss. 
Biotite schist . 



do 



Limestone 

iluscovite-biotite gneiss 

Muscovite-biotite gneiss 

Biotite (dark) muscovite (light) gneiss 
(granitoid). 

Melapbyro 

...do 

Epidote granite 

Epidote granite 



HornbloDde granite - 



Hornblende granite. 



STATISTICS OF BUILDING STONES. 



55 



OP EOCKS QUAEEIED IN THE DIFFEEENT STATES. 

MAINE— Slate. 



Color. 


8TEUCTUKK. 


GEOLOGICAL AGE OF FOHHATION. 


h 

a g 
1' 




Texture. 


Stratification. 


Jointing, bedding, or natu- 
ral Burface. 


Period. 


EqocIi. 
















1846 
1875 
1879 
1872 
1871 

1880 












...do 










Kectangularandirregnlar. 




....do 










...do 


... do -. 












...do 





































MASSACHUSETTS— Crystalline Siliceous Rocks. 





Coarse 










1876 
1869 
1870 
1879 
1853 

1851 

1878 
1830 
1870 
1850 

1860 

1841 
1872 

1861 
1871 

1870 
1861 
1879 

1847 
1876 

1872 
187) 
1874 
1851 
1880 

1850 
1834 
1845 
1847 
1847 

1847 
1847 
1877 
1831 
1876 

1872 
1875 
1830 
1870 
1869 

1855 
1869 
1865 
1864 

1879 

1875 

1880 

3880 
1871 

1880 

1878 

1839 

1878 
1850 
1870 

1868 
1874 
1831 
1876 
1878 

1840 
1875 
1862 
1834 

1832 




Ligbt and dark gi-ay 




..do 




do 








.do > . ... 




do 










...do 


...do 


...do 










...do 












Coarse 

do 












do 


do : 




do 










...do 


Horizontal and Tertical — 
do 


do . .. 










. do 


do 






Dark greenish gray 

Dark preenish gray 




do 


Horizontal, inclined, and 
vertical. 

Horizontal, inclined, and 
vertical. 


do 
















do 


... do 


do 










...do 


Horizontal and irregular, 
vertical. 


....do 










...do 


....do 










... do 


























do 














Coarse, porpliyritlo 

do 




Horizontal, vertical, and 

transverse. 
Horizontal and vertical . . . 










... do 












do 


do 




■"n 


















... do 


...do 












... do 














Coarse, porphyritic 


...do 


do 


do 








do . . 


do 








Fine 

...do 














...do 
















Horizontal and vertical 




















.. do 




..do 




do . . 
























... do 


























....do 














....do 


do 


do 










Fine 


Indistinctly laminated — 












... do 


























...do 












Reddish yellow 


... do 




Horizontal, vertical, and 
transverse. 












Indistinctly laminated — 










... do 










... do 


...do 












do 


do 




Parallel, vortical, and in. 
clined. 








....do 


...do 












Fine 


Indistinctly laminated 


Horizontal, inclined, and 

vertical. 
Inclined, vertical, and 

transverse. 










...do 








...do 


...do 


do 














Vertical, transversa, and 

inclined. 
Irregular, broken 

Horizontal and vertical 










Fine 












Fine 










Dark greenish hlne 

do 

Bed 


... do 


do 






■i* 


...do 


Indistinctly lami»ated 










.. do 






















Bed 




Massive 


























...do 


do 


do 


do 




'iR 


....do 


....do 


. do 


do 






•\n 


... do 


...do 


do .. 








m 


Dark blue 












f!l 


Blue 


... do 


do 








6' 


Pink 


... do 


do 








6T 




....do 










64 


Blae 


...do 


...do 


Irregular and broken 


....do 




6S 



56 



BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 



Table IV.— TABLES INDICATING THE AMOUNT AND KINDS' 

MASSACHUSETTS— Crystalline Siliceous Eocks— Continued. 





Location of (inairy. 


County. 


Name of the corporation, company, or 
individual. 


BFECIFIO VAEIETT OF STONE. 




Popular name. 


Scientific name 




Oninc 






Blue ayenito 






rlo 
























do 




do 


do 






do 




do 


do 










Gray srrauite 


















do 






do 












....do 












....do 




Quincy - 


Norfolk 




Blue syenite 




























do 


"William Trunior 




do 












do 










Blue syenite 
























...do 










....do 


...do 






do ... 


r J. Fuller & Co 


....do 


...do 






























do 




do 
















% 




Plymouth 




....do 


....do ." 


01 


FallPviver 


• 


. 










....do 


....do 






do 




do 


... do 















MASSACHUSETTS— Marble and Limestone. 





Berkshire 

clo 




Granite 












....do 




....do 










,...do 















MASSACHUSETTS— Sajstjstone. 



Newton 

Bri.tchton 

Boston Highlands . 



Northampton 

Holyoke 

"West Springfield . 



W.E.Livingstone. 

City of Lowell 

Patrick Grace 

J. Welch 

Owen Mawn 



Michael Leonard . 

T.McCarty 

Hugh Anan 

James Smith 

Blake Brothers . . . 



John Delaney 

L. P. Bosworth 

Curtis IX Stoddard 

S.J.Billings & Co 

Norcross Bros. &. Taylor.. 



Mortar stone. 



MASSACHUSETTS— Slate. 



Middlesex City of Cambridge 

Worcester Lancaster Slate Company . 



EHODE ISLAND— Crystalline Siliceous Eocks. 



Woonsocket 

Diamond Hill 

Smithfield (4 miles east of) . 
Cranston 



West Greenwich . 



Newport 

2 miles east of Westerly . 



2 miles east of Westerly . 



Garvey Brothers 

Fairmount Farm Company , 

Diamond Hill Granite Company . 

Smithficld Granite Company 

Eichard Fenner 



Horace Vaughn . . . 

Joseph Tarhox 

James Bay 

J. S. Stacey 

Charles P. Chapma 



New England Granite Works . 
Smith Granite Company 



Gneissoid granite. 

Mica-schist 

Gneissoid granite. 

Granite 

Mica-schist 



Granite . 



Biotite gneiss 

Biotite schist 

Hornblende gneiss. 

Biotite granite , 

Mica-schist 



Biotite granite. 



Biotite granite. 



STATISTICS OF BUILDING STONES. 



57 



OF EOCKS QUAERIED IN THE DIFFEEENT STATES. 

MASSACHUSETTS— Crtstallinb Siliceous Eocks— Continued. 



Color. 


STRUCTURE. 


GEOLOGICAL AGE OF FORMATION. 

1 


j3 

t= s 




Texture. 


StratiBcation. 


Jointing, bedding, or natu- 
ral surface. 


Peri9d. 


Epoch. 






Coarse 




Irregular and broken 






1879 
1879 
1879 
1837 
1810 

1840 
1818 
1878 
1874 
1808 

1810 
1830 
1821) 
1850 
184.'; 

1838 


60 
67 
68 
69 
70 

71 
72 
73 
74 
75 

76 

77 
78 
79 
80 

81 

82 
83 
84 
85 

80 
87 

83 
89 
90 

91 

92 
93 


ilo 


..do 


do . . . 








...do 






do 




do 


.do 




. ilo 


do - - do 




do 




^nlv/:z::-:::v- 


Coarse 










... do 




... do 




....do 




...do 










...do 








.do 1... do 


...do 


. do . 




Dark gray 


Coarie 

...do 










....do 


.. do 


...do 






... do ....do 


....do 




■ 






...do 







...do . . 






... do . 




















... do 




. . do 








...do 












...do 






ISL'7 
1840 

182G 

I8:c 

18W 
1872 
1879 

1840 

1873 

1874 


...do .• ... 




do 


Horizontal and vertical 

Horizontal and vertical - 
Vertical, borizontal, and 
inclined. 


...do 
















....do 


... do 


....do 








... do 






Red 


Htdiurn 


do 




do 




do 


do 


do 


do 


.do 











Horizontal, vertical, and 

traniiver.se. 
... do 






... do 


do 


. do 


. do 




do 


do 


. do 




do 















MASSACHUSETTS— Makble A^^D Limestone. 





Coarse crystalline 

Coarsely crystalline 










1871 

1852 
1843 
1845 








do 


do 








<lo 


do 


do 








....'do 


....do 


....do 


....do 





















MASSACHUSETTS— Sandstone. 





Fine 










1850 
1856 
1880 
1878 
1878 

1860 
1840 
1850 
1880 
1880 

1840 
1874 
1850 
1867 
1800 




. . do 


.do 




... do 


.. do 








Coarse, conglomerate 




Thick . 










do . . 


. do 








....do 

Blue 

do . ... 






....do 












Thick 








..do 


do 


do 


do . 






do 


do 


do 


. do 


do 






Bed 


....do 


















... do...' 








Dark brown 














do 


do 


... do 


do . 












do 


do 






Red 

....do 


Fine, even 

....do 




...do 


...do 































MASSACHUSETTS— Slate. 









Even ... 

Stratification lines distinct 






1841 
1879 




Bluish black 

1 




Kectangular 


....do 















RHODE ISLAND— Crystalline Siliceous Rocks. 



Pink, black, and white . . . 






Parallel and vertical 






1873 
1859 
1840 
1871 
1820 

1865 
1863 
1877 
1855 
1862 

1850 
1843 
1850 
1874 
1860 

1879 
1859 














Blue and bluish black 

Light pink 


Medium 


do 


do 


.. do 




1 






do 


do 






Blui.sh black 














Red 




Ma siv 


Parallel and vertical 


Archa;an 






...do 


....do 












...do 






...do 


.:;;:;;;:::::::;:;:. 




Red 
















Fine.... . . 


Indistinctly laminated 

Indistinctly laminated 


Parallel and vertical 

Parallel and vertical 

Irregular and vertical 








Red, white, and blue 








11 


...do 






1' 


Red 




Massive 


do 




IS 










...do 





14 


Gray, red, and white 








....do 




l.S 


Medium coarse 










in 


....do 










17 












! 





58 



BUILDINa STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 



Table IY.— TABLES IIJ^DICATING THE AMOUNT AND KINDS 

NEW HAMPSHIRE— Crystalline Siliceous Eocks. 



Locatkm of quarry. 



West Concord . 



...do . 



Concord 

AUenstown 

IJurhaiu 

Ilayniund 

Peterborough . 



I 
■21 I Milford . 



2 milea sontliwest of Milford . 
l: miles nortliwest of ililford . 
MasoD 



Niishna 

Mjincliester., 
Fitzwilliam . 



Connty. 



Strafford 

Kockingham.. 
Hillsborougli . 

Hillsborougli . 



Hillsborough . 



do. 



Hillsborough . . . 



Cheshire. 



Jarvia Sanborn 

Charles Freeman 

P. H. Freets&Son.. 

David L. Tilton 

George D. Keniiston . 



Charles E. Eoyc 



Putney & Nutting . . . 
Crowley & Quinn .... 
George A. Bosworth . 
Donagan &, Davis 



Abijah HoUia , 

Harrison Granite Company., 

M. H. Johnson 

Francis Hodffman 

Ful!e 



Granite Railway Company - 

Charles A. Bailey 

Joseph S. Abbott 

Aaron F. Keys 

Dennis O'Keefe 



Kittredge & Carlton . 
Everett & Hutcbingsi 

Thomas Kinji 

Nathan Merrill 

George F. Parker 



L. M. Bums 

A. D. Bates 

James Maxwell 

"William Braman 

Alexander MacDouald. 



C. W. Stevens 

Amoskeag Maa.ufacturing Companv - 

D. H. Eead 

E. L. Angier & Co 

Mel vin Wilson 



Marlborough... do . 



Ethan Blodgett . 
John E. Fisher.. 
Albert Hayden.. 
Albert G. Mann. 



SPECIFIC VARIETY OF STOXE. 



Popular name. 



Granite 

Granitic gneiss . 



Syenite . 
Granite . 
Gneiss . . 



VERMONT—CKYSTALLiira Siliceous Rocks. 



Brunswick. 

Morgan . 

Pvyegate .... 



2i miles northeast of Woodbury .. 
Wooidbury 



Essex 

Orleans . . . 
Caledonia. 



Washington . 
Washington . 



Saint Johnsburv Granite Company. 

D. T. Turner & SoH , 

K.F.Carter , 

E.W. Laird 



C.W.Cilley 

J. Ainsworth & Sou , 



G.W.Mann 

Wetmore & Morse . 



Edwin Kittredge . . . 
E. Sturtevaut & Co . 



VERMONT— Marble anb Limestone. 



Scientific name. 



Biotito granite 

Biotite-epidote gneiss 



Eiotite granite 

Biotite-muscovite granite . 



Biotite-muscovite granite (light and 

dark). 
Biotite-muscovite granite , 



Biotite-muscovite granite . 



Biotite-muscoTite granite 

...do 

Biotite granite 

-- do 

Muacovite-biotite gneiss . 

Biotite granite , . . 



.do. 



.do . 



Muscovite granite 

Biotite granite 

Muscovite-biotite granite , 

Biofite granite 

Muscovite-biotite granite (light) ; bi- 
otite granite (dark). 



Biotite granite (dark) , 

Muscovite-biotite granite. 
Muacovite-biotite gneiss .., 
Muscovite-biotite granite . 



Biotite granite 

— do 

Biotitfs-muscovite granite. 



Biotite granite . 
Biotite granite . 



Muscovite biotite (dark); mnscovite 

granite (light). 
Muscovite granite 



Weat Jutland . 



...do 

Bennington . . . 



G. & K. L. Barney 

Ira&LP.Hall 

Estate of Peter Fleury . 
GoodsoU&Hursh 



H. C. Fiak &, Son . 



Sutherland Falls Marble Company. 

Columbian Marble Company 

liutland Marble Company 



Gilaon & Woodfin... 
Sheldons & SUsou . . . 
Sherman & Gleason . 
William W. Kelly. .. 
S.F.Prince &Co.... 



Limestone and mar - 



limeatone 

Magiiesian limestone and calcareou 

dolomite. 
Limestone 



STATISTICS OF BUILDING STONES. 



59 



OF EOCKS QUAREIED IN THE DIFFERENT STATES. 

NEW HAMPSHIRE— CuvsTAixiNE Siliceous Eocks. 



Color. 


STRUCT UEE. 


GEOLOGICAL AGE OF FORMATION. 






Texture. 


Stratification. 


Jointing, bedding, or nata- 
ral surface. 


Period. 


Epoch. 






Fine 


Massive 








1870 
1865 
1844 
1870 
1870 

1846 

1851 
1866 
1870 
1866 

1865 
1875 
1879 
1874 
1867 

1P62 
1876 
1871 
1850 
1850 

1877 
1871 
1871 
1874 
1870 

1820 
18ti5 
1875 
1860 
1869 

1822 
1873 
1864 
1864 
1860 

1868 
1879 
1870 
1812 






Obscurely stratified 

Indistinctly laminated 


Horizontal and vertical 

do 










Coarse 


.do 




1 






do 






do 


Fine 

Fine 

do . .... 






. do ... 




i; 














Grav 


do 


Horizontal and vertical 

. do 


... do 




7 


io 




do 


do 




R 








Irregular 

Hotizontal and vertical 

Horizontal and vertical ... 


... do 


q 








...do 


in 






Massive 


n 






Indistinctly laminated 

Massive ' 










do 


do 


... do 


n 






Indistinctly laminated .. 




... do 


14 


^!7o '.:''.:::::"'/::.'.:'. 




Horizontal and vertical 

Horizontal sbeets 

Horizontal and vertical 

Inclined sbeeta 

do 


... do 






Fine 




Archipan 

...do 

...do 

... do 1.- - 


16 




Medium 


do 


17 




do 


IS 






Indistinctly laminated 


19 






do 


.. do 




•'0 


Gray 

... do 

...do 

--. do 


Medium , 


Indistinctly laminated ... 


















do 

Coarse 




Tertical and trnnsver.^e ... 
do 










do 





'>4 


Indistinctly laminated 




do 




••^ 













?fi 




Fioe 


ludistiactly laminated 


Vertical and transverse . . . 
Solid 


... do 








do 




■>« 








Horizontal and vertical 

do 


... do 




oq 








do 




10 




Indistinctly laminated — 










Pink 


do 


Horizontal and vertical 

Horizontal sheets 


... do 




3? 


Gray 

Light and dark gray 






. . do 




SI 






do 




S4 








...do 




35 


Gray 

... do 




Massive 


Irregular 

Horizontal and vertical 

do 






36 






... do 




S7 




Indistinctly laminated 

Massive 


do 




38 






...do 




39 

















VERMONT — Crystalline Siliceous Kocks. 



Dark gray . 
Light gray. 

Gray 

Light gray. 



Light pinkish gray . 
Light pinkish gray . 



Dark gray . , 
Light gray. , 

Light gray.. 



do . 



Medium . 
Medium . 



Fine. 

Medii 



Laminated 

Indistinctly laminated - 
Indistinctly laminated . 
Massive 



Rectangular 

Tertical and transverse . . . 

Vertical joints 

Horizontal and vertical 

joints. 
Inclined sheets 



Horizontal and vertical 

joints. 

Parallel vertical joints 

Horizontal and vertical 

joints. 
Horizontal and parallel 

vertical joints. 
Horizontal and vertical 

joints. 



Inclined sheets 

Parallel vertical joints . 



Archaean 

Upper Silurian. 



Upper Silurian - 



VERMONT— Marble and Limestone. 









Thick 






1866 
1874 
1820 
1874 

1776 

1880 
1866 

1836 

1867 
1845 

1845 
1844 
1844 
1867 
1850 


1 


Black, gray, and variegated 


Fine 






.do 




•> 








do 




S 








Even, thick 


... do 












....do 




a 


WTiite to dark bine 

White with dark shades . . 

White with dark bands 

and streaks. 
White with dark shades . . 
White to dark blue 












6 


... do 


do 


Thick 


... do 




7 


do 




do 


.. do 




K 


... do 




...do 






9 








....do 




in 






Thick 






11 










I 


IS 


White and mottled 








... do 


! 


13 










1 


14 


White and mottled 


...do 


... do 


...do 


...do 


j 


15 



60 



BUILDING STONES AND THE QUAREY INDUSTRY. 



Table IV.— TABLES IJTDICATING THE AMOUNT AND KINDS. 

VERMONT— Marble and Limestone— Continued. 





Location of quarry. 


County. 


■ ITame of tlie corporation, company, or 
individual. 


SPECIFIC VARIETY OF STONE. 




Popular name. 


Scientific name. 


IG 


Dorset 


Bennington 


rreedly & Son 


Marble 


Limestone 


18 


...do 


....do 


ble Compan:^). 


.--.do 


















VEKMONT— Slate. 



Nort bfield "Washii 

Castleton Pai rlau 



Castleton Rutland. 

Fair Haven .do 

---*lu (]o /.'.. 

■■do do .... 



Fair Haven . 

.. do 

l*oLiItney ... 



Poultney i Rutland . 



PouUney .. 

Pa-wlet 

...do 



Pa-wlet 

West Pawlet . 
...do 



.. do ... 
.. do ... 
...do ... 



Adams Slate and Tile Company . 

Kicliard Couwav . 

Clifford & Litchfield 



Lake Pliore Slate Company. 
Blue Slate Company .*. . 



Snowden Slate Company 

Piercelloberts 

Jonea* Owens & Co 

Vermont Union Slate Company . 



Eiir Haven Marble ; 
Company. 



Qd Marbleized Slate 



Griffiths, Owen &. Co. (north quarry) . 

GriUfitb?, Owen &. Co. (south quarry) . 

Eurelia Shite Company '... 

Globe Slate Company 



Evergreen Slate Company. 
Lloyd, Owens & Co 



R.E. Lloyd 

Griffith & jS'"athaniel .... 

Daniel Culver 

Williams Brothers & Co. 

J.Evann & Co 

M.AVelch , 

H.J.Williams , 

E.Xl. Norton 

J.S. Warren 



W.J.Evans 

H.W. Hughes 

Rising & Nelson 

Owen Evans & Son 

TheBrowne:3 Slate and FlaggingCompany. 

H. Dillingham 



CONNECTICUT— Crystalline Siliceous Kocks. 



Dgiy — 



Bolton 

Glastonbury. 



Roxbury. 



...do 

do 

North Bridgeport. 



AuFonia . 



Brauford (south of) . 

Leetes island 

Stony Creek 

Haddam 

Middletown 

Lyme 



Lyme (6 miles east of) 

Warertbrd ; 

Niantic (2^ miles southeast of) 
Groton 



Tolland... 
Hartford.. 
Litchfield. 



New Haven. - 
do 

Middlesex ... 

...do , 

New London. 

New London 
.. do 



Joseph Oatlev 

Jeremiah W.'Boswell... 

Samuel 'J'oAvnsend 

Oneco Ledge Company . 
Alanson Humphrey 



Bolton Quarry Company (S. Beldon & Son) 

Chester Hentze 

Snow & Wooster 

Plymouth Granite Company 



E. Mower . 



John Voorhis . .. 
Sylvester D. Hill . 
William Ritch.... 

Thomas Ritch 

Wheeler Beers . . . 

Spri: 



; & Wilcox . 



Patrick Dowling 

Francis Donnelly 

C. W. Elakeslee 

C. D. Allen (2 quarries) . 



John Eeattie 

John Robbins 

Isaac Arnold 

Burr & Wbitmore 

C. J. McCurdy and E. E. Salisbury. 

Luce & Hoskins 

J. B. Palmer & Co , 

WariTu Gates' Sons , 

Griiton Granite Company , 



do Charles F.StoU .. 



New London.. - 



Gneissoid granite 
Granitic gneiss . . 



Gneiss ... 



Red porphyry granite 



Homblende-biotite ^ 
Biotite gneiss , 



Eiotite gneiss 

Biotite-muscovite granite . 



Muscovite-biotite gneiss , 



Biotite granite 

Homblende-biotite gneiss. 



Eiotite granite. 



Biotite gneiss . 
Eiotite granite . 



Biotite granite . 



STATISTICS OF BUILDING STONES. 



61 



OF ROCKS QUARRIED IN THE DIFFERENT STATES. , 

VERMONT— Marble and Limestone— Continued. 



Color. 


STltUCTUEE. 


GEOLOGICAL AGE OF FOEMATION. 


.a 




Texture. 


StratlflcatioD. 


Jointing, bedding, or natn- 
ral surface. 


Period. 


Epoch. 




White and mottled 












1840 
1850 

1827 


1(i 




....do 


...do 


....do 




17 








....do 


....do 




IS 


do 










.- 






Blue-black . 
Purole 



Purple 

Purple and 
Varie sated 
Purple, gre 

gated. 
Variegated, 



Green and purple, ' 

gated. 
Purple, variegated.. 

Green, purple, and ^ 

gated. 
Gi-een 



Green, purple, and varie- 
' gated. 



Green — 

Sea-green - 
Green — 



Green 

Sea-green . 

do 

Purple 

Sea-green . 



Sea-green - 



I and blue-black.. 



VERMONT— Slate. 



Rectangular 

Ehomboidal 

Khomboidal and rectangu- 



Khomboidal 
Trapezoidal . 



Ehomboidal Even 



Irregular 

Bbomboidal and rectan- 
gular. 
Knoniboidal 



Irregular . 



Variable ! . . . do. 



do. 



.do. 



Variable Even 

Kbomboidal do 

Rectangular do 

Irregular do 

Joints parallel Smooth and fine . 



Rectangular , Smooth. 



Lower Silurian. , 



Lower Silurian. 



Lower Siluiian. 



Lower Silurian. 



Lower Silurian. 



Lower Silurian. 



Lower Silurian. 



CONNECTICUT—Crtstallixe Siliceous Rocks. 



I>ark gray . 
Light gray. 



Fine . . . 
Coarse . 

Fine... 



Coarse to fine Laminated 



Coarse do 



Bluish gray , Compact, granular . 



Coarse [ — do — 

Coarse, porpbyiitic ; Massive - 



Flue Laminated . 

Coarse do 

Coarse, porphjritic I Massive ... 



.do ! Indistinctly laminated. 



Irregular, vertical 



Irregular; nearly vertical i Arclii 
In egular sheet and vertical ; 



Irregular sheet and vertical I Archstau 



Horizontal sheet and verti- 
cal. 
Irrenular, vertical 



Much broken 

Irregular sheet and vertical 



Solid 

Irregular sheet and vertical 

Irregular sheet and vertical 



1842 
1877 


1 

2 


1875 


3 


1855 


4 


1877 


5 


1805 


6 


1850 


7 


1873 


K 


1855 


9 


1873 


10 


1835 


11 


1830 


12 


1S50 


13 


1850 


14 


1S73 


15 


1848 


16 


1870 


17 


1871 


18 


1««3 


1!) 


1879 


20 


1870 


21 


1878 


y2 


I8U0 


23 


1830 


24 


1876 


25 


1875 


?« 


1835 


27 


1832 


m 


1857 


29 


1869 


30 


1840 


31 


1879 


32 



62 



BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 



Table IV.— TABLES INDICATING THE AMOUNT AND KINDS 

CONNECTICUT— Sandstone. 





Location of quarry. 


County. 


Name of the corporation, company, or 
inaiyidaal. 


BPECIFIC VAEIETY OF STONE. 




Popular name. 


Scientific name. 






Hartford 

New Haven . - - 
... do 


Charles 0. 'Wolcott 












...do 


...do.... 




....do 




....do 








Middlesex 

....do 




....do 


do 




do 




. . do ... 


do 


R 




Middlesex 



















NEW YORK — Ckystalline Siliceous Eocks. 



HastJDgs-upuD-Hudson 

Cold Spring 

Clayton 



"Westcheatcr. . 

Putnam 

Jefferson , 



Mnnson &Co... 

J.E.Bailey 

Kobert Forsyth . 



Biotite gneiss , 

Hornblende gneiss . 
Hornblende granite 



NEW YORK — Marble a^^d Limestone. 







"Westchester 

....do 




Marble 






....do 




do 


do 


3 




Columbia 

Washington 

Sar.itoga 

Saratoga 

Warren. 








4 


Sandy Hill 




....do 


do 


^ 




Prince Wing 


....do 




6 


South Glens FpIIs 

Glens Falls 








7 




.. do 




8 


CrownPoint 




do 




9 




....do 




...do 




10 








....do 




11 




Saint Lawrence. 
JefFerson 


Gouverneur Marble and Whitney Granite 

Company. 
Oren Fish 


Limestone 

...do 




1?, 


Three Mile Bay 


do 


13 




L. H. Carter 


do 




14 


TalcottviUe 


....do 




do 




IS 








....do 




in 




Oneida 


H. &. L. N. Jones 






17 




Montgomery 




do 




IS 






....do 




IS 


...do 


....do 








?fl 


...do 


... do 




do 




?,1 




Montgomery 








?,?. 


....do 


James Sbanalian 

D. C. & N Hewitt 






1^3 


....do 


...do 


...do 




?4 


Sharon Springs 


Schoharie 

....do 


Charles .J.Smith 


...do 


do 


S,S 








W 




Schoharie 








?,7 






....do 'Tn 1 


?.H 




Onondaga 

....do . 




...do 




Vl 


.. do.° ::::::::'.".::;;;:: 




...do 




30 


...do 






do 




31 




Onond.aga 








^•?: 


...do 




do 


(lo 


33 


Manlins 


do 


0. P. Hughes 


do 




34 




C.avnga 

....do 








35 


..do 








RR 












37 




... "do". 






An 


3R 










39 


do 


....do 




... do 




40 






J.E.Pike 


do 




41 




Monroe 

....do 








4'^ 


. do 








43 


Le Roy 


Genesee 

do 


.1. W. Woodruff 


...do 




44 


...do 




do 




45 




Niagara 

Erie 




...do 




4R 


WUliamsTille 








47 


...do 


.. .do 




do 




48 


...do 


. ..do 




do 




4!) 


... do 


.. do 




.. do 




5(1 




... do 








51 


Buffalo 










!>?, 


... do 


. - do .. . 




do 


do 


.53 


.. do 


...do 








.54 


....do 


.. do 








.5.5 


...do 


....do 





















STATISTICS OF BUILDING STONES. 



63 



OF EOCKS QUAEEIED IN THE DIFFEEENT STATES. 

CONNECTICUT— Sandstone. 



Color. 


BTBUCTURE. 


GEOLOGICAL AGB OF FOKMATION. 


.a 
.3 

ti 
sS 
si- 

1855 
1840 
1874 
1700 
1826 

1827 




Texture. 


Stratification. 


Jointing, bedding, or nata. 
ral surface. 


Period. 


Epoch. 




Bed 




Massive 

...do 










... do 




.. do 






2 
3 

4 
5 

6 


....do 


... do 


...do 


... do 








Fine 


....do 








....do 


...do 


...do 


...do 


do 




Fine 


Hassire 

















NEW YORK — CRYSTAI.LINE Siliceous Bocks. 



Light gray 

Gray 

Ked 



Coarse, porpbyritic Laminated. 

Fine *. do 

Coarse Massive 



Few joints.. 

Irregular ... 
Not jointed . 



NEW YORK — Marble and Limestone. 



"White 

*' "Water blue". 
Gray 



Dark drab . 

Drab 

Daik drab . 
Gray 

Gray 

Dark drab . 
Blue-black. 
....do 



...do , 

Blue and gray 



Bine-black and gray . 

Blue-black 

Gray 



Gray 

Blue-black. 
Dark gray . 



Dark drab . 
Blue-black . 
Dark gray . 



Light gray. 

— do 

...do , 



Fine, crystalline 

Medium, crystalline 

Semi-cry St fdline, tossilifer 

OU8. 

Fine 

Fine, fossiliferous 



Fine, fossiliferous . 
Fine....' '. 



Fine, crystalline... 
Fine, fossiliferous . 
Fine and coarse. . . . 
Fine, crj-stiiUiue... 



I Fine, crystallu 



Fine, crvstalline 

Fine and coarse 

Medium, semi-crystalline. 



...do 1 Even, thick 

Irregular j Even, medium thick , 

Massive i Even, thick 



Massive \ Uneven, thick 

Even, parallel | Even, thin to medium.. 

Massive l Even, medium to thick. 

Even, parallel ' Even, thin to medium.. 

Massive ' Even, thick 



Massive : Even, thick . 

Indistinct ' Even, thin to medio 

Massive ' Even, medium 

-- do Even, thick 



Medium, semi- crystalline Massive Even, medium to thick. 



Fine Indistinct. 



Fine, semi-crystalline. 



Fine, serai-cryetallii 



Fine, semi-crystalline 

— do , 

Medium, semi-crystalline. 

Medium, semi-cry atalline 



Medium, semi-crystallixie. 



Fine, 8emi-cr3'BtaIIine. 



Indistinct ; Uneven, thin to thick . 

Medium to thick 

Indistinct Thick 



Uneven, medii 



Even, medium , 

Even, medium to thick.. 
Even, thick , 



Irregular 

Uneven, mediun 
Even, medium . 



Uneven, medium . 



Even, medium thick . 



, mediui 
.thick! 



Lower Silurian . 



Lower Silurian . 



Lower Silurian . 



Lower Silurian . 



Lower Silurian . 



thin, medium, and ' 



Upper Silurian . 



€4 



BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 



Table IY.— TABLES INDIOATmG THE AMOCTNT AND KINDS 

NEW YOEK— Sandstone. 



Location of qTiarry. 



Potsdam . - . . . 
Hammond ... 

Fort Ann 

Schenectady . 



Dormansville . 



Quarry viUe. 



Kingston . 



Kingston . 



Kinpaton Ulster 

.. do 

Weat Hurley 



Comity. 



Saint Lawrence 



"Washington . 
Schenectady . 
Schoharie 



.do. 



Potsdam Sandstone Company 

James Fiunegan 

Jenkins White 

Upper Aqueduct Quarry Company. 
Simmonds &. Bogardus 



Middleburgh Blueatone Company 

William Stoneburne &. Isaac Brate. 

Edward Udell , 

James B. Winne 

Allen Kniffen , 



Leeds Quarries 

Jesaup & McCarthy. 

Moon &. Meyer , 

James Butler , 

Peter Jessup & Co ... 



McCahe & Co. and "William Doraey.. 

Alfred Griffin 

H.B. Walters 

Peter Daly & Co 

S. O. Haggadon , 



Asa Cook &; Co 

Schoonmaker &. Cook . 

D.Lyman 

Mason & Mack 

John Fawley 



Mower &Co. , 

A. Carwright 

Thomas Fitzi)atrick 

Daniel Driscoe 

Michael Maloy 



Patrick Merinor 

Daniel Driscoe &; Co .. 
Cunningham Brothers . 

Francis Stone 

W. Teetsel&Co 



Sax , 

& Kelley . . . 
Patrick Devery &. Co 

Michael Kelley 

John Hackett 



Thomas Haher , 

Thomas Eafferty 

Pat Moore & Co 

Eerhaua &. Brainard 
Margaret Pierce 



John Dorgan 

John Lanagan . . . 
Thomas Malone . 
Scott Brothers . . 
William Hart - . . 



Phillip Stauhle 

Jno.H. Carle & Co , 

Mean, Goldbaugh, Knll & Saan , 

K. Short & Co., H. Brink & Co., and others 
Barney Bums , 



McDonald & Co., Eiley & Co., and others. . 

Frank Touug 

Carle & Van Hautenhurgh 

Patrick Maguire 

Burke & Co 



Christopher Maguire 

Leahy & Co 

David Henderson 

Osterhouc & Sheehan 

Eobert & Robert J. Charlton . 



William Charlton. 
Michatl Coogan . . 
Welsh & Hays... 
David Murphy . . , 
James Leahy 



B. Leahy 

James il van , 

Ryan & Co 

McCrief Brothers ... 
William Donaldson.. 

Monissey Brothers . 

Patrick C onion 

James F. B urke 

Michael Lamb 

Michael H. Fisher . . . 



James Highland, P. Urel. 

James Haggerty 

Tliomas Cordon 

Thomas Grant 

Patrick Bahan 



SPECIFIC VABIETr OF STOITE. 



Scientific name. 



STATISTICS OF BUILDING STONES. 



65 



OF EOCKS QUARRIED IN THE DIFFElv'EITT STATES. 

NEW YOEK— Sandstone. 



Light gray. 
Blue-black. 
Dark gray . , 



Dark gray ' Coarse 



6TUUCTURE. 



Medium to fine.. 
Fine 

Fine and coarse. 



Dark gray I Fine and coarse . 



..do I Medium 



Dark gray . 



Dark gray . 



Dark gray . 

...do 

...do 



Gray 

Dark gray . 



Dark gray . 



Dark gray . 



Dark gray . 



Stratification. 



Even, parallel | Even, thin to raediuE 

Indistinct Even, thin to thick . 

Massive Uneven, medium -.- 

do Uneven, tbii 

Even, parallel Even, thin . 

Even, parallel 



Even, parallel. 



Fine Indistinct 



.do do 

.do Even, parallel 



Even, parallel. 



.do. 
TOL. IX 5 B S 



Indistinct . . . 
Even, parallel 
Indistinct 



Even, parallel 

Even, parallel Even, thin to thick 



Even, thin to medium . 



Even, thin to thick . . 



Even, thin to thick 

.. do 

-. do 

Even, thin to medium. 



Even, thin to thick. 



Even, thin to thick. 



do Even, thin tomediu; 

_ en, thin to thick . 
Indistinct do 



Even, thin to thick. 



Even, thin to thick. 



Even, thin to thick . 



Even, thin to thick. 



Even, thin to thick. 



Even, parallel Even, thin to thick 



Even, thin to thick . 



Even, parallel. 



Even, thin to medltun . 



Even, thin to medium 



GEOLOGICAL AGE OF FORMATION. 



Lower Silnrian. 



1856 
1876 
1(?40 
1867 
1879 



1840 
1673 
1860 
1830 
1860 



1845 

1850 
1860 
1854 , 23 
18.50 24 
1860 25 



20 



1850 
1845 
1845 
1845 
1845 

1840 
1850 
1840 



1845 
1850 
1877 
1850 



1850 
1870 
1860 



1850 
1845 
1850 
1845 



1850 
1845 
1850 
1861 
1850 

1863 
1860 
1842 
1840 



1850 
18;>0 
1860 
1871 
1871 

1850 
1868 
1871 
1830 
1869 

1870 
1840 
1850 
1847 
1840 

1847 
1850 
1860 
1850 



26 



66 



BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 



Table IV.— TABLES II^DICATmG THE AMOUNT AND KINDS 

NEW YORK— Sandstone— Continuecl. 



Location of quarry. 



"West Hurley . 



"West Saugerties . 

...do 

.. do 

High "Woods 



High "Woods . 



-do. 



Ellenville 

3 miles north of Poughkeepsie. . . 

Nyack 

Pond Eddy 

3 miles west of "West Brookville. 



Margarettville. 
Roxbury 



Grand Gorge . 
Cooperatown.. 
Oneonta 



County. 



.do . 



Guilford- Chenan 

Srait hville Flats L , . . do . . 

3 miles from New Hartford Oneida. 

Camden do .. 

Atwater j Cayuga 



Ithaca 

Trumansburg 
Covert 



"Watkins Glen . 



Tompkii 



Canisteo . . . 
Brockport . 



John Dunu 

Thomas Pearl 

Duraond. Ferguson, France - 

Patrick O'Neil - 

William H. Shader 



IraPloss&Co 

Ohediah Wolven... 

L. Lawson 

"Williiim F.Stewart. 
Kufus Smedes 



Joseph Scully 

Michael Handreen. Michael Doyle 

Purcell & Doolan, P. Finnigan 

Patrick Keeney and others 

Richard Dunn 



Elias Snider 

Edward Bach .. 
Wesley Lewis.. 
W. Short & Co . 
Van Aken &. Co 



Elting &. Maxwell 

Lawson &. Fitch 

Noah Wolven 

Michael Brophy . . 

Thomas Mead, "John Gable. 



Thomas Hennessy . 
Henry Russell & Cc 
J. H.'Rialey 



J.L.McGrath 

Janneson Brothers... 

George Wilson 

Darius Rider 

Delamater & Bouse .. 
ileiTitt & Delamater. 



J. McGrath 

James Schermerhorn. 

Lane & Co 

Uriah A. Avery 

James H. Shaw 



Cornish & Rowe . 
J. B. Hammond — 
P. "W. VanKlrek. 
A. Bishop &(Jo .. 
Hungerford Sl Boii 



Rochester and "Wawarsiug Quarries . 

"Williiim Fuller 

N*^lsonPuff 

"Whalen, Martin &. Van Aken 

"West Brook ville Quarries 



Patrick Fendon and others. 

John Rhodes 

Patrick Riley -.- 

George AVhitehead 

Grant Brothers 



B. B. Boughton 

Robinson & Soop 

Samuel Draffen and Andrew Elflein. 

John Wood 

D. Orr 



Mrs. W. "W. Davis . 

John Miller 

MaUory& Griffith. 



McClune's Quarry 

Dumont & Cubic 

T.H.King 

CO. Ogden 

Northern Central Railway Company . 



SPECIFIC VAKIETT OF 6T0NE. 



do , 



Nathan Van Aken Blue-ttone . 

J ames Van Aken do 

Carle & Co ||....do 

Green »fc Co do 

Philip H. Lapo | ....do 

Bhie-stone . 



John Kelley 

George Barnard 

L.Fiehl 

James Mullen 

Hugh Quinn 

George Coon 

O'Brien & O'Reilly 

A. J. Squires 

Gilbert Brady 

Albion and Medina Sandstone Company . 



Scientific name. 



Sandstone (calcareous) 



Sandstone (calcnTeous) . 



STATISTICS OF BUILDING STONES. 



67 



OF EOCKS QUAEKIED IN THE DIFFERENT STATES. 

NEW YORK— Saudstone— Continued. 



Color. 


STRUCT L-RE. 


GEOLOGICAL AGE 


OF FOHMATION. 

1 






Texture. 


Stratification. 


Jointing, bedding, or natu- 
ral surface. 


Period. 


Epoch. ! 










Even, thin to medium 

... do 


Devonian 

...do 1 


1874 
1R77 
18C5 
1864 
1860 

1860 
1870 
1845 
1878 
1S55 

1840 
1800 
1875 
1860 
1858 

1850 
1867 
1850 
1860 
1860 

1860 
1871 
1860 
1860 
1875 

1869 
18E0 
1860 
1878 
1850 

1850 
1850 
1872 
1874 
1871 

1876 
1873 
1875 
1878 
1879 

1869 
1877 
1877 
1677 
1870 

1878 
1871 
1871 
1877 
1877 

1871 
1870 


8S 


jjaru gray 






87 






....do 


do 


...do 




SR 






...do 




...do 




811 






....do 


Even, thin to medium 

Even, thin to medium 

...do 


...do 




W 












<)l 


, s"' y 






...do 




9S 






... do 


... do 


do 




<)S 






... do .V 


do 


... do 




94 






... do 


Medixun to thick 

Even, thin to medium 

...do 


....do 




95 












Ifi 








...do 




97 


... do ' 




...do 








<ttl 




... do 


. do 


do 




9« 






...do 


... do 


...do 




101) 


Dark gray 






Even, thin to medium 

do 






101 




do 


....do 




W^ 






....do 


Even, thick 


....do 




103 






....do 


....do 




104 






...do 


...do 


....do 




105 


Dark pray 






Even, thin to thick 

...do 




1 


tm 


do 


... do 


....do 




101 


....do 

....do 

....do 

Dark gray 




do 


do 


do 




lOf 




do .. 


do 


do 




lOii 






Uneven, thin to thick 


...do 




110 










111 




... do 


... do 


...do 




112 






do 


...do 


... do 




11i 






...do 


Even, thin to medium 

Even, medium to thick 

Even, medium to thick 

... do 


... do 




114 






....do 


....do 




ll.S 






Indistinct 

....do 






11« 






....do 




111 








Even, thin to medium 

... do 


....do 




11! 








do 




Hi 






. . do 


do 


do 




TM 


Dark gray 




Massive 


Even, thin to medium 

...do 






ISl 




....do 




12! 






do 


... do 


....do 




123 






. . do 


do 


do 




124 


Reddish brown 




do . . 


Even, medium to thick . . . 


. do 




125 




Massive 






1?6 








....do 




r'- 














V.'l 


do 




do 


do 


do 




1"! 








do 


do 




I3( 














131 










... do 




13? 




do 


.do 


do 


...do 




13; 


do 


do 


do 


do 


do 




u< 


...do 

Dark gray ". 

Ked 

Gray 

Dark gray 

Grny 

Dark gray 

do 

....do 


....do 

! Coarse 




do 


.. do 




135 










136 






Lower Silurian ... 




13; 






Even, medium to thick 

Even, thin to medium 






i;« 


do 








1870 
1850 

1880 
1880 
1879 
1879 
1879 

1860 
1871 
1871 
1802 
1870 

1850 
1871 
1860 
1863 
1873 

1820 
1804 
1850 
1849 
1-78 

1871 
1871 
1830 
1871 
1870 

1870 
1873 
1869 
1860 
1860 


LSI 










141 




Even arallel 


Even, thin to thick 






141 




Indistinct 


do 




14? 








....do 




14; 








...do 




14' 






Even, thin to medium 

Even, thin to medium 






141 




Coarse 

do 




Devonian 

do 




14C 




do 


do 


14: 


Gray 








do 


. do 


14J 










... do 


Hamilton 


14! 








Even, thin to medium 

Even, thin to medium 

Even, medium to thick 

Uneven, medium to thick.. 
Even, thin to medium 


....do 


1.51 




Fine 




Devonian 

..do 

Upper Silurian . . . 




151 


iLij^J^tgray '". 


1 do 






1,52 








1.5; 




Indistinct 


Medina 


1.5. 


; Dark gray 








Portage 


l,5.'i 




Even, parallel 

Mas.sive 

Even, parallel 


Even, thin to medium 




i5r 






...do 




1,5; 








...do 




1.5( 




do 




....do 


...do 


1.5i 


do .. 


do 


M.iS8ive 

Massive 

- do 


Even, medium to thick 

Uneven, medium to thick . . 
do 


....do 


...do 


161 


! Dark drab 


Fino 


Devonian 

do 


Chemung 


161 


1 do 


ik; 






do '.; 


do 


...do 


in; 






...do 

...do 

Massive 




....do 


...do 


16. 


. Light gray 

; Lightgray 


...do 

Fine 


Uneven, thin to medium... 
Uneven, thin to medium. . . 


Upper Silurian . . . 
Upper Silurian . . . 


16.'! 




166 


... do 


ifi; 










...do 


...do 


Kil 










...do 


....do 


161 


LithlRTay 


...do 


Massive 


Even, thick 


....do 


....do 


170 



BUILDINO STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 



Table IY.— TABLES ll^^DICATING THE AMOUNT AND KINDS 

NEW YOEK-Sai^bstone— Continued. 



Location of qnarry. 



SPECIFIC VARIETY OF STONE. 



Scientific name. 



Lockport . 



'WaTsa'w" 

...clo 

Castile 

Belfast 

Jamestown . 



Jamestown . 



Kearney, Barrett & Co. 

Isaac liolloway 

Patrick Horan 

A. J. McCormick 

Ckarlea Wliitmore 



Chautanqua . 



Morris & Son 

Philander Twesdell 

George Sutherland 

John Lanff ./. 

John Mc V eigh 

J. O'Brien 



Fhig-stone . 
Sandstone . 



Sandstone (calcareous) . 



NEW YORK— Slate. 







"Wasbiugton 

do 












Boston and New York Slate Company 


do 






do 


do 


do 












...do 












....do 








WasMngton 




















do 


do 




... do 








...do 




....do 








....do 












"Washington 




Slate 

































NEW JEESEY — Cktstailine Siliceous Rocks. 


1^^^ 




Bergen Hill 

Dover 


Hudson. 










? 




Delaware, Lackawanna and "Western Kail- 
road Company. 

















NEW JEESEY— Sandstone. 





Flagstone Hill, "Wantage township. 
Southein outskirts of Paterson . . . 
BelloviUe. Avondale post-office. .. 























Esses 


A. Pbilip & Son 


. do 






....do 


"William A. Joyce 


....do 








....do 




... do 




6 


Pleasant "Valley, "West Orange 


Es=ex .. . . 










....do 




....do 








...do 








q 


do 


do 




do 






do 


do 




. do 








Somerset 

Hunterdon 

....do 








T> 


Milford, Belvidere, and Delaware 
Railroad. 




do .... 








....do 
































































10 


do 


. . do 


Greensburg Granite and Freestone Com- 
pany. 


. . do 




'n 


Egg Harbor Cit.y 


Atlantic 


....do 













NEW JERSEY— Slate. 



Princeton .. 
La Fayette . 



Stephen Margernm. 
Williams & Titus .. 
Thos. Jones 



PENNSYLVANIA.— Crystalline Siliceous Rocks. 



Twenty-third ward, Philadelphia. 



Twenty -second ward, Philadelphia 



Jenkintown 

Jenkintowu and Mill Creek . 
Cheater 



Montgomery . 



Barhour & Ireland and S. Prance 

House of Correction, Employment, and Re- 
formation. 

McKinney's 

John Js ohm 

Nester & Shelmine 



James Conn 

Eldridgo & Stewart (2 quarries) . 
A. O. & J. 0. Deshong, jr 



Gneiss. - 
Syenite . 
Gneiss.. 



Biotite gi-anite.. 



Homhlendo gneiss. 
Muscovite gneiss . • 
Honibleude gneiss . 

Hornblende gneiss . 



Biotite-miiscovite gneiss . 



STATISTICS OF BUILDING STONES. 



69 



OP ROOKS QUAEEIED IN THE DIFFERENT STATES. 

NEW YOEK— Sandstone— Continued. 



Color. 


STRUCTURE. 


GEOLOGICAL AGE OF FORMATION. 


II 




Texture. 


Stratification. 


Jointing, bedding, or natu- 
ral surface. 


Period. 


Epoch. 












Upper Silurian . . . 


Medina 


1840 
1851 
1845 
1872 
1825 

1876 
1873 
1873 
1876 
1840 

1840 


171 

172 




do 


do 




Eed 


... do 




...do 








...do 


....do 


...do 


do 








...do 




...do •. 






176 


Gray 


Fine 


Massive 








....do 


...do 


... do 


....do 






177 
178 
179 


....do 


...do 


....do 


Even, medium to thick 


do 






do 


....do 


do 




Gray 


....do : 


....do 


Eveu, medium 


do .. . 


i "^ 




Fine 








181 












" 



NEW YORK— Slate. 











Lower Silurian . . . 


Cambrian 


1850 
18C0 
1868 
1876 
1880 

1850 

1S69 
1853 
1853 
1877 

1872 
1868 


1 
2 


Eed 


...do 


...do 


....do 






...do 


....do 


....do 


....do 






...do 




...do 


....do 






Eed 


....do 




....do 


do 


do 




Purple and green, varie- 
gated. 


Fine 


Prismatic, quadrangular.. 
...do 




Lower Silurian . . . 
...do 






...do 


...do 






....do 


....do 


....do 


...do 








Variegated and purple 

Eed 


... do 












....do 


....do 




...do 






Eed 


Fine 






Lower Silurian . . . 
.. .do 






Purple variegated, green.. 


...do 


....do 


....do 



















NEW JERSEY- Crystalline Siliceous Rocks. 



Dark gray 

Gray 


'' Variable 






















18C9 

















NEW JERSEY— Sandstone. 



Gray 


Fine 


Variable 


Even, thin to thict 






1859 
1848 
1775 
1854 
1800 

1871 
1880 
1812 
1872 
1858 

1837 
1859 

1850 
1876 
1876 

1800 
1843 
1833 
1843 

1873 




Medium 












....do 












....do 


... do 












....do 


...do ; 


do 


do 










Fine 




Thick 








....do 














...do 














....do 


....do 








* 




....do 


....do 




do 










Fine 


Massive 


Thicls 










...do 












Coarse, conglomerate 














...do 










....do 


....do 


do 


. do 


do 






Gray 






Thick 










...do 
















... do 


... do 








....do 
















Coarse, conglomerate 




... do 





















NEW JERSEY— Slate. 



• 1 Fine 








1843 
1844 


1 

2 




I ....do 






.Lower Silurian . 


. Hudson Eivorsiato 


....do 










!i 






■■"'" 1 







PENNSYLVANIA— CRTST.4LLINE Siliceous Rocks. 





Fine 

Coarse and fine 

Fine 




Horizontal sheet and ver. 

tical. 
....do 






1850 

1874 

1837 
1730 
1860 

1858 
51800) 
5 1878! 
180O 
1750 
180O 




Gray 

Dark gray 




...do 






...do 


...do 








Gray 


... do . 












Fine 


.. do 


Horizon tal and vertical — 








Gray 




Laminated 

...do 








...do 


....do 










....do 




...do 


do 


do 






...do 




....do 


Horizontal and vertical 

Irregular 








....do 


...do 


....do 


...do 




10 



70 



BUILDING STONES AND THE QUAKRY INDUSTRY. 



Table IY.— TABLES INDICATING THE AMOUNT AND KINDS 

PENNSYLVANIA— Crystalline Siliceous Eocks— Continued. 



Location of quarry. 



2J miles east by nortlieast from 
Chester. 

2h miles north from Chester 

Collins station or Falmouth post- 
office. 

Etters 

2^ miles south of Gettysburg 



County. 



Name of the corporation, company 
iudividual. 



Joseph H. Ward . 



SPECIFIC VAEIETT OF BTOKE. 



Popular name. 



Scientific name. 



Biotite gneiss . 



PENNSYLVANIA — Marble and Limestone. 





Easton 


INoiihampton . . . 

Montiiomery 

....do^ ' 




Limestone 

Marbleand limestone 
















East ConabohockcD Stone Company 

Conshohockeu Stone Quarry Company 








....do 










....do 










Montgomery 


LLDerr 












do . 


do 


















Berks 

... do 


Philadelphia and Reading EailroadCo 










■■"do :"":■"::;■ 




















Lebanon 

Dauphin 

Lancaster 

....do 


John "W. Beaver 


... do 






Hurrisburg (4* miles southeast of) 




-do 






H. H. Witmcr (James Young, lessee) 

Juhn W. Mentzer 


...do 

....do 














Lancaster 

York 










York 


C. E. Winter . ... 


do 








Cumberland ... 
.. do 










ilo 

Shiremanato-srn (3 miles soutli of) . . 




...do 


do 




....do 


Moser &. Sidle -. -. 


do 


Calcareous-dolomitic limestone 




Cumbi'Tlaud 

Franklin 


"V7. F. Xoble 


Limestone 

do 


99 






do 




ConnellsvillelSmilesaouthoastof). 


A. r^. Bauniug 

















PENNSYLVANIA— Sandstone. 



Liimberville . 
Yardley ville . 

Newtown 

Norristowu . . 
Bridgeport. -- 



do . 



Shicksbinny . 



Berks 

Dauphin . . 
Lancaster. 
Lehigb . . . . 
Carbon.... 



Black "Walnut ... 
Skinner's Eddy., 



Luzerne . 
Montour 
Wyoming 



Wyomii 



Brandt 

Mainaburg. 



Fuller — 
Freeport . 



Greenaburg. 
"Wobstor .... 
Scottdale . . . 



Thomas H. Kemblo . 
S.B. &E. W. Twinir 
Buckmau <.t Farley 

Louis Flum '. . 

J.J.Davis 



Epple' 



& Bisehville 

L'lstown Brown Stone Company. 

Henry E. Wolfe , 

Brinker &. AVagner 

Henry Mertz 



a, and Western it. K 



G eorge Nicely 

C . C. Kanch, a^rent — 
Erownscombe & King 



Wyoming Stone Company. 



A. H. Fordyco & Co 

Brink & Knapp 

Moses Shitdds & Son 

Harmony Brick Company. 
J"oseph Botts 



McCoy &Co 

Mainsburg Flaggin 
Patrick Bradley... 
H. F. Hawk &Co. 
Jno.McNally , 



MifO-in J"oseph Watson . , . 

Himtingdon 1 Frank Holright . . 

Blair William M.ycra .. 

do ! Booth & Mackey. 



Soroeraet I John McAdau 



Cambria . 



Jeflerson 

Armstrong 

Westmoreland . 



Westmoreland . 



Cambria Iron Company 

Gore & Levorgood ...'. 

AUegbeuy Valley Eailroad Company.. 

David Taylor , 

, John A. Jiuffman , 



Loyalhanna Coal and Coke Company. 

John C.Campbell 

S. Zimmermann 

William Nelaon 

Samuel Dunmiro 



Flag-stone . 



Argillaceous schist 

Sandstone (bituminous) . 



STATISTICS OF BUILDING STONES. 



71 



OF ROCKS QUARRIED IN THE DIFFERENT STATES. 

PENNSYLVANIA — Ckystalline Siliceous Rocks — Continued. 



Color. 


STKUCTUEE. 


GEOLOGICAL AGE OF FOBMATIOX. 






Texture. 


Stratification. 


Jointing, bedding, or natu- 
ral surface. 


Period. 


Epoch. 
















1800 

1770 
1868 

1801 
1840 


11 






...do 




....do 




11? 














13 


Gray 












U 


do 


..do 








IS 

















PENNSYLVANIA— Marble and Limestone. 









Even, medium to thick 

do 






1870 
1756 
1849 
1840 
1800 

1825 
1808 
1831 
1840 
1830 

1881 
1866 
1636 
1869 
1840 

1840 
1840 
I860 
1879 
1850 

1878 
1812 
1875 


1 




Coarse, fine, crystalline . . . 




do . .. 




•> 






Uneven, thin to thick 

Uneven, medium tothick.. 
Even, medium to thick 


...do 




B 






...do 


...do 




























6 








Uneven, medium to thick. . 


do 




7 






...do 


....do 




R 


Gray 




Massive 

Indistinct 

Indistinct 

Irrf;iular 


... do 


do 




q 




....do 








Fiue . 


Even, thin to thick 

Even, medium to thick 






11 


Blue-blnck 












....do 




13 






Even, medium to thick 


...do 
















I.S 






Indistinct 

Massive 


Even, thin to thick 

Even, medium to thick 

Uneven, medium to thick - - 
.. .do 






16 






do 




17 






do 




18 








...do 




19 










....do 




?.n 








Even, thin to thick 

do 






?l 


do 


do 


Miissive 


do 




W 




Fine, crystalline, and com- 
pact. 






Sub-C.irhoniferous 




•Kt 













PENNSYLVANIA— Sandstone. 



Brown 












1874 
1840 
1856 
1878 
1808 

1780 
1807 
1843 
1850 
1878 

1865 
1864 
1860 
1850 
1840 

1835 
1830 
1867 
1876 
1860 

1870 
1860 
1870 
1878 
1878 

1878 
1871 
1872 
1836 
1830 

1830 
18G8 
1880 
1810 
1830 

1865 
1607 
1872 
1865 
1870 

1850 
1840 
1881 
1850 
1876 


1 


do 




rio . 


do 


... do 




9 


do 


. do 






do 




3 


do 


do 




Even, medium to thick 


do 




4 


... do 






....do 





5 














fi 


... do 


. ..do 


do .... 




do 





7 














R 


Gray 


do 










9 




do 


Even, parallel 








10 






Even, thin to medium 

Even, thin to thick 

Even, thin to medium 






11 








Suh-C arboniferou a 




1? 






Indistinct 






Eed . 


. do 


do . .. 




14 




do 










15 






Even, parallel 


Even, medium to thick 






16 










17 




...do 




Even, parallel, thick 

Even, thin to medium 






1R 




...do 


do 








do 


do 




do ... 




?0 








Even, thin to thick 






?1 




...do 




....do 




m 


... do 


...do 










?st 


... do 


....do 




E\ en, thin to medium 

do ... 






1A 


...do 


. ..do 


do 


... do 




?5 








Even, thin to medium 






?« 




do 




do 




97 






Massive 








?R 




Medium 




Even, thin to thick 






f!^ 


Dark gray and brown 

Gray 






....do 




3fl 






Even, thin to thick 






ill 






Irre^'iilar 






sn 




... do 




Even, thiuto thick 


Sub -Carboniferous 





33 




do 


IiTegular 


34 


.-..do 


do 








3A 












36 






Indistinct , . . 


Uneven, medium to thick. . 


do 




37 


....do 


...do 


...do 




38 


Gray and light brown 


....do 










39 








...do 




40 








Even, thin to thick 






41 












4? 




Medium - 

Fine 




Uneven, thin to medium . . . 

Even, thin to medium 

Even, thin 


do 




43 


.- do .■..".■..■."..■::: 




. do 




44 


Brown 


Medium 


Irregalar 


...do 




45 



72 



BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 



Table IV.— TABLES INDICATING THE AMOUNT AND KINDS 

PENNSYLVANIA— Saijdstone— Continued. 



PENNSYLYANIA— Slate. 





Location of quarry. 


County. 


Name of the corporation, company, or 
individual. 


SPECIFIC VAEIETr OF STOKE. 




Popular name. 


Scientific name. 
















Uniontown (3 miles sontheaat of) . 
Uniontown (4 miles southeast of) 










■IR 


...do 




do 


do 








do 


do 






..do 






do 




Waaliington (5 miles west of) 

Wasbiiigton (3 miles east of) 


"Washington 








'i'> 


Haiiam^ros::::;:.":-":::-"::::."::::::::::' 


do 


do 




....do 












....do 








"i"; 




do 






do 






Allegheny 












Pittsburgb, Cincinnati, and Saint Louis E. 
E. Co. 






■iS 


do 


do 


do 


do 






....do 








fio 




do 




do 


. . do 


61 




Allegheny 


















m 


do 


do 




do 


do 


M 


do 


do 




do 


do 




...do 


... do 






...do 


Aft 


AlleehenT 


Allegheny 








67 


do ..'. 






do 




...do 


....do ; 




















70 


do 


do 




do 


do 






Allegheny 


Fred. Altevater 






79 




do 


do 


73 




....do 






....do 


74 




...do 




















76 




Lawrence 








77 


Sharon 








7R 




do 




do 


do 


7') 




do 




do 


do 


80 




....do 








R1 












S9 


, ..do 


do 




do 




83 


....do 


...do 








84 












8t 




Ycnango 

Venango 




do 


do 


8fi 










87 


OilCitr 




do 


do 


88 








do 


do 


89 


....do 


....do 


Pennsylvania liailroad Company 






qo 




Crawford 

Crawford 

...do 






91 




B. McNeil 






9?, 


...do 






93 












94 




do 




do 




95 


Erie (4 miles east of) 


....do 




....do 















1 




Northampton . . . 








9. 














...do 








4 




... do 




do 




,■> 


....do 


...do 


North Bangor Manufacturing Company — 


....do 




6 




Northampton . . . 






7 






do 




8 


...do 


....do 




....do 




9 


...do 


...do 








in 




....do 


Chapman and New York Slate Company.. 
North Peach Bottom Slate Company 


. .do 




11 


6 miles northwest of Catasauqua; 

9 miles from Allentown. 
5J miles east of Slatington 


Lebigh 


Slate 




n 


....do 


do 




13 




do 




do 




14 




....do 




...do 




!.■; 




....do 




....do 




16 


Slatin gton 


Lehigh 








17 




do 


David Willi.ims 


do 




18 




do 




do 




19 




....do 








2n 




....do 








?i 




Lehigh 








M 












%3 




....do 








?4 












?.f, 




do 




do 




?6 


IJ miles west of Stinesville 


Lehiah 








?7 


York 


Peach Bottom Slate Manufacturing Co 






?X 




...do 






?9 




....do 








,^0 




... do 




do 

















STATISTICS OF BUILDING STONES. 



75 



OF EOOKS QUAEEIED IN THE DIFFERENT STATES. 

PENNSYLVANIA— Sandstone— Continued. 



Color. 


STRUCTURE. 


GEOLOGICAL AGE OF FORMATION. 


'Z ^ 




Texture. 


Stratification. 


Jointing, bedding, or natu- 
ral surface. 


Period. 


Epoch. 










Even, thin to thick 






1867 
1810 
1876 
1850 
1880 

1860 
1880 
1816 
1847 
1830 

1830 
1864 

1818 
1850 
1845 

1845 
1845 
1840 
1S64 
1645 










....do 












Even, thin 


Sub-Carboniferous 
















. . do:::;;::::;:::".""-'.: 


...do 


do 


.. do 


...do 












Solid 








do v.'.:'::::: 


do 


do 


Even, medium to thick 

do 


do 






do ... 


do 


..do . . . 


do 






....do 








...do 






....do 


Coarse 


























... do 




Even, medium to thick — 
do 


do 






.do 


do 


...do 


do 






do 


do 


do .. .. 


Uneven, medium to thick. . 








....do 


....do 


...do 















Even, thin to thick 

... do 








... do 


do 




do 






... do 


... do 


do 


do 


do 








do 


.. do 


do 


do 






....do 


....do 


...do 


...do 


....do 




A 








Even, thin to thick 








...<fo ■.■.■.■.■.■..■■.".:::;::::::;: 










1860 
1845 
1840 
1840 

1870 
1840 
1830 
1872 
1880 

I860 
1872 
1878 
1868 
1876 

1871 
1864 
1876 
1805 
1865 

1820 
1869 
1872 
1865 
1863 

1879 
1835 
1868 
1840 
1835 




do 


do 


...do 


do . 


do 








... do 


do 


do 


do 






....do 


....do 


...do 


....do 














Even, thin to thick 








....do 






do 






....do 














....do 


....do 






do 








do 




























...do 












....do 


...do 




Even, medium to thick 








....do 












...do 


do 














Fine 












....do 


...do 












... do 


...do 


do 


do 














Irregular, medium to thick . 
Even, thin to medium 

Even, thin to medium 






»4 






Sub-Carboniferous 
Sub-Carboniferous 
















.. do ■.".■.■.■.■.■.".■.■.■.".;;::.:::: 




Massive 

do 






... do 


...do ;.. 


do 


do 






...do 


....do 


...do 


do 








....do 


....do 


do . 


do 


Sub-Carboniferous 


















...do ; :;;; 


... do 












....do 


■Fine 






Sub-Carboniferoua 






....do 


...do 










....do 


...do 


Tniliati.irt 


do 





















PENNSYLVANIA— Slate. 









Smooth , even 


• 




1863 
1867 
1865 
1872 
1872 

1875 
1853 

1872 
1875 
1875 

1845 

1846 
1877 
1857 
1848 

1865 
1864 
1865 
1853 




...do 


...do 










....do 


...do 












... do 




..do 










....do 




do 


do 












Irregular 










-.-.do 












....do 


l-ino 












...do 


...do 














...do 












Bine-black 


Fine 


Ehomboidal 


Even 








Blue 


....do 


do 










...do 












Black 


.-..do 










14 




....do 










l5 


Dark blue and black 

Black. 


Fine 




Smootb , even 








....do 












....do 












...do 


...do 


do 










...do 


Hard J 












Dark blue 


Fine 












....do 


...do 










1849 
1860 
1877 
1878 

1807 
1846 
1881 
1852 
1835 




....do 


...do 












Bine 


... do 


do . 












...do 


do 


Even 






•"i 


Dark bine 






Smooth 








Blneblack 


Fine- 






... .«. 






Dark blue 


...do 


....do 










Blue-black 


...do 


...do 










Dark blue 


....do 


....do 























74 



BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

Table IV.— TABLES INDICATING THE AMOUNT AND KINDS 

DELAWARE — Crystalline Siliceous Rocks. 



Location of quarry. 



SPECIFIC VAHIETY OF STONE. 



Scientific name. 



^ear Wilmington. 



PHlipP. Tyre 

Huglies & Walker . . 
James McKendricli . 



MARYLAND— Crystalline Siliceous Rocks. 





it 












1 ^ 






do 








Baltimore. 






...do '. 


















"William F. ^yelIer 


do 








Baltimore 














....do 






II y 









MARYLAND— Marble and Limestone. 



Coclteysville 
Hacrerstown . 



Baltimore 

Waaliington . 



Beaver Dam Marble Company . 



T.G. Jones 

Swartz Quarry . 



Marble 

Limestone . 



Maf^nesian limestone . 



MARYLAND— Slate. 





Kear Pennsylvania state line- 
West Banoor, Pennsylvania. 






Slate 










do 












....do 










Harford Peacb Bottom Slate Manufactur- 
ing Company. 












...,do 






Near Pennsylvania state line- 
Delta, Pennsylvania. 














Harford Peach Bottom Slate Company 


.. do 















VIRGINIA— Crystalline Siliceous Rocks. 



Jf ear Catlett station 

li miles ftom Fredericksburg 

Tuckaboe district 

Near Kiclimond 

Granite post-offiee 

Manchester 

Near Lynchburg 



Namozine distiict . 



Chesterfield 

Chesterfield 

Aiuhmst and 
Campbell. 

Campbell 

Dinwiddie 



.do 



Chase Andrews ... - 

E. J. Loyburn 

J. B. Mitchell & Co 

Kicbmond Granite Company 

Old Dominion Granite Company . 



"Westham Granite Company. 
Casey & O'Connel 



S. Patterson &, Son . 
Smith &Sou;ball... 
Gill & Hubbard.... 



.do . 



Granite 

Gneiss and mica- 
echist. 

Gneiss 

Granite 



-do. 



Diabase 

Biotite-muscovite granite. 
Biotite granite 



Biotite granite. 
Biotite gneiss . . 



VIRGINIA— Marble and Limestone. 



1 2 miles northeast of Staunton . 

2 Craigsville 



-do Coral 



Augusta Red Bud Slate Company Slate — 

"arble Company Marble . 



Magnesian Umestone and limestone .. 



VIRGINIA— Slate. 



BuclEingbam . 



WEST VIRGINIA— Sandstoni;. 























do 


do 












....do 












...do 










do 


....do 




Grafton , 




Baltimore and Ohio Eailroad Company 












...do 












...do 




do 


do 




do 


..do 






Kanawha 






...do 













STATISTICS OF BUILDINa STONES. 



75 



OF EOCKS QUARRIED IN THE DIFFERENT STATES. 

DELAWAEE— Crystalline Siliceous Bocks. 



Celor. 


STRUCTURE. 


GEOLOGICAL AGE OF FORMATION. 


.ss 




Text are. 


Stratification. 


Jointing, bedding, or natu- 
ral surface. 


Period. 


Epocb. 
















1872 
1876 
1873 


1 




do 


ao 


... do 


..do 




■> 






do 


.. do 


...do . . 





















MARYLAND— Crystalline Siliceous Kocks. 















1840 
1825 
1830 
1830 
1879 

1836 
1872 






do 






do 







Dark greeniab gray 
















Indisiinctly laminated 




. do 






^'■^ 






do 










Massive 
















Horizontal and vertical 


....do 



















MARYLAND— Marble and Limestone. 





Fine and coarse crystal- 
line. 


Massive 

Irregular .■ 


Uneven, ibick 

do 


Lower Silurian ... 
1 do 




1840 


1 




. do 


"> 






do 


1 da 


.do 




<i 



















MARYLAND- Slate. 















1849 

1870 
1870 
1867 

1866 

1870 

1872 






do .. .. 


. . do 


do 


.. do 




■> 






do 


do 


do . . 




1 


....do 






Etl'D and smooth 


do 








...do 


... do 


















R 




do 




Even 


do . . 




7 

















"VIRGINIA — Crystallixe Siliceous Kocks. 



Bark gray . 
Light gray. 
Gray 



Greenish gray . 



Indistinctly laminated. 



.do Inclined sheet 



I Indistioctly laminated. 



Inclined sheets. 

Pew joints 

Solid 



VIRGINIA. — Marble and Limestone. 



Fine 

Fine semi- crystalline, fos- 
si lifer ous. 



VIRGINIA— Slate. 







Aretean ' 1840 

....do ; 1859 


1 






?. 




1 







WEST VIRGINIA— Sandstone. 









Carboniferous 

....do 


Upper Coal Meas- 
ures. 
...do 


1856 

1860 
1852 
1852 
1877 

1870 
1877 

1859 
1859 
1780 


1 




..do 


... do 


do 


?, 




... do 


.do ... 


do 


...do 


...do 


8 




do 


do 


do 


... do 


do 


4 








do * 




CatakilU 


.•i 










Carboniferous 

...do 


Barren Measures . 
Upper Coal Meaa- 

... do '. 


fi 










7 




I.... do 






....do 


R 










... do 


...do 


fl 






do . . 




....do 


Barren Measures. . 


in 















76 



BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

Table IV.— TABLES INDICATING THE AMOUNT AND KINDS 

GEORGIA — Crystalline Siliceous Eocks. 





Location of quarry. 


County. 


Name of the corporation, company, or 
individual. 


SPECIFIC VARIETY OF STONE. 




Popular name. 


Scientific name. 
















Ifi inilp<i from AtlTnla 


De Kalb 




. do ... . 















GEORGIA— Slate. 



1 EockMart Polk 



G. "W.Jones & Co Slato 



TENNESSEE — Maeble and Limestone. 







Hawkins 


Chesnnt & Chesnut (Crescent quarry) 














3 




do 




do 


do 




















do 


do . . 






Knox 




Marble 
















oj miles southwest of Knoxville.. 


do 




do 


...do 

Magnesian limestone and limestone. . . 












2 miles from Chattanooga 


Hamilton 

Davidson 












Siliceous dolomite and limestone 














Montgomery 




.do 















KENTUCKY — Marble and Limestone. 







Campbell 

do 




_ 






do . 




do 






"West of Covington 












....do 


"W-Clarli 


do .. . 


do 




do -- 


do 


J. W. Rich ... . 


do 




















Pendleton 

Jefferson 

...do 




do 


do 
























....do 


do 




do 


do ... 






Jefferson 

....do 


















n 


.-..do 

do 


...do 




do 


do 






do 






...do 


....do 














Louisville &. Nashville Eailroad Company. 




Magnesian limestone 

Limestone 








do 








Belknap, Dunnsville Stone Company 

Princeton Stone and Marble Company 




^^ 


2i miles east of Princeton 


CaldweU 


do 











OHIO— Sandstone. 



1 


3 miles north of "Wakeman 


Erie 


Nioh oil & Miller 


Sandstone 




? 


....do 






3 








...do 


do . ... 


4 




do 




do 


do ... 


■) 


do 


'. do 








a 












7 


....do 


do 




do 


do 


R 


..do 


do 




do 




9 


....do 


....do 








10 


....do 


....do 








11 






TV. E. Miller 






1-' 


Elvria 


. do 








l.S 




...do 










M miles north of Elyria 

Eidgovillo 


....do 








15 


do 




do 


do 


Ifi 




Cuyahoga 








17 










1« 




....do 


McDermott & Berea Stone Company 






19 




do 


do 


do 


20 


Brooklyn 


...do 


Jacob Hoehn 


....do 


...do 



STATISTICS OF BUILDING STONES. 



77 



OF BOOKS QUAEEIED IN THE DIFFERENT STATES. 

GEORGIA— Crysta t.t.tne Siliceous Rocks. 



Color. 


8TEUCTUEE. 


GEOLOGICAL AGK 


OF FORMATION. 


it 
r 




Texture. 


Stratification. 


Jointing, bedding, or natu- 
ral surface. 


Period. 


Epoch. 
















1854 
1865 


1 






....do 


Horizontal and inclined 
slieeta. 


....do 




2 















GEORGIA— Slate. 



Irregular Even 



TENNESSEE— Makble and Limestone. 



T ■ c t d 


Fine, semi-crystallme 

Fine, compact, aerai-crya- 

talline, Ibsslliferous. 
Fine, semi-crystaUine,fos- 

siliferons. 


Massive 

...do 

...do 

....do 


Thick 






1880 
1872 

1854 

1873 
1869 

1879 
1879 
1880 

1879 
1655 

1877 
1840 
1869 


1 


, •=• 


do 


....do 




") 




do 


do 




1 




...do 


....do 




4 




Medinm, 3erai-cryatalline - 
Mediam, semi-crystalline . 


...do 




....do 




5 


Pinkish 










6 




do 


Thick 


... do 




7 




Medium, semi-crystalline, 

fossilLferona. 
Medium, semi-crystalline - 


do 


do 


..do 




8 






....do 


...do 




1 
















Fine, compact 






■"■ " 




11 


do" 


do 


Thick 


do 




1' 






....do 




Sub-Carboniferous 




1R 















KENTUCKY— Mabble and Limestone. 





Semi-crystalline,f083ilifer. 

0U3. 

....do 




Even, thin to medium 

...do 


Lower Silurian 
(Cincinnati). 




1867 

1870 
1870 
1878 
1860 

187G 

1871 
1858 
1870 
1879 

1877 
1850 
1870 
1855 
1865 

1864 
1850 

1872 
1878 


1 








?, 




... do 










» 


do 


do 


.do 


do 


. do 




4 


do 


-do .... 


do 


do 


do 




5 




Semi-crystalline, fossilifer- 
....do' 




Even, thin to medinm 


Lower Silurian 
(Cincinnati). 





fi 














do ... 




Sub-Carboniferous 
do 




R 


do 




do 


iln 




9 


do 


do 




. do 




in 


Drab 






Sub-Carboniferou3 




11 








1? 




... do 








13 




....do 




Even, medium to thick 

do . ... 










....do .. .. 


do 


... do 




It 


Drab 

Gray 








Sub-Carboniferous 




16 


Semi-crystallme.fossilifer- 
ous. 




Even', thin to medium 

Even, medium to thick 




17 




Sub-Carbouiferous 
do 




18 


. ..do 




. do 




19 

















OHIO— Sandstone. 









Even, thickness varies 


Sub-Carboniferous 




1876 
1870 
1848 
1856 
1870 

1872 
1855 
1874 
1845 
1852 

1860 
1871 
1865 
1873 
1675 

1867 
185o 
1840 
1876 
1840 


1 


- ..do.v.v.v.'.::;;:;;;;":;; 


...do 






? 


...do 


...do 












do 


do 


do 


do . . .. 


... do 


do 


4 


do 


do 




do 


do 


. . do 


5 








Even, thickness varies 


Sub.Carboniferous 
....do 


Eerea grit 


6 


..Io::"v^v^' "".::.'.:: 


...do 


....do 


7 


....do 


... do 






....do 


....do 


8 


....do 


....do 








....do 




....do 


....do 


















Even, thickness varies 

do 


Sub-Carboniferous 
do 


Berea grit 

do 

do 


11 


.. do ■.■.■.".■.■.".".■.■;.■.":■.:■.■.::: 


do 


do 


1' 


do 


do ... 




do 


do 


n 


do 


... do 


do 




do 


do 


14 


....do 


....do 






...do 


....do 


Ti 


Gray 






Even, thickness varies 


Sub.Carboniferous 


Berea grit 


16 


... do 




17 


...do 

— .do 

....do 




.. do 


do 


do 


do 


IS 




. . do . 


Uneven, thickness varies . - 
Even, thickness medium . . 


. do 


. do 


19 


....do 


Coarse 


...do 


....do 


20 



78 



BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 



Table IV.— TABLES INDIOATIKG THE AMOUNT AND KINDS 

OHIO— Saudstone— Continued. 





Location of quarry. 


County. 


Name of the corporation, company, or 
individual. 


SPECIFIC VAIUETT OF BTOSE. 






Popular name. 


Scientific 


name. 






Cuyahoga 








■JO 






do 


do 




..do 


....do 




do 


do 




....do 


....do 


W.G. Nelf 








....do 


....do 








''(i 




Cuyahoga 

...do 






















...do 








<)C| 


do 


....do 




do 


do 






do 












Cuyahoga 














do 


do 




do 


do 


T. C G-arfleld 








Euclid 


....do 










....do 


....do 












Cuyahoga 










... do 










do 


....do 












Ashtabula 

Trumbull 

Trumbull 

....do 














Freestone 




41 


3 milea northeast of "Warren 






43 












Portage 














do 








....do 






















...do 


... do 












...do 




Blue-stone 




40 




....do 




do 


•iO 








Flag-atone 








Huron 






W 




....do 




do 




■il 












54 




Crawford 

...do 










...do 










'\l> 




Eicblarid 

... do 








57 










5R 


Mansfield 


....do 




do 




m 


...do 


. ..do 




do 




fin 




...do 








fii 




Kichland 

...do 




Sandstone 




fiS 


BellTiUe 






f.3 








do 




64 




... do..::::;;:;; 


"Walnut Grove Stone Company 


do 




m 




stark 






fifi 












67 




....do 




do 




6R 


Toimgstown 


....do 




...do 




69 


Mahoning 

....do 








70 


2J miles northwest of Youngs town. 
2 J miles southwest of Youngstown. 




do 




71 


Mahoning 

....do 








7?, 




do 




73 




Columbiana 

Carroll 








74 


2 miles north of Carrollfon 

5 milua north of Canal Dover 

3 miles east of New Philadelphia . 

3J miles southwest of Millersburg 
Northeast of Mount Vernon 

10 miles cast of Mount Vcruon . . . 

"Washington township 








75 


Tuscarawas 

Holmes 


Tuscarawas "Valley Coal and Iron Company 
Alfred Mathias 


...do 




76 






77 


"W. H. Ling 


... do 


do 


W 






do 




79 


....do 








sn 










W 


North Bloomfield 










K« 


Iberia 


...do 








«H 


...do 

2 milea south of Iberia 


....do 








Kt 


... do 








K,-| 


Mount Gikad 


...do 


B. S. IlussoU... 






R6 


4 miles east of Cardington 

....do 








Sandstone 


K7 


....do 


W. Brooke . . 




l-K 




Delaware 

...do 








K!l 


...do... ::.;;;;::: 








iJU 


10 miles east of Columbus 


Franklin 


"William A. Forrester 1 


...do 


....do 



STATISTICS OF BUILDING STONES. 



79 



OF KOCKS QUAERIED IN THE DIFFERENT STATES. 

OHIO— Sandstone— Coutiuued. 



Gray . 



Gray. 



Gray. 



...do 

..do 

Gray 

...do 

Gray and brown . 

Gra V 

...do 

Gray 



STEUCTURE. 



Fioe Massive 



Coarse Even, tliictness medium .. 



Coarse I Irre^iula 



Uneven, tbicknessmedium 



Massive I Even, thickn 



Fine 

Mediam . 
Fine 



Coarse Uneven, thick 



Even, tbickness mediu 



Even, tbickness ^ 



Even, tbin 

Irregular, tbick . 



Massive | Even, variable, tbick . 

Coarse and massive , Evl-u, ibick 

Fine and irregular... \ Kouj^b, thin 



Medium i Variable. 



Even, variable, tbick.. 

-do ! do Even, thin to medium. 

Coarse j Massive Even, medium tbick .., 

Fine l Fine and massive , Even, variable, thick. . . 



GEOLOGICAL AGE OF FORMATION. 



Sub-C arboniferous 



Sub-Carboniferous 



Sub -C arb onif erous 



Sub-Caiboniferoua Bedford shale.. 



Eerea grit . 



Bedford shale . 



.do . 



do Berea grit . 



Sub-Carboniferoup Cuyaboca sbale.. 
Carbunifcious ... | Base of Lower 
Coal Measures. 



Carboniferous . 



Sub-Carboniferous 



Sub- Carboniferous 



Fine 1 Massive j Uneven, medium thick. 

-- do j Coarse \ Even, medium thick 

Coarse ; Massive do 



-do do Even, thick . 

Coarse Massive Even, tbick . 



■ do , Coarse , Even, variable, tbick . 

do Massive i . . . do 

do I do Even, thick 



Sub -Carboniferous Berea grit 



Berea grit . 



Lower Comiferous 
Berea grit 



Sub-Carboniferous 



Carboniferous . . . 



Gray and pink.. 
Gray and pink. 



Gray . 



Massive Uneven, tbick . 



Medium do . 

Coarse I . . . do . 

Medium ' do . 



nd irregular di 



Medium Co 



Gray 



Tegular i Even, tbick 

. . - Uneven, variable, tbick . 

... Thick 

. . . Une^ren, thick 



Base of Lower 

Coal Measures. 

Lower Coal Meas- 



rboniferous ... 


Lower Coal ileas. 


do 


...do 


do 

do 


...do 

Base of Lower 
Co.ll Measures- 
Lower Coal Meas. 


rboniierous 


Lower Coal Meas- 


do 

do 


...do 

...do 



1«45 21 

I8G4 22 

1879 I 23 

1850 '< it 

1864 23 

IPSO ' 26 
1855 27 
1872 2g 



1873 43 
1860 ' 44 
18ti6 45 



1870 53 
1840 54 
1847 55 



Coarse I Ma 



1870 67 

1369 68 

1873 69 

1863 , 70 

1868 71 

1820 72 

1830 73 

1840 74 

1870 75 

Uneven, thick | Carboniferous ' Lower Coal Meas- i 1840 76 



do. 



do Coarse and 



Gray 

Dark gray . 

..do 

Gray 

. . do 

Gray 

!."!do '.'.'.'.'.'. 

.. do 

.. do 



... Even, thick jl do Base of Lower 

\ I Coal Measures. 

Coarse ■ Even, variable Sub-Carboniferous 'Waverlv conglom- 



Fine and massive Uneven, medium . 



rit , ISfiO 80 



Sub-Carboniferous Berea grit. . 



Fine and massive Uneven, thin to mediam .. 



do . 



-do. 



.do . 



Fine and massive i Uneven, thin to medium . . Sub-Carboniferous' Bereag 

- do ' do I do do- 
do ' Even, thin to medium ' do du - 

-. do [ do [I do ' do - 

Massive ' Even, mediam 1!... do 1... do . 



1875 
1870 
1880 
1850 
lt.i7 I 



1850 
1850 
18-5.'! 
IMO 



«0 



BUILDINa STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 



Table IY.— TABLES IKDICATII^ra THE AMOUI^T AND KINDS 

OHIO— Sa^^dstone— Continued. 



Location of quarry. 



County. 



SPECIFIC VARIETY OF STONE. 



Scientific name. 



Zanesville 

Cumberland 

2h miles nortliwest of Cam bridge 
2 miles southeast of Tippecanoe. 
"West aide of Steubenville 



^Ye^t side of S ieubenville . . . 

AVest side of Martin's Ferry. 

2 miles west of BcUaire 

West side of Bellaire 

Lewis' Mills , 



7 miles south-west of Harietta ., 

8 miles southwest of Marietta . . 
S^ miles southwest of Marietta. , 
2^ miles west of Constitution . . . 
Liihopolis 



Lancaster (east) .. 
Lancaster (south) . 

Logan 

Piketon 



Piketon 

2 miles west of Portsmouth .. 

12 miles from Portsmouth 

Freestone P. 0. (Buena Vista). 
Freestone 



KocliTille. 



Muskingum 

Guernsey and 
Noble. 

Guernsey 

Harrison 

Jefferson 



Jefferson . 
Belmont .. 



Belmont 

"Washington . 



Washington . 



Scioto »fc Ada,m8 
Scioto tt Adams. 



O. 2. Hillery ... 
Moses Cheney . 



Eobert Dickinson . 
T. B. Townsend... 



Samuel BaiT 

Robert Hosie 

Floto & Brothers.. 



Archer & Boal . 



Charles Seabreght .. 
Jobu K. Robinson... 

W.J. McClain 

Joseph Hutchinson . 



Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company - 
T. B. Townsend 



C. Finch 

Marietta Stone Company 

Constitution Stone Company. 



D. Briggs 

D. B. Calder 

Constitution Stone Company . 
Joseph Ley decker 



Charles Bowmaster . 



Waverly Brown Stone Qaarriea.. 

Reitz &,"Co 

J. M. Inskeep. 

Buena Vista Freestone Company. 
John M. Mueller 



W. J. Stewart- 



OHIO — Limestone . 



1 Point Marblehead . 



Point Marblehead . 



5 miles from Weston 

1 mile west of Fremont. 
KcUey's island 



Bloom ville 

...do 

Tiffin 



.do. 



Holmes township 

I'indlay 

— do 

1 mile east of Findlay 

7 miles southeast of Ottawa . 



Sandusky , 
Erie 



Clemons & Sons 

Johnson & Clemons - 

W. A. Clemons 

Ohlemacher Eros 



John H. Hudson . - - 

John H.James 

L. B. Johnson & Co 
Pray <fc Hall 



Quilter Brothers . 
N.Kelley &Co... 



Ira T. Davis 

David McGoray... 
Watson Hubbard . 



Charles Schoepfle . 



Ambrose Lieb 

Michael Callan 

Michael O'Donnell. 
Fred. Seavert 



E. H. France 
J. L. King 



L. B. Gearhart 

Altman &. Pressnell . 

L.J.Turley 

LHershey 

Jobn Hager 



Bituminous dolomite . 



Bituminous dolomite. 



-do . 



Magneaian luueatone . 

Dolomite 

Bituminous dolomite. . 
Dolomite 



Magnesian limestone . 
Magnesian limestone . 



Bituminous dolomite. . 



Dolomite 

Bituminous magnesian limestone . 



Bituminous dolomite. 



STATISTICS OF BUILDING STONES. 



81 



OF EOCKS QUAERIED IN THE DIFFEEEKT STATES. 

OHIO — Sandstoxe — Continued. 



Gray. 



Gray and light red. 



Gray . 



STItUCTUSE. 



...do .. 
Coarse . 
Medium 
Coarse. 



Stratification. 



One 30- foot stratum . 
Even 

One 40-foot stratum . 

Fine, not distinct ! One 10- foot stratum - 

Massive j One 12-foot stratum , do . 

Coarse and rejndar | Even, thick | — do . 

Coarse and i 



GEOLOGICAL AGE OF FORMATION. 



Suh-Carhoniferoua 



Carboniferous - - 



Carboniferous . 



Epoch. 



Cuyahoga shale.., 
Wiiverly conglom- 
erate. 



Lower Coal Meas- 



Gray . 
...do . 



...do . 
...do . 
...do . 
.. do . 



Gray, and red 

Grfiy and bro^vn . 
...do 

Gray . 



.do . 



Brown 

Gray and brown . 
Gray 



Dark gray . 
Dark giay . 



Pine 

Coarse 

Coarse and fine . 



do . 



Coarse and massive Even, thick 

Coarse and regular i One 30-foot stratum . . . 

Massive I Even, thick 

Fine and variable j Even, medium 

Variable and massive ' Broken and irregular. 



Coarse and massive 1 One thick stratum . 

Uneven, thick. 
d variable. 



Coarse and variable- 



One 25-foot stratum . 



One 25-foot stratum . 



Coarse and massive. 



Even and thin to medium. 

One 30-foot stratum 

Even, thick 



Even, thin to medium . 



Even, tbick 

Even, medium thick... 
Even, thin to medium - 
Even, medium thick . .. 



Massive Even, medii 



Carboniferous . 



Upper Coal Meas- 



Upper Coal Meas- 



Carboniferous .. 



Carboniferous Upper Coal Meas- 



Lower Barren 

Measures. 
Upper Coal Meas- 
ures. 



1850 
al881 
1870 



Sub-Carboniferons 
S ub-Carboniferoua 



Cuyahoga shale . 



Sub -C arboniferous 



Sub-Carboniferous Cuyahoga shale 



Cuyahoga shale. 



a This quarry, though oponeil in 18S1, 



as considered of suflicient importance to have a place in the tables. 
OHIO— Limestone. 



j 


Semi-crystalline fossilifer- 


Massive 


Even, medium to thick 

. do '. 




Comiferous 

....do 


1830 

1830 
1S30 
1830 
1854 

1840 
]8-4 
1850 
1860 

1850 

1868 

1857 

1837 
1837 
1837 

1874 

1873 
1873 
1873 
1877 

1850 

1880 
1878 

1863 
1862 

1866 
1875 
1876 
1874 
1845 


1 




...do 


?. 










....do 


....do 


3 




do .... 


do 


do 


...do 


....do 


4 






do 


do 


....do 


....do 


5 








Even, medium to tbick 




Comiferous 

...do 


6 








....do 


7 










...do 


...do 


8 




Fine, compact, and vesic- 
ular. 
Compact and vesicular 


Even and massive 


Even and uneven, medium 

thick. 
Uneven, thin to medium. . - 

Even, medium thick 

do 


....do 


....do 


9 




....do 


...do 


in 




Parallel, wavy 

Massive 

do 


Upper Silurian . . . 


Helderherg (water- 
lime). 
Comiferous 

....do 


11 




Semicrystalline, fossilifer- 


1" 




do 


do 


n 


Hn 




...do 




...c'o 


...do 


14 






....do 




....do 


....do 


15 




Semi.crystalline, fossilifer- 
ous. 




Even, medium thick 




Comiferous 

...do 


16 






....do 


17 




do 


do 


do 


do 


...do 


18 






do 


do 


... do 


do 


ll 






do 


do 


...do 


do 


'>n 


Drab 


Semi-crystalline, fossilifer- 




Even, mediom thick 

....do 




Comiferous 

....do 


'1 




...do 


99. 








do 


Upper Silurian . . . 
....do 


Helderherg (water- 
lime). 


n 




do 


do 


do 


?4 




do 


..do 


. ..do 


....do 


....do 


?5 


Gray and blaish gray 






Uneven, thin to medium. . . 
....do 




Comiferous 

Niagara 

do 

...do , 

Helderh6rg(water- 
lime). 


?fi 


Porous and Tesicnlar 




Upper Silurian . - - 


?.7 






... do 


?8 






...do 


....do 


...do 


?a 




Compact and veaicular, 
porphyritic. 


Even, irregular, and mas- 
sive. 


Even, thin to medium 


....do 


30 







VOL. IX 6 B S 



82 



BUILDINa STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 



Table IV.— TABLES INDICATING THE AMOUNT AND KINDS 

OHIO — Limestone — Continued. 



Location of quarry. 



, company, or 



SPECIFIC VAHIETT OF STONE. 



Scientific name. 



2 miles north of Colam"bus Grove. 

3 miles northeast of Van Wert — 



4 miles east of Delphos . 
4 miles north of Lima . - 



5J miles northeast of Lima, . 



J mile east of Bell Centre 

1 mile north'west of Bellefontaine. 
i mile northwest of Beliefoutaine. 

1 mile east of Sidney 

^ mile west of Ludlow 



li miles south of Piqua . 
2| miles south of Piqua . 
At Piqua 



At Piqua 

...do 

44 miles north of TJrhana - 



2 miles west of Springfield . . 
4 miles west of Springfield . , 
...do 

2 miles west of Springfield. . 
IJ miles west of Springfield. 

1 mile west of Sprin gfield . . . 
North edge of Springfield. . . 



3 miles west of Columbus . .. 

4 miles northwest of Columbus . 
4 miles northwest of Columbus. 

do . 



3 miles west of Columbus 

...no 

4 miles west of Columbus 

4 miles northwest of Colurabu s. 

Newtonville 

i mile southwest of Zanesville. . 

Kockville 

Yellow Springs 



41 miles east of Xenia 

4*iiiile8 southeast of Xenia — 

6 miles east of Dayton 

8 miles east of Dayton 

IJ miles southeast of Dayton . 



IJ miles southeast of Day to 



IJ railc& southea.st of Dayton. 
7i miles north of Dayton 



If ew Paris 

New Paris 

3 miips northeast of Eaton. . 
5i liiiles northeivst of Eaton. 
At Hamilton 



105 I 3 miletj northeast of Hamilton . 



Putnam 

Yau "Wert . 
Allen 



Marion 



Logan . 



ilontgomery... 



J. Postlowait. - . 
Miss Z. Piilmer . 



A. J.Patton 

AVilliam Pugh 

Mrs. B. A. Armentrout . 



Jacob C uster . 



John T, Bates - - . i 

Kitzler & Gieenwald — 
F. Hinamon 

Marion Stone Company. 



T.E. Egberts & Co... 

flaberman & liilcy 

Beattie >S: Sherbouda. 
Peters & Lawrence — 
K. J. Akers 



W.L. Sickles., 



A. jiali & So 
(j. Hum burg 



LP.Watts&Co.. 
Conrad Shcfbuch. 

N.W.Furnas 

Lewis Pace 

Butt & Battorff . . 



J.TV.Euhl 

Covington Stone Company. 

D.C. Stattler &. Co 

H.G.Dewcese 

H.Clark&Son 



Mitchell & Mitchell . 

J. Hamilton 

D. "W". Happersett — 



A. L Eppley . . . . 
Mrs. E. Moores . 

A. Holcomb 

Kobert Moores.. 
James Mowatt . 



George Sintz 

Pettlcrew &, Bio. 
George H. Prey.. 
Wilcox Bros 

M.M. Williams.. 



Peter Burns 

Andrew McNinck . 

Lillev &. Poston 

I'.J.Price&Co.... 



Smith &. Price . 



T.B. Townsead., 



W. Sroufe. 



Boots & Bickette 

W. McDonald 

John Archer 

H. HustoH 

Huti'iuan Stone Company . 

D.Eeuner 

C.Fnuvor 

M.BosUt 



J. S. Bouker . 



R.Swialier 

Bowman & Thompson. 
T.J. Sniitli 



Sam. Smith &. Co 

Young &. Christman . 

John O. Deem 

Kilfoyle & Joyce 



Bituminous doloiuite.. 
Dolomite 

Bituminous dolomite . 



Bituminous dolomite , 



Limestone Dolomite 



Bituminous dolomite . 



nagnesian limestone. 



Magnesian limestone. . 



Magnesian limestone . . 
Bituminous dolomite . 
Dolomite 



-do 



Arenaceous dolomite. 



Bituminous dolomite . . - 
Argillaceous dolomite . 



Magnesian limestone . 



magnesian limestone. 



STATISTICS OF BUILDING STONES. 



83 



OF EOCKS QUAEEIED IN THE DIFFEEENT STATES. 

OHIO — Limestone — Continued. 



6TEUCTUKE. 



Testure. 



Stratiii cation. 



GEOLOGICAL AGE OF FOKMATION. 



D.irk drab 

Light gray 

Drah 

...do 

Drab and blue- black. 



Bark drab 

.. do 

Bloishgray 

Gray and blaisb gray- 



Gray and bluisll gray. 



,...do . 

Drab . 

Gray.. 
...do. 
Drab., 



Drab 

...do 

Light drab. 

Drab. 



do . 



Drab 

..do , 

Light drab . 



...do 

Gray 

... do 

Gray 

...do 

... do 

...do 

...do 

Gray 

Drab 

Bbie-bL-.ck 

Drab 

Drab and light drab- 
Drab 

... do 

.. do 

.. do 

... do 

Drab 

... do 

... do 

... do 

-- do 

Diab 



Compact and vesicular 

Semi-crystalline, vesicular 

Vesicular 

--do 

Compact and vesicular 

Compact and vesicular — 

Compact and porphyritic 

-..do 

Fine and compact 



do . 



Fine and compact. . 

.. do 

...do.._ 

..do 

Compact 

Vesicular 



Even and parallel Even, medium thick 

Even, parallel, aud mas. ■ Uneven, medium thick. 

ftive. I 

Even, wavy, and irregular. ' Uneven, thin 

Irregular 

ilasaive, iiTegular, and 

even. 



Massive, irregulai 

even. 
Wavy and irregula: 



and 



Even, thin to medium . 
Even and thin 



Massive i Even, medium thick . 



Wavy aud irregular . 



Porous ' Massive . 



do. 



Even aud thin 

Even, medium thick . 

...do 

medium thick . 



do. 



Vesicular Irregular . 



Even, medium thick . 



Vesicular ; Irregular 

.. do do 

Semi-crystalline Wavy and irregular . 



Semi-crystalline ! Wavy and i 

do ..' ' do 

Vesicular Irregular .. 

do Wavy and i 



Even, medium thick . 



do . 



do . 



Even and 

thick. 
Even, medium thick 



thick 

I, medium 



Vesicular. 



Wavy and irregular | Eveu, medium tliick . 

— do ..do 

Irregular do 



Irregular ' Even, medit 

Wavy and irregular | do 



do. 



Semi.crystalliue, fossilifer. Irregular , Even, thick, and medium . 



Semi-crystalline, fossilifer- 

ous. 
Fine, semi.crystalliue 



Compact and fossiliferous . 
Vesicular 



Semi-crystallii 



Semi-crystalline . 



Irregular Even, thick, and medium . - Devonian 

Massive [ Even, thin to medium Sub-Carboniferous 

— do One 3-foot stratum Carboniferous - - 

Irregulr.r Even and thin 1 Upper Silurian 

— do Even, variable, thick - . 

Irregular j Even, medium thick I! Upper Silurian 



Upper Silurian . . 



Devonian . 
...do 

Devonian . 



Upper Silurian . 

Devonian 

...do 

Upper Silurian . 



per Silurian - - 



Upper Silurian - . - 



Upper Silurian . 

"-'.do !!!!!!!!;;; 

Devonian 



IiTrgular ; Eveu, medii 



Compact and vesicular 



Pui-phyritic. 



highly 



Irregular Even, thin to medium. 

do do 

. - - do Even, medium thick - . , 

.-- do I do 

Wavy and irregular ; Even, thin to medium.. 

Wavy and irregular | Even, medium thick ... 



Upje 



Upper Silurian . 



Irregular do. 



I Upper Silurian . . 

\'.y.. do '.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.. 

Lower Silurian . . . 



Helderberg( water. 

lime). 
Corniferons 



Niagara (Guelf) . 



Niagara (Guelf) .. 



Niagara (Guelf) , 



Niagara (Guelf) , 



Corniferons. 



lime. 



Maxville 

stone. 
Lower Coal Meaa. 

Helderberg (water- 

lime). 
Niagara 



Niagara . 



1854 

1876 

1878 
1868 
1840 



1878 
1840 
1878 

1877 
1845 
1878 
1825 
1860 



1830 
1870 
185(i 
1865 
1856 



1874 
1858 
1874 
1808 

1851 
1851 
1802 



1873 
18G2 I 
1805 
1868 
1850 

1870 



1860 

1840 

186» 
1870 
1880 
1858 

1872 

1874 



1840 I 
1825 
1870 
1875 ! 
1661 

1845 
1851 
1873 
1868 
1871 

18J0 I 
1869 ; 
1800 , 
1840 
1840 



84 



BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 



Table IV.— TABLES INDICATING THE AMOUNT AND KINDS 
OHIO — Limestone — Continued. 



Location of quarry. 



County. 



SPECIFIC VAIilETY OF STONE. 



Scientific name. 



5 miles east of Hamilton. 



Butler.. 
Clinton . 



.do. 



...do 

2 miles soutli of Lexington - 

do 

Point Pleasant 



Highland . 



-do. 



HigUand - 

.. do 

Clermont , 

Hamilton . 



McAltin & Co. 

Mrs. L. Dunn.. 

A. Carriff 

J. Delaney 



.do . 



Hamilton . 



L. Lutterl)ey . 

J.Cinck 

E. Howe 



Bituminous dolomite . 



Limestone Limestone 



INDIANA — Marble and Limestone. 











. 




2 








. do 


do 






Wahash 




do 










... do 




















"Wabash 


■William J Ford 








....do 








8 


...do 


do 




do 




9 




Cass 




do 




in 




....do 




...do 




1] 












12 


3^ rriilea southwest of Kokomo 


Howard 


J V Smitli 


do 








...do ...- 




u 






D. E. McKinney 


. do 




15 


do 


do 




do 






Marioii 










17 


Blackford 

Delaware 


William Twibell 


do 




18 






do 


do 










....do 














?A 




Madison 

....do 








n 


..-.do 

Greeucastle 

2 miles southwest of G-reencastle . 
.. do 








23 




do 




24 


do 




do 


do 


?5 


....do 




....do 


...do 


?fi 


2 miles southwest of Greencastle . 










27 


do 




do 


do 


?8 


... do 


....do 




...do 


... do 


'>» 












30 








do 




31 












3'^ 


2J miles northwest of Laurel, 
Franklin county. 










33 


ITranlilin 

....do 




do 


do 


34 










35 


y miles southwest of Laurel 










36 


Franklin 








37 






...do 




38 


5 miles southwest of Greensburg . . 




Greensburg Limestone Company 






39 


do . 


do 


do 


40 


do 


do 




do 


do 


41 


2 miles west of Saint Paul 










43 










43 


do 


.do 




do 


do 


44 




do 




do 


do 


45 


...do 










46 












47 








do 




48 


3i miles northeast of Spencer 






















....do 










51 




Lawrence 




""" 




5S 








....do 








Chicago-Bedford Stone Company 








....do 








65 




do 




do 


.do 


56 




Jackson 

Jennings 








.57 


U miles north of North Venion... 








58 






....do 


59 


3 miles south of North Yernon 

Oakdale 


do 




do 


do 


GO 


....do 


Hiclia it Holmes 


-...do 


Magnesian limestone 



STATISTICS OF BUILDING STONES. 



85 



OF EOCKS QUAERIED IN THE DIFFERENT STATES. 

OHIO— Limestone— Continued. 



Drab.. 
...do. 
Blue . . 



STRUCTURE. 



Semi-crystalline, highlj" 
fos9iliferou8. 

Semi -crystalline 

Compact and veBicular — 



Semi' crystalline, fossilif- 



Stratification. 



Even and parallel. 

do 

IiTO^ular 



Even, medium tliick 

...do 

Yeryeven, tliin to medium. 



Even, medium thick .. 
....do 

Even, thin to medium . 



Even, thin to medium - 



GEOLOGICAL AGE OF FORMATION. 



Lower Silurian . 



Upper Silurian . 
Lower Silurian . 



Lower Silurian . 



Niagara 

Helderberg (water 
lime). 



INDIAXA — Marble and Limestone. 



Drab 

...do 

do j 

do 


Compact and vcsicnlar 

Finely vesicular 










1876 
1867 
18C6 
1876 
187'8 

187S 
1866 
1873 
1872 
1840 

1840 
1876 
1850 

1804 
1804 

1867 
1870 
1855 
1855 
1835 

1840 
1840 
1860 
18G0 
1870 

1858 
1873 
1870 
1865 
1862 

1870 
1877 

1876 
1870 
1850 

1878 
1875 
1850 
1854 
1859 

1850 
1862 
1866 
1878 
1879 

1875 
1869 

1870 
1879 
1878 

1879 
1879 
1876 
1867 
1S79 

1860 
1875 
1873 
1850 
1876 




Massive 

"Wavy and irregular 


Even, medium thick. 








....do 








...do 


do 






do 1 




. do 


do 


do 






- 1 

Drab 

... do 


Sei)Qi.cry8talline 


■^avy and irregular 

Irregular ." 

... do 










Even, medium thick 








do 


do 




8 


...do 

Gray 

Gray 






Uneven, medium thick 










Even and massive 

Even and massive 

. . do 


do 








Even, medium thick 

....do 














T> 


..-.do 

....do 


Fine and compact (con. 

choidal fracture). 
Semi.crystalline 


Even and indistinct 










..do 






14 


....do 

Variable 










Drab ' 

....do 

...do 

....do ! 

....do 

Gray 


Fine and compact 

Semi.crystalline 

Semi.crystalline, yesicular 

do 

Vesicular 

Fine and compact 


Even , thin to medium 








. .°o " .;:; 






do 




. do 




IS 


do 




do 




11 




do 






••0 


Even 

...do 


Even, thin to medium 

do 












•><) 


Drab 


Semi.crystalline 


Even, medium thick 


Sub-CarboniferouH 
do 




?s 






?+ 


...do 

Drab 

...do 


... do 

Serai crystalline 




...do 







?n 




Even, medium thick 

do 


Snb-Carboniferous 
do 




'fi 


do 




97 


. do 


do 


do 


do 




'R 


do 


<lo 


do 




do 




9q 


Drab aDd buff 




"Wavy and massive 

"Wavy .and massive. 


Even, medium thick 

Even, medium thick 






30 








31 


Drab 

do 








3? 


do 


do 


do 


do 




33 


do 


do 






do 




34 


....do 


....do 










35 


Drab 




"Wavy and massive 


Even, medium thick 

Even, thin to medium 

do . . 






36 




. ,io . . r!. .::; 




37 


do 


do 


do 


do 




38 


do 


. do 


do 


Even, medium thick 


do 




30 


do 


. do 




do 




40 


Drab 


Semi-cry staUine 


Massive 


Even, medium thick. 






41 


Sub-Carboniferons 




4? 












43 




.. do 


do 




do 




44 


. ..do ■.■.■.■." ■"-■■. '. 


do 




do 


do 




45 


Gray 




Massive 

---.do , , 




Sub.Carboniforons 
do 




46 


Fine and compact (con- 
choidal fracture). 


Even, medium thick 




47 




... do 




48 


.!i^.do:::::::::::::;::;;:;; 












49 














50 










Sub.CarboniferouB 
do 




51 


do 






do 




fl?, 




do 






do 




53 


do 


do 






do .. .. 




54 


...do 


,...do 






...do 




55 






Even and parallel , 




Sub.Carboniferous 




56 


Drab 




Even, medium thick 




57 


....do 










58 


...do 


do . 




do 


do 




59 


...do 


....do 


Massive 


....do 


...do 




60 



86 



BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

Table IY.— TABLES INDIOATING- THE AMOUNT AND KINDS 

INDIANA— Marble and Limestone— Continued. 



Location of quarry. 



Salem 

3 milKS west of New Albany. 
...do.. 



Eipley - 



Peter "Wagner 

Ashman & Glasgow. 

Emaiuiel Zink 

Cbriatian Haller 

N.Bittinger 



SPECIFIC VARIETY OF STONE. 



Scientific name. 



Ma^nesian limestone . 

do 

Limestone 



INDIANA— Sandstone. 



"William sport . 

Attica 

French, Lick.- 



3J miles east of Cannelton . 



B. F. G-resory estate - 

S. Bemhart 

W.F.Osljorne 

T.N.Bvaxtan 

A. Hallabach 



ILLINOIS— Limestone, 



300 yards south of Eoseclair 

44 miles above Eoseclair 

2 miles from Eoseclair, JacksPoint 
5 miles from Eoseclair, Shetluville. 
Chester Tillase 



1 mile north of Chester village . . 
3 miles north of Chester village . 
Gitvof BelleviUo 



i mile east of Columbia 

6 miles north of Bruse station . 



^ mile below Grafton . 

City of Qaincy 

City of Kankakee 



City of Kankakee 

1^ miles southwest of Lemont . 

l[; miles northeast of dfoliot 

2 miles east of center of Joliet . 
5th ward, Joliet 



3d wanl, Joliet 

"West side of Joliet 

...do 

X^ miles from 0. H., Joliet . . 
End of Cass station, Joliet. 



Eandolph . 



Clinton . - 
Madison . 
Jersey . . . 



Cook , 



1^ miles east of Li-moiit 

i mile northeast of Lemont - 

Village of Leuiont 

i mile southwest of Lemont. 

i mile southwest of Lemont ' do . 



City of Batavia Kane . 

...do ' do . 

City of Aurora < do . 



^Y. W. "Wrighf- 

C. Howard &. Sons . 
Gus A. Craigen . . . . 

...do 

John Hern 



iHU] 



Souther: 
John Hern . 

G. F. Liebneit .- 

John Kloes 

Peter Frierdich & Son 



Joseph Taylor 

Stop lieu Bardill 

Gralton Quarry Company . 

F. W. Monck/. 

Taylor & Orr 



Kankakee Stone and Lime Company . 

Excelsior Stone Company 

Joliet Stone Company 



Simon Hausser 

J. AVhittier & Co 

Joseph Warner 

Davidson Bros 

Joliet Stone Company . 



Isaac !>robes 

William Kvonmeyer 

Brnce&Cu 

S:mger & Moody 

Chicago aud Loiuont Stone Company. 



Illinois Stone Company 

Thn Singer-T;ileoit Company 

Chicago and Lemont Sttme Company. 

Earnshaw &. Bodenschatz 

Singer &. Talcott 



F.F.Brady.... 

0. 1'. Barker & Son . 
Authon Beithold .. 



Limestone . 
Black lime. 
Limestone . 



Magnesian and bituminous limestone 
Limestone 



Limestone . 
Limpstoue . 



ILLINOIS— Sandstone. 



Golconda 

Chester 

2J miles from Pincknoyrille 

Xenia 

Mississippi river, 4 miles up Hop 
Hollow. 



Pope 

Eandolpb 
Perry.-.. 
Clay-.... 
Madison . 



C.M.Cole 

Southern Hlinois psnitentiary . 

John D. Day 

"William Hang 

J.W.Crawford 



MICHIGAN— Limestone. 



2i milea southeast of Eaisinville. 



2i miles from Eaisinville . 

Dundee 

Sibley's station 

Alpena 



"Wayne . 
Alpena . 



Fritz Eath Limestone 



John Knag^rs... 
Nagor & Bemis. 

F.Sibley 

Owen Fox 



STATISTICS OF BUILDING STONES. 



87 



OF EOCKS QUAEEIED IN THE DIFFERENT STATES. 

INDIANA — Marble akd Limestone — Continued. 



Color. 


STBUCTUBE. 


GEOLOGICAL AGE O'F FOKMATION. 


fi 




Texture. 


Stratification. 


Jointing, bedding, or natu- 
ral surface. 


Period. 


Epoch. 








"WsTy and masslTe 








1871 

1874 
1861 








...do 
















Sub-Carboniferous 
... do 






io 


do 


do 


....do 






do 


do 


do 


.. do 


do . 























INDIANA — Sandstone. 







Coarse and massive 

... do 




Carboniferous 


Conglomerate 


1860 
1873 

1850 
1 1830 
1 1871 




Oray and bluish gray 








Fine and medium 

do 


Eveu, fine and coarse 

...do 


EveD.mediam thick 

do 


Sub-Carboniferous 
do 






do ::"■■ 












ETen, one 30-foot stratum. 





















ILLINOIS^LlMESTONE. 



ILLINOIS— Sandstone. 





Fine,compact,partly oolitic 






Sub-Carboniferous 




1867 
1877 
1878 
1880 
1880 

1877 
1877 
1674 
1873 
185e 

1879 
1867 
1859 
JS74 
1867 

1855 
1867 

1874 
1880 
1871 

1856 
1867 
1881 
18.i3 
1874 

1855 
1852 
1852 
1866 
1854 

1852 
1854 
1878 
1869 
1809 

1872 
1848 
1848 


















. . do 


do 


do 










do 




do 






do 




do 


Uneven, thin to thick 


do 












Sub-Carbontferou8 








...do 




Even, thin to medium 

Irregular, thin to medium. . 
Even, thin to medium 








Fine, compact 

Medium, compact 


Indisliuctl}' laminated 






A 


























Even, thin to medium 


Sub-Carboniferous 








Medium, Ibsslliferoua 


...do 








do , 














... do 














do ... 












Medixim, Teeicnlar 

Fine, compact 














Indistinctly laminated 










.. do 










Dr:ib 


















. do 














Indistinctly laminated 


Even, thin to thick 


















...do 
















....do 














....do 


do 


Even, thin to medium 

Even, thin to thick 

do 


do 






Drab 




Indistinctly laminated 








d9 










...do 


....do 




...do 










....do 














....do 












Light drab 




Indistinctly laminated 


Even, thin to thick 

Even, medium to thick 


















do 


do 










....do 


....do 












Drab 


....do 












Drab 




Massive 

. do 


Eveu, thin to thick 

do 








...do 












Medium, compact, and ves- 
icular. 


. do 


Even, medium to thick 



















Buff. 
,...do 
Gray. 
,...do 
Drab. 



Coarse Massive 

Fine, compact Iiregiilar 

Medium, compact Massi vo 

Compact Indistinctly Ian 

Medium, compact Massive 



Even, thick 

Even, thin to thick. 
Even, 'thick 



Sub-Carboniferous '. 



Carboniferous . 



Sub-Carboniferous i . 



MICHIGAN— Limestone. 





Medinm. compact, semi- 
crystalline. 


Missive 


Even, thin to thick 

do . . 






1880 
1880 




....do 


do 


do 




•K 


Gray 




do 








1 


Light drab 


.. -do 


....do 








1824 
1879 


4 


do 


Even, thin to thick 






5 















88 



BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 



Table IV.— TABLES INDICATING THE AMOUNT AND KINDS 

MICHIGAK— Saubstone. 





Location of quarry. 


County. 


IsTame of the corporation, company, or 
individual. 


BPECIFIC VARIETY OF BTONE. 




Popular name. 


Scientific name. 














9 




Jackson 




do 








C.S. Marsh & Co 


do . 








...do 




do 








Marquette 




.,,.do 















WISCONSIN— Sandstone. 



1 


3 miles -west of Waterloo (a) 

Madison, 3 miles from capitol 

building. 
Madison, 3 miles west of capitol 

building. 




Chicago and Wisconsin Granite Quarrying 
Company. 






*> 


....do 


do 




8 






....do 




A 


do 




Calciferous sandstone 




5 


Ableman. 


Sauk. 


Chicago and Northwestern Railway Co 












...do 










ft 


3 miles northwest of Alma 

4i miles west of Grand Rapids — 


Bufialo 




do 




q 












Mrs. E. L. Baker 


















T> 


do 






do 

















a This quarry was considered of sufficient importance to tabulate, though opened in 1881. 

WISCONSIN— Limestone. 



1 


2i miles west of center of Eacine. 










7, 


....do 




do 




3 


U miles west of C. H., Janesville 

city. 
2 miles west of C. H., Janesville 

city. 






....do 




4 


....do 




do 




5 


....do 








(\ 












7 


Westport, 2^ miles nortli of Men- 
(lota. 


....do 


P. O'Malley 






S 


....do 




Magnesian limestone 




q 




Waukesha 

Milwaukee 

Milwaukee 

....do 


Hadtield & Co 




in 


Simileswestof bridge, Milwaukee. 
















1^ 










13 


3 miles northwest of Watertown. . 
3 miles east of La Crosse 










u 


La Crosse 

....do 




do 




15 


....do 








IB 


3 miles east by south of La Crosse. 


LaCrosso 

....do 








17 








IS 


3 miles south of east of La Crosse. 


....do 








It 


do 








M 


7 miles southeast of Tond du Lao . 

7 miles southeast of Fond du Lao . 
4.^ mik-.'s southeast of Fond du Lac 
4i- miles southeast of Fond du Lao 
Byron, 4} miles south of FondduLac 
Eyrou, 2 miles from Fond du Lac . 

2i miles noi theast from Oak Centre 


Fond du Lac 

Fond du Lac 

....do 








?1 


. 














?a 


... do 




do 


do 


?4 


....do 




do 


do 


as 


....do 








?e, 


Pond duLao 

....do 








">! 








•>« 




do 








w 


2 miles northwest of Sheboygan. . 
Sheboygan Falls 


Sheboygan 


H.EEoth 


do 


do 


30 




do 


do 


31 


6 miles west of north of Manitowoc. 


Manitowoc 

"Winnebago 








.t"", 


OrviUoJ. Hall 






33 








34 


....do 


do 




do 


Dolomite 


3t 


....do 


... do 






3fi 


2 ra. southwest of center of Oshkosh 


Winnebago 








37 








38 












31 


Noi-th side of Fountain City 


Buffalo 


Richtraan & Kerckner & Mattansch 


Sandy limestone 




40 


....do 




41 


Kaukauna 


Outagamie 






lomite 


4?. 




Kaakanua Water Power Company 






43 




....do 






44 


3i miles south of C. H., Appleton . 


....do 




do 




45 


....do 








46 












47 


...do 


....do 


Chicago and Northwestern Railway Co . . - 






4fi 




Saint Croix 


do 















STATISTICS OF BUILDING STONES. 



89 



OF EOCKS QUARRIED IN THE DIFFERENT STATES. 

MICHIGAN— Sandstone. 



Color. 


STRUCTUBE. 


GEOLOGICAL AGE OF FOKHATION. 


.a 




Texture. 


Stratification. 


Jointing, bedding, or natu- 
ral surface. 


Period. 


Epoch. 




Boff 

....do 


Medium, compact, nnilbrm 
Medium 










1876 
1870 
18C5 
1879 
1871 




...do 




Sub-Carboniferous 














" 


do 






Brown 




Thin to thick 





















wise ONSIN— Sandstone. 



Light gray 













1881 

1858 

1876 

1850 
1880 

1880 
1872 
1879 
1874 
1868 

1872 
1859 




....do 


....do 










....do 

...do 

Light pink 

Light gray 

... do 

Buff 

Light gray 

do 




. do 




do 








...do 


Even, medium to tMck... 






















Even, thin to thick 










do 


do 






Mediam to coarse 

Comp:ict 


Massive EveD, thin to racdiura 


do 




R 


.. do 




I 




Even, thin to medium 

Even, thin to thick 

..do 




















do 




do 





















WISCONSIN— Limestone. 



Drab 

... do 


Tari.able, vesicular 

do 




Even, thin to medium 

do 






1879 
1860 
1840 

1878 

1860 

1857 
18G9 

1855 
1871 
1S73 

1856 
1845 
1878 
1870 
1680 

1879 
1860 
1872 
1850 
1855 

1880 
IfcSO 
1858 
1604 
1S04 

1878 
1873 
1850 
1654 
1879 

18G8 
1876 
1876 
1872 
1857 

1864 
1857 
1871 
1860 
1877 

1807 
1680 
1880 
1860 
1875 

1657 
1879 
1879 




.. do 








....do 


Medium, vesicular 

....do 


....do 


Variahle, thin to thick 








...do 


....do 








....do 




do 


Uneven, thin to thick 


do 






Buff 
















....do 


Variable, thin to thick 

Even, medium to thick — 
do 








Buff 




... do 


do 






Drab 




do 








....do 




...do 










Drab 






Even, thin to thick 

....do 








...do 

...do 

Light dr,ab 


Coarse 

Yariable 

...do 


... do 








.do 


Even, medium to thick 

Even, medium to thin 

Uneven, medium to thin. . . 

Even, medium to thin 




























Light drab 


Variable 

...do 
















:::: 




....do 


....do 




Even, thin to medium 

do 








...do 


...do 










....do 


do 


do 


Uneven, thin to medium. . . 

Even, thin to medium 

do 








Light drab 

....do 

....do 


"Variable 








''1 




X 




oo 








To 






...do 


...do 


do 


.do 






'I 


....do 


do 


do 








•>'> 


Drab 

...do 

....do 


Medium to fine 


Massive 

Even, p.arallel 

do 


Even, thin to medium 

do 








.X ;."■ 




"7 


Pine, vesicular 


do 


do 




"8 
























Drab 






Uneven, thin to medium . . . 

Uneven, thin to thick 

Uneven, thin 








....do 


Medium, crystalline 


J i„ 


Lo \ver Silurian 






...do 










....do 


...do 










...do 


...do 




Uneven, thin to medium. . . 

Even, thin to thick 

Even,mcdiumt« thick.... 

Even, thin fo medium 

Even, medium 

do 








Drab 












...do 


....do 

Medium, vesicular 

do 


...do 


....do 










IS 












Gray , 

Drab 

....do I 


...do 


..do 


do 




411 


Medium, vesicular 

Fine, porphyritic 

Variable 

... do 

Fine, compact 

Fine, porphyritic 

do 

Medium, fossiliferous 




Even, medium to thick 

do 


^ 





41 


do 


do 




4? 


...do ' 

...do 

...do 

Drab 

....do 1 

...do j 




Uneven, thin to thick 

Uneven, thin to medium . . 
Even, thin to medium 


do 




n 




...do 




u 




....do 




4.') 


Irrecnlar 

.-. do 

Massive 






4R 










Even, medium to thick 


...do 




4R 









^0 



BUILDINa STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 



Table IV.— TABLES INDICATING THE AMOUNT AND KINDS 

MINNESOTA— Crystalline Siliceous Eocks. 





Lecation of quarry. 


Couuty. 


Karae of tlie corporation, company, or 
indiviaual. 


BPECIFIC TAEIBTT OF 6T0NE. 




Popular name. 


Scientific name. 


















SherburDe 




....do 








Minneapolis and Saint Louis Railroad Co . . 

















MINNESOTA— Marble and Limestone. 







Washington 






Siliceous dolomite and dolomite 














do 




do 








....do 






Siliceous dolomite and dolomite 






Eamaey 

Eamsey 






















...do 


















do 


do 




do 


do 




do 


do 






do 






Eamsey 






Siliceous magnesian limestone 








do 






Hennepin 




















do - 


do 


OleDahl 


do 


do ... 






Henuepin 














do 






do . . 


do 




do 


Magnesian limestone and siliceous 
dolomite. 




do ., 








*>n 




Goodhue 

Goodliue 




do 








E. S. Berghmd 
















-91 








do 


Calcareous dolomite and limestone . . . 






Le Sueur 


J.AV.lJabcock 






.„.do 








'>fi 




Blue Earth 

....do 




















... do 










-Oq 












"^n 








Limestone 


do 








Chicago and North-western Eailroad Com- 
pany. 
C H Porter 




-^9 




do 






33 


....do 


....do 





















MINNESOTA— Sandstone. 



T 




Saint Lonia 

Pino 


M. Bovle 






? 


Hinckley 








3 












4 


...do 










5 

























IOWA — Marble and Limestone. 



1 




Allamakee 




Limeston 


Dol mite iliceous 


">. 










3 












4 




Winneshiek .... 
do 




do 




."i 










6 




Mitchell 

Cerro Gordo 

... do 








7 


\ inile northeast of Mason city . . . 




....do 




K 








9 




....do 




do 




JO 


} mile northwest of Marble Eook . 

1 mile sontlieast of Charles city . . 

4 miles northeast of Clermont 
(Fayette county). 










11 


Floyd 


J". S. Tii"-g .. 




Argillaceons-magnesian limestone 


■r, 




E. H. "Williams 




13 


...do 








14 








do 




-1.5 


Humboldt 


Hmjaboldt 

Humboldt 




do 




-1R 










17 


1 mile southeast of Dakota City .. 
Tort Dodgo 








lis 


Webster 

Hardin 

...do 




do 


Magneaian limestone and dolomite — 


.1» 


1* miles west of Iowa Falls 

Iowa Falls 






•-20 


A. A. Wells & Son 


....do 


....do 



STATISTICS OF BUILDING STONES. 



91 



OF ROOKS QUARRIED IN THE DIFFERENT STATES. 

MINNESOTA — Ckystalline Siliceous Rocks. 



Color. 


STRUCTURE. 


GEOLOOICAL AGE OF FOEMATION. 


.a 

h 




Texture. 


Stratification. 


Jointing, bedding, or natn- 
ral surface. 


Period. 


Epoch. 












1870 
18€8 
1880 




Bark gray and red 

Black 


Fine | . - - do 




... do 































) other granitea of a different stractare and appearance quarried at tliie place. 

MINNESOTA— Marble ani> Limestone. 



Ligbt blue and drab . 



Medium, vesicular. 



Fine, semi-crystalline. 
Fine, semi- crystalline 



Lower Silurian . 



Even thin to medium. 



Even, thin to medium m Lower Silurian . 



F^ne, compact , ilasaive . . 

...do I Irregular . 

-. do I Massive .. 

Fine, compact ; Irregular . 



Kven.thick 

Even, thin to medium. 
Even, medium -. 



I Even, thin to medium . 

: Even.medinm 

j Even, thick 

I Even, thin to medium . 
I Even, thin to thick 



Lower Silurian . 



Lieht drab 
Liaht irray.. 

Drab .'. 

Buff 



Fine,vesicnlar. &compact- ! Massive .. 

Medium, vesicular i do 

Fine, compact ' do ... . 

Semi- crystalline, vesicular Iriejiular . 



Semi-crystalline, vesicular Irregular . 



Fine, serai- crystalline do . . . 

Fine, compact . do . . . 

Variable, vesicular do... 

Fine, vesicular Irregula: 



Even, medium 

Even, medium to thick. 
Even, thin to thick 



Even, thin to thick 

Even, thick 

Even, thin to thick 

Even, thick 

Even, thin to medium . 



Even, medium to thick. 

Even, thin to thick 

Even, thin to medium . . 



Even, medium to thick. 
Even, thin to medium . . 



Lower Silurian . 



Lower Silurian . 



Lower Silurian . 



Lower Silurian . 



Saint Lawrence - 



Saint Lawrencd. 
Saint Lawrenco- 



Trcnton .. 
Shakopee . 



1854 
1854 
1857 
1847 
1856 

1856 
1870 

1856 
1870 
1869 

1R58 
1871 
lti65 
1873 
1879 

1876 
1S64 

1878 



.do I 1854 ! 28 



Saint Lawrence. 



MINNESOTA— Sandstone. 



Brown 

Red 

Light gray . 



Fine, friable . 



Massive . . 
...do ... 
Irregular . 



Even, thin to medium. 

.. do 

Even, thin to thick 



Lower Silurian . 



Potsdam — 
Saint Croix . 
Jordan 



IOWA — ^Marble and Limestone. 



Light drab 

....do 

Mottled gray . 

do 

....do 



Bluish gray, mottled, and 
buff. 

Liiiht drab 

Drab and light drab mot- 
tled. 

Drab with buff tint 



Dark drab and light buff. 
Diab witb buff patcliea. . 
Light buff 



do . 



Drab and yellowisb drab.. 
Drab mottled with buff . . . 



Coarse | Massive 

Coarse, vesicular do 

Fine, bomo":eneou3 1 do 

Serai-crystalline, vesicular "Wavy, irregular. 



-do . 



Fine, compact, porphyritic Irregular 



Variable Massive and irregular . 

Cryst:illine, compact, and Irregular 

vesicular. 
Semi- crystalline , Irregular and massive . 



Semi- crystalline, fossilif- 

erous. 
Vesicular 



Coarse, vesicular 

Semi-crystalline, poi-phy- 

ritic. 
Fine, compact 



Fine, semi-crystalline. 
Fine, compact 



Irregula 



Irregular 
Massive . 



Even, medium thick . 



Uneven, thin 

Even, thin to medium . 
Even, medium thick .. 

Even, medium thick .. 



Lower Silurian [ Potsdam 

— do * Lower magneaian 

— do ! Trenton 



do . 



Even, thick to medium. 
Uneven, thin to medium 
Even, thick to medium. , 



Upper Silurian. 
Lower Silurian . . 



Uneven, medium to thick 



Sub-Carboniferous Kinderhook . 
Kindorhook . 



Carboniferous ... 
Sub-Carboniferous 



Lower Coal Meas- 
ures. 
Kindorhook 



92 



BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 



Table IY.— TABLES INDICATING THE AMOUNT AND KINDS' 

IOWA— Marble and Limestone— Coutinued. 



Location of quarry. 



1 mile southeast of Iowa Falls. - 

Conrad 

1 mile northwest of 'Waterloo- . - 

Cetlar Falls 

5 mile west of La Porto 



1 mile north of Farley . 



1 mile east of Farley . 
Dubuque 



Near Sahula 

4 miles east of Ifaquoketa . 



IJ miles south of Halo 

l| miles southeast of Oliu . 

H miles southeast of Olin . 



H miles north of Central City 

^ mile soutbeastof Mount Vernon 
2 miles soutbeastof Cedar Kapids 



Hardin 

Grundy 

Black Hawk. 



Dubuque . 



Jackson . 
Jackson . 



L.L.Kelly 

William T. Crealius . 

"William Love 

Edwin Carptnter ... 
G. A. Knowles 



Speer &. Lee 

Joseph Hug 

William Kebman. 



J. Easterly 

William Gordon 

J.S. Fuller , 

Iowa ytate penitentiary . 

John A. Green 



James & Eonan . 



. . . do '■ Henry Dearborn . . . 

Linn , S. T. Granger 

...do I D.S.Hnhu 

do Three Bohemians . 



4J miles northwest of Garrison.. 

1 mile noi theast of Le Grand 

Quarry 



1 i miles north of Dillon 

2," 3, and 4 miles north of Ames . . . 
3 miles northeast of Earlham 



10 miles north-noi-thwest of Iowa 



3^ miles southwest of Tipton 

liochestcr 

Cedar Bluflf 

miles northwest of Wilton . 
4 miles northeast of Dixon . , . 



8 miles east of Long Grove. 
1 mile north of Le Claire, . . 
Davenport 



1 mile west of Davenport . 



Benton . , , 

Tama 

Marshall . 
,.- do 



Cedar. 
Cedar. , 



E. J. C. Benler . 
E.H.Quinn... 



Stouley & Co 

Le Grand Quarry Company . 



P. K. Craig, E. Coe, and R. Hannum. 
Laird & Koy ce 



Penn Quarry Company and D. A. Schaeffer. 



Shearer &. Gray . — 
Kocboster Quarry . , . 
Cedar Blutf Quari-y. , 

Kott & Homie 

J. D. Binford 



William Bell 

John Anthony . . 
Thomas Purcell . 



HansTopp 

Edward Tboleman . 
A.C.Fulton. 



William L. Cook . 
E.S.Glaspell 



Minnick & Donovan . 



SPECIFIC VABEETy OP STONE. 



Limestone and dolomite , 

Limestone 

Siliceous dolomite 

Dolomite 



Ferruginous dolomite. 
Ferruginous dolomite.. 



Bituminous dolomite.. 



Bituminous dolomite . 

...do 

Dolomite 



Dolomite . 
....do 

Dolomite . 



Bituminous limestone 

...do 

Bituminous limestone and dolomite - 



Magnesian limestone 

Calcareous dolomite and limestone. 



Limestone . 
Dolomite . . 
Limestone - 



Ferru pilous dolomite . 

....do 

Limestone 



STATISTICS OF BUILDING STONES. 



93 



OF BOOKS QUAERIED IN THE DIFFEEElJfT STATES. 

IOWA — Marble ajst) Limestone— ContiDued. 



STBOCTUBE. 



Stratification. 



GEOLOGICAL AGE OF FOimATION. 



Epoch. 



Drab 

Lipht drab 

Light buff and olive. 
Drab 



Variable 

Granular (oolitic) 

Fine, semi- crystalline 



.do. 



Mottled and light bnff . . - 

Pale green and drab mot- 
tled. 

Light drab and buff mot- 
tled. 

Ligb t drab 

Buff and drab 



Entf 

Buff and drab . 
Hottleddrab.. 



Medium, fine and compact. 



Porphyritic, fossiliferous. 
Semi-crystalline, porous .. 



Vesicular 

Semi-crystallin 



resicular 
Semi- crystalline, vesicular 



.do ;i Finely semi-crystalline 



....do 

Light buff.. 



Buff 

Light drab. 



Light buff 

Light buff' and light drab 

Drab with pink spots 

Buff' 

Drab 



Drab 

Light gray or buff. . 



Drab and mottled drab . 



Massive .. 
Kegular . . , 
Irregular . 
Massive .. 
Irregular . 

Irregular . 



Even, mediom to thick. 



Even and wavy. 



Even, medium thick. 



Even, medium thick.. 

...do , 

Irregnlar I Even and thick 



Finely crystalline, vesi 

lar. 
Porous and vesicular . 



Porous and vesicular. 



Porous 

Semi- crystal line and ve- 
sicular. 
Fine, vesicular 



Variable 

Semi -crystalline, porous, 
and compact. 



Fine, compact, porphy- 
ritic. 
-do *..|i Medium and fine 



Bluish gray |; Semi- crystalline, partly 

Light drab and buff red- , Granular 

ish brown. 



Pinkish gray.. 
Light buff .... 



Fine, compact 

Semi-crystalline, fossilif- 
erous. 

Semi- crystalline 

Compact and semi-crystal- 
line. 
Semi- crystalline, porous . 



Even and parallel. 



Massive . 
Massive . 



Irregnlar 

Even and massive . 
IiTegular 



Even, medium thick. 



Even, thin to medinm . 



Even, medium to thick . 
Even, medium thick 



Even, medium thick 

Even, thick 

Even, medium thick 

Even, thick 

Uneven, medium thick . 



Irregular \ Even and thick 

Irregular and massive Even, medium to heavy. . . 

Massive | Even and thick 

. -- do Uneven, medium thick... 

— do ,' Even, medium thick 



IiTegular i do. 



Light buff I Vesicular. 



Light buff and dark buff. . " Semi crystalline and pori 



Light buff 

...do 

Drab 

Mottled drab 

....do 

Light mottled drab. . 
Bluish-gray mottled 
Drab 



Even and massive I Even, thin to medium . 



Semi-crystalline and porous Even and massive Even, meilium thickness . 

Finely semi-crystallino and Irregular Even, medium to thick . . . 



Sub-Carboniferous 

...do 

Devonian 



Upper Silurian . . 



Lower Silurian . . . 
Lower Silurian . . 



Upper Silurian. . 
Upper Silurian . 



Devonian . 
Devonian . 



Sub-Carboniferous 



Carboniferous . 
Devonian 



.'Silurian., 
: Silurian . , 



Upper Silurian.. 



Trenton . 
Trenton . 



iSiagara . 
Xiagara . 



Hamilton . 
Hamilton . 



1855 

1854 
1877 
1865 
1856 



1851 

1855 



1879 

1869 

' 1869 
I 1869 

1880 
; 1873 

1860 



Keokuk 

Saint Louis 

UpperCoalMeaa- 



1876 
1862 
1872 



Finely semi-crystalline . - . 
do 

Vesicular, conchoidal fract- 

Semi- crystalline, fossilif- 



-do . 



ila.ssive .. 
..do .... 
Wavy .... 

Irregular a 

Massive .. 

Massive . . 



Semi crystalline, fossilif- 
erous. 
Porphyritic and fossilif- j Irregular 
erous. I 

, Semi-crystalline i do ... 

Light gray and buff" ' Granular and highly crys- ■ Massive 

talline. 



-do . 



, do. 



-do . 



Even, medium thickness .. 
Even, variable thickness .. 
Uneven, thick to medium. 

Uneven, thin to medium. .. 

Uneven.medium thickness. 

Uneven, thin to medium . . . 

Uneven, medium thickness . 



IiTegular, thin to medii 



Upper Silurian .. 

...do 

Devonian 

...do 

...do 

DevoniaD 



Niagara .. 
...do .... 
Hamilton . 



.do. 



1855 
1853 
1840 



1870 ! 73 
1804 74 
1858 

1861 
1877 
1873 

1848 

1866 

1871 

1857 



S ub-C arbonif erous 



94 



BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY, 



Table IY.— TABLES INDICATING THE AMOUNT AND KINDS- 
IOWA — Marble and Limestone— Continued. 



Location of quarry. 



Sigonmey 

3 miles north of Sigoumey 

] mile south of Given 

4 miles north-northeast of Pella. 



2i miles northwest of Durham .. 

14 miles southwest of Tracy 

3 miles northwest of Knoxville - . 
i mile south and southeast of Win- 
terset. 



.do. 



6 miles southwest of Wintei'set . 

2 miles east of Earlham 

2h miles east of Earlham 

Carson 



101 Macedonia 

102 I 1 mile southwest of Macedonia. 

103 Crescent City , 

104 Stenuett 

105 Near Coming 



5 miles northwest of Osceola 



J mile south of Chillicothe 

4milt.'snorthwestof Ottumwa. 
3 miles uorthwest of Ottnmwa 
3 miles west of Ottumwa 



5 miles west of Fairfield. 



5 miles west of Fairfield 

1^ miles south of Mount Pleasant. 



"Washington . 
Keokuk 



Brighton Quanies-.- 

Eowland Pilkington. 
■Williams. Booton-.. 

Francis Castles 

F.C.Mathes 



0. 0. Collins 

Eegan Brothers & McGorrisk. 

J. fJ ohnson 

G.W.Hetzler 



.-.do T.F.Mardis 

Madison City of "Winterset . 



Pottawattamie. 



Pottawattamie. 



"Wapello . 



Jefferson . 
Henry . . . . 



2 miles south of Mount Pleasant. 

Burlington [ Des Moines . 



Burlingto: 
Keekuk 



4 miles northeast of Franklin. 



6 miles west of Keosauqua . 
Bedford 



Des Moines 
Lee , 



Van Buren . . 
Tan Buren.. 
Taylor 



"W. H. Lewis 

Eegan Brothers & McGorrisk . 

Robertson &. Willoughhy 

Charles Tornebohm 



Sylvester D,ye 

Crescent City Quarry 

"Wayne Stennett 

Law & Oak (2 quarries) . 



Samuel Strawn 

S. L. Wilev Construction Company. 

Chilton & Kendall 

James Kelly 



B. "W. Jeffries 

Thomas Hosiers 

JohnPasncn 

Beckwith & "Winters . 



Beckwith & "Winters. 
John Rukgaber . 



Hoppraan Eros. (2 quarries) . 



James Mc^Namara . 
Charles Graner.. . 

G.W. Jack 

Jacob Creasy. 

H. W. Greenlee... 



SPECIFIC VARIETY OF 6T0NK. 



Popular name. 



Scientific name. 



Bituminous limestone . 

Limestone 

Siliceous limestone 

Limestone 



Limestone Limestone 



Micaceous limestone. 



Micaceous limestone . 



Limestone . 
Dolomite -. 



Ferruginous dolooaite; also limestone. 
Limestone 



IO^yA — Sandstone. 



MISSOURI— Crystalline Siliceous Rocks. 



1 


4l] 


ailes northeast of Muscatine - . . 

ailes northeast of Muscatine 

aile southwest of Lewis 


Muscatine 
















8 






do 















Saint Frangois . . Allen & Smith Granite . 

Iron Philip Schneider & Co do . . . 



MISSOURI — Marble and Limestone. 



1 




Saint Louis 

do 


Morau'H Quarry 




Dolomite 

do 


•> 


;io 


do 




do 








do 




do 












...do 














Saint Louis 

do 


James McGrath 






7 


.. (lo 




Dolomite 

Maguesian limestone audUmesl^ue... 


8 


...do 






....do 


q 


... do 








10 


...do 


....do 


William Gorman 


.-..do 


I 



STATISTICS OF BUILDING STONES. 



9& 



OP EOCKS QUARRIED IN THE DIFFERENT STATES. 

IOWA — Marble and Limestone — Continued. 



6TKUCTURE. 



Drab i Not homogeneous 

! 
Light drah | . Fine, compact, and porons . 



Buff Porous 

Light drab Grannlar and porons — 

Light drab !l Granular and porous 

Light and dark drab j ; Compact and porous 

Dark giay ;, Coarse, semi crystalline. 

Light drab :j Granular, fossUiferoua - - 

...do ... do 

Light drab , Granular, fossiliferous .. 



Light and dark drab I' Semi-crTstalline - 



Light drab ; , Semi-crystalline and por- 

ji pbyiitic. 

Light drab jl Semi-crystalline and por- 

ij phyri'tic. 



Stratification. 



Massive 

Massive and irregular . 

...do 

Massive 



.do . 



Massive . 



Irregular . 
Massive . . 
Irregular . 



, . . do I Granular I Massive . 

Light diab and buflf j Semi -crystalline, fossilif- ' do — 



Mottled drab . 

Drab 

Mottled drab. 
Drab 



Light drab and mottkd 

drab. 
Bluish gray and reddish 

gray. 

Bluish gray and reddish 

gray. 
Light drab and buff 



Light drab and mottled 
Olive gray 



Fine, homogeneous i Massive .. 

Semi-crystalline .1 Irregular . 

Granular j Massive .. 

Semi-crystalline | Irregular . 

Granular 



Semi- crystalline - 



Coarse, compact . 



Coarse, compact Massive . 

Semi-crystalline, poroi; 



Even and t bin . 

Even, ti*in to medium 

Even, medium thickness . 
Even, thick to medium . . . 



Even, thick to medium. 



Uneven, medium thick 

Even, medium thick 

Even and thick 

Even ami thin 



Even and ihii 
Even, thin t«» 
Even and tliii 
Even, mediui 



Irregular.... Even, thin to medium. .... 

. . do , Even and thin '. . . 

Even, me<tiuui thickness.. 
Uneven, medium thickuess 



Medium thick Sub-Carboniferous 



GEOLOGICAL AGE OF FOR5IATIOX. 



Carboniferous 

Sub -Carboniferous 



Sub-Carboniferous 



Carboniferous . 



Carboniferous - . 



Carboniferous . 



Carboniferous 

Sub -Carboniferous 



Sub-Carboniferous 



Medium, even thickness -- . 
Even, variable thickness .-! - 

Medium Ihick 

Medium thickness I do . 



Massive Heavil v bedded . 



Gray 

Buff and light drab . . 

Light and dark gray. 

Drab 

Buff 



Variable I. . . do Uneven, medium thick. .. 

Porous and compact I Uneven j Even and thick 

Coarse, porous | Irregular ; Uneven, medium thick . . . 

Porous I Massive Even, medium thick 



Sub-Carboniferous 
...do 



Semi-crystalline, fossilif- ; Irregular ' Even, medium to thick... 

erous. I 
Semi-crystalline, finely ' Even, oblique I Even and thick 

granular. [ I 
Semi-crystalline Massive ' Even, thick 



I Sub-Carboniferous 



Carboniferous . 



Lower Coal Meas- 
ures. 
Saint Louis 



Upper Coal Meas- 



Upper Coal Meas- 



Upper Coal Meas- 



Keokuk l ]fe79 107 



1877 
1879 
1863 

1871 
1877 
1880 
1666 



Burlington 1807 120 



Burlington. 
Ke.ikuk ... 



1857 122 
18C6 I 1'23 
1857 



Keokuk 

Saint Louis 

Upper Coal Meas- 



lOWA— Sandstone. 



Dark brown 

....do 

...do 


|l Coarse, friable 

.10 

do 

1 


Coarse 

!... do 

1 Massi 


oblique 


' Thick 


Carboniferous 

do 


Coal Measures — 
do 


1860 
1S76 
1871 


1 


j iiediam, thick 






<t 









MISSOURI — Crystalline Siliceous Rocks. 



Hassive ' Parallel and vertical Archaean 



MISSOURI— Marble and Limestone. 



Drab 

...do 

...do 

...do 

...do 

Drab 

....do 

...do 

.....lo 

....do 


Fine, fossiliferous 

Fine, compact 

Medium, fossiliferous 

Fine, compact 


Massive 


Even, medium to thick 


Sub.Carboniferotts 
....do 


Saint Louis 

....do 

... do 


1875 
1SG6 
1879 
1875 
1875 

1845 
1871 
1X75 
1875 
187a 


1 




» 






....do 


3 




do 


....do 


....do 


4 






....do 


....do 


5 


Medium, seroi-crystalline . 
Fiue, fossdilerou's 




Even, medium to thick 


Sub.Carboniferous 


Saint Louis 

... do 


a 




7 




do 


do 


...do 


8 








do 


do 


» 


...do 


Massive 


....do 


....do 


....do 


10 



96 



BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 



Table IY.— TABLES II^DICATIFG THE AMOUNT AKD KII^TDS 

MISSOUEI— Marble and Limestone— Continued. 



Location of quarry. 



CouDty. 



BFECIFIC VAHIETT OF BTONE. 



Scientifi.c name. 



City of Saint Louis . 



-do . 



Eosedale 

Jefferson City 

Bounville 

Sedalia 

4 niilea soutli of Clinto 



East of Kansas City . . 
Bluffs of Kansas City. 



-do. 



Saint Louis - 

Cole 

Cooper 

Pettis 

Henry 



Hugh Carlin 

Bowdern & Chs. Hogan. 
Bambrick & Morihan - . 

Scbrainba &. Veiths 

Philip F. Stifel 



Henry Perkinson 

JohnMoKcnna 

JTolm Bowdera &. Son. 

J. O'Meara 

Gottleib Eyermann. . . 



Nicholiis Lamb 

H. W. Kolkmyev 

Russell Quarry 

Richard Anderson, lessee of Smith's quarry 
C. B. Jordan 



John Bauman - 
James Dowling 



Flag-stone . 



Dolomite . 



Limestone ". 

Siliceous dolomite and dolomite 

Limestone 

Magnesiaii limestone; also dolomite . 
Argillaceous limestone 



Magnesian limestone . 
Limestone 



MISSOURI— Sandstone. 







Carroll 

Johnson 














,do 


do 








....do - 












....do 






4 miles southwest of Sainte G-ene- 
vieve. 


Sainte G-euevieve 


Sainte G-eneviere Sandstone and G-ranite 
Company. 













KANSAS— Sandstone. 



Sandstone (calcareous) . 



KANSAS— Marble and Limestone. 



Bigelow — 
Eraukfort . . 
Atchison ... 
Manhattan. 
Topeka 



2 miles from Dunlap 

Lano 

3 miles east of Cottonwood . 
2 miles east of Cottonwood. 
Cottonwood 



1 mile west of Cottonwood . 

Marion Center 

Elurence 

Augusta 

Eoi-t Scott 



Atchison 

Riley 

Shawnee . . 



Morris 

Franklin 
Chase 



H. F. Gallagher 

Joseph "Wilson 

Reddingtou & Co 

Ulrich Brothers 

Mulvane & Higginbotham . 



Wolf, Pickens »fcCo.. 

Han way Brothers 

L. "W. Lewis 

Tweeddale & Parker., 
Emslie& Rettiger 



Lantry »fe Burr . , . 
Groat" Brothers. -- 

A. F. Homer 

J. C. Haines 

W. L. "Wilkinson . 



Dolomite and limestone. 



limestone 

an and siliceous limestone . . 
limestone and limestone. 



CALIFORNIA— Crystalline Siliceous Rocks. 






Placer 

Sonoma 
































"WASHINGTON TERRITORY— Crystalline Siliceous Rocks. 












Northern Pacific Railroad Company 


















WASHINGTON TERRITORY— Sandstone. 






1 




"Whatcom 




Sand 














NEBRASKA— Marble and Limestone, 






1 




Lancaster 



















STATISTICS OF BUILDING STONES. 



97 



OF ROCKS QUARRIED IN THE DIFFERENT STATES, 

MISSOURI— Marble and Limestone— Continued, 



Fine, semi-cryatalline. 

Fine, fossiliferous 

Fine, compact 

Fine, scini-crystalline- 
Fine, fossiliferoua 



STKUCTURE. 



Stratification. 



....do 

Drai) 

Light drab 

Darlc drab 

Brown and drab . 
Darlt drab 



. j Fine, semi -crystalline . 
-I Fine, compact 



I Fine, fossiliferoua ... 

I Fine, vesicnlar 

t Medium, fossiliferons 



Gray . 
Drab.. 



. I Granular, fossiliferons. 
. Fine, fossiliferoua 



Even and wavy. 



Jointing, beddii 



Even, medium to thick. 



Eveu, medium to thick. 

Medium, thick 

Even, medium thick 



-do. 



Medium, thick 

Even, thin to medium thick 

Eveu, medium thick 

Even, tLick 

Even, thin to medium 



Uneven, medium to thick 
Thin to medium 



GEOLOGICAL AGB OF FORMATION. 



Sub-Carboniferous 



Sub-Carboniferous 



Sub -Carboniferous 
Lower Silurian . . . 
Sub -Carboniferous 



Carhoniferoua . . 



Carboniferous ... 



Saint Louis . 

Potsdam 

Saint Louis. 
Burlingto: 



Lower Coal Meaa- 



MISSOURI— Sandstone. 











Carboniferoas 


Lower Coal Meas- 
ures. 


1839 

1871 
1871 
1877 
1869 






....do 


....do 






....do 


!....do 


do 


do 






3 
4 
5 




i....do 


...do 










Fine 


do 




Sub- Carboniferona 















KANSAS— Sandstone. 





Fine 




Even, thin to medium 






1666 
1880 








....do 






2 















KANSAS — Marble and Limestone. 



Dr.ab . . 

Buflf.. 
Drab. 



Light drab 

Gray and buflf. . 
Liffht drab 



Light drab. 



Variable 

Coarse, vesicular. . 
Fine 

Coarse, vesicular. . 
Fine, fossiliferoua 



Medium, vesicular 

Medium, oolitic, & vesicular 
Medium, fossiliferous . 

Fine, fossiliferous 

Medium, fossiliferous . 



Coarse, vesicular . . . 
Medium, vesicular . 



Fine, semi-cryatalline . 
Fine, vesicular 



Irregular . 
Massive .. 
Irregular . 
Massive . . 



Massive 

...do 

Irregular, wavy 

Massive 

Irregular, wavy. — 

Even, parallel Even, thin to medium . 

Irregular, wavy Even, thick 



Even, thin to thick 

Uneven, thin to thick .. 

Uneven, thick 

Even, medium to thick . 
Even, thick 



Carboniferous . 
Permian 

Carboniferous . 



Permian 

Carboniferous . 
Permian 



Carboniferous . 



1878 
1878 
1880 ! 
1879 I 
1873 10 

1878 11 

1880 

1875 

1880 

1879 



CALIFORNIA— Crystalline Siliceous Rocks. 



j Black.darkgray.and white 












1864 
1864 










Irregular 






2 













WASHINGTON TERRITORY— Crystalline Siliceous Rocks. 



Fine Massive 



WASHINGTON TERRITORY— Sandstone. 



Greenish gray Mediam 



Massive Uneven, thick 



Carboniferous . 



NEBRASKA — Marble and Limestone. 



I Drab Medium . 



VOL. IX 7 B 



Even, thick Permian 



98 



BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 



Table IV.— TABLES INDICATING THE AMOUNT AND KINDS 

DAKOTA— Sandstone. 





Location of quarry. 


CoTinty 


Name of the corporation, company, or 

individual. 


BPECIFIC VAKIKTT OP 6T0MB. 




Popular name. 


Scientific name. 


1 




Minpfthftha 

















COLORADO— Volcanic Rocks. 



Castle Bock 

2^ miles from Castle Kock . 
JJonglas 



Douglas . 



B. Hammer 

G. F. Girardot . 

S. "W.Madge... 



COLORADO— Sandstone. 



7 miles Bonthwestbywest of Fort 
Collins. 

Morrison 

2^ miles south of Morrison 



Larimer .. 
Jefferson . 



STATISTICS OF BUILDING STONES. 



OF BOCKS QUARRIED IN THE DIFFERENT STATES. 

DAKOTA— Sandstone. 



Color. 


BTEUCTURB. 


GEOLOGICAL AGE OF FORMATION. 


1 




Texture. 


StratificitioD. 


Jointing, bedding, or natu- 
ral surface. 


Period. 


Epoch. 
















1872 


1 













COLORADO— Volcanic Rocks. 



Gray., 
Drab. 
Gray. 



Vesicular Massive . 



Irregular.. 



COLORADO— Sandstone. 



Medium . 
Fine 



Massive . . 
Irregular . 



Even, thin to medium . 



Even, thick . . 
Uneven, thin . 



Cretaceous . 
Juraasio . . . . 



100 



BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

Table Y.— SHOWlKG THE EXTENT OF STOl^TE CO:^STEUCTIOIJf IN 



City. 



NUMBEK OP 6T0NE BUILDINGS. 



"With 
.stone 
frunta 

only. 



Per- 
centaEce 
of all 
bnild- 
inga. 



NUMBER OF BUILDINGS OF THE DIFFEEEKT CLASSES OF STONE, WITH LOCATION OF QUAREIES. 



Sandstone cliiefly. 



No. Location of quaixy. 



Marble or limestone chiefly. 



No. Location of quarry. 



No. Location of quarry. 



Akron 

Albany 

Allegheny . 



Allentown . 
Altoona . . . 



Bridgeport . 

Buffalo 

Burlington . . 



Cambridge . 



Camden 

Canton 

Cedar Eapida . 



Chattanoog 

Chelaea 

Chester — 



Chicag 



Cbillicotho. 
Cincinnati.. 
Cleveland. - 
Columbus.. 



Dayton 
Deuver 
Derby . 



37 Dubuque . 

38 I Easton 

39 [ Elizabeth. 

40 I Elmira 



Ohio 

N.T 
Pa.. 

Pa.. 

Pa.. 

N.Y 
Ga.. 

N.Y 
Md. 



Conn , 

N.Y.. 
Iowa. , 



N.J .. 

Ohio.. 
Iowa.. 

S.C... 

Tenn . 



111. 



Ohio. 
Ohio. 
Ohio . 
Ohio. 



Ohio . . 
Colo . . 
Conn . 



41 j Erie 

42 I Evansvillo... 

43 I Fall River . . . 

44 ! Fitchburg . . . 

45 I Fort Wayne . 

4C G-alveston ... 



47 j Gloucester 

48 Grand Rapids . 



Hamilton . . . 
Harrisburg . 



Haverhill 

Indianapolis . 

Ithaca 

Janesville ... 



Mass . 
Ind . . . 
N.Y.. 
Wis .. 



0.75 
0.76 
5.34 

0.37 

0.30 



0.87 
0.33 
2.00 



0.40 
1.33 
0.28 



0.14 
0.125 
1.00 



0.78 
0.43 



1.64 
0.83 
0.65 



4.00 

1.40 

0.27 

0.37 

0.13 
1.66 
1.09 
0.19 
0.17 



0.64 
1.59 
0.60 
0.36 



Akron and Berea 

Connecticut brownstone 
Freeport, Pa., Massil- 

lon, Ohio. 
Pennsylvania 



Trenton . 
Ticinity . 



Connecticut 

Connecticut, New Jer- 
sey, and Ohio. 



Stone mountain and 
vicinity. 



Maryland, Virginia, 
and Maine. 

Frankfort and Penob- 
scot islands. 



Connecticut valley. New 
o ersey, Ohio, and prov- 
inces." 

Portland 



Burlington . 

Rosbury . , . 
Verm out-. - 
Stone City . 



Quincy and Roctport. 



Connecticut - 
Vicinity 



Vicinity . 



Georgia. . . 
Cape Ann. 
Vicinity . - 



Ohio and Michigan 4, 500 



Amherat, Independence, 

and Euclid. 
Berea, Waverly, Black 

Lick, andSugarGrove 



Vicinity . 



Porcamouth and Berea. 



Amherstburg, Essex 
county, Ontario, and 
Berea, Ohio. 



New Jersey and Penn- 
Kewark and Belleville. 
Vicinity 

Medina and Amherst . . 



Buena Vista and Am- 
herst, Ohio, and Ionia 
county, Mich. 

Near Portsmouth, Ohio. 

York and Lancaster 
counties and Hum- 
melstown. 

Portland 



Cincinnati, Dayton, and 

Indiana. 
Sandusky 



Maine and Missouri . 



4 miles west of Columbus 



Earlham, PeUa, 
Tracy. 



Dubuque and Farley, 

and Nauvoo, 111. 
Vicinity 



Castle Rock 

Anaonia and Birming- 
ham. 

Sauk Rapids, Minn., 
Iron Mountain, Mo., 
Grundy and Bu- 
chanan counties. 



Joliet, 111., "Wabash. 



Conn 

Gloucester . 



Hamilton 

Texas, Maryland, and 
Cumberland county, 



"Westerly, R. I., and 
Glastonbury. 



Indiana 
iii'ci'ty! 



STATISTICS OF BUILDING STONES. 



101 



SOME OF THE PEINCIPAL CITIES OF THE UNITED STATES. 



Sandstone . 
Limestone . 
Sandstone . 



Lime and mountain stone. 



Limestone 

Granite and gneiss. 



Slate and bowlders . 



Liqjestone 

Granite, slate, and Kox- 
bury stone. 



Gneiss 

Limestone . 



Slate, diabase, and granite 



Gneiss 

Sandstone . 
Limestone . 



Limestone . 

Granite 

Gneiss 



Limestone . 



Sandstone 

Limestone 

Sandstone 

Comiferona limestone. 



...do 

iibyolite and sandstone . 
Gneiss 



Erownstone . 
Sandstone ... 



BTONE PAVEMENTS. 



Little ... 

Largely . 



Little... 
Largely. 
Little. . . 



Little.... 
Largely. . 



Little macadamized. 



Sandstone . 
Limestone . 

Granite 

...do 

Limestone . 



I Sandstone, limestone, and 
granite. 

Syenite 

Bowlders and some lime- 
stone. 



Gr,anite 

Limestone . 
Sandstone . 
Limestone . 



5 % paved, balance 

macadamized. 
Little 



Largely 

Two blocks . 



Location of qnaxrles. 



Medina 

New England 

(Cobble-stone) Allegheny 



(Cobble-stone) river 

(Cobble-stone) streams . 



Stone mountain and vi- 
cinity (macadamized). 

Medina 

Baltimore county and 
Jones' falls and vicinity. 

Mount Desert, islands of 
Penobscot. 



New Haven., 

Medina 

Vicinity 



Quincy . 



(Cobble-stone) Delaware 

Waterloo, "Wis., Lockport, 
N. T., and other parts 
of New York. 

Vicinity 



(Cobble) vicinity. 
Medina 



Dayton . 



Bubnqne 

(Cobble-stone) Delaware 

river. " 
Hudson river and New 

England. 
Medina 



Medina 

Vanderburgh county - 

Freetown 

Fitchburg 



Cobble, ship ballast . 
Gloucester 



Largely. 
Little... 



(Cobble) vicinity 

(Cobble) Susquehanna 
river. 



Southwest of Hartford. . . 



Considerable . 
Little 



Considerable. 
Largely 



Largely.. 
Little.... 



Little.... 
36 miles . . 



Little. 
...do. 

Little . 



Largely. 

Little.... 

...do.... 

Largely. 

Little.... 

Little ... 
Largely., 
Little.... 



Little - 
Little. 



Largely. . 

..do 

1} miles . 



Location of quarries. 



Berea, Ohio 

Hudson river 

Allegheny and Fayette 
counties. 

Lehigh and Wyoming val- 
leys and North river. 

Eastern Pennsylvania 



Sandstone . 
Blue-stono . 
Sandstone 

Limestone . 

Sandstone . 



Pennsylvania 

North river, Rockport, Bol- 
ton, Conn., and Quincy. 



North river 

Medina 

Sagetown, Dl., and Mount 

Pleasant. 



■WiUiamsjiort, Pa . 

Berea, ' ihio 

Stone City 



New York . 
Vicinity . . . 



North river 

Lemont, Cook county. 



Vicinity of Portsmouth. 
Euclid and Newburgh... 



Columbus, Berea, and "Wav- 
erly. 



Southampton, Pa 

Stone City and Joliet . 



Davton 

Fort Collins . 
North river. - 



Granite and blue-stone 



Blue-stone and gneiss. . 
Sandstone 

Limestone, Saeetown, 
HI., and Mt Pleasant. 



Granite and blue flag- 
stone. 

Granite 

Sandstone — 

Limestone, Stone City 
and Farley. 

Blue-stone 



Limestone . 

Granite 

Gneiss 



Limestone, Lemont. 



Sandstone 

Limestone 

Sandstone , 

Corniferous limestone - 



Limestone and sand- 
stone, Stone City and 
Joliet, 111. 

Limestone 



North river.. 
Truman sburg 



Euclid, Ohio 

Bedford and North Vernon 
North river, N. Y 



Berea, Ohio, and Joliet, HI - 



Connecticut, England, and 
Germany. 



Blue-stone and gneiss- 



Limestone, Medina . 



Limestone, Dubuque, 

Stone City, and Farley 

Limestone 



North river- and Bolton . 



Decatur county. 

Vicinity 

In city 



Limestone, sandstone, 
and granite. 

Syenite 

Limestone, Joliet, HI. . . 



Gneiss and blue-stone .. 



Granite 

Limestone . 
Blue-stone . 
Limestone . 



102 



BUILDINa STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

Table V.— SHOWING THE EXTENT OF STONE CONSTEUCTION IN 



City. 



Keokuk 

Kingaton . . - 

La Crosse... 

La Fayette . 
Lancaster .. 



Lockport . . 
Log au sport 
Louisville . 

Lowell 

Lynn 

Madison . . . 



Mancbester. . 
MiinafieW ... 
ilempbia. .. 

Middletown . 

Mioneapolia . 

Mobile 



Nashua 

!NashTille. .. 
Kew Albany. 



2J"e-wark 

New Bedford.... 

New Brunswick . 
Kev/burgh 



Newbury port. 
New Haven... 
New London.. 
Newport 



UToi-th Adams. 
Nortbampton. 

Norwich 

Ogdensburg .. 



Osbkosh . 
Oswego. - 

Pateraon . 



Fittabnrgh . 



Pittafleld . 
Portland.. 



Pa... 

HI... 
Mo .. 

Iowa 

N.T. 

Wis . 
Ind.. 
Pa... 

]tfaas 
Kans 

N.Y. 
Ind . 

Ky.. 



N.H.. 
Tenn . 
Ind . . . 



Conn 
Conn 

K.I.. 



Pa. 



Mass . 

Conn . 



Wis . 

N.T. 
N.J . 



NUUBEB OF 8T0NB BUILDINGS. 





With 


Entirely 


stone 


of stono. 


fronts 




only. 


2 


8 


300 


200 


15 


80 


12 


6 


50 


4 


12 


8 




7 
6 


15 


5 
3 





Per- 
centage 
of all 
buUd- 
ings. 



MUMBEB OF BinLDIHGB OF THE DIFFEEBHT CLABBEB OF STONE, WITH LOCATION OF QUARRIES. 



0.57 
0.33 
0.41 



7.50 
3.75 
1.92 

0.51 

0.41 

4.00 

0.10 
0.15 
0. K 



Sandstone chiefly. 



18 


3.18 




0.02 


m 

12 


0.11 
1.24 
0.45 


140 


1.05 


3 


0.57 


3 


0.31 
0.3G 




0.10 


42 


0.03 


4 


1.05 


10 


1.33 


5 


0.22 
1.34 



" 


0.30 


2 


0.21 


8 


0.42 


10 


13.00 
0.50 


5 
4 


0.14 
1.28 
0.68 


1 
2 


0.33 
0.05 


4,518 


6.25 


60 


0.34 




0.25 
1.00 


20 




0.13 



Location of quarry. 



Connecticut valley and 
vicinity of Johnstown. 



WaiTen sburg, CarroU. 

county, and Barnard, 

Kana. 

Sonora, 111 

Vicinity 



Lancaster county. 



Portsmouth, Oliio . 
Lowell 



2 Ohio and Alabama . 

20 ; Portland 

1 ; Fond du Lac 241 



Marble of limestone chiefly. 



Location of quarry. 



2 I New Albany.. 



210 I Newark and Ohio. 



59 Portland, East Haven, 
ud Ohio. 
Portland 



Ohio and Massachusetts 
Pottstown and vicinity 
of Norriatown. 



Longmeado w, Mass. , 

and Portland, Conn. 

Portland and Ohio 



Marquette 

Oawego and vicinity 
Litlle I'alla and Pat«rson 



Connecticut, Trenton, 
N. J., Ohio, and Hum- 

melatown. 



Pennsylvania, Massil- 
lon, Ohio, Baden, 
Homewood, and Free- 
port.' 



Vicinity 

Junction City, Kans . 



East of city 

Bedford, Ind 

Vicinity and Montgo 
ery county. 



Leavenworth . 



Vicinity 

Logansport 

Bowling Green, Ky., and 

Bedford, Ind. 
Eutland, Vt 



Bridgeport and "West- 
port, Ind. 



No. Location of quarry. 



Alabama and Kentucky . 



Minneapolis and Le- 
mont, 111. 



Vicinity and Ulster 
county. 



Montgomery county . 
Adama 



Vicinity 

Onondaga county . 



Montgomery county, 
MassachuaettB, and 
Vermont. 



New York atate and 

Sheffield. 
Vermont 



Concord, N. H . 



Concord, N. H., 

Westford. 
Cape Ann and Peabody 



Maaeachueetts. 



Kockport.Quincy, and 

vicilnity. 
New York 



Cape Ann 

Long island, East and 

West Hocks. 
New London and G-ro- 

ton. 
Newport 



Weatford . 



Massachuaetta 
vicinity. 



Quincy, cape Ann, 
Mass., Fox island. 
Me., New Hamp- 
shire, Rhode Island, 
Virginia, and Pbila- 
delphia, and Dela- 
ware county, Pa. 



Longmeadow and 

Quiocy. 
Hallowell, Biddeford, 

vicinity of Porta- 

mouth. 



STATISTICS OF BUILDING STONES. 
SOME OF THE PEmCIPAL CITIES OF THE UOTTED STATES— Continued. 



103 



BTONE PATEHBKT8. 



Location of qoarriea. 



Largely - 



2 miles... 
Little . . . , 
Largely. 



(Cobble-stone) streams . 
Medinia,N.T !."!"."' 



Largely - 



Considerable. 
Considerable. 



Eastof city 

(Bowlders) vicinity . 
Vicinity 



Cape Ann and "Westford . 
Vicinity 



Medina 

(Bowlders) vicinity - 
LuuisviUe 



Westford, Maes., and Con- 
cord, N". H. 
Cape Ann 



Largely - 



Little.... 
Largely. 
Little.... 



Location of qoarries. 



Vicinity 

Winfield, Fort Scott. Flor- 
ence, Kans., and JoUet, 111. 

Vicinity 

Kingston, Ulster, and Hurley 



East of city 

Greensburg 

Wyoming county . 



Vicinity 

Soathefn Indian 
Bowling Green.. 



Joliet, 111., and Ohio. 



Limestone in vicinity . 
Limestone, Kansas City. 



Limestone . 

...do 

Dolerite ... 

Granite 



Sandstone . 
Limestone . 



Granite 

Limestone . 
Limestone . 



Sandstone . 
Granite 



Granito 

Trap and sandstone. 

Bastard granito 

Granite 



Limestone . 
Sandstone . 
Talcose 



Limestone . 
Sand.stone . 
...do 



Vicinity 

Illinois, Kentucky, Ala- 
bama, and Tennessee. 



Little 

Business portion part- 
ly pared and mac- 
adamized. 

imile 

Largely macadamized. 

Largely 



Largely. 
Cobble, from drift Little . 

Ballast, foreign vessels . 



Haddam and Maromas . 



Nashua 

Vicinity ... . 
New Albany . 



Hudson river and New 

England. 
Vicinity 



2 miles. - 
Little... 
Largely. 
Little.... 



West Connecticut 

Cobble-stone, vicinity . 

Maine 

East and West Rocks. . 

Groton 



do. 



Chiefly on Eagle street 
Little 



Potsdam and Hammond . 
Vicinity 



Limestone and gneiss. 



Ledge stone . 
Granite 



(Cobble) Delaware river, 
(rubble) local, Kichmond 
and eastern granite. 



(Cobble) Allegheny river 



Largely. 
Little.... 



Joliet, 111., and vicinity of 
Minneapolis. 



Little. 
...do. 
Little. 



Vicinity 

New Albany and North 

Vernon. 



tRster county 

North river, N. T . 



Gneiss 

Limestone, Minneapolis. 
Limestono 



Granite 

Limestone . 
Limestone . 



Bine-stone . 

Granite 

Blue-stone . 



.do. 



Little 

Principal streets. 
Little 



.do. 



Considerable . . 



One block. 
Little 

Largely - . . 

Little 

Largely — 



Less than \ mile . 

Little 

25 miles 



Main streets in 
portion of city. 



One-half of business 

streets. 
Little 



North river and Bolton . . . 

North river 

Hudson river 



Granite 

Blue-stone and granito. 
Granito 



.do. 



Smith's Ferry . 
North river . . . 



Blue-stone, limestone, 

and qnartzlte. 
Granite 



Fond du Lac, Joliet, 111 . 

Cayuga . 



North river and Sullivan 
county. 

Hudson river 

Petersburg 



North river and Wyoming 
valley. 



CatskiU 

Hudson river . 



Blue flagging . 
Granito 



104 



BUILDINa STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

Table V.— SHOWIIj^^G THE EXTENT OF STONE CONSTEUCTTON m 



NUMBER OP STONB BUILDIlfGS. 



"WitTl 

stone 
fronts 
only. 



Per 

centago 
of all 
baild- 



NUAtBEB OP BUILDmOS OF THE DIFFERENT CLASSES OF BTONB, WITH LOCATION OP QUARRIES. 



Sandstone chiefly. 



No. „ Location of quarry. 



Marble or limestone chiefly. 



No. Location of qnarry. 



No. Location of quarry. 



Providence . 

Quincy . 



Quincy 

Eacine 

"Reading ... 
Richmond . 
Richmond . 



Rochester . . . 

Rockford 

Eock Island . 
Rome 



Saint Joseph . 
Saint Louis . . . 



Sandusky 

San Francisco . 



Springfield , . 

Springfield . . 
Springfield .. 
Steubc.nTille . 
Taunton 



Tene Haute., 

Toledo 

Topeka 



Watertown . . 
Wheeling.... 
"Wilkesbarre . 



146 j "Williamsport . 

147 "Wilmington . . 



N.T. 

111... 
111.,. 

N.T. 



Utah , 

Ohio . 

Cal . . , 

N. T.. 
Ga.... 

N. T.. 



HasB . 
Ohio . . 
Ohio . . 



Ind . . . 
Ohio . . 
Kans - 



Mass . 

N.Y.. 



0.44 
0.50 
0.05 



6.25 
0.08 



0.19 
0.63 
0.50 
0.33 

1.92 
0.12 
12.50 



0.96 
0.31 
0.34 



0.32 
0.26 



0.33 
0.19 



Vicinity 

Trenton, N. J., Connec- 
ticut and vicinity. 

Ohio and Portland 

Connecticut, Nova Sco- 
tia, and New Jersey. 

Cleveland and Berea, 
Ohio, "Warrensburg, 



Vicinity . 



Vicinity 

Smithfield, Quincy, 
Westerly, Crans- 
ton, and Providence. 



Lake Sup eric 

Vicinity 

Berea, Ohio. 



Quincy . 



Ohio and Medina. 



Verona, N. T 

Wa-rrensburg, Mo . 



Vicinity 

....do.. 

Rock Island 

Onondaga and Oneida 
counties. 



"Warrensburg and Sainte 
Genevieve, Mo., and 
Carroll county. 

Kasota ', 



Saint Louis, Grafton, 
Joliet, and Chicago, 



Springfield 

Red Buttes, Albany 
county, Wyoming Ter- 
ritory. 

Amherst 



Cape AnnandPeabody 



New Castle island, B. C. 
and Angel island. 



Vicinity . 



China and Placer 

county. 



Vicinity 

Catskill mountains and 
Luzerne county. 

Amherst, Ohio, and vi- 
cinity of Springfield. 

Longmeadow 

Near Portsmouth 

Steubenville 

Vicinity 



Syracuse, N. Y 

Joliet and Springfield. . . 
Springfield and Dayton 



Virginia . 
Monson. . 



Amherst and Berea. 
Warrensburg, Mo . . . 



Greensburg and Ohio . . 
Portlaud and Connecti- 
cut. 



EUettsville and Bedford. 
Sandusky 

Cottonwood, Junction 
City, Cowley county, 
and Topeka. 



Niskayuna . 



trtica ind Trenton . 



Vicinity 

Luzerene county and 
Meshoppen. 

Hummelstown and vi- 
cinity. 

Connecticut, Ohio, and 
New Jersey. 



City 

Syracuse, N. Y. . 



Plymouth granite, 
county and vicinity. 



Cockeysville and Texas, 



Brandywiue creek ... 



Fitzwilliam, N. H. 



Ohio and Portland 

York county and Con- 
necticut valley. 
Zanesville 



York 

Zanesville . 



1. Serpentine has been used for building stone to a limited extent in a few of the above cities, but its importance is not sufficient to warrant giving it a place 
in the table. It may be mentioned that in the cities of Baltimore, Md., Wilmington, Del,, Camden, N. J., Pottsvillo andXaneaster, Pa., there are a few boildings- 
•f this materialj while in Philadelphia the number' is eHtimated at 1,000. 

2. For cities of New York and Washiogton, see detailed tables in the text. 



STATISTICS OF BUILDING STONES. 

SOME OF THE PRINCIPAL CITIES OF THE UNITED STATES— Continued. 



105 



Sandatone 

Conglomerate. 



Syenite 

Limestone 

Limestone and sandstone 

Limeatone 

Granite 



BTONB PAVEMENTS. 



Location of qnairies. 



Limestone and sandstone 



Granite 

Sandatone and granite . 



Limestone 

Granite rabble. 
Limestone 



Sandstone . 
Limestone . 
Sandstone . 
■Wallstone . 



Limestone 

Sandstone 

Ked sandstone . 



Sandstone . 
Granite. ... 



Gneissoid granite. 



Easiness streets . 



Largely. 



Macadamized 

Largely macadamized. 

Little 

Considerable 



Little..., 

4} miles . 



Business streets . 



Kaoine 

(Cobble) near Richmond . 



Albion 

Vicinity 

Hock Island . 



4 miles north of city 

Saint Louis and southeast ' Little 



Location of quarries. 



North river , 

Hudson river and cape Ann. 



Lemont and Joliet . 



Largely . 
Little . . . 



Joliet, 111 

Hudson river 

New Paris, Ohio 

Lvnchburg, and Kondout, 
N. T. 



Albion 

Vicinity 

Joliet 

Cayuga, Chenango, and 

Hudson river. 
Cottonwood Falls, Kans 



Freestone 

Conglomerate. 



Cape Ann and Maine . 



Sonora and Penryn . 



Cobble, ballast from ves- 
sels, and New York. 

Glenville - 

(Cobble-atoue) vicinity . . . 



Macadamizedwithtrapj "Wcstfield 

Little ! Springfield 

do (Oobble-stont;) Ohio river 

. . . do Fields in vicinity 



Largely Medina and Hammond. 



Little 

One-third of streets . 



Little 

Main basiness streets. 



Little... 
Largely. 



(Cobble) Ohio river . . , 
(Cobble) Snsqneha: 
river. 



Vicinity and Massachu- 

Fitzwiiliam, N. H 

Tomkins Cove 

Vicinity 



Largely . 
Little... 



Saint Louis and Joliet, HI . 
Saint Paul 



City quan-ies 

Folsom and Vermont. 



[■ and Vermont . 



Heldevberg . 

Lehigh and 

counties. 



Largely ' Joliet 

Little I Hudson river and Monson . 

... do I Springfield and Dayton 

.. do Steubenville 

- - do Acushnet 



Largely Bedford and EUettaviile 

Little licrea and Euclid 

. - do ' Osage conuty and near Fort 

Scutt. 



Largely j 

One-naif of principal | 
streets. 

Little 

...do 

Largely ' 



"Watertown . - 
Buena Vista . 
Vicinity 



Little Methuppen . 



Business streets . 



Local and FitzwiUiam, N. H 



Limeatone and blue fl 

Limestone 

Granite , 



Blue-stone 

Limestone, Joliet . . . 
Limestuno, Kock Island. 



Limestone, Saint Louis . 

Limestone, Saint Paul .. 
Granite 



Limestone 
Granite 



Limestone, Joliet and 131 

Alton. I 

Sandstone and gneiss ... 132 

Limestone 1 133 

Sandstone 134 

Granite 1 135 

Limestone 1 136 

Sandstone aud limestone 137 
Limestone, Saflbrd 1 138 



Blue-stone 139 



Bluf-.sti.ue, North river.! 142 

Limestone 143 

Sandstone 144 

Ked sandstone 145 ■ 



Slaty and conglomerate.! 146 
Granite 1 147 



Gneiss 150 



DESCRIPTIONS OF QUARRIES AND QUARRY REGIONS. 107 



Chapter VI.— DESCRIPTIONS OF QUARRIES AND QUARRY REGIONS. 



QENEEAL EEPORT ON THE BUILDING STONES OF RHODE ISLAND, MASSACHUSETTS. AND MAINE. 



By Pkofessoe N. S. Shalee. 



In tlie following report I propose to give a sliort general account of the geologicaf conditions in which the 
building stones of these states occur, with some remarks on the conditions that have retarded or favored the 
development of quarrying industry within their limits. This discussion will not include any matters of a purely 
scientific character, nor will it have to do with the statistical matters presented in the tables. The end in view will 
be the presentation of the most important facts connected with the quarrying industries that have not been made 
•clear in the statistical reports. 

GENERAL CONDITIONS OF THE BUILDING STONES OF NEW ENGLAND. 

It is a fact well known to geologists that the New England peninsula, or the region east of the Hudson and of 
lake Champlain, has a more varied geological structure than is found in any other legiou of equal aiea within tJiis 
•continent. In the manifold nature of Its geological elements it more nearly resembles the territory of old l-aigland 
than that of the rest of America. As the possible variety of the building stones in any country depen<ls ui)on the 
number of kinds of rock that appear at the surface of the earth, this variety in the geological structuie of New 
England has exercised a beneficial influence on the quarrying industry within its bounds. A much greater variety 
■of rocks is quarried within its limits than in any other equal area of America. The greater jiart of these quarry 
products is derived from the very ancient rocks which owe their utility to the extensive metamorjihism to which 
they have been subjected by the action of heat and pressure. Nearly all the rocks in this region have lost their 
•original character, being much denser and more crystalline, and are frequently penetrated by joints and cleavage 
planes that at certain.places and for certain purposes are a great advantage to the quarryman. 

The following list of native quarried stones used in New England for building will give an idea of the variety 
■of materials existing within this area. In the list the distinctly-bedded rocks whicli have been but little changed 
from their original condition are given first ; below these the more highly metamorphosed materials. Considerable 
as this list is, it affords but an inadequate idea of the actual variety of these materials, inasmuch as it is not 
possible to set out in such a list the lesser differences that often serve greatly to alter the appearance and the use of 
particular stones. Moreover the purposes to which the stone is applied are often too numerous to be set forth in 
such a brief statement. 

LIMESTONES. 

White marble. — Ranging from qualities only a little less perfect than that of Carrara to blotched and 
variegated stone ; used for building stone and the various minor constructural and ornamental purposes to which 
«uch stone is usually applied. 

Red maeble. — Mostly used for building purposes and for table-tops, floors, etc. 

Black maeble. — For inlay work, floors. 

All the limestones that are quarried in New England are crystalline in their texture and are tolerably free from 
admixture of clay or magnesia; they are therefore all available for making lime and are largely used for this 
purpose. In their distribution they follow somewhat peculiar conditions. They are most abundant in western 
New England; i. e., the western parts of Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Vermont, yet they appear again in 
considerable abundance on the eastern face of this region. In Rhode Island north and east of Providence occur 
large areas of limestone, probably belonging to the Lower Coal Measures or the sub-Carboniferous limestone, 
and in eastern Massachusetts, in the counties of Middlesex and Essex, some small areas of crystalline limestone 
of Archaean age occur, but not in sufficient quantities to afford a basis for industries. On the coast of Maine we 
have very important deposits of limestone that afford the basis for the largest industry in lime-making that has 
been developed within an equal area in the United States; but the physical conditions of the rock do not favor the 
quarrying of building or ornamental stones at this point. 

None of these limestones are well suited for road-making materials, as their distinct crystalline structure causes 
them to shatter and fall into a powdery state beneath the wheels. 

I estimate the area occupied by workable limestones in New England at not exceeding about 500 square miles; 
in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Maine the area is less than 200 square miles. 



108 BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

SANDSTONES AND CONGLOMERATES. 

These rocks occupy an area considerably more extensive than that occupied by the limestones ; it probably 
amounts to not less than 800 square miles of surface in all New England, and in Massachusetts, Ehode Island, and 
Maine inclades about 600 square miles of area. The varieties and uses are approximately as follows: 

PiNE-GEAiNBD, KEDDiSH, AND BEOWN SANDSTONES. — Used for flagging and the external walls of houses 
principally the latter. 

CoNGLOMEKATES AND coAESB GEiTS. — Used Only for external walls. 

Of these building stones the first group is very limited in extent, being confined to the immediate vicinity of 
the Connecticut river, between the northern part of Massachusetts and the mouth of the stream. The greater part 
of the material is composed of very uniform sand, in which oxide of iron is plentifully mingled. The material, 
quarries easily and works well under the chisel and the hammer ; its endurance to weathering is, however, but slight 
in the variable climates of the northern United States, yet, on account of the ease with which these stones are 
worked and their very rich color, they have come into very extensive use in all the eastern cities north of Virginia. 
There are lighter colored and more flag-like stones of this same series that occur most abundantly in the region near 
Turner's Falls. These beds have been, at various times, worked for sidewalk flags, yet their use has not been 
large; it is from the rocks of this age and character that the foot-prints of various amphibians have been so 
plentifully obtained. 

The conglomerates of New England have a very wide extension, but only in a few regions have they been 
worked to any extent. The only region where an extensive quarrying industry has been based upon them is in the 
neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. They are the building stones most accessible to that city, and so have 
come into very extensive use for wall work in buildings of a costly character. This stone is extremely durable 
and of a handsome reddish-yellow or gray color. Owing, however, to the infrequency of the joints in the rock the 
process of dressing is costly, the stone being perhaps the most expensive of any that has ever come into considerable 
use in this country. Its peculiar pebbly structure makes it singularly unsuitable for ornamental purposes, as it 
cannot be worked into any other than a flat surface. Except in Ehode Island, where the inferior carboniferous 
conglomerate is somewhat used for rough walling, the neighborhood of Boston is the only place where conglomerate 
has been extensively used for any building purposes ; indeed we may say that conglomerates have been more 
generally used there than in any other city, European or American. 

SLATES AND CLAY-STONES. 

This group of rocks is very abundantly developed in New England, and has been made the basis of very 
extensive industries. The area occiipied by workable rocks of this class is probably not less than 1,500 square 
miles in all New England, and perhaps exceeds 700 square miles in the states especially considered in this report. 
This group of very argillaceous rocks is to be divided into the two classes of slates proper and clay-stones on the 
basis of the relative flssility of tlie material given by the joints or cleavage planes. The slates proper are affected 
by true cleavage, and are almost indefinitely divisible by the cleaving-tools of the quarrymen. The clay stones 
have only a jointed structure and are not indefinitely divisible in this fashion. The following are in brief the uses 
of these two stones: 

Olay-slates. — Used for roofing slates, billiard and other table tops ; chimney mantels (with or without 
artificial overfalls) ; flagging stones, school slates, bath-tubs, wash-tubs, etc. 

Clay-stones oe aegillites. — Used only for wall work. The geographical distribution of these slates and 
clay-stones is rather ijeculiar; they occur in one form or another over all parts of New England, yet the area of 
the deposits of workable quality is small and widely scattered. Of true slates Massachusetts has no workable 
deposits that have yet been discovered, and I think it very unlikely that any will be found ; none are known in 
Ehode Island, thongh it is not impossible that both there and in Connecticut available deposits may yet be found. 
In Vermont and in Maine there are large areas of good roofing slates, and their development has been the basis of 
extended industries. The clay-slates have only been occasionally used, principally for road material and rough^ 
dry walls. About Boston there are some quarries that have recently been used as sources of building material for 
churches and other large edifices. As yet, however, this class of stones has been much neglected. The first 
quarries in this country, certainly the first in Massachusetts, were opened in stones of this description. These are 
the quarries in Neponset, formerly Milton. The material was used for grave-stones, mile-stones, and, to a small 
extent, for flagging. (See second part of this report.) 

HIGHLY METAMORPHOSED ROCKS. 

Under this head I shall, for convenience, include all those rocks that have lost their original character by 
fusion or by a very complete metamorphism. The classification has no other merit than convenience. First in 
importance among these is : 

Granitic rocks. — Used for a great variety of constructive and ornamental work. 

Schistose rocks (gneiss and mica schist). — Little used for building save for rough walls. No important 
industries resting upon them. 



DESCRIPTIONS OF QUARRIES AND QUARRY REGIONS. 109 

Trappean rocks. — Very little used save for road material. 

Serpentines and steatites (verd-antiques and soapstones). — Extensively used, particularly the latter, 
for stoves, chimney-guards, etc. 

This group of highly metamorphic rocks makes up the greater part of New England ; perhaps three-quarters 
of its whole surface is composed of them, but the sev€ral kinds are found in very different proportions. The 
granitic group occupies several tliousand square miles, and the schistose group an even larger area; the trappean 
rocks are found almost everywhere in small masses penetrating through the other groups of rocks, while the 
steatites and serpentines occupy the least area of any of the New England rocks, their whole surface not exceeding 
a few square miles. 

The granitic rocks of workable quality lie principally in the eastern parts of New England, and are found in 
their best shape along the coast of Rhode Island and the coast-lines of JIassachusetts and Maine. They are the 
cores or centers of old mountain ranges which have been worn down to their very bases, principally by the long- 
continued action of the sea and the glaciers of the ice times. Some excellent granites and syenites occur also in 
the New Hampshire district and in central Maine. Although the granitic rocks of Scotland afford some ornamental 
varieties that are more beautiful than those of New England, I know of no region in the world where this class of 
rocks can be found in greater abundance or in more workable forms than here. It is possible in several of the 
syenite quarries of Massachusetts to break a single block from the quarry that shall have a length of 150 feet, a 
depth of 10 feet, and a width of 30 feet, the whole mass without a flaw. 

The schistose rocks of this district, like those in other countries, have few qualities that fit them for any 
architectural ])urpose, and the same may be said of the trappean rocks. These old lavas in this district are invariably- 
characterized by the presence of many joints that tend to make them cleave in various directions. These joints 
are readily opened b>" the weather, and so the rock crumbles into small polygonal blocks. This material is used 
only for road material, for which use the ease with which it is fractured and the great hardness of the ultimate 
masses peculiarly fit it. The large amount of iron oxide it contains also serves to bring about cementation of the 
macadamized material in the road-bed. 

In the serpentines and steatites of New England we have the foundation of some small but interesting 
industries which promise a very great development in the future. In Massachusetts the most important localities 
for this class of materials are near the west end of Hoosac tunnel, and in the eastern part of the state between 
Lynnfleld and Newburyport. At both these points a little work has been done in former years, but bad management 
shipwrecked the works before they obtained any considerable development. 

It now remains to notice a class of building materials which has not been considered in the preceding list, viz : 
The drift or glacial bowlders that abound in New England. If we consider the whole of the existing walls in New 
England, those used for fencing as well as those in the more important foundation walls of the wooden or masonry 
buildings of the region, we shall find that at least 95 parts of the whole are composed of this glacial waste. Sometimes 
the stones, where the work is to be bound with mortar, are riven with wedges so as to give a better face for the 
attachment of the cement; usually, however, the stones are used without any such precaution. I know of no other 
district where these rude stones have been of as great service in the rough economic architecture of a country, 
although this use of glacial pebbles is commou in other parts of America and in the glacial districts of Europe, 
from the lands of Scotland to the valley of the Po. 

A GENERAL ACCOUNT OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE QUARRY INDUSTRIES OF THE DISTRICT, 

Whoever has made himself acquainted with the singularly great variety of the building stones that exist in 
New England must in the end be surprised at the limited extent to which those resources have been applied to 
the arts of the country. Although the finest quarries in the country exist within its limits, there are fewer masonry 
houses in proportion to its wealth and population than in any other region of like extent in the world. By far the 
larger part of the houses are of wood, and when stone is used, save in the larger cities, it is unwillingly taken 
as a building material, and is generally brought from a distance, though better sorts may be close at hand. Thus 
in Cambridge, Massachusetts, a city of 00,000 people and of very considerable wealth, there are but a dozen stone 
buildings, and none in which the material has been made the basis of any considerable ornamentation. In other 
words, there is but one stone building to each 5,000 inhabitants. There is not a single dwelling-house of stone, 
not more than a few hundred of brick, and these generally of a very inferior sort. Despite its considerable cost 
and perishable nature, timber has remained the principal building material for dwelling-houses and shops. In the 
university that owns the best edifices of the city, out of about thirty important buildings only five are of stone, the 
rest being of brick ; yet within 10 or 12 mUes of the place there are many beautiful building stones, some of which 
have been known for half a century. 

This neglect of stone as a building material may be understood after a little consideration of the history of 
architecture in New England. The first settlers of this country brought little wealth with them, and a love for 
architectural effect was the least of their pretensions. Until the rapid development of mechanical industries at 
the beginning of this century wealth did not begin to accumulate, or the culture to take on a type favorable for the 



110 BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

development of a taste in architecture. During the first two centuries timber was the natural material for 
construction ; it was by far the cheapest material, and required the least skill for its working. Wherever architecture 
develops, as it had to develop here, in a plentifully-wooded country the first stage of its progress gives us purely 
wooden edifices. All or nearly all the earliest Christian churches north of the Alps were of timber, and the houses 
of the common people were of the same material down to the time when timber became scarce. It is the opinion 
of many students of architecture that the original types of the Greek temples were also built of wood. The 
continuance of wood as the principal building material in New England was favored by the fact that during the 
first two centuries after the settlement of this country the people found themselves exposed to earthquakes of 
considerable severity. Those of 1685, 1727, and 1755 were of such force that, happening at the present day, they 
would do no small damage to masonry buildings. Many hundred chimneys in Boston were overturned. It is not 
unlikely that these shocks had some effect in causing the people to adhere more firmly to the old fashion of building. 
But the conservatism of art, in nothing so manifest as in architecture, will sufficiently explain the retention 
of ancient methods in the architecture of New England. During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries there 
were positively no beginnings made in quarrying industries. The only quarries I have been able to trace back to 
the eighteenth century are some few of clay-stone^ near Boston. These were very small, and only furnished a part 
of the grave-stones, a few lintels, and a few mile-stones. Stones for cellar walls were obtained from the glacial 
bowlders, which were used either in their natural state or after being riven with wedges. Even down to the 
time of the Eevolutionary war a considerable part of the grave-stones and masonry blocks were still brought from 
the mother country, probably as ballast in vessels that carried away timber or fish to Europe. 

The first New England stones abundantly quarried were the syenites near Boston and the sandstones of 
the Connecticut valley. These stones began to come into considerable use in the second decade of this century. 
As vet these kinds of stones, with the various deposits of slate and marble that occur in Vermont and Maine,. 
afford the only quarry materials extensively produced. The advance made in their development has been very 
great and is likely to continue for a long time to come. In the present state of wealth and of taste the demand for 
building stones is taking other directions from those which of old led to the working of the few materials that have 
been brought in use. The syenites that have hitherto satisfied the needs of simple strength and cheapness in 
architecture have little variety of color, and an intense hardness that quite unfits them for the ordinary uses of the 
decorative architect. There is needed a wider range of stones for use in the decorative parts of our buildings, which 
shall contribute to embellishment in either of two ways : by means of their attractive colors, or by having a 
constitution that fits them for the use of the carver who may work them into embellishments. In the following 
pages I propose to call attention to the various sources of supply whence these qualities of stone may be obtained,, 
as far as they have become known to me during the inquiries which have been made during the present census year 
or in the twenty years during which I have been a student of New England geology. These resources will for 
convenience be enumerated under the heads of the several states. It should be noted that these lists are not in any 
regard exhaustive accounts of materials suited for building stones, but only designate varieties and localities as far 
as they have found a place in my note-books or in those of my assistants, Messrs. Davis, Wolff, and Chase. 

EHODE ISLAND. 

The only stones of this state that have attracted my attention are the syenites, conglomerates, and limestones. 
The quarries in the syenites of Westerly are among the best of New England, the excellent quality of the stone 
being one element of their success, another being the advantageous position that these quarries occupy with 
reference to New York and other large markets of the sea-coast. On the point of land south of Bristol other 
syenites occur, distinguished by the amethystine nature of the quartz they contain. They have never been quarried 
for exportation, but they seem to me to offer a promising field for inquiry. North of Providence there are some 
crystalline limestones that are extensively worked for lime. Although these limestones have their mass extensively 
rent by. joints, as is the case with all the limestones known to me in New England east of the Connecticut river,, 
they may with proper search disclose some beds sufficiently fi:ee from this defect to give building stones, or at least 
stones suitable for certain particular uses in architecture. This region affords the best promise of such results of 
any known to me near the Atlantic coast. 

The conglomerates of the Coal Measures are extensively developed in Rhode Island, but they have never been 
to any extent used for building purposes. Although they vary much in the different localities where they appear, 
they are generally as well fitted for architectural purposes as the similar but more ancient deposits near Boston. 
These rocks are abundantly exposed near Providence and at various points along the shores of Narragansett 
bay, whence they could be readily conveyed by ships or barges, or by rail to Boston. They seem to me to invite 
experiment. 

MASSACHUSETTS. 

In this state the variety of unused stones is very great. In the group of granite rocks a fair amount of search 
has been given to the field ; yet some classes of this group have been entirely neglected. The blue-gray Quincy 
syenite having first established its reputation, all subsequent search has been given to the finding of stones 



DESCRIPTIONS OF QUARRIES AND QUARRY REGIONS. Ill 

sufficiently like it to command the same market. This search has been so well rewarded that at half a dozen other 
points in Massachusetts good syenites of the same grade have been found, while other and handsomer stones have 
been passed by. These other granitic rocks occur at various points, but I shall only mention one district which seems 
to me to offer a profitable field for inquiry. In the ranges of hills which lie to the west of Boston, extending 
from Melrose through Arlington to Dedham, there exists a great variety of reddish and yellowish blotched granites 
or syenites that have never been quarried, and are only known to me by chance sections. I am satisfied that 
these stones can be found in workable masses, and, though they want that evenness of grain that makes the Quincy 
syenites and other similar rocks so easy to work, I believe they can be quarried without undue expense. I am 
sure that when polished their extremely effective colors will give them a high jjlace among our decorative stones. 

In this connection and on the same field I may note the existence of a large area of porphyrites. This field 
extends from Maiden through Saugus and Lynn to Marblehead. These stones are as handsome and as varied in 
hue as those of the Mediterranean, which have furnished the supply for decorative uses to Europe for two thousand 
■years or more. In fact, they are as handsome as such stones well can be. They have not been quarried, but it is 
probable that large blocks without many flaws can be obtained. The peculiar hardness of these stones, which has 
always been an obstacle to their extensive use, is now less of a disadvantage than of old, for the modern appliances 
for the use of power very much reduce the cost of working such stones. These materials are in excellent positions 
for working, forming cliffs of considerable height above the sea. At Marblehead neck it is possible at high tide to 
load the material directly from the quarry into vessels of considerable burden. This class of stones is found 
nowhere else in the United States in similarly beautiful forms, and nowhere else in the world, so far as my 
knowledge goes, in such a favorable position for exportation. 

In Stoneham there are some deposits of marble that have been the object of several desultory efforts at working 
at various times in this century. So far all the stone found, though of an admissibly pure white color, is too 
much cut up by joints to be useful in the arts. Despite these failures I am not without hope that other deposits 
now covered beneath the mantle of drift that envelops this region may yet be discovered. 

In this same section of eastern Massachusetts there is yet another source of building materials that is full of 
promise. I refer to the extensive deposits of serpentine that lie in the country between Lynnfield and Newburyport. 
This deposit has long been known to exist, and nearly half a century ago it was worked at one point as a source of 
supply of material from which Epsom salts were made. This serpentine has never been fairly opened save at one 
point, in Lynnfield, where a pit 15 feet deep has been sunk into it. From this opening some beautiful blocks of 
serpentine have been obtained, which show that the rock is well fitted for architectural purposes. Near Newburyport 
the rock seems to be more divided by joints, but it is of harder and more beautiful texture. Near Lynnfield it 
appears to be of a softer nature, yet not too soft for the best uses, and the blocks are of larger size than elsewhere. 
As yet the means of observing this deposit are too limited to afford the basis for exact statements, yet I know in 
America no other rock of equal promise. 

In the vicinity of the east end of the Hoosac tunnel, in close geological relation with the well-known deposits 
of steatite that occur there, exists an extensive deposit of serpentines in which quarries have never yet been opened. 
The quality of the polished specimens I have seen seems very good indeed, and the deposit seems well worth a 
careful investigation. 

I may also commend to the consideration of quarrymen the many varieties of clay-slate that occur at various 
points in Massachusetts, particularly near Boston. These clay-slates have long been worked for road materials, but 
have not been much used for construction purposes. These stones generally break well in the quarry, and are 
tolerably well suited for hammer- facing. Their main joint-planes are generally richly colored by iron oxide, which 
gives them a handsome effect in a wall. The only important edifice that has been constructed of this variety of 
stone is the Shepherd Memorial church in Cambridge. The cost of quarrying the stone was much less than that 
required for the Eoxburj conglomerate, and when placed in the wall the actual cost was only about one-half as great 
as the conglomerate in the Mason chapel, a very similar edifice a few yards away. The distance of the buildings 
from the quarries where the stones were obtained is about the same. The general effect of these stones is nearly 
alike. 

In the neighborhood of Boston there are some trappean rocks that are free from the general objection that 
must usually be held against New England traps in general, and which are capable of making excellent building 
stones. I refer to the amygdaloids of the Brighton district. These rocks occupy but a small area, not exceeding 
about half a square mUe, yet they lie well for quarrying, the joint-planes being quite favorable for working. The 
color is a dark mottled green, which would seem to enliven the architecture of the structures built of the similar 
colored stones that prevail in this region. In the same series of rocks, apparently also of trappean nature, are 
some deposits of a lively green color. These are best shown near Newton Upper Falls. They seem to me to 
promise a useful decorative stone. 

In western Massachusetts, although the district lies beyond the limits of the work specially undertaken by 
the survey, I may notice a few of the most important features connected with the prospective quarry industries. 
In this section we have none of the free-splitting granitic rocks which are so remarkably abundant in the coast 



112 BUILDINa STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSl'RY. 

region of New England. The rocks most like them have a gneissic form that causes them to break irregularly. 
They were splendidly exhibited in the central portions of the Hoosac tunnel, and their extreme resistance to the 
action of powder as well as to the drill made that great work very costly. This rock is well exposed at the surface 
in the district just south of the tunnel in positions favorable for quarrying. Although it is not easy to work in 
the heading of a drift, such as a tunnel requires, I believe that a skillful and Ingenious quarryman would manage to 
deal with it in an open working. The stone is extremely handsome, having the peculiar banded structure of 
gneiss, with a semi-opalescent quartz in large crystals. It is exceedingly resistant to transverse pressure, its 
structure making it, when strained across the fiber, almost as elastic as wood. It should not be used as a decorative 
stone iu any position where it would require dressing, but it is very suitable for long lintels, and I believe it would 
furnish excellent edge-stones. As some of its faces are smooth it could also be had in forms suitable for rough 
walls, even in buildings of the highest grade. 

At present the American taste is rather opposed to the use of stones that do not show the use of the hammer 
upon them. This is, however, a mere prejudice, for some of the handsomest structures in the world are built of 
undressed stones. The city of Florence, in many regards the most beautiful city in Europe, has its finest architectural 
triumphs built of unhewn stone. The Strotze and Pitti palaces owe to their rough stones the wonderful dignity 
that makes them nobler in aspect than thousands of more costly structures. When our builders accept a similar 
simplicity as the worthy object of their efforts it will open this class of rocks to use. 

There are some good white marbles in this section that deserve more attention than has been given to them. 
They are somewhat worked about North Adams, but are perhaps too much jointed and of too coarse a grain to 
come into general favor. 

After considering all the other resources in the way of building stones that are found in Massachusetts, we 
come again to the granitic rocks as the most extensive and surest basis of its quarry industry, and until the taste 
for such stones changes they are sure to be the most valuable of all its rocks. 

The principal fields for these stones have already been occupied. The most important of the regions which 
may be designated are the Milton and Quincy district, the district of cape Ann, the district of Fitchburg, and that of 
Fall Eiver. The Milton and Quincy district gave the beginning to the granite industry of New England. Its first 
success was great, and to this day it has more quarries within a given area than any other district in New England, 
or perhaps in the United States ; yet it was not naturally the best locality in the New England region. As far as 
the quality of the stone is concerned, it is surpassed by the quarries on cape Ann and by those in Maine. The stone 
lies well for working, as it occupies a set of steep-faced hills divided by several valleys of considerable depth. 
The site is near the sea, with which it is connected by the first railway built in this country, and it is also upon 
the extensive railway system of the Old Colony railroad. It is thus one of the few granite-quarry districts of New 
England having the advantages of both methods of transportation. At present the product of this district does 
not seem to increase as rapidly as that of cape Ann or that of the Maine coast. The general structure of the stone 
appears to make the production and shipment of the stone a little more costly than in other regions. There are 
few large rocks now produced there, the greater part of the work being cemetery monuments and other decorative 
work. 

Cape Ann was the next district opened to work. The quarries at that point give an excellent but little tried 
sort of stone. The only hinderance has been the absence of good harbors and of satisfactory railway connections. 
The lack of harbors near the quarries has been met by the construction of breakwaters built from the waste stone, 
but the provision is yet inadequate, and the cost of new harborage is too great for small capitalists. 

South of Boston harbor, iu Cohasset and a part of North Scituate, there are excellent sites for quarries. The 
stone is of a light red color, and works well, but the difficulty of harborage at the quarry point has led to the failure 
of several experiments in quarry work. At present the land along this shore is so valuable for villa-sites that it 
is not likely to be used for quarry purposes. The Fitchburg and Fall Eiver districts, as well as the large area of 
granitic rocks along the line of the Boston and Albany railway, are capable of extensive development. That near 
Fall Eiver is, however, the only one that is likely to secure cheap water transportation— an absolute need in the case 
of any new granite district seeking to compete with those already established in New England. So far the Fall 
Eiver quarries have supplied only the considerable local demand. They seem to me, however, to be the best placed 
for extensive shipment of any in Massachusetts except those of cape Ann. 

The stone in the district along the line of the Boston and Albany railway is of good quality. It is, however, 
•of a rather gneissoid structure. 

Lastly, I may notice the fitness of the abundant glacial pebbles to the construction of more important walls than 
those to which they have been applied. So far these stones that lie about nearly every New England field have not 
been much used save for dry walls or fences and for foundations. Their rounded form does not readily lend itself 
to the mason's use, yet by sizing the stones and using them with a little patient skill it is possible to make a strong 
and handsome wall from these fragments. The only considerable structure which I know that is made of bowlders 
is a church in the town of Medford. It is a handsome and ornamental structure, and I am told that the walls cost 
less than if built of any other masonry. 



DESCRIPTIONS OF QUARRIES AND QUARRY REGIONS. 113 

lu the valley of the Po, iu uorthern Italy, glacial i^ebbles of small size, often not exceecliug- 3 inches in diameter, 
are extensively used for bixildiug. Sometimes a frame-'u-ork of timber is first built to take the strain of the roof, and 
then these pebbles are built iu between the timbers. In all ]S"ew England these stones left by the glacial period are 
always very enduring, for the reason that the rough handling withstood in their making fully tested their strength. 
They are often very smooth, and show their natural colors to great advantage. It is to me remarkable that so simple 
and evident a source of construction stones has been neglected for generations in a region where good, easily- 
worked materials for masonry are not generally accessible. It is only to be explained by the natural conservatism 
of architecture, a field of activity where the penalties for rashness are often great and the profit from any one 
successful experiment is usually very small. 

MAIIs^E. 

The building stones of this state are less known than those of any other Xew England state. There has been 
but little demand for them save for export purposes, and the distance of carriage is so great that but few of the 
great variety to be found there have ever been brought into use. Along the coast the limestone of Eockland and 
the -neighborhood has long been quarried for lime, and at certain points the excellent syenite that abounds in this 
region has been quarried for southern markets ; but nothing like a search has yet been made for the available 
building stones of this coast. This region is peculiarly adapted to afford a great variety of building stones. 
The shore is formed by the extremities of many mountain ridges, which have been planed down by the sea and by 
glaciers so that they no longer appear as mountains. These old mountains, which are evident only to the geologist, 
stood at right angles to the shore. This disposition of the rocks causes a singularly great variety of stones to be 
exposed at the coast-line. The harbors are numerous and deep, so that the products of the quarries can 
generally be loaded directly into large vessels. These conditions make this region more favorable for the development 
of a large quarry industry than any other region known to me in this country or in other countries. 

It is much to be desired that a careful study of the stones on this coast should be made. In the meantime the 
following notes which have been gathered during the census, and other studies, may have a certain value as indices 
of the resources in the way of building stones that may be found there. Beginning at the eastern extremity of the 
state we may note that in the neighborhood of Calais and thence toward Perry and Eastjiort there are extensive 
beds of a very reddish feldspathic rock, probably to be classed with the granites, which deserve far more attention 
than they have yet received. In the town of Perry and in the towns that border upon it there are some distinctly- 
bedded rocks that are likely to furnish good flag-stones of fair hardness. The same may be said of the region about 
the winding shores of the South bay, an extensive sheet of water near Eastport. We find there many beds that 
would yield good flagging stones. There are some very red conglomerates in this district that might be useful on 
account of their brilliant colors, but they are too much jointed for the most favorable working. 

Passing to the westward from Passamaquoddy bay we are for a great distance principally in granitic rocks. 
There are, however, many distinctly-bedded rocks of a much metamorphosed character at various points which may 
afford flag-stones. It is impossible to give particular localities, as the rocks have never been quarried, but the section 
between Lubec and Doverboro' seems to me the most promising region for search. Between Machiasport and 
Harrington the granitic rock is the only important material. The stone iu this section, like that near Calais, is of 
a reddish color. Indeed, this seaward face of Washington county is characterized by the reddish tint of its 
metamorphic rocks, which in turn has given a reddish cast to the slates and conglomerates that have been formed 
from them. The best of the granites of Washington county are found in these red granites, which are probably all 
of about the same age. This set of rocks extends far into the interior, but they are so much more available along 
this shore district that it is not worth while to seek them elsewhere. I am satisfied that when the diverse qualities 
of these reddish granites have been determined by i^roper exploration it will be found that this part of Maine will afford 
a wider variety of these stones than any other district in jS"ew England. 

Near Addison there are quarries of diabase. These rocks are commonly classed as dark-colored granites, 
which they somewhat resemble. The principal objection to this block granite for building stone is that in some 
localities it shows a tendency to decay with great rapidity. A similar stone exists near Boston, in Somerville, 
Melrose, and Medford, Massachusetts ; but, though handsome and easily worked, it is unfit for out-of-door use, 
as it will often lose color iu a few years and fall away in flakes. This objection does not seem to hold against the 
stone from this part of Maine. 

Between Harrington and Gouldsboro' there are excellent exposures of granite of various colors which have 
not yet been quarried. We next find worked quarries at Sullivan. At this point the granite has a set of cleavages 
which causes it to break out in long rectangular prisms, a form peculiarly favorable for the quarryman's work. 
Connected with this easy breakage we have numerous slight veins in the stone that seem to make it break too 
easily for the best uses, and somewhat affect the color of the blocks. The rather reddish granites outcrop along 
the coast to the westward. On the shores of Somes sound, a deep inlet that penetrates the island of Mount 
Desert, there are quarries of a light red granite. Here, as elsewhere along the shore, the best quarries are found 
in the sides of the hills. As these hills are the parts of the rock that have best resisted erosion, it follows that 
they are the most solid and enduring of the rocks of the couutrv. It may be said that throughout ]S"ew England 
VOL. IX S B s 



114 BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

the tliicklj -bedded enduring rocks are in the hills, the softer and more thiiily bedded in the valleys. It seems never 
worth while to seek for good granite in the valleys since a slight depression shows some element of weakness that 
makes the rock unsuitable to the quarryman's use. 

Excellent granite quarries exist at the head of Bluehill bay, to the west of Mount Desert. Deer island and 
Vinal Haven island have exterior quarries of the same stone. On the latter island the stone splits in larger blocks 
than anywhere else in New England, except perhaps in the quarries of cape Ann. 

On the west side of Penobscot bay there are exterior quarries in Thomaston and Saint George, near Eichlaud. 
West of the Penobscot the quarries are not limited to the coast-Une, but some are situated on the Kennebec, 
at a distance of 60 or 70 miles from the sea. This is not because the granite is particularly better or more abundant 
there than in the inland region of the Penobscot, but because there is more local demand for stone and the 
means of shipment by railways are much greater. There are also considerable quarries of roofing slates in this 
section of the state west of the Penobscot river; they lie, however, much north of the belt of granite quarries. 
The granitic character of the coast is continued to the New Hampshire line, and the numerous small and a few large 
quarries attest the general goodness of the stone. It will be noticed that the only building stones quarried along 
the coast of Maine are granites, or crystalline rocks closely related to them. It must not, however, be supposed 
that no other kinds of stone occur along this coast. The limitation of the production to this single quality of stone 
is to be explained in part by the fact that this stone is the only one for which there is an extensive market, and 
the search has naturally been first made for it. Even more, however, must be attributed to the fact that the 
continuation of marine and glacial erosion which has gone on upon this shore has worn away almost all the softer 
rock exposed to its action. The larger part of the limestones, slates, sandstones, etc., that find their geological 
position on the folds along this coast have been so worn away that they lie beneath the surface of the deep 
indentations of the sea which are so conspicuous here. 

These granitic quarries afford very excellent conditions for working. The stone opens easily, having the peculiar 
inchoate joints that are such striking features in the syenite or granite of New England. There are generally 
at least two of these rift-lines. Then there is a more or less complete division by what appear to be true beds, as 
well as joints, so that the division of the rock is as complete as could be desired. At the same time the lines of 
weakness in the rock are not so numerous as often to make the quarried masses too small for use, as is sometimes 
the case in other districts. The impurities in the way of spots and veins, which often seem to mar the appearance 
of granitic rocks, are not found in any great abundance save at a few points. Added to these advantages this 
shore affords a frontage in its islands and inlets of not less than 2,000 miles, the larger part of which lies in 
workable granite or kindred rocks, though of course not always of the best kind. 

Although the extreme erosion has left little of the more wearable rocks along the coast-line of Maine, the 
inland regions seem likely to yield a good variety of stones. The principal trouble at present is that the coating 
of forest and the layers of drift mask the greater part of the surface, except where the very hardest rocks occur 
Machinery and labor. — In the larger New England quarries steam cranes or derricks are generally used to 
move the stone to the carriage that carries it away from the quarry heading. In the smaller quarries the hand- 
crane alone is used. These cranes are generally conveniently arranged for their work. 

In the latter class of quarries wagons for conveying the stone to the shaping- or dressing-grounds and to the 
shipping-grounds are no longer employed. The road out of the quarry is generally occupied by a tramway, and 
locomotives, generally of the light dummy pattern, are used to drag the carriages to the shipping-point or to the 
dressing-grounds. 

From a considerable knowledge of the European quarries I believe that the amount of manual labor used in 
their quarry work is at least twice as great as that required in the better class of American stone pits. The result is 
that we cau furnish rough stone at a lower price than that at which it can be produced in Europe, despite the higher 
price of labor here. In the treatment of the stone after it leaves the quarry the ximerican methods show no advance 
upon those of Europe ; and it is in this part of the work of preparing building stones that the cost most rapidly 
increases. The wages for all sorts of hand- work in dressing are very dear, and so far little effort seems to have 
been made to replace these methods by mechanical contrivances. When stone is to be dressed into ornamental 
shapes it does no seem practicable to gain much by any mechanical processes ; but when the aim is merely to 
polish the flat face of the stone or to bush- or face-hammer them, it ought to be possible to replace hand- work by 
automatic machinery. One reason why more effort has not been made in this direction is doubtless that 
mechanical power derived from steam is generally costly in the quarrying districts of New England. This may 
perhaps be met by the use of tidal water-powers that abound along all this coast-line. These water-powers can 
often be brought into use at a very small cost for plant, and as they do not depend on drought, and generally 
involve no damages for flowage, they will be much cheaper than fresh-water power. Their general utility is 
sufficiently proved by the frequent use made of them on this shore for ordinary milling purposes. 

Transporxaxion. — The carriage of the quarried stones to market is generally effected by rail or water. The 
qmxrries near the sea-board have a great advantage over those upon the railways, inasmuch as they can ship at 
much less cost, the carriage by sailing-vessel being only a small fraction of that which must be charged by railway. 
On these vessels the stone is generally laden upon the deck, except the smaller sorts, such as paving stones, which are 



DESCRIPTIONS OF QUARRIES AND QUARRY REG-IONS. 115 

stored iu the hold. It seems to me that vessels of the sort kuowu as catamarans, (. e., those with two distiuct bodies, 
with a iiavement coveriug the whole, would make safer forms of ships for this carriage, as it is the heavy deck 
burden that makes an ordinary ship very top-heavy and liable to accidents. 

GENERAL RELATIONS OP NEW ENGLAND BUILDING STONES TO THE MARKETS OF THE 

UNITED STATES. 

It is worth while to notice the general relations of the New England quarry industries to the rest of the country, 
as we may thereby gain the basis for a forecast of their future. 

A glance at a geological map will show that the rocks that characterize New England are not found in an equally 
extensive development in any other district south of the Saint Lawrence and east of the Rocky mountains. The 
same highly-metamorphosed series of rocks is continued iu a less extensive way south along the whole chain of the 
Appalachians as far as northern Alabama ; but it leaves the sea-board region at New York, and south of that point 
is not readily accessible to tide-water navigation. Moreover, when we get even as far south as New York we find 
that, owing to the progressively less and less considerable development of glacial action iu southern regions, the 
rocks show the effect of decay to a much greater depth than they do in New England, where the last glacial 
period stripped away all the incoherent decayed portion of the rocks, leaving only that which was well suited to the 
use of the quarryman. The result is that even near New York, and in a greater degree for every step eastward, 
the stone is decayed along the joints to such an extent that we can rarely find good solid blocks within from 20 to 50 
feet of the present siu-face. This deep "cap" of decayed rock is a serious hinderance to the development of good 
quarries of crystalline rocks in a large part of the southern Appalachian mountains. 

These two advantages, the neighborhood of the crystalline rocks to the sea and the absence of any worthless 
decayed upper part, will always give the New England rocks of the granitic group a very great advantage over 
those of any other part of the eastern United States. 

It should also be noticed that the cost of quarrying granite of good quality is perhaps less than that of any 
other work of the same general utility, certainly much less than the cost of our other principal building stones, so 
that, for all large structures where rude strength is the only need, quarries of this stone are always likely to be at 
a great advantage in production. 

There are no other sources of sui^ply of granite that are ever likely to compete with this stone district of New 
England. The same qualities of stone are found in southern Nova Scotia with the same advantages of quarrying ; 
but this region is on the average several hundred miles farther from the principal points of consumption, so that 
the tax due to distance will always amount to about as much as the present profits of the New England quarries. 
The cost of carriage on a ton of stone from Nova Scotia above that from cape Ann, supposing the distribution to bo 
to New York or Philadelphia, is at the present low rates of freight about 50 cents. This is probably more than the 
average profit that is made upon the stone itself. Thus there could be no effective competition save for such 
stones as have been carved or finished, so that the actual value bears a very large proportion to the original 
cost of quarrying and conveying to market. It is quite clear, therefore, that the position of the New England 
granite quarries is particularly favorable, and that they are likely to command the market for cheap stones for a 
great while in the future. 

The same may be said, though in a less emphatic way, for the other building stones of this region. The roofing 
slates, particularly those of Maine, the exploration for which has hardly begun, are very well placed for marketing, 
as they have the same advantage, arising from the small amount of waste rock on their surfaces, that the granite 
quarries have. The slates have rather more drift matter upon them than the granite quarries have for the reason that 
they generally lie in rather lower ground; still this drift is loose material requiring no other than pick-and-shovel 
work before the profitable work is attained. In Maine, especially, these (i^warries lie near enough to tide-water to 
share the advantages arising from their method of carriage, being not more than from 30 to GO miles away from the 
nearest tide-water navigation. 

There are no certain supplies of good marble within a remunerative distance of the shore-line of New England, 
the nearest approach thereto being the extensive deposits of serpentine rocks that lie in Middlesex and Essex 
counties, Massachusetts. Between Lynnfleld and Newburyport there is an extensive deposit of this character 
that will afford a material suitable for the carver's art. 

I am not without hope that it will be possible to find some marbles suitable for building purposes in Rhode 
Island or iu Maine, and it is greatly to be desired in the interests of American architecture that more good carving 
stones should be brought into market. Though New England abounds with excellent and beautiful construction 
stones, it leaves much to be desired in the way of stones fitted for the work of the sculptor. None of its marble is 
really fit for the best statuary purposes. 



il6 BUILDING STONES AND THE QUAERY INDUSTRY. 

DETAILS UEGAEDING QUARRIES. 

MAINE. 

[Compiled mainly from notes of John Eliot Wolif.] 

TheEed Beach granite quarried nearEed Beach, Jonesboro', and Calais, Washiugtou county, is used principally 
for monuments, and to some extent for general building purposes. It is quite largely used for polished coliimus. 
The principal markets are Boston, Providence, Kew York city, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Buffalo; Cincinnati, 
Cleveland, Zauesville, and Columbus, Ohio; Springfield and Chicago, Illinois; Milwaukee, Saint Louis, Saint Joseph, 
Kansas City; Charleston, South Carolina; Wheeling, West Virginia; Washington, District of Columbia, and San 
Francisco. 

In the Eed Beach quarries there are two sets of principal j oints, both nearly vertical, which seem to be continuous 
through the granite of this region. The finest set has a direction S. 55° W., and the other 65° E. There are also 
some less regular cutoff joints running S. 60° W, and slanting east. The sheets are fairly regular, running from 7 
to 4 feet and less ; the jointing is remarkably regular for granite, and the almost rectangular intersection of the 
vertical joints gives the blocks a cubical and rectangular form rare in granite. The stone is free from blemishes as 
seen in the quarry. Little quartz veins and black concretions (one of which when tested appeared to be princiiially 
magnetite of small size) are the principal ones. The rift of the stone is parallel to the S. 65° E. joints. On the 
surface rock this stone weathers with a snow-white appearance. The feldspar, both red and dirty white in color, turns 
to a dazzling white, the quartz remaining unaltered, while the mica and magnetite and other minerals become 
inconspicuous. The granite- workers here are very largely Aberdeen Scotchmen, and some of the polishing-machines 
are adapted from Scotch models. 

The stone compares very favorably in appearance with the Peterhead Scotch granite and the Nova Scotia red 
granite. The rock is a biotite granite, is a good working stone, and quite hard and brittle, taking a high polish. 
Blocks 7 by 7 by 2 feet thick have been shipped, and blocks 30 by 15 by 2|- feet might be quarried. 

The columns of the court-house at Providence, Ehode Island, and those of the custom-house at Kansas City, 
Missouri, the Centennial block at Portland, Maine, and a portion of the basement of the custom-house at Fall 
Eiver, Massachusetts, are of this stone. 

At Jonesboro' the quarries are shallow and extend over a comparatively broad area on the top of the hill on 
which the quarries are situated. The sheets thin out, but deepen on going downward. There seems to be but one 
good set of joints, standing nearly vertical and running north about 80° east. The rift of the stone does not seem 
to have a very determinate direction, but approximates to a jiarallel with these joints. The grain is horizontal, the 
sheets become thicker at the bottom of the quarry, and run from 5 to 3 feet and less in thickness. The stone splits 
well and straight in any direction, and by drilling and wedging rectangular blocks are obtained. Both light and 
dark patches appear in the stone. 

The greatest defect of the stone, which causes considerable "grout", is the frequent occurrence of red stripes 
or veins of red feldspar crossing the stone. Some of these stripes appear to be small, very tight seams, along which 
the stones have become sappy, giving the red color. Veins or dikes of fine red granite run through the quarry in 
one or two places; often the tongues running out from them are red on the outside and white inside, resembling the 
patches in appearance. This belt of red granite is locally thought to be continuous with that found at Eed Beach, 
on the eastern edge of the countj^, and also to cross into New Brunswick and form the Macadare red granite, 
becoming redder toward the east. Wellington Brothers' building, Boston, and the Huunewell building, New York 
city, are among the buildings in the construction of which the Jonesboro' red granite was used. 

The trai) dikes in Washington county, furnishing white and black granite, properly a diabase or olivine 
diabase, are quarried chiefly for monumental purposes and shipped to New York city, Brooklyn, Boston, Washington, 
Montreal, and Quebec. It was used to some extent in the construction of the inclosure- walls oif the Capitol grounds, 
Washington city, for a bank in Montreal, and extensively for monumental purposes in Greenwood cemetery, 
Brooklyn. Blocks 16 by 10 by 20 feet have been moved in the quarries, and natural blocks 90 by 10 by 15 feet occur. 
Six miles southeast from Madison point, on Pleasant river, one of the princii^al quarries in this rock is located; 
it is a remarkably favorable location, being at the water's edge, and the waste is easily used in extending the 
wharf. The stone is exrremely hard and takes a good polish. The principal defects causing the waste stone are 
the so-called "knots", consisting of irregular patches of very coarse, white feldspar, mixed with fine, large, black 
hornblende crystals; little seams also occasionally split off part of a block, but the stone usually presents a uniform 
surface, free from the frequent patches and other irregularities of ordinary granite. The stone seems to weather 
remarkably well for one containing so much hornblende. This quarry is called by the quarrymen a " block quarry " — 
that is to say, the horizontal or concentric sheets of ordinary granite are few. There are two sets of vertical sheets, 
the best run due enst and we-st and give blocks, as far as the quarry has been developed, from 15 feet down in length. 
There are also north and south vertical joints less perfect, but more frequent than the others. The rift or easiest 
splitting direction runs parallel to the east and west joints; the grain, or next easiest, north and south, while the 
lift or horizontal splitting is hardest of all. Hence the natural blocks are approximately rectangular in shape. 



DESCRIPTIONS OF QUARRIES AND QUARRY REGIONS. 117 

Near West Sullivan, Hancock county, a light gray biotite granite, sometimes having a pinkish tint, is quarried 
for general building purposes, for paving and curbing, and is employed to some extent for monuments. The principal 
markets thus far have been Boston, Xew York, Brooklyn, Albany, Philadelphia, Washington, and other places on 
the Atlantic coast accessible by water transportation. Blocks 23 by 25 by 2 feet thick have been quarried ; the 
sheets of stone vary from 6 to 3 feet in thickness and have a slight dip to the north. The rift of the stone is, as the 
quarrymen express it, " on the lift,'' that is, horizontal or iiarallel to the sheets, and this is usually the case in the 
Sullivan granite region. The grainis vertical, running S. 70° E., and has a remarkably straight and plane cleavage, 
so that the stone frequently comes outin long rectangular prisms. It may be said here that these beautiful cleavages 
are among the characteristics of the Sullivan granite and are of great advantage in making paving blocks, as the 
blocks are shaped from the material with ease, a few slight blows often sufficing to reduce the stone to a proper 
shape. There are also vertical joints running across the grain S. 20° W. The principal defects are the black 
patches, and some of the stones have very thin seams called by the workmen "pencil-mark" seams, from their 
appearance ; these are an element of weakness. 

A mile north of West Sullivan is located a typical sheet quarry, the sheets I'unning from 2 to feet in thickness, 
having a very smooth almost plain though gently-curved surface, dipping slightly to the northwest. Vertical joints 
are few. The rift is on the lift, or iiarallel to the sheets, and the grain is vertical. There are some large vertical 
joints running through the quarry; some of the quarrymen distinguish seams running across the grain obliquely as 
"grain" seams; seams oblique to the grain as "tight" seams, and certain seams coated with decomposed feldspar 
as "chalk " seams. There are several very large black inclusions seen in the granite. 

A quarry producing excellent splitting stock is situated thi-ee-quarters of a mile north of Sullivan The sheets 
run from 7 down to 3 feet in thickness. There are some large vertical joints running northeast occasionally filled 
with trap dikes. The stone has a somewhat couchoidal fracture and shows the usual black i^atches. The rift is 
parallel to the sheets, and the grain runs east and west at right angles with the vertical jointing. 

Xear Franklin, Hancock county, a light gray, massive, biotite granite is quarried for curbing, paving, and 
cemetery work. The principal markets are Boston and Xew York city. The texture of the stone is medium fine 
and porphyritic. Blocks 30 by 1-i by 3 J feet thick have been quarried. 

On Somes sound, 2^ miles south of Somesville, Mount Desert island, Hancock county, a light gray, massive,, 
biotite granite is quarried for general building purposes, bridge construction, and paving. The stone was used in 
the construction of the Brooklyn apjiroaches and towers to the East Eiver bridge, and in the arches and foundations, 
and the new bridges in Back Bay park, Boston. Blocks 150 by 50 by IS feet thick have been loosened in the quarpy. 
The position of the quarries on Mount Desert island is peculiarly good for shipping, as they lie near the head of 
Somes sound along a narrow and very deep fiord, running several miles inland from the southwest harbor, between 
the mountains. One of the quarries is situated on the side of a hill and at the water's edge. The sheets of stone 
are very thick in some cases, one being IS feet in thickness. The sheets have a steep dip from the summit of the 
hill down to the water's edge. There are a few north and south vertical joints or headings, usually not less than 60 
feet apart. The rift is on the lift of the sheets, and the grain as usual is parallel to the great north and south joints. 
In connection with the dip of the sheets away from the hill, considerations concerning the form of the granite hills 
of Xew England suggest themselves. It is held by some that these hills have been rounded into their present 
shape by ice, while others believe that their form is due to the structure of the granite. 

In Maine not only are the quarries of great extent and depth, and generally located on hills, but these are 
generally sufficiently bare of vegetation to conceal the outline. Many of the larger quarries of Maine are sheet 
quarries, and in every case where vertical joints are not present, breaking up the sheets to such an extent as to- 
conceal their direction, the round form of the hill is plainly seen to be due to the gentle curve of the sheets. 

Two miles south of Somesville there is a granite quarry, the opening of which is yet shallow, and the sheets 
are consequently thin. The rift is on the lift and the grain is approximately east and west; the infrequent joints 
are mostly noith and south. 

Xear East Bluehill, Hancock county, a light gray, sometimes pinkish-gray, massive, biotite granite is extensively 
quarried for general building purposes and for paving. It has been used in the construction of the city hall 
(trimmings), the art gallery in Fairmount park, and the Pennsylvania Railroad bridge, Philadelphia ; in the East 
Eiver bridge, Xew York city ; the post-olflces in Chicago and in Harrisburg ; and the Thomas monument in 
Washington city. In texture the stone is medium -tine porphyritic. Blocks 90 by 80 by 6 feet have been moved 
In the quarry ; a block of SO tons was loo.sened and moved out some feet in one of the quarries. It is a compact, 
good, safe, and free-working stone, and takes a good polish. Specimens were tested at the centennial exhibition 
at Philadelphia which showed a crushing resistance of 108,000 jiouuds to a 2-inch cube. The quarrying here has 
been to a considerable extent done on the surfiice, although there are some large openings. The stone lies in sheets, 
often irregular, from 3 to 10 feet in thickness, and the jointing is sometimes in-egular in many of the openings. In 
one of the quarries there are sheets 9 feet in thickness, though the usual thickness is from 4 to 5 feet. The stone 
contains a few black patches, the joints are not frequent, and their direction when present is east and west. 



118 BUILDING- STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

In another quarry the sheets are from 6 to 8 feet in thickness, the dip steeply southeast ; the rift is east and 
west with the dip of the sheets, and the grain north and south. The vertical jointing is irregular ; i)atches and 
occasional veins of vhite granite are present. At another opening the sheets reach a thickness of 20 feet ; the 
long seams cut down through the mass, but are usually far apart. 

Near Deer island, Hancock county, a light gray, indistinctly-laminated biotite granite is quarried for general 
building purposes, bridge construction, and paving. It has been used in the construction of the Broadway bridge. 
South Boston; base of columns of elevated railroads in Brooklyn; and grain elevator of the S"ew York Central 
railroad, iS'ew York city. Blocks 14 by 8 by 20 feet have been loosened in the quarries, and the dimensions of some 
of the natural blocks are as much as 150 by 15 by 15 feet. It is a compact, good, safe, and free-working stone, 
and takes a good polish. The sheets in one of the quarries reach a thickness of 18 feet, though the usual 
thickness is from 6 to 12 feet. They extend into the hill nearly horizontally, and are intersected by occasional 
vertical joints. The rift here is vertical, running ]iorth and south, parallel to the joint; the grain at right angles, 
or east and west. ^ 

In another opening the stone lies in very thick and broad sheets, nearly horizontal, with a slight dip toward 
the water; the sheets are from 6 feet downward in thickness, and are intersected by a few joints. The rift here 
runs north and south, and most frequent vertical jojnts also run north and south. 

Another quarry in this vicinity lies in a steep hill, the slope running down to the water's edge. Where they 
are now working the sheets average 3 feet in thickness, the maximum being 5 feet and the minimum 1 foot. The dip 
is very steep from the top of the hill to the water's edge. There are few vertical joints; the rift runs best toward 
the top of the hill. At the north end of the quarry the sheets are horizontal, of great thickness, one being over 
20 feet thick, and having considerable length and width as well. 

In another of the principal quarries the sheets occasionally reach a thickness of 20 feet ; the vertical joints 
have an east and west direction, and are found at intervals varying from 5 to 60 feet. 

A mile and a half south of Frankfort, Waldo county, a gray, massive biotite granite is quarried for general 
building purposes, bridge construction, monuments, paving, and polished columns. It is sent as far as Mobile and 
ZsTew Orleans. It was used in the construction of East Eiver bridge, New York; basement of the State, War, and 
Navy building, Washington city; art gallery at the centennial exhibition, Philadelphia; art museum, Central 
park, New York city; Saint Louis bridge across the Mississippi river; pedestal of the statue of Admiral Farragut, 
Washington city; forts Knox, Popham, George, Preble, Schuyler, Constitution, and other fortifications. The 
texture of the stone is coarse and porphyritic. Blocks 80 by 40 by 20 feet have been moved; a block of 30 tons was 
cut and shipped. It is estimated that blocks 150 by 50 by 12 feet might be moved in the quarry. The principal quarry 
is situated on mount Waldo, overlooking the Penobscot river, and at an elevation of some 320 feet above high tide. 
It is a situation allowing of easy disposition of the waste ; the stone lies in immense sheets dipping off from the 
mountain, varying in thickness from 1 foot to 20 feet, the usual thickness being from 4 to 5 feet. The quarry is 
traversed by frequent head joints running S. 75° E., but there are comparatively few joints at 90°. 

The rift is on the lift, or parallel to the sheets ; the grain runs S. 75° E., or parallel to the headings. Two 
varieties of stone are obtained — coarse and fine ; the local impression is that a belt of fine gTanite runs through 
the coarse prevailing granite. This stone was used in the construction of many of the eastern forts before the late 
war, but a year or so of the war demonstrated the comparative inferiority of stone for this purpose and caused the 
building of stone forts on the Atlantic coast to be discontinued, and the business of several of the Maine quarries 
was for a while diminished through this cause. 

Near Prospect, Waldo county, a gray, massive biotite granite is quarried to a limited extent for street work, 
basin heads, platforms, and bridge construction. It was used in the construction of the railroad bridge at Bangor, 
and in the East Boston dock. The texture of the material is rather coarse; the stone lies in sheets, and the rift is 
on the lift; there are two sets of joints. Blocks 6 by 4 by 4 feet have been shipped, and "blocks 30 by 35 by 10 feet 
might be moved in the quatry. 

Near Swamalle, Waldo county, gray biotite granite is quarried for cemetery work, paving, platforms, and 
columns. The principal markets are New York city, and Boston and Quincy, Massachusetts. It was used in the 
construction of a soldiers' monument at Buffalo, New York. Blocks 20 by 9 feet by 1 foot and 10 by 10 by 2 feet 
have been cut, and blocks 40 by 20 by 2 feet might be moved. The stone here is uniform in texture, free from 
blemishes, and is a compact, good, safe, and free-working stone, taking good polish, and lies in regular sheets 
varying in thickness from 1 foot to 4 feet. The quarry is located on a hill, and has not as yet been developed to 
any great depth. The rift is vertical, and runs north and south, the grain east and west; the vertical joints cut 
through the quarry east and west parallel to the grain. 

At Lincolnville, Waldo county, about miles west of Camden, a very light gray, massive muscovite-biotite 
granite is quarried to a limited extent for underpinnings and local stone- work generally. Thus far it has been used 
only in Camden and vicinity. Blocks 12 by 2 by C feet have been quarried; blocks 50 by 25 by 6 feet might be 
moved. This stone has a good appearance, is uniform in texture, and is a good, safe, and free-working stone, taking 
good polish. It does not lie in sheets, but rather in blocks. There are frequent vertical joints in one direction. 
Tlia rift is vertical and about parallel to the vertical joints. The quarry lies near the base of a mountain near 
Camden, but it is small and not worked regularly. 



DESCRIPTIONS OF QUARRIES AND QUARRY REGIONS. 119 

The extensive quarries at Tinal Haveu, iu Kuox couuty, produce granite for general Iniijding purposes, 
monuments, and paving. It was used iu the construction of the East Eiver bridge ; balf of the Masonic temple, 
Philadelphia; Sailors' Snug Harbor, Staten island; half of the railroad bridge at Saint Louis; basement of the 
State, War, and Navy departments, Washington ; custom-house and post-ofiflce, Cincinnati ; polished work in Chicago 
court-house and city buildings; part of polished work iu Philadelphia city buildings ; a portion of the basement 
and quadrangle of the Patent Office building, Washington city; the Butler monument at Greenwood Cemetery 
mausoleum; and smaller monuments in various parts of the country. The color of the predominating material in 
these quarries is light gray ; the texture is medium coarse. There is a dike of trap in one of these quarries, producing 
what is locally called "black granite", and used to some extent for building material. In what is known as the 
Harbor quarry the rift is very good, and is vertical, having a direction east and west ; there is a very frequent vertical 
jointing iu this same direction, giving long, narrow blocks; noith and south joints are less &equent. The sheets 
vary from 3 to S feet iu thickness, and immense masses of stone entirely free from joints occur. 

The Sands quarry, adjoining the Harbor quarry, is bounded by two sets of great vertical head joints, running 
respectively northwest and southeast, and the easiest rift is vertical, parallel to these joints. In the center of the 
quarry there are not many joints ; the sheets average from 4 to 5 feet in thickness, but some are 7 and 8 feet thick ; 
they have a slight dip west, with quite smooth surfaces. The obelisk sent from this quarry to serve as a monument 
to General Wool, at Troy, Xew York, is said to be the largest quarried in modern times. Its dimensions are 60 by 
5 by 5^ feet. Four long blocks were quarried before a satisfactory one was obtained ; one of these lies on exhibition 
near the quarry. Natural blocks 240 by 32 by S feet can be seen in the quarries. Occasional black micaceous 
patches occur in the stone, which, together with vertical dikes of light-colored stone, constitute the principal 
defects seen. The East Boston quarry is a sheet quarry of fine-grained stone, the sheets running from 2 feet 
downward, and dipping slightly east. The rift is horizontal ; some long east and west head joints traverse the 
quarry, but between these the jointing is irregular. The stone has been most used for paving and platforms. 

In a quarry at Duschane there are vertical joints running regularly through the quai'ry at intervals of from 5 to 
10 feet, in an east and west direction, and, as the grain of the stone or next easiest rift runs north and south, the 
blocks come out in rectangular shape. The rift is vertical and parallel to the east and west joints. The hardest 
splitting direction is on the lift, or parallel to the sheets, and the sheets are irregular. In one case the vertical 
thickness is 12 feet. The material has a pleasing appearance and is now used for polished work. 

In the town of Vinal Haven there is a very small granite quarry, in which the structure of the stone is such 
as to be a very convenient source of paving material. The stone is extremely good, occurring in regular sheets of 
from 1 foot to 3 feet in thickness and nearly horizontal. There are occasional black patches ; some long east and 
west vertical head joints bound the quarry, and there are also a few north and south joints. The peculiarity of the 
stone is its beautiful and even rift, and paving blocks may be shaped from it by a few blows of the hammer. 

At Hurricane island, three miles southwest of Yinal Haven, a dark gray granite, sometimes having a pinkish 
tint, is quarried for ordinary building purposes, monuments, columns, and paving, and has about the same markets 
as the other Vinal Haveu quarries. The stone was used in the construction of the following buildings: All 
the superstructure of the new post-office and custom-house, Saint Louis ; the basement of the new city hall, 
Providence, Rhode Island ; superstructure of the post-olSce at Fall Eiver, Massachusetts ; polished columns of the 
Chicago city hall and court-house ; iiortion of the Indiana state-house, Indianapolis ; Douglas' tomb, Chicago, 
and numerous monuments at Saint Louis. The structure of the stone differs iu different parts of the quarry. 
In one portion it lies in comparatively thin sheets, while in another there occur immense masses of solid stone 
extending 50 feet downward without any i^erceptible jointing. A block of SO tons has been moved, and a shaft was 
produced 23 feet 6 inches by 3 by 3 feet, when dressed, and a mass SO by 40 by 25 feet was loosened in the quarry, 
and natural blocks 500 feet long, 20 feet wide, and 50 feet deep occur. The east rift runs east and west, while the 
grain or next easiest splitting direction is horizontal. The principal joints run east and west, but there are 
occasional north and south joints. 

Three miles north by west from Vinal Haven granite similar in appearance to the Hurricane Island 
granite is quarried for similar puri^oses. It is used to some extent in the construction of the Brooklyn bridge, 
Chicago post-office, and the Eaymond jail, in Brooklyn. It is a very superior sheet quarry ; the stone lies in very 
smooth, slightly-curved sheets, having a thickness from 5 feet downward, averaging 3 feet. The sheets have a 
gentle dip to the west, or toward the water. Vertical joints are found in either direction, and the sheets are 
smooth, so that the stone is eminently fitted for large platforms. The rift is on the lift; the principal defects are 
patches, which occur occasionally. 

At Muscle Eidge plantation, Dix island, Kuox county, a dark gray granite was, until recently, quarried for 
general building purposes and ornamental work, but the quarry is not at present ojierated. Among the buildings in 
the construction of which this stone was used are the New York post-offlco and cr.stom-house, docks at Castle Garden, 
and retaining-walls for basin and barge office, New York city ; Densmore fort, Hyde Park, New York ; Philadelphia 
post-office; Treasury building (extensions), Washington city; and basement of custom-house, Charleston, South 
Carolina. Nearly the whole of Dix island has been quarried over, large bluffs having been entirely removed, and 



120 BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

deep excavations contain over 50 feet of -water. The rift of the granite here is on the lift, the jointing irregular. 
Blocks 17 by 17 feet, and of varying thickness, sometimes weighing as much as 73 tons, have been quarried; 
natural blocks 25 by 25 by 15 feet may be seen in the quarries. The stone is coarse, porphyritic, and indistinctly 
laminated or massive. Specimens dressed at the National Museum proved to be of more than usual hardness and 
took a good polish. Steam-drills are eiuployed in the quarrying. 

At South Thomaston, Knox county, at S^Druce Head island, S miles from Eockland, a dark gray granite is 
quarried for general building purposes, bridge construction, and for monumental work in the cities throughout the 
country. Among the structures in which this stone has been used are the Albany, ISTew York, post-office (first 
story) ; post-office and court-hoiise at Atlanta, Georgia; forts at Portland, Maine; in the Bast Eiver bridge, IJJ'ew 
York, and in the Philadelphia city buildings. 

One of these quarries at Spruce Head, known as the Bod well quarry, which has furnished so much building stone 
to the coast of New England, is in the form of an excavation, commenced at the water's edge and pushed far into 
the hill, where it reaches a great depth. It is a sheet-quarry, the sheets increasing in thickness downward, and 
the thickest ones now exposed are from 9 to 10 feet in thickness, and show superb masses of stone. The sheets 
incline slightly away from the hill with gently-undulating surfaces. There are few vertical joints, almost the only 
ones having a north and south direction, and the east and west headings run through the quarry, forming the 
boundaries on some sides. The rift of the stone is vertical, and east and west, nearly parallel to the head joints. 
The Spruce Head granite has established a good reputation for its quality of resisting weather exposure and 
retaining its color. The greatest defects have been the black patches which are conspicuous on a bushed surface. 
There seem to be fewer of these patches in the present deep sheets. 

The Sawyer quarry, adjoining the preceding, is similar. The stone lies in very regular and nearly horizontal 
sheets, varying from 3 to 12 feet in thickness. There are few vertical joints ; but there are two sets of large head 
joints running respectively north and south and east and west. The rift here is reported as being horizontal, or on 
the lift, which, if true, is remarkable, since it is vertical in the quarry immediately adjoining. 

In the Jameson quarry the stone lies rather irregularly in sheets. There are nearly vertical north and south 
joints ; also east and west seams, to which the rift is parallel. The stone has very few blemishes, and specimens 
dressed at the National Museum were comijact, safe, and free-working stones, taking a good polish. The quarry 
is drained by means of steam-power, and steam polishers are used in dressing. 

Near Saint George, Knox county, there are granite quarries extensively operated for general building purposes, 
monuments, columns, and paving. The following are among the structures in which the stone has been used : 
Buffalo city hall; United States custom-house and post-office, Hartford; national bank, Albany; government 
storehouse at League Island navy-yard, Philadelphia; entrance to Chicago post-office; entrances to Utica, New 
York, post-office; Albany post-office and custom-house (above the first story) ; McOlintock's building (trim'mings), 
Pittsburgh; pedestal of the La Fayette monument, Union square. New York city; post-office and custom-house at 
Portland, Maine. This stone is of comparatively fine texture and is sometimes indistinctly laminated. It is a free 
and safe working stone, taking a good polish. Blocks 30 by 13 by 8 feet have been loosened and moved in the 
quarry, and natural blocks 75 by 60 by 6 feet exist. 

Of the three principal quarries the Long Cove quarry has large parallel joints traversing it S. 70° E. from top to 
bottom at intervals of from 1 foot to 20 feet, and there are sheets of greater or less depth, so that natural blocks have 
a somewhat rectangular form. The grain is parallel with these joints. The hoisting is done by steam, dressing by 
hand, and steam polishing-machiues are used in dressing. 

In the Clark's Island quarry the arrangement of the stone is in sheets from 6 inches to 15 feet in thickness. 
The sheets have a gentle and sometimes slightly irregrrlar dip toward the water and away from the crest of the 
hill. The easiest splitting directions are horizontal and parallel to perfectly vertical joints, which traverse the 
quarry at intervals of 6 feet and upward. 

In the Wild Cat quarry the sheets are thin and rather irregular. There are south and east vertical joints, and 
the rift is liarallel to them. 

Four miles east of Saint George there is a quarry which was opened in 1879. Blocks 20 by 10 by 7 feet have 
been moved in the quarry, and natural blocks about 90 by 30 by 6 feet exist. The granite in the Saint George 
quarries varies from a light gray biotite granite to a hornblende-biotite granite, which is usually darker in color 
than the other. Hoisting is done by steam, and cutters, polishing-machines, and circular saws are used in dressing. 

One and a half miles west of Waldoboro' is a small quarry the product of which has been used in small 
quantities in the neighboring towns for underpinnings, steps, posts, bases, and to a limited extent for cemetery 
work. The stone lies in moderately regular sheets varying from 2J to 7 feet in thickness. The rift is horizontal and 
the grain runs northwest. The quarry is quite free from vertical joints and could be made to yield large masses of 
stone. Blocks 40 by 10 by 4 feet have been loosened, and blocks of perhaps 100 by 30 by 3 feet exist in the quarry. 
The stone is a fine-grained, indistinctly-laminated biotite granite. 

At Jefferson, Lincoln county, 9 miles north of Butter Neck bridge, on the Knox and Lincoln railroad, there is a 
quarry operated to a limited extent chiefly for monuments and cemetery work. The dressing and polishing of the 
stone are done at Waldoboro', by water-power, and the material Is transported to this "place by water. Although 



DESCRIPTIONS OF QUARRIES AND QUARRY REGIONS. 121 

called gTanite commercially, it is more properly a muscovite-biotite gneiss, of a light gray color aud fine in texture. 
Blocks 10 by 20 by 2 feet liave been quarried, aud natural blocks as large as 20 by 10 by 2 feet are found in tbe quarry. 

Half a mile east of Eound Pond and 9 miles south of Damariscotta, Lincoln county, granite is extensively 
quarried for monumental aud for building purposes. Among the structures iu which the stone was used are the 
Seventh Eegiment armory, Xew York city, and several monuments to Admiral Parrott in Xew Hampshire. The 
stone in this quarry for 20 feet dowu is much broken by joints aud sheets from 1 foot to 2 feet in thickness. There 
are frequent vertical joints having a southwest directiou, and others at right angles with these occur, but are less 
frequent, and the grain of the stone is parallel to them. The rift is on the lift, or horizontal. A large dike crosses 
the quarry parallel to the southwest joints, aud large veins of granite coarser iu texture than the predominating 
material occur. The most common rock of this region is gneiss, which outcrops in straight parallel lines after the 
manner of roofing slate. The gneiss is very curiously interbanded with a massive or gneissoid granite. This is 
illustrated in the quarry where bands of contorted gneiss, worthless for building purposes, run to the surface at a 
steep angle in the massive granite quarried. The quarry is so broken up by the irregular sheet-joints and 
mineralogical accidents that the waste of stone has been very great, and but few large blocks can be quarried at 
present. The dimensions of the largest block quarried here are 15 by 2 by 2 feet, but blocks about 6 by 6 feet 
by 1 foot 6 inches may now occasionally be obtained. The material is a dark gray biotite giauite, and is a compact, 
free-forking stoue, taking a good ijolish. 

Xear Augusta, Kennebec county, granite is quarried largely for local use, but some is shipped to New York, 
Brooklyn, Philadelphia, Boston, aud Chicago. The following are some of the structures iu which it has been used: 
The United States arsenal. Cony academy, and a Unitarian church in Augusta, and the Old South church in 
Hallowell ; Mills' building, corner Broadway aud Exchange street, and a monument to Eecorder Hackett, Xew 
York city; Eoberts' tomb in Woodlawn cemetery. Long Island; Wood's tomb. Greenwood cemetery, New York. 
The material is a gray muscovite-biotite granite, massive and of fine texture, is a compact, safe, and free- working 
stone, and takes a good polish. Blocks 10 by 9 by 2i feet have been loosened ; blocks 20 by 2J by 2J fe»t have 
been dressed and shipped, and natural blocks 100 by 30 by 7 feet are found in the quarry. 

In a quarry 2 miles west of Augusta the stone lies iu sheets from 9 feet in thickness downward; east aud 
west head joints traverse it, and the rift is horizontal. 

In a quarry 1 mile west of Augusta the rift is on the lift, the grain vertical, having a northwest direction, and 
the material lies iu very regular sheets, usually uot over 2.J feet in thickness. 

Half a mile to the eastward of this the stone resembles that at Hallowell, and lies in sheets of 1 foot iu 
thickness, with northwest vertical joints. 

Near Hallowell, Kennebec county, is a well-known quarry, producing grauite very extensively for monuments, 
columns, trimmings, and genera] building purposes. Among the structures in which this stone was used are the new 
capitol, Albany, New York ; the Bank of Northern Liberties, Philadelphia ; the state capitol and Allen block, 
Augusta, aud the Emery block, Portland, Maine; Odd Fellows' Memorial hall. Equitable building, and part of the 
old Quincy market, Boston; Ludlow Street jail, the Tribune building, and the old Tombs prison, New York city; the 
statues of the Pilgrims' monument, Plymouth, Massachusetts, said to be the largest statues in the country; the 
soldiers' aud sailors' monument, Boston, and soldiers' monuments at Marblehead, Massachusetts, Portsmouth, Ohio, 
and Augusta, Boothbay, and Gardiner, Maine; Odd Fellows' monirmeut. Mount Hope, Boston; monuments to 
General Stedman, Hartford, Connecticut, aud Stephen A. Douglas, Chicago, Illinois; the Eiley monument, Buffalo, 
New York; Cowan monumeut, Lewiston ; Allen Lombard monument, Augusta ; Lyman Nichols' monument. Auburn ; 
Swazey monument, Bucksport; Mitchell monument, Gardiner; Fuller monument, Hallowell, aud Meady pedestal 
and statue, Pittstou, Maine; Teuney monumeut, Methueu, Massachusetts; Washington Artillery monumeut and 
Hernandez tomb. New Orleans, Louisiana. 

In this quarry there is no sajj on the sheets, or at most a very thin film ; there are few vertical joints, and 
the surface of the sheets is smooth and level, while the stone is remarkably free from black patches, those 
occurring in the quarry becoming smaller iu going down. The sheets increase in thickness downward, and are about 
1 foot at the top and 10 feet iu thickness at 50 feet from the surface. The sheets have a gentle dip to the north. 
At certain intervals there occur long vertical joints or headings cutting vertically dowu through the quarry, 
having an east and west direction, but north aud south joints are rare. There are occasional quartz masses in the 
stone. The rift is horizontal ; the grain east and west or parallel to the main seams. Sheets having level surfaces 
3G by 31 by 9 feet deep have been loosened, aud natural blocks about 200 by 10 by 9 feet deep are found in the quarry. 
The material is white or rather very light gray muscovite-biotite granite, and is often indistinctly laminated. 

At Wayne, Kennebec county, a coarse, massive biotite granite is quarried to a limited extent for cemetery and 
general building purposes. The market is local only, the stone being used chiefly at Lewistou and Auburn. It 
was used in the construction of the Free-Will church. Continental mills, and coimty buildings, Lewiston. The 
jointing is irregular. Blocks 12 by 12 by 10 feet have been moved, and there are natural blocks about 40 by 15 by 
10 feet. It is a safe, free-working stone, and takes a good polish. 



122 BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

Near Canaau, Keiiuebec county, granite is qijarriecl to a limited extent for underpinnings, and is used chieily 
at Waterville, Canaan, and Sliowliegan, Maine, and at Newport and vicinity. The underpinnings of tlie oliurclies 
in Skowliegan are of tliis material. The stone lies in very regular sheets from 1 foot to 2 feet in thickness. There 
is a very convenient rift, but there are many patches. It is a dark gray biotite granite, rather coarse in texture 
and indistinctly laminated. It is a safe and free-working stone, taking a good polish. 

Near Norridgewock, Somerset county, there are quarries producing granite extensively for general building 
purposes, foundations, and monuments, and to some extent for polished work. Among the buildings in the 
construction of which the material was used are the following : Stone-work of the Golf block. Auburn ; Dunn block, 
factory, and bank in Waterville ; residence of Captain Holland, Lewiston ; Coburu hall, Skowhegan; High Street 
church, Skowhegan; business block in Dexter, and Langley's monument, Lewiston. The principal quarry lies on 
the top of a hill; the stone is in sheets of from 2 to 4 feet in thickness. The main seams have an east and west 
direction, and north and south seams are rare. The rift is horizontal. Blocks 30 by 25 by 7 feet have been 
loosened in the quarry, and natural blocks 150 by 12 by 4 feet can be seen. 

At North Jay, Franklin county, granite is quarried for general building purposes and for railroad construction. 
It has been used in the construction of factories in Lewiston, chiefly for trimmings, and by the Maine Central 
railroad. It lies in sheets generally quite thin, from 1 foot to 2 feet in thickness, but the excavations thus far are 
not deep enough to display the jointing very well. The stone is a fine gray muscovite-biotite granite. Blocks 10 
by 4 feet by 16 inches have been cut, and blocks 70 by 12 feet by 6 inches have been loosened in the quarry. The 
stone works well and takes a good polish. 

Four miles east of Chesterville, Franklin county, granite is quarried to a very limited extent, chiefly for 
underpinning, and is used locally. The imderpinnings of some of the houses in Farmington are of this stone. It is 
medium fine-grained, and occasionally porphyritic, indistinctly laminated, lies in very regular, smooth sheets, and 
varies from 1 foot to 5 feet in thickness; long east and west joints traverse the quarry at intervals; other joints . 
are very rare ; the rift is horizontal and remarkably good. There are few patches, but quartz and feldspar veins 
disfigure the stone to some extent. It is a good working stone, splits readily in the direction of the lamination, 
and takes a good polish. Blocks 20 by 3 by 4 feet have been moved, and natural blocks about 100 by 35 by 5 feet 
are found in the quarry. 

Three-quarters of a mile east of Bryant's Pond station, on the Grand Trunk railway, in Oxford county, there 
is a quarry operated by the railroad for its own construction. It was used in the construction of the Bacon Falls 
bridge near West Paris. The stone lies in rather irregular sheets, generally from 2 to 4 feet in thickness; 
there are frequent joints having an east and west direction, and dikes parallel to these joints bound the quarry on 
two sides. The rift is on the lift, the grain vertical and parallel to the jointing. Quartz and feldspar veins are 
frequent; some patches occur. Blocks 9 by 2 by 2 feet are the largest that have been shipped from this quarry; 
blocks 60 by 10 by 7 feet have been started by blasting; there are natural blocks in the quarry 75 by 20 by 4 feet. 
It is a dark gray, indistinctly-laminated biotite granite, is a safe and free-working stone, and takes a good polish. 

Three and a half miles south of Turner, Androscoggin county, there is a quarry producing granite for general 
building and cemetery work, and used chiefly at Lewiston, Auburn, and vicinity. It was used in the construction 
of the Lewiston dam, the Episcopal church, Lewiston, and in the Phoenix block. Auburn. The stone lies in sheets 
of from 1 foot to 6 feet in thickness ; the principal joints run northeast, and the grain is parallel to them. The rift 
is quite good, and is horizontal or in the lift. There are occasional patches in the stone, and white stripes are quite 
frequent. In producing the material for monumental work these defects cause considerable waste. Blocks 9 by 
6 feet by 8 inches have been quarried. It is a dark gray biotite granite, is a good and safe working stone, and 
takes a good polish. 

Two and a half miles south of the dip in Brunswick, Cumberland county, granite is quarried to a limited extent 
for underpinning and wall work, used at Brunswick, Harpswell, Topsham, and Bath. It was used to some extent 
in Denison's block, in Brunswick, and in the foundation of Memorial hall, Bowdoin college; Parish church, Portland ; 
Bowdoiu College chapel, cotton factory at Brunswick, Exchange building at Bangor, and paper-mill at Topsham. 

Memorial hall, Bowdoin college, is quite a large stone structure, with two tall towers, in Norman style of 
architecture. The stone has stood exposure to the weather very well, but from the use of inferior mortar is greatlj' 
disfigured by white efflorescences running down from between the stones. The material itself has a uniform color 
and the appearance of a quartz in color and splinty cleavage. The mica gives it a glittering appearance, even 
when seen at a distance. Blocks 40 by 2 feet by 8 inches have been moved, and natural blocks of about 70 by 2 
feet by 1 foot are found in the quarry. The stone is a light gray, massive biotite granite, and is a good, safe, free- 
working stone, taking a good polish. 

A few miles south of Pownal Centre granite is quarried for monuments, general building purposes, and street 
worlc, and to some extent for columns and polished cemetery work. Paving blocks are sometimes shipped to 
New York city. The following are some of the buildings in the construction of which the material was used : 
Gorliam normal school; a section of the Lewiston dam; in the lower Lewiston bridge, and the trimmings and 
foundations of factories there; the stone-work of the Lewiston and the Portland water-works ; a portion of the 
Yarmouth bridge, in Maine, and the larger part of the lower story of the new capitol at Albany, New York. 



DESCRIPTIONS OF QUARRIES AND QUARRY REGIONS. 123 

In one of the quarries the sheets vary from G iuclies to 2 feet in thicliness; the rift is on the lift, grain east and 
west. Xo sap on the sheets except on the joints, which have an east and west direction, and a dike crosses the 
quarry parallel to them. 

In another quarry the sap is quite thick ou the surface of the sheets, remarkably so compared to other quarries 
Lu the vicinity, but ou the lower sheet it is almost nothing. The sheets are usually less than .5 inches in thickness 
at the top ; the rift is horizontal, the grain has a northeast and southwest direction, the sheets dip east, and great 
head joints run northeast and southwest through the quarry, though but few of them appear. The stone is quite 
free from defects. Dikes cross parallel to the headings. 

Xear Biddeford, York county, granite is quarried for*" general building purposes and cemetery work, and to some 
extent for polished columns. It has been used in the construction of sea-walls at Gallup island, point Alton, Long 
island, and Boston harbor; in the Cross Ledge light-house ; the foundation of the new railroad elevator, Jersey City; 
fine building ou Broadway, Xew York city, in which the material is carved and polished ; forts Preble, Scammel, 
and other forts in Portland harbor, and in numerous breakwaters along the coast; supports of the columns, in 
part, of the Brooklyn elevated railroad ; outside structure of the monument to Abraham Lincoln, Springfield, 
Illinois; Boone Island light-house, Maine; Whalesback light-house, in Portsmouth harbor, and Cochecho mills, 
Dover, New Hampshire, and new docks in North river, New York city. 

In one of the quarries great seams and occasionally a dike parallel to them traverse it In a northeasterly 
direction, diijping steeply east, and being perpendicular, with a thickness of 12 feet or less. There are also large 
joints crossing at right angles in sheets, so that the blocks are irregular in shape. The material contains the 
usual patches of the Biddeford granite. 

In another of the principal quarries frequent northeast and southwest seams traverse it with a steep dip to the 
east, and ruu through the quarry from top to bottom, and other, though much less frequent, seams at right angles 
to these. The stone consequently lies in parallel sheets, dipping- steeply, and occasionally so cut by the cross-seams 
as to be in rhomboidal blocks. The rift is vertical and oblique to both sets of joints. There are black patches. 

Adjoining this quarry is another one having very much the same conditions, but there are long, nearly vertical, 
northeast and southwest seams cutting through the quarry. The rift is oblique to either set of joints. The grain 
or next easiest splitting direction is horizontal, and the hardest splitting direction is parallel to the main northeast 
and southwest joints, which is very unusual. There are some horizontal joints also, so that much of the jointing 
is irregular. In some new openings in the vicinity there are two sets of long joints similar to those described in 
the preceding, and the stone lies more in horizontal sheets than in the other quarries ; these sheets are from 1 foot 
to 7 feet in thickness. The rift is vertical and oblique to the two sets of joints. The material is a gray biotite 
granite, is a compact, safe, and free-working stone, and takes a good polish. 

Between Kennebuukport and the Boston and Maine railroad, in York county, granite is quarried to a limited 
extent, chiefly for underpinning, and used at Kennebunkport, Saco, and Biddeford. The stone lies in sheets about 
4 feet in thickness and in regular shape ; it contains patches and white feldspar streaks. Blocks 15 by 2 feet by 
6 inches have been quarried for underpinning. There are natural blocks 75 by 30 by 4 feet. It is a light gray biotite 
granite, coarse In texture, and massive. 

From 7 to 10 miles north and northwest of Kennebuuki)ort there are quarries producing granite for general 
building purposes, polished columns, monuments, and cemetery work. Among the structures in which the stone 
was used are the Creshore works at Portsmouth, and the vault of a bank at Exeter, New Hampshire ; Newburyport 
Savings bank. and a Catholic church; and the foundatiou of the Boston Bridge Company's building, Cambridge, 
Massachusetts. 

In one of the principal quarries the stone lies in rather irregular sheets and is irregularly jointed. The sheets 
vary in size, one being from 9 to 12 feet in thickness. The most prominent joints run southeast, and the rift is 
parallel to these, though not well defined in any direction. There are occasional patches. In another one of the 
quarries the sheets are not well marked, and the stone lies between great headings running N. 50° E., and dipping 
steeply to the westward. The rift is vertical and at right angles to the course of the headings. There are few 
patches. 

In another quarry the stone lies in sheets varying from 5 to 9 feet in thickness. The principal vertical joints 
run southwest through the quarry at intervals, and there is a dike crossing it parallel to these joints. There are 
also some large headings at right angles to these. The rift is vertical and parallel to one set of headings. 
Patches are few. Blocks 18 by 20 feet by 20 inches have been quarried, and there are natural blocks of 50 by 30 
by 12 feet. The stone is a gray biotite granite, massive, and coarse in texture. 

Four miles southeast of South Berwick, York county, granite is extensively quarried for general building 
purposes and cemetery work. The following are some of the structures in which it was used : Stratford Company's 
house, near Dover, New Hampshire ; stone- work of the Cunningham shoe factory, and a lai-ge tomb in the cemetery 
at South Berwick, Maine. This quarry has not been sufiicieutly developed to show the jointing, which at present 
seems very irregular. The stone is free from patches and the rift is horizontal. 



124 BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

NEW HAMPSHIfiE. 

[Compiled mainly from notes of Professor C. H. Hitchcock.] 
GRANITES. 

At Plymoutla, Grafton county, a massive, graj' biotite granite is quarried for general building purposes, culverts, 
and monumental work. The culverts of the Boston, Concord, and Montreal railroad are built of the Grafton 
granite. Natural blocks 20 by 15 by 10 feet are found in the qaarry, and the material of the stone lies in horizontal 
sheets from 2 to 10 feet in thickness. 

At Lebanon, Grafton county, the granite, properly a biotite-epidote gneiss, is quarried for general building 
and cemetery work. The principal markets are Lebanon and Hanover, Vermont. ISTatural blocks 10 by 10 by 
40 feet are found in the quarry. There are obscure signs of stratification, and dips about 70° northwest. All the 
quarries here show the same features of dip. The workable granite is in horizontal sheets, and the workmen follow 
the material horizontally into the hill. The joints dip 70° easterlj^ ; one or two have a southeast direction. The 
rift is horizontal. (See Geological Report of Neio Scmipshire, Vol. II, p. 355: " Inverted Dip.") 

At Hanover, near Enfield village, Grafton county, a gray, massive biotite granite is quarried for general 
building purposes. The principal market is Hanover, ISTew Hampshire. The stone lies in sheets varying from 6 
inches to 9 feet in thickness. It is coarse in texture and not susceptible of a good polish. Natural blocks 200 by 
12 by 9 feet are found, and blocks 23 by 9 by 8 feet have been quarried. Discolored joints are found at all depths 
to which the stone has yet been quarried. 

At Kumney, Grafton county, a gray, massive biotite granite is quarried for monumental and building purposes. 
The stone was used in the construction of the Franklin monument at Plymouth. It lies in horizontal sheets, and 
the largest natural blocks are 20 by 5 by 5 feet. It is pronounced by Professor Hitchcock to be of the same horizon 
(Montalban) as the Concord granite. • 

At Sunapee, Sullivan county, a massive, biotite-muscovite granite is quarried for monumental and building 
purposes, and is used principally at Newport and Claremont. There are two principal varieties as to color, a light 
gray and a dark gray. The sheets have a dij) of 25° west. Of the two kinds of granite which have been protruded 
through the porphyritic gneiss at this place black granite is the oldest, which is known from the fact that pieces 
of it are found in the light-colored granite. This light granite is really the equi-^'alent of what, in Professor 
Hitchcock's report on New Hampshire, is called the "Upper Bethlehem", but he pronounces it an eruptive granite. 
Dr. George W. Hawes, in his first catalogue of lithology for New Hamijshire, calls this black granite a mica schist. 
The black granite has the usual aiopearance of an erupted mass ; the ledge of white granite does not reach 100 feet 
in width, therefore the quarry is limited though well situated" The seam of epidote lies between the two granites. 
Both varieties are compact, good, and safe stones to work, and take a high polish. 

At West Concord, Merrimack county, a massive, gray biotite-muscovite granite is quarried for general building 
purposes and cemeteries. Among the prominent buildings in which the stone was used are the Horticultural 
hall, Security bank, the city hall, and Masonic temple-, Boston ; the Philadelphia city and county building (part), 
and the Massachusetts state prison, and the Herald building, Boston. 

At Concord a massive biotite-muscovite granite is quarried for monumental and building purposes. Among 
the prominent buildings in the construction of which this stone has been used are the Life Insurance Company's 
building, Boston ; monument to the discoverer of anaesthetics, at Public garden, Boston, and the Cadet monument 
Mount Auburn cemetery, Cambridge, Massachusetts; soldiers' monument. Concord, Massachusetts ; Charter Oak 
Insurance building, Hartford, Connecticut; Jordan & Marsh's building; soldiers' monument at Manchester, New 
Hampshire ; Equitable Life Insurance and Germania Savings Bank buildings, and the city hall and Horticultural 
hall, Boston, Massachusetts. It is a good, safe, and free stone to work, and takes a high polish. For commercial 
purposes this granite is divided into four classes: 1st, the best for monumental work; 2d, the nest best for 
general building purposes, where one good face is sufficient; 3d, second quality of stock, including much of the 
underpinning for ordinary dwelling-houses, steps, capping for walls, and hitching posts; ith, foundation stones, 
piers, and abutments, and other uses in which uniformity of color is not desired. 

Some of the principal quarries are situated on what is known as Battle Snake hill, which elevation consists 
almost wholly of a granite formation. The stone on the south side is very light colored; that on the north side is 
darker. The elevation is 600 feet above the Merrimack river, and the distance from the river to the crest of the hill is 
2 miles. The surface of the rock is polished down by glacial action as smooth as an earthen plate. There are 
some patches of a darker color than the prevailing material, some of which are IS inches in diameter. Masses of 
quartz i'rom 1 inch to 6 inches in diameter occasionally occur in the stone. The rift inclines to the west about 1 inch 
to the foot, and the grain is vertical, having a north and south direction. There are also some joints having a 
southeast and northwest direction crossing the regular east and west joints. In one of the principal quarries on 
the east side of the hill the stone fractures best with an east and west line. 

Oak hill is a similar elevation to Battle Snake hill, and is also a granite formation, but the material is usually 
coarser and more broken. Dikes running through the hill cause variations in the structure of the mass. 

A massive, gray biotite-muscovite granite is quarried at Allenstown, Merrimack county, for general building 
purposes and cemetery work. The natural advantages of this quarry are of the very best, and few of the New 



DESCRIPTIONS OF QUARRIES AND QUARRY REGIONS. 125 

Hampshire quarries are better sitnatecl for draiuage, size of slieets, availability, and couvenieuce to railroad and 
markets. It is on the Concord railroad, midway between Concord and Manchester.' The material is of medium 
fine texture, and is jointed horizontally and vertically. There are natural blocks SO by 20 by 10 feet. 

At Durham, Straflbrd county, a massive, gray biotite granite is quarried for foundations and for flagging. It 
was used in the foundation of Sawyer's mill, and most of the buildings in Dover, and is transported by boat and 
wagon. It is coarse iu texture, and is a good and safe stone to work, taking a good polish. It lies in sheets of from 
G inches to 2 feet iu thickness, inclining to the west. There are natural blocks 20 by 15 by 4 feet in thickness. It 
lies at the horizon called by Professor Hitchcock " Exeter syenite ". 

At Eaymond, Eockingham county, a pinkish-gray, indistinctly-laminated biotite granite is quarried for general 
building purposes and cemetery work. The principal markets are the large towns in the neighborhood. The 
stone was used in the foundations of the custom-house at Portsmouth. The texture is medium fine, and has a 
jointing similar to the granite quarried at Manchester. Blocks 24 feet square have been quarried. This granite 
works well and takes a good polish. Professor Hitchcock reports this stone as weak and not likely to be much used 
save where good stone is scarce, as iu the lower part of iSTew Hampshire. 

At Peterborough, Hillsborough county, a light gray, laminated muscovite-biotite granite is quarried for 
general building purposes and curbing. The principal markets are Worcester, Lowell, and Lawrence, Massachusetts. 
This stone is sometimes called a gneiss from its distinctly-laminated structure ; it would perhaps be more proper to 
term it a gneiss than a granite. It splits readily in the direction of the lamination and takes a good polish. The 
texture is coarse, and the sheets incline 70° to 75° west. Blocks 28 by C by 10 feet have been quarried, and natural 
blocks 36 by 6 by 12 feet are found in the quarry. 

At Milford, Hillsborough county, a gray, indistinctly-laminated biotite granite is quarried for general building 
purposes and cemetery work. The prominent buildings in the construction of which this stone has been used are 
the Merchants' exchange, Xashua, and the engine-house at Lowell ; the town hall at Wakefield and court-house 
iu Worcester, Massachusetts ; and the Wilcox block, at Windsor, Connecticut. 

There is quite a number of diflerent quarries iu this granite near Milford, and the material is generally a 
good and safe stone to work, taking a good polish. Blocks of any desired size are found in these quarries, and in 
many places there are ia-regular, large, vertical dirt joints, and in some of them coarse sand from 2 inches to 2 feet 
in thickness separates the sheets. 

At Mason, Hillsborough couuty, a gray, indistinctly-laminated biotite granite is quarried for cemetery and street 
work and general building purposes. The principal markets are Lowell, Worcester, and Walton, Massachusetts. 
There is quite a number of very coarse granite veins, varying in thickuess from 2 inches to 2 feet, which are called 
"salt veins" by the quarry meu. The larger blocks of granite are quarried with facility, by reason of the existence 
of these small veins. The stone is of medium-fine texture, is good and safe to work, and takes a very high polish. 
In one of the principal quarries the typical two sets of joints cross each other, and are vei-y l-egular, a fact which 
is not, however, unusual in the granite of this region. Seams of clay sometimes are infiltrated into the joints. 
With regard to the joints Professor Hitchcock states that all the ISTew Hampshire quarries have usually the 
following: 1st, a set of horizontal seams or joints, enabling the workmen to raise the stone parallel to the surface; 
2d, vertical joints, usually well pronounced; 3d, scattering joints, often causing the rectangular blocks produced 
by the first two sets to become wedge-shaped. Sometimes only one of these wedges is worked. Invariably these 
seams that are highly inclined, if pronounced, carry some dirt derived from muddy water. Many quarries have 
no scattering joints at all. The line governing their occurrence has not yet been discovered. 

Near Nashua, Hillsborough county, a light gray, indistinctly -laminated muscovite granite is quarried for 
foundation aud dimension work. This stone is well adapted to foundations, buildings, and street and cemetery 
work, where simple rock-faced work is required, but is not adapted to ornamental or fiue hammered work. For 
better classes of building purposes in this vicinity the Nashua granite is used, and the Concord granite for 
ornamental work. Slabs 20 feet long, for cemetery borders aud underpinning, have been obtained from this 
quarry. 

At Wilson hill, IJ miles from Manchester station, Concord railroad, Hillsborough couuty, a pinkish-gray, 
indistinctly-laminated biotite granite is quarried for foundations and underpinnings and trimmings for buildings. 
The principal market is Manchester. It is assigned geologically to the lake gneiss. The texture is coarse, and has 
the usual horizontal and vertical jointing of New Hamijshire granites. It is of value chiefly because within the 
limits of the considerable city of Manchester. 

At Fitzwilliam, Cheshire county, a massive gray granite is quarried for general building pui-poses, ornamental 
work, and paving. The principal markets are New England and the west. Among the structures in which this stone 
has been used are Saint Paul's church, Worcester, and the trimmings of Murdock block, and the national bank, 
Winchendon, Massachusetts; soldiers' monument at Granville, New York; Keeno (New Hampshire) court-house; 
court-house at Albany, New York ; trimmings of Morse Institute, Natick; courthouse at Fitchburg, and Krufif's block. 
Pearl street, Boston, Massachusetts. The Fitzwilliam granite is of a fine or medium-flue texture, and varies in its 
ingredients so that the microscope shows specimens from some quarries to be muscovite-biotite granite ; from others, 
biotite granite ; and some of the material is laminated so that it may be termed a gneiss. In one of the principal 



126 BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

quarries there is a light gray muscovite granite and a dark gray biotite granite. The geological horizon is that of 
the Montalban Archtean rocks. The position of one of these quarries is mentioned as particularly favorable ; it is 
located on the broad north slope of a hill, drains itself, and a very large surface has been exposed to view. If at 
all defective, it is in the existence of many thiii sheets. The Pitzwilliam granites are generally compact, free, and 
safe-working stones, taking good polish. 

One and one-quarter miles east of the depot of Marlborough, Cheshire county, a gray, massive biotite 
granite is quarried for building and paving purposes. Among the prominent buildings in the construction of which 
this stone was used are a church and the Union depot, Worcester, Massachusetts; stone mill at Harrison ville, 
railroad bridge at Keene, and library building in Marlborough, ISew Hampshire. The stone lies in sheets which 
are inclined from 2° to 5°, and vary in thickness from 3 inches to 3 feet. There are natural blocks as large as 30 
by 14 by 2J feet. The stone is good and safe to work, and takes the highest polish. Geological horizon, Montalban. 

At Troy, Cheshire county, granite is occasionally quarried for local purposes. It was used in the construction 
of the bank and court-house in Fitchburg. Some of the quarries there produce excellent material for curbing, 
being hard and brittle, but free from iron. 

At Eoxbury, Cheshire county, granite is occasionally quarried for local purposes, and it was used to some 
extent in the construction of the state-house, in Albany, 'Sew York, which was in fact the chief purpose for which 
the quarries were operated. 

VEEMOISTT. 

[Compiled mainly from notes of Professor C. H. Hitchcock. ] 
MAEBLES AND LIMESTONES. 

The noted marble districts of Vermont are in the vicinity of Eutland and Sutherland Falls, Eutland county ; 
Dorset, Bennington county, and on the islands and near the shores of lake Champlain, in Grand Isle and Franklin 
counties, known generally as Lake Chamj)lain marble. The marble of Eutland and Bennington counties is used 
very extensively throughout the United States for general building and monumental ]5iirposes, and is among the 
most widely known marbles in the country. According to the classification adopted in this report, this material 
varies sufficiently in its composition so that some of it may be properly called a limestone, some of it a magnesian 
limestone, and some calcareous dolomite. Like nearly all the other material known in the markets as marble which 
is quarried in this country, it belongs to the Lower Silurian formation. The strata of the rock are usually inclined 
at various angles, and the courses are of such thickness and the jointing is of such a nature that blocks of any desired 
size may be obtained. In color it varies from white to a dark bluish, and some of the white is of such quality that 
it is used for statuary purposes. 

The Lake Chami^lain marble from Swanton, Isle La Motte, and other places in this district varies in its 
composition so that it is sometimes a magnesian limestone and sometimes a dolomite. It is used chiefly for interior- 
work, mantels, tables, inlaid work, and tiling, and may be seen in many of the most important structures in the 
country. It is of various mottled and variegated colors. Some of the quarries produce black marble. The- 
variegated appearance of some of this marble is heightened by its highly fossiliferous nature. 

GRANITES. 

Nearly all of the granites quarried in Vermont are of the Calciferous mica-schist, a formation which Hitchcock 
states may be as late as Devonian, certainly not earlier than Upper Silurian. They are usually biotite granites "of 
various shades of gray, and have not as extensive a use throughout the country generally as the New England 
granites situated on the coast — a fact probably due to the less expensive means of transportation of the coast 
granites. The Saint Johnsbury granite, which, according to Winchell, belongs to the lake group of New 
Hampshire, is quarried extensively, and is marketed chiefly in the neighboring cities of New York. 

SLATES. 

The important slate formation of Eutland county, Vermont, is, according to Hitchcock, of Cambrian age.. 
The principal quarries are near Northfield, Castleton, Fairhaven, Poultney, and Powlet, and produce material 
for roofing, mantels, billiard tables, tiles, school slates, trays, sinks, furniture, and for ornamental and various 
other purposes. The difi'erent colored slates obtained are chiefly a bluish-black, purple, and green. They are used 
throughout the United States for the purposes before mentioned. 

CONNECTICUT. 

[Compiled mainly from notes by Harrison W. Libdsley.] 

BROWN AND RED SANDSTONE, TRUSSIC FORMATION. 

The surface rocks of Connecticut are Archasan' rocks, covering most of the area of the state; a small Lower 
Silurian area, chieflj' in the northwest corner of the state, producing limestones which thus far have been quarried 
only to a limited extent for purposes of construction; and the Triassic rocks of the Connecticut valley, extending. 



DESCRIPTIONS OF QUARRIES AND QUARRY REGIONS. 127 

according to Professor J. D. Daua, from Kew Haven, ou Long Island sound, to uortheru Massachusetts, having a 
length of 110 miles and au average width of 20 miles. This formation furnishes the celebrated brown sandstone 
quarried at Portland and at other places iu the Oonuecticut valley. The principal quarries are at Portland and at 
Middletown, ou the east bauk of the Connecticut river, near the junction of the Air-Line and the Connecticut 
Valley railroads, iu Middlesex county. These quarries are operated on a very extensive scale, and the most improved 
methods of quarrying are in use, the work beiug largely done with steam chanueliug-machines, as the stone is of 
such a nature that it is readily cut in this way. 

The '' Connecticut brownstone", as it is knowu in the market, is extensively used for all kinds of building and 
monumental work iu the principal cities of the Atlantic border, in Canada, and in Chicago. Most of the fironts on Fifth 
and Madison avenues, New York city, are built of this stone. Transiportatiou is by boat and by rail. The wharves 
are situated within 100 yards of the quarries, and railroad tracks are extended into the quarries. The material is 
very uniform iu character and appearance. A considerable quantity of stone from each of the quarries was used in 
the construction of the Vanderbilt brownstone house on Fifth avenue, New York, and was used indiscriminately iu 
the front of the building. Blocks about 30 by 7 by 7 feet have been moved iu the quarry, and there are natural blocks 
as large as 100 by 50 by 20 feet, so that blocks of any desired size may be obtained. This stone splits in uniform 
layers from one-sixteenth of an inch in thickness to 15 or 20 feet thick. The texture is medium as to fineness of 
grain compared with other sandstones, and is very uniform. According to Dana this sandstone is largely a granitic 
sand-rock made of pulverized granite or gneiss. The following analysis of a specimen was obtained by Mr. F. W. 
Taylor, chemist of the National Museum : 

Per cent. 

Silica 69.94 

Iron sesquioxide ; 2.48 

Alumiua 13.55 

Lime 3.09 

Magnesia trace 

Soda 5.43 

Potash 3.30 

Ignis iron 1.01 

Manganic oxide 0. 70 

99. 50 

The Connecticut brownstone should invariably be laid in walls as 'i^ lay iu the quarry bed, as the signs of 
stratification are usually distinct, and the material has a tendencj' to split when set on edge. 

There are also extensive brownstone quarries at East Haven, near New Haven, ou the Air-Line railroad. The 
stone at these quarries differs in some respects from that quarried at Portland; it is here a reddish, rather coarse 
stone, containing much quartz in grains, and is employed chiefly for foundations, underpinnings, and railroad work 
at New Haven, and by the railroad companies of Connecticut and Massachusetts. It was used iu the construction 
of Saint Paul's church, New Haven, and for the abutments and piers of numerous railroad bridges. The stone 
is in quite uniform layers 2 or 3 feet in thickness, and blocks 20 by 4 by 3 feet have been obtained. The joints are 
not frequent and are quite irregular. 

Small quarries of the Triassic sandstone are operated at several other points chiefly for local use. Among these 
poiuts may be mentioned Buckland station, Hartford county, on the Hartford, Providence, and Fishkill railroad, 
where stone of a very beautiful reddish color, but slightly coarser grained than the Portland stone, is obtained. 
The material here seems to be in every way suitable to all general building purposes, and can be obtained in blocks 
of any size ordinarily required. The quarry has also good facilities for trausportatiou by rail. 

At Haydeu's station, within a few yards of the New York, New Haven, and Hartford railroad, is a quarry of 
brown sandstone formerly operated to supply stone for the dam at Windsor ferry. It has been operated for local 
uses for a hundred years. The stone is similar to the Portland stone, but somewhat redder in color, and as there 
are good facilities for transportation, both by railroad and river, it may be of importance in the future. 

At Suffield, Hartford county, there are a number of small brownstone quarries, none of which have been operated 
except for local or private purposes. Other quarries are operated for local purposes at Newiugton, Hartford county, 
Farmington, and Forestville. It will be noticed, however, that the extensive quarrying in Connecticut ou this 
formation is done only at Portland and East Haven. 

The principal quarries on the trap dikes of the Triassic age in Connecticut are at East rock and West rock, 
north of New Haven. The material here is diabase, nearly black in color, fine and uniform in texture, and it is used 
for cellar stone and street paving in New Haven. This rock is much cut by irregular joints, so that blocks of a size 
suitable only for cellar work and paving stone can be obtained; however, it serves well for these jjurposes. 

GRANITE AND SYENITE. 
Extensive quarries of granite and gneiss are located at various i^oints in the state, especially near Thomaston 
and Eoxbury, in Eichfield county; on Long Island sound, in Fairfield county; near Ansonia, Branford, and Stony 
creek, New Haven county ; Middletown and Haddam, Middlesex county ; and near Ly m e, Niantic, Groton, and Mason's 



]28 BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

island, IsTew Loudon couuty. The Connecticut granites and gneisses are usually tine grained aiid light gray in 
color, and the ai>iiearance is usually so characteristic as to distinguish them from other granites of the Atlantic 
Coast states. 

At Sterling, Windham county, a biotite gneiss, rather coarse in texture, and varying in color from gray to 
light gray with a i^inkish tint, is extensively quarried for general building purposes, monuments, and street work, 
and is shipped chiefly to Willimantic, Jewett City, Dauielsonville, and Baltic, Connecticut, and to Providence and 
Warwick, Ehode Island. Among the structures in which it has been used are the Furnace block in Willimantic, the 
Baltic mill, and mills at Warwick, Ehode Island. 

Near Thomastou, on the ifaugatuck railroad, a light gray biotite-muscovite granite is quarried extensively 
for general building purposes, and shipped to Waterbury and the towns iu the western part of Connecticut 
generally. Among the buildings in which it was used are the United States building (front), New Haven, and the 
Episcopal church, Waterbury. The material in the quarry lies in quite irregular sheets, usually inclined about 20°, 
and has a slightly gneissoid or laminated structure. 

At Eoxbury, the granite quarried for curbs, foundations, and paving, and employed chiefly in Danbury, 
Connecticut, and New York city, is similar iu structure and composition to the Thomastou granite. 

The quarries on the shore of Long Island sound produce a hornblende-biotite gneiss, used extensively for 
foundations, underpinnings, footings, and piers in New York city and Brooklyn. Transportation is by schooner on 
Long Island sound. The color of this material is a very dark gray, approaching black. 

Near Ansonia a bluish-gray muscovite-biotite gneiss is quarried for general building jjurposes and used in the 
vicinity, at New Haven and Bridgeport. Among the structures in which it was used are the copper-mill and clock 
shops in Ansonia, and Howard Avenue church, New Haven. This gneiss splits very evenly in slabs of almost any 
thickness. Slabs of 4 inches in thickness can be obtained about 2 feet in width and from 4 to 6 feet long. The rock 
on the natural surface looks fibrous like a piece of straight-grained wood, and splits vertically in the direction of this 
grain as well as in the plane of the quarry bed. It can be successfully polished only at right angles to the i^lane of 
lamination. A large seam of quartz about 6 feet square in the section crosses on top of this quarry iu almost a 
straight line, having a direction northeast and southwest. This rock is exposed at many points in the vicinity, and 
probably could be profitably worked at nearly all of the outcrops. 

Near Branford the material, though locally called granite, is a biotite gneiss, and has thus far been used for 
breakwaters and coast engineering works at fort Jefferson and New Haven. A portion of the breakwater in New 
Haven harbor was constructed of this material It is shipped in barges. This stone is not very uniform in texture 
and color; even in the same quarry it varies in color from dark gray to a pink. 

A biotite granite is quite extensively quarried at Leetes Island station, C miles east of Branford, on the Shore 
Line railroad, in New Haven county. It is used for general and ornamental purposes, chiefly in New York city. 
Among the structures in which it has been used are the bridges at Springfield and Harlem. It is transported bj- 
boats. 

The stone quarried at Arnold's station and Maromas station, on the Connecticut Valley railroad, in Middlesex 
county, is a very dark gray or black horublende-biotite gneiss, varyingfrom fine to coarse in texture, and used chiefly 
for curbs, flagging, and steps and street 'work at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Camden, New Jersey, and Spring- 
field, Massachusetts. It is transported by schooners and boats. This rock is considerably marked with fine white 
veins from one-eighth of an inch to 2 inches wide runniug irregularly through it. There are occasional quite 
large veins of quartz, much stained with iron, running through the ledge, but the iron stains are only on the surface. 
This stone was called blue-stone in the market before the North Eiver blue-stone was extensively used. There is a 
streak running through iiortions of the ledge of A'ery much finer and darker colored stone, which splits with a smooth, 
almost black surface, due to the black-mica scales. Nearly all the mica in this rock is black, and to this fact is due 
the very dark color of the material. 

Material of a similar nature has been quarried at Deep river, at Saybrook, Hadlyme, and Haddam, on the east 
bank of the Connecticut. In the principal quarries the cleavage is nearly vertical and at light angles to the beds, 
thus making it easy to obtain blocks of required shape. 

At Maromas station the quarry rock is without any jointing or division into sheets, being a solid mass, 
excepting near the surface. It splits, however, -s-ery easily in horizontal planes in any thickness, is very unifonn 
in appearance throughout, and very easily quarried. The quarry is at such a level that it can be drained by the 
siphon. It is close to the Connecticut river and the Connecticut Valley railway, so that the facilities for 
transportation are good. 

The quarries near Lyme, Niantic, Groton, and Mason's island produce chiefly a gray biotite granite. There is, 
however, one quarry near Lyme producing a red granite, locally called " red porphyry ". The texture is coarse and 
porphyritic ; it is used for general building and ornamental purposes, chiefly at Newport, Ehode Island. Some of 
the material may be seen in the Chaney Memorial church, Newport, Ehode Island. ■ 

The other principal quarry near Lyme produces a plain gray granite, rather coarse iu texture, and shows on all 
dressed surfaces fine parallel lines of alternate dark and gray. These lines i)reveut its use for the most highly 
ornamental purposes, as they usually run obliquely across some or all of the fiuished surfaces. Portions of the 
material in this quarry are slightly pinkish in color. 



DESCRIPTIONS OF QUARRIES AND QUARRY REGIONS. 129 

The Kiantic quarries produce a light gray granite of rather line and uniform grain, used for general building 
purposes, monuments, and paving, chielij' in New York city, though it is used in various places in Connecticut and 
Ehode Island, and has been shipped as far south as Savauuah. It is transported by boats. Among the structures 
in which it has been used are the Norwich courthouse, the New York reservoir, and fort Adams, Newport, Ehode 
Island. The surface rock of this and other granite quarries in the southeastoru part of the state is thought to be 
looser in texture than the rock below and much more easily broken. It is often coarser and less uniform in texture. 
The usual thickness of this surface rock is fiom 5 to 15 feet. It is utilized for riprap and similar rough ijurposes, 
and may be considered as the lowest grade of the production of these quarries. At the Niantic quarries there are 
two grades, the finest grain being a perfectly uniform gray in color on a polished surface, and the second having 
a polished surface covered with spots from one-half to three-quarters of an inch in diameter, quite uniformly spaced 
from 1 inch to 3 inches apart, and looking much as if a wet finger had been repeatedly applied to the smooth surface. 
The discoloration in natural joints does not penetrate the stone at all, but discolors tlie whole surface of the joints 
as far as it extends. 

These quarries are the largest located on Long Island shore between New Haven and the Ehode Island line. 
They have supplied material for a large number of the ports along the Atlantic coast and for government works 
at many other places. A small portion of the material at certain sections in the quarries is slightly pinkish in 
color. 

The granite quarried at Groton is a light gray material of a rather fine and uniform grain. It is used for 
cemetery work, monuments, curbs, trimmings, and breakwaters, chiefly at Providence, New Haven, Hartford, 
Buffalo, Erie, Milwaukee, Cincinnati, and Chicago. The transportation is partly by boat, but chiefly by rail. 
Nearly all of the material of the best quality produced by these quai-ries is used for ornamental work, as it is uniform 
in color and texture and takes a fine polish. Much of the stone shipped from these quarries is dressed and finished. . 

At Mason's island, south of the Mystic river, Long Island sound, a gray granite is extensively quarried for 
riprap and breakwaters. The ledge is very much broken by joints, and blocks of large size are not readily obtained, 
though the quality and structure of the material and the location of the quarries make it well adapted and convenient 
for the purposes for which it is used. The material thus far quarried has been chiefly the surface rock. At several 
places, however, large sheets of what seemed to be much more uniform and better granite have been reached. The 
rough rock overlying these sheets is from 15 to 30 feet thick. 

At Mystic Eiver there is a granite quarry producing a fine quality of gray granite, which may be obtained in 
blocks of any desired size. As yet, however, it has not been much operated. This quarry is situated on the side 
of a steep cliff or ledge, very accessible and conveniently located for quarrying, near the Mystic river. 

At North Bridgeport, Fairfield county, and Killingly, Windham county, gray and rather coarse-textured 
hornblende-biotite gneiss is quarried for local use. A material of similar character is quarried at Willimantic for 
curbing and flagging, chiefly for local use. Fine-grained gray-biotite gneiss is quarried at Bolton, Tolland county, 
for flagging, and used chiefly in Hartford; it is, howcMtr, shipped to some extent to other New England cities. 

Dai k gray biotite gneiss is quarried for street work at Glastonbury, Hartford county, and used chiefly in 
Hartford. 

At West Norfolk, Litchfield county, a very beautiful light gray, fine-grained gneiss is quarried. It is uniform 
in texture and color, and has a bright, fresh appearance. It is nearly all distinctly laminated, and is a biotite- 
muscovite gneiss, though specimens forwarded to the National Museum are properly called "granites ". 

SERPENTINE AND VEED-ANTIQUE MARBLE. 

In the Archaean rocks near New Haven are deposits of serpentine and verd-antique marble, which have not 
thus far been quarried to any great extent, although if worked they would fjirnish excellent material for interior 
decoration and other ornamental purposes. 

The serpentine is gray, mottled, yellowish, and greenish in color when rough; when polished it is dove-colored, 
with lines of yellow and green. 

The verd-antique marble is of a grayish color when rough ; when polished it is dove-colored, yellow, greenish- 
yellow, and black and white. The difficulty of dressing and polishing this material seems to have prevented its 
extensive use thus far. 

NEW YOEK. 

[Comiiiled mainly from uotes by Professors Cook aud Smock.] 
GRANITE. 

Granitic rocks are quarried for local use in a number of localities in Westchester county, and the material is 
generally fit for rough work only. The gneiss quarried near Hastings by Messrs. Munson & Co., however, is used 
principally in New York city for foundations aud general construction purposes. This is a rather coarse grained 
material, and is striped by alternate layers of light and dark, varying in thickness. Nearly all varieties, as to color, 
texture, and composition, occur in this region, though no very valuable exposures have been developed in localities 
convenient to water transportation. 
VOL. IX 9 B s 



130 BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

In Putnam county the granitic rocks are well developed, and have been worked in various localities in cliff's 
along the Hudson river. 

On Grindstone island, one of the Thousand islands, Jefferson county, a beautiful red granite is obtained, which 
is rather hard to dress, but is susceptible of being very highly polished. 

The product of the qukrry is at present manufactured into paving blocks and stones for monumental work ;, 
the former are used in Chicago, Illinois, and the latter are shipped to Montreal. The quarry is favorably located 
for transportation by the great lakes and the Saint Lawrence Eiver system of navigation ; it is on the west side 
of Grindstone island, about 5 miles west of Clayton, Jefferson county, and at the dock adjoining the quarry vessels, 
of 400 tons burden can land. 

SANDSTONE. 

At Malone, Franklin county, the Potsdam sandstone is crossed by the Salmon river, and here some stone is 
quarried for local demands, but no quarries were reported as worked during the census year. 

Three miles south of Potsdam, Saint Lawrence county, the Eaquette river cuts across the Potsdam formation, 
and quarries are worked along the banks of this stream. The outcrop of the sandstone where it is cut across by 
the river is about 2 miles in width from north to south. The strata dip in a southerly direction at an angle oi 
45°. The formation shows signs of disturbance, and the layers near the surface are thin and are used for 
flagging. As the excavation proceeds downward the layers gradually increase in thickness until, in the bottom of 
the quarry, at a depth of about 40 feet, the layers are from 2 to 3 feet thick. These layers split readily, when first 
quarried, into any desired thickness. The stone works well when first taken out, but becomes quite hard upon 
exposure. Much of this stone has a pleasant reddish-brown color, which is very durable, but some of it shows a 
rusty discoloration upon long exposure. It is quite refractory, and is used for lining cupolas in the furnaces at 
Potsdam. A large amount of it has been shipped to New York for use in the construction of the new buildings of 
Columbia college; three churches, the Normal School building, and the town hall at Potsdam, are also built of this 
stone. The most westerly point where the Potsdam sandstone is worked is at Hammond, in the extreme western 
part of Saint Lawrence county. The strata here are very nearly horizontal, but the jointing is irregular. The stone 
is of good quality, and varies in color from gray to red. Thin layers also occur at the top at this point, and hea^'y 
layers are found lower. The quarry is conveniently located for transportation, and the stone is used for curbs,, 
flagging, and pa.ving, principally in towns of central New York. 

In Washington county the Potsdam sandstone is from 50 to GO feet thick, generally covered by alluvium, and 
nowhere extensively quarried. At Port Ann it is almost pure quartz, and is quarried for use in the steel-works 
at Troy, and also for the construction of hearths. There are some small calcil'erous-sandstone quarries in the 
vicinity of Fort Ann, which furnish excellent paving stone and stone for underiiinnings for local use. 

In Schenectady county, at a point called Aqueduct, a valuable development of a sandstone stratum in the 
Hudson Eiver group occurs. It is a very fine-grained, stratified sandstone, in layers separated by thin seams of 
slate, and the sandstone grades almost imperceptibly into slate. The strata dip slightly to the southwest, and a 
system of parallel joints, called side seams, runs nearly northeast and southwest, and is cut across at right angles 
by cross joints. There are main side seams from 30 to 55 feet apart, very regular and filled with mud, and between 
these there are irregular parallel joints at distances of from 2 to 12 feet apart. In the southward extension of the 
formation the strata of slate run out and several sandstone layers unite and thus furnish large-sized blocks. The- 
quarry is located on the bank of the Erie "canal, by which the stone is transported to market, and the quarrying is 
done during the season of canal navigation. The stone works well and is used quite largely for buildings in. 
surrounding cities. 

BLUE-STONE DISTRICT. 

• 

The "flagging " or '' blue-stone" of the Hudson Eiver district belongs to several geological formations from the- 
Jlamilton upward. The district is confined to comparatively narrow limits west of the Hudson river, and mainly 
to Albany, Greene, and Ulster counties. It begins with the quarries in Schoharie county, passes to the southeast 
and enters Albany county near Berne, and from there passes around. to the south and southwest, across Greene, 
Ulster, and Sullivan counties and across the west end of Orange county, to the Delaware river and into Pike 
county, Pennsylvania. There are no quarries known in any of the formations below the Hamilton down to the 
Hudson Eiver slate, and" the typical blue-stone flagging may all be said to come from the Hamilton formation, which, 
according to Professor Hall, is succeeded by the Oneonta sandstone, the equivalent of the Portage in the eastern 
part of the state. The Chemung shales and sandstones have not been identified, and the gray and the red beds of 
the Catskill mountains probably belong to the Catskill group. It may yet be found that the main blue-stone belt, 
which extends southwest through Hurley, Ulster county, belongs in part to the Hamilton, while the upper or western 
beds are of the Oneonta formation. Theflat plateau or terrace to the east and southeast may be occupied by the softer 
Chemung rocks. If this be the case, the quarries of "West Saugerties, High Woods, Shandaken, Phoenicia, Boiceville,. 
and Brodliead are all in the Catskill group. The stone from these localities is generally coarser grained than that 
from the more eastern range, and the gray or the reddish tints predominate over the dark blue-black shades. 



DESCRIPTIONS OF QUARRIES AND QUARRY REGIONS. 131 

The quarry at Euiiuenee, vSclioliarie county, is probably iu the Chemung group. The rpnuries which are probably 
in the Hamilton group are the Middleburgh quarry, Schoharie county, the Albany County quarries, those of Greene 
county and of Quarryville, Saugerties, Kingston, and West Hurley, Ulster county, and those in the southwestern 
extension of the blue-stone district near EUenville, Ulster county, and at Pond Eddy and West Brookville, Sullivan 
county. There is a great number of quarries iu this district, and many of them are very small, as little capital is 
needed to develop a quarry, on account of the small amount of cap-rock to be removed and the little machinery 
necessary to operate the quarries, as they are worked almost exclusively for flagstones of ^mall size and small 
'' edge stuff". 

In Schoharie county the character of the flag-stone is much the same as in the quarries along the Hudson river. 
There are iu the blue-stone formation always two systems of joints crossing each other nearly at right angles. Those 
of the principal system, which usually runs nearly north and south, are called " main side joints", and the others 
"cross joints". In the Eminence quarry the main joints run nearly north and soiith, and the strata dip slightly to 
the south or southwest. Several ledges are quarried here at different elevations, and the stone varies in texture, 
the highest strata being coarse-grained and varying in color from gray to red, and the lower layers are blue-black 
and fine-grained. The product of these quarries is principally flag-stone, which is used to supply the local demands 
of surrounding towns. The quarries of the Middleburgh Blue Stone Company are about a dozen small openings 
near Hunter's Land, and from 5 to 10 miles east and southeast of Middleburgh. The quarries are nearly all in side 
hills and the strata are very nearly horizontal. Near the surface a hard, thinly-bedded stone is found, which is 
suitable for common flagging, cross-walks, and rough work. The quality of the stone is found to improve as the 
quarries are worked to gi-eater depth, heavier beds of finer-grained and more valuable stone being found. This is 
a newly-developed blue-stone district, and some of the best stone is suitable for trimmings. The material goes 
principally to Albany, Troy, and other cities to the northeast. 

The stone from the Albany County quarries is coarser, harder, and more gray in color than that from the same 
formation in Greene and Ulster counties. The Eeidsville quarries have an average thickness of workable strata of 
only 4 feet, covered with from 2 to 14 feet of earth and slaty beds. The quarries in the vicinity of Dormansville 
were formerly worked quite extensively, but for several years past they have been worked but little. The beds in 
these quarries are thin,- and the stone goes principally to Albany for flag-stone. At Stephensville, G miles west 
of Coeymans, a more easterly range of flagging stone occurs, which, however, has not yet been developed. 

The blue-stone belt, extending south from Albany into Greene county, crosses New Baltimore and Coxsackie 
townships, iu each of which quarries have been opened, though very little stone has been taken out. At New 
Baltimore stone is quarried for dock filling at Albany. 

The Leeds quarries consist of six or seven difl'erent openings, which are worked at intervals by farmers. 
The i^roduct of the quarries, most of which is for small flags, is carted to Catskill, a distance of about 2 
miles. The Kiskatom quarries have been worked, but not continuously, for many years. The blue-stone belt is 
here quite narrow, and in the ledge worked approaches near to the limestone formations that lie between it and the 
Hudson. The structure of the beds is similar to that of the same formation farther south. The shipping points 
for these quarries are Catskill, Maiden, and Smith's Landing, from 7 to 8 miles distant. The cost of cartiug the 
stone amounts to about 25 per cent, of the value at these points. The stones produced are mostly of small size, 
and are worked into curbs, caps, sills, steps, etc., called " edge stuff". At Palenville a large number of quarries 
• was formerly worked, extending over a large sjiace, but the decline in prices has put a stop to many of them. The 
quarries are all at the base of the mountains and several hundred feet above the surrounding lowlands, and a good 
quality of stone and large-sized blocks may be obtained. The strata dip westward into the mountains, and the 
thickness of caprock increases rapidly in that direction. The distance of these quarries from Maiden, the 
shipping point, is 9 miles. 

Ulster county has by far the largest number of quarries in the blue-stone district.- Quarryville, in the 
northwestern part of Saugerties township, is a noted quarry district, which has been worked for 40 or more years, 
and a large amount of stone has been taken from it. The stone is sold at Maiden, and is drawn there over a 
tramway constructed of blocks of stone. There is much less stone quarried here at present than was formerly 
produced, as the depth of stripping has increased to such an extent that the quarries can be worked with but little 
profit. The stone is of good quality and is used for turned and general dressed work at the Maiden yards. The 
quarries lie in lines along three parallel ledges which have a general direction from northeast to southwest. There 
the blue-stone belt makes its nearest approach to the Hudson, the limestone belt, 3i miles in width, separating 
the most easterly ledge from the river. The beds of sandstone overlie each other from west to east, and strata of 
slate and hard sandstone occur between them. The vertical side seams are very regular and run north 40° east, and 
the joints at right angles to these are irregular and not continuous. The quarries iu the easternmost ledge extend 
about a mile in length, 175 feet in width, and have been worked to an average depth of about 12 feet. A large 
area has been left on account of the heavy stripping required. 

The hue of quarries iu the middle ledge extends over an area about IJ miles in length, from 150 to 500 feet in 
width, and has been quarried to a depth of from 12 to 20 feet. Quite heavy beds occur in some of these quarries, and 
the joints often allow blocks of very large size to be obtained. In the western ledge the quarries are in a line about 



-132 BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

1,000 feet long by 150 wide, and are worked to an average depth of about 12 feet. These quarries are about 5 miles 
from Maiden, being the most distant of all quarries here noted. The total thickness of workable layers in the 
Quarryville region is from 4 to 20 feet, and the stripping is from 6 to 17 feet in depth. Much of the heavy or 
thickly-bedded stone is taken to Maiden to be worked into edge stuff. In working these quarries little capital is 
used beyond the value of the necessary tools. Leaseholds are common, and the royalty i^aid is at the rate of one- 
ihalf cent per square foot of stone quarried. The larger sizes of blocks have bed dimensions of aboiit 15 by 8 feet, 
although some 25 by 15 feet have been taken out. The quarries near Saugerties extend in a line from northeast to 
■south^vest, about 2 miles in length and half a mile in breadth, and are known as the Fish Creek quarries. A 
large area has been quarried over and a large amount of stone has been taken out. The quarries have been in 
operation from thirty-five to forty years, but the product is now small and is carted to Saugerties, which is from 
4 to 5 miles distant, a;nd the cost of carting amounts to one- third of the value of the stone at that place. The 
(quarries now worked are in the midst of the old works, many of them previously abandoned. They are now not 
"very productive, and a considerable amount of stripping is necessary. The quarry bed is from SJ to 8 feet thick, 
and the stripping or cap-rock from 3J to 7 feet thick. The stone is iinegrained and is used mainly for edge stone. 
The Kingston quarries are all in the same belt, and may be separated into several groups, as the Dutch Settlement 
group, the Hallihan's Hill group, the Sawkill group, the Jockey Hill group, and the Dutch Hill group. • 

In the Dutch Settlement group the quarry beds have an aggregate thickness of from 5 to 12 feet, and the strata 
vary from 5 to 16 inches. Generally two or three men work together in a quarry, and some of the quarries are 
contiguous and admit of a common system of drainage. The amount of capital invested in this region is very small, 
as the quarrymen do not often own the land on which they quarry, but pay a rent, usually at the rate of half a cent 
per square foot for the stone taken out. Formerly a large amount of quarrying was done in this locality, but the 
increasing expense of working the quarries and the low prices for stone have reduced the extent of the industry. 
The work is now mainly done by men who have their own boys to assist them, and very few men are hired. In 
some portions of this region the dip of the strata is to the northwest, and in others to the southwest. From the 
■quarries of the Dutch settlement the i^roduct is carted to Glasco, Ulster county, a distance of about G miles, and is 
there sold to dealers for flagging and edge stone. 

The Hallihan's Hill series of quarries is on the same ledge as the bed of stone extending southwest from the 
Dutch settlement to the Sawkill creek for a distance of over 2 miles. At the southern end the ledge is quite 
elevated, but dips to the northwest and descends until it is lost. It is the extreme eastern one of the blue-stone 
belt, and immediately to the east of it the land descends to the low district extending to the Hudson. The bed 
worked in this ledge varies in thickness from 4 to 12 feet, and the cap-rock to be removed is from 4 to 30 feet in 
•depth. The entire length of the ledge has been quarried over. The quarries now worked were opened, abandoned, 
and then reopened; most of them were left on account of the depth of stripping necessary when prices declined 
several years ago, and are worked now by the men who were unable to leave with their families when wages 
were low. 

The Jockey Hill and Dutch Hill line of quarries is southwest of the Hallihan's Hill quarries and forms one 
continuous opening, and nearly the whole surface of the ledge has been quarried over. The strata are from 2 to 3 
feet thick, and the quarry beds are separated by strata of hard blue-stone which breaks and splits irregularly. 
The joints are vertical, and the north and south system is very regular and continuous ; the east and west system 
as less regular and not continuous. Excepting for its quarry stone this district is almost valueless; its surface is 
very uneven and beoken, and covered with forest trees. The ston'e from this district, as well as from the Hallihan's 
Hill quarries, is carted to Wilbur, a distance of from 7 to 9 miles. The bed dimensions of the largest blocks obtained 
from these quarries are 20 by 15 feet, but the possible dimensions of blocks from the quarries are claimed to be 60 
by 18 feet. Each quarry has from two to ten quarrymen, very few of whom are employed for wages. 

The Stony Hollow group is near the Ulster and Delaware railf oad, and is the last grouj) .on the belt passing 
from northeast to southwest through Kingston township. The quarries are small, and some of them are on old 
abandoned sites. The product is taken to Wilbur on wagons, a distance of 6 or 7 miles. 

The quarries of Hurley townshii) are in four i)rincipal groups. The Bristol Hill quarries are west of Stony 
Hollow on the southwest extension of the Stony Hollow line, on both sides of the Ulster and Delaware railroad, 
but the stone is taken by wagons to Wilbur, a distance of 7 or 8 miles. A large space has been quarried over in 
the thirty or more years in which the quarries have been worked, and the quarries are at present doing quite an 
extensive business. An excellent quality of stone, applicable to the finest kinds of work for which the North Kiver 
blue-stone is used, is obtained here. The West Hurley quarries proper are northwest of Bristol hill, in a noted 
quarry center, where blue-stone has been taken out for forty years. The area worked over is large. The stone 
found here is remarkable for its evenness of stratification and regularity of jointing. The joint systems are at 
Tight angles to each other, the one running northwest being open and continuous, but the one to the northeast is 
5ess regular and interrupted in i)lac('S. Some of the largest quarries of the blue-stone district are in *his region. 
There is generally a lack of capital, and therefore a loss in efficient working. These quarries are on the line of the 
Ulster and Delaware railroad, but the rates of transportation by railway are so high that the stone is drawn on 
wagons a distance of 9 miles to the canal at Wilbur. 



DESCRIPTIONS OF QUARRIES AND QUARRY REGIONS. i;j3 

The Morgan Hill quarries are on the line running southwest from Stony hollow and Bristol hill. Tliey are six 
in number, all of them quite small, and others in the same range have been abandoned. The locality known as 
Steeuykill marks the southwestern limit of the main Hudson Eiver blue-stone belt, which exhibits the same 
characteristic features throughout from Quarryville to the Esopus creek, in Marbletowu township. Some small 
openings have been made in the formation just southwest of this creek. 

The quarries to the northwest of this belt are, as already stated, in a higher formation. The West Saugerties 
range of quarries is west of Quarryville and near the foot of the Catskill mountains. Its structure resembles that 
of the Quarryville ranges, except that the layers are usually thicker. The principal joint system runs north 40°' 
east, and the strata dip slightly toward the southwest. The overlying beds are shale ^iid slate with inter.stratified 
beds of rough stone unfit for flagging or edge stuff. The West Saugerties stone has a medium grain and the 
characteristic color of the Xorth Eiver blue-stone. All the stone is carted to Maiden, S miles distant, and here 
the heavier stone is manufactured for various architectural uses. It is quite soft and works easier than much of 
the North Eiver blue-.stone. In the Highwoods quarries the aggregate thickness of the quarry beds is from 4 to 
10 feet, and the stripping varies from 4 to 23 feet. Heavy stones are also obtained here, and are cut into sills, caps, 
and other edge stuff at the yards at Saugerties, 8 miles from the quarries, and at Glasco, from 4 to G miles away. 
At one quarry the layers are from 20 inches to 3 feet in thickness, and a block now exposed is 220 feet long, 20 feet 
wide, and 1 foot thick. Blocks 25 by 15 feet by 1 foot have been taken from this quarry. 

The quarries in the vicinity of Woodstock are on the southern foot of the Catskill mountains, and 1,000 feet 
above the Hudson river. The strata dip to the northwest, and in some of the quarries the bedding and jointing 
are somewhat irregular. The layers are usually from 2 to 10 feet thick ; the aggregate thickness of the beds is- 
about 20 feet; the stripping is mainly slate, and usuall\ heavy. The product is carted to Saugerties, 11 miles- 
distant, except fi-om the quarries of Messrs. Elting & Maxwell and P. H. Lapo; these two quarries are northwest 
of Woodstock; the latter is farthest in the mountains, 1 mile northwest of Cooi)er's lake, and several hundred 
feet above it. The product of these quarries is carted to Maiden, from 16 to 17 miles distant, and is used almost 
exclusively for cut work. 

The Shandaken quarries are in a locality known as Fox hollow, a short distance from the Ulster and Delaware 
railroad, by which the product is shipped to Eoudout, and thence by river to New York city. This stone has a 
gray color ; the layers are from 10 to 12 inches in thickness, and large-sized blocks are easily obtained, but the 
material is not so much desired on account of its color as the typical blue-stone. There are only two quarries as 
yet opened on Woodland creek, and it is quite probable that the entire eastern bank, for a considerable distance, is 
bordered with ledges of sandstone suitable for building and flagging. The rock is of good quality and works 
freely. Two distinct grades are obtained ; the upper part of the bed worked is of a reddish color and rather 
coarser in texture than the lower portion, which is grayish in color. The bed dips toward the valley, and as it is 
worked back into the mountain it rises so that the stripping does not increase rapidly. The bed has been worked 
to a depth of 18 feet and the bottom is not yet reached. The layers are from 2 to 12 inches in thickness, and 
increase in thickness with the depth of the quarry. Many of the quarries in the vicinity of Phoenicia have been 
opened quite recently. The amount of stripping in the Phoenicia quatries is about 20 feet, making the working of 
the quarries ratlier expensive, but the excellence of the stone and the large and heavy blocks to be obtained make 
the quarries profitable. The Ulster and Delaware railroad also furnishes cheap transportation. 

The quarries near Brodhead are all west of Esolms creek, and fi-om 2i to 4 miles from the station. Nearly- 
all the stone fiom these quarries is dres.sed at Brodhead, and thence shijiped to market over the Ul.ster and 
Delaware railroad. This stone is of good quality, but there is a lack of capital to open workable beds. The 
aggregate thickness of the beds is from 4 to 11 feet, and the stripping from 4 to 14 feet, and in some places 
increasing rapidly. 

As has been indicated, the blue-stone formation is traceable to the southwest from the Hudson Eiver quarries 
through Eochester and Wawarsing, Ulster county ; and occurs in Neversink, Fallsburgh, Mamakating, Thompson,. 
Forestburgh, Lumberland, and Highland townships, Sullivan county; and in Deer Park township. Orange county. 
The Eochester and Wawarsing quarries are all small openings, and generally worked on leases, along the valleys- 
of Vernoog, Beerkill, and Lackanack creeks, all tributaries to Kondout creek. At the quarries on Vernoog 
creek the beds dip at an angle of 20° to the north, 60° west, and the average inclination of the strata in this region- 
is 20°. The stone is coarser grained in these quarries than- in those nearer the Hudson, but is thought to be- 
equally strong and durable. There are many abaudoued openings in this region. All these quarries are small, and 
the workable beds are soon exhausted on account of the steep inclination of the strata. The quarries along Beerkill 
creek are not now in operation ; they were worked quite vigorously for a time to impply EUenville with stone for 
sidewalks — a town of about 4,000 inhabitants, which has 14 miles of stone sidewalk. 

Along the Delaware river the flagging-stone belt is exposed from near Ponrt Eddy up the stream nearly 25- 
miles to Lackawaxen, Pike county, Pennsylvania. The principal quarries on the New York side are in the vicinity 
of Poud Eddy. From one of these two large flags were furnished, each 25i by loj feet by 7 inches, and their 
width -was limited only by the size of the boats which could go through the locks of the Delaware and Hudsoii 
canal. 



134 BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

These quarries on tlie Delaware river are noted for their excellent quality of stone. The strata are here again 
nearly horizontal, and from 1 inch to 1 foot in thickness, and the maximum amount of stripping is 10 feet. The 
product is mainly taken by canal to New York city. 

Tlie quarries along the valley from West Brookville, and those along the line of th* Monticello railroad, in 
Mamakatiug and Forestburgh townships, Sullivan county, are usually small. Tbeir total production has declined 
greatly within ten years. The West Brookville quarries are on the mountain side, several hunctred feet above the 
canal-level, and all the stone is carted to the canal at West Brookville. Some of this stone has a reddish color, 
and is said to be stronger than the Ulster County stone ; but the market prices are higher for blue-stone, and there 
is a prejudice against red or gray shades of color. Along the Monticello branch of the Lake Erie and Western 
railroad there are numbers of small quarries, all of which open into steep side hills, and Lave a rapidly-increasing 
amount of stripping. 

There is a great number of small openings in this region which have been abandoned. The amount of 
stripping is always considerable, and the aggregate thickness of the quarrj' beds is small and the layers are thin. 
The stone has the color of the Hudson Eiver stone, but it is very hard, and none of it is equal in quality to that 
obtained in the Hudson Eiver quarries. A new flagpiug-stoue district has been made accessible to the markets by 
the New York, Ontario, and Western }-ailroad, running across Sullivan and Delaware counties, and stone is being 
shipped both eastward and westward. The business was insigniticant during the census year. 

In Delaware county the flagging-stone quarries are along the lines of the New York, Ontario, and Western 
and the Ulster and Delaware railroads. All these quarries are probably in the Catskill group. The quarries at 
Westfiekl flats and near Trout Brook and East Branch are near the New York, Ontario, and Western raihoad. 
The stone is a rather coarse grained sandstone or grit of a grayish to a greenish-gray color, thus differing from the 
darker and finer-grained blue-stone of the Hamilton foimation. Various openings have recently been made in this 
region along this line of railroad. 

At a quarry uenr Margaretville the depth of stripping is S feet, and the blocks, as limited by the natural joints, 
are very large. The product is carted to Haitviile station, on the Ulster and Delaware railroad, and from there 
transported by rail to Eondout. A quarry has been opened near Halcottsville. The beds here so far as developed 
are from 1 inch to 4 inches thick and the depth of stripping is 8 feet. The joints are veitical and very Tegular; the 
stone is reddish in coloi' and rather coarse grained; blocks 15 by 6 feet have beeu taken out, and hirger sizes might 
be obtained . 

The quanies in the vicinity of Eoxbury a: e also near the line of the Ulster and Delawaie railroad. In a quarry 
about 1 mile from Grand Gorge station, 70 miles from Eondout, the workable beds are 13 feet in thickness and 
the depth of strippingas about 30 feet. The stone has a grayish color and is coarse grained. 

In Otsego county both the Hamilton and the Chemung groups are quarried in a quarry located on the east 
side of Otsego lake and about 70 feet above it. The jointing is rectangular, the beds are even, and the depth of 
stri]>ping is 8 feet. The stone is soft, works easily when first quarried, and hardens on exposure. Where used 
for steps for a number of years it has not worn smooth, and shows considei-able durability. At present this quarry 
supplies only the local demand for foundations and general building purposes. 

The quarry at Oueouta supplies the local demand for flagging and cut work. 

In Chenango county there was formerly quite an extensive quarry industry at Guilford, but at pi esent only one 
quarry is in operatiorr. The market for this stone is at Syracuse. Blocks of large bed dimensions may be obtained 
here, but the layers are rather thin. The quarry at Smjthville flats is also remarkable for the large size of the 
blocks between the j(5iuts, and some of the layers are 2 feet in thickness. The aggregate thickness of workable 
beds is about 12 feet, and the depth of stripping is about 15 feet, but it is mostly loose material and easily removed 
The stone is shipped principally to New York city for flagging and building purposes ; but it has to be drawn ou 
wagons to Greene, 8 miles distant, on the Utica division of the Delaware, Lackawanna, and Western railroad. 

In Oneida county the Oneida conglomerate quarried near New Hartford is hard and difficult to dress, and 
therefore is used only for bridge work and foundations. The quarry at Camden is probably in the Medina sandstone, 
but the formation has not been well identified. The stone is light gray in color and rather coarse grained; the 
layers near the surface are thin, and are used for flagging, but they increase in thickness as the quarry is worked 
downward. The stone is used to supply local demands, and some is shipped to Oswego and neighboring towns. 

The quarry near Atwater, Cayuga county, is in a good flag-stone stratum, but its distairce from the nearest 
railway station and the depth of cap-rock to be removed prevent its extensive development. 

The Toruirkins County quarries ai-e worked chieflj" for flagging. The quarry at Ithaca supplies the local demand, 
and the one at Trumansburg supplies flagging for the town of Geneva and some for Ithaca. The layers in these 
quarries ai'e rather thin, but large blocks can be obtained. The quarries at Covert, Seneca county, also furnish 
flagging, which is at pi'eseiit used mainly at the towns of Geneva, Waterloo, and Auburn. The quarries are located 
but a short distairce fioirr railroad and water transportation. 

The quarry at Watkins, Schuyler county, is a fine-grained, evenly-be<lded blue sandstone. The stone is used 
along the liue of the North Central railroad for general construction purjioses, and it seems to be well adapted for 



DESCRIPTIONS OF QUARRIES AND QUARRY REGIONS. 135 

heavy bridge coustructiou. No good buildiug stoue is fouud ou this liue of railroad either north or south of this 
poiut for a considerable distance, and the stone from this quarry is used southward on the railroad as far as 
Williamsport, Pennsylvania. 

The Steuben County quarries furnish stone for general building purposes, mainly for local demands. The stone 
dresses easily, but it is not a safe stone to use, because it is liable to disintegrate. The demand in this county for 
good stoue is supplied from distant quarries, and flagging has been furnished quite largely from Mainsburg, Tioga 
county, Peuu.sylvania. 

The quarry district in the Medina sandstone extends from Brockport, Monroe county, to Lockport, Niagara 
county. The stoue is very hard, and therefore seldom used for cut work. There is a light gray and also a reddish 
variety, the latter has a bright and pleasant api)earance both in dressed and in rock-faced work, and both varieties 
are sometimes used together with good efi'ect, but the red is used more than the gray for buildings. Most of the 
stone buildings in Lockport and in Buffalo are of Medina sandstone. Perhaps the most important feature of this 
stone is its special applicability for street pavements. It was first introduced for this purpose in Cleveland, Ohio, 
and it is now used in many cities and towns from New York to Kansas City. The blocks are made of the same size 
and shape as the granite paving blocks ; they do not wear smooth, and are nearly, if not quite, as durable as granite 
blocks. The stratum of quarry rock is about 30 feet in thickness, and the thickness of the layers varies from 2J 
to IS inches, the thinner ones supplying an excellent material for paving sidewalks. 

The remaining quarries in the state of New York are small and supply local demands. The stone is of an 
inferior quality, except in the Belfast quarry, Allegany countj', where it is of good quality, though so far from any 
route of transportation that it cannot be worked for anything but local use. 



TuCKAHOE MAKBLE. — The quarries which furnish this -are, according to Newberry, in one of the belts of 
dolomite of Aichiean age which lie to the north of New York city, and cross the country in a north-northeast 
direction. One of these belts reaches New York island, crossing the Harlem river at Kingsbridge; another crops 
out on the sound near Eochelle ; others strike the river at Hastings, Dobbs Ferry, Sing Sing, and other points, and 
furnish stones good for construction purposes and of varied colors. The best marbles obtained from these deposits 
are those of Tuckahoe and Pleasautville. The first is white, rather coarse in texture and regular in quality, and 
the better grades have been used for some of the finest buildings in the city of New York, notably Saint Patrick's 
cathedral. The color changes to light gray by exposure. 

At the quarry of the Tuckahoe Marble Company the finest grade is nearly a pure white, but this is available 
only in small quantities, and is used for monumental and ornamental work. In Mr. John F. Masterdon's quarry 
this same material is quarried more extensively. 

In composition the stone from these quarries is ;i dolomite, containing a small amount of iron and some mica. 
The buildings constructed of the stone from the Tuckahoe Marble Company's quarry are those of the New York Stock 
Exchange, New York city, and the Mutual Life Insurance Company at Boston. Those constructed of the material 
from Mr. Masterdon's quarry are the New York Life Insurance buildiug. New York city, the city hall, Brooklyn, 
New York, and the hotel Veudome, Bostou. 

At Pleasautville, a few miles north of the Tuckahoe quarries, a coarse, crystalline white marble occurs; 
formei-ly this was quite extensively quarried for building purposes. The frout of the Union Dime Savings Bank 
building in New York city is built of this stone. Its structure being quite coarse, it is not well adapted for carved 
work. It has also been found to break easily, especially when used for long columns; and it would npt beasafe stone 
on this account for all kinds of work. The stone is remarkable for its crystalline appearance, the crystals being 
usually large and conspicuous, and, from this peculiar appearance, it has received the- name of "snow-flake" 
marble. This quarry has recently been furnishing about 25 tons of stone per day for making soda water. 

At Dover Plains and South Dover are three other marble quarries, the stone from which also shows a 
coarse structure and is easily broken. 

A quarry of bluish-gray limestone was opened in November, 1SS(>, at Clinton Point, about 5 miles south of 
Poughkeepsie. The material that has been extracted has been used for bridge abutments at Newburgh. 

At Greenport, Columbia county, Mr. F. W. Jones' quarry is worked on a stratum from CO to 70 feet in thickness. 
Blocks of any desired dimensions may be obtained. The stone is employed for general architectural and 
ornamental uses, principally at Hudson and Troy, New York. The Presbyterian church at Hudson is constructed 
of it. It is a nearly pure limestone, containing some protoxide of iron and a little magnesia. The quarry of the 
Kingsbury Blue Stone Company at Sandy Hill, Washington county, is located on a branch of the Chaniplain canal 
and near the railroad of the Delaware and Hudson Canal Com])any, and has superior facilities for transporting the 
material to market both by canal and by railway. The quarry proper covers an area of 40 acres. A face half a 
mile in length and 30 feet in height is opened. The stoue is very nearly a pure' limestone, containing a very small 
amouut of iron, a little magnesia, and a little siliceous matter. It was used in the construction of most of the 
locks upon the Champlain canal and the city dam at Cohoes, and it is now being used for the construction of the 
Harlem bridge for the West Side and Yonkers Elevated railwav. 



136 BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

The quarry of Mr. Prince Wing, near Saratoga, has been worked for many years, stone for burning lime having 
been taken out before 1800. ' The lime produced from it is very white and of excellent quality. In composition it 
is almost a pure limestone, containing very little magnesia and some graphite. It is used for general building 
purposes and for flagging, mainly at Saratoga and Ballston, 'Sew York. 

The quarries at Glens Falls are worked on both sides of the Hudson river, -which breaks through the formation 
at this point. The same formation crops out a short distance east of this place, is crossed by the river, dips under 
the overlying formation, and disappears just above the falls. On the south side of the river there are three distinct 
strata of limestone; the upper one, about 12 feet thick, being overlaid by about 15 feet of rough limestone and some 
slate. It is fine-grained and makes a good material for cut work. Below this is a stratum of about 15 feet of the slaty- 
structured stone, and then a stratum 2 feet in thickness of a coarse crystalline limestone. Below this occurs the 
valuable black-marble bed, about 12 feet in thickness. From this a large amount of tiling is manufactured. The 
stone is taken out in large blocks, and is either sawed and rubbed in the mills at'the quarry or is shipped in the 
rough, mainly to the neighboring cities and to New York. The tiling and material for ornamental purposes go to 
all the principal cities in tlie United States. The stone is shipped both on the Chamiilaiu canal and the Delaware 
and Hudson Ganal Company railroad. It is a limestone in composition, containing a little magnesia, some iron, 
and some graphite. jSTone of the products of the lower stratum are allowed to go to waste, though a very large 
proportion of the material is not suitable for architectural or ornamental work. A large amount of the marble of 
the lower bed on both sides of the river is burned in the extensive kilns of the Glens Falls Company, and produces 
the so-called " Jointa" lime of remarkable purity. The stone is quarried by blasting, and, therefore, much of it is 
shattered so as to l)e fit only for burning. The slaty-mixed limestone of some of the layers and of the stripping 
was formerly used for flux in the iron furnace at Fort Edward, Xew York. 

On the north side of the river, where the quarry of the Glens Falls Company is located, the two upper strata 
above mentioned do not occur. The formation has here been worked to an average depth of about 30 feet and 60 
feet in width for a distance of half a mile eastward from Glens Falls. 

The next point to the north of Glens Falls where the Trenton limestone is quarried is at the quarry of Mr. 
Frank Clark, near Crown Point, Essex county. In general appearance and composition this stone resembles that 
of Glens Falls, but its texture is finer and more brittle. It is used for curbs, trimmings, and various kinds of cut 
work, principally at fort Henry, Plattsburgh, Saratoga, and SchuylerviMe. The rock is considerably fractured, and 
large blocks suitable for sawing cannot be readily obtained. 

Of the marble and limestone deposits on the west shore of lake Champlain only two localities have been 
extensively developed, one at Willsborough, Essex county, and the other at Plattsburgh, Clinton county. The 
quarry of the Lake Champlain Quarry Company is located on the extreme northeast portion of Willsborough point ; 
it is well equipped and favorably located, the blocks being swung by derricks directly from their beds to the decks 
of the boats used for transporting the material to market. The stone is, for the most part, a fine-grained, comi^act, 
blue limestone, containing fossil remains ; the different layers differ slightly in color and texture. Formerly a 
large amount of this stone was shipped, but during a few years past the demand has been much lighter. It was 
used in the foundations of the piers of the East Eiver bridge, and in the foundations of the new capitol at Albany. 
There are several layers worked which are separated by thin seams of clay; large-sized blocks can be obtained, 
and the stone is worked into all kinds of cut work and can be sawed and rubbed. Some of the layers furnish a 
fine black marble, which is susceptible of being highly polished, and it is used for various kinds of ornamental 
work. The rock comes to the surface and no stripping is necessary. The formation dips east of north under the 
lake. A porphyritic dike crosses the formation from east to west ; it is from 12 to 14 feet wide and exceedingly 
well marked, extending from the shore of the lake until lost beneath the soil beyond the quarry. 

The quarry of the Burlington Manufacturing Company is located near lake Champlain and not far from 
Plattsburgh. Large blocks are channeled out and shij)ped by boat to Burlington, Vermont, where they are sawed, 
and from the slabs all kinds of ornamental work are produced. Two varieties of limestone occur at this point, and 
are known in the trade as French-gray and Lepanto marbles. The latter is beftutifully variegated with red and 
gray, and is largely made up of fossil remains, which give a beautiful appearance to a polished sui'face. The 
variegated marble is quite extensively used for inside decoration in public buildings, often in connection with 
white marble. It is shipped, for mantels, tiling, table-tops, and general decorative work, to all parts of the United 
States. Another marble quarry has recently been opened by this company at fort Henry, Essex county. This 
marble is comi^osed of a ground mass in which are patches of serpentine, numerous crystals of pyrrhotite about 
one-eighth of an inch in diameter, and some graphite scales. 

The quarry of the Gouverneur Marble and Whitney Granite Company is situated one mile west of Gouverneur, 
Lewis county. The limestone is crystalline and lies immediately on the granite ; in fact, in some places the 
granite overlies the limestone. The surface is glaciated and rubbed smooth. It is usually called " Whitney 
granite", on account of its close resemblance to several kinds of gray granite when polished or finished with a 
patent hammer ; but it is properly a marble, being, however, too coarse-grained to be finely carved. There is 
reason to believe that it will withstand the action of the weather, as head-stones in this immediate vicinity have 
been standing from 40 to 70 years. In the Eiverside cemetery at Gouverneur there are about one hundred of these 



DESCRIPTIONS OF QUARRIES AND QUARRY REGIONS. 137 

old liead-stones; they present a good, clean, uniform surface, are very free from moss or auy discoloration, and tlie 
corners and arrises are sharp and perfect. This marble is easy to work and takes a very fine gloss, and, being dark 
colored when polished and white when chiseled, auy scroll-work or tracing makes a nice contrast. Much of it is 
finished with a patent hammer, some partly pateut-hammered and partly polished, or polislied and margined. 

Ou account of the thickness of layers in the quarry, dies can be furnished 7 feet high that will stand on their 
natural bed and be of good uniform color. All dies IS inches square or over are quarried to stand ou their natural 
bed. Smaller sizes are quarried the other way. 

The entire limestone formation is marketable stone, and there is no cap-rock to be removed. The upper portion, 
which is coarsely crystalline, is used for building purposes. Farther down the grain is finer and the color darker, 
and most of this is shipped directly to Cleveland, Ohio, and to Xew York city, where it is sawed and manufactured. 

In this locality there are several quarries of the same stone now being opened. An excellent quality of granite 
is also found here, but as yet has not been worked. Soap-stone is also found in workable quantities, and asbestus 
appears. A large variety of serpentine is found in this locality, though as yet none has been put into the market. 

A quarry at the head of Three-iMile bay, Jeflfersou county, is favorably located for water transportation. The 
rock is a rather hard, compact limestone, but works quite well for fine cut work. Two varieties, blue and gray, 
are used. Several quarries have been oj)eued in the same formation at Chauiuout, a few miles from the Three-Mile- 
Bay quarry, and on the Eome and Watertown railway. 

A quarry at Lowville, Lewis county, in the cliff of Trenton limestone caused by Mill creek cutting across the 
formation at this point, has a face of nearly 90 feet, which is almost the entire thickness of the blue limestone in this 
section. It furnishes an excellent building stone, for local demand mainly, and also .stone for flagging and curbing. 

A quarry in a gorge through which the Sugar river passes, at Talcottville, Lewis county, can be worked with 
the least possible amount of labor and expense. -The stream has cut through the ledge and left cliffs of solid stone 
30 or more feet in height in an exposure of a quarter of a mile or more. All of this is valuable stone. The top 
layers are used for lime and the lower ones for building stone. The layers are from 3 to 15 inches thick, and furnish 
an excellent working stone, making good cut work. Between the layers of stone are thin layers of slate. Marine 
fossils are found in abundance. Formerly large amounts of stone were sent from this quarry to the towns along the 
Utica and Black River railroad, but at present the building stones taken out are used in the county. The jointing of 
the formation at this point is remarkably regular, and the layers of the bed are free and easily separated. No other 
quarries of any importance are opened in this vicinity. 

At Cauajoharie, Montgomery county, an extensive ledge of Trenton limestone occurs south of the Jlohawk 
river. Quite a variety of stone is obtained in the different layers in the quarry worked at this point. The topmost 
layer is a hard, rough, somewhat calciferous sand-rock, and below this is a gray rock, gray limestone, etc. The layers 
vary in thickness from 2 feet downward. Only the gray limestone is dressed, and the sand-rock is used quite 
largely for foundations; a number of the houses in the town of Cauajoharie are built of it. The stone from this 
quarry is also shipped to Utica and Little Falls ; at the former place it was used in the construction of the steam 
cotton-mills and the Mohawk Eiver Valley mills. Farther down the Mohawk river, at Tribes Hill, the Trenton group 
is partly cut through, and valuable building stones are obtained on each side of the stream. The quarries here 
produced in former years much of the stone used in the construction of bridges on the New York Central and Hudson 
River railroad, and much of that used in building the locks of the Erie canal. The locations of these quarries are 
convenient for transportation, those on the north of the river being on the line of the New York Central railroad, 
and those on the south on the canal banks. The stone is strong, compact, and durable, and is little affected by 
atmospheric action, though some of the strata which occur here are not valuable for- building stone. At the toi) 
occurs a shell limestone ; below this a stratum of gray limestone about i feet in th ickuess, then a dark blue limestone 
7 feet in thickness, then a stratum, about 4 feet in thickness, of Eough, hard, flinty sandstone, somewhat calciferous, 
and below this is the stratum which furnishes the best stone. This last has been worked to a depth of 28 feet, and 
the bottom has not yet been reached. 

About 1 mile north of Amsterdam, Montgomery county, there are two distinct strata of stone quarried, differing 
in color and quality, that of the upper stratum being quite largely burned for lime, and also used for cut work ; the 
lower stratum is more brittle. The layers are from 4 inches to 2i feet in thickness; the weathered portion of the 
top is burned. Most of the product of these quarries is used to supply local demands, though some of it has been 
shipped for use in important structures, including the New York Central Railroad bridge at Albany, the Cohoes 
dam, and the state capitol. 

At Sharon Springs, Schoharie county, is a dark-colored, firm limestone, in beds varying in thickness from a 
few inches to 2i feet. The thin beds are used in the vicinity for paving sidewalks. The stone, though quite hard, 
dresses easily, and is used for general architectural purposes, though mainly to supply the local demand. Thi.'*. 
quarry has been worked at intervals for many years past, but during the last eight or nine years it has been worked 
but little, though the stone is of superior quality, and might form the basis of an extensive industry with sufficiently 
low rates of transportation. 



138 , BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

Near Cobleskill tlie Corniferous formation occurs in strata of cherty limestone, and gray and blue limestone, 
separated by layers of cliert nodules. The stone dresses quite ^vell, and is used for buildings and monumental work. 

Just soutli of Howe's cave there is a high cliff of limestone of the Lower Helderberg formation, in which the 
quarry of the Howe's Gave Association is located. The total height of the escarpment above "ihe valley bottom is 
about 150 feet. The vertical section of the quarry is as follows : 

Feet. 

Gray stone, used for heafy work 15 

Gray and black stone mixed, used for ballast 12 

Blue limestone — building stone 10 

Shaly beds, used for ballast 10 

Blue limestone — building stone 6 

The heavy gray limestone is taken out in large blocks and is used chiefly for the construction of bridge 
abutments. It is not susceptible of being polished and is not well adapted to flue work. The blue limestone dresses 
well, and the material readily finds market along the line of the Albany and Susquehanna railroad. A considerable 
quarry industry has been built up at this point, owing to the e;scelleuce of the stoue, especially for heavy masonry, 
and to the convenience in working the quarry due to the slight amount of cap-rock to be removed, the height of 
quarry face., and natural drainage. There is also an advantage gained from the fact that the material which, for 
one cause or another, is not suitable for building stone is broken up and used for railroad ballast. 

The Onondaga limestone occurs in beds from 1 foot to 2J feet in thickness. One mile north of the village of 
Spriugfleld Center, Otsego county, on the west side of the outlet of Summit lake, the quarry of Messrs. McOabe & 
Brothers is located. The top of the limestone is polished and grooved by glacial action, and is covered by from 15 
to 30 feet of glacial drift. This covering of clayey and calcareous drift has protected the stone against atmospheric 
influences, and no discoloration has taken place. The rock has a bluigh color, which on exposure becomes somewhat 
lighter. The massive character of the stoue makes it suitable for heavy work, and it also seems to possess the 
properties of strength and durability; however, no examples are known where the stone has been exposed for a 
very long time to test its power of endurance. Several buildings have been constructed. of it, including the Otsego 
■County jail, and the hotel Fenimore, at Cooperstown. 

In Onondaga county the Onondaga limestone was formerly quite extensively quarried, during the period of the 
rapid development of the country. The quarries at Onondaga are within the Indian reservation, and furnish an 
excellent quality of stone; but the amount of cap-rock to be removed is considerable, being from 16 to 18 feet, and 
the lack of facilities for transportation prevents an extensive quarry industry. The stone is used for buildings and 
monuments chiefly at Binghamton and at Syracuse; in the latter place the university building, the court-house, 
and Saint Mary's church are built of this stone. 

The quarries at Fair Mount i'.nd Manlius were flrst opened to obtain stoue for locks on the Erie canal. In this 
vicinity there were formerly also a greater number of quarries than at present, and the demand for the stone is still 
gradually diminishing. The beds are not so heavy as those at Onondaga ; they are here from 8 to 13 inches thick, 
and at Onondaga some layers are 4 feet in thickness. Fine exposures of the Tully limestone also occur in some 
localities, but it is not found m places where facilities for transportation are afibrded, and has therefore not been 
at all developed. 

The quarries at Auburn, Cayuga county, supply the local demand for general construction purposes, and some 
of the gray limestone from the quarry of Mr. John Bennett has been used for monuments. Some quarries are also 
worked in the vicinity of Auburn for stone used in macadamizing roads, and some for lime. The rock is nearly a 
pure limestone, containing a little magnesia and iron. 

At Union Springs the Seneca blue limestone is quarried principally for railroad work along the line of the 
Delaware, Lackawanna, and Western railroad. The stone is suitable for bridge construction and other heavy 
masonry in which undressed stone may be used, the beds being even, some of them 20 inches in thickness, and the 
blocks being readily broken out in rectangular shapes. This limestone contains little magnesia, some graphite, 
and some protoxide of iron. 

A favorable development of the Onondaga limestone occurs at Waterloo, Seneca county, on the Erie canal. 
The quarries at this point were opened when the canal was built, and have been worked more or less ever since. 
The stripping is from 5 to 8 feet, and the limestone has been quarried out to a depth of from 18 to 22 feet. The 
stoue is used chiefly at Rochester for general construction purposes. At Eochester the Niagara limestone occurs 
in broken strata and is quarried for rough foundations. The stone is easily accessible, being covered with only 2 
feet of loose material, and conveniently supplies the local demand for foundation stone. 

At Le Eoy, Genesee county, the Onondaga limestone is quarried for the Elmira market, chiefly for foundations 
and for bridge work on the Erie and State Line railroad. The stone is too hard to dress, and is used only for rough 
masonry. Some stone has also been quarried in this vicinity for blast-furnace flux. 

At Lockport, Niagara county, the Niagara limestone has been quite extensively quarried for many years for 
general construction purposes, and the stone has been shii)ped to New York, Buffalo, and Eochester. In some 
years the value of the product s-old has reached $400,000, but the demand for this stone has diminished in the last 
few years. The quarry is favorably located for transportation both by canal and by railroad. 



DESCRIPTIONS OF QUARRIES AND QUARRY REGIONS. 139 

The coruifcrous limestone crops out quite esteusively in the vicinity of Buffalo and within the city limits. 
The quarries at Williamsville, about 10 miles northeast of Buffalo, are worked for the Buffalo market, producing 
material for ordinary purposes of construction, and some stone suitable for sawing and polishing, which is 
manufactured for ornamental purposes, principally table-tops and mantels. The Buffalo quarries supply most of the 
stone for rough masonry, such as cellat" walls, foundations, cribs, piers, and general railroad work in the vicinity 
of Buffalo. It is not adapted to cut work. 

A number of quarries which do not appear in the tables are worked at intervals in this vi(nnity. The deepest 
of the quarries have been excavated about 30 feet in depth, and several acres in area have been taken out. A 
considerable amount of lime is manufactured in the quarries of the coruifcrous limestone in Erie county. The rock 
is nearly pure limestone, containing small quautities of magnesia and iron, and very little siliceous matter. 

NEW JERSEY. 

, [Compiled mainly from notes by Professors Cook anil Stiioek. ] 

ARCH^AN GRANITE, GNEISS, AND MARBLE. 

The gneisses make up the great mass of the Archfean outcrop. The areas of granite and of crystalline limestone 
are comparatively small, and are confined to the highlands iu the northern \rdvt of the state, in Sussex, Warren, 
Morris, Hunterdon, Passaic, and Bergen counties. The Morris canal, the Delaware, Lackawanna, and Western, 
the Central New York, the Susquehanna and Western, the New York and Greenwood Lake, the BelVidere Delaware, 
and the Sussex railroads all traverse the district. The New York, Lake Erie, and Westoru and the new Lehigh and 
Hudson railroads also run close to outcrops of these Archaean rocks. The facilities for ea.sy transportation to 
large cities and towns are good. 

The beds of gneiss are in manyi)laces very regular, and the stone is generally free from pyrite, magnetite, or 
other injurious constituents; but care is necessary to avoid these minerals, as they are found widely distributed. 
Grrauite is not common, except in small masses, and the outcrops are too limited for quarrying. 

LOCALITIES WHERE GRANITE QUARRIES HAVE BEEN OPENED. 

1. Near Franklin Furnace, Sr.ssex county. Geology of Kcw Jersey, p. ."jOS. 

2. Port Murray, Warren county. Geology of New Jersey, p. 503. 

3. Dover, Morris county. Geology of New Jersey, p. 503. 

4. Bloomingdale, Passaic county. An. Kept., 1873, pp. 99, 100. 

5. Near Charlotteburg (granite), Passaic county. An. Bept., 1873, p. 100. 



1. Warren Marble quarry, Warren county. An. Rept., 1872, p. 26. 

2. Marble mountain, Warren county. An. Sept., p. 28. 

3. Eose Crystal Jlarble quarry, Warren county. An. liepts., 1872, p. 27 ; 1881, p. 42. 

A white limestone has been quarried near Stanhope, in Sussex county, but without much success, as the mass 
appears to be traversed by seams. 

References to general descriptions of gneiss limestone. — Geology of New Jersey, 1868, pp. 64, 312, 
310, 319, 321, 502; An. Bept. for 1873, p. 101; ibid., for 1881, pp. 41, 42; ibid., for 1879, p. 104 (Mendham limestone). 

The only locality in New Jersey where gneiss has been quarried uninterruptedly for any considerable period is 
at Dover, Morris county, on the Delaware, Lackawanna, and Western railroad. The material is quarried for bridge 
construction and general work for the railroad company's use exclusively. Quarries in the other gneissic-rock 
localities in the state have all been 'abandoned after short periods of working. The convenient location at the 
side of the railroad track, the vei-y light stripping, the facility with which the stone can be quarried, ■ and its 
excellence as durable and solid stone for heavy work make this quarry a profitable one. The direction of the 
outcrop is northeast, and it is cut by the new High Biidge railroad a few rods from this quarry. 

The New Jersey Central Railroad Company proposes to open a quarry near the railroad in the same hill. With 
the two lines of railroad and the Morris canal, all crossing the ledges, the transportation facilities are unsurpassed. 
The great amount of stone which can be obtained in the clearing of ground for agricultural purposes iu this 
neighborhood and in northern New Jersey generally has retarded the develo])ment of quarries iu the gneissic rocks 
of this part of the state. As the country becomes more cleared and the land more valuable, these sources of supply 
are gradually restricted. and other quarries similar to the Dover quarry will be developed. For ordinary foundation 
work and for cellar walls, bridges, wharves, and work of that class, the supply is inexhaustible, and stone can bo 
furnished at comparatively low rates The use of the gneissic rocks of New Jersey is increasing, as they are 
excellently adapted from their strength and durability to many purposes. 



140 BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

POTSDAM SANDSTONE AND GEEEN POND MOUNTAIN CONGLOMERATE. 

The sandstone considered of Potsdam age occurs in narrow outcrops bordering at intervals the gneisses. For 
localities see Geology of New Jersey, pp. 71-79. A little less has been quarried at (1) Franklin Furnace, Sussex 
county ; (2) Danville, Warren county; (3) Oxford Furnace, Warren county; and (4) in the Pohatcong valley, near 
Washington, Warren county. 

The sandstone of the Green Pond mountain belt (of Potsdam horizon) has been quarried on Kanouse mountain 
(near) 1, Newfoundland, Passaic county ; (near) 2, McGainsville, Morris county. 

EiBPEEBNCBS ADDITIONAL TO ABOVE. — Qeology of New Jersey, pi>. 503, 504 ; An. Rept., 1872, ijp. 28, 29 ; ihid.,. 
1881, p. 42. 

The Green Pond mountain conglomerate has been used with good effect at Morristown and at Boonton, but 
the bowlders of the country around the towns have furnished an adequate supply. The same stone can be obtained 
at many places in Morris and Passaic counties. It can be had in blocks of any size capable of easy haudUng. The 
stone is very hard and solid, and free from all minerals other than quartz; and the sharp, angular edges and 
numberless glacier-polished bowlders which have been exposed to the weather for ages attest its ability to resist 
atmospheric agencies; but it is not easy to dress on account of .its excessive hardness. The quarries in thia 
formation were not in operation during 1880. 

MAGNESIAN LIMESTONE. 

This rock is the predominating limestone of the state, and is found in Hunterdon, Warren, Sussex, Morris, and 
Somerset counties. For the localities see Geology of New Jersey, pp. 9-130 ; also map. It has been opened at many 
points for stone to be used in lime manufacture. For building purposes the localities in which this stone is found are 
numerous, particularly in Sussex and Warren counties ; and it is in general use in these counties, and in parts of the 
adjoining counties of Hunterdon, Somerset, and Passaic, for building foundations, and for buildings of all kinds. 
For heavy bridge work it is used largely. The railroad and canal companies use a great deal of it in heavy 
construction. (See Geology of New Jersey, pp. 513, 514 and 392-396; An. Bept. for 1873, pp. 100, 101; ibid., 1881, p. 
41; also schedule of Newton limestone.) For analyses see above references and An. Bepts., 1875, p. 36; 1876, p. 55; 
1878, p. 104. 

HUDSON EIVER SLATE. 

This rock yields the roofing slates. . The principal quarries are: (1) La Fayette, Sussex county; (2) Newton,. 
Sussex county; (3) Delaware Water Gap, Warren county. 

Eeferbnces. — Geology of New Jersey, pp. 135-145 and 518-520 ; An. Bept. for 1872, pp. 29, 30. The flagging 
stone of Flag-stone hill. Wantage township, Sussex county, belongs to this geological horizon. Geology of Neiv 
Jersey, 1868, p. 522: Flag-stone; An. Bept., 1881, pp. 04-66. 

The only quarries of roofing slate in New Jersey that were operated to any considerable extent in 1880 are 
those near La Fayette, Sussex county. They are within a mile of the Sussex railroad, and but little farther from 
the new line of the New York, Susquehanna, and Western railroad. These quarries dip to the northwest. The 
geological horizon is that of the Hudson Eiver slate. The reputation of the La Fayette slate is good; the color 
is usually a blue-black. ^ 

ONEIDA CONGLOMERATE AND MEDINA SANDSTONE. 

These rocks constitute the mass of the summit and western slope of the Kittatinny or Blue mountain, stretching 
from the Delaware Water Gap to the New York state line. They have not been ojiened by any regular quarries, 
although the outcrops are many and the stone of the conglomerate formation is solid and durable, and can be 
had in quite regular beds. The sandstone is, in most places, too slaty and shaly in structure to make a good 
building material. The only quarry or opening worthy the name is in Sussex county, and in Montague township, 
where the red stone is got out in thin beds of large size ; but it is not near transportation. ( Geology of New Jersey, 
1868, pp. 146, 149, 513.) 

LOWER HELDERBERG LIMESTONE GROUP. 

The rocks of this group are found in place in a narrow belt in the valley of the Delaware from near Port Jervis , 
to the Nalpack bend, and are confined to Sussex county aloue. They are quarried extensively for lime manufacture, 
but not for building, except a little which goes to Port Jervis and the adjacent country. The quarries are in 
Montague township, Sussex coittity. 

UPPER HELDERBERG GROUP— ONONDAGA AND CORNIFEROUS LIMESTONES. 

The above-mentioned belt in Sussex county is bordered on the west and northwest by the very narrow belt of 
Oriskany sandstone and Cauda-galli grit (both unfit for building material), and these latter are followed by the 
Onondaga and Corniferous limestones in a very narrow outcrop bordering the alluvial plain of the Delaware river. 



DESCRIPTIONS OF QUARRIES AND QUARRY REGIONS. 141 

They have yielded considerable stone for this part of the Delaware valley, which is used for bridge piers, abutments, 
dwellings, etc., but there are no large and regularly-worked quarries. The outcrops are many, and no excavation 
is generally necessary to meet the occasional demands of the valley. 
Eeferences. — Geology of Neic Jersey, 1868, pp. 165, 166, 514. 

TRIASSIC AGE— SANDSTONE, FREESTONE, AND BEOWNSTONE. 

The most noted quarries in the state and some of the largest in the country are opened in the sandstones of the 
Triassic age. The forjiiation occupies a broad belt of the state, running from the New York line southwest to the 
Delaware river. Its boundaries are shown by the geological maps of the state. For general descriptions of its 
rocks, see Geolofjy of New Jersey, 1808, pp. 206-225; also An. Bepf. for 1879, pp. 18-35. 

The Little Falls, Patersou, Belleville, and Newark quarries are the most celebrated of any on the eastern side 
of the state. In the central part of the belt there are quarries in Washington valley (north of Plainfleld), at 
Martinsville and Princeton. 

Along the Delaware river there are large quarries at Greensburg, 4 miles above Trenton, and farther up the 
river valley at Stockton and Prallsville. The localities where quarries have been opened are given in the Anmml 
Report of the New Jersey Geological Survty for 1879, pp. 21, 25. There are other places where stone has been 
quarried, but the above list includes those which have been worked for sale of stone. 

The principal building stone in Newark, Paterson, Orange, Elizabeth, and New Brunswick comes from the 
Belleville and Newark quarries. They furnish a large quantity of very superior building stone to New York city. 
The new Hills building in that city is one of their monuments. Trinity church, New York, represents Little Falls. 
In beauty of shade, solidity, and durability the selected stones from the Little Falls, Belleville, and Newark quarries 
are unsurpassed. It is not superfluous to add that the stone of these quarries is the best of the New Jersey 
sandstones or freestones. It is not so micaceous as many other sandstones, and has not their laminated structure ; 
hence for ornamental work it is well adapted. The absence of bedding lines admits of less care in laying it up. 
Some horizons are more argillaceous, and so-called "clay -holes" are observed in them. 

The Belleville quarries are at North Belleville, and on the right, or west, bank of the Passaic river. They are 
located on a nearly north and south line, and are about 100 yards distant from the river front, which aflbrds 
■wharfage room for vessels of moderate size, as the tide comes up to this point. The railroad line (Newark and 
Paterson branch of the New York, Lake Erie, and Western railroad) runs nearly parallel with the river and about 
a quarter of a mile west of the quarries. There are three different openings. The following are some of the 
principal buildings in which this material has been used: Fort La Fayette, New York harbor; Stevens' house, 
Fifth avenue and Fifty-seventh street; Euppert's house, Fifth avenue and Ninety-third street; building corner of 
Madison avenue and Twenty-eighth street; the Mills budding, on Broad street, and A. T. Stewart's buildings. New 
York city. 

There is considerable variation of the strata in the different parts of the quarry. In the southernmost of these 
quarries the glacial drift is 20 feet thick ; then there is a thickness of 30 feet of red, fine-grained sandstone, most 
of which is of inferior quality, and the best of it is only fit for foundations, cellar walls, etc. Under this thickness 
comes next a coarse-grained, thickly-bedded, reddish-gray sandstone; beneath the latter is a fine-grained red 
sandstone, which can be rubbed and polished. The reddish-gray stone is equally durable, and looks well, but it 
cannot be rubbed. The former brings Si, the latter $1 50 per cubic foot. Explosives are used mostly for throwing 
down the top stone. Canisters or conical charges of black powder are always employed in working off blocks of 
the best and most valuable stone. There are disadvantages of considerable stripping. Working in the direction 
of the dip, water must be pumped out, as all of the quarries are below tide-level in the deei>est points, one of them 
being 35 feet below the Passaic Eiver level (tide). 

Near Avondale station, Belleville, is a quarry of this material which was opened about the time of the Revolution. 
The principal markets now are Newark, New York, and Brooklyn. The ledge here extends S. 5° W., the strata 
being vertical. At the west end of the quarry there is a fine-grained chocolate-colored stone at the top, under 
several feet of stripping. The light-colored stone is a coarse, granular mixture of quartz and feldspar. The shade 
of color is very pleasing and the stone is solid, occurring in thick beds. It was used in the construction of the 
Presbyterian church. Fifth avenue and Fifty-fifth street, New York city, and of various bank buildings in Newark. 
In one of these quarries the total area of the opening is at least 5 acres, being about 500 feet square. The 
vertical section on the northwest includes 60 feet of s-tripping, of which one bed 3 feet thick can be iised for cutting 
into stone for foundations and cellar walls. Then there are 20 feet of the thick and solid beds of grayish, 
coarse-grained stone at top, and flue red stone used for rubbing at the bottom ; underneath the latter there is an 
excavation 14 feet into a shaly rock. These varieties are sometimes designated "No. 1" and "No. 2" stone, 
respectively. On the south side of the quarry there are only 20 feet of stripping, and then comes solid stone. A 
fault traverses this quarry in a north and south direction, displacing the beds to the extent of 4 or 5 feet. Its plane 
dips 65° to 70° west. This fault also appears in one of the neighboring quarries. 

On the south side of Bloomfield avenue, Newark, is located one of the principal quarries. The opening is at 
least 400 feet long from north to south, and the quarry progresses west and northwest in the line of the dip. The 



142 BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

stripping consists of earth and shaly rock, and varies in thickness from 10 to 30 feet. The dip is very uniformly in 
a west-northwest direction and at a slight angle. The joints show no apparent system. On the west the vertical 
section is api^roximately as follows, beginning at the top: 

Feet. 

1. Glacial drift 12 

2. Shaly rock 15 

3. Shaly beds 1 to 4 

4. Dark-colored red sandstone 6 

5. Callous 1 

6. Light-colored sandstone, thick beds ; 8 to 15 

7. Callous 3 to 4 

8. Dark-colored harder sandstone 4 to 6 

In the glacial drift the material is mostly red shale. Nos. 4, 6, and 8 are workable horizons. At the south end 
of the quarry the stripping is only 10 feet thick. Veiy little powder is used. Stone is wedged off and split up after 
the top or stripping has been removed. One engine works both derricks, and the pumping is done by a small 
engine. The material from this quarry has been used for the construction of the Collegiate Eeformed church. 
Fifth avenue and Forty-eighth street ; the Saint Thomas Protestant Episcopal church, Fifth avenue; the Jewish 
synagogue; Presbyterian church, Lexington avenue; Eeformed Episcopal church, Madison avenue; Trinity Church 
school, Church street — all in New York city; Saint Peter's Episcopal chiirch, Albany, ]S"ew York; La Fayette 
College buildings, Easton, Pennsylvania; Yale College buildings, ISTew Haven, Connecticut; Princeton College 
buildings, Princeton, and Kirkpatrick's chapel, Rutger's college, New Brunswick, New .Jersey, and many other 
buildings, especially in Newark. 

The Newark quarries are all conveniently located for transportation. There is natural drainage, as the quarries 
are on a ridge or the highest ground in Newark, which is 100 feet above mean tide-level. The thickness of workable 
strata, the pleasing shades of color, and the fine texture and evenness of grain are circumstances very favorable to 
these quarries, but the value of the land for building purposes is high. 

In the quarry between Fifth and Sixth avenues the strata quarried are remarkable for their thickness and 
solidity, and the joints are wide apart. One system of joints runs northeast and southwest, and is clean and open. 
The glacial-drift covering is about 30 feet thick, but varies to 10 feet in thickness in places. The quarry is nearly 
square, having sides about 200 feet iu length, and the stone worked has a total thickness of 30 feet. At the bottom 
a shaly rock is found. Very large and solid blocks can be quarried here, and some of the more solid rocks show 
no signs of stratification. 

The following are some of the principal buildings in the construction of which this stone was used : The college 
dormitory and the Marquand chapel, Princeton, New Jersey ; Trinity chapel, Houston street; Saint Jerome's church 
spire, and the trimmings of buildings on the corner of Thirty-second street and Broadway, New York city. 

At the corner of Bloomfield and Prospect avenues is an old quarrj' formerly worked very actively, but it is 
about to be closed, as land here is .considered too valuable tor quarry purposes. The quarry has a length of 700 
feet and is 300 feet wide and 60 feet deep at the deepest point. The glacial-drift covering is on an average 15 feet 
thick. On the north side there are two workable horizons each 12 feet thick and separated by shalj'^ beds 3 feet in 
thickness. The location is northeast of that of the Newark Quarry Company, and crosses Bloomiield avenue about 
150 yards away. 

A short distance west of this quarry, and on the same excavation, a new quarry was opened in 1880. The 
excavation measures 50 by 50 feet and is 40 feet deep. The beds are covered to a depth of from 5 to 8 feet by glacial 
drift. The ledge here opened is shaly at top, and there is first a thickness of .from 10 to 15 feet of red sandstone. 
Beneath this there is a drab-colored sandstone 12 feet thick. Its shade of color and fineness of grain recommend 
it, but the extent of the supply is still unknown. The dip of the ledge is to the northwest. 

The principal quarry at Orange mountain, iu Essex county, jiroduces stone for ordinary building purposes, used 
in Orange and vicinity. Among the buildings in which it may be seen are the Central Presbyterian church, the 
addition to Grace Protestant Episcopal church, South Orange Presbyterian church, and the residence of Davis 
Collamer, at Orange, and that of Keuj'on Cox, at Millburn. The quarry is in the eastern face of Orange or 
Watchuug mountain, and about 250 feet higher than Orange. An excellent Telford road within 250 yards of the 
quarry leads to Orange and Newark. There are in all 14 feet of workable beds, one of which is 6 feet in tbifikness. 
There is considerable thickness of stripping, which consists of reddish shaly beds. This stone presents a pleasing 
appearance when dressed, either ax-hammered or bush-hammered, and is readily dressed. Like all the stone of 
Essex county, it hardens on exposure. The working advances in the direction of the dip ; hence there is no advantage 
of gravity in getting blocks from che beds. There is a fault running north and south through the quarry, but the 
dislocation does not appear to be great. The plane of the fault dips about 85° to the east. The ro«k surfaces are 
coated with yellowish earth, and in places the rock Is crumbling, so that there is no workable ar marketable stone 
for a distance of from 1 foot to 3 feet frotu the fault plane. 

There is a quarry at West Orange, Essex county, which produces a rather fijie grained brownstone, used for 
buildings and trimmings, chiefly in New York and Orange. This quarry is in the valley between the first and the 



DESCRIPTIONS OF QUARRIES AND QUARRY REGIONS. 143" 

second Watchuiig moiuitaiu rauges aud uear tlie siirumit, of the second range. It occupies the same relative i)osi(iou 
as the \yenkuo\vn Little Falls quarry. The stripiJiug is uot heavy, so that the aggregate thicicness of workable beds 
is about 40 feet, but this does not include all, as there is said to be good stone at the bottom. The stone is heavy- 
bedded, and a set of regular aud true joints extends through the ledge which facilitates tlie work of quarrying. The 
stone when quarried is easily dressed, and can be carved into any desired forms. It hardens by exposure. At present 
there is the disadvantage of having to move the stone by team a distance of from 2 to i miles before reaching railroad 
or canal. Among the most important buildings in the construction of which the stone from this quarry was used ai'e 
the Presbyterian church at Caldwell, chapel of Grace Protestant Ejtiscopal church at Orange, Eeformed (thurch at 
East Orange, jS^iles' mansion, Bloomiield, and a house at the quarry. Much of the stone was used in the construction 
of college buildings at Garden City, Long Island. During IS SO nearlj- all the material quarried, inclndiug a common 
rough stone, was marketed, the rougli stone being used chiefly for walls at Garden City. 

The gray feldsi^athic sandstone of the Palisade mountain is found in a crumbling condition on the east face of 
the Palisades and uear the river, but not there suitable for building. At Englewood and Tenafly, iu Bergen county^ 
it is found so abundant iu loose masses that this source has furnished stone for many elegant country houses and 
public structures; but no quarry in the rock in situ has as yet been opened. 

At Paterson (iu the western suburbs) a light colored buff stone has been quarried to some extent. The pleasing- 
shade of color aud its ease in working give it a local use. 

The principal quarry near Paterson is iu the eastern face of First mountain. The average stripping has been. 
15 feet thick, largely a red shale aud sandstone with trap-rock debris fallen from clitt's above. The working has 
reached the trap rock wall, and now must be carried laterally or the trap-rock must be undermined. The rock face 
presents a vertical section, the divisions of which are approximately as follows : 

Feet. 

1. Trap-rock 80 

a. Red-shale rock 8 

3. Red sandstone of varyiny; thickness 15 

4. Sandstone and shalo irregularly alternating 10 

5. Sandstone in two thick beds with shale intervening in jilaces 20 

C. Shale li 

7. Grayish sandstone of the best quality for building purposes ir> 

The stone most used comes from Nos. 5 and 7 of this section. The quarry has advantages in location, giving 
a great thickness of strata above all drainage, and being situated, as it were, on the baidv of the jMorris canal. 
There are also three railroad stations within one mile. The principal markets are Patersou and Hackensack. Some 
is shipped to Newark aud to Jersey City. The character of tins material as to durability may be observed iu the 
Passaic County jail building, aud in many other buildings iu Paterson and Hackensack. The principal drawback is 
the heavy stripping in the trap cliff; this might be thrown down aud the stone utilized for roads. Professor Smock, 
of the New Jersey geological survey, thinks the stone under the trap-rock will probably be found more solid and iu 
thick workable beds, (a) 

In Washingtou valley, and at Martinsville, in Somerset county, there are quarries in the lighter-colored stones 
which look well in buildings. At the principal quarry at Martinsville the stripping at the north end is 21 feet thick, 
and consists mostly of red-shale earth at the top and red sandstone below. Some of the beds in the stripping 
furnish stone suitable for foundations. At the opposite end of the quarry the strijiping has ranged from 10 to 30 
feet. The total thickness of the courses now worked is about 20 feet, 11 feet of which is a light-colored freestone. 
At the bottom of the quarry a greenish shale sets in-. The dip of the strata is 10° north-northeast. Most of the 
stones taken out are from 1 foot to 2 feet in thickness, but blocks 3 feet thick and 12 feet square may be obtained. 
The stone is readily sawed aud dressed ; gang-saws cut about 1 inch deep per hour iu it. The light-colored stone is 
sawed iuto shape for caps, window sills, lintels, water-tables, etc. The principal markets for the stone from this 
quarry are Boundbrook, Somcrville, Plainfield, Brooklyn, and neighboriug places. Among the buildings in the 
construction of which it was used are those in Prospect park, Brooklyn, and a hotel in Martinsville. In old buildings, 
where this stone has been u.sed it proves to be durable. 

At New Brunswick and along the Raritan River valley the stone is too shaly and does not weather well. The 
quarries are not now worked. 

The Delaware River quarries supi>ly a large quantity of stone to Trenton, Lambertville, Bordeutown, Burlington, 
Philadelphia, and Camden. This stone varies somewhat iu the different quarries. It is conglomeratic in the 
Prallsville quarries and iu some of the beds at Greeusburg. The best stone is of a reddish-gray shade, and contains 
a little feldspar associated with the quartz. The stone is easily dressed, aud is used for both ornamental and conunou 
building work. Much of the Stocktou-Prallsville stone has been used iu the construction of heavy bridge work 
on the lines of the Pennsylvania Railroad company. The stone on this side of the state ai)pears to be a little more 
open and porous than that of the Little Falls and Belleville quarries, and it ftivors the growth of a green fungus (?) 
in dark and shaded outside localities. 

a Geology of New Jersey, 1868, p. 506. 



144 BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

There are four important quarries at Greensburg, and the stones from all of them are known in the market as 
"Trenton brownstone" or as freestone. The quarries are about four miles from Trenton, on the bank of the 
feeder of the Delaware and Earitan canal, and near the line of the Belvidere Delaware railroad ; the Delaware and 
Boundbrook railroad crosses the Delaware river within a mile of the quarries. The general direction of the dip is 
north-northwest to an angle of about 10°. Some of the stripping consists of a friable and coarse-grained stone made 
up of a mixture of quartz and feldspar, with some red-shale rock in places. The workable beds are from 12 to 15 feet 
in total thickness. These beds are usually separated by from 3 to' 4 feet of redshale beds. The total thickness of 
merchantable stone is iu some places 35 feet. The i^roximity of these quarries to both canal and railroad, their 
easy drainage, comparatively light stripping, and the thick beds of workable stone, are very considerable 
advantages. Its durability and the ease with which it is dressed create a large demand for this stone ; the sale of 
the dirt and rotten rock of the strijiping at a compensation suflacient to pay for removing it is another considerable 
advantage. The Trenton brownstone or freestone is most largely used in Trenton, and nearly all of the stone 
buildings are of this material; it is quite largely used in Philadelphia also, and a little is used iu the towns along the 
Delaware river from Lambertville to Philadelphia. The following are some of the principal buildings in the 
construction of which the Trenton brownstone was used : House of Correction at Holmesburg, Pennsylvania ; 
Catholic church, third and Eeed streets; the Episcopal church, Nineteenth and Wallace streets; Presbyterian 
church. Twenty-first and Walnut streets ; Presbyterian church, Twenty-second and Bainbridge streets; school- 
hoirse, Sixth and Coates streets, all at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; the library building at Princeton, JSI'ew Jersey; 
Saint Mary's church at Warren and Bank streets ; and the residences of Hon. A. G. Eitchie, Eev. E. S. Manning, S. 
Prior, and others, at Trenton, New Jersey. For the composition of these stones see Geology of New Jersey, 1868, 

pp. 515, 516. 

FLAGGING STONE. 

At two localities, Woodsville, Mercer county, and Milford, Hunterdon county, flagging stone is obtained. There 
are several distinct openings near Milford. The quarries at Milford are all within two miles of the Milford Eailroad 
depot, and are in the dark blue flue-grained sandstone of the Triassio formation near its junction with the gneissic 
rocks of the Archsean age. A fall description of these localities may be found iu the Geology of Weic Jersey, 1868, 
pp. 521, 522. The quarries are at present worked only for local markets along the Delaware river from Easton to 
Lambertville. The beds are generally quite thin, and most of the stone splits nicely, giving a smooth surface suitable 
for floors or sidewalks. The maximum thickness of flag-stone produced here is 4 inches ; thicker layers are used for 
building purposes. The dip of the beds is 20° N., 40° W. A fine dividing plane or joint travei'ses the stone in a 
direction N. 75° E.; another runs N. 15° W. Impressions of stems, fragments of coal, and some supposed foot- 
prints have been found in this locality. The following is an analysis of this flag-stone made ibr the New Jersey 
geological survey: 

Per cent. 

Sand .iiid silicic acid 79. 25 

Protoxide of iron 3. 78 

Alumina \.. 7. 49 

Lime ' 1.86 

Magnesia Trace 

Potash 0.50 

Soda. '. 0.62 

Sulphuric acid 1. 39 

Carbonic acid 1. 46 

Water 2.76 

Moisture " 1.. '. 0.40 

Total 99.51 

The principal quarry at Woodville is in a dai'k-colored, flne-grained shale of the Triassic age. The surface 
layers are shale ; the beds below are a fine, bluish, slate-like rock, which, however, is properly classified with the 
sandstones. The dip of the strata is 20° N., 4° W., very irregularly bedded in layers varying in tliickness from very 
thin flagging to those 10 inches thick. The excavation in the quarry is 40 feet deep at the deepest point. Stripping 
is easy and drainage natural, but the stone has to compete with the Hudson Eiver blue-stone at Trenton and on the 
railroad lines; as better iirices are obtained in the immediate neighborhood than at Trenton, the local demands 
regulate working. The fineness of grain and smooth surface of this stone make it desirable for flagging; although 
a slate-like rock, the cleavage is not of such a nature as to permit it to be used as roofing material. Flag-stone oi 
inferior quality is obtained at Princeton also. Martinsville quarry affords some stone suitable for flagging. In all 
of these places the stone is chiefly a fine-grained, slate-like rock, and generally of slate color. One of the quarries 
at Princeton produces what is called by Professor Smock a "blue, indurated, argillaceous sandstone", although, 
according to the classification adopted in this report, it is put with the slates. It is used for ordinary building 
purposes in 'Princeton. 

Another quarry produces a grayish sandstone used to a limited extent for building purposes at various places 
along the Delaware and Earitan canal, and was used to some extent in the construction of the Princeton College 
buildings. 



DESCRIPTIONS OF QUARRIES AND QUARRY REGIONS. 145 

TRAP-ROCKS. 

The trap-rocks included in the saudstoues of the Triassic iu New Jersey are quarried extensively, their principal 
rise being for paving. The stone si)lits readily into blocks of specification sizes for street paving, and is hard, 
■n-earing well. For such use the obloug-ishaped blocks are found to be quite as good as granite, and their employment 
is increasing in New York and in cities of the state. The quarries for paving blocks are confined mostly to the 
east bluff' of the Palisade Mountain range, or Bergen hill, and to Goat hill, near Lambertville, in Hunterdon county. 
For building, the trap-rock has been used in Jersey City and in Orange, but not to any great extent, although for 
large structures it is well adapted and looks finely. Trap -rock is also used largely for ballasting railroad beds and 
for Telford roads. 

Eefeeences. — Sandstone. — (Analysis.) See Geology of Kew Jersey, ISGS, p]). 215, 21S. Trap-rock: An. Eejpt. 
N.J., 1873, pp. 113, 114.; ihid., 1879, pp. 2.3, 20; ihUL, 1881,"pp. 60, 63. 

The principal quarry iu the Triassic trap, or diabase, is at Bergen hill, Iludsou county. It is used for pa\-ing 
blocks chiefly in New York, Jersey City, Hoboken, and Newark. TLie trap-rock quarries at this place are confined 
to the eastern brow of the hill and to the summit of the range. Tliey extend at intervals from Montgomery street, 
Jersey City, to the Bergen County line, a distance of 7 miles. These quarries are very small ; they are opened on 
the brow of the hill where streets are to be cut through, or on knobs such as mount Pleasant, near the track of the 
Pennsylvania railroad, which is to be taken down to a much lower level. Others are so located as to get stone 
most easil.v and of quality suitable for use. The excavations are not sunk into the rock, but are simply extended 
into the ledge as it projects from the hill. There is but little stripping, cap-rock, or waste of any kind; neai'ly all of 
the rock is used. All the quarries are worked on leases, and a common practice is for a gang of three or four men to 
work together. The only capital is the value of tools and powder, averaging jirobably less than $100 to each quarry. 
The specification leaving blocks are cut 8 by 10 inches (or by 12) by 4 inches ; the square blocks are 5 or by 7 inches. 
The former are cut with some regard to dimensions, but the square blocks are cut with much variation, some 
having nearly twice the cubical contents of others. There is much variation in the stones of different localities, and 
some cuts much more readily than others, and with less waste. The sjjalls are used for Telford-road making. 
Black powder is enqjloyed to break off' large masses, which are broken up by hand-sledges, and the blocks are 
split out by hammers. The blocks are carted direct from the quarries to streets to be paved in New York or Jersey 
City. The specification block is growing in favor, and the use of trap-rock as a leaving stone is increasing very 
rapidly. Against the square blocks there seems to be a serious objection — that its surface grows smooth very soon 
and is slippery ; but against the oblong blocks the objection does not exist. 

The location of these quarries is above all water, with natural drainage, with no stripping to be removed, and 
they are often worked for the double puri)ose of removing the stone in the grading of streets and for paving stone. 
As a building stone this trap-rock has been used with good results in Saint Patrick's church iu Jersey City, and in 
the Hudson County court-house, besides other edifices both public and private. It is also used iu retaining-walls. 

The late Dr. George W. Hawes said of this Triassic diabase or trap : • 

From a specimeu of the uormal rock from Jersey City tbe feldspar was separated and ivas analyzed by Dr. Howe, and proved to be 
complex, a circumstance not indicated by the microscopic examination. The process of separation by means of the specific gravity 
necessitated the presence of what may be called "middlings", which were not sufficiently dwelt upon, and which may be supposed to 
have modified somewhat the composition of the parts. One part was a little more siliceous than labradorite, and the other analysis gave 
the formula of aiidesite. The second feldspar may be assumed to be a little more acid than the analysis. 

The complexity of the feldsp.ithic element being demonstrated iu this ease, we may, if we choose, by a calculation, indicate the per- 
centage of the feldspar in the rock, if the composilion of the pyroxene is known. The pyroxene of West rock has been analyzed, and 
if this rock is selected as typical we obtain : 

Per cent. 

Anorthite l.'i. 5J 

Albite 2i. IG 

Potash feldspar _ 2. 3'i 

Pyroxene 54. 47 

Titanic iron 2. H8 

Magnetite 1. 76 

Apatite 0. :{2 

Total 99.23 

Thus the percentage of total feld.spar is shown, but it is not intended in any degree to sug-gest that auorthite, albite, and potash- 
feldspar are present in these or any proiiortions, but a calculation i.s only possible when the extreme species are considered; and, these 
molecular relations being known, iu the words of the article " it becomes easy to see how extremely diversified the feldspathic elements 
may be in rocks of this nature. The molecules may arrange themselves in very diversified ways, while the rocks remain identical in 
composition ". 

This method of calculating the amount of feldspar has been very often used. West rock, according to the calculation, includes 
.just 40 jier cent, of feldspar, which contains the elements that might form three species or be combined in one. In the Jersey Cityrock 
the feldspathic molccnlcs have combined to form laljradorite and andesite. In a little dike which intersects West rock, forming a bit of 
its western face, and identical in composilion with all the rocks of this remarkably uniform sy.stem, anorthite has formed in small amount, 
which diies.uot nccessitare a more basic rock, .since a simple arrange nieut of the remaining feld.spathic molecules into other species could 
ccvnipensate for this. 

VOL. IX :!• :: s 



146 BUILDINa STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

It is known that Jersey City trap consists of ijyrosene, two feldspars of intermediate composition, titanic iron, magnetite, and' 
some minntely microscopic ingredients ; and the occurrence of anorthite in rocks of like composition that may be supposed to have- 
cooled under different conditions indicates that constancy of composition as regards the species of feldspar is not to he expected. 

LATER FOEMATIONS. 

Brown sandstone and conglomeeatb. — This is the only building stone found in the southern half of the 
state. It is a cemented sand or gravel, and the cementing material is iron oxide. It is not confined to any particular 
geological horizon, but occurs from the lower beds of the Cretaceous age to the latest drift, although more 
common in the outcrop of the red-sand bed and the drift gravel of the soatheastern part of the state. In the 
absence of any other stone it is useful and is largely used for foundations and cellar walls. The quarries are 
generally small pits or shallow openings, and the stones occur in beds of varying thickness, lying upon earthy 
strata or beds, and covered by sand, or sand and gravel or earthy materials. In a few instances buildings have 
been constructed of this stone. 

Eeperences. — Geology of Neio Jersey, 1868, pp. 5JC, 517, and Jin. Bept., 1881, pp. 66, 68. 

At Egg Harbor city, Atlantic county, a quarry of this stone is located on rocks of Cretaceous age. A description 
of this quarry and the material produced by it will illustrate what is done in southern New Jersey in these quarries 
of brown sandstone. 

The stone from the Egg Harbor quarry is durable, as it hardens on exposure, but it is not adapted to nice work, 
and hence its use is limited to the construction of wine vaults at Egg Harbor city, foundations, cellar walls, and 
occasionally bridge abutments and a few buildings ; one is a Protestant Episcopal church at Eatontown, Monmouth 
county, built of stone from the vicinity ; another is the West Jersey academy at Bridgeton, built of stone quarried 
near the town. Some of this material was used in the construction of the large dam at May's Landing. Among 
the more important of the numerous quarries in this stone are the following: near Eatontown, Monmouth county; 
Stonehill, Atlantic township, Monmouth county ; Arney's mount, Burlington county ; near Wareton, Ocean county ; 
Bridgeton, Cumberland county ; Egg Harbor city, Atlantic county ; May's Landing, Atlantic county. 

PENNSYLVANIA. 

[Compiled mainly from notes of members of the Second Geological Survey, etc.] 
BUILDING-STONE RESOURCES. > 

The ranges of the Ajjpalachian mountains passing in a general direction northeast and southwest through the 
central and eastern parts of the state are the most marked feature in the geographical structure ; and, speaking 
very generally, the exposures of the different geological formations, especially in the mountain regions of the state, 
are in the form of bands, of greater or less width, having the same direction as the mountains. 

The oldest rocks in the state are the Archaean, in the southeastern corner; and going west and northwest newer 
rocks appear in consecutive order, with- the following exceptions : 

There is a belt of Mesozoic red sandstone i)assing through the southwestern corner of the state, lying 
nnconformably on and bounded by rocks of Archaean and Lower Silurian age. This is the latest formation 
found within the limits of the state. It is described very fully in Vol. II, First Geological Survey of Pennsylvanitty 
by Professor Henry D. Eogers. 

The next imiiortant exception is the anthracite-coal fields of eastern Pennsylvania. These are comparatively 
narrow belts, the exposures of which are bounded by sub-Carboniferous and Devonian rocks. In the reports of the 
geological survey of Pennsylvania the preservation of these isolated Carboniferous strata is ascribed to the fact 
that there is a marked depression of the surface in this section of the state, j)lacing the rocks much lower than 
those of the same age in other mountain regions. 

There are small, separate areas of the Lower Silurian limestone, sometimes called Siluro-Cambrian, by Lesley, 
in the second Pennsylvania survey, and called by Eogers the Auroral limestone. 

Among the most imjiortant in their resources of building stone, beginning at the southeast, are the ArchiEan 
rocks before mentioned, which furnish gneisses in the neighborhood of Philadelphia and Cliester county ; serpentines 
in Chester county, and slates, for roofing purposes, in York county. 

The Mesozoic or Triassic belt before mentioned furnishes a brown sandstone at various localities, which material 
is of the same age and bears a general resemblance to the brownstone of the Connecticut valley, and there is a belt 
of this age in Nova Scotia furnishing sandstone of superior quality for building purposes, but it does not bear as much 
resemblance to the Connecticut stone as does the material of the Triassic formation^quarried in Pennsylvania. 

There are dikes of trap-rock cutting this Mesozoic belt at various points. A microscopic examination shows 
it to be a diabase, and it furnishes a very hard and practically indestructible building material, but from its hardness 
it is difficult to work and is dull and somber in appearance. There are quarries in these dikes at Collins station, 
near Falmouth, in Lancaster county, and near York Haven, in York county. Surface bowlders of the material ai'e 
taken Tip for purposes of construction on and near Cemetery ridge, Gettysburg, Adams county. The trap at this 
place lies a short distance south of the present southern boundary of the Mesozoic sandstone, but there is little 
doubt that it is contemporary with the trap dikes which cut the Mesozoic sandstone at various places. The most 



DESCRIPTIONS OF QUARRIES AXD QUARRY REGIONS. 147 

important quariies at present are at Hummelstowu, aud the material is also quarried at Yardleyville, Lumbertou, 
aud Newtowu, Bucks county, to a slight extent near Beading, in Berks county, and at York Haven, in York 
county. 

The Lower SUuriau or Auroral limestone before mentioned, which covers quite a large area in Cumberland or 
Lebauou valley (the Shenandoah valley of Virginia), furnishes by far the largest part of the limestone quarried iu 
the state. The isolated bodies of this limestone in Montgomery, Chester, Lancaster, aud York counties, lying 
southeast of the main body of the strata, famish, in Montgomery county, the "Pennsylvania marble" ; but in the 
other counties mentioned they furnish a limestone similar to that to be found almost everywhere in the Camberlaud 
valley. 

Strata of Hudson Iliver age, lying immediately upon the Lower Silurian limestone, iu Northampton and Lehigh 
counties, furnish rooflug slates which are extensively quarried, the tiade in which is rapidly increasing year by 
year. 

Northwestward of the Lower Silurian limestones there is quite an extended area of Devonian strata, and on 
these there are ledges of Catskill sandstone iu Pike county aud vicinity that are much quarried for flags. The 
material is- of the same structure and character as the Xorth Eiver blue-stone so extensively quarried in Ulster 
county, Xew York, for flags, and is scarcely distinguishable frou> it: it is marketed with the North Eiver blue- 
stone and bears the same name. 

The strata in this region are usually thin and evenly bedded shales and sandstones, hard, tine, and compact in 
texture, and j)arlicularly well adapted to paving jjurposes. In Wyoming county, iu the vicinity of Meshop})en, 
there are quarries located on Devonian strata of the Chemung horizon, and the material is a very superior, fine- 
grained, compact, light gray or bluish sandstone, well adapted to the better class of construction, which is rapidly 
coming into use in New York aud other eastern cities. Although the courses here are usually sufficiently thick to 
furnish material suitable for massive construction, much of it is thinly-bedded and is extensively quarried for 
sidewalk paving. 

There are flag quarries also iu Susquehanna and Tioga counties, and numerous other quarries are distributed 
over the country covered by these I'ocks, but the localities mentioned are the principal ones thus far where they 
have been qirarried for purposes of construction. 

There are numerous quarries of sub-Cai'boniferous flag-stone, probably of Chemung age, and certainly belonging 
to the Venango Oil group, along the high divide overlooking lake Erie, in Erie county. 

There is one important quarry of umbral or mountain limestone (a division of the sub-Carboniferous iu 
Pennsylvania), near Connellsville, Fayette county, quarried for street paving, and marketed thus far chiefly iu 
Pittsburgh. 

The Carboniferous area in the western portion of the state furnishes but little excei^ting coarse sandstone and 
conglomerates, which have been extensivelj' used for local construction, but are usually not of such a quality as to 
justify their being shipped to distant points. There are, however, a few quarries producing material of such quality 
that they are used to some extent for buUding purposes in neighboring towns and cities; among these may be 
mentioned a quarry at Gallitzen, ou the Pennsylva-nia railroad west of Altoona, and the quarries at Baden, 
Homewood, and Beaver Falls, in Beaver county. In Washington and Greene counties there are ledges of Coal- 
Measure sandstone sufficiently durable aud of good quality for ordinary uses, though they have been as yet but 
little used. 

AECH.EAN ROCKS. 

The southern gneissic district described iu the geological reports of Pennsylvania, as ranging from the Delaware 
at Trenton to the Susquehanna, south of the state Hne, and Ij'iug south of the limestone valley of Montgomery and 
Chester counties, is the district in which are located nearly all the quarries of gneiss in the state ; and those furnishing 
most of the material are in the vicinity of Philadelphia. This rock is here exteusively used for foundations, walls, 
docks, paving blocks, curbs, and rubble work. It is for the most part a hornblende gneiss; in some of the quarries 
it is a muscovite gneiss, and there is a quarry at Frankfort, in the Twenty-third ward, Philadelphia, producing 
material which may properly be called a biotite granite. 

There are quarries of hornblende gneiss at Rittenhousetown, Twenty-first ward, Germantown, Twenty-second 
ward, and Jeukiustown, Montgomery county. This material is gray in color, varying from light to dark and from 
fine to coarse in texture. It usually lies iu sheets sometimes horizontal, sometimes vertical, though they are fouud 
inclined at every angle. It usually splits very regularly in the direction of the lamination, and is conveniently 
wrought into regular blocks for the purposes for which it is used. Some varieties of the gneiss are subject to decay 
from the decomposition of the feldspar, by means of which the rock is disintegrated. 

Near Chester, Delaware county, the gneiss is very extensively quarried for the same purposes for which it is 
quarried within the limits of Philadelphia. The ingredients of which it is compo.sed vary within certain limits, so 
that, according to the system of nomenclature used iu this report, some of it is called a biotite gneiss, some biotite- 
muscovite gneiss, and some muscovite-biotite gneiss. The proximity of the quarries to the Delaware river affords 
ready means of transportation to Philadelphia and other cities aud towns bordering on that river. The following 



148 BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

list includes some of the important buildings in wbieli this stone has been used, chiefly for foundations : The Cooper 
hospital, Camdeu, JSTew Jersey; church in Chester, Pennsylvania; Catholic church, Third and Eeed streets, and 
Presbyterian church, Nineteenth and Green streets, Philadelphia; Saint Charles Bartholemew church, near 
Philadelphia; railroad-station buildings, Overbrook; fort Delaware, built largely of this rock; various light-houses 
along the Delaware river; and the following structures in Philadelphia: Chestnut Street bridge (partly) ; Market 
Street Bridge abutments and piers ; Junction Eailroad bridge ; Manayunk bridge ; Penrose Ferry bridge ; foundations 
of Market Street gas-works; foundations of Girard college; Fairmount water- works; Blockley almshouse; the 
old Naval Asylum and the Arsenal buildings. Also Swarthmore college, Delaware county. 

In many private residences in Philadelphia and vicinity the walls are built of rough blocks of this stone firmly 
cemented together and presenting a very pleasing appearance. 

As before stated the principal quarries in the Mesozoic trap are at Collins station, Lancaster county, and some 
in a dike on the opposite side of the Susquehanna river near York Haven, York county. The following description 
of the York Haven traj) will give a general idea of these dikes wherever exposed. The face of this particular 
quarry is about 70 feet in height, but the material extends to an unknown depth. It lies in huge natural blocks 
sometimes weighing hundreds of tons, and having curved outlines giving them a sort of oval shape. Smaller blocks 
of various shapes are wedged in between the larger ones, and sometimes regular parallel sheets are seen lying 
together, usually near the top of the mass. The stone is reduced to proper shape by drilling rows of holes about 
three inches in depth and using plug and feather. It splits well in two directions. Stone from this quarry is used 
only by the Northern Central railroad in the construction of bridges, cuh^erts, etc., and its indestructible nature 
and the fact that it may be quarried in regular massive blocks of any desired size make it a verj' desirable material 
to be used for these purposes. 

At the Kellar quarry, Collins station, the stone is more extensively quarried than at any other place in the state, 
and is used for curbing, steps, base courses, cemetery work, caps, sills, columns, etc. The stone is used in the 
foundation of the new Harrisburg post-office, the superstructure of which is of the Eichmond, Virginia, and 
Manchester, New Hampshire, granites; and the soldiers' monument at Harrisburg is a rectangular obelisk wholly 
built of this material. 

There is much information concerning the geographicallimits, geology, and character of material of these trap 
dikes in Eeport C C C, Second Geological Surrey of Pennsylvania. 

The material of the trap bowlders quarried near Gettysburg, and before referred to, is a diabase exactly similar 
to the stone in these dikes wherever they appear; but in this immediate vicinity there is an unusually large number 
of surface bowlders, and they have thus far sui^plied all the stone quarried here, there having been no necessity to 
operate on the dikes in place. Thebowlders are i)articularly numerous and of large size in the vicinity of Vincent's 
Spur, Eound To]), and Little Eound Toi), prominences of Cemetery ridge, along which the arniy of the Potomac 
was posted during the battle of Gettysburg. The places mentioned are all in close contiguity; and Devil's Den, 
where there is also a fine exposure of these trap-rocks, lies also at the base of Eound Top. The bowlders are also 
to be found at Culp's hill, the northern extremity of Cemetery ridge. The stone is obtained in regular blocks by 
plug and feather, in the same manner as at Collins station and York Haven, and is used to a considerable extent for 
steps, caps, curbs, bases, and cemetery work in general. The stone is used in the Gettysburg national cemetery as 
head-stones. It may be seen in use in nearly all the towns within a radius of 50 or 60 miles of Gettysburg, and is 
known as Gettysburg granite. 

SEEPENTINE AND SOAP-STONE. 

Serpentine is becoming more and more pojiular as a building material. The Chester County stone has attracted 
much attention in many quarters. Quite a number of important buildings have been constructed of it in Philadelphia, 
Washington, and Chicago. The stone is apparently very durable, and buildings in the neighborhood of West 
Chester, which have been erected over one hundred years, are fresh and maintain their attractive C')lor unchanged. 
The stone is easilj' worked, and it is claimed that it can be furnished at a smaller cost than any other stone at the 
quarry. 

Professor Henry D. Eogers, in Vol. I, Geological Survey of Pennsylvania, describes a number of belts and outcrops 
of serpentine in the southeastern corner of Pennsylvania south of the limestone valley of Montgomery and Chester 
counties. The first, or the most northwesterly, serpentine and steatite range is near the Schuylkill river in the 
southern edge of Montgomery county, and is the most eastern zone of the magnesian rooks in southern Pennsylvania. 
It is a long, straight, narrow line of outcrop of steatite or serpentine crossing the Wissahickon creek and the 
Schuylkill river. The steatite in this belt predominates, serpentine being usually dispersed through it in lumps. 
Tlie steatite, where sufliciently free from the serpentine, was formerly quarried for the lining of stoves, fire-places, 
and furnaces ; the principal market being the city of Philadelphia. It is also sawed into slabs of various thicknesses 
and used for mantels, stoves, sinks, etc. The debris is sometimes ground into a flour and used for foundery facings, 
lubricating purposes, roofing material, in paint manufacture, and for various other purposes. 

Toward the end of the last century, before the introduction of the Montgomery County marble, this easily- 
quarried material was used for street-door steps iu Philadelphia, but its unequal hardness, owing to the dispersion 



DESCRIPTIONS OF QUARRIES AND QUARRY REGIONS. U9 

of imperfectly-crystallized lumps of serpentine, caused it to wear uneveulj' aud to soon present a rougli appearance; 
and Professor Rogers notices the fact that in some old and much-woru door-sills of this rock the knots of the 
serpentine mineral project above the steatite like hob-uails iu a plank. The fifth serpentine tract, or that of the 
West Chester barrens, is the one which has been quarried most for building purposes. The rock here is of a grayi.sh- 
greeu color, massive, medium fine and uniform in texture, and has been extensively used for buildings, jmncipally 
as ashlar in walls. The principal markets are Philadelphia, Baltimore, Xew York, aud Washington, and it has 
been shipped as far west as Chicago. 

Among the principal constructions of this stone are the Girls' Normal School building, Seventeenth and Si)riug 
Garden streets, Atadensy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia; Pennsylvania University buildings, West Philadelphia; 
the court-house,Wilmingtou, Delaware, and 20 large churches, a number of school buildings, aud several hundred 
private residences in Philadelphia, and more particularlj' in West Philadelphia. A portion of the material is 
sawed at the quarry. Several old farm-houses in the neighborhood built of this stone more than a century ago are 
reported, two having been erected in 1730 ; and the color of the stone is as perfect as wlien first quarried. A number 
of columns feet long aud 12 inches iu diameter were furnished from this quarry for the university of Pennsylvania. 
This is about the longest that can be obtained, but it is not difficult to find good sound pieces 4 feet long and G or 8 
inches thick. The broken aud jointed character of the rock renders it impossible to obtaiu large blocks, hence its 
chief use thus far has bceu as ashlar iu the walls of buildings. This stone can be readily carved, but cannot be 
sawed into very thin slabs. Although it has only been introduced to the public in the past ten years, it has been 
very extensively used by architects and builders, especiallj' iu Philadelphia. The quality of the stone both as to 
color aud texture is more uniform iu every respect than it was when the quarries were first worked, and the supply 
appears to be practically inexhaustible. 

Near Eisiug Sun, Marjland, iu the southern edge of Chester county, Pennsylvania, there is a serpentiue tract 

upon which is located a quarry, formerly extensivelj' worked, but which was idle during ISSO. There are also one 

or two other quarries on this tract iu the same locality ; and there is a quarry of serpentine near Media, Delaware 

county, which, however, was not operated during ISSO. Some of the stone for the building of the Peni\sylvauia 

uuiversity, AVest Philatlelphia, was obtained at the Media quarry, and some at the quarries near Rising Sun, 

Maryland. 

LIMESTONE. 

Lower Silurian. — At the Bushkill quarries, Easton, Northampton county, the lowermost portion of the great 
Lower Silurian limestone of Pennsylvania, known as the Calciferous, is quarried for ordinary building purposes, 
and has quite an extensive local use for base courses aud curbs, and is also burned for lime. An analysis of the stone 
shows it to be highly magnesian; iu fact it may properly be called a dolomite. Graphite and protoxide of iron are 
found in specimens of the stone. The limestone iu aud around Eastou is iu comparatively eveu beds, and good 
stone of proper shape for building purposes can readily be obtained, though the stratum inclines sometimes at high 
angles. The base of the coiu't-house aud many other buildings in Eastou are of this limestone, chiefly from the 
Bushkill quarries. 

MoNTGOJiERY CoujiTY 3L4.RBLB. — The Montgomery County marble, so exteusively used iu Piiiladelphia, is 
quarried from an isolated belt of the great Magnesian or Auroral limestone of Lower Silurian age. Professor 
H. D. Rogers, in the Report of the First Geological Survey of Pennsylvania, describes the geographical limits and 
geology of this limestone belt substantially as follows: It is the bed of a loug, narrow valley in Chester and 
Montgomery counties; the ridges bounding the valley consist of the primal slates and primal white sandstone. 
The whole is a narrow, synclinal basiu, with strata closely folded together, those of both sides of the trough di^iping 
with much regularity to the south-southeast at an angle ranging between 00° and 70°. All the strata here are 
greatly altered by diffused igneous action. The belt of limestone itself, which forms the great valley, extends 
through the western half of Montgomery county, southwestward thi-ough Chester comity, and Sadsbury and Bart 
townships, in Lancaster county. The general geological structure of this populous and rich limestone belt, is 
extremely simple. Measured from one extremity to the other, the limestone, coiucident very nearly with the bed of 
the valley, has a total length of about .jS miles ; its easteru end being just north of Abiugtou, iu Montgomery county, 
and its western end is at the source of Big Beaver creek, in Lancaster county. In form it resembles very much a long, 
slender fish. The general structure of this first main belt of the Auroral limestone is that of a long and slender 
basiu or a synclint 1 trough, the southern side of which is much steeper than the northern. The strata of the southern 
side of the vallej^ dip perpeudicularly, often a little overtiuned iuto a steep south dip, but sometimes incline 
steeply iu the normal direction or northward. It is only toward the western extremity, where the whole trough 
grows shallow as it rises up and thins away, that the north dip ceases to be steep. The strata of the north side of 
the valley, or from the syucliual axis northward, dip at an average inclination of about 45° southward, or more 
strictly, south 20° easi ; this incliuation, however, is not absolutely constant. Throughout this limestone basin the 
southern steeply-upturned outcrop exhibits a far higher degree of metamorphism by heat than the uortheru, aud 
this alteration appears greater where the strata approach most nearly a vertical i>osition, and is greater still where 
they are inverted ; that is to say, between W^issahickon and Brandy wine creeks. It is chiefly within these limits 
that the elsewhere bluish and yellowish limestone is in a condition of crystalline aud granular marble, white shaded 



150 BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

or mottled from the dispersing and segregating action of a high temperature upon its cbaiigeable ingredients. All 
the marble quarries hitherto opened are included in this steeply-upturned or overturned outcrop, the best of this 
lying within half a mile of the southern edge of the formation, or of some sharp, inverted anticlinal like that of 
the Conoquenessing ridge. Throughout the northern half of the basin, especially where the limestone observes 
its usually very regular southward dip of seldom more than 45°, the rock is in the condition of a subcrystalline 
and earthy or pxirely sedimentary magnesian limestone, and its bedding is for the most part very uniform and rather 
thick. Its color is a pale greenish-blue, except in neighborhoods like that on the Schuylkill, below JSTorristown, where 
a partial metamorphosis has approached the northern border, and it is then very frequently a pale straw color and 
ajiale bhiish- white; but the slate in which the very same beds exist, where they rise perpendicularly or with inversion 
to their southern outcrop, after passing the synclinal turn in the center of the basin, is very different from all this, 
and in striking contrast with the faintly crystalline and earthy limestone which is here a distinctly-crystallized and 
often granular marble. Its color is changed to a brilliant white or to a mottling of purely white and dark blue from 
the presence of segregated or half-developed graphite, and the dispersed ferruginous matter is here in a state of 
minute, solitary crystals of sulphuret of iron disseminated through the body of the stone. Viewed edgewise a 
fresh exposure of the most altered limestone, such as is visible on the Schuylkill river, near Conshohocken,has the 
aspect of a blue and mottled marble streaked with films of talc and shivered by innumerable cleavage joints; but 
viewed facewise the layers and fragments have an aspect of a talcose or micaceous slate, so copious is the covering 
of talc and mica upon their surface. 

The belt of marble in Montgomerj^ county is about three-qiiarters of a mile wide, and it is in this county that 
the principal quarries on this belt are now operated. Marble Hall, in this county, is the easternmost point at which 
good marble is quarried, and the best of the material lies between this point and the Schuylkill river nearly to the 
Chester County line. 

A mile from Spring Mill station on the Germantown and ]SI orristown railroad the marble is quarried for buildings, 
cemetery work, and furnace fliix, and shipped to Philadelphia, Lancaster, and other places in Pennsylvania, and to 
Wasliington, District of Columbia. The stone here varies in texture from coarse to fine, is semi-crystalline, light 
blue in color, with signs of irregular stratification, unevenly bedded, and in medium to thick layers. Blocks of 500 
cubic feet might be moved in this quarry. Steam-drills are used in quarrying, and powder, and to some extent 
dynamite, in blasting. The production here during 1880 is said to have been less than the average. 

Near Bridgeport, Montgomery county, the marble is quarried for ordinary building purposes, and shipped chiefly 
to Philadelphia and throughout Pennsylvania. It is here of a light blue, fine, semi-crystalline texture, with signs of 
iriegular stratification, evenly bedded, and in medium to thick courses. It was used in the construction of the 
following buildings in Philadelphia: Girard college. United States customhouse. Merchants' exchange, and the 
passenger depot of the Pennsylvania railroad, at Broad and Filbert streets. 

ZSTear King of Prussia station, on the Chester Valley railroad, in Montgomery county, marble is quarried for 
ordinary building purposes, and shipped to Philadelphia, Baltimore, and throughout Pennsylvania. It is blue, has 
a fine, semi-crystalline texture, signs of irregular stratification, is rather unevenly bedded, and in thick courses. 
Plate V represents the polished surface of a specimen of this marble. It was used in the construction of Girard 
college, the new city building at Broad and Market streets, the old post-office and nujnerous churches in Philadelphia, 
and the court-house at Norristown. 

At Henderson station, Montgomery county, similar marble is quarried for ordinary building purposes, and 
shipped to the cities of Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington. This marble was used in the construction of 
the Law Library building in Philadelphia. 

At East and West Conshohocken, in Montgomerj' county, on opposite sides of the Schuylkill river, the ledge is 
quarried, the product being commonly known as limestone. It is gray, with a rather coarse, semi-crystalline texture, 
irregularly stratified, and comparatively even bedded in layers of varying thickness up to 2 feet; it is but little 
jointed, and its difference in texture and structure from the material in the marble quarries of this district is 
apiiarently due to less disturbance of the strata. Tlie pi'incipal use of the stone at present is for foundations and 
bridge abutments. The stone-work of the Philadelphia and Eeadiug Eailroad bridge at the falls of the Schuylkill 
and that of the Girard Avenue and the Callowhill bridges, Philadelphia, is of this material. The following are 
some of the buildings the foundations of which were built of stone from the West Conshohocken quarries: The 
new city buildings. Broad and Market streets; Masonic temple. Broad and Filbert streets; Main Exhibition 
building. Memorial hall. Machinery hall, and Horticultural hall, in Fairmount park; Philadelphia Saving Fund 
building; Provident Life and Trust Companj' building, and. the Union Insurance Company building; new grain 
elevator of the Philadelphia and Eeading Eailroad Company; South Street bridge; B. H. Fitler & Co.'s new 
buildings at Bridesburg; bridges on line of Philadelphia and Eeading railroad, and on the connecting link of the 
Boundbrook line to New York. 

Beside the limestone or marble of the Lower Silurian or Siluro-Cambrian belt of Montgomery county, there 
are quarries at various other points in Pennsylvania on this formation where the stone is quarried for ordiuary 
building purposes, chiefly to supply local demands. There are quarries of this kind at Easton, as before mentioned, 
at Tuckerton and Eeading, in Berks county, and in Lebanon county; near Harrisburg, Dauphin county; Leamau 
Place, Lancaster county; York, York county; and at Bridgeport, Shiremahstowii, and Carlisle, Cumberland county. 



DESCRIPTIONS OF QUARRIES AND QUARRY REGIONS. 151 

Tliere are also uuuieious other points where the material is quarried priucipally for lime, and where but little of the 
product is used for building purposes. At Tuckertoii the stone is gray in color, massive, and the courses are even 
and thick. The stoue is a calcareous dolomite. It lies in courses varying from about a foot at the top to 2 feet or 
more in thickness at the bottom of the quarry, and the total depth of stoue quarried is about 50 feet, the inconvenience 
of drainage being the cause for not going deepei-. The joints are from 3 to 20 feet apart. This quarry is operated by 
the Philadelphia and Keading railroad, chiefly to obtain stone for bridge coustruction and other railroad work. The 
inclination of the strata at this quarry is about 4° or 5°, and, contrary to the condition of the rock at other places 
near Keading, it is not mu6h broken by joints, and hence is in a more favorable condition to be used for building 
purposes. Portions of the ledge of limestone not far distant from the Tuckerton quarry are upturned at a high 
angle, very much jointed and brolceu, and are quarried extensively for lime burning and furnace flux. The material 
the ])oint where the Tuckerton quarry is located is a limestone, but is not of sufiicieut purity to be well adapted 
either for furnace flux or for lime burning, but the regularity of the strata and the substantial and durable character 
of the stone recommend it for building i)urposes. («) 

At Reading, a few miles south of ihe Tuckerton quarry, this limestone is worked only to a depth to which 
:uatural drainage is obtained — 10 or 15 feet. Stone similar in character to that quarried extends downward to au 
•unknown depth. In some sections of the quarries the ledge is a solid mass, and iu others the division of the layers 
varies from 4 inches to 1 foot in thickness, The inclination of the strata is 45°. The stone is of a bluish color, with 
iindistiuct signs of stratificatiou, flue iu texture, and a qualitative analysis shows that it contains grai^hite, protoxide 
•of iron, mu(5h lime, and considerable magnesia. It is scientifically a calcareous dolomite. This stone is well adapted 
to the purposes for which it is used in Reading and i'icinity, such as cellar walls, foundations, curbstones, and 
for macadamizing streets and roads. 

The Annville (Lebanon county) quarries of this formation produce limestone which is used for building, and 
for lime and furnace flux; the building stone and furnace flux are used chiefly at Lebanon, and considerable 
lime is sent to Wilmington, Delaware. The stone here is a blue-black color, irregularly stratified, fine and semi- 
crystalline iu texture. The stone at this point contains less magnesia than that at most places in Pennsylvania 
•where limestone of the same age is exposed. The magnesia is nearly always a iirominent feature in the rock of 
this age in Pennsylvania, and the Second Geological Survey entitles it the magnesian limestone formation. 

Four and a half miles southeast of Harrisburg, on the east side of the Susquehanna river, there is a quarry of 
this rock, producing material for building purposes, for lime, and for furnace flux. The stone here is a dark gray 
in color, fine, compact texture, is irregularly stratified, lies in even courses varying iu thickness from a few inches 
to 2 feet or more, and is a magnesian limestone. 

At Leamau Place station, Lancaster county, this limestone is quarried for building purposes, and is used chieflj' 
iu Philadelphia, Lancaster, Harrisburg, and on the Hue of the Pennsylvania railroad. 

The abutments of the Oonestoga bridge at Lancaster and those of the State Street bridge at Harrisburg are 
built of this stone. It is here dark gray in color, indistiuctly stratified, and fine in texture ; is a calcareous dolomite, 
containing graphite, some protoxide of iron, and sulphides of copper and iron. The courses are even and from 3 
inches to 3 feet in thickness. 

At Lancaster the stone is quarried for local use, chiefly for cellar walls and foundations. It is here blue-black 
iu color, fine in texture, and with signs of indistinct stratification ; contains a high percentage of magnesia, and is a 
dolomite. It contains graphite, protoxide of iron, little lime, and much magnesia. It lies in even beds, from a few 
inches to 2 or 3 feet in thickness, and the joints are usually from 3 to 20 or 30 feet apart. The walls of the Lancaster 
County prison are built of this stone. The height of the face of the quarries is about 20 feet. The strata are tilted 
up at an angle of about 45°, and a material of quality similar to that quarried might be obtained to an unknown 
depth, as is true at other quarries of the vicinitj'. The quarrymen find it convenient to go no deeper than the 
point at which natiual drainage may be obtained. The rock iu these quarries is not of a character to answer well 
for furnace flux, though the same ledge is quarried for that purpose a short distance away. 

It may be observed here that throughout eastern Pennsylvauia, where this Lower Silurian limestone outcrops 
in iilaces where the rock was found iu even, mas-sive, thick, and little-jointed courses so as to be readily obtained 
in proper shape for building purposes, the material seems to contain too great a proportion of ingredients other than 
lime to answer well for furnace flux or lime burning; and, on the other hand, where the strata are much tilted and 
broken by joints so as not to be susceptibleof being readily wrought into shape for building purposes, its composition 
is such as to make it well adapted to use for furnace flux and lime. In the Lancaster quariies, although the 
layers have an even surface, the stone breaks with an irregular fracture and is rather difficult to shape for other 
than the ruder purposes for which it is now used. Several old one story houses constructed of this material 
are still .standing in Lancaster, some of which were built a century ago. The only way iu which the weather seems 
to affect this stone is to fade it to a lighter color, and this is due probably to the evaporation of the water, which 
process also has the effect of hardening it. This stone underlies a large area of Lancaster county and is extensively 
used by farmers, their barns and residences being often constructed of it. {b) 

a Report M M, p. 304, Second Geoloyical Survey of Ftnnsylvania. 

h For .lualysis see Report M M, p. 304, Second Geological Survey of Pennsylvania: Siluro-Cambriau Liiucstoue. 



152 BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

]S"ear York, York county, the Lower Siluriaa liinestoue is quarried for the ruder building purposes, such as 
cellar walls, foundations, and bridge abutments, and to some extent for paving blocks. ^Tearly all the streets 
of York are macadamized with this stone, it being about the only material used for the purpose in the town and 
vicinity. There are, however, two varieties here, one used for building purposes and the other for burning and 
as a fertilizer. The variety which is iised for building purposes is blue-black in color, line, compact, and i^uiform in 
texture, with no signs of stratification, and contains a high enough percentage of magnesia to be called a calcareous 
dolomite. It contains graphite, which is doubtless a principal part of the coloring matter, little iron, much 
lime, and little magnesia. The courses are even, from 15 inches to 2J feet in thickness, and almost horizontal, there 
being but little dip. The material is quarried with comparative ease in regular blocks for building purposes, and is 
used almost exclusively for cellar walls, foundations, bridge abutments, etc., the local demand being greater at 
present than the production. 

The height of the face of the quarry is 20 feet, the material being quarried only to the depth at which the natural 
drainage is obtained. There is no exposure showing the actual thickness of the ledge. The stone which is burned 
for a fertilizer is white in color, fine and crystalline in texture, containing less magnesia than the variety used for 
building puri^oses; it also differs from it in the absence of graphite or other coloring matter, and contains a 
greater proportion of the carbonate of lime. The courses are iiueven and irregular, being much jointed, and the 
natural blocks vary much in size and shape. The lieigbt of the face of the quarry is about 15 feet. It 
is noticeable that the dip of the strata in these quarries is from 15° to 20°, which constitutes another marked point 
of difference between the white and the blue-black limestone quarried near York. In some places there are divisions 
into layers varying from 1 foot to 6 feet in thickness, but often the ledge is simply a broken and much-jointed mass. 
There is always more or less metamorphism in portions of the ledge producing the -white limestone, the material 
in some places, being a kind of marble of a white and bluish mottled color. The rock when burned makes a superior 
quality of white lime, and would be a durable building stone, but rather too expensive, owing to its hardness 
and the difficulty of obtaining rectangular blocks. It has no regular cleavage and cannot be split into prismatic 
blocks. There has been ajiparently enough metamoi'phic action to partially destroy the stratification, but not 
enough to entu'ely convert the material into a crystalline marble. ?J"early every farmer in the vicinity of York 
has an opening in his limestone and uses it for building pur^joses and for fertilizing field's. The stripping in the 
vicinity of York is usually a red clay of the Mesozoic or New Red Sandstone formation. («) 

At Bridgeport, on the opposite side of the Susquehanna at Harrisburg, this limestone is extensively quarried 
for foundations, furnace flux, railroad ballast, and fertilizers. It is here dark drab in color, fine, hard, compact, 
and in texture rather brittle; it is a dolomite containing graphite and sonje protoxide of iron. Analyses of specimens 
frou] 115 layers of the rock in these quarries are given in Eeport M M of the Second Geological Survey of Pennsylvania, 
which seem to show that alternate strata of limestone and dolomite make up the mass ; that the dolomite layers 
carry the most insoluble materials, and that as a rule each layer is nearly homogeneous. Magnesia is present in 
greater or less quantities in all the layers. It is even an-d rather distinctly stratified ; the bedding is moderately 
uneven, and varies from a few inches to 10 feet in thickness; the joints are from 6 to 20 or 30 feet apart; the 
strata dip at an angle of 30° or 35°, and the depth of the face of the quarries at present opened varies from 15 to 
40 feet, the variation being due to iirominences and depressions in the outcrop of the ledge. The railroad track 
running into the quarry is on the level at which the material is quarried. The bed of the Susquehanna river at 
Harrisburg is of this material. The upturned edges of the strata over which the waters pass may be seen from 
the bridges in the vicinity, as the river is shallow and the water quite clear. The limestone here is of such 
composition and character as not to be very soluble in water, so that it does not wear away rapidly under the 
action of the river, although the current is quite rapid. The abutments of the bridges are mainly constructed of 
this limestone. It is found most convenient not to quarry the material in these quarries below the level of the 
railroad track, on account of the great expense and difficulty which would be incurred in loadiug the cars, though 
the material below this level is deemed quite as good for all the purposes for which the stone is used. Several 
houses in Harrisburg are of this stone, notably the residences of Hon. Simon Cameron and Senator J. D. Cameron. 
Several miles to the westward of the Bridgeport quarries, at Shiremanstown, this limestone is quarried for building 
purposes and as a fertilizer. It is here blue-black in color, fine, compact, even, and distinctlj' stratified ; the 
proportion of carbonate of magnesia varies so much that some of the material may be called a calcareous dolomite 
and some a limestone, strictly speaking. The specimen of dolomite analyzed for this report contained some graphite, 
some iron, a high percentage of lime, and considerable magnesia; while in another specimen from the same quarry 
the graphite and iron were wanting, and there was still a greater proportion of lime and less magnesia. The 
stone is evenly bedded, and the courses vary in thickness from a few inches to 2J feet. The bed of these quarries 
is worked only to the depth to which natural drainage is obtained. The dip is about 30°, and stone of a similar 
quality to that quarried can be obtained to an unknown depth. 

In the discussion by Professor Lesley on the analyses of specimens from 115 layers of the rock in these 
quarries (Bridgeport), which were referred to above, he states that alternate strata of limestone and dolomite 

a See Report of First Geological Siirfen of Pennstjlvania, Vol. II, p. 6ii7, for some description of the Mesozoic rocks iu Pcuusylvania. 



DESCRIPTIONS OF QUARRIES AND QuARRY REGIONS. 153. 

make ap the mass; adding, however, that none of the hiyers contain a sufficiently high percentage of the 
carbonate of magnesia to form a true lithological dolomite. The dolomite layers are found to carry the most 
silicates and other insoluble materials, and as a rule each layer is nearly homogeneous. Magnesia is preseut 
in greater or less quantity in all the laj-ers. These 115 laj-ers belong to the lower middle part of the great 
Magnesian formation, and the chemical analyses show them to belong to two well-marked lithological species, 
one a limestone carrying 2 or 3 per cent, of magnesia carbonates and 1 or 2 per cent, of insoluble material; 
the other a dolomitic limestone charged wkh from 25 to 3o per cent, of magnesia carbonate and an average of 
over 7 per cent, of insoluble matter, rising in some cases to 10 and 15 per cent., or even more. The largest 
percentage of the insoluble silicate of alumina is almost invariably lound in the higher magnesian layers. From 
these conclusions of Professor Lesley, and from the conduct of the limestone in the bed of the river and in old 
buildings constructed of it, this stone io entitled to rank very high as to durability ; a comparatively high 
percentage of insoluble matter may have something to do with enabling it to resist water-wear and other 
weather exposure. As a matter of cour.se, a soluble or otherwise easily-destructible cementing matter will 
disintegrate a rock, even though its chief constituents be indestructible fragments so cemented together. The 
specific gravity of the specimens analyzed range from 2. OS to 2.85. 

In Cumberland county about one farmer out of eveiy teuquaiTies this stoue iu a small way for local building- 
purposes, and lor plaster, fertilizers, etc. The same may be said of Fraukliu county, and in fact of the whole 
region of Penn.sylvania where the formation outcrops. It would be difficult to give an intelligent estimate of the 
amount of the material which is quarried in this way outside of the more important quarries, though the figures, if 
arrived at, would be very considerable. 

Progressing still farther down the Cumberland valley, we find that at Carlisle stone is quarried for caps, sills, 
and bases, and all ordinary building purposes ; also for plaster and for fertilizers. The stone is here blue-black in 
color, fine in texture, and indistinctly stratified; it is evenly bedded, lying in layers from a few inches to several feet 
in thickness, and in some places very much and at others but little jointed. It is here a calcareous dolomite 
containing a little iron. In the \ icinity of Carlisle much of the rock is gathered from the surface of the fields, 
where it is an obstruction to farming operations, and nearly all that is needed for local use is obtained from the 
surface blocks. Dickinson College building, which has stood for nearly a ceutury, and several churches and 
private residences in Carlisle and vicinity are built of this stone ; and the only way in which it seems to huve been 
affected by the weather is that in the older buildings it has faded to a lighter color. 

At Chambersburg, Franklin county, iu the Cumberland valley, this stone is very similar in every way to that 
quarried near Carlisle; it is blue-black in color, fine and compact iu texture, and the stratification is indistinct and 
sometimes not observable. The specimen analyzed for this report proved to be calcareous dolomite containing 
some graphite. The ledge at these quarries is generally worked to the depth of about 20 feet, which is as deep 
as it can be worked without resorting to artificial drainage. The stone is evenly bedded, the courses being from 
2 to 1 feet in thickness usually, and are readily taken out by plug and feather in convenient shape for building 
purposes. Many farm-houses and barns in the surrounding country are built of this stone; some of them have been 
standing for a century, and show no evidence of being affected by the elements excepting to fiide to a lighter color. 
Numerous small quarries in this ledge are being operated throughout Fi-anklin county to obtain material for 
plaster and for fertilizers, and the amount thus quarried each year is very considerable. It is also extensively 
quarried, throughout the regions of Pennsylvania where it is exposed, for macadamizing streets of the cities and 
towns and the roadways through the country ; it is admirably adapted to this purpose. Another characteristic of 
this stone, which has been before mentioned in connection with the quariies at particular localities, is its great 
durability and resistance to atmospheric conditions, with the one exception of its fading to a light color. In 
Chambersburg old buildings constructed of this stone are sometimes painted .so as to imitate very nearly the 
original color, which is a dark blue or blue-black. 

Sear Cohimbia, Lancaster county, the Lower Silurian limestone is quarried extensively at the Kauffmau quarry, 
chiefly for railroad ballast and lime-burning. It is gray iu color, massive, fine, and semi-crystalline in texture ; it 
is a calcareous dolomite, containing a little protoxide of iron; and, although having considerable magnesia in its 
composition, it is very extensively used for furnace flux. The total neight of the face of the quarry is 85 feet, and 
the courses are from 2 to 10 feet in thickness. The strata are inclined at various angles, there being considerable 
irregularity. There are two different ledges of the limestone in this quarry, disposed non-conformably to each 
other, though the character of the materials is about the same. The material is not so brittle as the limestone of 
the Trenton age quarried for ballast at Orbisonia and Morell, iu Huntingdon county, and therefore requires more 
labor in breaking up. There is a marked diflerence between the stone in the Kauffmau quarry and that quarried 
immediately across the Susquehanna at Wrightsville, in York county. The latter is white and otherwise 
apparently much altered by metamorphic action, and differs from the Montgomery County marbles in being less 
crystalline. 

At Wrightsville, in the quarry of Kerr, Weitzel & Co., the limestone is of a white and light gray color and fine, 
compact texture ; it is a calcareous dolomite, the proportion of magnesia being considerable. 



,154 



BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 



The followiug is au analysis of samples of four different varieties of this limestone, made by the state chemist 
of Maryland in Baltimore, in 1857, with a view to introducing it extensively as a fertilizer in the country bordering 
the Susquehanna river and upper Chesapeake bay, to which place there is ready access by. canal : 



1- 


2. 


3. 


4. 




100. 


100.0 


100.0 


100.0 




97.1 
3.0 
0.3 


80.8 
14.7 
4.5 


95.4 
3.1 
1.5 


85.0 
4.5 
10.5 









The limestone from quarry No. 1 is' of uncommon purity, and its lime is especially adapted to application ou 
white-oak soils. The limestone from quarry No. 2 is a weak magnesian limestone ; its lime is well adapted to 
application on soils which are moderately deficient in both lime and magnesia. These are in particular the volcanic 
soils of some counties in Maryland. The stratum in this quarry is 70 feet in thickness, and is tilted up to au 
angle of about 45°; and, though the inclination is different at different places, there is no considerable irregularity. 
The material at the point where quarried has been so much changed, apparently by metamorphic action, that 
it has very much the appearance of what are commonly called marbles, excepting that crystallization is nob so 
apparent. The color is sometimes white, sometimes bluish. There is no regular division into layers, the stone 
being simply a much-jointed mass; and it would not be practicable to obtain large, regular blocks for building 
purposes. The railroad depot at Columbia is built of small, irregular blocks of this material, firmly cemented 
together in the style commonly known as rock-faced work. It presents a very pleasing appearance, and stone for 
this style of construction can be obtained in inexhaustible quantities here. The stone which is now quarried is the 
No. 1 given in the analysis, and is chiefly burned for a fertilizer and for building lime on the eastern and western 
shores of Maryland, to which, as before mentioned, there is ready access from the quarry by water, although some 
of it is now shipped by rail. 

A specimen of the Lower Silurian limestone forwarded by E. V. D'Invilliers, of the Second geological survey 
of Pennsylvania, from near Yellow House, in Berks county, is a bluish-gray, fine, compact, indistinctly-stratified 
magnesian limestone containing a little iron. 

The great Magnesian limestone formation which extends across Pennsylvania from the Delaware river to the 
Maryland state line, along the north foot of the South mountains, sinks northward and rises again to the surface 
in the valleys and coves among the mountains of middle Pennsylvania, viz, in McOonnellsburg cove, Kishicoquillis 
valley, Morrison's cove, Nittany valley, Spruce Creek valley, etc. 

A snecimen from Spruce creek, Huntingdon county, is a blue-black, fine magnesian limestone, compact in 
texture, and breaks with a conchoidal fracture. It contains graphite. 

Some description of the limestone in this region may be found in Vol. I, p. 500, of the First Geological 
.Purvey of Pennsylvania. This great limestone formation in Pennsylvania was called by Eogers the "Auroral" 
limestone, and it is termed by the Second Geological Survey of Pennsylvania the Siluro-Cambriau, and quite as often 
the magnesian limestone, from the universal presence of magnesia in greater or less quantities. The same authority 
also has local names for it in different parts of the state, as the York limestone, in York county ; the Lancaster 
limestone, in Lancaster county, aud the valley limestone in Chester county. l*'or analysis of the Siluro-Cambrian 
limestone see Ee]>ort M M, p. 304, Second Geological Survey of Pennsylvania. 

Devonian. — The only Devonian limestone quarried extensively in Pennsylvania is the Corniferous, of which 
there are massive beds exposed in the mountain regions in the central part of the state, and which are chiefly used 
for furnace flux and railroad and turnpike ballast. 

Among the principal quarries on this formation are those of the Warrior ridge, at Huntingdon, where the stone 
is quarried for ballast by the Pennsylvania railroad. It is here a dark drab, fine, compact, aud brittle material, 
Bon-fossiliferous, and contains graphite, some iron, and little maguesia. According to the system of nomenclature 
observed iu this report it is a true limestone. The total thickness of the ledge is about 100 feet, disposed in layers 
varying from 8 inches to 3 feet. There are two layers of shale, each about 4 feet in thickness, one about 25 feet 
from the ledge, the other 5 feet lower, with limestone between. Numerous seams of calcite run through the stone. 
It is used only as ballast at i^resent. It is said to furnish but a poor, mean lime when burned, and is not suitable 
for furnace flux. 

Por a description of this ledge of Corniferous limestone in the Juniata valley see Eeport F, Second Geological 
Survey of Pennsylvania. It contains few or no fossils, and in this respect differs radically from the highly 
fossiliferous Corniferous limestones of Ohio and other parts of the west. 

Farther to the south, along the Wariior ridge at Cove station, in Huntingdon county, on the Broad Top 

railroad, the Shirley quarry is extensively worked for furnace flux, which at present is chiefly used by the Kemble 

Coal and Iron Compauy at Eiddlesburg, Pennsylvania, to Avhich place it is transported by rail. The ledge at this 

, place is at least 200 feet in thickness, and possibly much thicker; it dips at au angle of 00°, giving the strata a 



DESCRIPTIONS OF QUARRIES AND QUARRY REGIONS. 155 

very fiue positiou for quarry operations. One pai'ticular division of the strata deserves .special notice ; it i.s al)out 
15 feet in tliickness. divided into layers from 2 to 4 feet in thickness ; is uniform in character throughout, and, 
according to an analysis made for the Cambria Iron Company of Cambria county, contains 98. 55 jier cent, carbonate 
of lime. It is drab in color, massive, and coarsely crystalline in texture, coutaiuing' a very little iron and magne.sia, 
and is susceptible of a good polish. It is locally known as the "fossil " limestone as distinguished from the rest of 
the ledge, which is non-fossiliferous. The fossils are chiefly three or four different species of brachiopods, found 
on the surfaces of the layers, but not within the stone, as when fractured it shows a uniform, highly-crystalline 
texture, as is also true at other quarries of this ledge. 

The non-fossiliferous part of the ledge, according to the analysis for the Cambria Iron Works, contains 94 per 
cent, of carbonate of lime; is very hard, compact, and brittle, breaking with conchoidal fracture, and would not 
in its natural condition be well adapted for purposes of construction, excepting for ballast on railroads and 
turnpikes. Only that portion of this ledge, C5 feet in thickness, which extends above the level of the stream is 
quarriefl. The rapid dip of the strata carries it beneath the surface an unknown distance. 

Still farther south on the WaiTJor ridge, at Hyndmau, at the junction of the Broad Top and Baltimore and 
Ohio railroads, this Corniferous ledge is quarried for furnace flux for use in Pittsburgh, to which place it is 
transported by rail. The stone is here a dark drab, massive, magnesian limestone, containing a little protoxide of 
iron and magnesia. It is flne, hard, and brittle in texture, and breaks with a conchoidal fracture. The face of the 
•quarry is 200 feet in depth, and the strata are tilted to a vertical position. 

Although the strata in all the mountain regions of Peunsylvaniui are usually tilted at a variety of angles, it 
is unusual to find strata of limestone perfectly perpendicular. The layers vary in thickness from 1 foot to 2 feet 
in that portion of the ledge quarried. A width of about 50 feet of the strata is quarried at present, the quarry 
progressing into the hill, and the uptilted layers of limestone on each side forming perpendicular walls. 

A considerable part of the whole ledge is made up of layers of shaly, thinly-bedded limestone. Seams of 
■calcite are frequent. It exists in inexhaustible quantities here, and the amount quarried for furnace flux, lime- 
burning, and fertilizers is increasing rapidly, as new quarries on the ledge are being started. 

Warrior ridge, upon which the Corniferous quarries at Huntingdon, Cove station, and Hyndmau are located, 
is an outcrop of the Oriskany sandstone formation, which crosses the Juniata river a little above Huntingdon, and 
ranges northeast and southwest for many miles parallel to and facing Tussey mountain, from which it is separated 
by the valley of the Lower Helderburg limestone and Clinton red shale (fossil iron ore). Its crest and escarpments 
ftre cut into remarkable "pulpit rocks". The dip is usually gentle to the southeast, but there are local anticlinal 
rolls, with very steep or vertical northwest dips. The return of the outcrop east, south, and southwest, around the 
head of Standing Stone valley, brings the Oriskany and the limestones above and below it back to the Juniata at 
the glass-sand quarries below Huntingdon, in Jack's narrows. 

Snj-CAiJBO>"^iFEKOUS. — The only extensive limestone quarry producing stone for jiurposes of construction on 
other than Lower Silurian rocks in Pennsylvania is on the umbral or mountain limestone, a division of the sub- 
Carboniferous in Pennsylvania. 

This quany is located 3 miles southeast of Connellsville, on the Baltimore and Ohio railroad, in a gap made by 
the Youghiogheny river in the Chestnut Eidge mountains, through which the railroad passes. The ledge on which 
this quarry is situated is one of the strata forming the anticlinal axis of Chestnut ridge. There is considerable dip 
of the strata to the northwest away from the crest of the mountain, the general direction of which is north-northeast 
and south-southwest. The joints in this quarry are about 15 feetai)art, (he ledge not being so much broken as is 
the case with nearly all the mountain ridges of Pennsylvania. The total thickness quairied is about 80 feet, with 
the bottom not reached, and the materiail is disposed in courses from 10 to 14 feet in thickness. Professor Stevenson, 
in Eeport K K of the Second GcologimI Survey of Pennsylvania, describes it as very compact, blue, breaking with a 
conchoidal fracture, and in general appearance bearing a close resemblance to quartzite. The analyses of specimens 
nmde for this report show it to be properly a limestone, containing some silica, protoxide of iron, considerable lime, and 
very little magnesia. Professor Stevenson describes the stone as essentially a sandstone, with cementing material 
of calcium carbonate, but analj'sis shows that it contains a sufficient proportion of carbonate of lime to be properly 
a limestone. It is a bluish-drab in color, flue and subcrystalline in texture, and evenly bedded. 

In Pittsburgh, where there is much heavy traffic over the streets, it has given good satisfaction as a ])aviug 
material; it is very hard and compact, resisting wear exceedingly well, and it is readily shaped with the hammer 
into rectangular blocks of a proper size for paving. 

This ledge has been thought to corresjioud with the i\Iaxwell limestone of southern and eastern Ohio; in 
Pennsylvania it is variously called the siliceous, umbral, or mountain limestone, and lies on the Pocono or 
Vespertine sandstone, at or near the horizon of the Waverly .series of Ohio, the formation prodiicing the line, 
compact sandstone so much quarried at Amherst, Berea, Brownhclm, Waverly, and other points on the sub- 
Carboniferous outcrops extending through the central part of Ohio from its northern to its southern limits. 

During the census year 52,000 paving blocks frojn this quarry were used in Pittsburgh. 



153 BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

OAEBONiFEEOUS. — The Garbouiferous liuiestoues of Penusylvaoia are but little used for purposes of 
construction. At Vau Port, Beaver county, on the Ohio river, there are quarries on the ferriferous limestone, (a) 
and the material is used chiefly for lime and furnace flux, though it has been employed to a slight extent for walls 
and foundations. The stone is a massive magnesian limestone, Que and fossiliferous in texture, containing a little 
protoxide of iron. The total thickness of the ledge is about 11 feet, divided into three principal layers, of which 
the upper is 4 feet in thickness, the middle 3 feet, and the lower 4 feet. Thin shaly layers usually cover the top,. 
and sometimes intervene between the principal layers. The middle layer resists the action of the elements and is 
susceptible of flue dressing. Although the color of this limestone is a bluish-gray where the face of the ledge is 
exposed, it weathers with a peculiarly-wrinkled, russet-colored appearance. It is highly valued as a furnace flux,, 
and is used chiefly at Allegheny, Pennsylvania, Wheeling, West Virginia, and Mingo Junction and Steubenville, 
Ohio. 

TriasisiC. — At various places near the South mountain, in Pennsylvania and Maryland, the TriassiC (Mesozoic). 
formation consists of a calcareous conglomerate, made up chiefly of fragments of the magnesian limestone upon 
which it rests, and which bounds it on the northwest, cemented with a red clayey material, very calcareous from 
infiltration, and iu Maryland called Potomac marble. When polished, the stone presents a very singular but pleasing- 
appearance from the numerous fragments of which the mass is composed. A chemical analysis shows its ingredients 
to be about the same as those of the limestone, from which it is chiefly made up. A specimen from near Fairfield, 
Adams county, forwarded by A. E. Lehman, of the Pennsylvania geological survey, iiroved to be a dolomite, 
containing considerable reddish residue, clay-cementing material, and a little iron, which gives the clay its reddish 
color. It is here burned for lime. Its local name is " calico rock", from its peculiarly diversified appearance. 

SANDSTONES. 

Triassio. — The geographical limits of the belt of Triassie age passing through southeastern Pennsylvania are 
described in the geological reports of that state as commencing at the west bank of the Hudson river in a broad 
belt extending from the bay of JSTew York to the base of the first ledges of the Highlands, and as bounded on the 
northwest by this chain and its continuation ; southwestward it traverses New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, 
and, iu a more interrupted manner, Virginia and x^art of North Carolina, so that its total length is not less than 
500 miles, with a width iu New Jersey of 20 miles between the Hudson and the Highlands. After crossing into 
Pennsylvania its breadth expands to nearly 30 miles, retaining this until it approaches the Schuylkill, when it 
contracts and maintains its course through Berks, Lancaster, Lehigh, Dauijhin, York, and Adams counties, a 
breadth of about 10 miles between the Schuylkill and the Susquehanna rivers, and of 15 miles between the latter 
river and the Maryland state line. The south margip of the formation crosses the Delaware about IJ miles above 
the town of Trenton, and the north border crosses the Delaware at Durham, near Trenton. The geology of this 
formation is very simple, and is made up chiefly of red sandstones and shales alternately, the arrangement being 
in many places layers of sandstone of various thickness, with red shale intervening. The lowest portion of the 
formation is a conglomerate, chiefly made up of fragments of the primal rocks and limestones upon which it rests; 
then comes a considerable thickness of the red shales and sandstones, surmounted by the calcareous conglomerate, 
or "calico rock", just noticed. The sandstones iu the middle part of this formation is the portion which produces 
nearly all the building stone at present quarried from the formation. 

One of the principal quarries in Pennsylvania, on rocks of this age, is at Hummelstown, Dauphin county^, a 
few miles east of Harrisburg. The material here is a brown, massive sandstone of a uniform and medium textiu-e, 
and is quarried for caps, sills, trimmings, bases, steps, aud other building purposes. It has been much used in 
Philadelphia, Harrisburg, Williams]5ort, Pottsville, Reading, Lancaster, \'"ork, Richmoud, Baltimore, Washington, 
and other cities of the east. The ledge is 85 feet in thickness in this quarry, dipping perhaps 40° to the 
northward, and outcrops iu places, the stripping setting iu and increasing as progress is made into the hill. It 
may be observed here that the dip pf this Triassie sandstone in Pennsylvania is almost universally in a northerly 
direction, and remains steadily between about 15° aud 40°. But there are remarkable excex:)tions to this rule, 
as shown on the sheets of the topographical map of the Durham hills and Reading mountains (by Berlin and 
D'Invilliers), published in the atlas to Prime's Report D D D, Second Geological Survey of Fennsylvania. A 
considerable tract east of Reading is covered with south dips varying from 40° to 75°. There are south dips 
alternating with north dips along the Schuylkill below Reading, and Professor Prazer reports local anticlinals in, 
York county. 

The quarry is located on the south side of a hill. The striiaping is not great, from the fact that the ledge is 
inclined at such an angle (40°) that it may be followed downward without the necessity of taking off much cover. 
The face of the quarry is at present about 100 feet, which is greater than the real thickness of the ledge, a fact due 
to its inclination. The rock is evenly bedded, and in courses varying in thickness from 3 to 10 feet. Blocks of as 



a Under the Kittanuing coal group, in the Lower Proiluctive Coal Measures. 



DESCRIPTIONS OF QUARRIES AND QUARRY REGIONS. 157 

large a size as are desirable may be talieu out. Tlie joiiitiug is rather regular, aud tbe Joints are from 4 to 40 feet 
apart. The topmost courses are of a reddisL-browu color, resembling very mucli that of the Connecticut browustoue 
of the same formation, but the great body of the material is of a uniform, characteristic bluish-browu color by 
which it is readily distinguished. Plate W represents a dressed surface of the Hummelstown brownstone. Amono- 
the buildings iu which this stone has been chiefly used for trimmings are: In Washington, District of Columbia 
the Bureau of Engraving aud Printiug and the residences of Hon. James G. Blaine, Senators Sherman and 
Cameron, and Colonel Jerome Bonaparte; in Philadelphia, the Academy of Fine Arts (basement), old Trinity 
chui'ch. Academy of Sciences (basement), aud Philadelphia library. A slab from this quarry was forwarded to 
the Xatioual Museum which has every indication of having been formed by being sun-baked when iu a .soft plastic 
state, the cracks being filled by material swept over them by the waves. In the quarries at Goldsboro', York 
county, the surfaces of some of the layers contain what resemble worm tracks or boi-ings, aud the stone is of a 
medium-flue texture, some of it conglomeratic, small siliceous pebbles being present ; it is a reddish-brown in color 
and has been quarried for caps, .sills, steps, base courses, and trimmings generally, and is used iu York, Harrisburg 
Danville, Williamsport, and other cities iu this part of Pennsylvania. Some of the trimmings in the Pennsylvania 
Capitol building are of this stone. It was uot quarried during the census year. The total thickness of the ledo-e 
quarried is about 25 feet, in courses varying from 1 foot to 10 feet iu thickness, with layers of red shale iuterveniuf 
between many of the courses of stone. The portions of the ledge nearest the surface are not so compact and 
durable as those below ; this is, however, a characteristic of nearly all sandstone quarries. The distance from 
the railroad station is about 2J miles. 

Along the line of the Philadelphia and Beading railroad, in the vicinity of Mohn's store, several miles south 
of Eeaning, Berks county, the Triassic sandstone, here a reddish-brown, massive stone of uniform medium-fine 
texture, uot dilieriug greatly in appearance from that quarried at Goldsboro', York county, is quarried from 
surface rocks, which are scattered thickly over the ground, and is used for steps, caps, sills, fronts, base courses 
and other trimmings, chiefly in Beading, where several churches are built of it. The ledge of sandstone is found 
in place, but the stone is not quarried, as there is a supply of the surface rocks fully seasoned by the weather 
furnishing a reliable and durable material, while some of the layers of the Triassic sandstone in place show 
themselves, when first quarried, to be susceptible to the action of dampness and frost, and need some care iu 
seasoning. Mauy of the farm buildings through the area covered by this formation in PeunsylvaTiia are constructed 
of the sandstone from it. The color is always some shade of lirown, or reddish-brown, from the intimate 
dissemination of iro7i oxide through the cementing matter. 

Witliin the limits of Norristown, Montgomery county, aud the immediate vicinity of the city, the Triassic 
sandstone is quarried in a small ,vay for local purposes, such as cellars, foundations, and ashlar for walls and fronts. 
The quarry just west of Bridgeport, across the Schuylkdl from Xorristowu, ships a small amount of stone to 
Philadelphia. The location here is not far from the southern edge of the formation, and the stoue quarried is from 
its lower strata, with a coarse, almost conglomeratic, texture and somewliat lighter color than the rock quarried 
higher iu the strata. The total thickness of the ledge quarried here is about 14 feet, disposed in regular layers 
varying in thickness from 9 inches to 2 feet, some of which arc separated by thin partings of the reddish cLiy. 
It is considerably jointed and broken. It is probable that layers of the stoue lie below the bottom of the quarries 
at present opened in this vicinity. The stone presents a rougher appearance than that obtained from the same 
formation in most of the other localities where it is quarried, and it is of a lighter color, sometimes having only a tinge 
of brown. The color is not uniform throughout the quarries, aud the buildings constructed of it in iNTorristowii 
have a variegated appearance on this accouut, though there is not enough of variatiou to make the walls of the 
buildings present violent contrasts of color. This stone in the walls of buildings constructed of it over half a 
century ago still remains firm aud durable, but its grade is not .such as to make it important for other than local 
uses. 

At Lumberton, Yardleyville, Center Bridge, and other places in Bucks county, near the Delaware river, the 
Triassic sandstone is quite extensively quarried for cellars, foundations, bridge abutments, and ashlar, and is shipped 
chiefly to Philadelphia by rail and boat ; it is also shipped to Camden, jSTorristown, and neighboring places. The 
material here is of medium texture, with indistinct signs of stratification, aud usually of a light brown color. The 
quarries are on the lower portions of the .strata. The bedding is fine and the courses are thick and regularly 
jointed, being usually from 8 to 20 feet apart. Among the buildings constructed of this materia! are the Bucks County 
court-house, at Doylestowu; the insane asylum, Xorristown ; approaches to the South Street and Callowhill Street 
bridges; the Catholic churches at Lehigh avenue and Diamond street, and the wing of the Episcopal hospital, 
Philadelphia. 

At Xewton, in Bucks county, a small amount of stone is quarried, the material being similar and used for the 
same purposes as that at Lumberton and Yardleyville. 

The .stripping in all of these red-sandstone quarries is a red clay, and varies iu depth from uotliing to 12 or 15 
feet, excepting in the Hummelstown quarries, where the vstripping is sometimes greater. As the ledge always has 
considerable dip, it outcrops in places and the stripping increases moi-e or less rapidly according to the topography 
of the ground. 



158 BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

Lower Silurian. — Outside of the Triassic border to the north and west, middle Pennsylvauia is a couutry of 
parallel sandstone mountains and shale and limestone valleys, of which the principal sandstone formations are the 
Oneida and Medina (No. IV), the Oriskany (No. VII), the Gatskill (No. IX), the Pocouo (Vespertine, No. X), and 
the Pottsville (Serai, No. XII) ; but in none of these except the Gatskill have quarries of building stone been 
opened for commercial purposes, although the sandstones and conglomerates have been locally used for building- 
purposes. 

The South mouiit/.iins, which rise immediately from the north border of the Trias belt, are made up of Laureutian 
gneiss overlaid by Potsdam sandstone between the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers, and of Potsdam sandstone 
and Hurouian ]wrphyries between the Susquehanna river and the Maryland line. 

The Welsh mountain, on the south edge of the Trias belt, in Chester and Lancaster counties, is Potsdam sand- 
stone overlying (Laurentian?) gneiss. This Potsdam sandstone formation extends westward underground beneath 
the limestone plain of Lancaster and appears on the Susquehanna river above Columbia. 

Both above and below the Potsdam sandstone (quartzite) proper lie schists or slates which belong to the same 
formation and ought to bear the same name. The upper slates are calcareous and underlie the great JIaguesiau 
limestone (Lower Silurian) formation of the Cumberland valley. 

There is a quarry of Potsdam sandstone at Columbia, Lancaster county, in beds immediately underlying the 
Siluro-Cambrian limestone. It is used only for cellars, foundations, furnace stacks, and work of that class iu 
Columbia, Harrisburg, and vicinity. The height of the face of the quarry is about 110 feet, in layers varying from 
3 to 20 or 30 feet in thickness. The strata are perpendicular and are sandwiched between strata of magnesian 
limestone. The horizontal measurement across the face of the quarry is from 1,200 to 1,300 feet. These two 
formations apparently form an anticlinal axis from which the top has been eroded. The stone is invulnerable to 
the attacks of the weather, is dry, and will absorb but little moisture ; it has no regular cleavage and is sOmewhat 
difficult to get into proper shape for any but the ruder uses. It stands a high degree of heat. The material is fine- 
grained, calcareous, massive, compact, gray in color, having somewhat the appearance of an argillaceous schist, and 
breaks with a very irregular fracture. 

In Northampton county, near Bethlehem, there is a line, massive, gray, hard, and rather quartzitic sandstone of 
the Potsdam formation, lying in thick layers and irregularlj' jointed, quarried for local purposes. 

Upper Silurian. — Eocks of Upper Siluiiau age are but very little quarried iu Pennsylvania for building 
purposes. 

• Two miles north from Danville, on the line of the Bloomsburg division of the Delaware, Lackawanna, and 
Western railroad, and on the north branch of the Susquehanna river, in Montour county, rocks of the Clinton 
subdivision of this formation are (juarried for building purposes and for heavy foundations. It is a dark gray 
sandstone, massive, flue iu texture, evenly bedded, and lies in medium to thick courses. This stone was used in 
the construction of the Danville insane asylum. 

Near Mapleton, Huntingdon county, at the west entrance of Jack's narrows, a deep gap in Jack's mountain, 
letting the Juniata liver and the Pennsylvania railroad pass through, the face of the mountain is covered with 
surface rock of Medina sandstone to a depth of 50, i^erhaps 100, feet or more in places, making the mountain 
appear from some points like a huge stone heap. The stone is a light gray in color, of medium texture, irregular in 
stratification, very hard, and only less brittle than the limestone much quarried in the mountain region of this 
part of the state for railroad ballast. The stone here is used for railroad ballast and bridge abutments on the 
Pennsylvania railroad. It is very durable, resisting the elements well ; blocks large enough to produce stone for 
bridge abutments do not occur often enough to furnish a convenient supply. Considerable selecting is necessary 
when blocks of this kind are desired, but the blocks are flat-bedded and large enough to be used for foundation and 
cellar work and for ashlar. The only labor necessary at this quarry is the breaking of the stone and sending them 
down the chute to the cars below. For description of Medina sandstone in Juniata valley see Eeport F, Second 
Geological Survey of Pennsylvania. 

At the upper end of Jack's narrows the Oriskany sandstone is quarried extensively for glass-sand ; it is too 
friable at this point to answer for building purposes. The strata stand vertical or with a very steep westerly dip. 

Devonian. — At Weissport, in Carbon county, there is a fine, thin, and evenly-bedded carbonaceous sandstone 
of the Marcellus Shale age quarried to a limited extent for. flagging and other uses at Weissport, Mauch Chunk, 
and Bethlehem ; it is dark gray, approaching black in color, due probably to the carbonaceous matter in it. The 
depth of the material quarried is about 12 feet, out of which about 5 feet are suitable for flagging, the workable 
material being disposed iu beds a foot or two thick through the mass. The flags are from half an inch to 8 inches 
iu thickness ; dip of the strata, 20°. 

The Marcellus shale in this vicinity is reported to contain sufticient carbonaceous matter to occasionally amount 
to a thin streak of bituminous coal ; and this is a characteristic feature of the formation iu many counties of the 
state. In Perry county it contains numerous thin streaks of coal. 

Nest in order, progressing to the northward, in eastern Pennsylvania are the Catskill beds, which contain 
the flagstone quarries of the Delaware Eiver valley, above Port Jervis, in Pike county. The rocks here quarried 
have been by tlie Pennsylvania Geological Survey named " Delaware flags ". They are quarried chiefly for sidewalk 



DESCRIPTIONS OF QUARRIES AND QUARRY REGIONS. 159 

paving and other flagging, and for curbs and trimiuiugs. It is dark grayish, usually massive, but sometimes 
indistinctly stratified, fine, compact, and hard in texture. It lies usuallj' in even parallel layers from 1 inch to 12 
inches and upward in thickness. It is marketed in Philadelphia, Newark, iSTew York, Xe^y England, and Washington, 
and is known as the "Sew York blue-stone, going into the market with stone from Ulster county, New York, from 
which material it is scarcely distinguishable. 

The surface of the country in this section is very hilly and rugged. The strata are nearly horizontal, and the 
roughness of surface lias been produced by erosion sinqjly. 

Tlie flags are quarried along the face of the steep clitts, on both sides of the river, at a number of convenient 
points where the fallen debris is not too thick. On starting a new place the quarryinen usually have to remove 
about C feet of worthless rock, getting about I feet of flags, increasing from 1 inch to 12 inches in thickness from 
the toj) downward. Below this the layers continue to increase in thickness, and are considered too thick for 
flagging. Machinery has not been used except as an experiment. Some of the Pike Couutj' flag-stone is quarried 
at higher elevations and is of a somewhat lighter color than that which is quarried lower. The method of 
transportation to Philadelphia, where much of the stone is used, is by canal to Kondout on the Hudson, thence 
round by water, but to points in New York, New England, and New .Jersey usually by rail, so as to avoid transfer. 

The Catskill sandstone is quarried in the mountains near Scranton, chiefly for local use in bridge abutments, 
cellars, and foundations. It is here of a buff color, medium hard in texture, indistinctly stratified, and lying in even 
parallel seams from 3 to 20 inches in thickness; the joints are usually from 12 to 15 feet apart. The quarry is 
located in a mass of stone exposed on the northwest side of the mountain west of Scranton. There is no sti-ipping; 
the dip of the strata northwestward is about 25° ; the thickness of the beds quarriedSO feet. The blocks readily bi'eak 
into rectangular shapes with proper management. As nothing but cobble pavement, and but little of that, has 
thus far been used in Scranton and neighboring towns, there has been no demand that would justify a trial of the 
experiment of shaping this stone into paving blocks. It is stated in the geological reports that the lithological 
characteristics of this ledge are those of the Pocono sandstone, but that there are some stratigraphical relations that 
indicate it to be Catskill. 

In the mountains a few miles east of Wilkesbarre, in Luzerne county, the Catskill red sandstone is quarried for 
sidewalk-paving, caps, sills, and ashlar. The stone here is quartzitic in appearance, of medium texture as to 
firmness, and lying in even parallel courses of thin to medium thickness, with beds inclined at various angles 
according to locality; the joints range from 20 to iO feet apart. It is shipped by rail to Wilkesbarre, Allentowu, 
Bethlehem, Easton, and neighboring towns. This formation is the principal one exposed on the side and crest of 
the mountain which borders the Wyoming valley on the east. The soil on the mountain is sterile and scant from 
the slow weathering of the rock. There is but a scanty growth of cedar, hemlock, pine, and scrub brush, the crests 
of some of the ledges being entirely bald. The thickness of the workable stone in the quarries now opened is 
from 8 to 10 feet, in courses from li inches to 2 feet in thickness, the thin laj'ers lying usuallj- near the top, but 
sometimes intervening between thicker layers. Nearly all of the sidewalks in Wilkesbarre are paved with this 
stone. In the locality where the quarrying is done at Laurel run rlie dip of the strata is into the mountain. The 
stripping increases very rapidly, and the quarrymen keep around the skii't to avoid deep stripping. 

The Chemung beds of Wyoming county rank very high in the production of building stone. The material is 
quarried for all building iiurposes, and chiefly for caps, sills, bases, monuments, and trimmings. It is used in New 
York, Philadelphia. Boston, and AVashington. The stone is fine, comijact, massive, dark bluish-gray in color, lies 
in even parallel layers from a few inches to G feet or more in thickness, the courses at the top being usuallj- thin, 
and increasing in thickness downward ; the thicker beds are quarried extensively for flagging. The surface of the 
country is very broken and hilly, the hills being usually steep and rocky, showing the resistance of the stone to 
decomi)ositiou. Beds of good stone for flagging and general building purposes are found here and there at all 
elevations, flaggings of the same quality, texture, and general appearance being found at the foot and at the summit 
of the same hill ; from to 20 feet of good stone may be found at one place. The abruptness of the hills usually 
causes the stripi)iug to increase rapidly ; the strata ai'e nearly horizontal, the broken character of the country being 
caused by erosion. This stone does not scale or crumble. The expense of dressing the stone is comparatively 
high, but it is thought to fully repay for its costliness by the handsome and substantial character of the work 
constructed of it. The quarries at Black Walnut, Skinner's Eddy, and Nicholson, all in Wyoming county, are of the 
same lormation, and the material is the same as to quality. Gang and rip saws, rubbing-beds, and turning-lathes 
are used in dressing the stone. This stone has been used in the construction of the Produce Exchange building, 
the residence of Mr. W. J. Hutchinson, on Fifty-eighth street, and that of Mr. Addiison Hutton, Fifth street. New 
York city ; the residence of ^Ir. A.J. Dull, at Harrisburg, and the carved work for the interior decoration of 
St. Mark's Episcopal church at Mauch Chunk, Pennsylvania. Other quarries in this vicinity produce flagging 
exclusively from the thinner layers. The surface layers are usually not solid, but have a sort of laminated structure, 
and can readily be split into thin plates ; such flags prove to be inferior, on account of the separation of these plates 
by the water and frost. Considerable of the stone from these layers is shipjied, but sells at a lower price. The 
lower courses are solid, quite substantial, and durable. For the past few years the amount of flagging shipped 
from this locality each year has been more than double that of the preceding year. 



IGO BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

In beds at apijarently the same horizon as those quarried at and near Meshoppeu, stones similar in character 
are quarried for flagging, steps, water-tables, caps, sills, aud monument bases, at Mcholson, about 20 miles east of 
Meshoppen, and are shipped to Scranton and vicinity and Easton, Pennsylvania, and to Hoboken and Morristown, 
New Jersey. Twelve feet in thickness of the ledge is quarried, but the bottom has not been reached. The courses 
are very even, and parallel and horizontal, varying in thickness from 1 inch to 3 feet, the thinnest layers at the 
top, though thin layers often intervene between the thicker ones. The section of country in which the quarry is 
situated is hilly and broken, caused by erosion, apparently, as the strata are all horizontal. The hills are made up 
mostly of stone, generally lying in thin layers. Where the quarries are located at the base of these steep hills the 
stripping increases rapidly. 

At Brandt, in Susquehanna county, on the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company's railroad, the Chemung 
beds are quarried for flags, curbing, crossings, caps, sills, and other trimmings, which are shipped to Elmira and 
Binghamtou, New York, and to Sorantou, Pennsylvania, and vicinity. The stone is massive, fine and hard in 
texture, dark gray in color, aud lying in even i:)ara!lel courses from 2 to 8 inches in thickness; the joints are 10 feet 
and more apart. Where quarried there are about 25 feet in stripping of cap or worthless rock, under which is a 
bed of good flagging 12 feet in thickness, Ijing horizontally; flags at the top are about 2 inches thick, and they 
increase very regularly in thickness downward, the bottom flag being 12 inches thick ; beneath the flagging is a 
bed of brittle, crumbling slate. The surface of the country here is very rough aud broken, and beds of the flagging 
occur at almost every elevation. 

At Mainsburg, Tioga county, the Upper Chemung beds are quarried for paving flags, which are shipped to 
the neighboring towns in the south-central part of New York. The stone is dark gray, sometimes massive, and 
sometimes distinctly stratified, lying iu even, thin, aud horizontal courses. The bed of the quarry is about 8 feet 
in thickness, covered by a solid stratum of hard, dark-colored shale, which is removed by drilling aud blasting. 
The courses are from 1 inch to 8 inches iu thickness, most of them being less than 4 inches. The 3- and 4-inch courses 
make very desirable material for sidewalk flaggiug, the thinner courses being adajited only to use iu pavements 
which are not required to sustain much wear nor heavy shocks. The natural blocks are usually nearly square and 
quite evenly and smoothly bedded. The bed will at the present rate soon be exhausted in the hill where it is now 
quarried, but it is probable that in some of the snrroundiug hills beds of equally good quality exist. An ordinary 
paving material is quarried iu the Eed Catskill formation near Wilkesbarre aud Osceola, Tioga county. 

Sandstone of Cliemung age is quarried at Farrandville, Clinton county, for ordinary building i>urposes, and is 
used chiefly at Danville, Montour county, Pennsylvania. It is buff in coloi', massive, and of medium texture, lying 
iu even courses of varying thickness. The front and tower of the Bloomsburg jail, the Memorial church at the 
same place, and the Danville National Bank building are constructed of this stone. 

At Queen's run, in Clinton county, Devonian rocks of Catskill age are quarried for foundations and bridges, and 
are used chiefly at Lock Haven, to which place they are transported by water. The stone is fine in texture, indistinctly 
stratified, dark gray and brown iu color, and lying iu even courses of medium thickness. The use to which this 
stone is most applicable is curbing ; it is used in the rough for cellar walls and bridge abutments, sometimes rough- 
pointed for these pui'poses. Some of the courses make an ordinary material for sidewalk pavement. The stone 
has been quarried at various localities in the vicinity along the bank of the river. The strata of quarry rock are 
found at different horizons; they are usually but a few feet in thickness, and the dip soon carries them under, so that 
they are not quarried extensively at any one locality. 

The Oriskany sandstone has been extensively quarried for bridge abutments and wall stone near McVeytown, 
aud is used for bridge abutments and wall stone at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and along the line of the Pennsylvania 
railroad, chiefly on the middle division. It is gray in color, coarse in texture, its stratification is even and parallel, 
lying in even, regular courses of varying thickness. Up to the present time only the surface rocks have been quarried 
at this place; they are scattered over the sides and top of a low anticlinal ridge of Oriskany sandstone lying just 
east of jMcVeytown and parallel to Jack's mountain, which rises a couple of miles to the west. It is estimated 
that $1,000,000 have been expended on this ridge iu quarrying and preparing this stone, chiefly for bridge abutments 
on the Pennsylvania railroad. It is ra}:her rough in texture, but very hard and durable. The sandstone usually 
has a ripple-marked surface, but the natural blocks are usually rectangular in shape and nearly as regular as if 
sawed. The much-weathered rocks on the crest of the ridge exhibit casts of a brachiopod (probably the Spirifer 
arennsits) in abundance. There is yet a large supply of the stone iu the shape of surface rocks, and, because less 
expensive, they will probably all be removed before the rock in place is touched. 

The sides of the mountain near Altoona, Blair county, are thickly strewn with surface rocks of different 
formations, chiefly Catskill, Pocono, Pottsville conglomerate, and IMahoning sandstone, which furnish nearly all 
the building stone for cellars, foundations, terrace walls, and other ordinary building purposes, and is used iu the 
town of Altoona and vicinity. These surface rocks are grayiu color, and, though varying much in color aud texture, 
are usually veiy hard and durable; ou breaking up they exhibit many cracks aud fissures, due to the effects of fire 
passing over the mountains. The material is too rough and hard to dress well, and is only suitable for the ruder 
building purposes. 



DESCRIPTIONS OF QUARRIES AND QUARRY REGIONS. 161 

At LebcEuf, Erie county, the third oilsaml, locally so called, which is of Devonian age, produces a sandstone 
used at Erie for foundations, bridges, flagging, sills, and other trimmings. It is gray in color, fine in texture, 
distinctly stratified, and evenly bedded, the courses being of medium thickness. This formation produces the 
best building stoue quarried in Erie county. When seen in the stone-yards, fresh from the quarry, it can hardly 
be distinguished by its general appearance from some of the stone quarried at Berea, Ohio. By some geologists 
the third oil-sand was for a long time supposed to be the equivalent of the Berea grit in Ohio, but it is now pretty 
generally admitted that the Corry sandstone, several hundred feet above the third oil-sand and above the whole 
Venango oil group, is the equivalent of the Berea grit. The Corry sandstone in Pennsylvania does not possess the 
valuable characteristics of its equivalent, the Berea grit, in northern Ohio. There are a number of quarries worked 
to a limited extent in the third oil-sand in Erie county. The rock of this formation has been quarried in different 
localities at different times for local and temporary demands, but there are few permanently-worked quarries in the 
county. The rock contains petroleum and soluble sulphates in such large quantities that it is not a desirable 
material to be used iu fine buildings. Builders say it "sweats and spoils everything below it". It is, however, a 
good material for bridge-building and other like purposes. The stratum in the quarries is about 11 feet in thickness, 
the courses varying from 8 inches to 3^- feet thick. A section of the quarry is as follows: 

Drift deposit 6 feet. 

Blue shale 6 feet. 

Coarse conglomerate 1 foot 6 inches. 

Quarry rock, somotimos containiiif; pebbles, especially between the beds - 7 feet. 

Quarry rock, clear, tioe- grained sandstone, beneath which shale appears 4 feet. 

The stone is quarried chiefly on the left bank of French creek. The stripping constantly increases as the 
excavation is carried farther into the bank. The outcrop of the quarry rock is about half a mile in length, and a 
large amount of the stone may yet be quarried with a little increase of stripping. 

At Jackson station a quarry is opened iu the third oil-sand formation, and experiments are being made with 
the rock with the expectation of successfully marbleizing it for mantels in the same manner as the EucHd (Ohio) 
stone. 

Devonian rocks of Portage age are quarried a few miles east of Erie for foundations in that city. The stone is 
gray iu color, fine iu texture, indistinctly stratified, and evenly bedded in layers of medium thickness. The principal 
quarry is in a stratum of fine-grained sandstone from 20 to 30 feet in thickness ; in some places there are two or 
three courses from C to 12 inches thick, and in some places the stratum is solid. The rock contaius petroleum and 
other soluble impurities which make it unfit for use in all buildings exposed to the atmosphere. Other quarries of 
tlie same rock are quarried near the lake shore, the quality of the rock being about the same iu all the quarries on 
this formation near Erie. A blue, impure sandstone in the Chemung flags is quarried occasionally to a limited extent 
at different localities in the vicinity of Erie. 

STTB-CAEBONiFEROtTs. — Eocks of the sub-Carboniferous formation iu Pennsylvania have thus far beeu quarried 
but little for purposes of construction. It will be noticed that there is but one limestone quarry of importance located 
on rocks of this age in Pennsylvania, and the following description will give an idea of the extent to which the 
sub-Carboniferous sandstones are quarried in the state : 

Three miles north of Scranton, in Lackawanna county, in the side of the mountain a short distance westward 
of that city, and close to a quarry in the Catskill sandstone before mentioned, there is a quarry located on rock, 
probably, though not certainly, of Pocono sandstone of sub-Carboniferous age. The stone is much softer than that 
in the quarry of Catskill sandstone, and produces the best cutting stone iu the vicinity ; it is used for base courses, 
caps, sills, and other trimmings at Scranton, and was used in the construction of the Megargill and Cornell bank 
iu that city. There are 20 feet of workable stone in this quarry, the thickness of the layers being from 3 inches to 
2 feet, with the thinnest at the top, although thin layers occasionally intervene between the thicker ones. The dip of 
the strata is about 25°. 

Two miles northwest of Altoona, in Blair county, on the Pennsylvania railroad, sandstone, probably of Pocono 
age, is quarried for cellar walls and foundations in Altoona. The material is gray, of medium texture, evenly and 
distinctly stratified, evenly bedded, and in courses varying from 1 foot to 4 feet in thickness. The stratum is much 
jointed, being usually not farther apart than from 5 to 10 feet. The total thickness of the ledge is about 15 feet. 
The stratum inclines about 45°, and dips into the hill in such a way as to increase the stripping very rapidly, so 
that it is not practicable to follow the ledge far into the hill. 

Four miles southeast of Uuiontowu, at the west foot of the Chestnut ridge, the Pocono sandstone is quarried 
for lining steel furnaces, cupolas, and convertiiigfurnaces. It is used chiefly at Pittsburgh and at Braddock's Field, 
Pennsylvania, and Saint Louis, Missouri. It has been used iu the cou.structiou of cellars and foundations. It might 
be used for ordinary building purposes, but is rather hard to dress; and there is such a demand for it as firestone 
that the latter will probably continue to he the principal purpo.se for which it will be used. It is light gray in color, 
of medium-fine texture, irregularly stratified, evenly bedded, in courses varying iu thickness from 2 or 3 inches to 
S inches. Only about 15 leetof the stratum is quarried, and the courses below are probably thicker. The Pocono 
jsandstone in this locality is i'ound also on the top of the synclinal arch of Chestnut ridge, the inclination of the strata 
VOL. IX 11 B s 



162 BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

being such as to briug it near the surface at nearlj^ every point on the west side of the mountain. It is quarried 
about a mile up the side of the mountain, at Turkey's Nest, on the National road, as it has been quarried at the 
summit of the mountain above, where the stone is said to be superior to that at the other points mentioned, but 
transportation is so costly from the summit that the quarry tliere is not operated at present. 

At Venango, in Franklin county, the Chenango sandstone, a subdivision of the sub-Carboniferous rocks iu 
Pennsylvania, and known iu Warren, McKean, and neighborhig counties by the name " sub-Olean", or "iiat pebble 
rock ", is quarried for sidewalk iiaviug and general building purposes, and used iu Franklin and Oil City. It is 
gray iu color, fine aud uniform in texture, evenly and distiuctly stratified, evenly bedded, and lying in courses from 
1 inch to 30 inches thick. This formation , like the Corry sandstone, was supposed for a time to be the equivalent of the 
Berea grit in Ohio. In this locality some i:)ortionsof it somewhat resemble the Amherst " bufi"' stone in appearance,, 
and other portions have very much the appearance of the Amherst " blue"; aud the material is more nearly equal 
to the famous Ohio stones mentioned than is that of any other quarry in northwestern Pennsylvania. The thicker 
courses, from 4 to C inches in thickness, are used largely for sidewalk paving, and large blocks from the heavier 
courses can be split into thin slabs by means of wedges. These quarries are located in the right bank of the 
Allegheny river. 

On the opposite side, about one mile back from the river, is a quarry which has been worked quite extensively 
in the past for jiaviug stone. The layers vary in thickness from 1 inch to 6 inches, and the stone is very micaceous 
and tough. The stratum of quarry rock in all these quarries is about 15 feet iu thickness. The amount of 
stripping rapidly increases as work is carried farther into the banks. 

The Chenango sandstone is also quarried at Titus^^lle, Crawford county, for local use in bridges and foundations^ 
It is here gray in color, massive, coarse in texture, evenly bedded, and iu thick layers. The rock from this stratum 
is used more than any other for building j)urposesin Crawford county. It is usually colored with peroxide of iron^ 
nodules of which frequently occur from a quarter of an inch to 2 inches in diameter ; the color is not uniform, 
though seldom disagreeable to the eye. The texture differs but little from that of the stone obtained from the 
conglomerate measures above, except that it is usually more uniform. The rock in most localities very much 
resembles the Waverly conglomerate of Ohio, and if the following correlation can be sustained the two formations 
are identical: 

CAEBONIFEEOUS CONGLOMERATE. 

Crawford County, Pennsylvania.. Ohio. 

Chenango group : Cuyahoga shale : 

Shales 1 = 1. Shales. 

Chenango sandstone 2 = 2. Waverly conglomerate. 

Meadville group 3 = 3. Shales. 

Sharpsville flags 4 = 4. Buena Vista stone. 

Orangeville blue slate -. 5 = 5. Berea shale. 

Corry sandstone 6. Berea grit. 

But so far as the economic value of these different formations is concerned their identification is of little 
consequence. The highly valuable deposit of Berea grit in northern Ohio becomes an almost worthless rock within 
100 miles east of where it has its maximum development. The Chenango sandstone is usually an ordinary coarse- 
grained rock, but near Franklin, Venango county, Pennsylvania, it is a uniform, fine-grained sandstone, and is 
perhaps the most valuable sandstone deposit in western Pennsylvania. 

The Sharon conglomerate, existing over an extensive territory and locally known by various names, as 
" second mountain-sand", and "Ohio," " Garland," aud " Olean conglomerate", is in some localities a mere mass of 
quartz pebbles loosely cemented together, and in texture varies from this to a fine-grained blue-black stone. It 
is quarried near Greenville, Mercer county. 

Carboniferous. — As before stated, the Carboniferous rocks in western Pennsylvania and the isolated tracts 
of the same area iu the anthracite regions of the northeastern part of the state, have thus far produced scarcely 
anything but sandstones for building purposes, and the general statement may be made that they were quarried 
only for local use. These sandstones intervene between the different beds of coal in the Coal-Measure formatious, 
and are ofteu of coarse and conglomeratic texture, though occasionally fine and compact. The anthracite region 
gets its supply of building stone mostly from the Chemung, Catskill, and other Devonian rocks quarried at 
Meshoppeii and Nicholson, Wyoming county, aud at various places in the mountains extending through tlie 
region, and the Carboniferous sandstones are but little drawn upon. 

At Shickshinny, Luzerne county, on the Bloomsburg division of the Delaware, Lackawanna, and Western 
railroad, there is a quarry of sandstone of Carboniferous age quarried chiefly for bridge-building and other railroad _ 
work on the line of railroad above mentioned. It is a dark gray sandstone of medium texture, evenly and distiuctly 
stratified, evenly bedded, the layers at the top being 2 inches thick, and at a depth of 100 feet 4 to 6 feet thick. 
The top stone is used for sidewalks at Wilkesbarre and other towns along the banks of the Susquehanua river, aud 
at Danville, Scranton, and Lancaster, The jail at Danville is built of this stone, and also the side walls of the 
Bloomsburg jail. 



DESCRIPTI(3NS OF QUARRIES AND QUARRY REGIONS. 163 

Progressiug northward and westward from the anthracite region we come to the Carboniferous rocks in Tioga 
county. At Antrim, in that county, they are quarried for bridge work and general buikling i)urposes, and are used 
chiefly at Corning, Xew York. An Episcopal church at Antrim, and a court-house at Wellsboro' are built of this 
stone. It is light gray, massive, and coarse in texture, evenly bedded, and in thick courses. Much of the material 
obtained here is almost a purely white sandstone ; it is a strong and durable rock, and holds its color well. It presents 
the best appearance when used in connection with a dark-colored stone, as is well shown in one of the county 
buildings at Wellsboro', the white sandstone structure being trimmed with white Medina sandstone. It works 
rather hard under the chisel, and its use is thereby greatly limited. There are indications, however, that if the 
excavation were carried farther into the bank a softer material would be obtained where it has not been so thoroughly 
drained ; or, in the language of the quarrymcn, " where it still contains the sap." 

Xear Somerset, in Somerset county, there is a flag-stone quarried and used locally for sidewalk ijaving. It is 
gray in color, of medium texture, irregularly stratified, very evenly bedded in thin layers, and but little jointed. 
The total thickness of the ledge is not exposed ; it is quarried to a depth of 6 feet only, coming out in blocks varying 
ill thickness from 2 or 3 to 10 inches, the average being from 4 to 6 inches. The general shape of natural blocks is 
exceedingly regular, presenting, however, an apparently ripple-marked surface. The flags are very hard and would 
be difficult to dress to a smooth surface, bat they resist foot-wear exceedingly well. 

At Johnstown, in Cambria county, the Mahoning sandstone, at the top of the Lower Productive Coal Measures, 
is quarried for general building purposes and used locally. It is dark gray, massive, medium, but uniform texture. 
The stratum of quarry rock is about i'O feet in thickness, the courses varying in thickness from 8 to 32 inches; there 
being one 32-inch course near the middle of the stratum. This is the firmest and most uniform in texture, and the most 
dm-able material for steps, for which purpose it is largely used. There are thin beds of ferruginous, shaly material 
between some of the layers. Sometimes this ferruginous material amounts to a thin layer of lich, compact iron ore. 
The stone itself is ferruginous, and when freshly quarried presents a compact, bluish appearance, flecked through 
with minute spots of peroxide of iron ; and when exposed for a time it changes to a rough reddish-brown color to a 
depth of 5 or 6 inches. There is a layer about 4 feet in thickness about the center of the ledge. It is so tVi ruginous 
as to render it inapplicable to building purposes. 

The Homewood sandstone (which is the uppermost of the three .subdivisions of the Pottsville conglomerate 
formation, Xo. XII, underlying the Coal Measures) of the Pennsylvania geological reports is quarried for bridge 
construction at Iowa station, Jefl'erson county, on the Allegheny Valley i-ailroad, and used on the low-grade division 
of that road. It is a gray, massive, coarse stone, evenly bedded, and in thick courses. Ordinary stone for 
foundations, bridge abutments, and work of that class can be obtained almost everywhere along this line of railroad 
from Driftwood to Red Bank ; the best perhaps is found in the immediate vicinity of Brookville. It has been used 
in this town extensively, but only detached blocks have been quarried. The railroad company does not always obtain 
stone in the same locality, but moves from place to place according to convenience. 

At Freeport, Armstrong county, the Mahoning sandstone is quarried for bases and steps, and used along the 
line of the Pennsylvania railroad from Allegheny to Tyrone. It is gray and light brown in color, irregularly 
stratified, coarse texture, unevenly bedded, and in courses of medium thickness. This stratum has a much better 
developmeufr farther north, in Claiion county, and it has been quite extensively quarried near Catfish in that county, 
and near Loganspoit, Aimstrong county. The stone for the construction of the court-house at Kittanuing and 
that for the construction of the new jail at the same place were obtained near Catfish. The texture of the stone 
differs but little in these two localities, but the color of the Catfish stone is lighter and more uniform than that of 
the Logansport stone. At these localities the material is quite free from mica. 

About 2 miles north of Penn Junction on the Allegheny Valley railroad the full thickness — 20 feet — of the 
stratum is exposed : here the upper and lower portions are quite micaceous, and the middle portion contains very 
little mica. At the Fieeiiort quarry mica scales are found in abundance fi om the to]) to the bottom of the stratum ; 
here the color of some portions of the lock is brown and other portions light bluish or nearly white. The darker 
portions have the reputation of being quite durable, but the lighter poitious are not so. The stone from 
Catfish and Loganspoit wears away rapidly when used for steps and door-sills, but lasts quite well when merely 
subjected to atmospheric action. It is easily broken by concussion, but is capable of withstanding considerable 
pressure. 

A quarry near Cowaushanuock, a few miles north of Kittanniug, has been worked <iuite extensively from time 
to time. From this and the Catfish quarries stone has been largely shi])ped to Allegheny and PittsburgL. 

Mahoning sand.stone is quarried at Lucesco, the junction of the Allegheny Valley and West Pennsylvania 
railroads, on the Allegheny river, in Westmoreland county, and used chiefly for cellar walls and foundations for 
manufacturing establishments at Pittsburgh. It is employed to some extent tor caps, sills, and other trimmings ; it is 
gray, irregularly stratified, and of medium texture, evenly bedded and in thick courses, though much broken at the 
outcrop. The total thickness of the ledge of the quarry is CO feet, with indications that it will be found thicker as the 
quarry progresses in the hill. The hill is so steep at this point that the stripijiug must increase rapidlj- unless the 
ledge sets in more heavily to compensate. The material of the upper 40 feet of the ledge is rather coarse in texture, 



164 BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

witli considerable iron in it; that of the lower 20 feet is of a bluish color, close, compact, much iiuer and more uniform 
in texture, and proves to be superior to the upper for building purposes. Only the outcrop has as yet been touched, 
and the ledge presents a broken appearance; but layers 10 feet in thickness are occasionally seen, indicating that 
as the quarry progresses in the hill the base ■will not be broken. The Mahoning sandstone is quarried at Derry 
station, Westmoreland county, on the Pennsylvania railroad, for ordinary building purposes; it is coarse in 
texture, with signs of stratification distinct, reddish-gray in color; it is used at Greensburgh and other jilaces in 
Westmoreland county, and at McVeytown. The supply is obtained from large surface bowlders found along the 
west side of Chestnut Eidge mountain ; in this part of the state large surface bowlders of the Mahoning sandstone 
are found and broken i^p to obtain material for ordinary building purjjoses. The stone splits readily into regular 
blocks, and is variegated in color by alternate different shades of a reddish color parallel with the stratification. 

Near Derry station, on the Pennsylvania railroad, another ledge of sandstone belonging to the Upper 
Productive Coal JMeasnres is quarried chiefly for the construction of coke-ovens by the Loyalhanua Coal and Coke 
Company. The stone is gray, massive, uniform, medium in texture, and unevenly bedded in courses varying in 
thickness from 2 or 3 inches to 3 feet. The total thickness of the ledge quarried is about 19 feet. Large, irregular, 
detached masses from G to S feet thick, heterogeneous in composition and useless for building purposes, are frequently 
found embedded in the other stones ; these are locally called "nigger-heads". The blocks break up with -rather 
irregular fracture, and the stone is not esteemed for any other purpose than the rough work required in the 
building of coke-ovens, and as these ovens are lined with fire-brick the stone is not subjected to any great degree 
of heat. The quarry is situated at the foot and on the west side of the anticlinal axis known as Chestnut ridge; 
and there is considerable dip of the strata f oward the northwest, away from the crest of the mountain. 

At Greensburgh the sandstone of the Upper Productive Coal-Measure series is quarried to a limited extent for 
cellar and foundation stone used locallj'. It is gray, irregularly stratified, of medium texture, and unevenly bedded. 
The total thickness of the ledge quarried thus far is 15 feet, though in sinking a well close by the whole thickness 
of the ledge was found to be 37 feet. The layers as observed in the quarry vary from 3 inches to 2 feet in thickness, 
and a thin vein of coal lies beneath the ledge of stone. 

In Webster, near the Monongahela river, in Westmoreland county, a sandstone of the Upper Productive Coal 
Measures is quarried for paving and used in Pittsburgh. It is gray in color, fine in texture, evenly and distinctly 
stratified, evenly bedded, and in courses varying from 3 to 16 inches. 

At Scottdale, Westmoreland county, on the Southwest Pennsylvania railroad, the sandstone of the Ui)per 
Productive Coal- Measure series is quarried for the construction of coke-ovens and house foundations locally. It 
is of a brownish color, legularly stratified, and evenlj^ bedded in courses varying in thickness from 2 to 8 inches. 
The total thickness of the ledge of the quarry is 4J feet, which thickness seems to continue regularly throughout. 
From the hardness of this stone and the ease with which it may be taken out for flagging, it seems better adapted 
to this purpose than to any other. 

At Layton station, Fayette county, on the Baltimore and Ohio railroad, there is a sandstone (between the 
Upper and Lower Productive Coal Measures) of the Lower Barren Measures quarried and crushed into sand for the 
manufacture of glass ; it has, however, occasionally been used for building purposes. The abutments of the 
suspension bridge across the Youghiogheny river at Connellsville, and those of the Saint Clair Street bridge 
at Pittsburgh, were constructed of this stone. It is light gray in color, of coarse texture, irregularly stratified, 
evenly bedded, and lies in two courses of 10 feet each in thickness, making the total thickness of the ledge 20 feet. 
The stone increases somewhat in hardness from top to bottom. This material seems very well adapted to all 
ordinary building imrposes, but it serves so well for glass-sand that so far it has been found more profitable to 
quarry it for Ihat jjurposo. 

Three miles .southeast of Connellsville, Fayette county, on the Baltimore and Ohio railroad, is a sandstone of 
the Lower Productive Coal Measures also quarried for glass-sand. It very much resembles the material at Layton 
station, and is of such quality that it might be used for local building purposes. It is easily dressed, and exposures 
of the ledge which have not been disturbed artificially seem to indicate that the stone is durable. There is no 
regular division here into layers, the rock being usually found in one mass. The quarry is located on the side of 
the mountain, and the dip of the stratum is about 15 degrees at the point where quarried. 

In Connellsville, in the same county, the sandstone of the Barren Measures is quarried for ordinary building- 
purposes and used locally. It is gray, coarse in texture, indistinctly stratified, and evenly bedded in courses 
varying in thickness from 2 to 3 inches at the top to 12 feet at the bottom of the ledge, the total thickness being 
about 40 feet. The material of the uppermost 30 feet is of a light brown color, and appears to have a little clay in 
its composition; it cracks under the effect of water-soaking and freezing, is soft when first quarried, but hardens 
considerably on exposure. The stone breaks or splits rather easily in almost any direction ; wears away rapidly 
under foot-wear, but seems very well adapted for use in cai^s, sills, and other trimmings. The color of the lower 8 
feet of the ledge is bluish, aud the material is variable in texture, full of nodules of iron, and holds a good many 
fossil coal-plants. 

Three miles southeast of Uniontown, on the side of the Chestnut Eidge mountain, surface rocks of Mahoning 
sandstone are found aud broken up for ordinary building purposes, used chiefly at Uniontown. The material is 
gray, coarse in texture, with signs of irregular stratification. The blocks are sometimes as large as 30 by -0 feet 



DESCRIPTIONS OF QUARRIES AND QUARRY REGIONS. 165 

and 12 feet iu thickuess. When the hirge rocks are first broken the material is comparatively soft and easily 
worked; but it becomes hard on exposure to the air, and small fragmeuts that have been long exposed to the 
atmosphere are extremely hard. This stone seen in houses in Unioutown built fifty or sixty years ago exhibits 
every evidence of durability. 

Near Wayuesburgh, Greene county, sandstone of the Upper Barren (above the Ujiper Productive Coal) Measures 
is quarried to a limited extent for building purposes and for bases of monuments and other cemetery work, used 
locally ; it is gray, massive, and coarse in texture. Thus far only large surface rocks, some of them 30 feet square 
and 5 feet in thickness, have been quarried. There seems to be no exposure showing a ledge iu place; some of the 
rocks are on top of the hills. It is uniform iu color and texture, works well, may be split horizontally and vertically, 
and takes carving well for a stone of coarse texture, as raised lettering is sometimes worked on monuments of this 
material; it stands exposure, becoming harder after leaviug the quarry. 

Near West Union, Greene county, on the Wayuesburgh and Washington road, sandstone of the Upper Barren 
Measures is quarried for caps, sills, trimmings, aud for ordinary building purposes and cemetery Mork. It is used 
at Waynesbui'gh, and the stone- work in the college building at that place is of this material. It is gray in color, 
massive, of coarse texture, and is obtained by breaking up surface rocks, which are from 10 to 20 feet square and 
5 or G feet in thickness. These rocks where exposed are covered with a thin, cement-like crust, on which grows a 
grayish moss. When the crust is broken the stone beneath is found not to be discolored hy weather. 

Five miles west of Washington court-house, Washington county, on the Baltimore and Ohio railroad, 
sandstone of the Upper Barren Jleasures is quarried for cajjs, sills, curbs, steps, and other building purposes, and 
used locally. It is gray, coarse in texture, with signs of irregular stratitication ; the stratum is 20 feet thick, and 
solid, there being no division in the courses and few joints. The stone-work in the Washington and Jeflerson 
College building at Washington, Pennsylvania, and that iu the town hall at the same place, are of this material. 
The texture and appearance of this stone are uniform throughout the ledge, and the material is among the best 
found in the vicinity, though the su^jply of good building stone in this section of the state does not seem to be 
either abundant or widely distributed. 

On the Pittsburgh and Southern railroad, 3 miles east of Washington, Pennsylvania, and on the National pike, 
about a mile east of that place, there are quarries of sandstone of the Upper Barren Measures, quarried chietiy for 
foundation stones, caps, sills, and other ordinary building purposes, and used locally. The foundation of Le Moyne's 
crematory is of this stone. It is gray, coarse in texture, with signs of irregular stratification, uneven bedding, and 
in courses from 1 foot to feet in thickness, the thin layers often intervening between thicker ones; and iu blasting, 
the thick layers often divide into four or five thin ones. 

Near the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, and Saint Louis railroad, 14 miles north of Canonsburg, Washington county, 
sandstone, locally called freestone, of the Upper Barren Measures, is quarried for paving aud hearth stones ; used 
also for sills in Vf ashingtou, Mansfield Valley, and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The stone-work of thft Pennsylvania 
Beform School building, iu Washington county, is of this material. It is gray, uniform, of medium fine texture, 
evenly aud distinctly stratified, and evenly bedded. The total thickness of the ledge in this quarry is about C feet; 
the top layer varies from S to 20 inches in thickness, then follow two or three layers each about 2 inches, and next 
the bottom are layers from 8 to 12 inches in thickness, with thinner ones intervening. The bedding is exceedingly 
even and regular, the surface of the layers being as smooth as if sawed. For jiaving and hearth stones no dressing 
is needed except at the edges. The stone splits straight in the direction of the lamination, and vertically, but is 
hard to dress. It is a favorite iu this region for paving and hearth stones. 

Near ]\Ionongahela Citj-, Washington county, sandstone of the Upper Productive Coal Measures is (piarried for 
ordinary building purposes, and is used chiefly in Pittsburgh and neighboring cities, aud in the construction of 
the Mouongahela bridge, Washington county. It is transported by rail and by boat. It is gray, coarse in texture, 
massive, evenly bedded iu courses from 4 to 6 feet thick, and has a good local reputation. 

On the Ohio river and the Pittsburgh and Lake Erie railroad, at Stooji's ferry, Allegheny county, the United 
States government quarries sandstone of the Lower Barren Measures for building purposes, to be used chiefly 
at Pittsburgh, and to some extent iu the construction of bridges at Rochester and Davis Islaud dam. Transportation 
is by boat. It is gray, of medium fine texture, massive, evenly bedded, and in thick layers. This quarry has been 
opened for many years, and worked in a small way, but never to any great extent until the building of the 
Pittsburgh and Lake Erie railroad, many of the bridge- abutments and culverts of which are built of this stone. 
A house standing near this quarry at Stoop's ferry, built of this stone forty-two years ago, is still in a good state of 
preservation. 

At Walker's mills, on the Cairo and Saint Louis railroad, 12 miles west of Pittsburgh, Allegheny county, 
sandstone of tlin Lower Barren Measures is quarried for railroad-bridge masoni-y, and used on the divisions of the 
Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and Saint Louis railroad between Pittsburgh and Columbus, and also on the branches running 
from Pittsburgh to Wasliington, Pennsylvania, and Wheeling, West Virginia ; it is gray, of medium fine texture, 
irregularly stratified, and unevenly bedded in courses varying in thickness from 18 inches to 5 feet, except the bottom 
layer, which is in places IS feet iu thickness ; none of them, however, are of a uniform thickness throughout, but vary 
considerably within short distances. Partings of shale from a few inches to over a foot in thickness often intervene 



166 BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

between the layers of stone. The lower part of the hottom layer is full of nodules of i^eroxide of iron, often 
weighing several pounds each. Coal-plants, known as calamites, are found in the lower portion of the ledge. These 
quarries are situated on the same ledge (the Morgantown sandstone of the Second Geologioal Survey of Pennsylvania), 
as the local quarries in the vicinity of Pittsburgh and Alleghenj', and the character and appearance of the stone are 
the same as those of the stone quarried at the latter place. The total thickness of the ledge is about 80 feet, setting- 
in thicker as the quarries progress in the hill. A thickness of about 30 feet at the top is of a thin, shelly, broken 
character, suitable for railroad ballat5t, for which it is extensively used by the Pittsburgh, Ciucinuati, and Saint Louis 
railroad. Beneath this there are 50 feet or more of solid stone, lying in regular layers varying in thickness from 18 
inches to 5 feet, except the bottom layer, which is in places 18 feet thick. This sandstone, as well as nearly all of • 
the sandstones in the region immediately surrounding Pittsburgh, has some calcareous matter in its composition, 
and wherever a face of the ledge of stone has been exposed for a long time it is very much honey-combed into 
fantastic shapes, apparently by the disappearance of this calcareous matter, leaving the more siliceous portions 
intact. The stone when first quarried is vei-y sensitive to the action of frost, and quarrymeii say it is best to get it 
out long enough before v>'iuter to allow the '' sap " to dry out. 

At Mansfield Volley, Allegheny county, also on the Pittsburgh, (Jinciunati, and Saint Louis railroad, Morgantown 
sandstone (near the top of the Lower Barren Measures) is quarried for bridge masonry, and its character is the 
same as that of the stone from the other quarries ori the formation in this region. 

The Morgantown sandstone is quarried quite extensively in the hills within and near the limits of Pittsburgh 
and Allegheny, and it is used almost exclusively for cellars, foundations, sewers, and other underground work in 
those cities and vicinity. While its character is such as to exclude it from other building purposes, it seems to 
answer quite well for underground work, and supplies nearly all the stone used in the cities named for this class 
of construction. It is a bluish-gray in color, medium to fine in texture, with signs of irregular stratification, the 
bedding moderately even, in layers varying in thickness from a few inches at the top to 4 or 5 feet at the bottom of the 
ledge. Thin partings of shale sometimes rest between the thin layers at the top, especially at the outcrop. The 
usual thickness of the ledge is about 35 feef , though at Wood's Pun quarry and other places in the neighborhood 
it reaches a thickness of 100 feet. There is considerable calcareous matter in this stone, and in such a form as to 
make it liable to decomposition, especially in the smoky and acid atmosphere of Pittsburgh, and at present the 
inspector of buildings forbids its use for any purpose of construction except underground work. Tt was, however, 
frequently used in the construction of important buildings at Pittsburgh ; the court-house was built of it, and the 
stone in its walls is decomposing so rapidly that it is probable that within a few years a new building must be 
provided. The material when first quarried presents a substantial appearance, and it Avas formerly thought that 
the immense cliffs of it which were projecting out of the hills everywhere in the vicinity would furnish an 
inexhaustible supply of building stone of superior qr.ality for all purposes of construction, and many important 
buildings were constructed of it before the error was discovered. 

At Baden, situated on the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne, and Chicago railroad and on the Ohio river, in Beaver 
county, sandstone of the Lower Barren Measures is quarried for foundations and other ordinary building i)uriioses, 
and is used iu Pittsburgh, Brownsville, Greensburgh, and vicinity. It was used in the construction of the post office 
at Pittsburgh. It is gray, massive, coarse in texture, evenly bedded, iu three courses, 8 inches, 8 feet, and 7 feet, 
respectively, and is considerably broken by irregular joints. It was operated for the two years expiring in August, 
1880, by the United States government for stone used in the construction of Davis Island dam. 

At Kiasola station, on the Pittsburgh and Lake Erie railroad, in Beaver county, sandstone of the Lower 
Productive Coal Measures is quarried for ordinary building purposes, and is used in Pittsburgh. The bridge 
masonry and canal locks in the vicinity are constructed of this material. It is gray in color, of coarse texture, 
massive, and evenly bedded in thick courses. 

IS&AT Beaver Falls, Beaver county, on the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne, and Chicago railroad, 30 miles northwest 
of Pittsburgh, sandstone of the Lower Productive Coal Measures is quarried for steps, fronts, curbstones, trimmings, 
monuments and other cemetery work, fences and walls, and is used in Pittsburgh and vicinity. It was used in the 
construction of Hostetter's stone front on Fourth avenue, Pittsburgh, and in important buildings in that city. 
It is gray in color, rather coarse in texture, with signs of irregular stratification, is evenly bedded in layers varying 
from 6 inches to 5 feet in thickness, with thin shale sometimes between. This is a strong and durable stoue, and 
surface blocks which have slipped from the ledge, and which have been exposed for ages, indicate that it stands 
exposure well. The quarry is on the crest of a hill 300 feet above the Big Beaver, which flows half a mile from its 
base and discharges into the Ohio 5 miles distant. The following is a slight description of a section of this quarry: 
The top layer is a material of uniform color, red when quarried, taking its color ftom the red iron ore immediately 
overlying the quarry. A thin bed of shale intervening between each two strata facilitates the working of the rock; 
between the first and second layers are some thin beds varying from 6 inches to a foot in thickness. No. 2 is a very 
fine, close-grained, white stone, occasionally of a buff or straw color. It is reported to be the best in the quarry, 
and ranks well with the different stones used iu Pittsburgh for building or cemetery purposes. The supi)ly from 
this bed is not sufficient for the demand. No. 3 is a hard, heavy, fine stone, always brown in color, except along 
the cleavage, where it is white. No. 4 is usually a straw or buff color, strong and tiuo in texture. No. 5 is softest. 



DESCRIPTIONS OF QUARRIES AND QUARRY REGIONS. 1G7 

sawing- well, aud variegated in color so as to be objectionable for rubble work ; intervening is a thin bed of shale of 
bluish color, under which lies No. fi, resting on a coal bed. 'So. 6 is blue in color, except the sap coloring, which is 
buff, penetrating from 1 foot to 2 feet. Nos. .5 and G sometimes come together, forming one course. Nos. 3 and -L 
sometimes contain "nigger-heads" weighing occasionally from 10 to 20 tons. They are blasted out aud thrown 
over the dump. The lower (Xo. C) contains fossil coal-plants ; in the other rocks the fossils are silicifled. Between 
Xos. 1 and 2 there are fossils of stiymaria quite perfect and entire, and the joints are frequently filled with stalactites. 
There is a slight dip from northwest to southeast. 

At Homewood, Beaver county, sandstone of tlie Lower Productive Coal Measures is quarried for ordinary 
building purposes and bridge construction, and is used chiefly at Pittsburgh. It varies from a gray to a brown in 
color, is coarse in texture, shows signs of irregular stratification, and is unevenly bedded in thick courses ; it ranks 
among the best building stones in the western i^art of Pennsylvania. 

Xear Wampum, Lawrence county, Homewood conglomerate of the Lower Productive Coal Measures is quarried 
for bridge construction on the Pittsburgh and Lake Erie railroad. It is gray in color, coarse in texture, massive, 
■evenly bedded, and in thick courses. The Homewood sandstone, which is the uijper stratum of the Conglomerate 
Measures, furnishes most of the building stone quarried in Lawrence county. It is usually a coarse-grained, white or 
grayish- white sandstone, but in some localities it is colored brownish-red by peroxide of iron. Other strata, especially 
the Conoquenessing sandstone, are quarried now and then to some extent in different localities. The quarries 
near Wampum are operated by stone-work contractors on different lines of railroad passing through the place. 

At Sharon, Mercer county, the Homewood sandstone of the Lower Productive Coal Measures is quarried for 
bridge coustructiou and foundations; it is gray, massive, and unevenly bedded in layers not usually exceeding 
3 feet in thickness. Several members of the group near the lower limits of the Carboniferous rocks, known in the 
Second Geological Survey of Pennsylvania as the Conglomerate Measures, crop out in the vicinity of Sharon. Different 
strata of sandstone in this series, and the Chenango sandstone in the Lower Conglomerate, have been quarried 
for building .stone in this locality, but none of superior quality has been produced. The stone from th'e quarries 
now operated is a hard, coarse-grained sandstone that is seldom dressed ; it seems to be quite durable, however, 
and is perhaps the mo.st economical material to be obtained in Sharon for cellar walls and foundations, and blocks 
as large as are ordinarily desired for bridge work can be obtained in some of the quarries. Since the Erie 
aud Pittsburgh canal was abandoned its stone locks have furnished a large amount of cheap and usuallj- quite 
good building stone to the section of country through which the canal j)assed, and particularly from Newcastle 
north. Some of the quarries from which stone for these locks was obtained have been worked but little since the 
building of the locks, though when the supply from these is exhausted some of the quarries will doubtless be worked 
again. Sandstone can be obtained almost everywhere in Mercer county, but it is not all good building stone; the 
localities that do furnish good building stone are but a few miles apart. About 40,000 cubic feet of stone have 
b?en quarried for the foundation of the new county infirmary at Mercer. The rock was obtained from quarries 
located within a radius of 4 miles surrounding the town. The Sharon conglomerate is quarried near Greenville and 
f'lieiinugo, in Jlercer county, for flagging, and is used locally. It is gray, fine in texture, has signs of even and 
distinct .stratification, and is evenly bedded in layers usually not exceeding 8 inches in thickness. This formation 
has here a peculiar development ; the stratum is about 12 feet in thickness, and not solid as usual, but in courses 
from 1 inch to 9 and sometimes 12 inches in thickness. The rock is a blue, fine-grained sandstone; in some places 
where it has been thoroughly drained, and the ]iarticles of iron have been thoroughly oxidized, it has a gray or 
buff color ; it is an excellent paving material, and is shipped to various points in western Pennsylvania and eastern 
Ohio for paving sidewalks, and is used almost exclusively for this i)urpose in the town ot Greenville in the first- 
named state. Sometimes the heavier courses occur in the upper portion of the stratum; the iron in them has 
beei! peroxidized, and the stone is used to quite an extent for lintels and water-tables. The natural blocks are 
seldom i-ectangular, aud there is considerable material broken off in shaping up the blocks. Most of this stone, 
hov.ever, finds a ready sale for building foundations. 

At Stoneboro', Mercer county, the Homewood sandstone (toj) member of the Pottsville conglomerate) is 
quarried for foundation and bridge construction. It is gray and light brown in color, coarse in texture, massive, 
unevenly bedded in layers from 1 foot to 4 feet in thickness, and is used chiefly in the vicinity. The stratum of 
quarry rocli is about 20 feet in thickness ; it is very much fissured, and the natural blocks are variously shaped, 
though easily reduced to any required form. 

At Eoc'kwood, near Oil City, Venango county, detached blocks of the Conoquenessing sandstone (the middle 
member of the Pottsville conglomerate) are quarried for bridge construction. The ' stone is gray, coarse in 
texture, massive, evenly bedded, and in thick layers where found in i)lace. In Report 2*, Second Geological Surrey 
of PennKylraiiia, p. .57, Professor White describes a honey-comb rock found in Crawford county, and near Franklin, 
in Venango county, and thinks the blocks found in these diff'erent localities have come from the same bed, possibly 
the Conoquenessing sandstone. Some of the blocks at Eockwood show that the lower jiortion of the stratum 
from which they were detached has the same peculiar structure, aud is probably the same bed. 

At Garland, Warren county, detached blocks of the Sharon conglomerate (bottom member of the Pottsville 
conglomerate) are quarried for bridge construction in the vicinity, and on the Pennsylvania and Erie railroad. 



168 BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

The stone is gray, coarse iu texture, massive, evenly bedded, and in tliick courses where foxind in place. The 
principal quarries are located about 400 feet above the level of the Pennsylvania and Erie railroad. The stone is 
lowered from the quarry to the railroad on a small car running on an inclined track ; two cars are used, connected 
by a cable passing around a drum. The stratum from which the blocks are quarried, as detached, caps the hill 
about 100 feet above the level of the quarry. The blocks referred to vary in size from the smallest to blocks 
containing several thousand cubic yards. Most of the building stone that has been used in this part of western 
Pennsylvania was obtained from such blocks, and from long exposure the material from them is almost 
universally very hard and diflicult to dress; but since it can be obtained without stripping, it is cljeaper on the 
whole than the softer material which might be obtained by stripping the stratum from which the blocks are 
detached. It is also less expensive, because, the blocks being already detached, a part of the usual work of 
quarrying is saved. It is difficult, however, to obtain a large amount of this kind of stone of uniform color; a 
more uniform stone can usually be obtained from the undisturbed stratum. This variegated coloring is due probably 
to the unequal effects of exposure on different portions of the surface blocks in the oxidizing of the iron in the 
composition of the stone, and to the unequal effects of exposure on other ingredients of the rock. 

Other localities worthy of special notice where building stone has been obtained in this vicinity are near 
Siunamahoning, in the southeastern part of Cameron county, and near Eidgway, in the western part of Elk countj^. 
The amount of capital invested is small, considering the real extent of the business in this part of the state. 
Most of the stone quarried is taken out by builders and contractors, and is used chiefly for foundations and bridge 
constraction, the only considerations being cheapness and durability. Detached blocks are found almost everywhere 
in the ridge except in Erie county. As these detached blocks have been exposed to atmospheric action for ages it 
is seen at a glance whether the material is durable; and if it splits well it is quarried, and is used in localities to 
which it can be most conveniently transported. The sum paid for the privilege of quarrying is seldom more than 
10 cents per cubic yard for any amount. 

2fear Meadville, Crawford county, the Sharon conglomerate is quarried for general building purposes and is 
used locally. It is a light gray, coarse sandstone, massive, evenly bedded, and in thick courses. The stratum is 
about 45 feet in thickness, though only from 20 to 30 feet of the upper portion is suitable for building stone; the 
lower portion is coarse, and sometimes a mere mass of quartz pebbles. The upper ijortion or quarry rock is quite 
uniform in texture; it is light gray in color, is easily broken into rectangular blocks by means of wedges; is soft 
when first quarried, easily dressed, and is quite strong and durable. The quarries are located in the summit of the 
hill, about a mile and a half northeast of Meadville, and the highway is down-grade all the way to the town. 
Quarries have been w^orked in other localities in the vicinity, producing an equally good building stone, but from 
none of these localities can the material be transported readily to Meadville. The Chenango sandstone, here a 
brownish-gray stone, containing numerous concretions of peroxide of iron, might be quarried to an unlimited extent 
near by. It has been quarried to some extent and used in some of the finest buildings in Meadville. 

QxjAETZ PORPHYRY. — Mr. A. E. Lehman, Second Pennsylvania geological survey, sent a number of specimens 
of quartz porphyry from near Fairfield and Graefenburg, Adams county, and from Pine Grove and Laurel Forge, 
in Cumberland county. These rocks are identified by Dr. T. Sterry Hunt with the orthOpelsite porphyries of the 
Huronian system of Canada; they underlie the Potsdam sandstone of the South mountains, and overlie the 
Philadelphia gneiss. They are of a purple color, usually indistinctly stratified, and regularly bedded in courses of 
varying thickness. The structure of the rock is a fine, compact matrix, with distinct crystals disseminated through 
it; it is well adapted to ornamental work, as it is rich in color, durable, and susceptible of a good polish, and in many 
places could be obtained in abundant quantities. It has not as yet been quarried for purposes of construction. 

SLATE. 

The slates of Pennsylvania are used for school slates, for roofing, for mantels, and for flagging, both in 
foreign countries and in the principal cities of the United States, especially from New York westward. The quarries 
of roofing slate at East Bangor, Pen Argyl, and near the Wind Gap in Kittanning mountain ; at Chapman, in 
Northampton county, Slatington, Lehigh county ; and in fact all the slate quarries in Northampton and Lehigh 
counties are located on strata of Hudson Eiver age, overlying thin beds of Utica shale, which in turn rest on the 
Trenton, Chazy, and Calciferous limestones (the magnesian limestone of the great valley, Siluro-Cambrian). 

The Hudson Pdver slate formation, 5,000 feet thick more or less, makes two-thirds of the floor of the great 
Lebanon, Cumberland, or Shenandoah valley, as it is variously called in the states through which it extends, the 
valley being bounded on the north and west by the Blue mountain, and on the south and east by the South 
mountain. The Hudson Eiver slate formation occupies the valley from its middle line northward and westward 
to and up the slope of the North mountain, while the Trenton and magnesian limestones occupy the southern and 
eastern side of the vallej' to the foot of the South mountain. 

The roofing-slate belt is a continuous strip' of varying width extending through Lehigh and Northampton 
counties close to the foot of and parallel with the Blue mountain. It is not, however, of such a character at all 
points on the formation as to be suitable for roofing slate. The localities where the material is of such character as 
to be suitable for the purpose are carefully selected. In fact, the roofing-slate quality is characteristic only of 
certain beds or small groups of beds at various geographical horizons in the great Hudson Eiver slate formation. 



DESCRIPTIONS OF QUARRIES AND QUARRY REGIONS. 169" 

From Report D D D of the Second Geoloc/kal Survey of Penmijlmnia, wLicli is soon to go to press, ami tlie revise 
file of which was kindly loaned for use in this* report by Professor J. V. Lesley, state geologist of Pennsylvania, we 
learn that the whole slate belt referred to as Hudson River slate is an irregular hill country, strongly contrasting 
with the maguesian limestone country, which borders on the south, both in the comi)aratlve number and ruggedness 
of its water-courses; and that with the exception of Schoharie ridge, in Lehigh county, and perhaps Saudstone 
ridge, north of Hockendaugua, there are no wcll-deflued ridges marking the outcrops of harder subdivisions of the 
great slate formation, so that it is difficult to separate the main belt into subordinate belts. The whole mass is cue 
formation equivalent to the Hudson River slate of the New Yorlc Geological Survey, excepting that along the 
southern border Mr. Prime reports occasional traces of Utica black slate immediately overlying the Trenton 
limestone. The southern border of the slate district is everyvi^here a onesided hill or steep descent toward the 
limestone lands. The whole formation is divisible into an upper and lower mass, the upper being more massively 
bedded, and therefore supporting more elevated country. Its uppermost beds constitute the southern slope of the 
Elue mountain, but the large and important roofing-slate quarries are all in the lower rsubdivision of the formation. 

It is further stated that these same slates extend along the north side of the valley, through Berks, Lebanon, 
Dauphin, Cumberland, and Franklin counties, into Maryland and Virginia. There are no slate quarries open west 
of the Schuylkill on this formation, but the same slate formation goes on across the state, and the cleavage shown 
by the outcrops has about the same appearance. 

Red slate outcrops through the western part of Berks county, and a careful examinat'on may disclose that 
some of the outcrops will produce suitable rooting material. 

In New Jersey, at the Delaware Water Gap, a thickness of 3,000 feet is assigned to the whole mass. Mr. Prime's 
mea.surements along the west bank of the river make it more than 5,000 feet. Mr. Chance's independent measurement 
at the Water Gap places the roofing-slate quarries at 2,350 feet respectively beneath the Oneida conglomerate, and 
his estimate of the whole thickness of the Hudson River slate formation is about the same as Mr. Prime's. In Berks 
and Lebanon counties the total thickness is stated at 6,000 feet. 

The following is au approximate estimate of the position of the (luarries on the formation, beginning with the 
highest and going down: First, quarries at Pen Argyl ; second, Hindbeck quarries; third, Slatedale; fourth, 
Steinville; fifth, Slatiugton ; sixth, Bangor. 

The " ribbons" in the slate, described by Professor H. D. Rogers, are very thin layers, from a few lines to an inch 
or two in thickness, traversing the. rocks in bauds parallel to each other and at various distances, not generally 
exceetling 2 feet. These ribbous indicate the direction of the dip of the strata, being seams of somewhat difl'erent 
comi)osition from the rest of the mass. Between each two of the ribbons the layer of slate is homogeneous or of 
uniform texture and composition, but a difference iu the quality of the slate on the two sides of one of these thiu 
layers is quite common. When we examine a new surfiice of the slate, the usual and permanent color of which is 
daik blui.sh-gray, the hue of these ribbons is nearly black, but on exposure to the atmosphere they show, after some 
time, signs of spontaneous decomposition, and display a whitish efdorescence which indicates that this part of the 
slate contains sulphuret of iron. The ribbons are therefore carefully excluded from the slate when the latter 
undergoes the operations of cleavage and tiimming in preparation for the market. In most of the slate quarries 
near Bangor, Northampton county, which is the northern end of the slate belt, the slate is tough and possessed of 
some flexibiiity, cleaving readily, the proportion of waste being comparatively small. Toward the southern end of 
the slate district of Lehigh and Northampton counties the texture and quality of the slates are slight'y difl'erent from 
those in Northampton county, and a greater proportion is manufactured into school slates, and some is also shipped 
for sidewalk paving. Most of the large qnairies iu this district are ])roducing on au average twice the amount of 
slate produced two or three years back, with but one-third more force of men and machinery, showing that within 
certain limits a large force is more economical than a small one. This is true of the quarries at Pen Argyl, East 
Bangor, Slatington, aud in fact of the whole district. From 1870 to 1880, the foreign demand was so great that but 
little attention was paid to home trade, there being in fact scarcely any home trade. Slates were so low in price 
that foreign merchants could purchase here and ship to England cheaper than they could buy at home; at present 
the increase in i^rice of slates created by the home demand has stopped shipments to foreign countries altogether. 

In Report D D D, Second Geological Survey of Fennsylvania, there is a chapter on the slate region of Northampton 
and Lehigh counties, covering all that part of the great Lebanon and Cumberland valley which lies between the 
Delaware and the Schuylkill rivers, aud between the Blue or Kittatiuny moiuitain on the north and the edge of 
the limestone ou the south ; and there are notes describing the individual quarries. We aie indebted to this 
report for some of the measurements and descriptive matter in the fol lowing lemarks concerning some of the quarries 
which were in operation during ISSO. The details given will aid in obtaining definite ideas as to the quarries 
themselves and as to the structure of the slate. 

The Bangor Union Slate Company's quai ry is 250 by 130 feet deep at the deepest place, with from 10 to 20 feet 
of drift on the surface. The largest bed is 4 feet thick. The synclinal axis which shows in the Bangor quarry also 
shows iu this one, but the plane of the axis dips slightly to the south instead of to the north as in the Bangc. The 



170 BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

quariy is worked by five cable durriclis, which supply the material. to twenty shanties,*, c, the sheds in which 
the slate is cnt into shape for roofing'. The derricks are run by an engine which, -woikiug a line of shafts, connects 
with the cab!c derricks by conical friction-wheels. 

Bry & Short's quarry, 300 yards east of the old Bangor quarry, is 200 by 150 by 60 feet, with a dip of 10 
feet north; the cleavage is 21)° south, and the largest bed is 4 feet thick. The quarry is worked by cable derricks 
run by steam-power. The school slates are planed at the quarry. 

The Star quarry, 500 feet Avest of the east Bangor Eo. 2, is 200 by 200 by 50 feet, and the cleavage is 20° 
south ; it is worked by cable derricks run by steam, and there are also horse-power derricks, beside appliances for 
cutting roofing slate and circular saws for cutting school slates. The ribbons in this and the other quarries usually 
indicate the direction of the stratification, which in this slate district is usually not parallel with the cleavage, 
but crossing it at varying angles. Much of the material is quarried in such shape that it may be worked up for 
ornamental jiurposes instead of being split into roofing slates. 

In the Bangor Slate Company's quarrj' there is a synclinal axis passing through the center of it about 70 feet 
below the surface ; the cleavage and the i)lane of the axis dip 5° to the north. There are 30 feet of drift on the 
top of the quarry. The largest bed is 9 feet C inches thick. The synclinal axis, being the same that shows in the 
Washington quarry and iu the Bangor Union, pitches to the west. The hoisting is done by cable derricks run by 
steam, but horses and carts are also used. 

The north Bangor quarry No. 1 is 200 by 200 by 40 feet at the deepest i)lace. There are 20 feet of drift 
■covering the slate, and 1 foot below the drift the material is of such quality that it serves for roofing slate. Cleavage, 
10° south and 30° east; dip, 45° south and 30° east. The two largest beds are 4 feet thick, and there is a bed 
measuring 10 feet along the cleavage. The series of beds extends all the way across the flooring of the quarry and 
all of them are under 4 feet each in thickness. 

The north Bangor quarry Xo. 2 is a few hundred feet north of No. 1, and is 150 by 100 by 40 feet deej). The 
dip is 35° south and 30° east; the cleavage is 15° south and 30° east. The beds that are exposed are mostly small, 
each under 4 feet iu thickness. 

Jackson quarry is 300 by 200 by 100 feet deep. It is worked by cable derricks run by double cylinder steam- 
engines. The slates come out iu good-sized blocks, some of them 20 feet long. 

The Jory quarry is 400 by 200 by 80 feet deep. It is worked in the center of a synclinal axis ; the dip of the 
rocks is slight in the center of the axis ; the plane of the axis is vertical, while the cleavage is horizontal. This is 
the only quarry in which the cleavage can be seen at right angles or at any, considerable angle to the plane of the 
axis. The beds worked are not large, but the cleavage makes such a slight angle with the bedding that large blocks 
can be taken out. 

The west Bangor quarry at Pen Argyl is 125 by 150 by 40 feet deep. The dimensions of the largest slab 
quarried were 13 feet long by 4 feet wide by IS inches thick, but slabs 15 by 6 feet by 12 inches thick might be 
obtained. 

Stephen Jackson & Co.'s quarry is 400 by 200 by 80 feet deep; dip, 28° south; cleavage, horizontal; beds 
from 12 to 25 feet long along the cleavage. 

The Chapraan quarry is 500 by 300 by 130 feet deep. Cable derricks run by steam are used in hoisting the slabs 
out of the quarry preparatory to working them inro roofing slates. Splitters here make from two to six squares a 
day, averaging about four. The hoisting apparatus is very complete; a slab weighing 2 tons is hoisted 150 feet 
vertically and 300 feet horizontally in about two minutes. There is a factory here for making and planing slabs 
and other sawed material, the appliances consisting of diamond saws, planers, gig-saws, and smoothing table — 
the diamond saw, by reciprocating motion, cutting through slate at the rate of an inch iu five minutes, making 
about 50 strokes a minute. The slates are all thinly-bedded, split well, and are tough. The blocks come out of the 
quarry iu large, even pieces, some of them 20 feet long. The usual dimensions are 8 by 10 feet or less. 

Frederick Prime, jr., in Eeport D D, Second Geological Survey of rennsylvania, says substantially of the slates 
toward the southern end of this slate quarry district, in Lehigh county, at Slatington, White Hall, Slatedale, 
Lyunport, and Steinville, that they are distinguished by bluish-gray or black color, cleave readily into thin slabs, and 
-when the cleavage forms a high angle to the bedding and the slates are free from grit and are otherwise of good 
quality, they are quarried and are excellently adapted for roofing purposes, school slates, blackboards, and other 
articles of this nature. Owing to the property they possess of cleaving readily the slates are usually observed 
with the cleavage predominating to such an extent as to obscure and often to entirely conceal their stratification. 
As a rule their true bedding can only be observed by means of the wavy lines of a slightly different color from the 
body of the slates, which are constant and persistent iu their passage through the cleavage, these lines indicating 
the stratification. The quarries of the Lehigh and Noi'thamptou district iu Pennsylvania are distant about 100 
miles from the city of New York and 75 miles from Philadelphia. In 1875, according to Professor Silliman, but 
five quarries were worked in Lehigh county— the Washington, the Franklin, the Trout Brook, the Bangor, and 
the Douglas. 

The North Peach Bottom Slate Company's quarry is in Whitehall township, on the Lehigh Valley railroad, 
east of Bethlehem. The largest slab which has been moved thus far was 42 by 10 feet by 20 inches thick, and 



DESCRIPTIONS OF QUARRIES AND QUARRY REGIONS. 171 

blocks 40 by 20 feet by 20 incbes tbick might be loosened. Tbe custoiu is to reduce the blocl;s to such size that 
they may be couveiiiently hoisted out of the qutiiry. The form of the natural slabs here is rhomboidal. The slates 
come out remarkably even and straight; they are 10 feet long, a straight edge touching at nearly every point on 
a slab of the material. Transportation from the quarry is afforded bj' means of the Lehigh Valley railroad and 
Lehigh and Delaware canal. There is but one grade of material quarried, it being all similar in structure and 
texture. It is reported that roofing slates from this quarry exposed for thirty years are not yet discolored and 
need no reiJairs. The slate is sawed, planed, and rubbed by steam-power. The method of draining the quarry is 
by a siphon consisting of a i)ipe li inches in diameter and 450 feet long. Mr. John Crump, of the Xorth Peach 
Bottom Slate Company, states that in his examination of the slates in Pennsylvania and Vermont, and those of 
Wales, in Great Britain, and of the Angiers district on the Loire, France, he found that the material from this 
quarry ranks very Iiigh in respect to size, thickness, and evenness of the slabs that may be quarried and the 
hardness, toughness, and uniformity of texture of the material, and for its freedom Ixom ribbon or spots, stains, 
or quartz veins. The dip of the cleavage in this quarry is about 50° northeast to southwest. The main joints are 
about 50 feet apart, and about 35 feet below the surface soil sound slate commences half an inch thick, increasing 
in thickness of strata as it descends. At about 45 feet below the surface the beds are 6 inches thick; at 60 feet, 
12 inches thick, and at SO feet, 20 inches thick. This is the greatest depth quarried thus far, and the proprietors 
believe that the beds will go on increasing in thickness at a like rate to a depth of 200 feet, at which depth they 
expect a deterioration. 

The color of the slate is blue-black. This slate has been much used by the United States government at 
Albany, New York; Xew York city; Topeka, Kansas; Austin, Texas, and Saint Louis, Missouri. The Patent 
Office building at Washington city has tiling on the top floor of the north side from the North Peach Bottom slate 
quarries. There are also Chapman slates in the flooring of this building. 

Henry & Co.'s quarry, near Slatiugton, produces nniterial for roofing "slate, which is at present transported 
on wagons 5 miles from the quarry to the railroad station on the Lehigh and Susquehanna railroad opposite 
Slatiugton. The largest slab that has been quarried was 10 by 4 feet by 6 inches. The form of natural slabs is 
irregular. The method of drainage is pumping by water- and steam-power; the hoisting is by steam, and the 
dressing by hand. 

Caskie & Emack's quarry is located li miles northeast of Slatiugton. The form of the natural slab is 
rectangular ; the dimensions of the largest slab quarried is 30 by 8 feet by 20 inches thick. The quarry is drained 
by means of a pump worked by steam-power; the hoisting is done by steam-power, and mantel stufl' is worked by 
circular saws and iron planers run by steam. 

James Hess & Co.'s (Slatiugton) quarry produces material for roofing and other architectural purposes. The 
dimensions of the largest slab quarried here are 10 by IS feet by G inches, but slabs IS by 20 feet by 12 inches 
might be moved. The product is marketed throughout the United States. The hoisting and pumping are done 
hy steam. This firm has a factory for manufacturing school slates, and one for manufacturing mantel stuff, 
blackboards, and tiling. 

The Penryu quarry, at Slatiugton, operated by W. H. Seibert, produces roofing slate, school slates, and the 
material for blackboards for public schools ; also hearth-stones, mantel stuff, and register-stones. The peculiarity 
of some of the material of this quarry is that some of the beds are a shade or two darker and softer iu texture 
than others, and are easily distinguished in the quarry. The dark stone or beds, when used for roofing, discolor 
when exposed, while beds of lighter shade, which are harder, when made into roofing slates hold their color, and 
are very durable. Frequently hard and soft beds lie side by side in the ledge. 

In the quarry of Da\id Williams, at Slatiugton. the form of the natural slabs is irregular. The transportation 
from the qnariy is by rail, on the Lehigh Valley, the Berks and Lehigh, and the Lehigh and Schuylkill railroads. 
The power employed in draining, in hoisting, and dressing mantels and blackboards is steam ; the drilling and 
dressing of roofing and school slates are done by hand. 

The Columbia Slate Company's quarry is situated half a mile west of Slatington, on a branch of the Lehigh 
Valley railroad, from whence the slates are shipped to various states and some exported to foreign countries. 
The hoisting and draining are done by steam, the drilling and dressing by hand. 

At tlie Franklin quarry, half a mile west of Slatington, there are two diflerent varieties of dark blue roofing 
slate, but no soft beds of school slates. The form of the natural slabs is rhomboidal. 

Griesimer & Brothers' quarry produces roofing slate exclusively. The form of the natural slab is rectangular. 
The dimensions of the largest slab which has been quarried are' 16 by 5 feet by 4 inches, but slabs 22 by 15 feet 
by G in<;hes might be moved. The slate is transported on the Lehigh and Schuylkill railroad. 

Keever & Lutz's quarry produces roofing slate, which is marketed in Berks and Lehigh counties, being 
transported l\y wagon and by railroad. The form of the natural slabs is irregular. Hoisting is done by steam, 
the drilling and dressing by hand. 

Laurel Hill Slate Company's quarry produces slate for roofing purposes. The form of the natural slab is 
irregular. Hoisting is done by steam, the drilling and dressing by hand. 

The Lock Slate Company's quarry produces slate for roofing, school slates, tiles, platforms, and steps. The 
form of the natural slabs is irregular ; slabs 27 by S feet by 5 feet thick might be moved. A branch of th** Lehigh 



172 BUILDING STONES AND TtlE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

Valley railroad is built to the quarry. Draining, hoisting, sawiug, and plaoiug are done by steam, tho drilling and 
dressing by hand. The machinery consists chiefly of saw-beds, planes, and patent machines for dressing roofing 
and school slates. 

Joel Neff's quarry, near Slatington, consists of three openings on the same ledge of slate. The material is 
quarried for roofing, and is niarlceted chiefly in the United States, tliough some is exported. The form of the 
natural slabs is irregular; size of the largest slab quarried, 500 cubic feet, but a slab of 600 cubic feet might be 
moved. The draining and hoisting are done by steam, the dressing partly by steam, and the drilling by hand. 

Krum & Moser's quarry, formerly known as the Blue Moilutaiu quarry, produces roofing slate exclusively, which 
is marketed in the middle, western, and northwestern states, and is transported by railroad and canal. The form of 
the natural slabs is rectangular, and the dimensions of the largest slab that has been quarried were 18 by 5 feet by 
18 inches. Hoisting and pumping are done by steam, the drilling and dressing by hand. 

The Industrial Slate Company's quarry, west of Slatington, is operated for roofing slate exclusively. The form 
of natural slabs is rectangular, and the dimensions of the largest slab that has been quarried were 15 by 4 feet by 6 
inches. The draining and hoisting are done by horse-power, the drilling and dressing by hand. 

Peach Bottom qtj aeries. — The ledge of slate in whicli the Peach Bottom quarries are situated furnishes the 
dark blue, indurated clay-slate almost devoid of calcareous material, as it is of Archaean age, and therefore older 
than any of the calcareous rocks of Pennsylvania. The following is an analysis of Peach Bottom slates, specimen 
from J. Humphrey & Co.'s quarry, half a mile east of Delta, York county, from Eeport COG, Second Geological 
Survey of Pennsylvania : . 

Per cent. 

Silicic acid 55.880 

Titanic acid 1.270 

Sulphuric acid 0.022 

Alumina 21.849 

Ferrous oxide 9.034 

Manganous oxide 0. 58G_ 

Cobaltons oxide Trace. 

Lirae -- - 0. 155 

Magnesia 1. 495 

Soda 0.460 

Potash 3.640 

Carbon 1.974 

Water - 3.385 

Iron bisulphide 0. 051 

Total 99.800 

The percentage of lime in its composition is small compared with that in many other slates, some of which are 
quite perceptibly calcareous. The nearest belt of calcareous rocks is the magnesian limestone of Lower Silurian 
age, to the northwestward. Serpentine rock lies on one side of this slate ridge, and asbestus on the other. The 
ledge at Peach Bottom is several hundred feet in width, varying somewhat in this respect, however, and extending 
along on the summit of the low ridge which extends in a northeasterly and southwesterly direction. The slate begins 
in the southwestern part of Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, crossing the Susquehanna river not far from Mason and 
Dixon's line, passing through the southeastern part of York county. Pennsylvania, and extending into Harford 
county, Maryland. At the Susquehanna river, on the Lancaster County side, slate was once quarried. The ledge 
at this poiiit is quite high and steep, but rapidly lowers in passing into York county. The bed of the Columbia 
and Port Deposit railroad, which passes here, interferes with the disposition of waste. 

A few miles farther to the southwest, at Bangor and Delta, and just across the line in Maryland, what is known 
as the Peach Bottom slate is at ])resent quarried. In quarrying slate for roofing there is always considerable 
waste on account of material unsuited to the i)urpose. The quarrymen select locations where there is likely 
to be the greatest i^roportion of workable material, of which they judge by the appearance of the slate which 
extends to the surface. The cleavage plan(;s in most of the quarries are nearly vertical, and are parallel to the 
stratification ; and in some of the quarries there is a set of joints cutting the cleavage planes at angles varying 
from about 45° to 60°. A noticeable circumstance is that the joints in these quarries are less numerous to the 
westward. In some of the quarries there is beautiful slate stock which cannot be readily split for roofing slate, 
but which answers well for other pui-poses. The following are a few of the buildings in which Peach Bottom slate 
has been used for roofing : The building of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing at Washington city; the court- 
house and post-ofQce at Des Moines, Iowa; the Academy of Pine Arts in Philadelphia, and the Westiughouse 
Air-Brake Company's building, Allegheny, Pennsylvania. This slate ranks high lor strength and durability, 
is not suliject to change in color upon exposure, and is tough and fine and smooth in texture. Old buildings in 
the neighborhood of the quarries have roofs of it which were put on seventy-five years ago, and show no perceptible 
change in color. It is practically free from suljihur, iron, and lime, the ingredients which when present cause fading 
and decomposition of roofing slate by exposure. The slates here are maiiufactured by breaking up the rock first 



DESCRIPTIONS OF QUARRIES AND QUARRY REGIONS 173 

by blasting, then by differeut processes into pieces of suitable shape and size for splitting by hand, using for this 
purpose thin chisels of steel, after which they are dressed or cut into shape and size by a machine. The common 
sizes are 12, 14, 16, IS, 20, 22, and 24 inches in length, and four or five different breadths to each length are made. 
The average thickness of slate here is about flfty-flve pieces to the foot. The material is sold by the square 
superficial area of 100 feet, weighing about 625 pounds. Some architects in making out specifications call for 
thicker slates thau those made for the trade. All the .sizes made rank the same as to quality and manufacture. 
Vol. I, First Geological Survey of Pennsylvania, gives a short description of the quarries that were operated on the 
Peach Bottom slate belt about the year 1850 ; and also some statistics concerning the amount of material quarried 
and the value. It is stated that the prices of slate for the six years ending in 1853 ranged between $14 and $17 per 
ton— that is to say, from about $4 to $6 iier square ; that slates of the largest size, 24 by 14 inches, were $69 per 
thousand ; those 16 by S inches, $22 per thousand ; and those 12 by 6 inches, $12 per thousand. 

The following description of the slate belt of Peach Bottom, by Professor Henry D. Ptogers, is in the Report of 
the First Geological Survey of Pennsijlrania for the year 1853 : 

Slatt belt of Peach Bottom. — The uest subordinate belt which the sectiou crosses is the slate range of Peach Bottom and Slate point. 
The rock here is a dark blue, indurated clay-slate, much of which has the structure of roofing slate, extensive quarries of which have 
long been successfully wrought at the Peach Bottom cliifs on the eastern side of the river, and also at numerous points west of the river, 
in York county, and in Maryland. The workable slate belt here is about half a mile wide. The slaty cleavage and the bedding appear 
throughout to be nearly coincident in their dip, which at the quarries is nearly perpendicular a little southward. The quality of the 
Peach Bottom slates is very good, and their exportation is slowly augmenting. The belt runs northeastward through the Slate hill from 
the river, a distance of .about 2 miles, and southwestward through York county from Slate point, a distance of about Gi miles, to the state 
line. Slate quarries have been opened northeast of the river, along nearly the whole distance mentioued, but never extensively wrought, 
and in the same detached manner through York county. At Slate hill on the river the slate is quarried in steps or benches, and not in one 
general breast, though the material is so uniformly pure as to admit of being nearly all wrought. On the east side of the river there 
are seven quarries near the shore, and four others of smaller size back on the hills, which are at the present time unwrought. On the 
Y'ork County side there is only one f|uarry at the river, but in the interior of the county there are seventeen more, embraced between a 
point 2i miles back and the end of the range 6 miles from the river. The workable slate appears not to extend in Lancaster county 
northeast of the limit given, but in the other direction there are indications that it is prolonged beyond the distance of the C miles named. 
One of the quarries on the river, Brown's Lower quarry, yields slates which will bear strong stove heat without cracking, and the 
workmen use tla^s of it for frying their meat upon; so uniform is the composition of the material, and so diftused and regular the 
metamorphism, that the original planes of sedimentation or bedding are too indistinct at these river quarries to be discernible. The 
cleavage-planes, the only visible ones, dip about tJO^ south to 30° east, and this condition prevails throughout. 

General considerations. — In a treatise on slate and slate quarrying by D. C. Davies, F. G. S., London, 
1880, he a.ssigns causes for the recent rapid increase in the slate trade in Great Britain. He states that the progress 
made by this trade during the last quarter of a century in that country has been very marked and rapid ; and 
with the exception of slight checks given to it during the civil war in America, the war between Prussia and 
Denmark, and that between Germany and France, the progress has been continuous; that during the last ten years 
the price of slates has increased .30 i)er cent., and that the present state of the trade may be described as one of 
such great prosperity as to be limited only by tiie ability to supply the demand, the demand being far in excess of 
the supply. This increasing prcsperity of the slate trade Mr. Davies ascribes to the rapid extension of railways 
over the country, which places slates within the reach of numbers of inland towns from which, excepting lor 
special purposes, they were virtually excluded on account of the cost of carriage. The inland town of Shrewsburj- 
was, until the extension of the railway system, a tile-roofed town, while Chester, to which access is had by water, 
has been for generations a slated town. In Shrewsbury and most of the other inland and formerly tile-roofed towns 
slates have superseded tiles. The fact that slate is so rapidly and steadily superseding other roofing materials 
is chiefly due to the increased facility for transportation afforded by the railways, and it is plain that the same 
causes influence the development of the slate industiy in the United States. The railways not only afford ready 
means of transportation from the slate regions to inland cities which were before entirely excluded from the use of 
slate, but new business centers .spring up along the lines of the railways and thus increase the demand for slates. 

There have been within the last ten years some singular conditions in the slate trade both in this country and 
in Great Britain. The demand increased so rapidly in the British islands during the past ten years that it was 
far in excess of the supply, while in the United States during that time the trade was in its infancy, increasing 
rapidly, however ; but from 1876 to 18S0, owing to business depression chiefly, to an almost entire cessation in 
building enterprise, and to the custom of using the cheaijest materials, the demand was not equal to the j)roduction 
of the slate regions of the country, bringing down the prices of slates so low that they were shipped to Great 
Britain, even selling at a lower rate than the Welsh slates ; and considerable foreign trade sprnng up in this way. 
However, as the prices of American slates in England could not rise aii3- higher than the prices of the Welsh slates 
in that country without stopping the American trade altogether, exportation was unprofitable to the quarrymen. 
During 1880 the general resumption of bu.siness throughout this country created a sudden demand for Americau 
slates at home, the prices ran up to almost double the former rates, and the demand far exceeded the supply. 

The Welsh and the American slates are quarried from formations of the same age — that is, strata of Cambrian 
and Lower Silurian age. The quarries in Buckingham county, Virginia, and in the slate regions of Harford county, 



174 BUILDINa STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

Marj'lajid, York conuty, Penusylvania, Piscataquis county, Maine, Eutland county, Vermont, and Washington 
county. New York, are probably of Cambrian age, while the region of Lehigh and Northanaptou counties, in 
Pennsylvania, is of tbe Hudson River division of the Lower Silurian age. 

The Welsh slate regions atFestiniog, Portmadoc, Carnarvon, Peurhyn, and other places are from Harlech, aud 
Llanberris, and Trenbech beds of Cambrian age, and the Upper and Lower Llaudeilo and the Wenlock strata of 
Lower Silurian age. A comparison of chemical analyses of the Welsh and American slates aids to determine their 
relative values as roofing materials. The iact that Welsh slates are shipped to the Unite(J States, and at times figure 
considerably in the American market, and that American slates are exported to Great Britain and Ireland, makes 
this question one of importa,uce. The following are some analyses of Welsh slates given by Mr. Davies : 

ANALYSIS OF ORDINARY WELSH ROOFING SLATE (BLUE). 

[G-iven by Professor Hull. (a)\ 

Per cent. 

Silica 60.50 

Alumina 19.70 

Iron (protoxide) 7. 83 

Lime 1. 12 

Magnesia - 2. 20 

Potasli 3. IS 

Soda 2.20 

Water 3.30 

Total 100.03 



ANALYSIS OF DARK BLUE SLATE FROM LLANGYNOG, NORTH WALES. 

[By Mr. D. H. Eicbards, analytical cbemist, of Oswestry.] 

Analysis of .slate dried at 100 C. : 

Per cent. 

Loss on ignition 3. 720 

Silica 60.150 

Protoxide of iron 5. 837 

Sesquioxide of iron 1.815 

Alumina 24.200 

Not determined— alkalies, etc 4.278 

Total 100.000 



ANALYSIS OF THE MATERIAL OF THE GREEN BANDS IN THE BLUISH-PURPLE SLATES OF LLANBERRIS. 

[Made at tbe Royal Scbool of Mines for Mr. George Ma-w, F. G. S., of Broseley.] (b) 

Per cent. 

SOica '. 66.45 

Titanic acid 0. 63 

Alumina 13.38 

Protoxide of iron 1.71 

Peroxide of iron 1. 41 

Protosesquioxide of manganese 0. 91 

Lime 2.86 

Magnesia 6. 28 

Potash 0.03 

Soda 0.90 

Carbonic acid 1. 30 

Combined water 3.90 

Hygroscopic water 0. 13 

Total 99.91 

ANALYSIS OF THE PURPLE SLATES OF NANTLLE. 

[Given in Kirwan's Mineralogy, Vol. I, p. 210.] 

Per cent. 

Silica 0.48 

Argillaceous matter 0. 26 

Magnesia 0. 08 

Lime 0.04 

Iron 0.14 

Total 100.00 

For analysis of Peach Bottom, Pennsylvania, slate, see page 110. 

fl BmliUnij Stones of &reat Britain and Foreign Countries. b Geological Magazine, 1868, p. 123. 



DESCRIPTIONS OF QUARRIES AND QUARRY REGIONS. 175 

MAKYLAND. 

[Compiled mainly from notes of Messrs, Huntington, Monroe, and Singleton.] 

About one-half the area of the state of Maryland is made up of rocks of the Cretaceous and the Tertiary ages, 
which in this state furnish no stones of importance for purjjoses of construction. A line drawn from near Elktou, 
in the northeast corner of the state, southwesterly through Baltimore to Washington, following nearly the course 
first of the Philadelphia, Wilmington, and Baltimore raihoad and then of the Baltimore and Ohio railroad,^ 
would approximately separate the Cretaceous and the Tertiary areas from the Archtean, adjoining them on the 
northwest. Passing westward from the line described, about the same order of succession of strata as that in 
Pennsylvania occurs, as follows: The Archseau rocks, furnishing granites, gneisses, serpentines, and slate; next 
the narrow belt of the Triassic rocks, from which are obtained the Seneca red sandstone and the Potomac breccia 
marble; the Lower Silurian strata, in which are found the great Magnesian limestone and marbles; the Upper 
Silui-iau, Devonian, and in the mountain region near Cumberland, in the northwest corner of the state, the 
Carboniferous, none of which have as yet furnished much stone for building purposes. A thorough geological 
survey of this state has never been made. 

CRYSTALLINE SILICEOUS ROCKS. 

At Port Deposit, Cecil county, near the mouth of the Susquehanna river, a gray biotite gneiss is extensively 
quarried, and is used chiefly for heavy masonry, such as bridge construction, docks, harbor improvements, and 
general purposes of construction. It has been much used by the United States government in ])ublic works. 
Among the structures in which this stone has been used are the Susquehanna bridge at Havre de Grace; the Girard 
Avenue, Fairmount, South Street, and other bridges in Philadelphia, and the principal bridges in Baltimore; 
Haverford college, Maryland, Taylor college, Bryn Mawr, the depot building of the Philadelphia, Wilmington, and 
Baltimore railroad, and Saint Dominick's church, in Washington city. There are several churches in Port Deposit 
built of stone from these quarries, which show that buildings constructed entirely of this material make a very 
pleasing appearance. The material is of a dark gray color, rather coarse in texture, and very distinctly laminated. 
The principal set of joints in these quarries has an inclination of about 60°; but a short distance farther up the 
Susquehanna river these joints become vertical, or nearly so. A notable circumstance connected with the quarries 
here is that the planes in which the mica is arranged are vertical. 

The sneiss which is exposed in the vicinity of Baltimore is the principal resource of that city for ordinary 
foundations and the I'ougher sort of stone-work ; it is chiefly of gTay color, occasionally greenish-gray. The strata 
are tilted at various angles and the jointing is irregular. Blocks of any size desired may be obtained. Among the 
buildings in the construction of whicji this material was used are the United States court-house and the jail in 
Baltimore; but that used in the United States court-house may perhaps properly be called a granite, as it is very 
indistinctly laminated. The quarry from which it was taken is at Granite post-office, in Baltimore county, and the 
material from the same quarry has been shipped to Cincinnati and to Chicago. It is here gray in color, with a slight 
pinkish tint. 

At a quarry of the same material half a mile from this point the whole mass has weathered, leaving immense 
bowlders, but in the immediate vicinity the general decay is less than is usual in this section ; however, there is a 
noticeable decay along the natural joints, and in this respect itresembles more the gneisses which are quarried farther 
to the northward on this formation. On one side of the quarry at Granite post-office there is a large mass of mica 
schist, which differs considerably from the prevailing stone in the quarry. The material nearer to Baltimore is more 
decidedly gneissoid, and is used more largely in that city for the purposes before mentioned. This stone is what is 
usually known as the blue gneiss or mica schist of the Atlantic coast, and there are exposures of it at nearly every 
point along the line approximately parallel to the coast-line and at the junction of the Tertiary and the Archaean rocks. 
It is the same that is used in Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington for the ruder purposes of construction, and 
varies in character from the different kinds of gneiss to a mica schist. The most noted granite quarries in Maryland 
are located near Woodstock, Howard county; the quarries, however, being in Baltimore county. A gray 
biotite granite, sometimes having a pinkish tint, is here extensively quarried for general building purposes and 
for monumental work, and is shipped chiefly to Baltimore, Washington, and the west. Among the buildings in the 
construction of which it has been used are those of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and the National Museum, 
Washington, District of Columbia; the .soldiers' inonument, Winchester, Virginia, and the safe-deposit building 
in the office of the Baltimore and Ohio Eailroad Company, Baltimore. This stone varies from an indistinctl.y- 
lamiuated to a massive rock, is a good, safe stone to work, and takes a good polish. The strata are tilted at various 
angles and the jointing is irregular. Blocks of any desired size may be obtained. In one of the quarries the 
material lies in the shape of bowlders — a condition which has been brought about by the weathering of the rock. 
As no glacial action has ever been brought to bear on the strata in this section of the country to remove the 
weathered portions, the rock is often found covered with a considerable depth of decomposed material. 

Xear Ellicott City, on the east side of the Patapsco, a biotite gneiss is quarried for curbstones, steps, and for 
general building purposes, and is shipjied to Baltimore and Washington. It was iised to some extent in the cathedral 
m Baltimore. The quarries are in Baltimore county, but Ellicott City, the post-office of this region, is in Howard 
county. Some of the rock in this vicinity is porphyritic and contains crystals of feldspar an inch and a half or 
more in length, but they are irregularly distributed through the mass ; yet there are places where blocks of some 



176 BUILDINa STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. • 

size cau hi obtained in whieli the feldspar crystals are quite regular, in which cases the stone is of uniform and 
handsome appearance. Much of the rock from these quarries has been used in Baltimore and along the Baltimore 
and Ohio railroad. For 15 miles west of Relay station, on this road, many of the houses are built of this stone; 
in all, there are about 100 buildings constructed of it, and Professor Huntington reports that he knows of no other 
place in the country where there are so manj^ stone buildings in an area of the same size. Among the other places 
from which specimens of gneiss and granite have been obtained are the Relay House, the Winans estate at the 
mouth of Gwynn's falls, Orange Grove station, and Ilchester, on the Baltimore and Ohio railroad. 

With regard to texture the material here varies very much, some of it being quite fine and some coarse. The 
general dip of the rock is north-northeast. 

At the mouth of Gwynn's falls some of the rock is properly a granite, but passes into a gneiss on one hand 
and a binary micaceous granite on the other, xiresenting a width of 30 feet on the front. The general dip is about 
45° north-northwest. Professor P. H. Uhler regards all the granites of this region as inclosures — that is, entirely 
surrounded by rocks of a different character — and cites numerous examples to sustain his views ; he does not find 
anj' intrusive rocks. The strike is north-northeast. 

A specimen of granite was forwarded from Montrose post-office, 3 miles east of Rockville, Montgomei-y county, 
by Professor Munroe, who reports that the mass of granite iiere has simply been exposed. It is comparatively 
easy of access, the location of the exposure being on the hillside, but there is considerable dex)th of strijjping. 
Soap-stone exists here also, and was formerly quarried. It comes in direct contact with the granite. 
In the Archtean rocks of Maryland is a variety of serpentines, some specimens of which in the census collection 
in the National Museum have been polished, and present the most brilliant green appearance. 

Near Dublin, Harford county, 32 miles northeast of Baltimore and G2 miles southwest of Philadelphiar, a compact 
and massive green serx^eutine (sometimes called " precious serpentine") is obtained. This material is iine in texture, 
of great hardness and tenacity, of a beautiful green color, and is suscejitible of a fine and brilliant polish. It is a 
late discovery, and the quarries are not yet fully developed, but blocks that will dress to th'e size of 5 by 4 by 2 or 3 feet 
may now be obtained. The Green Serxjentiue Marble Company, of Harford county, Maryland, is making extensive 
preparations for quarrying this material, and Professor F. A. Genth, of the university of Pennsylvania, has published 
a report on the material. He re]3orts that the supply of serpentine is practically inexhaustible, that it is situated in 
a most favorable jjosition for quarrying on a large scale, and with an abundant supply of water-power to manufacture 
it into marketable forms. Professor Genth's description of the mineralogical character of this stone is as follows : 

It is a variety of massive serpentine, somewliat resembling williamsite, and shows sometimes a sliglitly slaty structure. It occurs 
in various shades of green, frojn a pale leek-green to a deep blackish green, and, from a small admixture of magnetic iron, more or less 
clouded ; rarely with thin veins of dolomite passing through the mass. It is translucent to semi-transparent^ it is exceedingly tough, 
and its hardness is considerably greater than that of marble, scratching the la-tter with great facility. The analysis of a deep green 
translucent variety gave the following results : 

, Per cent. 

Silicic acid 40. 06 

Alumina ,. .„..„„....... 1. 37 

Chromic oxide 0.20 

Niccolous oxide 0. 71 

Ferrous oxide 3. 43 

Manganous oxide 0.09 

Magnesia 39.02 

Water 12.10 

Magnetic iron 3. 02 

Total 100.00 

Hardness (or that of fluor-spar), 4. 00 ; specific gravity, 2. 668. 
Its green color is due to the oxides of chromium, nickel, and iron j)resent. 

In a polished condition it appears to me to be practically almost unalterable, as the polished surfaces do not admit of the absorption 
of atmospheric agencies which cause the decomposition. 

I have above stated that a black, mottled serpentine underlies the green, forming a bed of about 800 feet in thickness. It is not 
sufficiently developed, but is very conspicuous alongside of Broad creek. It weathers more readily than the green, changing into a white 
rock spottcil with black. The fresh rock, in thin plates, is of a very pale greenish-white color clouded with black. It is softer and less 
tenacious than the green. 

The analysis shows it to be a variety of serpentine, like the green, Tvith an admixture of a larger percentage of magnetic iron. It 
contaiD.s; 

Silicic acid 40.39 

Alumina 1.01 

Chromic oxide Trace 

Niccolous oxide 0.23 

Ferrous oxide.. » 0.97 

Manganous oxide Trace 

Magnesia 38.32 

Water 12.86 

Magnetic iron , 6.22 

Total 100. 00 

Hardness, 4; specific gravity, 2.609. 

It is also susceptible of a good polish, and for some jiurposes may become a valuable ornamental stone. 



DESCRIPTIONS OF QUARRIES AND QUARRY REGIONS. 177 

About 6 miles north from Baltimore, and near the line of the Northern Central railway, is found a serpentine 
varying from a light to a dark green in color, but it has been but little quarried as yet. 

This rock is very well adapted to be used as ashlar in the walls of churches and other buildings. In a church 
in Baltimore a small portion of this stone has been used with the serpentine from Brinton's quarry, Chester county, 
Pennsylvania, similar in appearance in every respect. The area of this rock exposed at this point is about 100 acres. 
Experience with this material goes to prove that it is durable and stands exposure well, but the surface rock shows 
considerable disintegration ; this, however, is not au argument against the durability of the stone iu this region, 
where as before stated, no glacial or other denuding intluences have removed the product of decomposition. An 
area of serpentine near Deer Creek, Harford county, is represented by a specimen in the collection. 

Fifteen miles northwest of Baltimore, on the Liberty road, a ste;itite or soap-stone is quarried. It is used in 
lining furnaces and stoves, for registers, and the manufacture of sinks, ice-trays, etc. The color is a greenish-gray. 
It has defects, which are due to honey-combing occasioned by pyrite cavities. 

In the vicinity of Cockeysville and Texas, 16 miles north of Baltimore, on the Northern Central railroad, is a 
small isolated area of Lower Silurian limestone bounded by rocks of Archrean age, and on this area are located 
well-known marble quarries. This stone was employed in the construction of Christ church and in the columns 
and platforms of the city hall, Baltimore, Maryland; the Father Matthew centennial fountain, Fairmouut park, 
Philadelphia; exterior walls of the Washington monument, and the columns and heavy platforms of the Capitol 
extension at Washington. Blocks 28 by 10 by 3 feet have been quarried, and blocks as large as can be transported 
by the usual means might be obtained. The stone lies chiefly in large rectangular and nearly horizontal masses. 
It is usually of a coarsely crystalline texture and of a white or light color. The drilling and sawing are done by 
steam-power. It is worthy of note that almost all of the marbles of commerce so extensively quarried east of the 
Alleghanies are from strata of Lower Silurian age, the principal exception being the Snow Flake marble quarried in 
Arch;ean strata at Tuckahoe, Westchester county. New York. 

At Hagerstown, Washington county, in the great Lower Silurian limestone valley, lying to the west of the South 
mountain, the limestone is quarried for local use. It is here a magnesian limestone, and specimens analyzed by Mr. 
Dewey at the National Museum contained alumina and graphite. It was employed in the construction of the 
Protestant Episcopal and Methodist Episcopal churches in Hagerstown. Professor Charles E. Munroe reports these 
quarries on a belt locally called Cedar stone, a few hundred feet in width, extending for a distance of several 
miles, and believed to be peculiar in the fact that the upper layers furnish the most durable stone. There are a 
number of other localities in the region surrounding Hagerstown and in the same geological horizon as are the 
Hagerstown quarries. Worthy of mention in this connection is a black limestone found in the Chesapeake and 
Ohio canal from 4 to 6 miles below Williamsport. 

Fogel's quarry, at Four Locks post-office, on the same canal, was worked extensively for stone to be used iu the 
construction of the locks. A variety of light-colored limestone, locally called "Knuckle stone", is found near 
Benevola post-oiHce ; and at the same place there is a quarry of white and variegated marble which was worked for 
40 years; it closed in 1858, owing to lack of good facilities for transporting the stone, the quarry being 15 miles 
from the nearest railroad. 

At Keedysville, on the Washington County railroad, a gray magnesian limestone containing black lines is 
quarried, and is used largely iu Hagerstown for steps, underpinnings, and curbs ; it resembles the white limestone of 
Carroll county in the fact that it works easily only in the plane of stratification. It contains a little iron and a 
silicate. 

There are many localities in Maryland where ledges of building stones are but little developed, and from which 
specimens were collected for the Tenth Census. Among these may be mentioned a siliceous limestoue, containing 
protoxide of iron and a little magnesia, from Liberty pike. Mount Pleasant district, in Frederick county. 

Getzendaner's quarry, on the Hagerstown pike, near Frederick, furnishes the " Potomac " or " calico " marble, a 
calcareous breccia of Triassic age which was quarried at Point of Rocks to obtain the material of which the columns 
in the old hall of Representatives at the Capitol building, Washington, were constructed. Representative specimens 
furnished from the Getzendaner quarry showthestone to be here, as in the other points in Jlaryland and Pennsylvania 
where it is exposed, a breccia made up of fragments chiefly from the great magnesian limestone to the northwest; 
its chemical composition being almost the same as the latter. 

In a report of the geological survey of Maryland, made in 1833, by Ducatel and Alexander, it is stated that 
the Potomac breccia marble occurs along the Potomac river, commencing a short distance above the mouth of the 
Monocacy, reaching nearly to the Point of Rocks, and extending along the valley on the eastern side of the Catoctin 
mountain to within 2 miles (west) of Fredericktown, at which poiut it is contiguous to the red sandstone and the blue 
limestone; and that the formatiou reappears near Mechanicstown. 

Near New Windsor and Union Bridge, in Carroll county, and in the neighboring portions of Frederick county, is 
found a magnesian limestone which has apparently been subjected to considerable metamorphic action. The signs 
of stratification are often destroyed, and the color varies from a white with pinkish patches or bands to a pink. A 
chemical analysis discovers but little variation in the chemical composition of different specimens of this stone ; 
they usually contain much lime, sufScient magnesian carbonate to entitle them to the name " magnesian limestone", 
a little iron, sometimes in the form of a protoxide, and occasionally a silicate. 
VOL. IX 12 B s 



178 BUILDINa STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

SANDSTONE. 

There are no large or important sandstone quarries at present operated in Marj'land, though, at several localities 
in the state, sandstone of superior quality for purposes of construction exists in inexhaustible quantities. The most 
noted quarry of this material is the celebrated Seneca sandstone quarry on the Potomac at the mouth of Seneca 
creek, 20 miles above Washington city. This material belongs to the Triassic formation described in other portions 
of this reiDort. The stone was extensively used in the construction of many large public buildings in Washington, 
including the Smithsonian Institution; the Freedman's Bank building, now the Department of Justice; the 
Fourteenth Street Lutheran Memuriiil church; the District jail ; and a reference to the remarks on stone construction 
in the city of Washington will show the other purposes for which it has been used there. There are good facilities 
for transportation from this quarry to Washington and to all other points along the Chesaijeake and Ohio canal. 

Specimens of quartzite of Archaean age were collected at Dickerson post-office, Montgomery county, on the 
Metropolitan branch of the Baltimore and Ohio railroad and the Chesapeake and Ohio canal. It has been used to 
some extent in the construction of aqueducts, bridges, and furnaces. The aqueduct of the Chesapeake and Ohio 
canal over the Monocacy river was built of this stone. It is of rather coarse and uniform texture ; and its use in the 
aqueduct shows that it is proof against the action of dampness and freezing, as that structure was built nearly 
fifty years ago, and there are yet no visible signs of decay of the material. This stone would be suitable for curbs 
and paving blocks. 

At Cumberland, Alleghany county, white sandstone of Medina age is quarried for curbs, steps, and trimmings. 
It has been used also for bases and cemetery work, and was used in the trimmings of the Protestant Episcopal 
church and m the construction of the Methodist Episcopal church and the market-house in Cumberland. The 
material thus far obtained has been very large detached bowlders, foiind about 7 miles north of Cumberland. 
The ledge exposed in Wills mountain is about 500 feet in thickness, but this has not yet been quarried, as the 
material is more readily obtained from the detached rocks before mentioned. Through the narrow valley, about 
300 yards wide at the base of this mountain, two railroads run. The stone varies considerably as to its firmness, 
depending upon the depth in the bed ; the upper part is so soft as sometimes to yield to the hand, but the lower part 
is quite strong and compact. 

Professor C. F. Chandler, in a report on the mineral resources of Cumberland, gives the following analysis : 

Per cent. 

Silica 98.35 

Sesquioxide of iron 0.42 

Total 98.77 

Another exposure of the same stone is found east of Cumberland, on the Chesaioeake and Ohio canal; and there is 
also a yellow sandstone of Oriskany age, which has been used to a limited extent for building purposes in Cumberland, 
esi>ecially in the construction of the Methodist Ei^iscopal church. It is not quarried at iDreseut. The stone varies 
very much as to firmness ; the stratum which is sufficiently firm for building purposes lies at a depth of about 30 feet 
and is about 18 inches in thickness. When apertures in which water can collect exist in this stone the frost 
soon disintegrates it, but if the surface is dressed it is quite durable, and buildings in Cumberland in which it 
has been used, some of tliem built 15 or 20 years ago, are now in a perfect state of preservation. The stone in this 
quarry has a dark yellow color. The strike of the strata in this vicinity is a little east of north, following about the 
course of the mountains. There is but little dip in the strata of either the Medina or the Oriskany sandstones so 
far as can be seen from the exposure. A dark red sandstone crops out at Fraukville and continues to Oakland, 
in Garrett county. It has been quarried at intervals by the railroad company, for use chiefly in protecting- walls 
for embankments, and in these structures it seems firm and durable. Tyson gives this material as Potsdam 
sandstone. 

Professor Munroe reports that a white sandstone of excellent quality is quarried to a limited extent at 
Knowlesburg, and he traced it to the westward from this i)oint as far as Newburg, in West Virginia. He also states 
that east of Tuunellton it begins to appear above the bituminous coal, which fact proves it to be of Carboniferous 
age. 

SLATE. 

The principal slate quarries in Maryland are in the Peach Bottom district, in Haxford county, near the state 
line. The ridge upon which these quarries are situated extends into York county, Pennsylvania, and a number 
of the quarries are on the Pennsylvania side. The whole is described in the treatise on the building stones of 
Pennsylvania. The principal quarries both in Maryland and in Pennsylvania are all within a radius of a mile, 
and produce exactly similar material. For roofing purposes this slate is of a highly superior quality. 

On the Baltimore and Ohio railroad, at the village of Ijamsville, Frederick county, there is an exposure of 
roofing slate which was formerly quarried for this purpose, and several roofs in the vicinity were made during the 
eighteenth century, and are now in good condition, which speaks well for the quality of the material. These 
slates are of a beautiful sky-blue color, and are reported not to fade. No roofing slate has been made here since 
1873. 



DESCRIPTIONS OF QUARRIES AND QUARRY REGIONS. 179 

VIRGINIA. 

[Compiled mainly from notes of Messrs. Huntington and Mnnroe.] 

In Virginia, as in Maryland, tlie surface rocks of quite a large area of that part of the state lying next the 
Chesapeake bay and the Atlantic ocean are of Tertiary age and furnish no good building stones. The coarse and 
durable gray sandstones formerly quarried by the United States government at Aquia creek for the construction 
of the White House, the old portion of the Capitol, and other public buildings in Washington that were built in 
the early part of the century, are probably of this age ; though, as no complete geological survey of the state has 
ever been made, the strati graphical relations of many of its rocks cannot be pronounced upon with certainty. The 
preliminary reports by Professor W. B. Eogers previous to 1838, and the work done in neighboring states where 
the conditions of the strata are to some extent analogous, have developed the same general facts concerning 
the geology of the state. The band of Archaean rocks setting in to the westward of the Tertiary and running 
approximately parallel with the Appalachian mountains, furnishes granites, gneisses, and slates. The narrow 
Triassic belt resting upon the Archaean rocks in places supplies the red or brown sandstone which is quarried 
extensively at Manassas, and the diabase or trap quarried near Catlett station, Fauquier county, and near Leesburg, 
Loudoun county. 

The Triassic sandstone extensively quarried for building purposes at Manassas bears a strong resemblance to 
the Seneca sandstone at the mouth of Seneca creek in Maryland, it being of the same horizon. The location of the 
Manassas quarry is near the top of a slight eminence. The strata here are nearly horizontal ; there is, however, 
a slight dip to the south. Only the upper portion of the ledge to the depth of about 20 feet has as yet been quarried. 
The courses are of various thicknesses up to 6 feet, but the usual thickness is from 5 to 6 feet. Blocks 40 by 20 by 4 
feet in thickness have been loosened in the quarry, and a block containing 88 cubic feet was shipped. Between 
the courses a greenish shale occurs which has a smooth, soapy feel, and when exposed to the atmosphere turns 
red. The principal markets for this material thus far are Washington, Baltimore, Danville, Virginia, and 
Charleston, West Virginia. Among the buildings in the construction of which the stone has been used are the 
District jail, Washington, and the government buildings at Danville, Virginia, and at Charleston, West Virginia. 
In these structures it "was used for trimmings. 

The quarries of diabase or trap before mentioned are located on dikes which cut the Triassic formation. 
That on which the Catlett Station quarry is located is apparently nearly parallel to Cedar Kun creek ; so far it has 
been quarried only for paving blocks and for sewer construction in Washington. 

The quarry near Leesburg, Loudoun county, is scarcely developed. A fine dwelling was built of this material 
by C. E. Paxton, near Leesburg. As is usual with diabases, these stones are hard and difficult to work, but work 
safely and take a good polish. 

To the westward of the strata already described the surface rocks are chiefly Silurian, Devonian, and 
Carboniferous ; none of them have as yet furnished much material for building purposes, although a proper 
exploration would doubtless discover important resources in them. On the Valley railroad, 2 miles northeast of 
Staunton, Augusta county, there is an argillaceous limestone of Lower Sihu'ian age, locally called slate, which is, 
quarried for slate stock by the Eed Bud Slate Comiiany. 

A limestone slightly maguesian in character and of Upper Silurian age is quarried chiefly for interior work, 
furniture, and other ornamental purposes, at CraigsviUe, Augusta county. 

Eeturning to the Archaean rocks, it may be said that they have thus far been the most important resource 
for building stone in Virginia. The i)rincipal quarries thus far developed are located in Chesterfield and Henrico 
counties, in the immediate vicinity of Eichmond. These quarries have all the advantages of good water 
transportation, as they are located on the James river, and the material may be shipped by schooner to all points 
on the Atlantic coast. The stone is a gray biotite granite having the same general characteristics as the gray 
granite so extensively quarried in the other Atlantic states farther north. The following are notes concerning 
some of the most important individual quarries of this region : 

The quarry of the Eichmond Granite Company, on the Eichmond and Alleghany railroad, near Eiclmiond, 
Virginia, produces a massive gray granite used for general building purposes, paving stone, and monumental 
work, and is shipped more or less to all the states and cities south of New England and as far west as Nebraska. 
Much of the material is dressed at the quarry, polishing-works being located on the grounds; and at present there 
is more activity here than at any other quarry in Virginia. A very large quantity of stone has been taken from 
this quarry, which has been accessible for many years by canal. This, however, has been discontinued, and a railroad 
now runs to the quarry. Comparing this rock with that of other quarries in the vicinity of Eichmond, it appears 
that the feldspar crystals are larger than those generally seen elsewhere, but they are often irregular in shape and 
have a brownish color, which shows very distinctly on the polished surfaces. Blocks of any size desired may be 
obtained. 

The Old Dominion granite quarry has furnished material for many important public buildings througliout 
the country, with principal markets in Eichmond, Washington, Norfolk, Lynchburg, and Philadelphia. Among 



180 BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

the promiueut structures in whicli tliis material has been used are the post-offlce buildings at Eichmond, 
Philadelphia, and Harrisburg. This quarry is well located for working, as it lies along the Eichmond and 
Danville railroad, and the stone is lifted from the quarry upon the cars ready for shipment. There are as to 
color two varieties of stone in this quarry; one, a light gray, penetrates the darker after the manner of veins, 
but there is scarcelj' any perceptible difference's to texture. There are some peculiarities in regard to the joints 
in this quarry, and along each joint below the general surface decay is a thin layer of calcite, the lime of which 
was probably derived from the plagioclase feldspar so abundant in this granite. The waste from the quarrying 
and cutting of this stone is disposed of by being crushed by a rock-breaker, which is elevated so that the crushed 
material falls into a car and is transported to various points along the road and used for ballast. Professor J. H. 
Huntington, who collected the data from this region, expresses a doubt as to whether this granite is of Ai'chsean 
age, and states that there is evidence that it is much younger than has been generally supposed, and that a study 
of the granite south of the Old Dominion quarry, along the border of the coal-fields, and at Fredericksburg, 
would probably furnish facts not heretofore known, and might determine the age of these rocks. 

At Manchester, in Chesterfield county, is located one of the oldest as well as one of the most important quarries 
in this section. The surface rock is decayed to a considerable depth, and in some instances bowlders are left in 
the general decay; but below the point where the general decay ceases the natural joints seem free from 
discoloration or change, and are nearly horizontal. 

In the Tuckahoe district, Henrico county, is a granite quarry recently opened, though in the same locality is 
situated one of the oldest quarries of this section, and from it the stone for the Washington monument at Richmond 
was obtained. The quarry, however, is not now operated. The resistance to decay in this rock is very notable, as 
there are some outcrops that are quite sound on the surface; the jointing is also peculiar, the principal joints 
conforming to the general slope of the hill on which the quarry is situated. Next to the river the rock is fine 
grained, but northwest of a quite well-defined line it becomes coarser. 

In Amherst and Campbell counties, near Lynchburg, a bluish-gray biotite gneiss is quarried for general building 
l>urposes, and is used in Lynchburg, Danville, Eichmond, Alleghany, and other cities of this region. It was used 
in the construction of the Female Orphan Asylum building at Lynchburg. This rock is quite similar to that found 
in many places along the Atlantic coast, and resembles very much the Potomac gneiss or mica schist in the vicinity 
of Washington. The quarries in Amherst county are on the left bank of the James river, opposite the city of 
Lynchburg. The strata are more or less bent and distorted, but in many places they are quite regular, and readily 
split into layers of from 3 to 6 inches in thickness. 

The Fishing Creek quarry is about a mile and a quarter from the station of the Norfolk and Western railroad 
in Lynchburg. The strata are regular and dip 42° southeast. The material is remarkable in being quite free from 
iron, and in this respect differs from this stone elsewhere on the Atlantic coast. 

A gray, sometimes greenish-gray, biotite granite is quarried in the Namozine district, Dinwiddle county, for 
general building purposes, and is UK^ed chiefly in Petersburg and Norfolk. It was used in the construction of the 
post-office and custom-house at Petersburg. A notable feature of the granite in the vicinity of Petersburg is that in 
many places it stands in bold ledges that have for ages defied the disintegrating agencies which have acted with 
such effect on nearly all the rocks in this latitude. Nowhere else south of the southern limit of the glacial action 
by which the decayed portions of surface rocks have been removed can granite be seen in such sharp, well-defined 
ledges as in the vicinity of Patersburg, and there are very few places in regions where the decayed rock has been 
removed by glacial action that ledges can Jae found which show on the surface so little sign of decay. The stone 
from this locality was used at fortress Monroe for the beds for gun carriages, and it is said that where concussion 
would fracture other stones, this remains intact. It was also used at the Eii)raps,at the outlet of Chesapeake bay. 
The material is for the most i)art a solid mass, free from joints. 

Specimens of granite representing ledges but little or not at all quarried were collected from Verdon depot, 
Hanover county ; and of mica-schist, considerably quarried for foundations and the ruder purposes, generally, in 
Washington, from near the Chain bridge in Fauquier county, a few miles above Georgetown, on the Potomac river. 

SLATE. 

In Buckingham, near New Canton and Ore Banks, Buckingham county, a very superior quality of roofing slate 
is extensively quarried and shipped to the principal cities of Virginia and to Washington, and is quite extensively 
used as a roofing material in the latter place. It is of a bluish-black color, and has the pearly luster peculiar to the 
best slates. The following description is by Professor J. L. Campbell : 

The fine roofing slates of Buckingham are wortliy of special consideration, as well on account of the quality as for the quantity of the 
material there found. The belt of slate is on Hunt's creek, a branch of Slate river. The quarries extend up this creek for several miles, 
•with a trend practically parallel veith Slate river, and at a distance of from 1 mile to 2 miles east of it. The slates are intersected by 
numerous veins of igneous quartz, not unlike, in general appearance, the gold-bearing veins ; and also by occasional trap dikes, one of 
■which crosses an old opening in the Nicholas quarry. The heat from these igneous rocks has doubtless been a very potent agency in giving 
the slates that highly indurated, metamorphic condition that renders them so durable, while a uniform lateral pressure acting at right 
angles to their planes of stratification has given that peculiar structure which results in an easy and regular cleavage when fully quarried. 

Some of these quarries have been worked for more than half a century. The principal ones are all that need be named. What is 
known locally as "Perrow's big quarry ", owned by Mr. J. M. Norvell and other persons at Bremo, is on Hunt's creek, 1 mile east of Slat* 



DESCRIPTIONS OF QUARRIES AND QUARRY REGIONS. 181 

river and 2 miles from the James. A vast quantity of slate has been taken from this quarry, but when we visited the place it was 
suspended on account of some conflict of claims. The Nicholas quarry, a little farther up the creek, is worked on a large scale, and 
stones shijjped from Bremo by the Richmond and Alleghany railroad. Messrs. Edwards and Robertson's cjuarry, in the same vicinity, is 
largely opened, very successfully operated, and its products shipped by the same route. The strata, or rather lamin;p, of slate in all 
these quaiTies are nearly vertical and have a very uniform strike north 25° east, which is about the average bearing of all the strata between 
Slate and Willis rivers. 

At present nearly all the slate from these quarries is split and shaped for roofing purposes, except where special orders are to be 
filled. Its strength, durability, and uniformity of texture have given it a national reputation. * * * 

The same belt of slate appears on the north side of the James, on the Cocke estate, a short distance above Bremo station, but has 
not been opened to a sufficient dejith to test its quality at that point. 

Another belt of slate, apparently of the same geological associations and age as the one just described, lies near the southeast base 
of the Blue ridge, in both Amherst and Bedford counties, cut through by the James river 4 miles below Balcony falls. It is extensively 
exposed about 2 miles northeast of the river, where a Lynchburg company has opened a quarry that yields a slate of fine appearance 
and of finer grain than that of the Buckingham quarries. A small opening has also been made on the southwest side of the river, by the 
Alleghany Coal and Iron Company, sufficient to prove the existence of slate of good quality, and to indicate the presence also of a large 
quantity. I have subjected samples from this belt to crucial tests, which they bore remarkably well. 

There is a number of other points within reach of the railroad at which slate of promising appearance crops out on the surface, 
but the true character of the material can be determined only by actual openings to such depth as will reach beyond the limits of long- 
continued weathering. 

MARBLE AND LIMESTONE. 

Marble and limestone quarries have not thus far been much developed in Virginia, though there are several 
points where these materials have been quarried to a limited extent for local use. The most extensive and best 
known quarry of this class of rock in Virginia is at Craigsville, Augusta county, where what is known as "coral 
marble" is quarried, chiefly for interior work in buildings, and for furniture and ornamental purposes generally. 
It is shipped to New York, Baltimore, Boston, Cleveland, Chicago, Milwaukee, Cincinnati, Saint Louis, and other 
cities of the country. In texture it is fine, semi-crystalline, fossiliferous, and of a pinkish-gray color. There is 
quite an extensive area here of this material of uniform character. Specimens dressed at the National Museum 
show that it takes a good polish. Specimens of limestone, representing ledges which have thus far been but little 
quarried, were received from the following places in Virginia : 

A. magnesiau limestone from near the Natural bridge, Eockbridge county, locally called marble, but properly 
a magnesian limestone, sometimes containing a silicate; a magnesiau limestone, locally called marble, from 
Timberville, IJockingham county, and a dolomite from the same locality; a dolomite, locally called marble, from 
Madison Eun station. Orange county; a stalactite from Luray cave. Page county; and a marble from Greenwich, 
Eockbridge county. 

• SOAP-STONE. 

Specimens of steatite or soap-stone were received from various points in the state, but this material has not 
thus far been used for jturposes of construction. 

NOETH CAEOLINA. 

The following statements and descriptions are made up from the schedule reports furnished bj^ Professor W. 
C. Kerr and W. H. Kerr: 

The same order of strata occurs in North Carolina, generally speaking, as in Virginia and the South Atlantic 
states. The Tertiary, Eocene, and other later formations occupy a belt next the sea-coast, and are not important 
sources of building material. A shell-limestone of Eocene age, used for underpinnings, fences, mill-rocks, and 
lime, is quarried near New Berne. It seems to be made up entirely of maritre shells. This stone can be hewn into 
shape by axes, but does not stand exposure well. 

Material of the same nature is quarried at Eocky Point, Pender county, and has been used to some extent in 
the breakwater and other harbor improvements at Wilmington. It is transported by flatboats on the Northeast 
river, and to some extent by rail on the Northwestern railroad. This material is more compact than the New Berne 
shell-limestone ; the rock lies beneath the surface at a deptli varying from 1 foot to 6 feet, has a thickness varying 
from 1 foot to 5 feet, and underlies an area of about 4 square miles. An area of about 100,000 square yards has been 
quarried over. The rock sometimes overlies a loose, partially-decomposed lime-rock of a foot or two in thickness, 
and sometimes a bed of marl 2 or 3 feet thick is superi:nposed. This marl carries from 85 to 90 per cent, of carbonate 
of lime, and is used as a fertihzer after passing through a pulverizer. Professor W. C. Kerr, state geologist, states 
that the material withstands considerable crushing weight, and is very serviceable in rough work. 

TRIASSIC ROCKS. 
A narrow belt of Triassic age extends through the center of the state, and furnishes fine, compact red 
sandstone of superior quality for building purposes. Professor Kerr, who has collected for the National Museum 
a representative set of building stones from this state, sent specimens from rocks of this age from the following 
places : Wadesboro', Anson county; Sanford, Bloore county; 3 J miles east of Egypt, Chatham county; near Durham, 
Durham county. 



182 BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

That quarried near Wadesboro' is used for ordinary building purposes, sills, steps, grindstones, and whetstones. 
It is of fine, compact, uniform texture. The principal markets are Charlotte, Wilmington, and neighboring places. 
The color of this stone varies from a dark brown to a brick-red, and occasionally a buQ". The Triassic sandstone 
quarried at Sanford is used chiefly in Ealeigh, and may be seen in the Ealeigh court-house. This stone lies in 
nearly horizontal strata, which are from 1 or 2 to 4 or 5 feet in thickness, with a depth beneath the surface varying 
from 1 foot to many feet. It is worked and can be quarried at small cost, stands exposure well, and is being quite 
extensively introduced as a building and trimming stone. It is soft when first quarried, but in a week or two 
becomes quite hard and takes a line dressing. 

The sandstone quarried near Egypt is used for building purposes, and is marketed chiefly in Ealeigh. It is a 
durable, fine, brown sandstone, used to some extent for grindstones during the war, and is locally used as a general 
building material and in the construction of iron furnaces. The strata have a dip to the south of 12°, and strike 
east and west. The stone outcrops in the side of a considerable hill, and is worked with little difficulty. 

The Triassic sandstone quarried near Durham is chiefly of a pale gray color, though some of it is brown, and of 
fine to medium texture, occasionally coarse. Among the buildings in the construction of which it was used are 
the Ealeigh Bank building and the dwelling of Mr. Speight. It has been used for 30 years or more in Ealeigh and 
vicinity. It is comparatively easy to work, and is durable. 

ARCH^AN ROCKS. 

The Archaean rocks, setting into the westward of this Triassic belt and occupying the whole of the middle and 
western parts of the state, form one of the most important sources of building stone in North Carolina. They 
furnish flue gray granite of superior quality at many points. These granites in many cases difler but little from 
those quarried in the New England states, but have not the advantage of being so near the sea-board as to be 
accessible by water transportation ; they are usually massive, showing scarcely any signs of stratification, but gneiss 
of good quality for building purposes is abundant. Specimens of granite were forwarded by Professor Kerr from 
Charlotte and from Davidson College, Mecklenburg county; Lexington, Davidson county; from various points in 
Alamance county; Louisburg and Cedar Eock, Franklin county; Salisbury, Eowan county; Asheville, Buncombe 
county; Eockingham, Eichmond county ; Danbury, Stokes county ; Mount Airy, Surry county ; Winston, Forsyth 
county; Concord, Cabarrus county: Garibaldi and Gastonia, Gaston county; Tosneot, Edgecombe county; 
Greensboro', Guilford county ; Mount Mourne and Mooresville, Iredell county ; Oxford, Granville county ; 
Warrenton, Warren county ; Buckhoru Falls, Harnett county ; Shelby, Cleaveland county ; red granite from 
Cotentney creek, near the Weldon railroad, Wilson county; gneiss from near Greensboro' and Jamestown, 
Guilford couuty; Henderson, Vance county; Shelby, Cleaveland county; near Louisburg, Franklin county; 
Henry's station, McDowell county; Morganton, Burke county; Hickory, Caldwell county; Statesville and 
Mooresville, Iredell county; Northington's ferry, Harnett county; and Ealeigh, Wake county. 

The granites and gneisses at most of these localities have, so far, only been slightly used for local purposes. 
The following notes afi'ord some information respecting their nature and availability for building purposes at some 
of the different localities : 

Ten miles northeast of Greensboro', Guilford couuty, the gneiss shows no observable traces of iron or other 
material to produce disintegration, and the exposed surface is sound and durable. The blocks lying at the quarry 
seem nearly as fresh as when first quarried. This quarry was first opened some years before the late war, furnishing 
good rock for mill-dams in the neighborhood. Subsequently some stone was quarried for other purposes during 
the war and near its close, but no regular quarrying has been done there since. The material varies from medium 
fiue to rather coarse iu texture ; it is gray, fairly uniform, works with comparative ease, and sj^lits readily in 
rectangular blocks and in any desirable thickness. The surface exposure at the opening indicates the presence 
of an extensive supply of the material. The stratum in which this quarry occurs, or the line of its outcrop, was 
traced for some distance in a general northeast direction, and in it two or three thin exposures were found, 
indicating the probable presence of good material in considerable quantity. 

Ten miles west of Greensboro' is found a gray, medium-fine to coarse gneiss, used to some extent for railroad 
work and for ordinary buildiug purposes. The quarry is located about 3 miles north of Friendship, a small station 
on the line of the Northwestern North Carolina railroad, so that the facilities for transportation are fair. 

On the line of the North Carolina railroad, near Lexington, the granite has been quarried to some extent for 
railroad and local purposes ; the material is fairly uniform and of medium-fine to coarse texture, and varies in 
color from gray to bluish-gray. The facilities for transportation at present are not good. There are other granite 
ledges in this vicinity, however, which are more accessible, and the facilities for quarrying are favorable. 

At the shops of the North Carolina railroad, in Alamance county, granite is found which is above the average 
in quality both as to durability and the ease with which it can be worked. It is fine, even-grained, and light gray to 
gray in color. Though no very considerable opening has been made, there are indications of the existence of a 
considerable quantity of this stone in the vicinity. The stone is much used by residents of the vicinity, and is 
highly esteemed. Specimens of it may be seen in monuments and bases at Graham, North Carolina, and elsewhere. 



DESCRIPTIONS OF QUARRIES AND QUARRY REGIONS. 183 

Two miles north of the North Carolina Eailroad shops the granite underlies a considerable extent of gi'ound, 
and crops out in such a way as to indicate accessibility and ease of working. The outcrops on the hillsides are 
verj^ favorably located for quarrying, and present an exception to the general rule in this vicinity, as the strata 
are not tilted. An examination of the specimens sent from this jilace by Professor Kerr indicates that the granite 
beds in this region underlying considerable depth of earth promise to afford a material much better in worliing 
qualities, as well as more even in structure, than that commonly found on the surface or at outcropping points. 

At Louisburg, Franklin county, a medium-fine, uniform, gray granite is found. It was used in the construction 
of the jail at Louisbui'g. The rock comes to the surface in great masses, being bare for many rods and at several 
points in and near the town. 

Four miles soutli of Salisbury, Rowan county, is found a medium-fine, uniform, gray granite. The rock crops 
out in a huge ledge called Dunn's mountain, in fact, it constitutes a range of high hills running northeast and 
southwest, and .300 or 400 feet above the surrounding country. On the summit of Dunn's mountain the rock 
projects above the surftice in huge bowlder-like masses from 15 to 20 feet high, some of them containing hundreds 
of tons. The process of quarrying is merely the splitting of these masses. Some of these blocks cout.iin minute 
octohedral crystals of magnetite disseminated through the mass, which may be easily removed from a powdered 
specimen with a magnet. They do not affect the quality of a stone, and discolor it only for a short time on a 
dressed surface. 

Near Henderson, Vance county, a gray, rather fine grained gneiss of very uniform texture is quarried, chiefly 
for railroad construction : it was employed in the construction of bridges over Haw and Deep rivers, the foundation 
of the post-office at Ealeigh, and other structures. This material works well and easily, is comparatively hard, 
very durable, and is much used in the neighboring region. 

Seven miles below Asheville, Buncombe county, a granite of fine and uniform texture is quarried for local 
purposes; it is a light gray in color, is easily wrought, splits readily into any regular form and size, and stone- 
cutters prefer it to any other rock in the region. 

The gneiss near Jamestown, Guilford county, has been employed to some extent for railroad work and local 
purposes, and was used in the construction of biidge piers at Deep river, on the railroad. It is a fine, even-grained, 
gray gneissoid granite, and gives strong indications under the hammer of working unusually well. TLe nearest 
point on the railroad is 3 miles. 

At Mount Airy, Surry county, the granite forms a ridge; it appears either at the surface or a few feet below, 
and outcrops at short intervals within a radius of 2i miles of the place. One hill, within a mile of Mount Airy, 120 
feet high shows an exposure of about 40 acres of this rock extending from its base to the top. The granite shows 
no jointage structure, and the hill is to all api)earances an unbroken mass. The granite splits readily, is quarried 
and dressed with great facility in blocks of enormous size, and is of a durable character. 

Four miles south of Winston, Forsyth county, the granite is a dark gray in color and splits readily into required 
shapes. The stone is quite uniform in texture and structure, though the amount of quartz contained varies 
somewhat in different parts of the quarry. This granite is durable and has been used for ordinary stone-work in 
the vicinity. It takes a fine polish and looks well when bush-hammered, but as yet there has been no demand for 
the material in fine construction. There is an inexhaustible supply, and blocks of any required size may be obtained. 

Nine miles south of Salisbury, Eowan county, there is ahomogeneous, durable, feldspathic granite of a i>iukish color 
which is used for sills, steps, culverts, and like work. The ledge has an extensive surface exposure, and a jointage 
structure which aids materially in its working. The stone can be readily obtained in blocks of any required size. 

Ten miles south of Salisbury a very hard, dark, granitic rock has been quarried chiefly for the rougher purposes 
of construction, such as streets, curbs, and door and window sills. It contains quite a large percentage of quartz, 
is compact and durable and is susceptible of good polish, although not so well adapted to ornamental work as 
are other rocks in the viciuitj". There is a caji-rock 4 feet in thickness, which has been chiefly used, as it is apparently 
unaffected by the weather. This ledge presents several acres of surface exposure. 

At Barringer's mill, Eowan county, a very hard quartzose granite, locally called '' millstone grit ", is considerably 
used for millstones, and to some extent as a building material. It is found in large exposures 12 miles north of 
Concord and 11 miles south of Salisbury. This stone is quite homogeneous and uniform as the outcrop is traced 
north .and south from the quarry, and the sujjply is inexhaustible. 

A fine, uniform, gray granite is found G miles northeast of Concord, Cabarrus county. On the Mount Pleasant 
road, in this county, the stone has an exposure where it has been blasted out in grading. It has an outcrop in 
two directions, that crossing the road having a general direction a little east of north, while the other 1ms a general 
direction at right angles to this. The second outcrop can be traced for a quarter of a mile. This material, owing 
to its tine grain and compact structure, is susceptible of a good jiolish. It is of a light pink color and splits readily 
into regular shapes. 

A coarse-grained porphj-ritic granite is quarried 3 miles north of Garibaldi, Gaston county, chiefly for trimmings, 
curbs, bases, and monuments, but it has also been used n great quantity for bridges and other building pirrposes. 
There are two outcrops in bluffs IJ miles apart, both being very favorably located for quarrying. This is a good, 
durable granite, works easily, and is susceptible of a good polish. It can be obtained in blocks of any desired size. 



184 BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

At Gastonia., on the Dallas road, in Gaston county, a hard, fine-grained porphyritic granite is quarried to some 
extent for ordinary building purposes. The ledge forms a hill on the west side of Long creek, 1^ miles from the 
crossing of the Dallas and Gastonia road. It is hard, compact, takes a fine polish, is a durable stone, well adapted 
to all ordinary building purposes, and was used in the construction of the court-house in Dallas. Its highly 
porphyritic structure renders it somewhat difficult to give it a fine dressing, but it splits readily into regular shapes. 
The supply is inexhaustible, readily accessible, and blocks of any required size may be obtained. 

One and a half miles northwest of Shelby, Cleaveland county, there is a fine hornblendic gneiss. It is a very 
handsome stone, splitting remarkably well in planes parallel to tL.ose of its lamination. This rock seems to harden 
on exposure. The outcrops and surface exposure extend half a mile in length. There is quite a large quantity 
of stone accessible, but the exposure most favorable for quarrying is in a bluff some 80 feet in height. 

At the point where the Wilmington and Weldon railroad crosses Cotentney creek, in Wilson county, a red 
feldspathic granite, uniform in texture and structure, is found. It works easily, splitting readily, and takes a 
beautiful polish. This rook has not yet been quarried for general purposes, having onlj- been used for the piers of 
bridges and other railroad structures. The rock is found outcropping on both sides of the creek, and is traced for 
a mile or more up stream. At George Barefoot's mills it crops out in a ledge 40 feet above the bed of the creek. 

Two and a half miles north of Tosneot, on the Wilmington and Weldon railroad, in Edgecombe county, a dark 
gray, rather coarse porphyritic granite of excellent quality is quarried to a considerable extent for general building 
purposes. It is used chiefly by the Wilmington and Vf eldon railroad in the construction of bridges, culverts, etc., 
and there is a railroad into the quarry. The stone is much used in Wilmington for street curbing and general 
building purposes. It splits readily, but is quite hard. The outcrop can be traced for a quarter of a mile, and the 
rock can be had in any quantity. There is a quarry of stone differing a little from this in texture at Eocky Mount, 
8 miles to the northwest of this point. 

Ten miles east of Greensboro', on the line of the North Carolina railroad, in Guilford county, the granite is 
not now quarried except for occasional local purposes. The stone here is of rather variable quahty, but good 
material was obtained for the large arched culvert over Eock creek, about a mile east of the quarry. The stone is of 
medium and coarse grain and of fair quality. The outcrop at various points in the neighborhood indicates that 
better openings than the one mentioned might be found near by, and that a well-developed quarry on this ledge 
would jtroduce building stone of excellent quality as soon as the surface rock is removed. 

The red granite 2 miles southwest of Hillsboro', Orange county, has as yet only been used by the K"orth 
Carolina Eailroad Company. It is a superior and beautiful building stone, and takes a fine polish. 

The gneiss near Louisburg, Franklin county, is of a pinkish-gray color, fine in texture, and works well ; there 
is an extensive surface exposure of the rock. 

A compact, hard granite, coarse to medium in texture, is quarried locally for foundations at Cedar Eock, 9 
miles east of Louisburg. The stone is found in a surface exi)osure of several acres, and the supply is inexhaustible. 
The top bed of rock is of a whitish color, while the bed immediately underlying it has a decided red tinge. The stone 
is very durable. 

A fine-grained hornblendic gneiss is found 1 mile east of Henry's station, McDowell county. It has been used 
chiefly in railroad construction, and the quarry was quite extensively operated during the construction of the 
Western iSTortli Carolina railroad. The stone obtained from it is very comi^act and hardj and when polished 
presents a handsome appearance. 

The gneiss 2 J miles west of Morganton, Burke county, is fine in texture and works readily, having quite a 
perfect cleavage in one direction. It outcrops in a bluff which gives a good quarry face. 

The granite on the Carolina Central railroad, 3 miles west of Eockingham, Eichmond county, is coarse and 
porphyritic in texture, and has a peculiar olive color unlike any other stone in the state. The rock projects above 
the surface in bowlder-like masses from 10 to 15 feet high, and extends along the railroad for half a mile. Its 
l^rineipal use thus far has been in railroad construction. 

The gneiss dj miles northwest of Hickory, on Catawba river, Caldwell county, is a handsome stone, but has as 
yet only been used for railroad work. It is easily quarried, and the facilities for transportation are good. The stone 
is fine and compact in texture, and stands exposure well. It has an outcrop in a blufl' on the bank of the river 
which gives a quarry face some 75 feet in height. 

A fine, compact, gray granite has been quarried for railroad bridges, and to a limited extent for other purposes 
of construction, 5 miles south of Statesville, at Poison Springs, a mile west of the Atlantic, Tennessee, and Ohio 
railroad, in Iredell' county. It shows a good exposure and is easily worked. The strata in the quarry have a dip 
of 20° to the northeast and a strike northwest and southeast. 

A mile southeast of Davidson College, in Mecklenburg county, a fine hornblendic granite of excellent quality 
for building pui'poses is found. There is but little stripping, and a large amount of good stone might be obtained 
near the surface. 

A beautiful white feldspathic granite has been quarried for local purposes 5 miles southeast of Davidson 
College and 4 miles east of the Atlantic, Tennessee, and Ohio railroad, in Mecklenburg county. It is of a uniform, 



DESCRIPTIONS OF QUARRIES AND QUARRY REGIONS. 185 

rather coarse texture, and carries a large percentage of biotite, which gives it a spotted appearance. This stone 
has an extensive surface exjiosure of about half an acre. It is hard, but splits readily into regular shapes. The ledge 
has a dip to the northwest of 15°, and strikes northeast and southwest. 

The granite at Mount Mourue, Iredell county, is of a coarse porphyritic texture, stands exposure well, and is 
suited for ordinary building purposes. There is an extensive surface exposure of the rock, and it can be had 
in any quantity. Although the texture is coarse, the stone is comimct and takes a good polish. 

A hard, dark-colored horublendic granite of fine texture is quarried to a limited extent for building purposes, 
bridges, and culverts, 3 miles east of Mooresville, on the Atlantic, Tennessee, and Ohio railroad, in Iredell county. 
The rock carries some pyrite, but not enough to atiect seriously its weathering qualities. The ledge has a strike 
north and south, which can be traced by a surface outcrop for three-quarters of a mile. 

Three-quarters of a mile from Mooresville, Iredell county, are two varieties of quartzose gneiss, which have a 
■frellmarked line of contact. They are like iu structure and composition, but difl'er remarkably in color. These 
stones work well and are durable. The outcrop occurs iu the side of a hill, and can be traced for a quarter of a 
mile. The materials would take a good i)olish, and from their texture, composition, and color it may be inferred 
that they would be invaluable for ornamental as well as for general purposes. The direction of the outcrop is 
northeast and southwest, and there is a' dip of 10° to the northwest. 

At Warrenton, Warren county, a white porphyritic granite is much used for local building purposes, and was 
used in the construction of the jail. The stone stands exposure well; there is a large surface exposed, and the 
ledge is so situated that quarrying operations could be conducted with comparative ease. 

Nine miles southwest of Warrenton there is a ledge of very pretty tine-grained, rather dark gray granite. It 
has been used locally for monuments, steps, jjosts, and work of that class. It is used in the construction of the 
"Annie Lee" monument. 

At Northington ferry, IG miles from Lockville, Harnett county, there are outcroxjs of fine schistose and slightly 
calcareous gneiss in the bluff of the river. The material splits very readily along the plane of lamination, but 
with difficulty in other directions. 

A gray ]iorphyritic granite has been quarried at Buckhom falls, on the Gape Fear river, Harnett county, for 
the construction of canal locks and dams. There are good facilities for transportation by river and by railroad. 

At Raleigh. Wake county, a quarry has beeu opened in a bare surface exposure and driven to a depth of 40 
feet ; it has been operated mainly to furnish material for the penitentiary building, but the stone is also used for 
culverts, flagging, and works of that class iu Raleigh. It is a gneiss of fine to medium texture. At another quarry 
in the vicinity a fine-grained gray gneiss has been quarried for general building purposes for the last 75 j'ears. 
It was used in the construction of the capitol and to some extent in the penitentiary buildings at Raleigh. 

A short distance from the Carolina Central Railroad track, at Charlotte, Mecklenburg county, the leopardite 
porphyry is found — so called from the peculiar spotted appearance of the rock. It has been used locally for curbs, 
sills, steps, and other building purposes. There are few joints in the ledge, and blocks of any desired size may 
be obtained. The joints are so disposed as to give the natural blocks a rhomboidal shape. It takes a fine polish 
and is a beautiful ornamental stone, but difficult to work. 

MARBLE AND LIMESTONE. 

Professor Kerr forwarded specimens of marble and limestone, representing ledges of importance as sources 
of building material, from the following localities : 3J miles northeast of Murphy, Cherokee county ; Valley Town, 
19 miles northeast of Murphy; 1^ miles from Red Marble gap, Macon county; Warm Springs, Madison county; 
and 10 miles north of Marion, McDowell county. 

These marbles and limestones are of Archaean age, according to Professor Kerr, excepting the limestone at 
Warm Springs, which, he states, may be of later age. 

Near Murphy two very distinct marbles outcrop together, one white, fine, and changing to somewhat darker 
color on exposure, while the .other is quite dark and somewhat striped. The white rock is somewhat cut up by 
jointage, while the other has a massive structure and can be readily sawed into blocks of any shape and size. 
The stone has beeu worked to some extent, but never sufficiently to procure a good quarry face. The dark marble 
is close, compact, has a metallic ring, and takes a beautiful polish. 

Nineteen miles northeast of Mui-phy there is a gray marble with white stripes, which is fine and compact in 
texture and polishes well. No quarrying has been done here, yet blocks of any size can be readily obtained. The 
strike of the strata is southwest and northeast, the dip 80° east. In the same vicinity a light gray marble of fine 
and compact texture, and susceptible of a fine polish, can be had in large quantity, having an extensive outcrop 
iu two places; dip 80° east: strike, southwest and northeast. 

At still another place iu this viciuity two marbles are found outcropping together, one of a smoky-white color, 
and the other of a dark or variegated color; both are classed high as ornamental stones, and are susceptible of a 
tine finish. 



186 BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

One and one-half miles below Eed Marble gap there is a marble which has a very extensive outcrop. It occurs 
in the side of the mountain in ledges 150 feet or more in height. In color it is varied, being of a flesh-color, striped 
with blue, yellow, or both. It is close, fine, and compact in texture, takes a beautiful i)olish, aud can be obtained 
in blocks of any size. A railroad in course of construction will pass by the base of this cliff, and there is excellent 
water-power three-quarters of a mile below for sawing. The outcrops of these marbles are on the west bank of the 
Nantehala river for a distance of 3J miles, and seem to overlie a coarse slate which dips 60° to the southeast. The 
direction of the strike of the strata is east by north. 

N^ear Warm Springs, Madison county, the formation which Safford considers the Knox dolomite crosses the 
Frencli Broad, rising in steep cliffs along the river on both sides to a height of 40 or 50 feet. It is limestone of a 
gray to light ash color, fine and uniform in texture. It has as yet been but little used, as the region is thinly settled, 
but it is a good material for ordinary building purposes. 

The dolomitic limestone 10 miles north of Marion, McDowell county, has not as yet been much used for 
purposes of construction, but is well adapted for general building purposes and for ornamental work. The surface 
rock is much cut by a jointage, but as the stone outcrops in the side of a hill it is easy to reach a depth which 
will avoid this difficulty. It varies in color from steel-gray to white. 

SOAP-STONE. 

Specimens of talc or soap-stone representing ledges of importance were forwarded by Professor Kerr from the 
following points : 7 miles northeast of Murphy, Cherokee county ; 4J miles from Greensboro', Guilford county ; 
ISTantehala river, Cherokee county; from near the North Carolina Eailroad shops, Alamance county; and from 
Deep river, Moore county. 

It is all of Archfeau age, according to Professor Kerr. It has been used to a limited extent for chimneys, 
fire-places, hearths, lining for furnaces, and cemetery work. 

A pure talc is found on the Nantehala river 5 miles below the Eed Marble gap, and again 6 miles east of 
Murjiliy, on the line of the Georgia and North Carolina railroad. At the last-named place the talc has an outcrop 
with white marble in a ledge of considerable extent. 

At another point on the Nantehala river, in Cherokee county, there is a very i^ure talc, translucent, in thin 
plates, and has been much used as a white-earth. Thousands of tons have been hauled to the railroad and shipped 
to New York, ground and bolted. It is equal to the finest French chalk. 

Ou the Deep river, in Moore county, the soap-stone is very fine grained pyrophillite. The layers are usually 
less thau a foot in thickness; it has been chiefly ground and bolted and used as a white-earth; much of it is also 
employed for lining furnaces and building hearths and furnaces. It is used locally and shipped to New York in 
large quantities. 

The method of transportation is by boat 15 miles to the Cajie Fear and Yadkin Valley railroad. 

FLOEIDA. 

E. A. Smith, in the American Journal of Science, April, 1881, gives the following remarks concerning the 
geology of Florida : 

Almost the wliole state of Florida, including the middle and western parts of the peninsula, has for its underlying formation the 
■n-hite or orbitoides limestone of Vicksburg (Upper Eocene) age. This is bordered on the east by a stratum of Miocene limestone, aud the 
edge of the whole peninsula, together with the southern part, including the everglades, is of post-Pliocene or recent formation. The 
keys are of this recent age, and the coral limestones, which have been much used there, are composed of fragments of the same animals 
as now live in the gulf The Hawthorne stone is of Eocene age and contains bones, etc., that identify it. These Vicksburg limestones, 
more or less covered by beds of stratified pebbles, sand, clay, and marl, form the soil of the state. 

The orbitoides (Upper Eocene) limestone is not quarried to any considerable extent owing to the small demand for stone of any kind, 
but it is locally used for chimneys and house pillars in towns in every section of the state ; in Gainesville and neighborhood it is much 
used. This limestone is often simply a mass of shells, and sometimes orbitoides mantelli ia the almost exclusive constituent. The Saint 
Augustine coquina, or shell-limestone, is used to some extent for local building purposes in Florida. A specimen forwarded to the National 
Museum, by C. M. Terry, was taken from the basement of a house, and was probably quarried a century or more ago. Other specimens 
recently taken from the quarry are in the collection, and by comparing the two it is seen that the coquina is a durable stone in the climate 
of Florida, though there is no doubt it would rapidly disintegrate in the more severe climate of the northern states. The quarries are 
not operated at present ; they are located on Anastasia island, about 2 miles from Saint Augustine. The rock lies very near the surface 
none of the excavations are more than 6 or 8 feet deep. The stone can be cut with an ax, and is taken out in such shape and size as is 
required for building. The old city of San Augustine was built wholly of tbis rock ; the quarries were evidently opened more than 200 
years ago, as there are houses and broken sections of walls which are older than this. Fort Marion is built partly of coquina. This fort 
as it is at present dates from about the middle of the eighteenth century. There is a large number of houses in the city that were built 
one hundred years ago. 

On entering a house built of the coquina a sense of dampness and a cool, moist, atmosphere is experienced. The roek seems to 
possess the capacity of receiving aud holding the moisture of the atmosphere; for this reason, and because wood and bricks are cheaper, 
the coquina is not now extensively used for building stone. 

There is another material near Saint Augustine which is called the "shell" sandstone; it is formed ou the beaches there by the 
grinding up of the shells by the sand, which is more or less like that found on all our beaches, except that where this material is formed 



DESCRIPTIONS OF QUARRIES AND QUARRY REGIONS. 187 

the shells are more abundant. It is a recent formation and is hardened by (be lime in the sea-water, which is doubtless derived from the 
shells. These shells are almost entirely bivalve or lamellibranchs, and perhaps a few gasteropods. Mr. Eathburn of the Smithsonian 
Institution says that almost all of them are lamellibranchs. 

Another interesting example of this shell-limestone and the manner in which it is formed is given by Professor Hartt in a publication 
concerning a sandstone on the Brazilian coast, revised by Richard Rathburn, and published in the American XaiiiraHat of June, 1879. It 
is shown that these reefs are composed of analogous material to the Florida coquina, though they contain more siliceous matter. The 
solidification is mostly confined to the zone which lies just above and below the level of low tide, and the solidified material rests upon 
an insecure foundation of loose material. The formation is accounted for in the following manner : The waters of the tropical seas are 
highly chnrged with calcium bicarbouates ; as the tide rises this water is absorbed by the porous sand, and on the retreat of the tide the 
solution is concentrated by evaporation, aided by the intense heat of the sun, and the solution becomes saturated in the sand both above 
and below the level of low water. The consolidation is also aided by lime holding solutions which filter through these stones from the 
land. This hardening of the sandstone takes a long time, as is shown by the circumstance that these beaches which are in the process of 
formation or disintegration are not hardened. 

At Key West coral limestone is quarried, and numerous public and private buildings are erected of it. There are no quarries now 
worked although the entire island is composed of it, and in fact the whole of southern Florida is a coral reef. This stone has thus far only 
been of importance for local use. 

There are few stone qiiarrie.s in the state of Florida. At Hawthorne Mr. G. A. Simmon.s has opened a quarry, 
the stone of which is said by the state chemist to consist almost entirely of silica, possibly containing 5 or 6 per cent, 
of lime, and of a quality for glass-making. It contains petrified bones, and the geological age of the formation is 
Upper Tertiary. The stone has been gotten out for chimneys, sugar furnaces, and millstones, and to a limited extent 
for building purposes, but has not been shipped, for lack of means of transportation, bitt chimneys in the neighborhood 
were built of it thirty years ago. The rock is very soft when first taken out of the earth, but hardens on exposure 
to the air and sun. The largest stone taken out was a cube with a 34-inch edge, but a cube two or three times that 
size might be taken. The supply of this material is reported as inexhaustible, and it is sold at the quarry for 28 cents 
per cubic foot. It can be cut with a hand-saw, and two men can cut out 1 ,500 bricks of a size 4 by 8 by 16 inches 
in a day, each piece being equal to eight ordinary bricks. A railroad will soon be built in the neighborhood. 

TENNESSEE. 

[Compiled mainly from notes of Messrs. Cottou aud Gattinger.] 

The colored marbles of East Tennessee are widely known and quite extensively used in this country for 
ornamental purposes. There are several varieties of beautifully -variegated marbles here possessing superior 
qualities, the ease with which they are dressed giving them an advantage over the colored marbles found in the 
Lake Ohamplain region; though these harder marbles are better for tiling and for other uses where the material is 
subjected to abrasion. The East Tennessee marbles have been used for decorative work in some of the most 
important buildings in our own country, including the Capitol at Washington. 

The following is a list of some of the buildings in which the marble from the quarry of Mr. E. D. Dougherty, 
near Mooresburg, Hawkins county, may be seen: United States Capitol, United States Treasury, Washington, 
District of Columbia ; state-house, Columbia, South Carolina; Mnth National bank, Park National bank, Seamen's 
Savings bank, Cisco building, Grand Central hotel, New York city; residence of William G. Fargo, esq., 
Buffalo, New York; Lutheran church, southwest corner Broad and Arch streets. Second Presbyterian church, 
the marble residence of George W. Childs, esq., Schenck's building, and Guy's hotel, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; 
First National bank, Chicago, Illinois ; residence of Mrs. E. W. Boyle, aud that of Mr. John M. Mueller, Cincinnati, 
Ohio. This quarry is the oldest in East Tennessee, having been opened for the purpose of getting ornamental 
stone for the Capitol building at Washington. The stone has not been used for general construction on account of 
the high price which it commands for ornamental work, the price per cubic foot at the nearest railroad station being 
from $2 to 83. 

The marble from the quarry of the Kuoxville Marble Company is used for both construction and ornamental 
purposes. This is the most extensive quarry in Tennessee, and the oldest one in the vicinity of Kuoxville. It was 
opened by the United States government to get stone for the construction of the custom-house and iiostofiQce 
buildings at Knoxville, the stone for the outside of the superstructure being bush-hammered and the mantels and 
other ornamental pieces polished. The floor tiling is made of this stone and Maclure limestone. A considerable 
quantity of this marble was also used in the state capitol at Albany, New York. The quarry is located at the 
junction of the French Broad and Holston rivers, and the stone is carried by boat 4 miles to Knoxville. A bush- 
hammered surface of this marble has a nearly white color, which, on exposure, becomes still whiter. It is 
susceptible of being highly polished, and when so i^olished has a pink tinge and shows wavy, dark lines running 
through it. It is highly esteemed for mantels and table-tops, because it is not easily stained, and it is also quite 
largely used for cemetery work. Tombstones which have been exposed for thirty years do not show the slightest 
signs of di.sintegratioQ or wear. The stone possesses sufficient strength for the heaviest structures. 

Messrs. Frierson and Morgan operate two quarries within 2 miles of Knoxville, one of them producing a white 
marble and the other a j)ink material known as Kuoxville marble. Analyses made of the white marble show it to 
be an almost pure carbonate of lime. Marble from this quarry was used in the construction of the custom-house at 
Memphis, and the shaft of the Lee monument at New Orleans is made of it. The amount of this marble which 



188 BUILDING STONES AND THE QUAERY INDUSTRY. 

may here be quarried is practically inexhaustible. The pink-marble quarry shows about the same characteristics 
as the quarry of the Knoxville Marble Company. The former is located on the northwest side and the latter on the 
southeast side of what is known as the Knoxville Marble basin. The limestone crops out on the west side of the 
pink-marble quarry of Messrs. Prierson and Morgan. 

Near Chattanooga, Hamilton county, a bluish-black limestone of the Lower Silurian period is quarried for 
general building purposes, the stone being used chiefly in that city. The quarry is very favorably located for 
transportation, being on the bank of the river. The rock is broken up by joints, though blocks large enough for 
ordinary purposes of construction can be obtained. It dresses quite easily, making a cheap as well as durable 
building material. 

The Cincinnati limestone of the Lower Silurian period is quarried for foundations and underpinnings in the 
vicinity of ISTashville; this material is not of very good quality, but it is the most accessible to the Nashville market, 
and furnishes most of the stone for ordinary construction purposes in the city. The stratum of limestone quarried 
is only a few feet in thickness, and but a small portion of the stratum is available for building stone. At 
a quarry known as the Eeservoir quarry, now operated by Messrs. Callahan and Welsh, is a layer about 20 feet 
below the surface and about 7 feet in thickness, which is considered the best of any found in the vicinity of 
Nashville, and is the stone most used for buildings in that city. Above this layer there are but from 2 to 5 feet 
in all of stone suitable for building. The waste material is used for macadamizing streets, and some of the 
limestone is suitable for burniug. Most of the stone found in the vicinity of NashviUe disintegrates rapidly when 
set on edge, and is therefore unfit for curbing ; this rapid disintegration is also seen where the stone has been 
set on edge in buildings, but where it is laid on its natural bed it is quite durable ; some stone suitable for curbing 
is, however, obtained from the quarry known as the College HiU and VanderbUt. 

OHIO. 

[Compiled mainly from notes of Professor Orton.] 

SANDSTONE. 

Sub-Cakbonifeeous. — Those rocks of the sub-Carboniferous period, called the Waverly group in the Geological 
Survey of Ohio, are the most important as to production of building stone in the geological scale of the state. The 
following shows the arrangement of this formation, according to Professor Orton : 

1. Maxville limestone, in patches. 

2. Logan group. 

3. Cuyahoga shale. 

4. Berea shale. 

5. Berea grit. 

6. Bedford shale. 

No. 1 occurs but seldom. No. 2 consists of fine-grained sandstones overlying and alternating with massive 
conglomerates in central and southern Ohio. Its thickness is about 100 feet. The Waverly conglomerate is a 
member of this group. No. 3, about 300 feet in thickness, is a blue argillaceous shale in many parts of Ohio, but 
in many places contains scattered courses of sandstone of great value. In southern Ohio these are concentrated 
and become very valuable. No. 4 is from 10 to 30 feet in thickness and is the equivalent of the Waverly block 
shale of southern Ohio. No. 5 is the Berea grit, the great quarry rock of northern Ohio. It is from 10 to 75 feet in 
thickness and extends in a belt from Williamsfield, in the southeastern corner of Ashtabula county, westward into 
Erie county, and thence nearly directly southward in Adams county to the Ohio river. This stratum of sandstone, 
where it has its best development, consists of heavy sheets with often a course at the toi) of thin broken layers 
called shell-rock. However, in many localities these thin layers are unbroken, even, and compact, and are quarried 
extensively for sidewalk paving. No. 6 is from 10 to 100 feet in thickness, and furnishes no building stone except 
in Cuyahoga county. 

The line of outcrop of the Berea grit across the state from north to south is very near the dividing line between 
the formations of the Carboniferous age on the east, where the building stone is almost exclusively sandstone, and 
the formations of Devonian and Silurian ages on the west, where it is almost exclusively limestone. 

The Waverly group, with its well-marked alternations of shales and sandstones, enters the state from 
Pennsylvania in its northeastern corner. The northern line of outcrop of the Berea grit in Ashtabula and 
Trumbull counties is for the most part deeply drift-covered, and in places it has been cut out by valleys of erosion. 
From Parkman, in the southeast corner of Geauga county, it can be traced in an almost continuous line of outcrop 
around to the Ohio river. In Parkman township, as far as exposed, it lies in thin, ripple-marked sheets. 

In Mesopotamia, Trumbull county, a quarry of some importance is worked by the Mesopotamia Freestone- 
Company, one mile west of the town center. The stone is used for buildings, flagging, bridges, etc., in the immediate 
neighborhood, and is of excellent quality. The nearest railroad station is 7 miles away. This company has just 
taken the contract to furnish the trimmings for the blocks now building at Burton, Geauga county. From 



DESCRIPTIONS OF QUARRIES AND QUARRY REGIONS. 189 

this quarry the Berea grit passes northward, aud its outcrop may be traced along the line between Geauga and 
Ashtabula counties to the southeast corner of Lake county, where it turns to the southwest and follows along the 
line between Lake and Geauga counties into Cuyahoga county. 

The Berea grit is quarried at Windsor, in the southeast corner of Ashtabula county. This quarry marks the 
most northeasterly locality where the Berea grit has any special economic value as a building stone; though even 
here the stone is much inferior to that to be obtained over quite an extent of country from Berea, Cuyahoga county, 
westward to Berlin Heights, Erie county. The pyrites aud protoxide of iron contained in the stone at Windsor 
produce bad discoloration on exposure to the weather. As a source of material for heavy masonry this locality 
is invaluable, as Ashtabula county has no other stone well adapted for this purpose, and the Windsor quarry has 
furnished a large amount of stone for heavy bridge construction on the railroads and highways in this countj'. The 
quarry is located about 6 miles from the nearest station, and has the same disadvantage as the Mesopotamia 
quarry for shipping stone. 

The most important quarrj- operations in these counties are carried on in Howland township, 3 miles northeast 
of Warren, Trumbull county. This stone had been known for many years, and was worked in a small way before 
the present company began operations. The stone is adapted to the special use of flagging on account of the 
extreme regularity of its beds, its composition, its strength, and its durability. In evenness of bedding it is 
remarkable among the quarries of the county. Blocks 10 feet square aud li inches thick are extracted, which a 
straight-edge laid upon the surface would touch at every jwint. Slabs but 1 inch or 2 inches in thickness have 
such strength tliat they go without question into general use. Their finegrained composition causes them to wear 
in a uniform manner, and they always give a good foothold. The only defect in the quarry is that the north and 
south joints do not run evenly; but, as these joints are so far distant from one another as to preclude the 
possibility of transportation of the included masses, this defect is of but little moment. In one case a single 
strip 150 feet long, 5 feet wide, and 3 inches thick was raised iu the quarry. The layers, although so very closely 
packed together, are perfectly distinct, adhering to each other scarcely more than sawed planks iu a pile. 

All the townships in this neighborhood avail themselves of this extraordinary supply of flagging, and the 
town of Warren is said to be the best paved town in the state; Mahoning avenue may be mentioned as exhibiting 
on its western side some of the finest flagging that has ever been laid. It has been sent to distant cities in northern 
Ohio, western New York, and western Pennsylvania, and examples of it may be seen in Pittsburgh, Mansfield, 
Hornellsville, Akron, etc. It has been used for general building purposes to a limited extent. 

The quarries are drained by ditches with a constant good fall. In the flagging deposit proper there are found 
from four to seven courses, varying from 1 inch to 6 inches in thickness, the 6-iuch course being the best and highest 
priced. The same general character of the stone holds in the adjacent territory, but is subject to some variation 
of quality. It is of a light gray color, and is the geological equivalent of the stone which is extracted from the 
Portsmouth and Bueua Vista quarries at the southern extremity of the formation on the Ohio river. 

The Cuyahoga shales, in which the Austin flag-stones are found, occupy the highest position in the Waverly 
group iu this county, and in the southwestern corner of the county the conglomerate of the Carboniferous 
formation makes its appearance in a ledge called the Braceville ridge, which rises to 100 feet above the flat 
surroundiug country, and occupies a part of the four townshijis of Warren, Newton, Braceville, and Lordstown. 
It is almost entirely destitute of soil, and its prominent points are conspicuously grooved and striated by glaciers. 
This rock has been the dependence of several generations for building stone in the surrounding region, but no large 
quantity has ever been extracted at any one time. 

Over a surrounding area of 75 square miles whatever stone is used for foundations, well stones, and bridge 
stones is mainly taken from this ridge. The quarry operations are mainly carried on in the way of "gouging" — 
that is, in extracting the stone wherever it can be obtained to the best advantage without reference to future quarry 
operations. Although no quarries are systematically worked, several are in readiness for operation at any time ; 
and it is safe to say that, in tlie aggregate, $1,000 worth of stone per year is extracted. The material is a strong and 
enduring sandstone, containing but few pebbles, and is of especial value since the flat country for many miles 
around is destitute of stone. 

The Berea grit is quarried extensively at Newburgh aud at Euclid, in Cuyahoga county. A quarry has been 
recently opened on the east side of the Cuyahoga river, near Independence, and the stone has also been quarried at 
East Cleveland. The smaller quarries have not been considered in the tables. 

As a flagging material this stone is considered by many to have no equal in northern Ohio. It is now used 
almost exclusively for leaving the sidewalks of Cleveland and in many other northern cities, especially iu the 
state of jMichigan. It is a fine-grained, compact sandstone of a very beautiful blue-gray color when first 
quarried, a circumstance which caused it to be extensively used for the trimmings of buihlings, although its 
exposure to the weather has frequently modified its appearance. It is not considered safe to use this material 
for building purposes except for foundations and bridges, as it frequently contains iron sulphide, the oxidation of 
which produces stains ; and when it has not this defect the color due to weathering is not so uniform when the face 



190 BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

of the rock is exposed in a wall as when the bed is exposed in a pavement. A greater amount of the sulphide of 
iron is contained in the stone at Newburgh than in that at Euclid; and it must be added that examples can be 
cited where the Buchd stone has presented an unmodified appearance after years of exposure in buildings. 

The whole stratum of the rock at Euclid is about 20 feet in thickness, and the diiferent sheets are from 2 to 
4 feet thick. As a rule the stone is sawed into slabs. 

The outcrop of the Berea grit comes from the northeast, and enters the county in Mayfield township. It has 
no special economic value in the northeastern part of the county, but near Chagrin Falls, in the southeastern part, 
it lies in thin sheets, and is quarried to some extent for iiagging purposes. At Bedford it will not compare favorably 
with the stone from some of the other localities for i^urposes of building; but it is especially valuable for 
manufacturing into grindstones, which command a high price in market. That variety of stone which is applicable 
for grinding springs is especially in demand. The material is a rather coarse grained and homogeneous sandstone, 
filled with little brown spots of iron oxide. In some portions of the stratum lenticular nodules of this oxide 
occur from one inch to several inches in diameter, and render these portions worthless; but as they occur only at 
certain horizons they are easily separated from the better material. 

At Independence a stone possessing more of the characteristics of the Amherst stone is quarried, especially 
applicable for the manufacture of grindstones, although it is used to a considerable extent as a building stone. The 
material has been used in the city hall and in some other buildings at Cleveland. These quarries are located in a 
bluft', the outcrop of stone being about 4 miles long and 1 mile wide, and usually covered by a drift deposit from 1 
foot to 5 feet in depth, although in some localities the rock is quite bare. 

The Berea grit is at this place only from 30 to 40 feet in thickness, and only the top 10 feet have been extensively 
quarried, as immediately below this there lies a stratum of worthless rock from 3 to 12 feet in thickness. Below 
this, good material for grindstones and building stones is obtained. This has been little quarried on account of the 
cost of drainage and that of removing the worthless rock referred to. Only large grindstones, which are best 
adapted for dry grinding, are manufactured from this material, and it is said that the stones do not glaze when 
used for this purpose. 

The statistics in the tables scarcely give a correct idea of the magnitude of the industry at Independence, as 
the rock has been quarried in many localities in this bluff besides those now operated. 

At East Cleveland the Berea grit becomes 60 feet in thickness ; and although it does not possess all the 
desirable qualities of the Amherst and Independence stones, the Cleveland architects prefer it for foundations on 
account of its superior strength audits accessibility. It has not been used for any important superstructures in the 
city, the more excellent stone, before mentioned, being so readily supplied to this point. 

The Brooklyn quarries, which are situated just to the south of Cleveland, produce a material which is of about 
the same quality as that found in the East Cleveland quarries, but the rock is more broken, and is iised mostly for 
foundations and underpinnings. Its broken character allows it to be easily quarried, but large blocks are not so 
readily obtained. 

The largest sandstone quarry in the county is situated in Berea, where an immense amount of material has 
been extracted for building i^urposes and for small grindstones. Nearly 40 acres of the Berea grit have here 
been quarried out to an average depth of about 40 feet. The stratum is from 65 to 75 feet in thickness, and has 
been quarried to the bottom in but few places. The individual sheets are from 2 inches to 10 feet in thickness, and 
usually are very even in their bedding. The rock all lies below drainage level and seems to have been but little, if 
at all, disturbed since its deposition. Joints very seldom occur. The stone is usually soft in the quarry and is very 
easily channeled. It is of a blue-gray color and a little darker as a rule than the Amherst " blue-stone ". A larger 
portion of the formation here is of the so-called " split-rock" character than at any other locality where it has as 
yet been quarried, and this characteristic is also more perfectly developed here than anywhere else. 

The material is not so applicable for the manufacture of large grindstones as is that obtained in Lorain county, 
or at Bedford and Independence in this county. Small grindstones can, however, be manufactured more cheaply 
at Berea, because the rock can be split into thin slabs of any desired thickness with little or no waste. The 
manufacture of whetstones is also (luite extensive. 

These quarries produce building stones of an excelkut quality, although great care must be taken in the 
selection of the material, as some of it contains sulphide of iron in such amount as shortly to disfigure the surfaces, 
even discoloring a portion of the wall below it. The material is, however, carefully graded in such a manner as to 
distinguish ttie good from the bad stone. For bridge-building purposes the Berea stone is considered the best of the 
sandstones of northern Ohio, since it possesses greater strength. Tests made by J. B. and W. W. Cornell indicated 
that a IJ-inch cube would withstand a pressure of 15,400 i)ounds. The Berea stone has been extensively used 
throughout the whole country, and may be seen in the following: The Merchants' Bank of Canada building. 
Young Men's Christian Association buildings, and Montreal Telegraph buildings, Montreal, Canada; post-office 
building. Bank of Montreal building, and the Garland & Mutchinsou building, Ottawa, Canada ; post-office building, 
London, Canada; post-ofiSce building and Bank of Toronto building, Toronto, Canada; court-house building, 
Hamilton, Canada; Senator Fesseudeu's monuineut; Methodist Episcopal church, Brookline, Massachusetts; New 
York Clipper buildings, block corner Clift" and Fulton streets, a figure of Christ 10 feet high, and Church of the 



DESCRIPTIONS OF QUARRIES AND QUARRY REGIONS. 191 

Transfiguration, New York city; Berea liall, Brooklyn, New York; courthouse, Camden, New Jersey ; Normal 
school. Saint Agatha's church, and Saint Luke's Episcopal church, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania ; United States 
custom-house and post-office, Dover, Delaware; Young Men's Christian Association buildings. Normal School 
buildings, and Traders' National bank, Baltimore, INIaryland ; Baltimore and Potomac Eailroad depot. National 
Republican newspaper building, British minister's residence, and Lewis Johusou & Co.'s Bank building, Washington 
city; court-house. Napoleon, Ohio; court-house, Marysville, Ohio; Exchange building, Bronson's block, and Madison 
hotel, Toledo, Ohio ; court-house, Sidney, Ohio; Beckman's building, Cleveland, Ohio; court-house, Winchester, 
Indiana; court-house, Crawfordsville, Indiana; Masonic temple, Indianapolis, Indiana; court-house, Wabash, 
Indiana; court-house, Noblesville, Indiana; the Ogden block, Dickey block, and McCormick block, Chicago, Illinois; 
United States custom-nouse and post-office, Port Huron, Michigan; court-house, Menomouee, Wisconsin ; asylum 
for the insane, Oshkosh, Wisconsin; Cleveland viaduct, representing bridges. 

Three miles west of Berea a large quarry is worked, and in the immediate neighborhood three other quarries are 
situated, which have not been tabulated here because they produce but very little building stone, and the material 
is almost exclusively manufactured into heavy grindstone-^. The total value of the grindstones produced from the 
four quarries was over $10,000 during the census year. Good building stone could not be advantageously extracted, 
as the rock is very much broken up. Never more than 12 and usually not more than 7 feet of the rock are 
quarried, for below this the rock is more broken, and is called "shell-rock". The waste products of the quarries 
are sold for a mere nominal price for foundations and underpinnings. As the rock lies above drainage it is a very 
desirable material for trimmings on account of the permanency of its color. The grindstones sell for a little above 
the average price. 

Stone quarried at West View is considered equivalent to the Amherst stone. 

In addition to the large quarries mentioned the Berea grit is quarried in a small way to satisfy the local 
demand. Cuyahoga county forms one of the most important quarry districts in the United States. 

Extracting and dressing the Berea grit is the chief industry in Erie and Lorain counties. The material produced 
from this and the adjoining regions, under the name of the Amherst building stone, is the most highly esteemed of 
any in the state, and it has been extensively shipped to Canada. There are large areas of good stone near the surface, 
away from railroad transportation, which have not been opened. Quite a variety of stones, as regards structure, 
can be furnished from this formation, increasing the number of uses to which it may be applied. 

The Amherst quarries in Lorain county are located in a series of ledges which were once the shore-clifl's of 
lake Erie. The elevated position of these stones is a very great advantage, since the light and uniform color seems 
due to the fact that this elevation produces a free drainage, and the stones have been traversed bj' atmospheric 
waters to such a degree that all processes of oxidation which are possible have been nearly co:ni)leted. The elevation 
also facilitates the extraction. Spur-tracks from the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern railroad iiass through 
most of these quarries and supply means of transportation, and the C. and F. V. railroad furnishes means of 
access to those quarries not in direct communication with the above road. 

The Berea grit at Amherst, as well as elsewhere, varies considerably in character and solidity within limited 
distances, and the ledges in which the quarries are situated apparently represent the more massive portions of the 
stratum, which have resisted erosion and have hence been left in relief. 

An idea of the arrangement of the strata in quarries can be obtained from the following section, which is 
exhibited in the quarry of L. Halderman & Sous, at Amherst : 

Feet. 

Drift material llo 3 

Worthless sbell-rock (3 to 10 

Soft rock, for grindstones only 12 

Building stone 3 

Bridge stone 2 

Grindstone 2 

Building stone or grindstone 10 

Building stone 4 to 7 

Building stone or grindstone 12 

The floor of the quarry, moreover, consists of good stone, which has been drilled for 12 feet, indicating a stUl 
greater thickness of stone which could be extracted. 

The other quarries of the region exhibit a similar diversity of material, although the arrangement is not often 
the same. As regards colors, the stones may be divided into two classes, called buif and blue. The bufi' stone 
(Plate E E) is above the line of perfect drainage, and, in the section above given, this extends as far down as the 
2 feet of bridge stone, forming a total depth of 23 to 27 feet. In most of the Amherst quarries the relative amount 
of bufl' stone is greater. 

As will be noted from this section, the different strata are not applicable alike to the same purposes, and the 
uses for which the different grades of material can be employed depend principally upon the texture and the 



192 BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

hardness of the stoue. The softest and most uniform in texture is especially applicable for certain kinds of grinding, 
and is used for grindstones only, and the production of these forms an important part of the quarry industry. 
In its diiferent varieties the material is applicable to all kinds of grinding, and stones made from it are not only sold 
throughout this country, but are exported to nearly all parts of the civilized world. Some of the finest-grained 
material is also used in the manufacture of whetstones. There are various points in the system of the Berea grit 
where the stone is adapted to this use, but such a manufacture is best carried on when joined with a large interest 
in quarrying, so that the small amount of suitable material can be selected ; and thus it happens that only at Amherst 
and at Berea are whetstones manufactured in large quantities. 

The stone which is especially applicable for purposes of construction is also variable. That which is of medium 
hardness and of uniform texture is used for building purposes or for grindstones ; some is too hard or not sufficiently 
uniform in texture for grindstones, and is used for building purposes only ; and the material sometimes found which 
is difficult to quarry and to dress is used for bridge-building purposes only. 

As regards appearances there is much diversity in the material produced in this region. There are differences 
due to diversity of textures, of colors, and of methods of stratification, yet these are seldom recognized by the 
casual observer. Differences in color give rise to the terms " blue " and " buff" i^reviously referred to, and difi'ereuces 
in methods of stratification give rise to the terms "split-rock", "spider-web", and "liver-rock". The regularly 
and evenly stratified stone is classified as split-rock ; that in which the stratification is irregular and marked by 
fine, transverse, and wavy lines is classified as spider-web ; the homogeneous stone which exhibits little or no 
stratification is classified as liver-rock. These lines of stratification are frequently marked by the presence of 
black ingredients which are composed of mica and carbonaceous matter. As regards composition, these stones are 
mainly a siliceous sand ; and analyses show that the dry material contains usually as much as 95 per cent, of 
silica, with a small amount of lime, magnesia, iron oxides, alumina, and alkalies. When first taken from the 
quarry it contains several per cent, of water, and as long as this is retained the stones cut easily ; upon its loss 
they harden. Analyses made for the Clough and Columbia Stone Companies show that their stones contained 
respectively 5.83 per cent, and 7.75 per cent, of water when wet, and 3.39 and 4.28 per cent, of water when 
dry. The stone is extracted during only eight months of the year, since it is injured by being quarried in 
the winter and subjected to hard freezing while still containing this quarry water. The winter months are, 
therefore, occupied in stripping and channeling. The average thickness of this sandstone formation is more than 
60 feet in these counties, and in many places, as, for instance, at the Brownhelm quarry, it is over 80 feet in 
thickness. An acre covered by stone only 60 feet in thickness would furnish over 2,000,000 cubic feet. Many 
very fine buildings, both in the United States and Canada, have been built of the so-called Amherst stone, among 
which may be mentioned the Canadian Parliament buildings, and most of the public buildings in Toronto ; aud there 
is no city in the Union in which stone is extensively used where examples cannot be found in which this stone is 
used for trimmings and ornamental work. 

ISTear Peninsula, in the northern part of Summit county, on the west bank of the Cuyahoga river, is a valuable 
outcrop of the Berea grit which has been very extensively quarried in the past, and shipped by canal to Cleveland 
and thence by lake to various lake ports, principally to Buifalo, Hew York. The base of the Berea grit is here 
several feet above the canal. The stone is still shipped quite extensively by canal, and also by the Valley railroad. 
The principal market at present is Akron. About 16 feet of the upper portion of the stratum are used for general 
building purposes; below this is a 7-foot course, used principally for the manufacture of mill-stones, for hulling 
barley and other gTains ; below this, the bottom course, about 5 feet in thickness, is a rather hard material, used 
quite extensively for paving purposes. The cap-rock is here about 20 feet in thickness; below this the first 6-foot 
course of building stone contains more protoxide of iron than the Amherst buff, and has a darker color. The 
remaining portion of the stratum contains less iron, and much of it is almost white. 

The Peninsula stone has the reputation of being exceedingly strong, but it is harder and less homogeneous 
than that from the Amherst quarries. 

The Berea grit has two lines of outcrop in Summit county, one on each side of the Cuyahoga river. The one 
on the east side passes down to Northampton township, where the stratum lies below the drainage level and 
contains a considerable amount of soluble compounds of iron, and has a very ijerceptible odor of i^etroleum, so that 
the material is not suitable for building purjioses. The stratum has not been quarried to the bottom in this locality, 
but only about 18 feet in depth. The sheets or layers, so far as quarried, vary in thickness from 6 inches to 6 feet. 
The blocks of stone are mostly sawed into slabs for sidewalk paving. Still farther south, on the west line of 
outcrop in the northern part of Portage township, a quarry has recently been opened for the purpose of supplying 
material for sidewalk paving, aud some for steps, caps, sills, etc. This material is similar to that in the above 
quarry, except that so far as quarried it contains no perceptible traces of petroleum. 

The exposed strata of rock in Huron county show evidence of great disturbances and displacement. Sharp 
synclinal and anticlinal axes are visible in the majority of these exposures, and are most conspicuous in the Berea 
grit. 

In Mr. Perrin's quarry the stratum dips at an angle of nearly 45°. The sheets vary in thickness from 8 inches 
to 10 feet. This stone is used principally for bridges aud foundations. The rock is quarried by first blasting out 
with powder large masses, which are afterward cut by means of wedges into the sizes required. 



DESCRIPTIONS OF QUARRIES AND QUARRY REGIONS. 193 

lu Mr. Graunell's quarry the rock lias been less disturbed and lies in nearly a horizontal position. The sheets 
here are not so heavy as in the above qnarry, but the quality of the material is about the same. The layers vary 
from 1 inch to 5 feet in thickness, and those 6 inches and less in thickness are used principally for paving purposes. 
The thinner sheets are raised from their bed by means of wedges and bars. 

Still farther south in this county, in Fairfield and Greenfield townships, the stratum of the Berea grit is made 
up almost entirely of thin sheets. 

In a quarry in the latter township the sheets vary in thickness from 1 inch to 2 feet, the prevailing thickness 
being from 1 inch to 6 inches. The material is used almost exclusively for paving purposes, for which it is well 
adapted, being strong and durable, though much of it is deeply ripple-marked and does not make a smooth 
pavement. 

The line of outcrop of the Berea grit formation is marked by a series of quarries which cross the eastern tier 
of townships in Crawford county, {a) The quarries in Polk township are at present of much less importance than 
those in Jackson township in the vicinity of Leesville. Quarries have been worked in this vicinity for thirty or 
forty years. The quarry of the Leesville Stone Company is located about one mile north of the railroad station, 
but a spur-track is now nearly completed from the main line of the railroad to the quarry. The material from this 
quarry has earned a good reputation, and the stone has been quite extensively extracted during the last few years. 
The rock lies below the level of perfect drainage, and in both color and texture it is similar in appearance to that 
quarried at Berea, but on exposure to the weather its color changes to light gray. Blocks of any desired dimeusion.s 
may be obtained in this quarry, and the method of quarrying is the same as that employed in the Berea and Amherst 
quarries. The material is employed for all general building purposes, most extensively, however, for the 
construction of bridge abutments and piers. It finds its principal markets along the line of the Pittsburgh, Fort 
Wayne, and Chicago railroad, from Crestline westward into northern Indiana. This quarry is locally more 
important from the lack of building stone suitable for heavy masonry along this portion of the railroad. Other 
quarries less favorably located are worked, some with considerable variation in quality, but furnishing material 
for local use. 

In Plymouth township, in the northwestern corner of Richland county, the Berea grit is quarried for the 
construction of foundations and bridge work in the vicinity of the quaiTies. Some flagging material is al.so obtained 
from the quarry of Mr. Bevier. The material developed in this locality is interior in quality to the Leesville stone, 
and OH exposure to the atmosphere it is more liable to sutfer detrimental discolorations. 

The Waverly conglomerate furnishes nearly all the stone for ordinary purposes of construction in the town of 
Mansfield. In one quarry about CO feet of rock is exposed. It is considerably broken up ; the upper 30 feet being in 
thin layers, and the lower 30 feet in layers from 1 foot to G feet in thickness. Much of this material is beautifully 
colored in wavy bands of black, yellow, red, and gray, and would make a very oi-namental stone if it were not so 
soft and easily worn by abrasion. It has been used to some extent for purjjoses of ornamentation in the town 
of Mansfield. In some of the colored material the red predominates, and the stone is harder but less beautiful in 
appearance, but it does not exist in large quantities. In another quarry the material is less broken up, and is 
more uniform in quality, texture, and color. 

The Waverly conglomerate in this locality is a coarse-grained sandstone, but rather finer than in most other 
localities where it is quarried. The light-red and gray-colored samples forwarded to the National JMuseum were 
found to be very good and safe stones to work. The dark-red colored specimen is rather coarse and loose in 
structure. 

A section of the quf^rry of Mr. D. W. Zent, at Belleview, exhibits the following arrangement of strata: (a) 

Feet. 

1. Earth 2 to 4 

2. Coarse pebbles of drift 8 to 10 

3. Sandstone in thin layers 15 

4. Sandstone in massive layers g 

5. Sandstone in layers of 1 foot to 4 feet 15 

There is but little variation in the character of the material except in color. The material has been used 
principally in the construction of railroad bridges on the Chicago branch of the Baltimore and Ohio railroad. 
Considerable of the material is used at Lexington, Ohio, and in the neighborhood of the quarry. Only a small 
amount of powder is used in the extraction of the .stone, and the amount of production is controlled by the demand 
for stone by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company. The layers of stone are from 6 inches to 6 feet in thickness, 
and open joints occur from 4 to 5 inches in width. About 60 feet of rock are exposed in the quarry at the present 
time, and the formation has not yet been quarried out to the bottom. The color of the layers near the top of the 
quarry is brownish ; farther down some of the stone has a yellowish appearance, and at the bottom of the quarry is 
a layer of mottled or clouded stone, a blending of red and brown. 

a Geological Siirveyof Ohio, Vol. Ill, p. 321: "Geology of Richland County," by M. C. Read. 
VOL. IX 13 B S 



194 BUILDING STONES AND THE QUAERY INDUSTRY. 

An .abundance of stone of indifferent quality may be obtained iu the vicinity of Wooster from tlie Waverly 
formation. A little north of the town a much-broken sandstone is quarried to some extent for the production of 
material for building foundations and cellar walls. 

The most important quarry iu this locality is in the Waverly conglomerate. In this quarry blocks of any desired 
dimensions maybe obtained, and the stone is used principally for the construction of foundations and bridge work. 
At the joints the material shows a discoloration to a depth of about 1 inch due to weathering. A quality of 
material rather superior to the above is obtained from the Carboniferous or Sharon conglomerate in Chippewa 
toirnship, in the northeastern part of the county. 

In the quarry of the Walnut Grove Stone Company, operated here, large blocks are obtained for bridge-building 
purposes, and some of the material quarried is nsed for the construction of foundations. The principal markets for 
the material are at Orrville and Wooster, and some is transported to Akron, in Summit county. The material is a 
coarse-grained though quite firm and durable sand rock, very suitable for heavy masonry. At the natural joints 
in the quarry the material shows but little discoloration from the effects of weathering. The marketable material 
here comes almost to the surface ; it is necessary to remove only about 3 feet of drift material before the marketable 
product is reached. The material is quite soft when first quarried but hardens upon losing the quarry water. 

The stratum in which the quarries near Massillon, Stark county, are located, according to the concurrent 
testimony of all the geologists of the Second Pennsylvania geological survey, is the second or middle sandstone of 
the great Carboniferous conglomerate; it immediately overlies and often cuts out the lowest coal, known as the Sharon 
seam. Dr. J. S. Newberry, in the Report on the Geoloc/ical Survey of Ohio, confirms the designation of Carboniferous 
conglomerate for the Sharon conglomerate which lies below the Sharon coal. The Massillon sandstone, in the 
quarries near the town of Massillon, is quarried by means of channeling and wedging. The courses vary in thickness 
from 2 to 8 feet, the lower courses being the thickest. The stratification is somewhat undulating, and the courses are 
not uniform in thickness. Blocks of stone of any desired dimensions may be obtained from any of the quarries 
devoted to the production of building stone. The entire thickness of the stratum is about 60 feet. This material 
is employed principally for general building purposes, but it is also manufactured into grindstones, chiefly for 
dry grinding. According to the testimony of Mr. J. P. Burton, of Massillon, the Massillon sandstone, when 
subjected to a temperature of 900° P., yet remains in perfect condition. He has used the material for many years 
in his furnace-stack at the Massillon blast-furnace; and the stone which stood the above test was taken from the 
quarries of Messrs. Warthorst & Co. and nsed for a hearth. The texture of the stone is not the same in all the 
quarries about Massillon, and the finest- grained material is obtained from Mr. John Paul's quarry, about 5 miles north 
of the town. The upper layers in this quarry are crushed for glass-sand and the lower layers for steel-sand, and 
but little of the material is used for purposes of construction. Powder is used for removing the cax^-rock, which 
varies in the different quarries from 3 to 10 feet in depth, and for extracting the material for glass- and steel-sand. 

All three horizons are worked for the Youngstown market. The Briar Hill and Bear Den quarries belong to 
the middle horizon, and those of Austintown to the highest. The ledges in this locality, as a rule, grade 
upward in fineness, and the upper stones give the best results when dressed. All of them are nearly i)ure silex, 
and the waste material of the Briar HiU quarry is all ground or crushed and sold to the steel works ; much of it is 
adapted also to coarse-glass manufacture. The rock of the middle ledge is colored in bands and lines with iron 
IDeroxide, which robs it of beauty, but interferes in no way with its durability. In all northeastern Ohio there is no 
limit to the amount of strong, massive, and durable building stone to be obtained. The quarries in the middle 
division of the conglomerate series, on account of the more favorable situation of the outcrops, are more largely 
worked than the quarries in the upper and lower divisions. 

The Austintown quarries have been worked at intervals since the country was settled. The stone is light- 
brown in color, rather coarse, but uniform in texture. It is used to some extent for purposes of ornamentation in 
Youngstown, but its iwincipal uses are for general building purposes and bridge work: Plag-stones of fair quality 
are also quarried here for the local demand, from a horizon just below the sandstone ledge. Blocks of any 
desired dimensions may be obtained from the middle division of this series, and the material is used principally 
for general building purposes, bridge work, and to a small extent for ornamental fronts. The princi]ial market for 
all these quarries is Youngstown. Some material is shipped from the Briar Hill quarry to Pittsburgh and some is 
used for purposes of construction by the New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio railroad. 

Stone for local uses may be obtained almost everywhere in Tuscarawas, Holmes, and Knox counties, and for this 
reason no extensive quarry is worked. A qiiarry was opened and developed for the purpose of extracting material 
for bridge construction on the line of railroad running near the quarry, but is now nearly abandoned, because this 
railroad obtains building stone in cuts through the same stratum. This stone lacks the uniformity of texture and 
color demanded for the better class of work. 

There are a number of ledges of sandstone, about 20 feet in thickness, found at different horizons in the Lower 
Coal Measures in Tuscarawas county, and they all furnish some building stone. A considerable portion of the 
building stone used in the county is obtained from masses of rock which have been detached Irom the solid ledges. 



DESCRIPTIONS OF QUARRIES AND QUARRY REGIONS. 105 

The stone from the quarry of the Tuscarawas Valley Coal and Iron Company is finer in texture and of a more 
uniform color than any other stone obtained in the county. It is used for " bottom" in the blast-furnace belonging 
to this company, and resists the action of heat uncommonly well. The principal uses of the material from these 
quarries are for constructions of foundations, underpinnings, and bridges in the vicinity in which the quarries are 
located. 

Almost everywhere in Holmes countj" there are lying on the surface large masses of rock which have been 
detached from the .strata of the Coal-Measure sandstones. These detached masses supiily the local demands for 
building stone, and no quarries are developed in the ledges. 

Near the central part of Knox county, from 3 to 7 miles northeast of Mount Vernon, large masses of rock lie 
loose upon the surface. These have not been transiiorted to their present station, but have been left in loose blocks 
on the surface by the undermining and removal of a portion of the soft shales that immediately underlie the stratum 
of sandstone. The quarry operations represented hy Messrs. Bartlett Brothers are worked in these masses of 
sand-rock. This stone is considered the best material for building purposes to be found in the vicinity of Mouut 
Vernon. It is used for all general building purposes, including caps, sills, columns, etc., in the town and through 
the neighboring country. It is estimated that about 250,000 cubic feet may be obtained in some places from the 
surface of half an acre in area. This material has been a source of local supply for about seventy years. 

The Waverly conglomerate, which is quarried near Howard station, is not so highly esteemed as is the stone of 
the Carboniferous conglomerate, described above. The demand for it is principally for use in the construction of 
railroad bridges, arches, culverts, and to some extent for foundations and nnderpinniugs. Some is shipped to 
Columbus, Ohio. The layers of stone in this quarry vary in thickness from inches to G feet, and blocks of any 
required dimensions may be obtained. It is rather soft when first extracted, but hardens on exposure to the weather. 

In ]\Iorrow county the Berea grit crops out, aiid is quanied in I^orth Bloomfield, Washington, Gilead, and 
Lincoln townships. Its total thickness varies from 15 to 40 feet in different localities. The thin layers of its upper 
jjortion are very even and compact, and make an excellent flagging material. The most favorable development of 
the flag-stone occurs near Iberia. At this place the layers vary in thickness from 1 inch to G inches, but 2i inches is the 
most common thickness ; the total depth of flagstone is about 20 feet, below which from 18 to 22 feet of heavier 
layers occur. The quarries are located in the bed of a stream, and only the thin layers are extracted. The amount of 
flag-stone that may.be quarried in this vicinity is practically inexhaustible. At present the material is carried on 
wagons 2 miles to the nearest railway shipping-point, and a considerable portion of the product of the quarries is 
carried on wagons to the town of Gallon, in Crawford county, which is the principal market for the stone quarried 
in the northern part of Morrow county. 

The thickness of the heaviest layers in the county is only about 2i feet. 

The Berea grit crosses the eastern jjart of Delaware couuty, and at Sunbury quite important quarries have been 
developed. It has here beeu worked to the depth of about 20 feet, as deep as natural drainage is available. Good 
budding stone might be obtained below this depth, but artificial drainage would be required. Plate F F represents 
a surface of the Sunbury freestone. This material bears a close resemblance to the Euclid "blue-stone" of 
northern Ohio. The layers vary in thickness from 3 inches to 3 feet. The thin layers are quarried for flagging- 
stones, and the heavy ones for general building purposes and to some extent for ornamental work. The material 
finds its principal markets at Delaware, Mount Vernon, Columbus, and Orrville, Ohio. Examples of it may be 
seen in the building of the Ohio Industrial Home for Girls in Delaware county, and in the National Bank building 
at Delaware. 

The sandstone of the Berea grit in the eastern part of Franklin county has considerable local value, because 
on each side of its outcrop the surface of the country is occupied by a belt of shale from S to 10 miles in width, the 
belt on the west being entirely destitute of building stone and the one on the east is nearly so. Tlie formation has, 
however, iu this part of the state lost many of the valuable qualities which characterize it in Erie, Lorain, and 
Cuyahoga counties. On account of its accessibility, however, it has been used quite extensively in Columbus, 
the Ohio Institution for the Blind being constructed of it as well as several stone fronts. 

The entire product of a quarry 10 miles east of Columbus is sawed at the quarry for caps, sills, ashlar, etc., 
and shipped to various points along the lines of the Baltimore and Ohio and Pan-Handle railroads, but principally 
to Columbus. 

The greater portion of the surface of Licking county is occu])ied by the rocks of the Waverly formation, but 
a portion of the eastern part of the county is occupied by the conglomerate and Coal-Measure rocks. The Waverly 
conglomerate crops out in bold clifls over quite an extensive area iu Madison and Hanover townships. It has beeu 
quite extensively quarried iu this vicinity for use as material for construction on the lines of railroad running through 
this section of the county. It is a rather coarse-grained sandstone, iu some localities quite uniform iu texture, and 
iu others containing pebbles sometimes an inch in diameter. It is rather soft when first quarried, and works rather 
easily, but hardens on exposure. In some places sections of this conglomerate 100 feet in thickness are exposed in 
ravines. The quarries now operated are located in the banks on each side of the Lickiug river. One quarry is 
located in the north bauk, at the foot of which runs the Ohio canal, which furnishes the means for transporting the 
material to Newark and Columbus, where it finds its principal markets. Another quarry is located in the south 



.196 BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

bank, at the foot of which passes the Baltimore and Ohio railroad. The material is used quite largely for heavy 
masonry along the lines of railroad, and for general building purposes at Newark and Columbus. It varies in color 
from gray to light brown. The cap-rock necessary to be removed seldom exceeds 4 feet in depth, and consists 
principally of soil, loose sand, and gravel. 

This material may be obtained with equal advantage on the line of the Pan-Handle railroad, and there is no 
limit to the amount of strong and durable sandstone which may be extracted in this vicinity. A quarry IJ miles 
■south of Newark, in the Cuyahoga shale, furnishes a fine-grained and homogeneous material, at present used 
principally for foundations at Newark and Columbus, Ohio. Trinity church, at the latter place, was constructed 
of this material, and the only defect noticed in the stone is the discoloration. It gives evidence of both strength 
and durability when laid on its natural bed, and when it is quarried sufflciently early in the season to allow, it to 
become thoroughly dry before being subjected to the action of frost. 

The Waverly sandstone seen in Fairfield county in the cliffs along the Hocking river is generally coarse-grained, 
often passing into a true conglomerate; and it shows the same character in the hills and highlands west of the 
river. It is more commonly of a rich yellow color, but sometimes of a darkish brown. In many places the stone is 
firm in texture and capable of resisting great pressure without crushing, {a} The stratum in which the quarries 
near Lancaster are worked is sobd, and about 30 feet in thickness. There are but few joints, and the largest sized 
blocks may be obtained. The material is used principally for bridge construction, canal locks, and general building 
purposes. The principal markets for this material are Columbus, Centerville, and Lancaster, Ohio. The material 
for the superstructure of the Saint Joseph's cathedral at Columbus was obtained from the quarry of Messrs. Sharp 
& Crook, and that for the foundation of the same sti'ucture from quarries in the Waverly conglomerate near 
Hanover, Licking county. The amount of cap-rock to be removed is from 3 to 4 feet in some localities, and as 
much as 25 feet in depth in other places. Powder is employed in quarrying. 

The Lithopolis quarries are located in the lower portion of the Cuyahoga shale of the Waverly group. There 
are several horizons of building stone in the Waverly group, but this particular portion of the Cuyahoga shale is 
quite rich in quarries, especially in southern Ohio. There is a number of important quarries in the upper member 
in different parts of the state, as indicated in the tables. The lower portion of the Cuyahoga shale has no economic 
importance in the northern part of the state. The only important quarry in the whole formation in northern Ohio 
is that of the Austin Flag-stone Company, in the upper portion of the shale. In southern Ohio the most important 
building-stone quarries are in the lower portion of this shale. 

The stone quarried at Lithopolis and at other localities at or near the same horizon is commonly denominated 
freestone. It is a fine-grained sandstone, usually in quite thin courses ; is sawed easily, and answers a very 
convenient purpose for caps, sills, and stone fronts. Columbus, Ohio, is the principal market for the product of the 
quarries. 

Stone for the ordinary purposes of construction may be obtained iu various locaUties in Hocking county, but 
only one quarry is developed in the Waverly conglomerate near Logan, and the material from this has but recently 
come into the market through the facilities for transportation afforded by the construction of the Hocking Valley 
railroad. There are no important quarries below this point in the Hocking valley. The stratum of the Waverly 
conglomerate in this locality consists of three layers, each about 10 feet in thickness. The rock underlies an area 
of four or five acres with a cap-rock but a few feet in depth, consisting of clay and gravel, which is easily removed. 
The quarry is located close to the railroad and is capable of supplying any demand for material likely to be made 
upon it. It finds its principal markets at Columbus, Lancaster, and London, Ohio, and has been shipped to some 
extent to Marion and Winnemac, Indiana. 

When a canal was constructed through the valley fifty years ago, it furnished easy transporation for the great 
ledges of sandstone that bound the valley for a dozen or more miles, and the stone from Waverly, Pike county, 
soon became famous in Columbus and central Ohio generally as Waverly stone. The name was early extended to 
a great group of associated sandstone and shales of sub-Carboniferous age, as has recently been proved, but the 
real age was long an unsettled question; hence comes the Waverly group of Ohio geology. It is the first sandstone, 
except .the local Euclid blue-stone, reached iu ascending the geological scale of Ohio that can be quarried. 
The stratum is best shown from Waverly south for 10 or 12 miles. It dips below drainage just south of the county 
line on the river's bed. For these 10 or 12 miles it is reached on all the ravines on each side of the river. The 
stone about Waverly has been followed back under such heavy cover that the increased expense of quarrying has 
ruled the material out of the market. A quarry at Piketon has just been made possible by the Scioto Valley 
railroad, constructed four years ago. There is, however, no first-class stone now available in this quarry. There 
are 26 feet exposed in it in courses varying from IJ to 24 inches in thickness. There is a great amount of reliable 
stone in the stratum and a great amount that is treacherous. It is by no means equal in uniformity of quality to 
the Berea stone of northern Ohio. It formerly furnished a grindstone grit of great local value. The stone is always 
ripple-maiked and bears other evidences of having been formed on a shore-line. It is usually of a uniform gray 
color, but there is also a variegated variety clouded with red which is one of the most striking stones of the state. 



a Geological Survey of Ohio, Vol. Ill, p. 594. 



DESCRIPTIONS OF QUARRIES AND QUARRY REGIONS. 



197 



The above, however, is but an iuadequate statement in regard to the range of quairie.s tliat for many years held 
the first place in southern Ohio. Many other ledges of at least equal value have now been lendered available by 
the new lines of railroad communication. 

The Waverly .stone, where it has not been subjected to atmospheric influences, has the characteristic bluish- 
gray color of the Berea grit formation in other parts of the state. The diflercnce in composition between the 
weathered portion and the blue-stone is shown in the following analysis made by Professor Wormley for the Report 
on the Geological Survey of Ohio : 



No. 1 j No. 2 
(white-atone). | (blue-stone). 


Silicic acid 


Per cent. Per cent. 
91. 30 1 91. 00 
0.86 1 1.17 
0.06 ! 0.30 


Sesquioxide of iron 


Lime 

Magnesia 


Trace. Trace. 
0.32 1 0.28 






Total 


99. 03 9?. 75 



Near Cynthiaua, where the variegated variety above referred to occurs, there is also found a very white, 
fine-grained variety, and the following analysis shows this to be very nearly of the same composition as that above, 
without the oxides of iron : 

Per cent. 

Silicic acid 91.35 

Iron, sesquioside - Trace. 

Alumina 6.00 

Lime, carbonate 0. 75 

Magnesia, carbonate 0. 34 

Water, combined l. 00 

Total a 99. 44 

The Waverly brownstone quarries lie at a horizon about 40 or 50 feet above the Waverly stone, or Berea grit, 
in its southward extension. They lie very near the horizon of the famous Buena Vista stone of Scioto county. A 
number of the best stone fronts at Columbus, Ohio, have been constructed from the product of these quarries. The 
stone is brown only on the outcrop; when found a few feet under cover it assumes a dark blue color aud loses its 
value as an ornamental stone. The blue variety contains a large amount of soluble iron protoxide which produces 
a bad discoloration on exposure to the atmosphere. The following analysis made by Professor Wormley for the 
Report on the Geological Survey of Ohio shows the composition of the Waverly brownstone : 

Per cent. 

Silicic acid 73.90 

Protoxide of iron 

Sesquioxide of iron 13. 44 

Alumina 8.56 

Lime Trace. 

Magnesia 0.46 

Water, combined 3. 30 

Total 99.66 

The quarry which has been the most important is located about half way between Waverly and Piketon. Here 
the stone forms a massive bed 8 feet in thickness. The same ledge has been worked along the valley on both sides 
of the Scioto river for 10 or 12 miles. That quality of stone still remains in easy reach, though some of the quarries 
have already yielded all their brownstone to the market. The depth of cap-rock to be removed in these quarries 
nowhere exceeds 15 feet. 

All the ravines that reach the Ohio valley below Portsmouth for 20 miles disclose a large amount of excellent 
building stone, but in the ravines that are found from 2 to 4 miles below there is a horizon disclosed that lies low 
enough to be easily reached, and that is naturally covered by an easily-eroded cap, so that a very considerable 
amount of building stone has been found readily accessible. This horizon is at about the middle of the 
sub-Carboniferous system in Ohio. 

The Portsmouth quarries have been worked since the first settlement of the Ohio valley. During the last 
fifty or sixty years a great number of separate quarries have been opened, but all on the same horizon. When the 
stripping becomes hea^'y a slight change in location is made. The land is considered of no great value for any other 
than quarrying jiurposes. Some locations prove better than others, and these are being worked more systematically 
of late years. 

a Geological Survei/ of Ohio, Vol. II, p. 623. 



108 BUILDINa STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

At tbe quarry of Messrs. Reitz & Co. the stone occurs in layers from G to 24 inches in thickness. These 
courses are frequently separated, by an inch or two of shale. Joints do not occur frequently to interfere with the 
systematic working of the quarries. For flagging the stone is unequaled in the Ohio valley, as it wears evenly, 
always gives foothold, and is in every way satisfactory. It is well adapted to sawing, and is used quite extensi^'ely_ 
for general building purposes. The material finds its principal markets along the Ohio valley, through Ohio, West 
Virginia, Kentucky, and Pennsylvania. It has been used in the constructiou of the court-house at Athens aud the 
Children's Home building at Gallipolis, Ohio, and the Western penitentiary of Penusylvania, at Allegheny. 

The quarry of Mr. J. M. Inskeep is located about 12 miles below Portsmouth, ou the Ohio river, at a horizon 
about 60 feet above the Buena Vista stone proper. There are 30 feet of rock in about 20 different layers. The 
lowest course, about 32 inches in thickness, is the most valuable stone. This course is covered by 4 feet of blue 
shale, which is the largest mass of shale in this section. The other shale deposits are but little more than partings 
between layers of sandstone. The courses are remarkably even in thickness, but those above the lowest do not yield 
a strictly first-class material. For the last three or four yciws this quarry has supplied material quite extensively 
for the Columbus market, aud a uumber of fine stone fronts have been constructed from it. The stone varies 
considerably in quality, and needs to be carefully inspected. 

The southwestern portion of Scioto couuty aud the southeastern corner of Adams couuty, two adjoining districts, 
Avere once the most important localities in Ohio for the production of building stoue. In the earlier days of the state 
an engineer of reputation, employed upou the construction of cauals, became conversant with the then known 
building stones of the state, and recognizing the great value and accessibility of the ledge, commonly known as the 
Buena Vista Freestone ledge, bought a large territory here, and begau the development of. the quarries in a large 
way. Other horizons of good rock were found at various levels, but this one bed, by its color and quality, supplied 
the Cincinnati market almost exclusively. Its reputation spread throughout the whole Ohio valley and beyond. 
Large quarries were opened on both sides of tbe river, government i>atronage was secured, and material for the 
construction of custom-houses aud other public buildings was ordered from the Buena Vista quarries. So great 
was the demaud for this stone that material of poor quality as well as of good was hurried into the market. The 
greenstone while full of quarry water was laid in massive walls, and the bad behavior of this material soon 
excluded the stone almost entirely from the market. It is, however, as good now as when it earned its high 
reputalion, but needs careful and conscientious selection and suitable seasoning. 

Just below the horizon of the Buena Vista stone lies the Berea shale, a bed of highly bituminous and very 
fossiliferous black shale, ranging from 15 to 30 feet in thickness. Its bituminous composition makes it a source 
of petroleum, which rises into the sandstone courses that lie above it. This is the source of one of the worst 
impurities of the Buena Vista stone. When followed under pover it is fouud loaded with petroleum or with tar, 
which seems not only to disfigure the stone but to weaken it to some extent; and other impurities in the stone are 
masked for the time by this bituminous matter. The oil-bearing stoue is tolerated only in rough, heavy work. 
Some of the stone contains sulphide of iron, which, on exposure to the weather, becomes oxidized to the suli)hate and 
goes into combination with compounds of aluminium, and appears on the surface of the stone as a white efflorescence 
which has the characteristic taste of alum. Grains aud nuggets of pyrites appear in the shales associated with 
tins sandstone, but are not very perfectly visible to the naked eye in the city ledge (the name now applied to the 
stratum pro])er of Buena Vista stone). The rock is quarried by chauueling and wedging in the same manner as in 
the quarries of the Berea grit in northern Ohio. No stone is extracted for the market during the winter mouths, 
but tbis time is occupied in removing the cap-rock and in channeling. The behavior of the material when properly 
selected is apparent in a number of important structures in Cincinnati, and that of the unselected material 
may be seen in the custom-house and other buildings in Chicago. The material has also been used with good and 
bad results in a number of other cities and towns, including Louisville, Kentucky, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 
and Detroit, Michigan. 

Cauboniferous. — The Carboniferous conglomerate (Sharon conglomerate of the Second Geological Stirvey of 
Pcnnsytvunia) furnishes the only important building stone in Portage county. This formation in Ohio geology is 
commonly called "the Conglomerate". 

In Franklin, Mantua, aud Nelson townships, where it is well seen, it is a coarse, drab-colored saudstone, in 
places thick set with quartz pebbles from the size of a pea to that of an egg. It is quarried in these localities to a 
small extent for local purposes. 

At the quarry of Messrs. Case & King, in Wiudham township, it is finer, whiter, aud more homogeneous, and 
answers quite well for architectural purposes. It is rather too coarse for fine work, but it is strong and durable aud 
well adapted to bridge building and all other plain and massive masonry. 

In Summit couuty tlie Carboniferous conglomerate underlies all the higher portions of the couuty and forms 
the surface rock over all the middle portion, except where cut through by the Cuyahoga and its tributaries; though 
generally covered and concealed by beds of drift, it is exiwsed and quarried in all the towns north of Akron. In 
the valley of the Cuyahoga it forms clitfe sometimes 100 feet in peri)eiuli(;nlar height. The rock is about 100 feet 



DESCRIPTIONS OF QUARRIES AND QUARRY REGIONS. 199 

in tbickucss, geuerally a coarse-graiued, light drab saiidstouc, but iu some localities, aud especially near the base 
of the tbrmation, becomiug a mass of (luartz pebbles, with just euough cemcut to hold them together, (a) 

All the accessible material that is now known in this formation is applicable to ordinary purposes of building. 
Although it is quarried iu many ditiereut localities for local sui)ply, it is worked extensively in but two localities — 
at Akrou and iu Twiusburg township. The quarries at Akron are worked principally to supply the town with 
foundation stone and the immediate vicinity with bridge stone. The quarries in Twiusburg township are at ])resent 
worked quite extensively to supply material for the constiuction of bridges on the Cleveland and Tittsburgli aud 
the Connotton Valley railroads. 

A section in Mr. I'armelee's quarry exhibits 18 inches of soil and gravel, 15 feet of coarse sandstone in which 
thin strata of pebbles occur from li to •! feet apart, and (> feet of very coarse conglomerate underlaid by shale. The 
15 foot course of sandstone occurs in a solid mass, which separates easily where strata or slieets of pebbles called 
"bed-seams" occur. In the Akron quarries the stone is line-grained and more homogeneous than in the Twiusburg 
quarries. In Mr. Hugill's quarry the rock. has been quarried to a depth of 40 feet, aud the material obtained is a 
coarse-grained sandstone free from pebbles. Formerly, iu a quarry known as Wolf's quarry, near Akron, a local 
stratum produced a deep reddish purple sandstone, perhaps the most beautiful building stone ever produced iu 
the state, which was used quite exteusively iu Cleveland, and two residences on Euclid avenue are constructed 
of this material. At Cuyahoga Falls a similar material has been quarried to some extent for the construction 
of buildings iu the town. The quantity of this variety of building stone is apparently not large, and it seems that 
it is nowiiere known at present where it can be profitably quarried in a large way. The Wolf quarry has not been 
worked for a number of years. 

The stone quarried for building purposes iu Coshocton county is obtained from blocks detached from strata of 
sandstones of the Lower Coal Pleasures. The stratum from which the blocks quarried by the parties represented iu 
the tables have been detached is a solid ledge 30 feet iu tliickness, and lies a few feet above the horizon of the Zoar 
limestone. The material is usually a light-colored sandstone, though some of it has a. reddisli color, and some is a 
finer-grained white sandstone. The stone used for the construction of locks on tiic Ohio canal, through Coshocton 
county, was obtained from these quarries. The stone has the reputation of enduring well ordinary atmospheric 
influences, but not of withstanding a high degree of heat. It is principally used for bridge building aud foundations 
in the vicinity of the quarries. 

Material for ordinary purposes of construction is obtained in various localities in IMuskingum county from the 
Coal-Measure sandstones, but there is no extensive quarry at any place except about half a mile'east of Zauesville. 
This quarry furnishes by far the largest part of the stone used for construction in and about Zanesville. It has 
been used quite exteusively for building canal locks, foundations, aud for sidewalk pavements. Some of the oldest 
buildings in Zanesville are constructed entirely of this material, and it is found that the stone is more capable of 
resisting atmosi)heric agencies than of resisting the abrasive action to which it is subjected in sidewalks. This 
jnatcrial is easily obtained in great abundance and of fair quality, aud is the most important among the building 
stones found iu the neighborhood of Zanesville, except perhaps the sub-Carboniferous limestone with which it has 
been recently brought into competition. 

The most important building-stone quarry iu Noble and Guernsey counties is near Cumberland, on the line 
between the two counties. The stratum quarried is solid aud about 10 feet iu tliickness. The material is a dense 
fine-grained sandstone, rather hard, but susceptible of being finely carved. It is of a gray or Hght-browu color 
where it has been subjected to atmospheric intiueuces, but as the excavation progresses into the hill a material of 
a bluish-gray color is obtained. Joints iu this stratum are filled up with a hard calcareous matter deposited from 
solutions of the material from a limestone ledge a short distance above the sandstone. The size of blocks determined 
by these joints is about 30 Ijy 15 by 10 feet. The material is employed for all general building purposes, principally 
at Cambridge. It is used iu the superstructure of the court-house in process of construction at this place. The 
foundation stone for this building was obtaiued near Cambridge, from a quarry worked only to sui)ply temporary 
demands. 

Stone for the ordinary purposes of construction may be obtaiued in various localities iu Jeflerson county fi'om 
the different sandstone strata of the Coab Measures, which occuiiy the whole area of the county; but the only 
quarries that have been developed are those near ateuben%dlle, iu the Upper Coal Measures. 

One quarry furnishes stone for general building aud paving purposes, used principally iu the town of Steubenville. 
The material has a bluish color where it has not been exposed to atmospheric action, and at the natural joints 
discoloration has penetrated into the rock from 10 to 18 inches. This liability to discoloration makes this stone 
unfit for the finer purposes of construction. 

A better material for purposes of ornamentation is obtained from the quarry where two separate ami distinct 
strata of sandstone in the Upper Coal Measures occur. There are, in realiiy, two separate quarries, located at 
<litterent heights, at the side of a hill west of Steubenville, near the Ohio river. The material from these quarries 
is used largely for cemetery work, bases of monuments and tombstones, vaults, etc. That from the upper quarry 

a Geoloi/ical Kurvey of Ohio, Vol. I, ]). 212: "Goolosy of Summit County," by J. S. Nowborrv. 



200 BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

is better adapted to fine work, but it is not so extensively used, because tlie material is not as accessible as that 
in the lower quarry. The Episcopal church at Steubenville was constructed of stone from these quarries. 

Belmont county is well supplied with material for the ordinary purposes of construction from the sandstones of 
the Upper Coal IMeasures and the Lower Barren Measures ; and some of the quarries furnish material quite well 
adapted for ornamentatal purposes. The most important quarries are those in the eastern part of the county, 
near Martin's Ferry and near Bellaire. These quarries are located in the hills several hundred feet above the Ohio- 
river. The quarry of Mr. Charles Siebrecht is located about 100 feet high in one of these hills. The stratum is a 
solid mass about 30 feet in thickness. The material is used for general building purposes, principally at Martin's. 
Ferry. The stone-work of the suspension bridge across the Ohio river at Wheeling, West Virginia, is constructed 
from this material. 

The total thickness of the sandstone ledge quarried by Mr. Eobiuson, near Bellaire, is about 40 feet. The 
rock for a depth of 17 feet from the top, is very uniform in texture and general appearance. The portion of the' 
ledge below this is in irregular masses, unfit for building purposes, and is locally called "nigger- head". The layers 
of stone in the upper 17 feet are quarried for building purposes, and vary in thickness from 4 to 7 feet. This is. 
esteemed as the best material for building purposes found in Belmont county. The arches and abutments of the 
Baltimore and Ohio Eailroad bridge across the Ohio river at Bellaire, and of a number of other bridges on the same 
railroad, are constructed of this stone. The material finds its principal markets at Bellaire, Ohio, and at Wheeling 
and Benwood West Virginia. Traces of coal vegetation are found occasionally between the layers of stone in this, 
quarry. A short distance above this sandstone a vein of coal occurs, and above this a limestone stratum 20 feet 
in thickness, quarried for furnace flux. 

The ledge of rock in Mr. Hutchinson's quarry is about 30 feet in thickness, and is considerably broken into 
irregular masses. The stone is fine-grained, rather hard, and diflacult to cleave in any direction. Near the middle 
of the ledge are two layers, each about 20 inches in thickness, which are more regular ; the rock, however, is found 
less broken as the excavation advances into the hill. Since this quarry is constantly worked for ballast, it has the 
advantage of selecting its best material for purposes of construction. However, stone more regular in structure 
and better adapted to building purposes is quite abundant in this locality. There is also a good flagging stone 
found here in a different stratum ; but this is quarried only occasionally for temporary demands. The product ot 
the quarry of the Baltimore and Ohio Eailroad Company, near Barnesville, is used largely for ballast. It has 
been used to some extent for purposes of construction on the Baltimore and Ohio railroad. The stratum in which 
the quarry is located is about 30 feet in thickness, but has only been worked to a depth of 14 feet. The stratum 
contains few joints and has no divisional planes of stratification. Stone of such fair quality for all ordinary 
building purposes is so generally distributed throughout this part of the county that it is picked up wherever 
needed to supply the occasional local demands, and no extensive quarries are developed at any place for the 
production of building stone. 

In Washington county strata of sandstone belonging to the upper series of Coal Measures are quarried for the 
production of building stone and grindstones in the heavy ledges along the Ohio Eiver hills. The most important 
quarries are located near Marietta and Constitution. The arrangement of the different sandstone strata, with their 
alternate shales, coals, and fire-clays, is as follows : 

Hea vy saud-rock 30 feet. 

Blue shale 9 feet. 

Hea^'"y eantl-rook extensively quarried for grindstones 25 feet. 

Sandy shale - 20 feet. 

Heavy sand-rock quarried in places 36 feet. 

Shale, somewhat ferruginous 4 feet. 

Coal, Hohson's seam 1 foot to 6 inches. 

Fire-clay and shale ., 4 feet. 

Interval to Ohio river ' a 43 feet. 

The quarries near Marietta and Constitution are all, except Mr. T. B. Townsend's, worked in the grindstone 
stratum, and produce, besides grindstones, material for all general building purposes. The building stone is used 
principally at Marietta and at various points along the Ohio river. In different portions of the stratum there are 
sufficient varieties of texture to furnish all kinds of grits used for wet grinding, and the grindstones are shipped to 
all manufacturing points in the United States. The rock splits readily in the direction of the stratification. The 
advantages oflered for the transportation of the product by the proximity of the quarries to the Ohio river greatly 
aid their development. 

The quarry of Mr. Townsend is located on the Muskingum i-iver, and is devoted to the production of a material 
mainly for bridge-building purposes, and some for general purposes of construction. The section exposed in this 
quarry exhibits 65 feet of sand-rock, which becomes still heavier as the quarry progresses into the hill. It consists 
of layers from 4J to IS feet in thickness. In the lower portion of the quarry the material is rather finer in texture 
and superior in quality to that in the upper portion. The quarry was opened for the special purpose of obtaining 
stone for the ice harbor, now in process of construction at Marietta; but it also furnishes material for other 
structures. 

a Geological Survey of Ohio, Vol. II, p. 472: "Report of Second District", by E. B. Andrews. 



DESCRIPTIONS OF QUARRIES AND QUARRY REGIONS. 201 

LIMESTONE, 

Cincinnati GEOur. — The southwestern corner of Ohio is covered by what is called the Cincinnati group of 
limestones, a geological formation equivalent to the Hudson Eiver beds of ISTew York. These rocks were very 
early quarried and used for construction purposes, although the special quarries that are at present in operation 
have been much more recently developed. Quarries once located on the outskirts of Cincinnati have suspended 
operations on account of the growth of the city. The material is mentioned in the early reports upon the geology 
of Ohio as having been used in 1838 for building, burning into lime, macadamizing roads, and even for ornamental 
purposes, (o) 

Professor Orton gives the following as the order in which the beds which constitute the Cincinnati group in 
southwestern Ohio are arranged : 

The Point Pleasant beds, 50 feet thick, constitute the lowest of the series. The Cincinnati beds proper overlie 
these, and are 425 feet thick. The Lebanon beds are the highest, and are 300 feet thick. Quarries are developed in 
each of these horizons. The rocks wherever they are quarried are very much alike, and are called in commerce 
blue limestones. As a rule they are tilled with fossils, and occur in layers that are from half an inch to 12 inches 
in thickness, which are interstratitied with beds of shale or clay. Professor Orton says that while this blue 
limestoue has been used from the first settlement of the country, it has hitherto enjoyed the reputation of being 
serviceable rather than beautiful ; but within the last few years it has been so treated by combination with other 
building stones as to produce very fine architectural effects, as can be seen in the recent buildings of the city and 
suburbs of Cincinnati. (6) 

The quarries in the Cincinnati group of limestones are located near Cincinnati, more on account of the local 
demand for the most accessible stone than for the superior quality of the material at this point. There are 
limestones in the river bed which are upon the same level as the quarries which produce excellent stone at 
Covington, upon the opposite shore. These beds are overlaid by 250 feet of shales, which are called by Professor Orton 
the " Eden shales " ; and these in turn are overlaid by the so-called " Hill Quarry " beds of limestones, from which 
most of the stone used in the county is derived. 

Six quarries of importance are at present in operation at Cincinnati with exposures of fi-om 40 to 75 feet, of 
which some 10 to 25 feet is distributed throughout the section in layers from 1 inch to 10 inches in thickness. 
Slabs 6 feet long and 6 feet wide can be extracted. 

The lime which is burned from the stones of the Cincinnati group is dark and unfit for plastering, but for 
foundations, etc., it is of esjiecial value, as it possesses some hydraulic capacity. Specifications for cellar walls,, 
bridge abutments, etc., in this region always call for Cincinnati lime. 

It is thus seen that the stone is interstratified with beds of shale, which forms from one-fourth to one-third 
of the whole section. In other i)arts of the series the proportion of stone falls to one- tenth of the thickness of the 
section, the main mass being composed of shale or clay. The stone seldom exists in such condition as to make a 
building stone that can be used in fronts, and it is mainly employed for rough construction, although some of the 
churches in Cincinnati have been built from it. 

As the dip of the blue-limestone beds is mainlj- to the north, while the direction of the Ohio valley at Cincinnati 
is toward the south, by proceeding up the river layers of the formation are brought to the surface that are lower 
than any occurring in the river quarries of the city. The Point Pleasant quarries, in Clermont county, are 
consequently situated in a different and lower level, and Professor Orton states that this section furnishes the 
most desirable building stone of the blue-limestone series. It dresses more easily and possesses a better shade 
of color, combined with a general exemption from the weathered seams that disfigure the higher beds. The 
quarries are situated at the water's edge, and river transportation enables the stone to be brought to the city 
easily. In a church on the corner of Eighth and Elm streets, Cincinnati, the appearance of the stone can be seen, 
to the best advantage. As the demand for the stone is local, the annual i)roduction fluctuates between wide- 
limits, and the value of the product has sometimes fallen very low. There is quite a large number of small 
quarries in the neighborhood, each producing from $200 to $300 worth of stone annually. 

The quarries in Butler county, from which are extracted the blue limestones of the Cincinnati group, are 
situated at and near Hamilton. The character of the stone and the method of its occurrence are the same as 
those of the other limestone obtained from this group. A quarry at Hamilton exhibits a section 40 feet thick, of 
which 18 feet are of stone distributed in layers of varying thickness throughout the whole section. The individual 
layers are from 1 inch to 12 inches in thickness, and the heaviest layers are found at the bottom. 

The limestones of the Cincinnati group are all highly fossiliferous, and the number and variety of the forms 
found in them have given to them a geological celebrity. The quarrying operations are constantly bringing 
to light rare and interesting species, but the specimens which were collected and sent to the National Museum 
as typical contain a predominating number of fossils of the species Chaetetes, with the shells of brachiopods 
cemented together by limestone. When polished the stones appear vei'y beautiful ou account of the diversity and 
delicacy of these fossil forms, but owing to the presence of clay in the cementing material the polish is not uniform 

a Professor Locke in Second Annual Eeport on Geological Survey of Ohio, by W. W. Matlier, 1838. 
i> Beport of the Geological Survey of Ohio, Vol. I, Part i, p. 378. 



202 BUILDINa STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

■over the whole surface. This does not detract especially from the value of the stoue for ornamental purposes, since 
the fossil forms which give the stone its beauty by receiving the highest polish are thereby brought into prominence. 

The fragments of fossils of which the stoue so largely consists were apparently first washed together along 
with the clayey limestone and mud which forms the cement, and which fills the interiors of the fossil forms. This 
was apparently solidified into a vesicular rock, and the cavities were subsequentlj- filled with clear crystalline 
calcite. The process of such formation is frequently seen in the Ohio limestones, some of which are porous, and are 
filled with cavities which are but partially filled with new crystalline product. Analyses were made of these 
limestones by Dr. Wormley for the Report on the Geological Survey of Ohio. («■) 

The Point Pleasant rock, which is considered to be the best for building purposes, was by him shown to have 
the following composition : 

Per cent. 

Siliceous matter 12.00 

Alumina and iron oxide 7.00 

Calcium carbonate 79.30 

Magnesium _ 0.91 

Total 99.21 

i^iAGrAKA GUOLTp. — The rocks of the Niagara period occupy that portion of Preble county in which quarries 
are extensively developed. The ISTiagara limestones in Ohio are very often called the Cliff limestones, because they 
stand in blufis along Uie river valleys, and they aie aiore esteemed as building stones than the rocks of the underlying 
■Cincinnati group. 

The following sketch by Professor Orton shows the arrangement of the rocks in this county :(&) 

f Guelph. 

-rr ci-i • i jSTiagara group Springfield stone. 

Ul)i)er Silnnau < ^ . * ,r <^ ' , , 

I Clinton limestone jNiagara shales. 



Dayton stone. 
Lower Silurian, Cincinnati group, Lebanon division. 
The apjDroximate thicknesses of the divisions are about as follows : 

Feet. 

Niagara group 75 

Clinton limestone 15 

Cincinnati group 225 

Of these stones the blue limestone is quarried in the southern part of the county, and was formerly the main 
dependence in that region as a source of lime, but the Gliff limestone was brought subsequently into universal use 
as a substitute. 

Tlie Clinton limestone has been largely in demand for chimney -backs, and has been found especially desirable 
for all those constructions which are exposed to fire or heat. It is an unevenly-bedded stone, often sandy in texture, 
but no quarries are so extensivelj' developed iu it as to merit consideration. 

The stoue which is quarried near Eaton is the geological equivalent of the building stone of Springfield and 
Yellow Springs. One of the largest and oldest of the quarries is 3 miles northeast of Baton ; another, 5^ miles 
northeast of Eaton, is smaller. A section of the first quarry shows G feet of so-called cutting stone at the bottom 
overlaid by 4 feet of a good building stone with 3 j feet of drift material upou the top. A number of grades of 
material are quarried, and stone suitable for flaggings and copings, as well as for fine and rough constructions, is 
obtained. 

It is stated tliat a stone 10 by 12 feet in superficial dimensions has been taken out, and that very much larger 
stones can be obtained. It is principally used for rough building purposes and is sent to Eaton, Ohio, and to 
Eichmond, Indiana, by team and by rail. 

Tliese quarries yield an unusually fine quality of flagging stone, the material lying in very even courses of 
suitable thickness. An analysis of the limestone was made for the Ohio survey by Professor Wormley, (c) and 
the composition of the stone is shown to be as follows : 

Calcium carbonate 49.75 

Magnesium 35. 87 

Alumina and iron oxide 4.40 

Siliceous matter 9. 40 

Total 99.42 



a Geology of Ohio, Vol. I, Part i, p. 374. 

6 Gcoloyical Surrey of Ohio, Yo\. HI, Part i, p. 405. 

c Jlcport of Ihe Geological Surrcii of Oliio, Vol. Ill, Part i, p. 409. 



DESCRIPTIONS OF QUARRIES AND QUARRY REGIONS. 203 

Tlie largest quarries iu Preble county are located at New Paris. The buikliugstoue courses are here accessible, 
but the production of burued lime is the chief industry, yielding twelve-nineteenths of the gross earnings; the lime 
is distributed mainly to the westward by the railroads leading out of Richmond, Indiana. The quarries produce 
also ilaggings, copings, bridge and building stones — in fact, the material for any construction cau be here obtained. 

Immense blocks are said to have been quarried at this place. The chief market for the stone quarried at Ifew 
Paris is in eastern Indiana. The specimens sent to the National Museum from Preble county are all of a drab 
color, compact, and rather earthy iu appearance, incapable of taking a high polish, and possessing a characteristic 
appearance due to the presence of porphyritic crystals of a clear, glassy nature, and which become very prominent 
upon the smooth or polished surfaces. These glassy crystals are of calcite, and the forms of the fossils which are 
sometimes seen are filled with the same glassy material. The earthy ground mass, which constitutes the bulk of 
the rock, will not dissolve in dilute acid, and is of a dolomitic character, as is shown by the aualyses that have been 
cited. The stones consist of irregular, minute grains, which are closely fitted together with rhombohedral crystals 
of dolomite developed among them. All of the sections when magnified show very numerous but exceedingly small 
particles of jiyrites. This is what probably produced the 4 or inches of sap or discolored rock adjoining the 
natural clefts. 

The limestones quarried at Piqua, Miami county, are from the lowest horizon of the Niagara formation, (a) 
and are therefore the exact equivalents of the Dayton stone. They are immediately underlaid by the Clinton 
limestones, and the glacial action has plowed away the stones of the Springfield and Covington tyi)e which 
once overlaid them. The material here extracted is of good quality. The stone lands sometimes bring $2,000 
per acre near Dayton, and their value is indicated by the circumstance that, although tlie stone is not more than 16 
feet in thickness, it is frequently extracted in places where 20 feet of dirt and drift must be removed from above it. 
The stone belonging to this horizon is usually very strong, specimens having been found to resist a crushing force 
of 30 tons on a 2-iuch cube. The quarries are situated at and directly south of Piqua, upon the west side of the river, 
with the exception of one quarry 2J miles south of the town. The material is sent by rail, canal, and team to the 
neighboring towns and cities of Ohio and Indiana, where it is used mostly for rough building purposes. No 
prominent structures have as yet been constructed from it. The thickness of the strata varies, and it is therefore 
possible to obtain slabs suitable for pavements. Indeed, it is claimed that slabs 20 feet square from some quarries 
are accessible. The town of Piqua is mostly paved with this stone, utilizing for this purpose the poorer aud 
inferior layers. The walUs would be greatly improved by the use of the better layers. 

In the quarries immediately at Piqua about 2| feet of the lowest layers are heavy and thick, and are used for 
bridge stones. Then follow about 7 feet of building stone, overlaid in one quarry bj- 1 foot of well stone and 2 
feet of drift, and in the others there are 7 or 8 feet of drift to be removed. Quarries below the town are 
overlaid by 22 feet of drift, the lower portion of which is composed of fragments of broken limestone, of all 
sizes and shapes, piled together with an intermixture of gravel. This stone, like the Dayton stone, is mainly 
composed of calcium carbonate, which, it is said, usually constitutes over 90 per cent, of the whole. That it 
varies, however, between quite wide limits is shown by the circumstance that of the two specimens sent on one 
is quite dolomitic, and will dissolve but little in dilute hydrochloric acid. It contains streaks and clear crystalline 
spots, which are of calcium carbonate, and under the microscope in minute structure it is found to contain more or 
less of sharply-defined crystals, which are probably of dolomite. The stone in some of its layers contains more or 
less of pyrites, and is mainly of the variety which is called blue limestone. Some of it will receive a tolerably fair 
polish, and when thus treated it has a prettily- mottled structure, or a gray- and white-banded structure, according 
as the blocks are polished upon a plane parallel or perpendicular to the stratification. 

The Dayton limestone is an evenly -bedded, massive, gray carbonate of lime, which is sparingly charged with 
fossils, and which is quarried from the very lowermost courses of the Niagara formation. It is found iu firm, 
heavy courses that are at times 10 feet in thickness, though often very much less. So-called cutting stone is obtained 
from these beds. This term " cutting stone" is generally employed to designate stone which comes out in large 
blocks suitable for steps, platforms, etc. Cutting stone is sharply distinguished from building stones in all the 
quarries of western Ohio, aud brings several times the price per cubic foot. The thinner and inferior strata serve 
a great diversity of uses. 

Although stone of excellent quality occurs in various portions of Montgomery and Greene counties, the 
market has been thus far largely supplied by the quarries situated in the neighborhood of Dayton. Five quarries 
liavo there been opened in a belt which lies a mile aud a half east of the town, whose sections exhibit 5 feet of the 
so-called cutting stone, overlaid by from 10 to 18 feet of drift. They produce all kinds of building stone (graded in 
from three to six grades), which is mainly sent to Dayton aud to Cincinnati. The court-house aud some of the 
churches iu Dayton were constructed of this stone. 

Another quarry in this same horizoti, situated Ti miles north of Dayton, has only 5 feet of drift to be removed ; 
but, on the other hand, the thickness of the stratum of cutting stone is least in this quarry. The court-house at 
Sidney, Ohio, is built of this stone. 

a Geological Survey of Ohio, Vol. Ill, Part i, p. 4C8: "Geology of Miami County," by Joliu Hussey. 



204 BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

At a quarry operated 6 miles east of Dayton the deposit consists of 4 feet of cutting stone, overlaid by 6 feet 
of a yellow-colored stone, the whole capped by 9 feet of drift. Two miles farther to the east lies a quarry which 
contains 4 feet of cutting stone overlaid by 3 feet of drift. The last two quarries are in Greene county. 

Quarries have been opened in the same stratum of stone in the neighborhood of Xenia, and these have been 
widely known and extensively worked. This is in fact one of the three localities to which the. contracts for the 
foundations of large works in Cincinnati were formerly confined, the specifications calling for Xenia, Centerville, or 
Dayton stone. This is the easternmost exposure of the last-named stone. The Dayton limestone is a peculiar and 
exceptional member of the great Niagara series in southwestern Ohio. It lies in lenticular masses of comparatively 
small extent, perhaps not more than two or three square miles occurring in any one area. Throughout Montgomery 
and Greene counties the shale, which forms the next succeeding layer of the Magara formation, has in almost all 
cases been removed by erosion, and thus it happens that the stone is immediately covered with the deposits of 
bowlders, clay, and dirt, as described. The glaciers which have produced this result have polished and striated 
the rocks in many cases. 

The composition of the Dayton limestone is shown from the following analysis, made by Dr. Locke in 1838: (a). 

Per cent. 

Calcium carbonate - 92.40 

Magnesium carbonate 1.10 

Iron protoxide - --• 0.53- 

Insoluble material 1-70 

Soluble bilica 0.90 

Water 108 

Total 97-71 

The stone from the McDonald quarry, near Xenia, has been analyzed by Professor Wormley, (b) with the 
following result : 

Per cent 

Calcium carbonate 84.50 

Magnesium carbonate 11. 16 

Alumina and iron oxide 2.00 

Siliceous matter - 2.20 

Total : 99-86 

When examined under the microscope these stones, as illustrated by the samples sent, are found to be composed 
largely of fossil fragments, which are so broken and destroyed as to be unrecognizable to the unaided eye. These 
fragments are united by an extremely fine ground mass, in which here and there a sharply-defined rhombohedrali 
form is porphyritically developed. These porphyritic crystals are quite prominent in the stone from the Hufiman 
Stone Company's quarry, near Dayton. A section of this stone was treated with dilute acid, wlien everything^ 
dissolved with the greatest faciUty, with the exception of these porphyritic crystals, which may consequently be 
supposed to be rhombohedrons of dolomite which have developed themselves in the mass of caleite. 

Although stones of such excellent quality are obtained from the Dayton beds, it is necessary to mention that 
stones occur in which pyrites exist in large crystals at least half an inch square. Pyrites is recognizable in the 
thin section of all specimens sent to us, though this ingredient is not so disastrous in a stone of this nature as it is 
in other more porous stones, in which the pyrites would not merely be reached much quicker by the decomposing 
agencies, but in which the products of decomposition would more quickly find their way through the cracks and 
crevices of the stone. The material has attained a high reputation. It was used at one time extensively at 
Chicago, and the lowest story of the Chamber of Commerce edifice is built of it. Cincinnati has used it largely, but 
for the last 15 or 20 years it has not been shipped so extensively to these points. 

Beds of the Dayton limestone are developed in Clinton county. They have been quarried at Wilmington and 
Centerville, but the old quarries which have been reported as in active operation during the census year are situated 
1^ miles southwestward from Lumberton. The quarry consists of 5 feet of stone, which is mostly used for rough 
building purposes, and is overlaid by 2 feet of drift. The material is hard, very compact, and capable even of 
assuming a quite high polish. It is also very noticeable that the rock, which to the unaided eye appears so 
compact and non-fossiliferous, really contains a very great number of fossil fragments. It also contains some 
pyrites, distributed through the mass in the form of very sharply defined cubical crystals, which in the specimens 
sent are entirely invisible to the unaided eye, and which cannot be called deleterious. There are yellowish spots 
and streaks in some of the layers, but this appears to result from the inclusion of clayey material rather than 
from the oxidation of the iron sulphide. The stone from this quarry finds its market principally in Clinton and 
Fayette counties. 

The rocks in Clarke county (c) are like those found in Montgomery and Greene counties, but the important 
quarrying operations are all carried on in the upper beds of the Niagara formation, which are typically developed 

a Bejport of Progress upon the Geological Survey of Ohio, 1869, p. 152. 

b Geological Survey of Ohio, Vol. II, Part i, p. 669. 

c Geological Survey of Ohio, Vol. I, Part i, p. 450 : "Geology of Clarke County", by Edward Orton. 



DESCRIPTIONS OF QUARRIES AND QUARRY REGIONS. 205 

at aud about Springfield. Tliese beds are of particular value, as tbey possess a greater thickness than any one of 
the underlying formations in the county, and cover a much wider area. In tie same quarries building stones of 
excellent quality are combined with material that is converted into peculiarly excellent lime. The accompanying- 
section of the rocks at Springfield indicates the relationship of the beds. 

The underlying shale occupies the position of the limestone which is quarried so extensively at Dayton aud at 
Piqua. The overlying beds of building stone have given the uame to the so-called Springfield division of the 
S^iagara, and the less compact layers of the overlying so-called Guelph formation are broken ni) and burned. 

The Springfield building stoue is a carbonate of lime and magnesia, containing only small percentages ot silica 
and alumina. Its usual color is a light drab, although blue aud yellow courses occur. The light-colored stone 
sometimes is defaced by faint reddish streaks which are caused by the presence of iron oxide, and which render the 
stone unfit for some of the finer uses. The thickness of this deposit of building stone is not more than 20 feet, aud 
is usually less. The lowest courses are blue in color, and although massive iu appearance, they sometimes prove 
treacherous as building stones, for they are liable to lose their dressed surfaces, while their seams widen and they 
undergo a slow disintegration. The walls of the jail in Springfield furnish an illustration of these characteristics. 
The drab courses are almost all of durable building stone, and furnish an invaluable supply of building material 
for Springfield and the adjacent country. 

The difference between the blue and the yellow courses in most of the limestones of Ohio appears to depend 
upon whether the iron exists as pyrites or as oxide of iron. The pyrites existing iu a fine state of subdivision 
appears black even under the microscope, aud the blue color of the stones apparently disappears with the oxidation 
of the pyrites. This furnishes an illustratiou of the circumstauce that stones are often improved by decompositions 
which take place inside the beds, for if their value is not thereby destroyed there is much less danger of a 
disintegration by a decomijosition of the quarried stones. 

From quarries within 1 J miles west of Springfield the material for the culverts in the state road were obtained, 
and the material for the bridge at Marysville and for the Masonic hall at Urbana. These quarries are kuown as the 
old state quarries, because the material was used in many constructions on the state road. The quarries ai-e large, 
but the stone from them is used chiefly iu building cellar walls, foundations, and other rough work of a siiuiJar 
nature. 

Two miles west of Springfield are situated four quarries which furnish similar stone, that is used iu Springfield, 
Dayton, Urbana, London, and Marysville. In all of them the cap-rocks are burned into lime, aud the larger portion 
of the profits results from its sale. 

Iu all cases it is the overlying Guelph beds which are burned, as the courses of building stones contain a 
considerable percentage of silica and alumina, and cannot be converted into good lime, although some of this 
material makes a fair cement. The lime product of these quarries finds its way in small quantities as far as Xew 
Orleans. It is mild, cool, aud strong, and also very white. There is no trouble in laying seveu bricks with one 
.spreading of mctrtar, and skillful workmen can lay twelve bricks with one spreading. The superior quality of this 
lime is worthy of note, since it is ordinarily considered that the value of lime is diminished by the presence of 
maguesia. 

The composition of the Springfield limestones is shown by the following analyses of the middle and upper beds 
in Mr. Frey's quarries near Springfield. These analyses were made by Professor Wormley for the Report on 
the Geological Survey of Ohio : («) 

Middle bed. Upper bed. 

Calcium carbonate 54. TO aJ. 70 

Magnesium carbonate 44. 9:1 42. 37 

Alumina and iron aesquioxide 0.20 1.00 

Siliceous matter 0. 10 1.50 

Total , 99.93 99.57 

It is thus seen that the rocks are very nearly typical dolomites. They vary somewhat in composition, but not 
so as to at all influence their value as building stones. They possess an open and porous structure, and are 
incapable of assuming a polish or being used for ornamental purposes. In their microscopic structure they are seen 
to be of the crystalline granular type, the fossiliferous character being obliterated from the microscopic structure, 
although fossils are not rare in the rock. 

The Yellow Springs quarries produce a magnesian limestone which is very easily worked, and the larger part of 
which is durable. These quarries are upon the same horizon as the Springfield quarries, aud produce stoue of the 
same nature. The courses vary in thickness from 4 to 14 inches, and some of them answer very well for cutting stone. 
The same qualified commendation cau be given to them for flagging, but the quarries have not beeu extensively 
developed with the end iu view of producing this material. For general masonry the stoue has proved very 
serviceable, and for economy is not surpassed by any stone in the state. There are two colors, which are obtained 
from different courses, and which are denominated as blue and drab ; the blue courses weather to drab in exposed 

o Geological Survei/ of Ohio, Vol. 1, Part i, p. 474. 



206 BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

places, but it is not certain that all of the drab beds have been made by oxidation of blue layers. The blue beds 
sometimes prove treacherous, and even the Arm and massive appearance of the stone furnishes no safe guide in 
judging of its power to withstand the atmosphere. By far the larger portion, hawever, is excellent in this respect, 
and the drab courses are almost without exception satisfactory. 

Three-quarters of the gross earnings of these quarries, are, on an average, obtained from the sale of lime, sent 
to market under the name of the Springfield lime, which is the standard for southwestern Ohio. 

A section of the quarry shows at the bottom some layers of building and cutting stone, above which is a 10-foot 
bed of solid limestone containing pentamerous fossils, and above are 18 feet of the " shelly" limestone, which is 
burned. The principal quarry at this place produces stone for bridges, steps, and sills, which are principally used 
in the vicinity of Yellow Springs. The composition of the stone from this quarry is indicated by the following 
analysis bv Professor Wormley : (a) 

Per cent. 

Caloium carbonate .51. 10 

Magnesium carbonate - 41. 12 

Sand .and silica 5-40 

Alumina, -with a trace of iron oxide 1. 40 

Total 99-0^ 

The quarries in Miami county resemble those at Springfield, and are located in the same geological stratum. 
They are rendered valuable by the circumstance that for 50 miles in some directions there is no other developed 
quarry. To the northeast, north, and northwest the region is heavily buried under beds of drift, and consequently 
building stones are inaccessible. The material from the Covington quarries is distributed, therefore,* very widely. 
The stripping is light, the drainage easy, the quantity and quality of the stone are both excellent, and great 
variety exists in the thickness of the various strata. 

The Covington stone is chiefly used for building and bridge construction, and it is mostly consumed in 
Covington, Ohio, and Winchester and Marion, Indiana. Some bridges on the Pan-Handle railroad have been 
constructed from this material. At the town of Covington there are six quarries' in active operation, as indicated 
by the table. Some of these must soon be given up, for they lie within the city limits, and houses are being now 
constructed in their immediate neighborhood. 

The material resembles that which is quarried at Springfield in being porous and easily cut. Of the specimens 
sent to the museum one was blue and one yellow, and upon examination it was found that they differed not 
merely in the circumstance already mentioned, in that the blue layers contain unoxidized pyrites and the other 
hydrous iron oxide, but the blue specimen was a dolomite which would not effervesce in acids, while the yellow 
specimen was much more calcareous. In microscopic properties this stone presents no iDecuiiarities. It belongs to 
what we have designated as the porphyritic type; that is, it contains rhombohedral crystals of dolomite developed 
in a mass of formless grains of calcite. 

In Shelby county the upper portion of the Niagara formation is developed, and several quarries have been 
opened, the products of which are almost entirely burned into lime. Building stones can be there obtained at any 
time and in any quantity desired. 

Hancock county is occupied by rocks of the Niagara and Helderberg periods, and although the Niagara rocks 
which from here extend iu a narrow strip northward to lake Brie appear to be separated from that great area of 
Niagara rocks iu which the Springfield and Dayton quarries are situated; they probably extend beneath the 
Helderberg rocks that intervene aud form a portion of the same deposit. The rocks quarried at Findlaj' possess 
characters almost identical with those of the Springfield stones. They possess a rather porous and open structure, 
are drab in color, aud occur iu courses from 3 to 13 inches in thickness. The stone is strong and durable, and none 
of it has as yet shown any bad effects from exposure to moisture or frost. It is rather hard to dress, aud stoue- 
workers call it " plucky". The horizontal surfaces are generally roughened by small angular prominences which 
fit into corresponding depressions iu the superimposed layei', forming the structure which is known as "suture" 
jointings. The dip here is very slight, and the top course in all of the Fiudlay quarries is evenly bedded and about 
1 foot thick. Tlie " seams" (open joints) are from 25 to 100 feet apart, aud those joints usuallj' run at right angles 
to these seams at greater or less intervals. Por this reason, if the quarry is stripped over a sufficient space, the 
rock can be obtained without blasting. The material from these quarries is used for foundations of buildings and 
for bridge abutments iu the county, and last year some was shipped to Seneca and Allen counties. 

In composition the stone from Ihe Pindlay quarries is dolomitic and possesses the characters of the upper 
Niagara beds. In microscopic structure it is beautifully crystalline, the whole mass of the rock being made up of 
an aggregate of more or less well-defined rhombohedral crystals. 

It appears that blocks much larger than can possibly be required are obtainable here, and that the material, 
although at present used only for rough construction, could be safely applied as a building stone. Although the 
present quarries have been opened quite recently along the same streams upon which these are situated, and 
within a short distance of them, quarries have been in operation for more than twenty years. 

a EK^ort of the Geological Survey of Ohio, Vol. II, Part i, p. 672. 



DESCRIPTIONS OF QUARRIES AND QUARRY REGIONS. 207 

Helderberg. — The Helderbetg foriuatiou is exposed iu a narrow strip («) upou the boimdaries of Higliland autl 
Eoss counties, and indeed more stone is taken from the quarries at Greenfield than from any others in the Helderberg 
formation of Ohio. The stoue is regular iu its bedding, and, therefore, carbings and ci ossiugs of excellent quality are 
easily extracted. Iu the Cincinnati market it is largely employed for these purposes. Slabs 3 or. 4 inches thick, 
with a superficial area of 4 feet, cau be obtained with surfaces as smooth and regular as if sawed. These stones can 
be used for door-steps and like purposes without auy dressing. The courses are never heavy, seldom exceeding 14 
inches, and usually raugiug between 4 and 8 inches iu thickness. The stone is exceedingly stroug, 2-inch cubes 
having been found to stand a pressure of over 50,0U0 pounds. The quanies produce no waste material, and their 
spalls a;e saved to be burned iuto lime of fair quality. Perpetual kilns are set upon the edge of the Greenfield 
quarries, the floors of which are kept clean and free from accuiuulatious of refuse of auy kind, and the lime produced 
is similar to that obtained from the Niagara formations, but it possesses iu some degree hydraulic propeities which 
make it especially adaptable for outside work. 

The stoue produced is drab iu color when first raised, but upou exposure it generally acquires a yellowish- 
brown shade. It is ordinarily used only for the rougher purposes of constructiou and for tiaggings and curbiugs, 
but, by proper selection and skillful dressing, stone can be obtained from the quarries that produce a good 
architectiu-al effect. Without such an exercise of taste and judgment, the stoue does not appear well, owing to its 
monotonous gray color, which contrasts unpleasantly with the white lines of mortar. On t^e other hand, its regular 
bedding renders it peculiarly suitable for ordinary purposes, as it cau be laid upou its even bed surfaces easily, 
and therefore can be worked with facility and economy. The stone finds its principal market in Cincinuati. 

It will be noticed that of the large quarries which supply the Cincinnati market but oue is iu Highland county. 
The other is situated iu the town of Greenfield, iu Eoss county. In the Highlantl County quarry one-tweutieth of 
the profit results fi om the sale of lime, but iu the Eoss County quarry more than oue-half is burned. 

In the Eoss County quarry the section shows 42 feet of stone disposed iu layers, all of which are available. 
The quarry is capped by 10 feet of drift material, which constitutes all of the stripping. The Highland County 
quarry shows 33 feet of stone of a like character overlaid by G feet of drift. 

The stone in the maiu is uonfossiliferous, but upon the surfaces of a few layers there are found the forms of 
the Leperdita alta, which is a characteristic fossil of the Helderberg formation. A layer of concretious from 1 inch to 
3 inches in diameter is found in the upper part of the section, and short cylindrical columns which fall out, leaving 
cylindrical cavities in the stone 3 or 4 inches iu diameter, occur in considerable numbers, and which are supposed 
to be due to the effects of pressure. 

Nodules of zinc-blende are not uncommou in the Greenfield stone, and the fossil corals are sometimes composed 
of silica, which also is distributed through some of the stoue iu bands that separate the layers. 

In composition the stone is nearly a typical dolomite, as is indicated by the foUowiug analysis: (b) 

Per cent. 

Calcium carbonate 53. G7 

Magnesium carbonate 42. 42 

Alumina and iron 

Sesquioxide 1. 30 

Calcium and magnesium silicates 1. 44 

Silica 1.00 

Total 99.83 

When examined under the microscope the whole stone shows the characteristic crystalline granular structure- 
of the Helderberg formatiou. There are streaks of iron oxide and carbonaceous matter which proceed iu regular 
wavy liues through the sections, and these bituminous substances are what give to the stone the strong fetid odor 
which is produced by striking or cutting it. The quality of the lime produced is another evidence that magnesian 
limestones may be converted into lime of excellent quality. 

Quarry operations have been carried on at Greenfield since the first settlement of the country to satisfy the 
local demand, but iu recent times the business has been greatly enlarged for the more dis'ant markets along the 
line of the railroads, and especially for the Cincinuati demand. The supply of stone is practically inexhaustible. 

In the southern and western part of Champaign county the Helderberg or Water-lime rocks have been quarried 
in numerous places; formerly a quarry at Salem supplied most of the local demand, and the building and flaggiug 
stones used in Urbana were obtained there until the sandstone of Berea superseded them. The stone obtained in 
the neighborhood of Urbana is of indifferent quality for building purposes, but here it is found iu a drift-covered 
region in an area which for 25 or 30 miles iu each direction is devoid of stoue. Only about 14 feet of the upper 
strata have been much quarried. The floor has been suuk to a greater depth, and the stone from the lower courses 
is proving itself to be a valuable building stone for rougher work. There is no so-called cutting stone in the quarry, 

a Geological Survey of Ohio, Report of Progress iu 1870, p. 255: "Geology of Highlaud County," by Professor Edward Orton. 
6 Report of Progress of Geological Survey of Uhio, 1870, p. 237. 



208 BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

aud the accompanying section will give an idea of the method in which the strata of the Helderberg are arranged 
at this point. It will be noticed that there is much greater diversity as regards stratification than is shown in the 
Greenfield quarries. 

The specimen sent to the National Museum is a light drab stone, somewhat streaked with red. Its material is 
of the same character as that of the other Helderberg stones — that is, a dolomite with a fine, crystalline, microscopic 
structure, and which emits a bituminous odor when struck with a hammer, although the odor is not so strong as in 
the case of some other Helderberg rocks. 

Allen county is almost entirely covered by limestones of the Water-lime or Helderberg formation, («) and all 
of the quarries that have been considered worthy of note extract stone from these beds that is used for the more 
ordinary building purposes and for foundations and underpinnings. The upper beds of the Niagara formation occur 
in the southeastern corner of the county, and a few quarries were once opened in those rocks, but the building 
material that was extracted was inferior, and the production of quicklime from them was not profitable. 

Although the building stone obtained from the Helderberg is, as a rule, not of excellent quality, still, as it is 
the only accessible material, it is of much value. 

The stone quarried directly in Lima is an inferior building stone, and is seldom used for foundations above 
ground, but is in demand for the underground portions of foundations. The quarry is worked more to obtain 
stone for macadamizing than for any other purpose. It occurs in thin layers, and a block 6 inches thick is 
seldom obtained. This thinly-bedded character renders it applicable as a flagging stone-; the bedding, however, 
is uneven. 

The material obtained from this quarry is a dark gray dolomite, which is quite porous in its character; it 
dissolves in hot acid with very little residue, and the solution is found to contain only traces of iron oxide, which 
the microscope proves to exist in the state of pyrites. The polishing of a face upon this stone renders its 
fossiliferous character very prominent, which is not common in the rocks of this formation. The stone is very 
bituminous aud gives forth a foul odor when struck with the hammer. 

A quarry 4 miles north of Lima is said to produce some material of a much better quality. It is situated near 
the Dayton and Michigan raih'oad, but a side track could not be constructed to it without considerable expense 
on account of the heavy grading that would be necessary. Some of the courses are over 1 foot thick, aud some 
from 4 to 6 inches thick have been used for sidewalk paving in front of the Lima machine works, where it gives 
indication of both strength and durability. The following is a section of the strata in the quarry : 

Feet. 

Soil 3 

Building .stoue for ordinary foundations 3 

Dark gray paving stone 1-i 

Blue shaly material - — 

Blue-stone — 

There is no natural drainage below the paving stone, and for this reason the underlying blue-stone has not 
been extensively quarried. According to the testimony of all builders and contractors the stone in the bottom 
of this quarry is the best building material found within a radius of at least 30 miles. The shaly rock which 
overlies the blue-stone forms good material for the macadamizing of roads. The material above the paving stone, 
which is used for foundations, occurs in thin beds which are never more than 3 inches in thickness. . 

The specimen which was sent from this quarry was taken from the lower or " blue-stone " layers ; it has a dark 
gray color, finely banded with yet darker lines, and much more compact than most of the stones sent from the quarries 
in the Helderberg. Indeed, no pores or cavities were found in it, and its texture was such that it admitted of a 
fair polish, as indeed do most of the Helderberg limestones. The stone from this quarry is a dolomite, but on being 
dissolved in hot acid quite a large residue of argillaceous character is left undissolved, and it contains bituminous 
substances which impart to it the character of a fetid limestone. It contains little or no iron. 

A quarry is situated 5^ miles northeast of Lima, and the following section indicates its character and the 
uses to which the stone is applied : 

stripping feot... 5 

Eoad stone do 3 

Gray building stones do 3 

Two courses of blue-stone ." inches.. . 6 

Blue clay do i 

Gray building stoue do — 

As in the case of the preceding quarry, the thickness of the stratum of the gray building stone is as yet 
undetermined. It occurs in courses from 3 to 6 inches thick. The upper 3 feet of stone, which is used for 
the purpose of macadamizing, is extracted with neither profit nor loss. The material is a more or less porous 
dolomite of a gray color, mottled and streaked with black, which is due to the arrangement of the bituminous 
substances contained in the stone. Of the two specimens sent to the National Museum, one was polished upon a 
surface parallel with the stratification, and this treatment developed a beautiful structure, due to the presence of 

a Geological Survey of Ohio, Vol. II, Parti, p. 397: Report on the "Geology of Allen County", by N. H. Winchell. 



DESCRIPTIONS OF QUARRIES AND QUARRY REGIONS. 209 

a fossil lirj-ozoau, wliich filled the layer that was cut. Thus the presence of a fossil iu abundance was demonstrated 
althoiigh the rough stone gave no indication of a fossilifei'ous character. This stone and the one previously 
described from Lima are the only stones of a fossiliferous character which were sent to the Museum, and which 
were obtained from the Helderberg formation. 

These stones are thus most markedly contrasted with those from the Niagara, which are almost all fossiliferous, 
as is indicated by microscopic examination, which very often renders the forms evident when they are invisible to 
the naked eye. 

In the eastern part of the township of Bluffton the quarries are better adapted to supplying flagging than 
bnildiug stone, since the thickness of the strata usually varies from 1 inch to 3 inches. When properly laid down 
these slabs make a very durable paving material for sidewalks, cellar bottoms, etc. They are very hard, but break 
quite easily into any required shape. The stone is dark-colored and of the same character as those previously 
described. Its color is imparted to it by bituminous substances, and the dark streaks with which it is filled are very 
irregular, so that a pattern not at all unattractive to the eye is developed upon the smooth or polished surfaces of the , 
blocks, and when dressed in the usual way and laid with white mortar they make a beautiful wall for smaller buildings. 
Such large blocks have been moved as to insure the possibility of obtaining blocks as large as might be desired. 

Although the quarries described have been recently opened, the stone has been quarried in the immediate 
neighborhood for fifteen years. 

Scott's Crossing is situated 4 miles east of Delphos, on the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne, and Chicago railroad. A 
quarry at this place produced a drab-colored limestone, which occurs in courses from 3 to 11 inches thick, and which 
serves very well for foundations. Samples which have been iu walls for over fifty years show no signs of decay. 
The quarrj' is situated in the bed of the Auglaize river, and is not worked early in the spring nor late in the fall, 
when the water is high. A slight dam is built about the quarry, which is washed out every winter, and in addition 
heavy rains iu the summer frequentlj" destroy the works. No more permanent dam is built, since the site of the 
quarry is often changed, and no excavation has been made in the vicinity to exceed 6 feet in depth. The material 
is mostly used in the vicinity for bridge abutments and at Delphos for foundations for buildings. It has been sent, 
to a limited extent, into Mercer county, over the Toledo, Delphos, and Birmingham railroad, to localities where the 
Piqua stone is not so readily sent. Ten inches of coarse sand, gravel, and other river deposits cover the stone, and 
about IS inches of the cap-rock is used upon the public highways. This is one of the best building stones quarried iu 
Allen county for the purposes to which it is applied. 

Van Wert county is covered in its northwestern part by the Niagara beds. The Helderberg limestone underlies 
the rest of the county, but only a few exjiosures of the rock of either kind are Icnown, as the whole region is mostly 
covered by drift. («) The county is entirely agricultural, aud the stones where quarried furnish materials that are 
used only for foundations iu that neighborhood or burned for lime. The lime-kilns at Straughu have caused the 
most extensive qirarrying operations, and the Helderberg stones there extracted are said to burn easily and 
cheaply to a beautiful white lime. The Van Wert quarry, which is the only one reported as producing any 
considerable amount of building material, also produces quicklime ; and during the last census year the value of 
the lime produced was about equal to that of the building stone. The Van Wert stone is a light gray dolomite, 
which is found in courses from 3 to 7 inches thick. The material thus far has given evidence of being a good 
building stone. Openings have been made in the limestone at several other points in the county; for example, on 
the Little Auglaize, in the northeastern part of the county, a stone very much like the Bluffton limestone has been 
quarried to a small extent for the Delphos market. In the northwestern part of the county some building stone is 
said to have been obtained in much thicker courses than in any other part. 

A very light gray limestone has been quarried at Charloe, on the Auglaize river, in Paulding county, which 
belongs to the Corniferous formation. This Paulding limestone is a soft stone which occurs in courses about 3 feet 
thick. It has been sawed, aud was used iu the foundation of the court-house aud also iu that of the Eussel House 
at Defiance, where it has suffered from the action of moisture and frost. As other specimens of the same stone 
do not show this disintegi-ation, its defective character is very likely due to the circumstance that it was quarried 
too late in the season. A blue limestone is also quarried about 5 miles farther down the river from Charloe, 
which occurs in courses from 6 to 18 inches thick, and has been used for the construction of locks on the Miami and 
Erie canal. It is not durable when exposed to atmospheric action, and the quarries have been abandoned. The 
demand for the material has been destroyed by the introduction of the White House stone from the north and the 
Piqua stone from the south. 

Tiffin is situated exactly upon the boundary between the Niagara and the Helderberg rocks, in Seneca county, 
and its quarries, althoiigh producing only Helderberg rocks, show at some times at their bases exjiosures of the 
iinderlyiug Niagara limestones. These quarries are located on the eastern side of the ridge known as the Cincinnati 
axis, and the characteristics of the rocks are much the same as those in the quarries on the western side of the 
anticlinal in the Helderberg formation ; but the stones at Tiflin are more massive, and are therefore more suitable 

a Report of the Geological Survey of Ohio, Vol. II, Part i, p. 314 : "Geology of Van Wert Coimty," by N. H. Wiuchell. 
VOL. IX li B S 



210 BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

for heavy coustruotiou. The courses are often 2G inches in thickness, and the stones produced are used largely 
for foundations and bridge work. The product of quicklime from these quarries is also large. 

The stone is light drab in color; it is bituminous, and gives forth a strong odor when hammered, but this 
characteristic is not so marked as in the dark-colored varieties. The principal market for all three of the quarries 
situated in Tif&n is furnished by the immediate neighborhood. Beside the quarries in the table there are several 
smaller ones which are worked in the vicinity of the town, and which produce the same kind of material iu less 
amount. 

A short distance west of Fremont several quarries have been opened in the strata of the Water-lime or 
Helderberg formation. 

The only quarry at this point of sufficient importance on account of its production of building stone is situated 
one mile to the west of Fremont, and in this the value of the lime which was produced from the quarry during the 
census year was ten times that of the building stone. The strata suitable for building purposes are from 1 foot to 
10 feet in thickness, and the material which does not make an excellent quicklime is comparatively small. As a 
buUding stone the material is superior to much of that used in counties to the southwest, although not equal to 
the Sandusky and Marblehead limestones. It is of a light drab color, full of small cavities, and works very easily, 
and some of it is soft and pure enough to be sawed. The stripping is sold for macadamizing. It presents the usual 
microscopic characteristics of the Helderberg rocks, and it dissolves in hot acid, leaving a very slight residue. 
The qualitative analysis indicates that it is composed of remarkably pure dolomite. 

CoRNiFBEOUS. — Quite a variety of stone is found in the neighborhood of Columbus, for although Franklin 
county is fiat it has a number of geological formations within its limits. To the east lie the Waverly sandstones 
and the Huron shale, but the limestones of the Corniferous, which lie to the west of Columbus, are by far the most 
important from an economic standpoint. Thick and heavy layers of stone exist among the strata. From the 
diiierent layers material suitable for the most diverse uses can be obtained, good quicklime can be made, and 
being in part a very pure carbonate of lime the stone is desirable as a flux for smelting iron ores. Of late it has been 
very extensively applied to the latter purpose, especially in the Hocking Valley region. The quarries are all situated 
a few miles to the west of Coliunbus, and have been operated for a long time. Some which have been the most 
imi^ortaut, for instance the state quarries, from which the material for the state-house and for the walls of the 
state-jjrison was extracted, are no longer worked, but all of the quarries mentioned in these tables are immediately 
about the old quarries and extract the same material. While the state-house was in process of construction, and 
stone of the best quality was iu demand, the Corniferous limestone was worked to a greater depth than it is at 
present, for the finest quality of stone is found iu the lower layers. At present the production of building stone is 
subordinate to the laroduction of lime and flux. 

The Columbus limestone is dense, compact, and strong. There are 12 feet of the upi^er coiu-ses in the i^reseut 
quarries that average 93 per cent, of carbonate of lime, and frequently the percentage rises to 95 or 9G, while, on 
the other hand, there are localities where the Corniferous limestone becomes nearly a typical dolomite, as at 
Bellefoutaine. The stone is fossiliferous, but the fossils are very firmly cemented and do not appear to weather 
out; in some cases, indeed, the fossil appears to be firmer than its surrounding stone. In microscopic structure 
the stone bears the appearance of a fragmental stone, being composed almost entirely of fragments of fossils. In 
the finer ground mass very perfect little rhombohedrons of dolomite are developed, which in number are apparently 
disproportionate to the amount of magnesia contained in the stone. Many of the fossils have apparent^ retained 
their primitive condition, but others have been dissolved away and the forms filled with crystalline calcite; and 
this will i^erhaps explain the different behavior of the fossils in weathering. The stoue is somewhat bituminous 
in character, as evinced by the odor emitted when struck. Its gray color is pleasing to the eye ; it works easily, and 
will even assume a good polish. 

Dynamite is used as an explosive to a large extent, any desired number of charges being exploded simultaneously 
by means of electricity. 

Although the common stone for foundations and underpinnings used iu Columbus is obtained from the quarries, 
stiU, during the census year, no great amount of building stone was extracted, and no important structures were 
built from the material. The quarries can at any time be operated much more extensively, and wiU produce a 
superior quality of stone for fine construction. 

In the eastern half of Logan county a lai-ge island of Corniferous limestone occurs, the center of which is 
covered with shales, but all around the edges small quarries have been opened for the purpose of obtaining stone 
both for building purposes and for lime, (a) 

At the i^resent time the only quarries of special importance tiiat are located in this district are those which are 
situated a short distance to the northwest of Bellefoutaine, and the material which they produce is used chiefly for 
rough work. Although capable of produciug excellent building material, the more imi^ortant stone structures in 
the neighborhood have been built of materials brought from a greater distance. The quarry operations are carried 
on in a quite primitive manner, and at present the lower strata in one quarry are inaccessible, since no means of 

» Report of the Geological Survey of Ohio, Vol. Ill, Part i, p. 482: "Geology of Logan Couuty", by Franldin C. Hill. 



DESCRIPTIONS OF QUARRIES AND QUARRY REGIONS. 211 

drainage have been supplied, and the quarry is filled with water to a depth of from 12 to 15 feet. The top layers 
of the stone are being extracted, although the lower layers are best suited for purposes of coustructiou. 

The quarry of Angel, Miller & Co., situated a half mile west of Bellefontaine, exhibits the following section: 

Drift feet.. 5 

Cellar stone do. .. 10 

Heavy hard stone do — 5 

Honey-combed porous stone inelies . . 9 

Heavy soft stone feet . . 5 

Occasionally some lime is burned at this quarry, although its amount is small and its quality inferior. 

The material that is at present produced by these quarries is a typical dolomite, and in microscopic structure 
consists of a perfect mass of sharply defined large rhombohedral crystals of dolomite cemented together by a mass 
of minute little crystals of the same form and composition. In many i^laces the crystals are only attached at their 
corners, leaving angular interspaces, and this accounts for the avidity with which water is absorbed by this stone. 
The fossiliferous character, if any originally existed, has been entirely obliterated. In color it is light gray, and it 
works easily and safely. Its microscopic structure is illustrated upon the plate at the en<l of the chapter. 

The first quarry in Marion county was opened in 1825 in what is known as the Marion limestone. Ten acres 
only are considered as belonging to the quarry. It is situated in the southeastern part of the town of Marion, and is 
the farthest south of any quarry in the neighborhood producing good building stone. A gray stone occurs about 
12 or li feet below the surface, and is probably underlaid by blue-stone, but as the gray is considered the best 
the lower courses have not been opened. 

Other quarries are located in the northeastern part of the town which extract material for building and quicklime. 
The largest quarries are, however, operated on the Columbus and Toledo railroad, one mile north of Marion. The 
stone is considered very strong and durable. The average thickness of the rocks extracted is not more than 8 
inches, although blocks 12 and even 15 inches thick are sometimes obtained. There is no difficulty iu extracting 
blocks of any required dimensions in the bed for all ordinary purposes of construction. The stone is easily quarried, 
being lifted with bars and broken with sledges, no blasting operations being- necessary except to make an opening 
in the floor of the quarry for deeper workings. 

The material is chiefly used for foundations and bridge work, and was largely employed in the construction of 
the depots and shops of the Columbus and Hocking Valley railroad. It is commonly called blue limestone, although 
the color differs at different horizons, and the layers also vary in texture and hardness, each layer, however-, being 
homogeneous. The stone is usually quite fine in grain and rather hard. The following may be regarded as a 
typical section representing this and all other quarries in the neighborhood of Marion : 

Feet. 

Soil 1 to 4 

Weathered rock lto4 

Bine-stone 1 to 6 

Gray-stone 4 

Blue-stone 

The overlying blue-stone is found in blocks from the exterior of which a gray color penetrates to a variable depth 
from the natural joints. It is liable to contain flinty nodides, from which the underlying gray-stone is almost entirely 
free. The blue-stone in the bottom of the quarry is free from this gray covering ; but the intermediate stone, which is 
all gray, is considered the best material. 

In these quarries the gray-stone is found near the top, but iu the other quarries reported from this township, 
being about IJ miles to the southeast of these, and in the direction of the dip of the strata, this gray layer is not 
struck until a depth of from 12 to IG feet from the surface is obtained. A very large amount of the cap-rock has 
been used for macadamizing streets and for ballast on the Columbus and Toledo railroad. The quarries in this 
township furnish the greater part of the stone used in the northern ])art of Union county and in quite a large 
portion of Hardin county. 

The material quarried at Marion is dolomite, containing some calcite. When microscopically examined it 
is found to consist of a multitude of perfect little rhombohedral crystals, each one of which contains a little black 
bituminous substance accumulated in its center, and all are cemented together by the calcite, which, although 
crystalline, does not assume a definite outhne.' The rock, when treated with cold and dilute acid, effervesces for a 
while, and the residue when examined is found to consist of a multitude of perfect and beautiful little rhombohedrons. 
The Marion stone has been selected for representation in the plate of microscopic sections, and some further remarks 
concerning its chemical composition and structure will be found in the general remarks that close this chapter. 

At Owen's station, in the southern part of the county, there is a quarry in the Corniferous limestone from which 
over 9,000 tons of lime and broken stone were shipped during the census year. 

Six miles northeast of Marion, in the township of Grand Rapids, the same limestone is worked quite extensively. 
A ridge occurs at this point in which a number of quarries are located. 

Crawford county is well supplied with building material. The limestones are quite well adapted for construction 
of foundations, but they are not at the present time extensively quarried owing to a number of causes. There are 



212 BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

no great demands for stone in this agricultural region, and tlie home resources are thrown into competition 
with the Berea grit, which is quite extensively quarried at Leesville, in the southeastern part of the county. In 
Holmes township, about 6 miles northwest of Bucyrus, and near the Ohio Central railroad, three quarries are at 
present worked in the Corniferous limestone. The material has much the appearance of the Marion limestone, 
but, while it may be of the same quality, the courses are generally thinner and not so well bedded. 

In Lykius township the same limestone is also quarried to some extent. The material from all these quarries 
has been used for bridge building and for foundations, but it is more and more displaced by the Leesville sandstone, 
especially for bridge-building purposes. 

A large quantity of quicklime has been produced here which has been shipped from Nevada, in Wyandot county, 
by the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne, and Chicago railroad. 

For building purposes the limestone which is quarried from the Corniferous formation at Bloomville, Seneca 
county, has a higher reputation than the Helderberg limestoues, and indeed it is said that these quarries produce 
one of the best limestones in northwestern Ohio. The material has been quite extensively used in Tiffin for 
many years for trimmings and stone fronts, and also for general building purposes in Mansfield and in the 
surrounding country. Good material for flagging, bridges, and foundations is quarried, and a slab 25 feet square 
might be obtained. It has already displaced in a measure at Mansfield the sandstones which are quarried in that 
vicinity. 

The specimens sent to the museum are of an attractive gray color and are highly fossiliferous. Some fossils 
have apparently been entirely removed at some period and their places subsequently supplied with a clear crystalline 
calcite, and some of the fossil forms are therefore strikingly apparent upon polishing the surface of the stone. 

Under the microscope the stone is found to consist of a grand aggregate of fossil fragments, among which here 
and there the rhombohedron crystals of dolomite are developed in much perfection. The number of these 
rhombohedral crystals is, as usual, proportionate to the amount of magnesia in the rook, which in this case is about 
16 i^er cent. 

The limestone industry in and about Sandusky is one of the most extensive in the state. This is partly due 
to the abundant and excellent supply of building stone furnished by the Corniferous strata of this region, and 
partly to the facilities for transportation by water and by rail. The city of Sandusky is founded upon a ledge of 
limestone, and excavation of any kind necessitates quarrying operations. In early days the stone thus extracted 
was the cheapest building material accessible, and came to be used very extensively. As a result the use of stone 
is more general there than in any other Ohio town. 

At Sandusky the upper layers of the Corniferous formation are composed of a blue limestone of a thickness 
from 20 to 25 feet. This is underlaid by the white Sandusky limestone, which is found in thicker courses, cuts 
easier, and is capable of making a better lime ; but at Sandusky this stratum, which is also from 20 to 25 feet in 
thickness, lies beneath the level of the lake, and is not readily accessible. The dip of the strata is, however, away 
Irom the water, and consequently this layer of white limestone is brought to the surface at Marblehead and on 
Kelley's island, as is shown in a number of quarries. The largest quarries are situated at these points. Sandusky 
itself, owing to the circumstances mentioned, possesses quite a large number of quarries, and the city itself constitutes 
in fact a great limestone quarry covered with but a very shallow layer of soil or earth. These city quarries have 
been worked very largely for home and foreign supply, not less than 12 acres having been excavated to a depth of 
8 feet. The Sandusky blue limestone is found in layers of convenient thickness, and the range work furnished by 
it presents an attractive appearance. The courses vary between 4 and 10 inches in thickness, and the material is 
used largely for flaggings, although not very well adapted for this purpose. It is laid in slabs from 4 to S feet square, 
which are not very smooth or regular until they become polished by wear, and then they are dangerously smooth. For 
construction purposes the stone has proven very durable, and the best foundations caa be secured at small expense 
if made from this stone. It is also used for macadamizing the streets, and recently it has been found that a 
foundation of the Sandusky blue limestone can be advantageously overlaid by a thin coat of the white limestone 
which binds and cements the road-bed. 

All of the quarries which in the tables are indicated as existing in the corporate limits of Sandusky are 
essentially one, as they produce the same mateiial, and only in a single case has a quarry been sunk to the level of 
the underlying white limestone. About one hundred and eighty houses in the city have been constructed of 
this stone. The specimens sent to the ISTational Museum from vaiious quarries are identical in their minutes 
structures. They are bluish-gray in color, compact, and present a fine appearance, however dressed. Although they 
effervesce rapidly in acid, they are quite magnesian, and under the microscope they are seen to consist of fossil 
fragments, among which a multitude of little rhombohedral crystals are developed. In the center of each one of 
these rhombohedrons is a black spot, which, upon close examination, is found to consist of pyrites. Sometimes, 
instead of a single spot, there is a large number of dust-like particles, which give to the stone a very marked and 
characteristic appearance. These are so numerous that it can scarcely be doubted that they impart the charactei istic 
color to the stone. That they are situated, however, in the exact center of compact crystalline material cannot but 
have an influence in protecting them from disintegration, and there is no evidence that the presence of this 
ingredient has proved deleterious to the stone. 



DESCRIPTIONS OF QUARRIES AND QUARRY REGIONS. 213 

The white iiuderlying limestone is what is called a cutting stone, and can be raised in blocks as large as can be 
handled. It is more highly fossiliferous to the unaided eye than the blue limestone, but under a microscope it is 
less so, and there is a much larger number of the rhombohedral crystals which correspond to its more magnesiau 
character. 

At point Marblehead the limestone quarries are all located in a terrace lying a few rods from the beach, 
where the thickness of the formation quarried is from 15 to 25 feet. Already 20 acres, as estimated, have been 
excavated to this depth. 

These quarries are among the most famous of northern Ohio, and their location directly ou the shores of lake 
Erie, and the heavy stones that some of them produce, have led to very large use of the stone, especially in the 
government works along the line of the great lakes. Latterly they are losing their place as building stones to 
some extent, but the production of lime has increased. Some quarries have beeii worked for at least fifty years. 
In these quarries the lower C or S feet are cemented into one solid sheet from which the large dimension stones 
for which the location is famous are extracted. It is from these quarries that a large part of the heavy stone 
used in the Sault Ste. Marie caual, in the northern light-houses, and iu other government works has been derived. 
Many of the most important public and private structures in the region of the great lake were built of the 
Marblehead stone. The Detroit and the Cleveland water- works, the light-houses at Spectacle reef, ]\Iarblehead 
(built over fifty years ago), and Stauard's Eock, lake Superior, were all wholly or partly built of this material. It 
is particularly valuable in situations where it is exposed to the action of water or frost, as is shown by the condition 
of the old locks of the Sault Ste. Marie Falls canal and the light-houses in exposed situations. 

The material from these quarries, like that at Sandusky, is a magnesiau limestone, which contains beautifully- 
preserved fossils; the centers of the little rhombohedral crystals that characterize all of the Sandusky limestone 
are free from the grains of pyrites which characterize the blue Sandusky layers, and the difference iu the color 
of the two stones is to be attributed to this circumstance. 

The following analysis, made by Mr. J. Lang Cassels, represents the composition of the limestone from these 
quarries : 

Per cent. 

Calcium carbonate - --- s3. 20 

Magnesiau carbonate 15.83 

Silica 0.15 

Organic matter 0. 03 

Moisture - 0.60 

Total 100.00 

The proprietors claim that they could easily extract a block of stone equal iu size to the Egyptian obelisk 
recently introduced into this country, its extraction being simply a matter of expense. 

The block-stone proves to be a source of excellent lime, which has long been used, but which of late has 
been more abundantly produced. All of the waste material is devoted to this purpose, and nothing remains in the 
quarries except flint nodules. The modern kilns of the best construction are attached to some of the quarries, and 
300 or 400 barrels per day are turned out from one single quarry. Part of the thin stone goes to lake Superior for 
furnace flux, where it is highly esteemed, aud a large trade iu the lime has been built up at Duluth and in the 
northwest, and the best stone of the quarries is now being burned. Much of the stone is shipped to other points 
to be burned, and all along the lakes are kilns which are supi^lied from Marblehead and Kelley's island. The 
Michigan lusane Hospital building at Pontiac and the government breakwaters at Erie were constructed of the 
Sandusky stone. 

At White House, in Lucas county, the same lower beds of the Corniferous are worked, aud this is the only 
quarry which is operated to any extent ou the Toledo, Wabash, and Western railroad between Toledo and Wabash. 
Some of the material is shipped to Toledo, as there is a demand for it in the winter, when, on account of the ice, 
the stone quarried near Sandusky cannot be shipped to Toledo by water. 

Near Defiance there is some stone quarried from the beds on the Jliami river, and the same is true at Antwerp. 
The quarry at White House was uot extensively worked itutil 1879, when the railroad track was laid into it. The 
cap-rock has been used for ballast on the railroad, so that the stripping is accomplished without expense. 

The weathered rock which is used for ballast is from 2 to 8 feet iu depth, and this is underlaid by 6 feet of gray- 
stone in courses of from C to 10 inches in thickness, 6 feet of blue-stone iu courses from G to IS inches iu thickness, 
and one course of gray-stone 1 foot 10 inches in thickness. The bottom course is nearly uniform in thickness aud 
is used for heavy bridge work. The blue-stone is not of a decided blue color, like that of the Upper Corniferous 
at Sandusky, but is a kind of grayish-blue. 

Napoleou and Defiance, Ohio, aud Fort Wayne, Indiana, furnish tlie principal markets for this stone. 

In the townships along the Muskingum the sandstone, which is situated below the coal, aflbrds an exeelleut 
buildiug stone and is extensively quarried. The Waverly sandstone also occurs in the western portion of the 
county. The limestones which also occur in the county are, upon the whole, of rather inferior quality for purposes 
of construction, and would scarcely be worked if the lime which can be made from them was not of good quality 
and demanded for construction iu the neighborhood. 



214 BUILDING STONES AND THE QUAEEY INDUSTRY. 

Sub-Caeboniperous. — A quarry situated at Xewtouville, about S miles west from Zanesville, is the ouly one iu 
Ohio from which limestones of sub-Carboniferous age are raised for building purposes. There are several large quarries 
iu other exijosures of this same horizon iu southern Ohio that are worked exclusively for furnace flux and for lime- 
burning. The Newtonville stone is a beautiful material, very fine grained, quite even in color, and of great strength. 
It is very compact, highly fossiliferous, of light gray color, and has thus far shown no ill effects from exposure to 
the weather. The Muskingum County court-house, at Zanesville, one of the finest in the state, is built from this 
stone, and it has also been much used for caps, sills, columns, etc., and although the production at present is small, it 
may at any time be increased with a demand for the material ; but at the present time most of the product is burned. 
A thickness of about 10 feet of stone is quarried, that being the depth to which natural drainage extends. 
Several feet more of the best of the stone lie below this level, and the thickness of the layers increases with the 
depth ; upon the top there are only very thin beds, while at a depth of 10 feet the beds are 16 or 18 inches iu thickness. 
The material is nearly a pure carbonate of lime, containing only traces of iron and magnesia. In its microscopic 
structure it appears to be quite highly fossiliferous and very compact, containing only small traces of iron pyrites, 
the oxidation of which imparts the faint yellow color which the stone generally jjossesses. 

Oaebonifeeous. — A quarter of a mile southwest of Zanesville, near the Muskingum. ri-\'er, a quarry has been 
opened in the limestone of the Lower Coal Measures, from which some material has been extracted which has been 
used chiefly for caps, sills, and top courses of foundations. The main product of this quarry is burned into lime. It is 
not used for the ruder purposes of construction, as it is too expensive. The ledge from which this stone is taken is a 
solid mass of a bluish color, and about 3 feet in thickness. The strix)ping which overlies the 3 feet of stone is 25 feet 
thick. The material is a compact, earthy limestone of a very dark color, containing considerable protoxide of iron 
and very little magnesia. It is very highly fossiliferous and difficult to work, and is called by the stone-cutters 
hard and plucky. 

The outcrops of this stone are found abundantly iu the neighborhood of Zanesville, and the material is quite 
extensively used for macadamizing streets. The national road for some distance west of Zanesville is constructed 
of it. 

There is quite a large number of quarries situated in the outcrops of Carboniferous limestone in southeastern 
Ohio, the products from which are used as fluxes and for burning, but the two quarries which have been mentioned 
in Muskingum county are the only ones which are of any consequence as producing materials of construction. 
The Carboniferous limestones of this area are hard to work and do not possess the highest requisites of a good 
building stone, but these quarries are capable at any time of producing material for building, and in fact does 
so under special circumstances. Although these quarries are worthy of consideration in connection with their 
ability to produce building stones, still the industry is so insignificant that it has nofbeen considered important to 
tabulate the products of any of them. 

To recapitulate : The line drawn nearly through the center of the state from Erie county on the north through 
Adams county on the south will form the boundary between the area to the east, in which the chief quarrying industry 
is devoted to the extraction of sandstones, and the western area, in which the only quarrying industry is devoted 
to the extraction of limestones. 

The geological formations in the Limestone area follow one another iu a quite regular order, the oldest being 
situated in the southwestern corner, and the youngest in the eastern part of the state ; and the character of the 
stone is entirely dependent upon this geological arrangement, as regards both the character and the quality of 
the material. 

A considerable quantity of stone is extracted from the Cincinnati group, but, as already indicated, this is 
chiefly owing to the circumstance that the material is in the neighborhood of the large city of Cincinnati. In 
quality the material is surpassed by the stone from other formations. A narrow band of Clinton limestone 
surrounds the area of the Cincinnati group, but at the present time this formation furnishes no building stones. 

The Magara or Cliff formation, which succeeds, is one of the great building-stone formations of the state, and 
in numerous places most excellent and durable materials are obtained ; but even the subdivisions of this group 
determine largely the character of the stones extracted. The lowest or the Dayton formation produces at all 
points a hard, compact, light stone, while the Springfield division produces a less compact, more easily worked 
stone, and the top beds are almost universally converted into quicklime. 

The Helderberg or Water-lime rocks, which cover a large area, are almost without exception bituminous 
dolomites, but in character vary from dark to light and from compact to open or vesicular. The Coruiferous 
limestones are most extensively quarried in and about Sandusky, and furnish one of the finest materials obtained 
in the st&,te, while all of the overlying formations are almost devoid of building-stone quarries. As regards 
composition, the stones from these various formations vary from almost typical limestones to almost typical 
dolomites, and there seem to be no rules which will enable one to decide upon the quality or durability of the 
stone from its composition. Experience also demonstrates that the composition, as regards the proportion of 



DESCRIPTIONS OF QUARRIES AND QUARRY REGIONS. 215 

lime and magnesia, does not determine the value of tlie stoue as material for the production of quicklime. It 
■would therefore appear tliat the value of the stone is more largely dependent upon its accessory constituents and 
its microscopic structure. 

There is a progressive increase in the amount of magnesia from the Lower Silurian limestones to the Corniferous 
The Cincinnati limestones of the Lower Silurian contain from 1 to .5 per cent, of magnesian carbonate, while the 
Clinton limestones of the Upper Sikirian contain on an average about 12 per cent. The Dayton limestone of the 
is"iagara period contains about the same amount, while the upper divisions of the Niagara and the Heklerberg 
formations are made up mainly of nearly typical dolomites. As regards composition the nest following Corniferous 
limestones are very variable. At Bellefoutaine the stone is a dolomite, and at Columbus it is as good a limestone, 
containing on an average 93 to 95 -per cent, of carbonate of lime, and the Hocking "Valley furnaces are largely using 
it for a flux. 

In structure there is less diversity in the Ohio limestone than in those of some of the other states, since the 
oolitic and concretionary forms do not appear; but all other types are found, and therefore the greatest diversity 
exists in the ease with which stones may be worked. There are the open, porous varieties, and the varieties which 
once were open and porous, but which have been again partially consolidated by the filling of the pores; others 
in which the pores have been entirely filled ; and other varieties in which large crystals have developed themselves 
in a ground mass, giving to the stone a porphyritic aspect. There are the compact fossiliferous stones and the 
compact non-fossiliferous stones. As regards colors, they vary from very light to very dark, but all possess the 
drab, gray, or yellowish tints which are characteristic of what are called limestones. 

In microscopic structure the limestones of Ohio can all be classified according to certain types of structure 
which are found to be correlated with composition. It may be at first remarked that the microscope indicates that 
the stones are all highly crystalline. A crystal is a body which possesses a definite internal molecular structure, and 
if it is further assumed that the external crystalline form is a property of crystals, then many Ohio limestones are 
more crystalline in their structure than are the so-called highly-crystalline marbles ; for in a great many cases the 
very well developed crystals with external planes are developed in the mass of the stone, and in other cases the 
stone is entirely composed of such crystals with the form characteristic of the species of the mineral which composes 
it. In no case has there been found in any Ohio limestone anything which could be called in any correct sense of the 
word uncrystalline ; and, indeed, in the light of the microscopic study, any distinction which can uniformly 
distinguish a limestone from a dolomite is very difficult to find. The progressive increase in the amount of magnesia 
which is contained in stones is indicated in the microscopic structure by the development of little rhombohedral 
crystals the sections of which apiiear quite conspicuous with their sharply-defined edges. 

INDIANA. 

[Compiled mainly from notes of Professor Orton.] 

The rocks of the Cincinnati epoch of the Lower Silurian period occupy a small ai-ea in the southeastern jjart 
of the state, but no quarry rock is developed in this formation. Its western limit is roughly defined by a line 
drawn from Winchester, Randolph county, to Madison, Jefferson county. 

The rocks of the Niagara epoch of the Upper Silurian period occupy a more extensive territory north and west 
of this line. This formation furnishes stone for foundations, underpinnings, and bridge work in nearly every county 
which it occupies. In a few localities the stone is suitable for the better architectural purposes, and in some places 
an excellent flag-stone is produced. The Heklerberg formation has not been identified in Indiana. The approximate 
northern and western limits of the Upper Silurian formation are marked by a line drawn from Fort Wayne to 
Logansiiort, and thence to the eastern extremity of Clark county. 

The Devonian formation occupies a narrow belt to the west of the Silurian. It has a meager development, its 
entire thickness being only about 200 feet, and it furnishes little building stone. The line between this and the 
sub-Carboniferous formation may be roughly drawn from the northwest corner of Benton county to the northwest 
corner of Clinton county, and thence to the southern extremity of Clark county. 

As to production of stone, the sub-Carbouiferous is the most important formation in the state. It furnishes 
the famous " Bedford limestone,'' and also some valuable sandstones, which are, however, mostly noted for their 
adaptability to the manufacture of grindstones and whetstones. 

The Coal Measures occupy the southwestern part of the state, and the dividing line between this and the 
sub-Carboniferous formation is nearly that from the southern extremity of Perry county to a point about 6 miles 
southwest of the northeast corner of Warren county, and from there west to the state line. 

The coarse sandstone, commonly known as the "conglomerate", at the base of this formation is found in a 
region on all sides of which for many miles little sandstone suitable for heavy masonry is available, and also near 
large districts entirely destitute of building stones; but as yet no large quarry industries have been developed in 
this formation. 

The northern portion of the state beyond the line drawn across it through Fort Wayne and Mouticello is 
deeply covered with drift material. The granitic bowlders found quite abundantly on the surface in some localities 



216 BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

farnisli the only local supplies of stone in this extensive district. It is in this region that a considerable market 
is found for the sandstones quarried at Stony Point, Michigan, and Berea and Amherst, Ohio, and for the limestone 
quarried in the Bedford district iu southern Indiana, and in the Joliet district of Illinois. 

LIMESTONE. 

The localities north of Indianapolis where limestone is quarried for building stone, with a few exceptions, 
deserve but a passing notice. At Wabash quite an important flagging stone is obtained at the quarries of Messrs. 
Bridge.s & Scot, Hubbard & Smith, Philip Hipskiu, and William J. Ford ; important because it is the best stone for 
sidewalk pavements to be obtained for many miles around. It occurs in layers from 1 inch to 7 inches in thickness, 
those from 3 to 5 inches thick being most commonly used for flagging, and the heavier courses for foundations and 
bridge work. The joints run quite regularly, and occur far enough apart to allow the largest required slabs to be 
obtained. The surface of the natural slabs is, however, rather too rough to allow the stone to be classed with the 
best of flag-stones. The quarry of Messrs. Moellering & Paul is in a different stratum of the Niagara limestone ; 
the beds vary in thickness from 3 to 15 inches, and the stone is shipped to Fort Wayne, where it is used for 
foundations and underpinnings. The quarry of Messrs. Little & Shoemaker is in a thin, irregularly -bedded limestone, 
commonly called " shell-rock". It is easily worked, and is cut through by the Wabash and Pacific railroad, which 
furnishes direct transportation for the quarry product to Fort Wayne, where such stone is in demand for ordinary 
foundations. 

The quarries in Adams, Wells, Howard, Grant, Blackford, and Delaware counties furnish stone for light bridge 
work and for foundations. 

The most valuable deposits of limestone that have been quarried for building purposes in northern Indiana 
are in Cass and Madison counties. 

The quarries of Messrs. J. E. Burns and August Gleitz are located about 3 miles west of Logansport, Oass 
county, in the south bank of the Wabash river, and in a stratum of compact, though easily-worked, uniformly- 
colored limestone, in layers from 4 inches to 4 feet thick. These quarries have furnished the stone for the 
superstructures of some fine church buildings and for quite a large number of dwellings, stores, shops, etc., in 
Logansport. This stone presents a very pleasant appearance in a building when dressed rock-face. The stone 
from the quarry of Messrs. Lux & Lux, at Logansport, is used for foundations. 

The Anderson, Madison county, quarries are located iu an evenly-bedded limestone which works quite well 
under the chisel. This stone lies in beds from 4 to 12 inches in thickness, and is used in the town of Anderson 
for flagging, foundations, caps, sills, etc. It is rather beautiful and quite durable. 

There is a number of localities in northern Indiana, south of the drift-covered region, where limestone is 
quarried for the manufacture of quicklime. A large amount of lime of excellent quality is burned annually at 
Huntington, and considerable amounts are burned at Peru and Delphi. 

In the Upper Silurian or Magara formation there are quarries of considerable im.portance in the southern 
part of the state, but by far the most valuable building stone of the state is obtained from a stratum of limestone 
in the sub-Carboniferous formation. This limestone is supposed to belong in the geological scale to the Saint Louis 
group of the sub-Carboniferous j)eriod. It occurs in massive beds of almost jiuve limestone, varying in different 
localities from an ordinary gray to an almost pure white color, and having a granular or oolitic structure. It is 
known by Indiana geologists as the "oolitic limestone", and is commonly known in the trade as Bedford stone and 
Indiana stone. • A piece of the stone dressed in the shape of a fiat bar rings like iron when struck, and it is very 
elastic, strong, and durable. It does not take a fine polish, but its adaptability to carved work is well shown in 
the elaborate carving in the mansion of Mr. William K. VanderbUt, built of this material, on Fifth avenue, K"ew 
York city. 

In the Greencastle quarries the stone has a light gray or drab color, and is susceptible of receiving quite a high 
polish. This stone differs considerably from the sub-Carboniferous limestone in the Ellettsville, Stinesville, Bedford, 
and Salem quarries ; it is harder, less granular, takes a higher polish, and occurs in thinner beds. This stone is 
used for the construction of cellar walls, for bridge work, blast-furnace flux, and lime-burning. 

The quarries at Okalla, Putnam county, furnish material for bridge construction and for Ume. The stone 
differs little from that quarried at Greencastle. At the Putnamville quarry the stone is heavily bedded, highly 
siliceous, quite hard, of a light gray color, and receives but a slight polish. It has a very compact, fine, granular 
structure. This stone is employed in all kinds of building, principally in the cities of La Fayette, Terre Haute, 
and Crawfordsville. 

The quarries at Longwood, Fayette county, furnish stone for bridge work, cellar walls, steps, and some flagging. 
The material flnds its principal markets at Connersville and Rushville. The specimens forwarded to the National 
Museum represent a buff variety and a drab mottled with buff. Both varieties take a medium polish, and from 
the latter tombstones have been made. The quarries near Laurel, in Fayette and Franklin counties, fiu-nish stone 
for foundations, bridge work, and flagging to the country along the line of railroad from Cincinnati, Ohio, to 
Muncie, Indiana. This stone has quite a beautiful drab color, a compact structure, and is strong and durable. It 
works well under the chisel and takes a medium polish. 



DESCRIPTIONS OF QUARRIES AND QUARRY REGIONS. 217 

Tlie New Point, Greeusburg, and Saint Paul quarries, iu Decatur and Shelby counties, furnisli stone for 
general purposes of construction and for flagging. The material finds its principal markets at Cincinnati, Ohio, 
and at Indianapolis, Terre Haute, and La Fayette, Indiana. A section at Xew Point quarry exhibits 2J feet of 
drift ; 3 feet of thinly -bedded rock, used for rubble and lime; and below this i feet of cutting stone. It is estimated 
that the value of the lime sold annually from this quarry is about one-third of that of its entire product. 

The specimen forwarded to represent the mateiial from this quarry contains numerous crystals of pyrites, 
Tarying in size from the smallest that can be seen with the naked eye up to half an inch in diameter. The stone 
works weU, but does not take a,good polish. 

At the Greeusburg quarry the stone is more crystalline and is susceptible of being quite highly polished. 
It is rather hard and slightly plucky. It is used for all building purposes, and the thinly -bedded stone in the 
upper portion of the quarry is used to some extent for flagging and for railroad ballast. A section of the quarry 
exhibits G feet of drift material, 7 feet of thinly-bedded stone, and 9 feet of cutting stone. 

At the Saint Paid quarries the stone is quite highly crystalline, works well, and takes a medium polish. It is 
used for all building purposes and for flagging. Mr. J. L. Scaulan manufactures lime, and it is estimated that the 
value of lime burned is about two-thirds that of tJie entire product of his quarry. The material which is burned 
is the thinly-bedded rock occuring above the cutting stone. A section of the quarry shows i feet of drift, 10 
feet of lime-rock, and 10 feet of cutting stone. 

A section of Mr. W. W. Lowe's quarry shows 1 foot of drift, 5 feet of thin stone, and 20 feet of cutting stone. 

The quarry of Mr. G. W. McNeely, 2 miles west of Saint Paul and in Shelby county, is worked in 6 feet of 
thinly -bedded stone, and furnishes foundation stone and flagging to the neighborhood. The stone from these 
quarries may be equal in beauty and durability and even superior in strength to the oolitic limestone, but it is not so 
extensively employed, especiaUy for the better kinds of architectural uses, because it is harder to quarry and to 
dress, and'camiot be obtained so readily in large-sized blocks. It has been chiefly used for foundations and bridge 
abutments, and the thin, evenly-bedded layers are extensively used for sidewalk paving. 

The oolitic limestone is quite extensively quarried in Monroe county, and the EUettsville stone is used for all 
building purposes in Chicago, Saint Louis, Indianapolis, and also iu many of the smaller cities and towns in Indiana 
and Illinois. The following are some of the buildings in which examples of EUettsville stone may be seen : Indiana 
State-house, Marion County court-house, and the Vance block, at Indianapolis ; the custom-house and post-office, 
Evansville; Knox County court-house, Yincenues ; Dearborn County court-house, Lawrenceburg; Posey County 
court-house. Mount Vernon; Clark County court-house, Jeflersonville ; Bartholomew County court-house, Columbus; 
Johnson County court-house, Franklin; Asbury university, Greencastle; Wabash coUege, Crawfordsville— all in 
Indiana; and the state capitol, Springfield, Illinois. 

A section of the quarry of Messrs. John Mathews & Sons shows first 3 feet of clay, then 7 feet of worthless 
rock, called "bastard" limestone, and, below this, 18 feet of limestone iu one bed, which has, however, several 
"cone-in-cone " seams. This stratum has not been worked to the bottom in this quarry. 

There are 2 feet of clay and 6 feet of bastard limestone over the building stone in the quarry of Messrs. 
Perry Brothers. The bed of building stone has been worked to a depth of 3-4 feet, divided into five layers by 
cone-in-cone seams. The stone in the top and bottom layers, respectively 8 and 6 feet thick, is quite hard, and 
is used in the construction of bridges. The intervening 20 feet consist of two layers, each 5 feet thick, and one 
layer at the bottom 10 feet thick. All the stone in these three lajers is easily worked. 

The disintegration of the fossil fragments, mostly coral, of which this stone is largely made up, has gone to 
such an extent in the EUettsville stone that the fragments are very small, and the interstices between them have 
been so completely filled as to give the stone quite a compact structure. The representative specimen from the 
Stinesville quarries shows a much coarser and a more open structure, the fossil fragments being much larger and 
the interstices between them being less perfectly filled; however, the material is about as widely distributed, though 
somewhat less extensively, and is used for similar purposes. 

The last- mentioned quarries are located near each other. The one at the lowest level has 28 feet of limestone 
exposed, with a smaU honey-comb seam about 6 feet from the top. The two other quarries have about 30 feet of 
limestone exposed, with the honey-comb seam coming in at a depth of about 12 feet. 

The entile section of the Saint Louis group is exposed at the quarry of Mr. B. Schweitzer, in Owen county, 
but the oolitic limestone is not weU developed here. About 70 feet of limestone, varying, at difterent heights, 
in color, texture, and composition, are worked ; and from 4 to 10 feet of the lower portion of this is a white 
limestone, which is burned. The lime product represents about one-fourth of the entire quarry product in value. 
The buOding stone occurs in layers fi-om 2 to 14 inches in thickness, being mostly a very fine grained aud 
compact material, with a conchoidal fracture. It is not suitable for cutting; but, being evenly bedded, is well 
adapted for the construction of foundations, for which the blocks are easily squared up. The stone finds its 
principal markets at Indianapolis, Terre Haute, Vincennes, and Evansville, Indiana. 



218 BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

Bedford, Lawrence county, furnislies tlie "Indiana limestone", famous over a large portion of our country, 
known as "Bedford stone" in some markets.. As is sliown in tlie tables, most of the Bedford quarries now worked 
have been quite recently opened. The stone has only within a few years come into extensive use, though it has 
been quarried and used in a small way for twenty-five or more years. At the present time it is one of the stones 
most extensively employed for architectural purposes in the city of Chicago. The fossil fragments of which the 
stone is composed are quite uniform in size, of about that of an ordinary grain of sand, and the interstices 
between them are well filled, giving a uniform texture and firm structure. The appearance of the stone, when 
dressed in any manner applicable to limestones, is good. The qualities of beauty, strength, durability, and 
cheapness due to accessibility and ease of working possessed by the Bedford stone, tend to secure for it a very 
prominent place among the building stones of our counti-y. The following are some of the buildings in which 
Bedford stone was used: Residences of Mr. W. H. Yanderbilt, Mr. I. Sherwood, and Mr. Cornelius J. Vanderbilt, 
li'ifth avenue; residence of Mr. William H. De Forest, Fiftj'-seventh street; the Smith building, Cortland street ; 
Appleby fiats, corner Seventh avenue and Fifty-eighth street; Bridge building. Fourteenth street; flats. Eighty- 
fourth street and Eleventh avenue; and rectory. Fifty-first street — all in jSTew York city; Cotton Exchange 
building, IsTew Orleans, Louisiana; new city hall, Chicago; state capitol, Springfield; McLean County court-house, 
Bloomington; Peoria County court-house, Peoria; and county court-house, Olney — all in Illinois; new state-house 
and United States custom-house, Indianapolis; Grant County court-house, Marion; Lawrence County court-house, 
Bedford; county court-house. Shoals; Floyd County court-house, IsTew Albany; Music hall, New Albany; Posey 
County court-house. Mount Yernon; United States custom-house and approaches, Evamsville — all in Indiana; 
and United States custom-house and Jefferson County couit-house, Louisville, Kentucky. In Louisville, Chicago, 
Saint Louis, Evansville, and Indianapolis there are scores of buildings the fronts of which are built of Bedford 
stone. 

At some of the quarries there are from 4 to 5 feet of worthless rock on top ; below this the solid bed of oolitic 
limestone has been worked to a depth of 40 feet, and the bottom of the bed is not yet reached. The amount of 
stripping varies in different localities. In some places there are but a few feet of clay on top of the oolitic 
limestone, while in other places the stripping consists of 12 or more feet of bastard limestone. 

At the Lawrenceburg quarry, in the southeastern part of Lawrence county, and at the Fort Ritner quarry, near 
the line between Lawrence and Jackson counties, the oolitic limestone has not been so extensively quarried as at 
the Bedford quarries ; the material, however, is of good quality. At Lawrenceburg the oolitic limestone has been 
worked to a depth of but 14 feet. From this quarry the material goes principally to Cincinnati and to Saint 
Louis. 

At Fort Eitner only 10 feet of the limestone have been worked. The material was used in the construction of 
the court-house at Brownstown and the cathedral at Viucennes, Indiana. 

The quarries in Jennings county are in the Niagara limestone of the Upper Silurian period, and the stone 
produced is quite like that from the same formation in Decatur county, which has already been described. Sections 
in these quarries show from 3 to 5 feet of drift material, and below this from 8 to 30 feet of quarry stone in evenly- 
bedded layers from 2 to 36 inches in thickness. The thinly-bedded layers are used quite extensively at Indianapolis 
and other cities for paving sidewalks. With these stones, when used for sidewalk paving and in rough masonry, 
nothing is necessary in the way of dressing beyond breaking the blocks into rectangular shape. The heavier layers 
are used extensively for the construction of foundations and bridge abutments, for which purpose this stone is well 
adapted on account of its strength, durability, and cheapness, due to the fact that little dressing is necessary for 
this kind of work on account of the evenness of the layers and the smoothness of the bed surfaces. 

The specimen from the North Yernon quarries has a dark drab color, and that from the Oakdale quarry a 
light drab or gray color. The former represents what is locally known as the North Yernon "blue limestone", 
which was used in the construction of the Ohio Eiver bridge of the Cincinnati Southern railroad. The strata occur 
near the surface of quite an extensive area along the lines of the Ohio and Mississippi railroad and its Louisville 
branch and the Jeffersonville, Madison, and Indianapolis railroad. 

The quarries worked at Osgood, Eipley county, are also in the Niagara limestone, and the principal use made 
of the product is for flagging and curb stones. The material finds its ijrincipal markets at Cincinnati, and at 
Co^'ington, Kentucky. At these quarries there are from 2J to 5 feet of drift on top, and below this from 10 to 12 
feet of quarry rock. The representative specimens of these stones forwarded to the National Museum contain a 
considerable amount of pyrites in the crystalline form. The stone is less applicable for cut work than for sidewalk 
paving, curb stones, foundations, etc. 

Near Salem, in Washington county, the oolitic limestone has quite a valuable development. Under about 5 
feet of cap-rock a solid stratum of limestone 30 feet in thickness occurs. Six feet of the lower portion of this, 
however, is not used on account of its being too hard. The remainder of the stratum is quarried for all kiuds of 
building purposes, and the material finds its principal markets at Louisville, Kentucky, and New Albany, Indiana. 



DESCRIPTIONS OF QUARRIES AXD QUARRY REGIOXS. 219 

Samples of this material may be seen in the coiut-liouse at Sew Albauy, and in the Gait house and city hall 
at Louisville, Kentucky. In color, texture, and ease of working this stone differs little from that quarried at 
Bedford. 

At the Xew Albauy quarries, in Floyd couuty, the oolitic limestone is somewhat harder and less valuable for 
architectural purposes. It is principally used for foundations and street pavements at Kew Albauy. Only 9 feet 
of limestone is quarried, and the cap -rock is about 25 feet iu depth— 16 feet of clay and 9 feet of worthless 
sand-rock. This depth of cap-rock of course increases the expense of quarrying to a considerable degree, but the 
quarries can be worked with profit so far as the material may be in demand at the Xew Albany market for the 
■above-specified purposes, uo other material so suitable for the same uses being so near at hand. 

ILLINOIS. 
By Pkopessor Allan D. Conotee, Special Agent. 

The state of Illinois embraces rocks representing most of the epochs of the Silurian, Devonian, and 
Carboniferous ages, and including most of their- varieties in texture. Over the greater part of its area these rocks 
have been but little disturbed, and occur with beds approximately horizontal or inchued at a small angle to the 
horizon. In a few localities, however, very considerable distuibances of the normal relation of the strata have 
taken place, usually within rather restricted areas, and have been accompanied in some places by marked changes 
iu the physical characteristics of the rocks, which have affected very considerably their value as building material. 

The surface of the state is almost every wheie covered by a variable depth (at places but a few feet, at others 
much over 100 and possibly over 200 feet) of the looser deposits of the Tertiary and the Quaternary ages. Owing 
perhaps partly to the nature of its rock formation, but most largely in all probability to these subsequent deposits, 
a very large portion of the state presents a very level or slightly-undulating prairie surface, within the limits of which 
are but few rock exposures. This is true of the whole central and eastern part of the state, the larger portion of 
its territory. 

Skirting this great area oa all sides except the east is a country of very different character, though the change 
is gradual — a valley country with very marked water-courses, which cut through the beds of clay and sand to and 
into the rock formations below. Throughout the greater part of this area the rocks immediately underlying are 
Silurian, Devonian, or sub-Carboniferous, all of which furnish excellent building materials, and but few localities of 
considerable area are found where at least a fair building material cannot be easily obtained. 

SILUEIAN. 

Lower jMagnesiax. — The oldest of the Silurian rocks occuring in the state, the Lower Magnesian or Calciferous, 
is found iu two small areas in the central northern part of the state, one lying priucipally iu Ogle county and the 
other mostly in La Salle couuty. Its beds furnish a dolomitic limestone, utilized in the manufacture of cement, 
bat is only fitted for the most ordinary of building purposes, and is nowhere systematically quarried. 

Saot Petee SA^'DSTOXE. — The Saint Peter sandstone, occurring closely associated with the Lower Magnesian 
limestone in these localities, is a coarse-grained sandstone of various shades of dark-yellow or buff to reddish- 
brown, its grains not often sufficiently cemented to form a good building rock. In a few places in Lee couuty it 
is hard enough to quarry, and small quantities of it have been and are yet occasionally used. In La Salle couuty the 
lower i feet of the bed furnish an excellent aud durable rough building material, which was formerly considerablv 
used for heavy masonry, but is now very little quarried. 

Tkekton geoup. — In its northern area the Trenton group has two very distinctly marked subdivisions — the 
Trenton limestone and the Galena limestone. 

The Trenton limestone iu this southward extension from its southwestern Wisconsin area presents here verv 
similar characteristics. It is nearly everywhere a rather thinly-bedded, close textured, often semi-crystalline, hard, 
gray or light drab-colored rock, easily blocked into quite square and regular .shapes, and furnishing a very excellent 
and durable, occasioually somewhat ornamental, building material. 

It is found and quarried in small amounts iu numerous places along the valley of Fever river, in Jo Daviess 
■coiruty, and there furnishes a good ordinary building stone only. In the eastern part of Stephenson county it is 
quarried in a few places to a slight extent, but is everywhere so deeply covered by claj- aud shales as to render 
quarrying it very expensive, while farther east, iu Winnebago county, it occurs in numerous places, aud furnishes 
a good ordinary building stone, easily quarried out and shaped. In this locality some of the dark blue and drab 
colored beds fade very rapidly upon exposure, flually reaching to a light buff color, as in the same beds in Wisconsin, 
near by. 

In western Boone county these beds furnish the only building stone of value obtainable withiu the county, 
and are extensively quarried in the vicinity of Beaver creek, where they furnish more than usually heavy beds of a 
rather rough but durable stone well fitted for ordinary aud heavy masonry. 

In the vicinity of Mount Morris aud of Polo, in Ogle couuty, these beds furnish an excellent and handsome 
building material which has been used quite largely in building at those places. 

At Dixon the stone is thinly bedded, but has been largely quarried and used in the construction of the mills at 
that place. 



220 BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

To the south of these places throughout the remainder of this area, and also in the detached area closely 
adfoiuing it, the Trenton limestone beds are thin and irregular, and nowhere furnish building material of value. 
Wherever these beds occur quarries are so easily opened and worked that large numbers of them are found, each 
worked to a slight extent, but rarely furnishing regular employment at one spot for any considerable length of 
time to more than one or two men. 

The upper subdivision of this group, the Galena limestone, occurs in these northern areas of the Trenton group 
in considerable thickness, in all between 200 and 300 feet. It everywhere presents very constant physical 
characteristics, and is a rather coarse and rough-textured stone, occurring in heavy, sometimes massive beds to over 
5 feet in thickness ; is rather hard to work, and hardens gradually upon exposure, forming a very excellent, durable 
material for all purposes except for fine ornamental work. Its color is a rather rich, warm buff tint, which deepens 
somewhat upon exposure, and when well worked it presents a very handsome appearance. 

In Jo Daviess county there are numerous quarries, though none largely worked. S'ear Freeport, in Stephenson 
county, and within the city, are large quarries presenting solid walls of rock from 60 to 90 feet high, in which the 
upper beds are very thin, but those below are very massive. Large quantities of stone from these quarries have 
been used in this city, and numerous very handsome buildings and residences have been constructed of it. 2s"ear 
Eockford, in Winnebago county, it has also been quarried and very largely used in that city, particularly in the 
construction of residences. At Harlem and at Cherry Valley, in the same county, there are also large quarries, the 
stone from which is extensively used for heavy masonry, such as bridge work, for which it is found to be a most 
excellent material. 

In Ogle county there are numerous outcrops, and the stone has been considerably used for heavy masonry, but 
there are no quarries largely developed. In Lee county the formation is finely exposed all along the Eock Eiver 
valley, and has been quarried extensively at Big Springs and at Lee Centre, while at numerous points along the 
valley small quarries have been opened. At Dixon it has been considerably quarried, and was used with success for 
the piers of the large bridge erected there across Eock river. Where found in Whiteside county it presents the 
same characteristics, but is generally difficult to quarry because it is nearly everywhere deeply covered up. 

The Trenton group is found within the state at four other points along the Mississippi river to the southward, 
but these subdivisions seem there to be less distinctly marked and have not been recognized and traced. 

In Calhoun county the rocks of the Trenton group form the axis of an anticlinal running east and west, and are 
largely exposed on both the Mississippi Eiver and the Illinois Eiver sides of the county. On the Mississippi Eiver 
side at about the middle of the county they form the base of the river bluifs, and rise southward till at Cap An Gris, 
in Lincoln county, Missouri, they form the whole body of the bluff, exposing a total thickness of from 300 to 400 feet. 
At this point the lower beds of the series are quite heavily-bedded, compact, hard, grayish- dolomitic limestone of 
great endurance, nearly, if not quite, equal in value to the limestone of the famous Grafton quarries in the IsTiagara 
limestone on the river, just below. These beds could be readily quarried and the stone lowered directly into 
barges in the river. A vast quantity of this stone can be readily and cheaply obtained. 

On the Illinois Eiver side of the county these rocks have numerous exi^osures, and are quarried in various places 
to a limited extent. 

In Jersey county, where this axis crosses the Illinois river, the upper beds of this group are elevated above the 
river 40 or 50 feet. The rock is thinly-bedded, with shaly partings, and probably of little value as a building 
materia 

In Monroe county the Trenton limestones are again found forming the base of the river bluff at Salt Lick point. 
They occur here in very heavy beds as thick as 6 and 7 feet, and are coarse-grained, quite even-textured, and of light 
color. From these same beds upon the Missouri side were obtained the great blocks for the columns of the Saint 
Louis court-house. 

Farther south, in Alexander county, these rocks appear for the last time in this state and cross the Mississippi 
river in such a way as to form the rapids known as the Grand Chain. They rise on the Illinois side to a height of 75 
feet or more and occur in very heavy beds — a light gray, fine, even-textured stone, some of the layers of which 
receive a high polish and would make an excellent and handsome ornamental stone. The same beds have been 
largely quarried at Cape Girardeau, in Missouri, just opposite, and the stone is known as the Cape Gii'ardeau marble. 
While in each of the last-named localities these beds are capable of furnishing quite cheaply vast quantities 
of building material, they have never, so far as I could learn, been worked to any extent. 

Cincinnati group. — The rocks of the Cincinnati group, which immediately overlie those of the Trenton, 
consist mainly of more or less hardened clays, their composition in places varied by the addition of a considerable 
percentage of carbonate of lime. They furnish nowhere except in one locality any reliable building material, but 
are quarried in some places where their exceptional hardness renders them usable, and where other building stone 
is very scarce. In Boone county, where there is but one quarry (in Galena limestone, at Beaver creek) of limestone, 
a quarry has been opened in these shales just southeast of Belvidere, from which most of the building material for 
ordinary purposes used in that city has been obtained. In some buildings these stones have been exposed for nearly 
thirty years without showing much signs of injury. Very good flag-stones are also obtained from this quarry. 



DESCRIPTIONS OF QUARRIES AND QUARRY REGIONS. 221 

la the vicinity of Sterling, iu Whiteside county, there ai-e two considerable quarries iu this formation which 
are especially notable. The rock is here a very compact, hard stone, and one quarry has been worked to a depth 
of about 30 feet. The upper beds are quite thiu and can be taken out iu very large slabs, which make very excellent 
flagstones. The lower beds are of moderate thickness with a compact, argillaceous limestone, furnishing au 
excellent building material, and have been quite largely quarried. Samples of this stone were tested by the Uuited 
States authorities at Eock Island, aud showed a strength to resist crushing varying from 7,000 to 10,000 pounds per 
square inch ; in specimens 2 inches square and 4 inches high, a strength nearly equal to that of similar specimens 
from the Joliet aud Lemont quarries. That this quality of stone has a very limited extent, however, iu these beds 
the smaU quarries and other exposures within a limit of 2 miles show very conclusively. In Hopkins township, 
east of Sterling, is another similar quarry, where almost, if not quite, as good stone has been quarried considerably. 
A much less thickness of the strata furnishing good building stone is exposed here. Iu these quarry stones the 
addition of a considerable percentage of the carbonates of lime aud magnesia has made the shales impure 
magnesiau limestones and giveu them locally strength, durability, and reliability. At all other points where they 
are quarried, however, though they may in places appear to yield durable stone, they are liable to furnish occasional 
stones which, upon exposure, will rajiidly disintegrate, and they are extremely unlikely to furnish anywhere any 
stone which will have more than a small local value, or be the basis of any regular industry. 

XiAGAEA GKOur. — The limestones of the Niagara group show in no place a thickness of more than about 100 
feet, but are the surface stone over a verj' large area in the extreme northeastern, northwestern, and western part 
of the state. Xearly everywhere when exposed they furnish at least a good ordinary building stone, while in very 
many localities the stone quarried from them is of unusual excellence and applicable to almost all of the uses for 
which stone is required for building purposes. Their principal area of occurrence, in point of territory covered, lies 
in the extreme northeastern part of the state, where they extend from the northern boundary along the lake shore, 
and as far south as the central part of Iroquois county, in a band whose varying width averages about iO miles. 

In Jo Daviess, Cai-roU, Whiteside, and Eock Island counties are two veyy irregular areas of considerable extent. 
Farther south, iu l?ike county, and in Calhoun and Jersey counties, are two small areas, the latter of considerable 
importance, while in Alexander county, at almost the extreme southern point of the state, they occur again in a 
narrow area extending two-thirds the length of the county from near its northern boundary along or closely 
adjoining the Mississippi river. 

In the first-meutioued -area they are almost everywhere quite deeply covered with deposits of bowlder drift and 
clays, except where rivers or streams of some considerable magnitude have cut through these coverings. This is 
especially true of the extreme northeastern counties, McIIenrj' and Lake, where the covering is very deep, and 
where those exjiosures which do occur or have been made show the rock to be too flinty and thinly-bedded to be of 
any value. To the southward, especially as they ai)proach the southwestern limit of the area, the main valleys of 
the Fox aud Illinois rivers show numerous exposures of the rock, most of which are capable of furnishing au 
excellent building material. The most important of these are found extending along the Illinois river from 2 miles 
above Lemont to a few miles below Joliet in au almost continuous line. The exposures of value for building stone 
are almost entirely confined to the left or south side of the valley, except at and below Joliet. 

At Lemont the stone quairies lie on both sides of the Illiuois and Lake Michigan canal, which here skirts along 
the valley above the base of the hills on the left bank of the river, though principally on the southwest. The beds 
are quarried to their lower limits through a variable thickness of from 12 to 10 feet. The stone here is uniformly a 
very fine grained, homogeneous, light drab limestone, occurring in beds from 6 to 24 and some times 30 inches iu 
thickness. The beds are divided vertically by seams occurring at somewhat irregular intervals of from 12 to 50 
feet, aud continue with quite smooth faces for long distances, and also by a second set running nearly at light 
angles with the first, but only continuous between main joints and occurring at very irregular intervals. This 
structure renders the rock very easily quarried aud obtainable iu blocks of almost any required lateral dimensions. 
The stone is easily worked into required shapes aud takes a fine, smooth finish, which can hardly be called a 
polish. At the works of the Singer & Talcott Company large quantities of the stone are planed by machines closely 
resembling those used in planing surfaces of iron. This forms a very rapid and cheap method of finishing flagging 
stones aud preparing stones which are to receive a smooth finish for the ijolishing-bed. Very large quantities of 
flagging stone are gotten out by this company, which for the past few years has supplied nearly, if uot quite, nine- 
tenths of the stone for that pm-pose put down in Chicago, as well as large quantities for other places. The finer and 
more homogeneous varieties can also be very readily shaped into any of the forms which lathes are capable of turning 
out, such as balustrade work, and a great deal of this sort of ornamental stoue-woik is made here. The stone can 
also be readily carved in bas-relief, but is not sufiicientiy tough for high relief work. Its color is a bluish-gray to 
nearly white, and that quarried iu this immediate vicinity seems to contain less iron oxide than that quanied lower 
down, at and below Joliet, and does not tarnish so much. 

Quarrying has hitherto been largely done under very light stripping, but most of the future developments of 
these quarries must necessarily be done under very heavy stripping of clay and medium-sized gravel. This is here 
all done by hand. The stone here is injured by exposure to the frost while containing its natural moisture. This 
is a cause of either a cousiderable anuual expense in making earth protection, or annual loss iu destruction of stoue, 
except in a few of the quarries so fortunately situated that they can be flooded during the winter season. 



222 BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

The principal market for the stoue quarried here is the city of Chicago, but large quantities of the stone are 
also shipped iu every direction to points throughout northern Illinois and the adjoining states of Michigan, Indiana, 
Iowa, and Wisconsin. These quarries extend for nearly 4 miles below Lemont, where a gap occurs, to just below 
Lockport, from which point a line of closely-adjoining quarries extends to below Joliet. The finer varieties of this 
stone do not seem well fitted for heavy masonry in damp situations. Fine clay seams aboumd, which are invisible 
when the stone is first quarried, and when it is used under ordinary circumstances generally do not develop at all,, 
but in such situations as expose the stone to heavy moving loads, or to alternate moisture and dryness accompanied 
by frost, they are soon developed and often render the stone worthless. Even the purest and best of the stone, 
especially in cities where much soft coal is burned, becomes somewhat tarnished to a light yellowish tint after long 
exposure, but does not become of a strong buff color. 
L The quarries of the Joliet group extend from about a, mile below the village of Lockport to about the same 
distance below Joliet. The total thickness of Niagara strata exposed here is apparently much greater than at 
Lemont, and two fairly distinguishable varieties of the stone are quarried. That quarried at the lower beds, in 
the vicinity of the penitentiary, on the right bank of the river, and just below the city closely adjoining the river, 
is generally a rougher, more irregularly-textured stone, occurring in beds as much as 24 inches thick, and is now 
chiefly used for ordinary and heavy masonry, and very little for ornamental purposes. This stone, upon exposure, 
becomes tarnished to a very decided and sometimes a quite deep buff tint, which is not a handsome color for face 
or ornamental stone. It appears, however, to be especially well suited to the purposes mentioned abo^'e. 

In the quarries back from the river, at higher levels, the stone is generally a fine-grained, much more homogeneous 
rock, much of it quite equal in this respect to the best of that quarried at Lemont, and it occurs near the bottom of 
the quarries, as now worked, in beds often from 3 to 4 feet in thickness, and is obtainable in large blocks. Most 
of it appears to weather-stain rather more than the Lemont stone, but to be otherwise exactly like it. It is very 
largely used as a building and an ornamental stone, and large quantities of it are shipped by rail to points throughout 
northern and central Illinois, and to evei;y one of the adjoining states. The value of the stone quarried at these two 
localities is probably fully equal to that of all the other stone quarried in the state. 

Along the Fox River valley, from Elgin to Aurora, there are occasional exposures of the Magara limestone, 
some of which are considerably quarried. In all of them, however, there is a heavy covering of drift, which renders 
the quarrying quite exj)ensive. 

At Batavia there are extensive quarries. The drift covering necessary to be removed is from 20 to 40 feet 
deep, almost entirely sand and medium-sized gravel. There are three large quarries on each side of the river whose 
products are all entirely similar. The stone is rather rougher, coarser, and more irregular in texture than that 
at Joliet and Lemont, and is more compact and difficult to work. A few of the beds furnish stone fit for ornamental 
work in fairly large sizes. The expense of quarrying has been very greatly increased by the heavier stripping 
required. 

At Aurora there is also a very large quarry of the same excellent and durable stone, the product of which is 
mainly used for rough foundation and heavy masonry. 

There are also quarries of some value at Thornton, on the Illinois Central railroad, and at Blue Island, on the 
Chicago, Eock Island, and Pacific railroad. There is also within the city limits of Chicago a quarry in the limestone 
of this formation, which is there impregnated with organic matter that gives the stone a dark and dingy tint upon 
exposure, and soon imparts to it an appearance of great age. It was used in the construction of one of the principal 
church buildings iu the city, but it was most largely quarried for lime and ordinary wall stone. 

At Kankakee, Kankakee county, there are two large quarries. The stone quarried there is a compact, coarse, 
somewhat irregularly-textured dolomitic limestone containing rather numerous small cavities and sand-pits, but it 
is a strong and durable building material, especially valuable for resisting and enduring under very unfavorable 
circumstances when exposed to dampness and frost, and has very considerable strength. It has been largely used 
as face-stone in building work, but contains numerous crystals of pyrites which decompose and stain the stone dark 
yellow in patches, badly marring its appearance. Large quantities of the stone are used in bridge work along the 
lines of railroad passing through this place. 

In the area of Niagara limestone lying in the northwestern iDart of the state, in Whiteside and Jo Daviess 
counties, are numerous exposures, and the beds furnish everywhere a rough-textured, heavily -bedded, durable 
stone, excellent for all kinds of ordinary heavy masonry, but they are nowhere extensively quarried. Farther 
south, in northern Eock Island county, these beds, when found, are softer and excellent for lime-burning, but furnish 
no first-rate building material. 

In Pike county the Magara rocks form the base of the Mississippi Eiver bluffs for a considerable distance. 
They are here of somewhat rough-textured, compact, buff-colored limestone of great durability, a building material 
for ordinary and heavy masonry quite equal to the best Joliet or Grafton stone. The same stone is also found high 
up on the river bluffs in southern Calhoun county, and also all along the Illinois and Mississippi Eiver fronts of 
Jersey county to just below Grafton, and everywhere presents precisely the same physical characteristics. 

At Grafton the stone is very extensively quarried, principally for the Saint Louis market, but considerable 
quantities of it are also shipped to other river points, the river having been, to the present time, the only channel 
for transportation available. The stone quarried here is of very great strength and durability. 



DESCRIPTIOXS OF QUARRIES AND QUARRY REGIONS. 223 

The rocks of this group also occur iu the river bluffs of TJuiou aud Alexander counties, iu the extreme southeru 
part of the state. Like the Trentou beds which they overlie, they are there mottled, semi-crystalhne rocks, occurriug 
iu very heavy beds, the stone taking a fine polish and capable of yielding a very handsome ornamental stone, as 
well as a thoroughly reliable and handsome building material. They are not, as far as I could learn, yet worked. 

DEVONIAN. 

The Devonian age is represented iu Illinois by a series of shales and limestone, of small total thickness, varying 
from 10 to over 100 feet. The exposures of these rocks are not numerous aud are of very limited extent. In 
Calhoun county they include about 10 feet of a coarse, gray limestone, useful and slightly used as a building material. 
In Jackson, Union, and Alexander counties some of the beds might be utilized for the same purpose. 

In Jackson county there are beds in the Devonian series at Bald Hill and at Back Bone which are very hard 
aude ventextured and take a fine polish. They are of variegated color also, aud have been worked to some extent. 
Other beds in the same series also furnish excellent rough building material. 

CARBONIFEROUS. 

The rocks of the Carboniferous age underlie the greater part of Illinois. They form a series of very great 
thickness in their greatest development, probably over 2,500 feet, aud are of very great imi^ortance not only 
because of the mineral wealth, especially of coal, but also because of the vast, almost unlimited, quantities of most 
excellent building stone thej" are capable of supplying, and very cheaply, at great uumbers of points over the state. 
This is especially aud particularly true of the lower division of the group, the sub-Carboniferous limestone, so called, 
which furnishes a maximum thickness of limestones, sandstones, and shales ; principally limestones of over 1,500 feet, 
iu the southern part of the state, which gradually thins out to less than 1,000 feet total average, toward the northern 
hmit of their exposure. A very large proijortion of these beds furnish excellent building stones wherever found. 

The most northerly exposures of these beds occur in southern ?.Iercer couuty, aud from here they extend 
southward in au area of vei-y variable width from 5 to 30 miles or more, always along or close to the Mississippi 
rivei', and nearly the whole length of the state to southern Jackson county, where they swing to the eastward 
and cross the state, through Union, Johnson, and Pope counties to Hardin county, at whose easternmost limit 
they cross the Ohio river into Kentucky. They form the whole or the greater part of the JMississippi River bluffs 
throughout the entire distance from Mercer to Jackson couuty, with the exception of the limited localities already 
described, where the river front is occupied by older rocks. Five main subdivisious of the rocks of this group were 
made by the Illinois geologists aud traced throughout most of the area. 

KiNDERHOOK GROUP. — The Kiuderhook group, the lowest and least important of the series, has at its greatest 
development a thickness of less than 200 feet, which in places includes limestone strata of no great thickness 
available for building stone, but which are not always a reliable material, and nowhere extensively quarried. 

Burlington liiMESTone. — The Burlington limestone, next in the series, occurs iu beds whose variable thickness 
amounts in many places to over 200 feet; it is a very pure carbouate of lime, highly fossiliferous, aud for almost 
its total thickness is au excellent building material. 

Iu Henderson couuty it outcrops along the river bluffs through the whole length of the couuty. It is a fairly 
even textured light blue or yellowish-gray, moderately thick -bedded stone, but little affected by weather. The beds 
have been quite largely worked in the eastern part of the county, and also at Sagetown, where a very extensive 
quarry furnishes a large quantity of material, principally used iu railroad constructions. The stone for the piers 
of the Mississippi Eiver bridge at Burliugtou was taken fi-om this quJirry and has stood the exposure and abrasion 
with great success, and seems also to have been discolored little or none. 

It forms no part of the surface of Hancock county, but iu Adams county is again exposed along the whole line 
of river bluff's, from Quincy to the southern line of the couuty, having everywhere about 10 feet in thickness of 
moderately heavy beds of excellent but rather rough-textured building stone. At Quincy, within the city, a 
thickness of about 100 feet of this limestone is quarried, and is most of it available for building stone ; an excellent 
aud durable material, but not a fine ornamental stone. Some few of the layers contain pyrites aud become badly 
discolored upon exposure. 

Throughout the whole river front of Pike county, both on the west and on the east, these beds form a contiuuous 
outcrop, including, as in Adams county, about 40 feet iu thickness of beds available as building material. The stone 
is here often found in beds from 2 to 1 feet thick, aud is, wherever free from flints, au excellent buildiug and 
dimension stoue. I^umerous exposures are also found along the creeks in the northern part of the county. 

In the vicinity of Jersey landing, Jersey couuty, it forms the entire river bluff", aud is a nearly white, somewhat 
uneven-textured, medium-bedded limestone, containing occasioual seams and flints, and furnishing a very good 
buildiug stoue for rubble and ordinary cut-stoue masonry. It is very little quarried now. 

Keokuk group. — The Keokuk group, next in succession, consists chiefly of limestones. Its rocks extend in 
Illiuois from central Henderson county along uearly the whole baud of sxrb-Carboniferous rocks to Hardin county. 
Only the middle beds of this formation furnish good building material, and in these there are a number of 
uoteworthy quarries. Their extreme thickness is about 70 feet, aud the rock is an even-textured, light gray colored, 



224 BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

■easily-dressed. stoue, wbich does not discolor or sIiot^ any signs of disintegrating upon exposure. In most places 
its beds are separated by clay seams sometimes of several inches thickness, the beds themselves varying from 6 
inches to 3 feet. 

In eastern Henderson county these beds are exposed in numerous places, especially in the vicinity of Biggsville, 
and there furnish only an ordinary building stone in blocks of very moderate dimensions. 

In Hancock county these beds form' the base of the river bluffs for a long distance, and have been extensively 
quarried in a number of places. jSTear I^auvoo large quarries were at one time worked, and furnished the material 
of the once famous Mormon temple at that place. Stone from these quarries was used also in the construction of 
the United States court-house and post-office buildings at Galena and at Dubuque. South of here about i miles 
the Tallant Stone and Marble Company has opened a considerable quarry in the same beds, and furnishes a rather 
coarse, uniform-textiired, white, and very light gray limestone, which is easily cut, sawed, and shaped, and does not 
tarnish upon exposure. Some of the beds furnish stone which can be polished, and in iilaces some of the beds 
contain much cherty material, while others are entirely free from it. Very large blocks are easily obtained. The 
same beds have also been much quarried at Hamilton and Mota in the same county. 

The analysis of this stone {Illinois Geological Report, Vol. I, p. 99), specimen from Nauvoo quarry, gives: 

Per cent. 

Carbonate of lime 82. 4S 

Alumina and iron 2. 10 

Insoluble matters 12. 50 

Water and loss 2.92 

Total 100.00 

Throughout Adams county where these beds are found they furnish, when free from flints, a stone precisely 
similar to that at ISTauvoo. They outcrop in very many places throughout the northern and northeastern iiart of 
the county. 

In Pike county the beds of this group, which rest directly upon the Burlington beds, furnish an excellent building 
material very like that of those beds. They outcrop, especially in the vicinity of Griggsville, where the beds are 
unusually free from flints. In Jersey county, though there are numerous exposures, they furnish no excellent 
building material on account of the number of flints they carry. In Hardin county a heavily-bedded limestone, in 
layers from 1 foot to 3 feet thick, outcrops along the Ohio Eiver bluffs, but is not quarried for building material. 

Saijn't Louis geoup. — The beds of the Saint Louis group furnish a very large amount of building stones of 
considerable variety in texture and properties. In Hancock county the lowest beds of the series are of a somewhat 
arenaceous magnesian limestone, generally of a light yellow or buff color, darkening upon exposure. The stone cuts 
readily and can be obtained in quite large blocks, and ijossesses very great durability in the most trying situations. 
Large quarries in these beds were opened and extensively worked just at the head of the Keokuk rapids, on the 
Illinois side, and furnished nearly all of the rii^rai) for lining the government canal around those rapids, beside 
considerable of the cut stone used in the locks, where it has resisted very successfully. These quarries have been 
abandoned for several years, however. This stoue readily breaks into blocks for the better class of rubble, very 
square and of convenient sizes. 

Below Warsaw these beds attain a very great thickness, and are quarried considerably in a good many localities. 
They nearly everywhere contain minute crystals of pyrites, which decomi>ose upon exposure and discolor the stone. 
There are also numerous exposures npon the creeks in the eastern part of the county. These same beds are also 
found in the northern and northwestern ijart of Adams county, where the rock is of the same character. In Pike 
county they are only found in the extreme northern and northeastern jiart, and where occurring furnish the same 
brown magnesian limestone, a most excellent and durable building material. 

In Calhoun county they form a continuous exposure along the river bluffs, and are everywhere a rather thinly- 
bedded and hard but very durable building rock, and would furnish an almost inexhaustible supply. 

In Jersey county the principal exposures occur along the Piasa ; and on the Mississippi river, just south of the 
Piasa, at its mouth, in Madison county, are also large exposures. The beds here are nearly true dolomites, are 
often found with very heavy layers, and furnish a very excellent heavy wall stone. Some of the upper beds at 
this last locality take a fine polish, and could be used as an ornamental stone ; they also furnish excellent flags. 

The bluffs at Alton present a thickness of over a hundred feet of these beds, the whole of which is quarried 
for lime and building stone. The middle and lower beds furnish some excellent hard, even, close-textured rock, in 
every respect good building material. The brecciated beds found here have been largely used for rough, heavy 
masonry, but observation shows them unreliable for that purpose, gradually becoming separated into irregular 
fragments. 

In Saint Clair county a total thickness of about 200 feet of these beds is exposed, nearly all of good building 
material and available. Some of the thinner beds furnish an excellent flagging, while the heavier beds contain a light 
gray, compact stoue, excellent for every variety of mason work. They form the river bluffs through most of the 
southern part of the county. In Madison county the beds exposed are also dolomitic to some extent; at places pure 



DESCRIPTIONS OF QUARRIES AND QUARRY REGIONS. 225 

dolomites (specimens analyzed at the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, ijroved to be calcareous dolomites). 
They furnish everywhere an excellent material for building purposes. Occasionally the stone is sufficiently hard 
and compact to take a fine polish. 

In Monroe county the rocks of this formation are pretty well distributed over nearly the whole of the county. 
They are extensively quarried at Columbia and at Waterloo. In the vicinity of the latter place the rocks quarried 
are especially suitable for cut-stone work of every variety. They are of a bluish-gray color, sometimes nearly white. 

In the vicinity of Columbia there is exposed in the lower division of these beds about 20 feet in thickness of 
heavily-bedded, light gray, granular limestone entirely free from flints, splitting easily and furnishing blocks of any 
required size. There are also in the lower division of these beds heavily-bedded bufl' limestones which make most 
excellent heavy wall-stone. These are exposed in about 100 feet thickness at and in the vicinity of Salt Lick point, 
on the Mississipi)i river. 

In Eandolph county they also occur in the northwestern part of the county 200 feet thick and in beds similar 
to those in Monroe county. 

In Jackson county these beds furnish some good building material. 

In Union couuty, in the vicinity of Jonesboro', are numerous quarries, not now much worked, of massive, 
granular, nearly white jimestoue, an excellent building stone for ordinarj' situations; they are of fine appearance 
and obtainable in large blocks, but are said not to resist when exposed to frost in damp places. 

In Johnson and Pope counties also these beds would furnish excellent building material in large quantities, 
but they are nowhere worked. At Eoseclair, in Hardin couuty, large quarries were worked for many years in 
the beds of this formation, and are yet worked, though not on so large a scale. 

Oolitic beds occur in the bluft's just below the village, and are somewhat quarried. They furnish a very hard, 
fine stone which takes a high polish, has a dark bluish-gray color, and is a very durable and handsome stone. 
Large blocks are readily obtainable. Places for several large quarries convenieutlj' located on the river can readily 
be found here. 

Chestek &EOUP. — The beds of the Chester group expose a thickness in places of over 600 feet of alternating 
limestones, sandstones, and shales, capable of furnishing large quantities of fine building material. One of the 
sandstone beds of this group is found capping the bluffs at Alton, where it is a clear, white, pure siliceous sandstone, 
fine-grained, perfectly homogeneous, and occurring in massive beds from which very large stones might be obtained. 
It sbows no tendency to discolor upon exposure. It is little quarried, and not at all for ornamental ijurposes, for 
w'hich it appears very suitable. 

In Saint Clair county the lower sandstone of the group furnishes a durable stone, buff or brown in color, 
easily quarried and cut, hardening upon exposure, and obtainable in blocks of any required size jjossible to be 
handled. Overlying this is a thinly-bedded limestone of the same group available for common wall masonry. 

In Monroe couuty the lowest sandstone of the group shows in a thickness of CO or 75 feet, generally evenly-bedded 
and uniform-textured, but occasionally concretionary. This outcrops in numerous places in the southeastern part 
of the county. Some of the limestones of the group outcrop here also, and furnish good rough building stone. 

In Eandolph county, where this series finds its gi'eatest development, the lower limestone of the series is 150 
feet thick. It is all fit for ordinary building stone, while some of the beds also furnish excellent dimension stone for 
cut work. Some of the upi)er limestone beds of the series also furnish exceUeut material for cut-stone w ork. 

The Penitentiary quarry at Chester is worked in these beds, and much riprap, rough buildiug material, great 
quantities of paving blocks, and considerable cut stone of fine appearance are obtained. 

The lower saudstoue of the group is here precisely similar in characteristics to the same beds in Monroe county, 
but is here more than 100 feet in thickness. It has been somewhat quarried just above Chester, where it can be 
made to furnish blocks of great size. ' It is a stone of great strength and durability, and presents a uniform and 
good appearance, its color, however, being somewhat against it. 

The other sandstones of the Chester series furnish a fine-grained, soft, even-textured, buif and brownish colored 
stone which cuts with great ea-se when first quarried, but hardens upon exposure and changes color very slightly. 
It is a rather handsome building material. The southern Illinois penitentiary is built largely of these sandstones, 
and presents a fine appearance. 

In Jackson county, where they occur, the limestones of this grouj) are generallj- too siliceous and too hard to 
work, and usually furnish stone only for ordinary building puriioses. The sandstones, however, can furnish large 
quantities of excellent building material. They are soft, fine-grained, harden on exposure, are durable, and usually 
of dark brown or strong yellow color. 

In Union county, when not too argillaceous, the limestones furnish good building material. At Cobden there 
is a very heavily-bedded, compact, dark blue, very hard limestone, very difficult to cut, but w^hich would make a 
most excellent bridge and culvert material, and has been somewhat used for that purj^ose. 

In Johnson county the sandstones of this group occur in easilj- workable position in numerous places, and 
would furnish excellent flagging and dimension stone. Some good building material is also obtainable from the 
limestones. 

VOL. IS 15 B s 



226 BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

In Pope county, while some few of the sandstone exposures furnish a fine building material, most of the 
outcrops show the stone to be too hard and uneven. Where exposed near the Ohio river the limestones of this 
group furnish excellent building stone for the finer classes of work. 

In Hardin county some of the sandstones are very refractory and are used for furnace linings. They furnish 
also some good flagging and some fair building material. 

The Coal Measures underlie the greater part of Illinois, probably three-fourths of its territory ; the greater 
portion of the territory is deeply covered with the more recent clay deposits, and exposures are rather scarce. In 
the southern part of the area there is, however, a less depth of these deposits, and more numerous exposures, 
mauy of which furnish building material of some sort. Their rocks comprise here, as elsewhere, alternate beds of 
sandstones, shales, limestones, and conglomerates. Most of the sandstoiiesarecoarseandirregular in texture, and 
generally disintegrate upon exposure. In the southern part of the state there are, however, manj' places where 
they ai-e hard, flue, and tolerably durable, and in many localities furnish excellent flagging and good building 
material. The limestones of the series are generally rough-textured, thin-bedded, and shaly, and in but few places ■ 
furnish a material fit for ordinary use. In comparison with the sub-Carboniferous beds, these, however, will furnish 
but a small total amount of really excellent material. 

The points where beds in this formation have been worked are few in number and of little importance 
generally. 

Between Cobden and Mahanda, on the line of the Illinois Central railroad, and adjoining the track, is a small 
qaarry in a medium-bedded limestone, whicli might be very greatly enlarged. The beds are regular and even, and 
the stone appears to be quite durable. 

Three miles south of Carbondale, on both sides of the little creek through whose valley the railroad runs, are 
ex]>osures of a reddish sandstone of considerable value for building material. It is a medium-grained, even-textured 
stone, fresh fracture, dark red, weathering to a purplish-gray tint, easily quarried, but becoming quite hard upon 
exposure. At the top of the eastern bluff a lai-ge quarry was once worked but is now abandoned. The couveuient 
outcrop could supply a great quantity of the material. The bed seems to be about 14 feet thick, and would easily 
furnish sawed stone 4 by 10 by 40 feet in one piece. The stone for the State Normal School building, a very 
handsome structure, was obtained at this quarry. On the west side, opposite, are excellent exposures of the same 
rock, forming a similar ledge low down, on the bluff. The beds lying above this ledge are thin and hard, and furnish 
a fair flagging, which is quarried in moderate quantities at this place. 

At Xeuia, Clay county, there is a small thickness of drab-colored, fine-grained, even-textured sandstone exposed 
in a creek valley for 2 or 3 miles, furnishing a fair building' and ornamental stone, and is quarried and shipx)ed in 
moderate quantities. There are also said to be sandstone exposures along Crooked creek, in the same county, of 
considerable value for building purposes. 

At Carlyle, Clinton county, are small quarries in a rough- textured, durable limestone; and on Shoal creek, a 
few miles west of Carlyle, limestone strata of fair quality for both ordinary and cut-stone work are found outcropping 
in a number of places, and are quarried in a small way. 

In Greene county are beds of sandstone which would furnish considerable quantities of fair building stone, 
and there are numerous other exposures of like character. In no jjlace, however, are there any beds which are 
likely to prove of more than local importance. 

In the northern part of this area the covering of the rock formations is so deep and the country so level that 
large districts are without rock exposures, and depend entirely for their supply upon the means of transportation. 
The county, however, is crossed in every direction by railroads. While the resources of the state within herself 
are sufficient many times over, it is quite likely that much of the building stone for the state, especially in some 
portions of it, will be brought from Ohio and Indiana, because of its great excellence and proximity to the market. 

jSTearly all the northern, western, and southern counties have ordinary building stone in great abundance and 
well distributed. 

Increased facilities for transportation have been rapidly extended throughout many of the counties richest 
in this particular commodity, which have hitherto had no railroads, and this must undoubtedly result in the 
development of considerable industries in quarrying and shipping of these materials to the less favored districts. 

I have to acknowledge my great obligation to the Illinois geological reports for facts about much of the 
territory having no present quarrying industries, which could not be visited, and for other facts gleaned from that 
report and incorporated lierein. 

MICHIGAN. 

By Professor Allan D. Conover, Special Agent. 

The state of Michigan contains rocks representing a larger range of geological formations than those of any 
of the adjoining states, but within her limits their lithological character and mode of occurrence, as also those of 
the later and looser deposits, are such that there are comparatively few points where the quarrying of stone for 
building purposes is ever likely to become an important industry, but at some of these it is of very considerable 
importance. 



DESCRIPTIONS OF QUARRIES AND QUARRY REGIONS. 227 

The Arcb;ban rocks occur only in tlie northern and northwestern parts of the northern peninsula, and have not as 
yet furnished any building stone. The Huroniau subdivision, however, carries beds of very considerable thickness 
of slates of very great value as rooliug material. These have unusual development in the vicinity of Huron bay, 
on the coast of lake Superior, and were during the last decade opened and worked at a number of points, all in 
the same vicinity, in township ol, range 31. Several stock comiianies were formed, with large capital, each owning 
large tracts of land in this township, and some work was done in developing quarries, but the difficulties of 
transportation and shipment and small market for their product led to their temporary abandonment and the 
failure of the companies owning them. These beds furnish .slate very readily cleavable, generally of black color, 
but also occurring in places of green, purple, and gray colors, in vast quantities, and so far as their exposures and 
the limited trial given them go to show, of very considerable enduring power, and they bid fair to be of very 
considerable value as the development of this and the adjoining .states creates more market for material of the 
kind. Besides these deposits I do not know that these rocks furnish any material now used in building, or 
any whose character, so far as known, renders them likely to be quarried for that purpose even to supply local 
doiiiand. 

Beds of limestone, altered to marble, occur associated with the granitic rocks of the Laurentian, which furnish 
very numerous handsome specimens, but do not, I believe, occur anywhere, as yet discovered, where large blocks 
of material of homogeneous character can be obtained in quantity. It is quite possible that the granitic beds 
may some time furnish valuable building material of that class, and also that the quartzites which occur in large 
quantities and are easily reached may also furnish valuable paving material where the location of outcrops of the 
suitable quality occurs conveniently to cheap transportation facilities ; but as yet nothing of that sort has been 
developed. 

The Potsdam sandstone is likely to furnish the largest quantity and the best of the building material found within 
the state. Its occurrence is mainly in the northern part of the Upper Peninsula, where very numerous exposures 
occur, especially along the lake .shore. The lower beds of this formation furnish a rather coarse grained, 
houlogeueous, siliceous sandstone, rather soft when iirst quarried, aud easily hewn, but hardening on exposure. 
Its color is generally reddish, or some shade of reddish-brown, and, when uniform, renders it a very handsome 
material for outside and ornamental work. It often occurs of mottled- white or yellowish-white and red-brown colors. 
These parts of the stone are usually rejected, though some buildings have been built of them at Marquette and 
also in Chicago, and present a rather handsome, picturesque appearance. They seem to be equally durable with 
the rest. The stone usually occurs in approximately horizontal but usually very uneven beds, and is alway.s 
readily obtainable in large masses. In most places where quarried the stone carries occasional, sometimes 
numerous, pockets of clay of very various sizes, which considerably affect its value by causing much waste and 
rendering the stone unreliable. Where free from these, however, the stone is a durable and reliable one, and 
always commands a high price and a considerable market in all the large lake cities. 

It Avas, during 1880, only quarried regularly at one quarry, which is within the city of Marquette. Xuinerous 
attempts to quarry elsewhere have usually failed, principally from the ditficnlty of obtaining a safe harbor at the 
quarry spot. This diificulty is very likely, however, to be overcome, so that quarries will be opened in numerous places. 
The.se beds occur especially in the vicinity of Marquette, in many places along the lake shore, west of Keweenaw 
l)oint, and also near the eastern end of the coast of lake Superior along the lower valley of the Laughing TVhitelish 
river and the country around it. In this latter locality the stone is very hai'd, compact, reddish, or .speckled, is 
heavily-bedded, readily splits to required thicknesses, and is especially .suitable for heavy masonry, but, because of 
its hardness, not well suited for an ornamental building stone. It is found underlying a very large territory and 
is easily obtainable almo.st everywhei-e. 

The Calciferous group occurs in the Upper Peninsula only where it extends in a very narrow band from a 
point .some distance northwest of Menominee, northeastward, swinging to the east, to the extreme eastern end of 
the peninsula. It exposes an extreme thickness of about ItiO feet of calcareous sand-rock of verj- variable character, 
the more calcareous beds of which sometimes furnish good buildiug material in rather thin beds aud blocks of 
moderate size. They are, however, iiowhere regularly worked as yet, the country they underlie being still entirely 
a wilderness. 

The Trenton group is represented on the Upper Peninsula by beds of perhaps 100 feet greatest thickness of 
thinly -bedded shaly limestones, which have nowhere been discovered of such character as to furnish a first-rate 
building material. At places it is thick enough and sufficiently even bedded to quarry out in good shape, is of 
compact or crystalline structure, but everywhere yet worked contains too many irregular argillaceous seams to 
render it a safe and reliable buildiug material. It also extends in a narrow band from west to east, through nearly 
the whole extent of the peninsula, just south of and adjacent to the baud of Calciferous rocks. It is crossed by all 
of the important streams flowing into lake ^Michigan, and, in most casx's, forms upon them falls or rapids of 
considerable extent, so that exposures are very numerous. To the southward lie the Niagara beds, in a similar but 
wider band, which covers most of tlie southern part of the Upper Peninsula, extending from Big Bay de Nogue.tte 
eastward to the limit of the state. They furnish usually a hard, compact limestone, often in very heavy beds, but 
generally containing so many seams of argillaceous material as to render them liable to split and crack under the 



228 BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

action of frost. Some of tlio beds are free frora these seams. Most of tlie regiou where these beds occur is a 
■wilderness, and the beds are, moreover, heavily covered with drift, except where the streams have cut their way 
through. A few quarries have been opened and worked to a limited extent. 

The beds of the Hudson Eiver shale, lying in a narrow band of country between the last-mentioned formation, 
are every wliere too soft and too easily affected by weather to be of value as a source of building material, and 
can never be expected to supply material fit even for ordinary purposes. 

The Helderberg group furnishes limestoues of considerable hardness in places, but everywhere occurring in a 
brecciated condition which renders them unfit for building material. 

In the rocks of the Onondaga Salt group there are on the Upper Peninsula some beds of fair gypsum, and 
quarries were formerly worked in them near Point aux Chenes, but were long ago abandoned. This completes 
the list of the rock formations of the Upper Peninsula. 

Passing southward Ijhrough the Lower Peninsula, we cross successively the beds of the later formation to the 
basin filled by the Coal Measures, which cover a disk-like area in the southern-central part, around which the earlier 
formations occur in concentric rings. 

The rocks of the Helderberg group occur on the Lower Peninsula at its uorthern extremity and upon the 
adjacent islands, and everywhere furnish impure limestones of some value for lime, but so brecciated as to be 
entirely unfit for any building purposes, except the lightest and most ordinary cellar masonry. They occupy also a 
small area in the southeastern course of the Lower Peninsula, and there- furnish beds of some considerable value. 
At Trenton, near Detroit, in Monroe county, is a very extensive quarry in these beds. They furnish a somewhat 
impure limestone, occurring in beds from 1 inch to 12 inches thick, from which no large stone can be obtained 
owing to numerous dry seams which occur throughout the mass. The heavier beds only are utilized for building 
material, and are close, compact, and rather fine grained, sufficiently hard to take a fair polish, but fit only for 
ordinary rubble work, while blocks selected with the greatest of care furnish material fairly fitted for such 
ornamental work as caps, sills, etc. Very little of the material, however, is utilized for such purposes. 

Upon Macon creek, in the valley, are a number of small quarries in the beds of this formation which expose a 
total thickness of about 8 feet of beds 6 inches to 2 feet in thickness, and a much more compact, gray, crystalline 
limestone of considerable strength, and very free from the dry seams found in the rock at Trenton. The beds in 
the valley are covered only by from 2 to G feet of loose earth and can be very easily quarried. They furnish 
excellent material for all ordinary mason work and for very good-appearing cut-stone work, though somewhat 
difficult to hew. Some of the ujoper beds in this locality are also brecciated. 

A sandstone bed of small thickness also occurs among the beds of this age which in places contains a 
considerable proportion of calcareous cement, and is a firm, compact rock obtainable in fair-sized blocks, nearly 
pure white, and to all appearances a fair and quite handsome building material. This bed was seen at the surface 
on Fritz Eath's farm, near Eaisinville. There are also in the limestones a number of small quarries along the valley 
of Eaisin river and Plum creek which furnish good building material. The most important of these are at Monroe. 
There are in the southern part of the Lower Peninsula no beds representing the Hamilton period, but in the 
northern part they occur in great thickness and form the surface rock over a very considerable area adjoining 
that of the Helderberg group, and extending across the whole width of the state. They consist of alternate beds 
of limestones and shales, some of the former furnishing fair building material, quarries in which are worked at 
Alpena and vicinity. The stone obtained is very hard, compact, and durable, but is obtainable only in moderate- 
sized blocks. It is well suited for all ordinary plain oi'namental stone-work, but has a rather dull, light drab 
color, rendering it not very attractive lor the latter. It appears every way a durable and reliable stone. It is not 
obtainable anywliere in large quantities, but in numerous places supplies the local demand for common building- 
stone. Where it outcrops along the shore of lake Michigan it can be ouarried in several places and loaded directly 
upon barges in the lalvC. 

The black shales, next in order in the geological series, furnish no material for construction. 
The Waverly group, next succeeding, is by far the most important of the series in the Lower Peninsula, and 
furnishes a large proportion of the good building material obtained. The rocks of the group consist of alternate 
sandstones and shales; the sandstones, which furnish the building material, vary considerably in texture and 
composition, but furnish in manj^ localities valuable building stone. 

Along the south shore of Saginaw bay from Point aux Barques southwest there are numerous exposures of 
the sandstones of this group. At the point itself a thickness of about IG feet of these strata is exposed, which 
would furnish excellent building material. 

At Grindstone City, just southeast, are other exposures which are extensively worked for grindstones, for which 
they furnish excellent material. Some of the stone has been used for building purposes, but it has more value for 
its iiresent use. 

There are numerous exposures elsewhere, especially in Jackson and Hillsdale counties, very few of which have 
been much worked of late years. The increase of railroad facilities has greatly increased the use of the superior 
Ohio stones. The most notable quarry in the formation is that at Stony point, in Jackson county, where a 



DESCRIPTIONS OF QUARRIES AND QUARRY REGIONS. 22D 

thickness of about 40 feet of flQC-graiued, buff-colored sandstone, very soft aud easily dressed, but hardening ui)ou 
exjiosure and retaining its color well, is quarried under very heavy clay stripping, and blocks of any required 
dimensions are easily obtained. 

Beds of the same formation are also exposed at and near Jonesville, Hillsdale, Osseo, Mosco\y, Homer, and 
Condit station, in the same region, and on Black river, near Holland. Ottawa county, farther northwest. There are, 
however, no very important quarries, and at only a few of these places can reallj' good stone be obtained. 

The Carboniferous limestone at the base of the Coal Measures has a comparatively small development in this 
state, and nowhere furnishes building material of much imjjortance. There are quarries in these beds at and near 
Bellevue, Eaton county, and north of Jackson, at the junction of Grand and Portage rivers. At these places the 
beds furnish pure, light-colored limestones in beds of moderate thickness, a very fair building material for ordinary 
uses. These beds also occur on some of the islands on the east side of Saginaw bay, and furnish an excellent 
building material for foundation walls. 

The sandstones of the Coal Measures sometimes furnish very good building material. The most noteworthy 
quarry in these beds is that near Ionia, Ionia county, where a bed of dark red and mottled yellow or white and red 
stones occur in horizontal position in layers of moderate thickness, and furnish an easily-quarried, medium-grained, 
easily-cut, and hardening sandstone in blocks of considerable size, and a very handsome building material. The 
beds from the lower part of the quarry are of an even brown color ; those near the top are mottled. This stone has 
been much used in the vicinity both for ornamental and heavy masonry purposes, aud has proved itself well suited 
to all classes of building construction. A very handsome church edifice has also been built of the brownstone at 
Detroit. Beds of these sandstones are also foiind at Jackson, where they are somewhat quarried, and near Lansing, 
at Grand Ledge, and at Flushing, near Flint, but they are nowhere regularly worked, nor do they furnish any very 
desirable material. 

The resources of the southern peninsula in building stone are comparatively very limited, except in such 
ordinary grades of the material as are necessary for house-foundation purposes, and even for that pur^jose stone is 
frequently lacking in very large districts. This is in part compensated for by the numerous railways which traverse 
the state, the close proximity of the numerous excellent building stones of Ohio, and the cheap lake tran.sportatiou 
by which the resources of the Upper Peninsula can be reached. 

WISCONSm. 
By Professor Allan D. Conover, Special Agent. 

SILURIAN. 

The great bed of Silurian rocks which almost completely encircles the Archaian area of northern central 
Wisconsin had previous to the census year furnished practically all of the building stone quarried within the 
state. Every one of the grand divisions of the belt furnishes in one or more localities material fit for ordinary 
building purposes, though stone suitable for the finer class of work is as yet quarried at but few ijlaces. Within the 
Silurian area, to which the more thickly-settled portions of the state pretty closely correspond, except where a 
very deep covering of glacial drift exists, there are but few regions where rock fit for the most ordinary building 
purposes cannot be obtained everywhere within a few miles, and almost every large town or city has within its limits, 
or near by, quarries of sufQcient capacity to supply its own most pressing needs for that sort of building material; 
but thei'e were previous to 1880 no localities (except at Bass island in the Lake Superior region) where building 
stone had been quarried in any quantity for export beyond the state, (a) and but few where it had been quarried 
for other than a local market. There are indeed but few places where the Silurian formations yield large quantities 
of easily-obtainable stone of such character as to be in very general demand. The Niagara group furnishes several 
of the.se places in the %icinity of Milwaukee; the Trenton group (Galena limestone), a number along the Lower Fox 
river and Duck creek, in Outagamie and Brown counties; the Saint Peter sandstone, a barely possible one at Eed 
Eock, near Darlington, La Fayette county; the Lower Magnesian but one, at the Prairie du Chien quarries and in 
their immediate vicinity, Crawford county; and the Potsdam sandstone, in the Apostle islands, and possibly along 
the coast of Bayfield and Douglas counties. 

Potsdam. — The main body of Potsdam sandstone in southern Wisconsin is made of a medium-grained, somewhat 
rounded, siliceous sand, the particles cemented together either by a fine siliceous powder of the grains themselves, 
or by a coating of carbonaceous or ferruginous cement. Where the first is the cementing material the stone is 
exceedingly friable and useless as a building material, but where the cementing material is either of the other two, 
the rock is generally of a compact and durable character and furnishes some excellent building stones. Sections 
of this formation in different parts of tUfe state show a varying thickness, reaching as much as 700 feet in the central 
southern part. Of this the middle and by far the greater part is loose friable stone, much of it easily separated 
into sand by light blows. Exceptions to this occur in numerous places where the sandstone was deposited close 

a A temporary exception to this statement occurred during a period of about two years after the Chicago iire, when such huildiug 
stone was sent into Chicago from a number of quarries in southeastern Wisconsin. 



230 BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

to the Archajau area, as at the Stevens Point quarries, aud those near Grand Eapids, at which last i^lace the stone 
is a very valuable one. and is referred by Professor Irving to the middle i)ortion of the Potsdam. Another 
exception of like character occurs along the quartzite ranges of the Baraboo region, where many facts go to show 
the probability of two separate sandstones laid down at ditferent i)eriods. 

Wherever, along the quartzite ranges of that region, the sandstone is found resting immediately upon the 
quartzite it furnishes a medium-grained, compact, massive sandstone of great durability, which can be quarried iu 
very large blocks, is <jf uniform texture throughout, free from flaws, and of colors from light straw and nearly 
white through various shades of light pink, the varying colors being due mainly to changes in the cementing material. 
The two large quarries in this sandstone at Ablemau's have furnished a very large amount of stone for bridge and 
culvert purposes along the line of the Chicago and Northwestern railroad. The hardness of the stone and consequent 
difficulty of dressing have so far prevented its use for general building purposes. There is a large number of 
localities throughout the same region where this stone occurs, and it everywhere presents the same character, and 
has in many places been quarried to the extent of a few cords. 

The uiiper beds of the Potsdam also furnish iu the southern part of the state two layers — one of sandstone 
underlaid by the other, an impure dolomitic limestone — which immediately underlie the Lower Magnesiau limestone, 
and occur everywhere just below the base of that formation wherever the latter is exposed in the half circle 
in which it comes to the surface. These beds have been given the name of Madison sandstone and Mendota 
limestone. 

The Madison beds, wherever they occur, are rarely less than 35 feet thick, often more, aud furnish frequently a 
slightly calcareous sandstone, wliich is generally a very good buihliug stone, although never occurring in layers of 
a thickness suited for large ornamental stone. It is of various shades, from yellow to a light dull brown, and has 
beeu much quarried wherever found, because of the ease with which it can be shaped into appropriate forms. It 
gradually hardens and changes upon exposure to a rather dull yellowish-brown, and has beeu quite extensively used 
at Madison and in the surrounding country, and in many villages in the region where it occurs. 

The Mendota limestone is equally persistent in occurrence throughout the same area, and includes a total 
thickness of from 20 to 45 feet in diHerent localities. It furnishes a stone varying from nearly white through all 
shades of yellow to dull brown, is quite regularly bedded, occurring in layers up to 5 feet in thickness, and is 
more extensively quarried than the Madison sandstone, since it can also be burned for lime, of which it furnishes a 
very fair quality. Wherever it occurs it furnishes valuable building material, especially for heavj- work. 

The Potsdam sandstone of the region of lake Superior is of a character somewhat distinct from that iu southern 
Wisconsin. Its rock where exposed in Wisconsin is composed of siliceous grains, medium to somewhat coarse, 
held together by a cement usually either ferruginous or argillaceous in its character, and is generally stained from 
yellow to deep brown by the ferruginous matter. It furnishes a very handsome building stone, and is quai'ried in 
masses of almost any required size. The chief difficulty with the stone as a flue building material arises from the 
fact that it contains, wherever yet quarried, numerous clay pockets which are liable to badly pit the finished surface. 
They are likely to be found anywhere in the stone when it is worked, and where ornamental relief work is being 
done the nearly-completed piece is often entirely spoiled by opening into one of these pockets, or the completed 
piece is badly defaced by the subsequent breaking away of a thin skin of sandstone and the dropping out of the clay. 
The difficulties which arise in this way can, of course, be partly overcome by having all the cutting, shaping, and 
finishing done at the quarries, thus saving the cost of transportation of useless pieces. This characteristic of the 
stone has proved a great drawback to its general use. Many exposures from which the stone could be readily 
quarried and shipped directly upon vessels are found on the islands of the Ai:)ostle group, and some are found 
along the coast of Bayfield aud Douglas counties. 

At Bass island (Apostle islands) a large quarry was opened in this sandstone, and was extensively worked 
during the first three or four years of the last decade. Quite heavy stripping of clay is required, and below this 
there is exposed a quarry face of 26 feet of good stone ; below this the stone is inferior. In this depth there are 
three layers which in places unite. The joints are inclined about 60° and are spaced about 50 feet apart. Between 
these and within the beds the stone is uniform "in texture and color, and without seams or cracks. It is of very 
much the same grade as the Marquette stone, but free from its vexatious variations of color. The quarry has been 
abandoned for several years, and was not worked during the census year. 

Lower Magnesian. — The Lower Magnesiau limestone forms the surface stone over a very large semicircular 
band everywhere skirting the wide Potsdam belt. Its beds consist largely of a quite siliceous dolomitic limestone, 
sometimes nearly pure, the siliceous or arenaceous material sometimes predomiuating. In a great many localities it 
furnishes a rather rough and irregularly but heavily bedded limestone, a good material for heavy masonry, and it is 
quarried iu a large number of places, though nowhere very extensively. In a few localities a very excellent building 
stone has been quarried from it, usually from its lower or lowest beds. The most noteworthy of the places are the 
southern part of the town of Westport, Dane couutj", just west of Bridgeport, near Prairie du Ohieu, Crawford county, 
and at the summit of the Mississippi Eiver blufis, in the vicinity of La Crosse, La Crosse county, and northward to 
a point across the river from Winona, Minnesota. In the town of Westport, Dane county, is a number of quarries 
of considerable size, not much worked during the census year, which were nearly all opened for the purpose of 



DESCRIPTIONS OF QUARRIES AND QUARRY REGIONS. 231 

supplyiDg stone for tlie Insaue Hospital building located iu that towuship. They were opeued iu the lowest beds 
of the Lower Magiiesiau, just above its beds of separation from the Potsdam. The Veuhusen quarry has supplied 
the greater part of the stone for the hospital building, a heavily-bedded, compact, hard limestone of rather tine but 
slightly uneven texture, in color varying from very light straw to light buff when dressed, and having occasional 
small sandpits. This stone does not discolor upon exposure, and its chisel marks remain after more than 20 years 
apparently as sharp and definite as when the stone was first built into the wall. This quarry is a vei\v diflQcult one 
to work because of very heavy stripping. 

O'Malley's quarry, li miles northwest and not far from the horizon, furnishes a whiter, clearer stone. A 
considerable thickness of good rubble stone is succeeded by some heavy beds, 28 inches thick, which were 
quarried for the face stone of the United States court-house and post-ofiflce at Madison. This is a hard, somewhat 
arenaceous, white, uniform-textured stone, which an exposure of over ten years in that building has only turned 
to a verj- delicate straw color. It was somewhat hard to dress, letaius its chisel marks unchanged, and shows no 
tendency to scale off on the dressed surface. 

[The trimmings of the post-ofifice water-table caps, sills, joints, etc., are of selected stone from one of the 
Joliet, Illinois, quarries, and have scaled off in large thin scales, entirely defacing the tool marks.] 

This stone is by far the handsomest stone quarried iu southern Wisconsin , except at Waukesha, in the vicinity 
of Milwaukee. 

There are se%eial smaller quarries in these beds and numerous places in the locality where quarries equally 
good could probably be opened. The Chicago and Noi thwestern railway traverses the town, and is not farther 
than a mile from these quarries. 

At the Bridgeport quarries, near Praiiie du Chien, the Lower Magnesian limestone is also quarried quite 
extensively in Marsden's quarry. The beds quarried caunot be many feet above the base of the formations. They 
have a ledge near the crest of the river bluff's, just west of the village, which is there perhaps 80 feet above the 
river, and dips gradually westward, coming to the level of the river valley before it opens upou the Mississippi 
river. Numerous quarries have been opened in this ledge and large quantities of stone removed, but all the quarries 
except ilarsden's have been abandoned, and an examination of them indicates that probably none of them could 
be worked profitably, except for an unusually favorable maiket. One or two places remain where good quarries 
■could probably be opened. 

The stone quarried from the heavier and more regular beds is a nearly white, somewhat creamy-tinted limestone, 
which does not iron-stain or change much upon exposure, except to take a slightly gray dust-colored hue. It 
dresses i ather easily, and seems to harden somewhat on exjjosure. It is on the whole an excellent stone for all building 
purposes where a veiy fine finish is not required. This and the adjacent quarries furnished the stone for the state 
capitol, and from this quarry the stone for the extension of that building, now in process of construction, is taken. 
Large quantities of dimension stone are also now being shipped from here to Minneapolis, Minnesota, and much 
stone furnished for bridge work upon the Prairie du Chien and Eiver divisions of the Chicago, Milwaukee, and 
Saint Paul railway. 

On the bluffs next the river valley, and near their summit, in the region around La Crosse, there outcrops and 
is quarried a limestone (lower beds of Lower Magnesian) the lower beds of which yield a clear, creamy-white tinted 
stone, very finegrained and of quite uniform texture, which makes a very handsome ornamental building stone. 
At some places it is pitted with occasional sand-holes, but at others stone of considerable size can be obtained free 
from these imperfections. It can be very readily worked into different shapes and even car^•ed in fine figures in 
'considerable relief. 

There are doubtless many other localities where these lower beds of this formation yield equally good stones 
with those here described, but no other extensive quarries have, so far as I have been able to learn, been opened 
ill them 

Saint Peter sandstone. — The Saint Peter sandstone consists almost everywhere of somewhat rounded 
siliceous grains, sometimes entirely uncemeuted, forming beds of very pure sand, and sometimes cemented to a 
quite hard and durable stone, which is everywhere, however, where I have seen it exposed, very much cut up by 
iiregular seams or joints, themselves filled with arenaceous material dividing the rock into angular fragments. 
The material of these seams, however, sometimes cements the fragments well together. The rock has some slight 
use as a building stone in the town of Portland. Jefferson county, and in the southwestern part of the state, but 
only for cellar-wall purposes. 

x\.t Eed Eock, in the valley of the Pecatonica, in southern Iowa county, near Darlington, there is a remarkable 
exijosure of this rock, which appears to have been an upheaval. 

In tlie north side of this exposure a large quarry was opened in 1872 by William T. Henry, of Mineral Point, 
which was wor-ked only one season. The stone was shipped to Chicago, but the heavy freight charges prevented 
the business from paying, and the quarry has remained unworked since. Better freight lates can now be had to 
Chicago and Slilwaukee. Some of the stone has been sent to Chicago for trial, and if it meets with favor there 
the quarry is likely to be ojiened on a large scale. The stone can be obtained iu blocks as large as. C foot cubes, 
aiijiarently without flaws. It is, however, much cut u]> by the fine, irregular seams alluded to above, ai'd it seems 



232 BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

doubtful whether the desirable deep tint of brown is the color of more thau a small portion. The stone in the 
railroad cot approaches a brick-red in color, and this grades to a deeper color, nearly brown at the quarry spot, 
beyond which it gradually passes into a grayish-pink. It is in general appearance much the handsomest building 
stone found in that part of the state, but some considerable stripping of worthless stone will be required should 
the quarry be extensively worked. 

Trenton group. — The Trenton group in Wisconsin contains two rather distinct divisions — the Trenton 
limestone and the Galena limestone. 

The Trenton limestone or blue and buff beds furnish, wherever they occur in the southwestern part of the state,. 
in what is called the Lead region, an excellent and durable building stone, but not often a handsome one. The 
buff beds, the lower, occur in layers from 6 inches to 2 feet, and sometimes thicker, and furnish a rather coarse^ 
hard, somewhat unevenly-textured stone which is not difficult either to quarry or to shape and work. Its color,, 
owing to uneven leaching, is usually, or at least often, blue at the center oft the layer, but a decided buff for some 
inches from the bedding-planes, while often stone taken from near the natural surface is leached throughout to a 
buff coloi-. The blue beds in that region usually furnish a very thinly-bedded, hard, dark grayish-blue to dark drab,, 
fine-grained, often fossiliferous stone of pretty uniform texture, rarely occurring in layers thicker than 10 or 12 
inches and not obtainable in very large blocks. At some places these beds remain unchanged by leaching, at others^ 
the leaching affects their color almost as much as it does the buff beds. They furnish very hard, durable stones, 
which are very hard to dress, but take a very fine, soft-feeling polish, and often, because of the fossils incliided,. 
present a very handsome appearance. These beds have been considerably worked at many points in the Lead region,, 
as at Mineral Point, Darlington, Mifliu, Platteville, Highland, etc. There are, so far as I could learn, no quarries 
now worked on a sufficient scale, or enough distinguished in former working from hundreds of others, to warrant a 
special report. 

In the adjoining parts of Saint Croix and Pierce counties there is a considerable area where the bluffs are 
everywhere capped by the Trenton limestone, often only the buff beds ; and this is quarried in a number of places, 
notably at Gibson's quarry, near Hudson, and in Walker's quarry, at Eiver Palls. They present here almost 
exactly the same physical characteristics as in southwestern Wisconsin, and furnish an excellent and durable 
though not a handsome building stone. Owing to their position close to the surface the beds are more generally 
leached to a solid buff color. 

In the southeastern and eastern portions of the state the blue and buff beds present very little marked difference 
in texture and physical characteristics, the heavier and more regular beds being still characteristic of the lower 
beds or buff, and that being much the more profitable portion of the formation for quarrying. The blue beds 
generally furnish little or no material fit for other than the commonest masonry, while deep quarrying into the buff 
(away from the originally-exposed surface) often develops a bluish graystone of rather rough, uneven texture, but 
suitable for a fair quality of the ordinary ornamental building stone. The quarries in these beds in the eastern and 
southeastern parts of the state, upon which special report has been made, are those at Beloit, at Janesville, and at 
Neenah and Menasha. Along the line of its outcrop, as it passes froai the northeastern part of the state southwest 
and then bends to the westward ahd southwestward, and also where it outcrops in the Lead region, are very 
arenaceous small quarries. 

The upper bed of the Trenton group, the Galena limestone, is the surface formation over a large area in the 
Lead region and extends in quite a wide band southeastward into Illinois, then bends to the northward nearly 
parallel with lake Michigan, and at a distance of from 25 to 50 miles inland to and across the state line into northern 
Michigan. 

In the central and eastern part of the Lead region the stone of this formation is everywhere of the same brown 
or yellow color, often much iron-stained, and also somewhat rotten and honey-combed throughout with large cavities 
often an inch or more in diameter, almost everywhere unfit for any building purpose, though sometimes compact 
enough for rough cellar-wall work, and is occasionally used for that purpose. 

There are several horizons, however, at which, when it is exposed, it furnishes an excellent, heavily-bedded, 
rather coarse-textured, strong and durable building stone, well fitted for ordinary and heavy masonry. These 
beds outcrop at Cassville and along the Mississippi Eiver bluffs in western Grant county, and in numerous other 
places in that part of the Lead region. 

In the southeastern part of the state for some CO miles north of the state line the Galena limestone has the same 
physical characteristics as distinguish it in the central part of the Lead region. 

At Watertown, however, beds of siifficient firmness and freedom from honey-combing are found to furnish a 
fair building material. Prom here northward the stone gradually undergoes a change, mainly through the addition 
of argillaceous material, which very materially affects for the better its appearance and usefulness as a building 
stone. 

At Waupun a laige quarry was once worked in this formation, which furnished an excellent coursing stone. 
At Oshkosh are two large quarries which furnish a dark drab stone of considerable hardness and durability^ 
but which dresses with much difficulty, and has been little used heretofore for facing or for ornamental purposes. 



DESCRIPTIONS OF QUARRIES XKB QUARRY REGIONS. 233 

Northward from here there are no noteworthy quarries iu this foruiation uutil we reach tlie rapids iu the Fox 
river at Kaukauna, where large quarries have beeu opeued and great quantities of unusually large diuieusiou stone 
taken out. ' Here is opportunity for opening many extensive quarries iu stone of a most excellent character for all 
mason work, except that requiring the very finest of finish. 

Many of the government locks ou the Fox river have beeu built with this stone and others are to be built. 

The stone is a medium-textured, light drab or gray limestone, and occurs iu beds from 6 to 30 inches thick, from 
any one of which it can be split iu almost any required size, and it can be qiuxrried for dimension material almost 
if not quite as cheaply as for rubble. 

The quarries at Duck creek, on the Chicago and Northwestern railway, near Green Bay, are in exactly similar 
rock, and have furnished the railway with large quantities of a most excellent stone for bridge purjioses. 

Niagara groitp. — The Cincinnati shales, i. e., limestones, furnish no building stone. The only Upper Silurian 
formation iu "Wisconsin furnishing any building stone is the Niagara limestone. This formation is the surface rock 
iu a strip of country 30 to 50 miles wide along the shore of lake Michigan. There are four well recognized subdivisions 
of the formation, which maintain the characteristics with considerable jjersisteucy throughout the whole country 
where the formation is exposed: 1. Guelph beds; 2. Kacine beds; 3. Waukesha beds; 4. Mayville beds. 

The lower of these, the Mayville beds, forming the surface rock iu the country adjoining that immediately 
underlaid by the Galena limestone, contain some beds which furnish stones fit for ordinary building purposes, but 
no especially noteworthy quarries. Iu the upper part of these beds there is, iu some places in Fond du Lac countj' 
and the counties immediately adjoining, a very pure calcareous sandstone, whose occurrence has been mentioned 
iu the reports upon the quarries in the vicinity of Fond du Lac. It is a pinkish-gray stone of varying compactness, 
which cuts with very great ease and seems to harden some upon exposure. It would be a valuable building stone 
but for the fact that no spot has yet been found yielding a large ([uautity of stone of even a tolerably uniform 
character, or from which pieces of large size could be taken out. 

The Waukesha beds throughout Waukesha county furnish a hard, compact, very light drab, sometimes nearly 
white dolomitic limestone, which yields an excellent, fine-appearing, and durable building stone suitable for all 
grades of construction. It is quite a hard stone to cut and finish, but presents a handsome appearance when dressed. 
The typical occurrence of these beds is in very thin sheets, from 1 inch to G inches tliick, very well fitted for flagging, 
but these often unite to form much heavier ones, furnishing stones of almost any ordinarily recpiired size. The 
quarry of the Hadfields, at Waukesha, is the largest and most worked, and sends considerable quantities of stone to 
Milwaukee aud many other Wisconsin towns. In the quarries owned by these gentlemen the typical Waukesha 
beds yield flagging stones and heavily-bedded buihling stone. Throughout the country where these beds occur are 
numerous excellent quarry spots awaiting development. South of this point there is a considerable quarry, 2 miles 
from Genesee station, which furnishes some stone rather easier to work and somewhat freer from slight defects 
than the Waukesha. 

Northward also from Waukesha these beds have been worked at a number of places aud furnish fine flagging 
material especially. In the country to the northward where these beds emerge from under their intermediate heavy 
drift covering their stratigraphical equivaleut presents three very well-marked divisions, the first only of which 
furnishes any considerable amount of valuable building stone. This division, called Byron beds, from having its 
most marked exposures iu the town of Byron, Fond du Lac county, forms in that couuty what is called " the ridge'' 
aud "the ledge'', a considerable rise of ground, with an abrupt aud rocky western face, which runs southward, 
swinging somewhat westwardly, just east of Fond du Lac, and which is quarried at numerous places near that city, 
as, notably, at Eden and Oak Centre, and at Sylvester, in Green county. Here good building stone — a compact, 
medium to flue textured and quite homogeneous limestone — is obtained for ordinary and ornamental purposes, 
though somewhat hard to shape, and fine flagging stone of any required thickness between 1 inch and S inches. 
Mauy quarries have been opeued in the ledge, but only a minute fraction of the easily-ciuarriable stone has been 
as yet uncovered. These beds pass to the east of lake Winnebago, through Calumet county, where they occur 
iu places as a very pure white and sometimes handsomely-mottled stone, which is locally called marble, and can 
be polished fairly well, presentiug a handsome appearance and being well fitted for ornamental building stone. 
The two upper divisions furnish very little material fit even for ordinary building purposes. 

The Eacine beds, which rest upou the Waukesha beds at the south aud the upper coal beds at the north, are 
the surface rock along and parallel to lake Michigan, from the state line on the south to the extreme end of Door 
couuty on the north, attaining in places a width of 30 miles. They are beds of quite pure dolomitic limestone, and 
present a great variety of texture and structure, from a porous, granular, and irregularly-bedded to a fiue, compact, 
homogeneous, and evenly-bedded rock. They are very extensively quarried, and furnish most excellent common 
and fine building material at a great many points, notably at Milwaukee, Cedarburg, Grafton, Sheboygan, aud 
Manitowoc. The Eacine quarries in these beds have furnished large quantities of ordinary buihliug stoue and 
stone for lime, but very little material well fitted for ornamental and the finer classes of stones. The Milwaukee 
(luarries furnish every grade of building material and almost any necessary size, and are remarkable for the great 
depth of excellent buildiug stoue which their working has developed. 



234 BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

The Guclph beds, formiug tlie uppermost series of the Niagara group, have pretty much the same general 
physical characteristics as the Eaciue beds upon which they rest. In a number of places they furnish excellent 
building stones, similar to those of the Eacine beds. They skirt the shore of lake Michigan as far north as Kewaunee 
county, and are somewhat quarried at Oedarburg and Grafton, and at Sheboygan. 

The Niagara group as a whole furnishes by far the largest number of extensive quarries of any formation in 
the state, and almost the only ones, except the few in the Archsean, in which the depth of excellent stone is more 
than a few feet, and which therefore warrant the expenditure of large sums of money in removing the covering. 
For this reason the number of places in this formation where quarries can be profitably worked is very large. 

None of these quarries as yet opened are in convenient proximity to the lake, so that the development of these, 
as well as of all those valuable Archasan quarries inland, will depend upon transportation facilities furnished by 
railroad companies. 

AECH^AN. 

The vast area in northern central Wisconsin which is uuderlaid by the Archaean rocks is almost everywhere 
covered with an irregular but heavy covering of glacial drift, and there are large areas where rock exposures are 
very rare. A large part of the stones of this formation are of a character unfit for building or ornamental purposes. 
Several localities have, however, been pointed out by Professor E. D. Irving in his report upon the geology of 
central Wisconsin {Wiscot^sin Geological Beport, Vol. II) as likely to furnish valuable building and ornamental 
rocks. 

At Little Bull falls, on the Wisconsin river at Mosinee, Marathon county, are large rock exposures of a greenish- 
gray mottled syenite, much of which would furnish a handsome and excellent building and ornamental stone, and 
which could be quarried with great ease. A very similar rock is found on the Eau Claire river, at the crossing of 
the Stevens Point and Wausau road, but is here coarser than that variety of the Little Bull Falls syenite which is 
best fitted for building purposes. 

A short distance west of Wausau, in the southeast quarter of section 21, township 29, range 7 east, is a small 
granite quarry owned by Mr. Kolter, on which a special report has been made. The stone has some considerable 
local value. The ridge upon which this quarry is located extends 3 or 4 miles. A rock very similar to this is also 
found on the south side of the valley of Little Eib river, on the southeast quarter of section 29 in the same township, 
but it is not exjiosed. 

At the falls of Eib river there is found a heavily-bedded greenish syenite, which breaks readily into rectangular 
blocks. 

In tlie valley of the Wisconsin river, around Grand Eapids, Wood county, there are numerous exposures, 
natural and artificial, of reddish granites, some of which could be easily quarried for building stone, bat most of 
them show a decided tendency to decompose upon exposure. At Grand Eapids there is exposed in the bed of the 
river, at low water, a deep red, handsome granite, which would probably have considerable value as a building 
stone, and could be quarried quite readily during times of low water. The amount of quarriable rock is not, 
however, verj^ great. 

In the valley of Yellow river are some exposures which merit special attention. 

*In Hemlock creek, at the crossing of the wagon-road from Grand Eapids to Dexterville, is a fine-grained, flesh- 
colored granite, which, though showing some tendency to weather and even to stain, would furnish a very 
handsome, readily-dressed rock. 

On Yellow river, at Big Bull falls, on sections 15 and 16, township 24, range 3 east, are large exposures of a 
medium-grained red granite extending along the bed and banks for a quarter of a mile. It is an unusually 
fine stone, taking a handsome i^olish. Polished specimens were exhibited in the Wisconsin collection at the 
centennial exhibition at Philadelphia, where they were regarded as among the finest of the polished granites 
exhibited. 

On section 3, township 22, range 3 east, 3 miles north of Dexterville, there is in the bed of the river a greenish- 
gray quartz-porphyry similar in texture to those of the isolated Archtean patches in the southern part of the 
state. 

At Black Eiver Falls there is in the bed and along the bank of the river a continuous and large exposure of 
medium-grained pinkish granite. There are several spots where extensive quarries could be oi)eued. The Chicago, 
Milwaukee, Saint Paul, and Ohio railroad crosses the river at the town, and convenient facilities for loading and 
transporting the granite could probably be arranged for. Specimens of this rock were taken. 

On Black river, in the stream, about 1 mile above Black Eiver station, is a ledge 25 feet high and 150 feet 
long of fine-grained, dark reddish granite. 

Above the mouth of its east fork there are exposures and ledges of red granite as far as to French's mill, in 
section 25, township 23, range 3 west. At the mill the exposures are large ; the stone is reddish, fine-grained, 
and uniform-textured, and would make a handsome building material. 



DESCRIPTIONS OF QUARRIES AND QUARRY REGIONS. 235 

I 

Three-quarters of a uiile west of Xeillsville, where the wagou-road crosses Bhick river, ou southwest quarter 
of section 15, township 2i, range 2 west, is a fine grained, light pinkish, slightly gneissoid and very quartzose 
granite, hard and compact, and which appears to be a very fine ornamental granite. 

The "neissoid and red granites of Black and Yellow rivers resemble one another closely and appear to lie directly continuous with 
one another underneath the sandstone, which nearly every where hetween the two rivers is the surface rock. Occasionally the crystalline 
rocks come to the surface in the interval, and are then of the same character as in the rivers, as for instance on O'Neill's creek, in section 
162. in township 24, range 1 west, Clark county, w here red granite is exposed : and on a high hluflin the northeastern part of township 23, 
ran^e 2 east, whose upper portions are reported to be of red granite, with sandstone layers at lower levels, (a) 

These uotes show quite conclusively that there is in the southern and southwestern parts of the main 
Arch;i?au area of central Wisconsin and its branches a large uumber of localities where are found granitic aud 
syenitic rocks of excellent quality for building and ornamental purposes, in many of which the rock can be readily 
quarried, and it seems proUtible that in course of time these stones will find their way into the market. 

Beside the main Archiean area there are in the southern central part of the state a number of small patches or 
islands of granite, quartz-porphyry, aud quartzite projecting through the overlying Silurian rocks. Previous to 
the census year no regular quarrying had been done in these rocks, but at the close of that year a great demand 
arose in Chicago for paving stones of a durable character, which led to the opening and working for that purpose 
of several quarries in these outlines, which happened to lie near the means of transportation to that city. 

Owing to their nearness to the thickly-settled portions and great cities of Wisconsin aud Illinois, and to means of 
transportation, these small areas all seem likelj' to sooner or later become imi)ortant centers of the quarrying industry. 

At the present time the most important quarry of these areas is that at Montello, wliere a medium-grained, 
daik, rather dull pink granite is quarried. It was fir.st opened chiefly to obtain paving stones for Chicago, but has 
from the first furnishetl considerable quantities of building and ornamental granite. The stone takes a fine polish, 
but owing to its small grain and the even distribution of the constituent minerals its appearance is not as showy or 
handsome as that of many other granites. It is a very durable and reliable stone, having also apparently great 
strength. The extent of qnarriablc rock is very great. 

The quarry near the village of Waterloo, Jefi'er.sou county, in an outline of nearly white quartzite, is perhaps next 
in importance. It furnishes as yet only jiaving stones and macadam material. The leaving blocks are split more 
smoothly and regularly than any others I have seen in Chicago from the east or from Wisconsin. They appear 
harder and likely to be more durable than those from the Montello quarry. An attempt is being made to get this 
stone out in large blocks adapted for building and ornamental purpo.ses. 

A quarry has been opened in the Moundville quartziteporphyry, which also is worked only for paving blocks, 
all of which have as yet been sent to Chicago. Monroe street, from State street to Wabash avenue, in that city, 
has been paved with it. The stone is very hard and well suited for that purpose, and blocks out easily though 
somewhat raughly into pieces of requisite .size. The stone takes a very handsome poli.sh and is very dark, almost 
black, when so finished. 

Some o or 6 miles from Portage, at the ea.st end of the ranges, a quantity of jasper has been taken out, and some 
eitizens of Portage are experimenting with it to loam its value. The pieces taken have been handsomely polished 
and present the appearance of beautifully-grained dark mahogany. I have been unable to learn whether the 
locality yields large quantities of this stone, and whether it can be obtained in blocks of considerable size, but I judge 
from reports that the only difiiculty anticipated by the owners is that of properly shaping the pieces taken out. 

The following description includes fuller statements as to some localities already named: 

On the line of the Wisconsin Valley railroad, between Centralia and Junction City, are several deep cuttings, 
which expose usually crumbling and partially-decomposed laminated gneissic rocks. The exposures are very poor 
and the rock is generally out of position. About 3J miles north of Centralia is a cutting 400 feet long, thi'ough a rather 
tine grained, granular-textured, pinkish granite. This rock consists of brownish, translucent, granular, glassy 
(]uartz largely predominating; pinki.sh bright -lustered feldspar, aud fine black mica sparsely but uniformly 
scattered. It would dress readily, but shows some tendency to weather and iron stain. 

At Little Bull falls, on the Wisconsin river at Mosinee, Sec. 29, T. 27, E. 7 E., Marathon county, are quite 
large rock exposures. The river here is divided into two widely-separated channels by a high, ro(?ky island about 
■A quarter of a mile in width. Ou its northeast end this island is itself cut by several smaller channels, dry at low 
water, which show high walls of bare rock. Most of the water of the river pas.ses through the easternmost channel, 
which in one place, for a distance of 130 feet, is a gorge only .35 feet wide. The main fall of the river was formerly 
in this gorge, but has lately been moved down stream by a dam erected below. The rocks of the various exposures 
;it this place are all closely allied aud may be designated by the general term of syenite. They are all characterized 
l)y the presence of much greenish-black amphibole aud white striated feldspar, the quartz, though present, being 
always subordinate. Two general kinds were noted. The prevailing rock is a moderately-coar.se grained, 
highly-crystalline syenite, with a greenish-gray mottled appearance, and without any sign of parallel arrangement 
of the various ingredients, which are uniformly intermingled. On a weathered surface this rock appears 
greeni.sh to white, the latter color being due to a kaolinization of the feldspar. Ou a fresh fracture the two 
main ingredients are readily perceptible to the naked eye. The hornblende is usually of a bright-lustered, 

n TTiscoiiiiiii Ocoloijkiil Hepurt. Vol. II, p. 504. 



236 



BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 



greenish-black color; tlie feldspar facets are commonly white, translucent, and beautifully striated, as can 
readily be seen with an ordinary lens. More rarely pinkish feldspar occurs. That variety of this rock which has 
a medium degree of coarseness presents a very handsome appearance on a dressed surface, and, since it shows 
no tendency to iron-stani or decompose; might make a valuabhs building stone. The second variety found here 
is very much finer in grain, and of a dark greenish-gray color, showing the crystalline texture only uiider the 
lens, and then not plainly. It is evidently merely a phase of the coarser rock. It occurs both in small embedded 
patches and in large, distinct outcrops. According to tbe microscopic examination these finer kinds, while 
having the same ingredients as the coarser, show a larger proportion of hornblende, and may be designated 
as " hornblende rock". Chlorite appears to occur in all, more especially in the finer kinds, as an accessory. 

On the Ean Claire river, at the crossing of the Stevens Point and Wausau road, Sec. 7, T. 28, E. 8 E., there is 
a fall over coarse pinkish syenite resembling that on the Wisconsin river near the Mpsinee hills, and also the 
prevailing syenite at Big Bull falls, a short distance northward. 

On the upper Eau Claire, in Sec. 4, T. 29, R. 10 E., are exposures of a very coarse, roaghtextured, feldspathic: 
granite, consisting of pink, cleavable feldspar, very large-flaked black mica, and gray quartz. 

Westward from Wausau, in T. 29, E. 7 E., a number of outcrops occur. Near its south line this town is. 
traversed by Eib river. In Sees. 21, 22, 27, and 28 there is high ground trending north and south, which rises from 
200 to 300 feet above the Wisconsin at Wausau. In the S. E. quarter of Sec. 21, on the south slope of part of 
this ridge, a peculiar, fl*ie-grained feldspathic rock is exposed and is quarried to some extent on Mr. Kolter's 
land. This rock has a brownish -pink color, the least weathered portions showing a grayish tinge; it is rather 
fine grained, and has a marked granular texture, looking almost like a mechanical rock. The most abundant 
ingredient is a pinkish feldspar in cleavable fragments up to one-twentieth of an inch across. • With this is much 
granular brownish quartz, and a little blackish mica in fine flakes, making the rock a granite. No arrangement 
of the minerals in parallel lines is perceptible. In the quarry the rock is seen to be nearly horizontal, dipping 
not more than 10° in a due soirth direction. A total thickness of about 3 feet was seen. Large thin slabs, from- 
2 to 4 inches thick, splitting off parallel to the bedding, can be obtained. 

Near Single's mill, in the north part of the S. E. quarter of See. 29, in the same township, and on the edge of a part 
of the same high ground, are exposures of a whitish, slaty, granular quartzite, in places iron-stained. Under the 
magnifying glass this rock is seen to be made up of rounded grains of glassy quartz, and some few places were noted 
where the variety with granular texture grades into a non-granular, glassy quartz. Scales of silvery mica occur on 
the surfaces of laminiB. The bedding structure is distinct, and shows a strike of N. 75° E. and dip of 56° S. E. 

About half a mile from this place, and on the south side of the valley of Little Eib river, S. E. quarter of Sec. 29,. 
the northeast face of the ridge shows quartzite in large exposures. The rock here is glassy, translucent, and 
occasionally iron-stained, resembling that of Eib hill. The bedding is obscure. On the slope of the hill below, the 
roots of the trees of a heavy windfall have upturned numerous fragments of a brownish-pink, granular-textured 
feldspathic rock, similar to that at Kolter's quarry in Sec. 21. Half a mile northeast on the Jiorth face of the same 
elevation, N. E. quarter of S. E. quarter of Sec. 30, a high ledge shows the same feldspathic rock, striking N. 80° E. 
and'dipping 50° N. W. 

At the falls of Eib river, S. E. quarter of Sec. 26, T. 29, E. 5 E., are large exposures of greenish chloritic schist 
and syenite. On the south side of the river, at a point near the lower left-hand corner of Fig. IS, is a rocky point 

about 15 feet high, showing heavily but distinctly bedded greenish syenite, 
dipping 20° E. and striking N. S° W. The uppermost layer, about 3 feet 
thick, is moderately-coarse grained, mottled green and gray, weathering 
white. To the lens it shows much 'grayish quartz, green amphibole, and 
white altered feldspar, the last least abundant, though coarsest of the three. 
In some specimens greenish chlorite accompanies the hornblende. The 
next layer below, 4 feet thick, is a very much finer grained, almost aphanitic, 
greenish-gray rock, containing apparently a good deal of chlorite. The 
weathered surface is white, with numerous green, epidote-colored blotches. 
Microscopic examination shows that the ingredients of this fine-grained rock 
are the same as those of the coarser one above, but that the amphibole and 
feldspar are both more altered. This rock breaks out very readily into 
rectangular blocks, the planes of easiest cleavage lying at right angles to 
the bedding. The lowest layer, 3 feet thick, is again of coarse variety like 
that of the uppermost bed. 

At Hemlock creek, at the crossing of the wagon road from Grand Eapids 
to Dcxterville, in the N. E. quarter of the S. E. quarter of Sec. 5, T. 22, K. 
4 E., are ledges of rather fine grained, flesh-colored, gneissoid granite. 
Translucent, wine-colored quartz, and pinkish orthoclase, in small brilliant facets, make up most of the rock; the 
mica is sparse, in fine, green-black flakes, whicli have a distinct linear arrangement. This rock is a handsome one, 
and would probably dress well, though showing some tendency to weather and iron stain. The bedding directions 
appear to show a strike of N. 00° E. and a dip of 70° S. E. 




Section on tJie Zttte HCBE, 

EOCK 0CCURHENCE6 AT THE fALI-S OF EIB IlIVER. 

Scale, liueb=60reet. 



DESCRIPTIOXS OF QUARRIES AND QUARRY REGIONS. 



237 



Ou Yellow rivev itself, the southerumost Arehieaii exposure is to be seen about 2 miles north of Dexterville, in 

the X. half of Sec. 14, T. 'J2, E. 3 E. The rock here is medium-grained, pinkish, <iuartzose, gueissoid granite 

composed chieliy of limpid quartz and orthoclase feldspar, the former the most abundant. Mica is present in fine 

black scales arranged in parallel lines. The 

strike appears to be N. 55° W. and the dip 00° 

S. "\V. Near the top of the river bank, which 

rises directly from the granite, thinly-bedded, 

friable, horizontal sandstone is exposed. 
Ou Sec. 3, T. 22, E. 3 E., 3 miles north 

of Dexters'ille, there are large flat ledges of 

gueiss in the bed of the river, bounded on 

the north by quartz-porphyry. The gueiss 

is very fine grained, laminated, dark gray 

to black in color, and consists of a black 

mineral (mica, hornblende, or both), in 

small.brilliant flakes; aud whitish quartz and 

feldspar. Its weathered surface is earthy 

and of a dirty white color, but shows the fine 

lamination even more distinctly than the 

interior. The quai'tz-porphyry consists 
■of a light greenish-gray, aphanitic matrix, 
having the peculiar flaky api)earance 
that is characteristic of the quartz-por- 

I>h^\ries of the various isolated Arch<ean 

patches of Wisconsin, in which are embed- 
ded somewhat sparsely scattered facets of 
pinkish orthoclase feldspar up to one-six- 
teenth of an inch in diameter. It is a very 
tough, compact, rock, and is worn by the 
running water into smoothed and polished 
surfaces. This porphyry appears to pene- 
trate the adjacent laminated rock iu a very 
irreguLir manner. In one place a mass of 
the gneissoid rock some 50 feet in diame- 
ter is nearly surrounded by the porphyry, 
the lines of junction between the two being 
very sharp, and rendered especially notice- 
able by the diflerent appeavunces of their 
•weathered surfaces. The lines of junction 
are not curved, but straight, bearing re- 
spectively N. 70= W., W. •2<P E., and X. 70° 
AY., the first and last upon opposite sides of 
the inclosed mass. The strike of the gneiss 
is X. 250 W., its dip 00° X. E. The por- 
phyry is from 20 to 30 paces wide, and ap- 
pears to be bounded on the north by the 
•same gneiss as before, with the saniebedding. 
Beyond, jwrphyry comes in again. 

At Big Bull falls, 9 miles north of Pitt's 
mill, on Sees. 15 and 16, T. 24, E. 3 E., large 
exposures of medium-giained, highly feld- 
spathic, Ted granite extend along the bed and in the banks of Yellow river for a quarter of a mile. This granite 
has a base of cleavable reddish orthoclase, throughout which is quite uniformly distributed hyaline, occasionally 
smoky, and quartz iu irregularly-shaped patches from one thirty-second to one quarter of an inch in diameter. Mica 
is present, but is very fine and sparse. For the whole length of the exposure this rock is nearly uniform, and without 
any tendency to kaolinize. Its peculiar texture, composition, aud color combine to make it a very valuable aud 
unusually handsome building granite. Polished specimens of the rock attracted great attention at the Philadelphia 
exposition, where it was regarded by experts as among the finest of the many polished granites exhibited. 

Ou Sec. 7, T. 21, E. 3 E., another exposure of a similar red granite was noted. Above this point Yellow river 
is reported without exposures. 




238 



BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 



Map showingf tbe relative positions 



ISOLATED ARCHAEAN ABBAS 
of Wisconsin. 




Black Eiver valley. — The first exposures of crystalline rocks met with iu ascending Black river are found a 
short distance below the town of Black Eiver Falls, T. 31, E. i W., in Jackson county. From here they occur in the bed 
and on the sides of the stream, with only occasional interruptions, as far north as town 28, in Clark county. For the 

greater part of this distance they are con- 
cealed away from the river by overlying 
horizontal sandstone, through which, 
however, they occasionally rise in knobby 
projections. In some of the branch 
streams also the sandstone is cut through 
and the crystalline rocks exposed. Along 
the river the rock ledges in few places 
only rise to any considerable height 
above the water. 

Granite: Medium-grained pinkish, 
consisting of a nearly uniform admixture 
of pinkish orthoclase, iu facets nj) to one- 
sixteenth of an inch, and fine-grained, 
translucent quartz. Some mica is pres- 
ent, iu flue scales, showing sometimes 
a slightly stringy arrangement. This 
granite is exposed from a short distance 
above the wagon bridge as far north as 
the north line of Sec. 14, the river in this 
distance i>assing through a gorge whose 
walls sometimes reach a height of 80 feet. 
In the large exi)osures atthe falls the par- 
allel grain of the gneiss below is almost 
entirely lost, being only occasionally in- 
dicated in an obscure arrangement of the 
mica. The rock here is traversed by 
several sets of joints, mostly somewhat 
irregular, those show ing the greatest ir- 
regularity trending B". 80° E. and dipping 
72° S. E., but having no corresponding- 
structure in the rock. The granite shows 
the same general character above as at 
the falls, occasionally — as iu the railroad 
cut on thp west side of the river, j nst above 
the falls — showing a darker kind than 
usual from a greater quantity of fine dark 
mica. In this cut there are to be seen 
two sets of planes equally marked, one set 
trending JST. W. and dipping N. E., the 
other trending Isf. E. and dipping S". W. 
A distinct stringy arrangement of the 
mica was noted jjarallel to the former 
set. ISqsuV the north line of Sec. 15 the 
granite exposures cease suddenly on the 
east side of the river, while they con- 
tinue some distance farther on the west side— a fact to be explained by the northwest strike of the succeeding 
slaty rocks. 

In the river one mile above Black Eiver station on the Greeu Bay, Winona, and Saint Paul railroad, a ledge 
150 feet long and 25 feet high is seen of fine-grained, dark reddish granite, consisting of a rather uniform and 
close admixture of reddish orthoclase, in ftne glittering facets, i-eddish-brown, translucent quartz, some colorless 
quartz, and a little, sparsely scattered, fine black mica. Half a mile farther up stieam, finegrained red and gray 
banded quartzose gneiss is exposed. The gray bands consist of fine-grained, glassy quartz, fine black mica, 
and white feldspar; the red of brown aad red translucent quartz mingled with a little orthoclase. From here to the 
mouth of the East fork the bed of Black river shows numerous small ledges, 3 to 4 feet high, of contorted gneiss 
and reddish granite. 



\QwiTtxForphyry. lIHH Granite 

Scale, 1 inch=24 miles. 



^S?ferrw^(?M>t« ^ch^cet 



DESCRIPTIONS OF QUARRIES AND QUARRY REGIONS. 



239 



Above the month of the East fork, which is on Sec. 30, T. 23, E. 3 W., exposures of reel granite are seen as far 
as French's mill, on Sec. 25. The wagon-road, which for half a mile below the mill follows the west bank of the 
river, has, on the east side, ledges of red granite and on the west a ridge 30 to 40 feet high composed of horizontal, 
coarse-grained, quartzose, cross-laminated sandstone. In one place the exact junction of the two formations is to 
be seen. At the mill the granite exposures are especially large, both on the west bank and on a large island in the 
stream. Two kinds of the granite occur, both presenting a prevailing pinkish weathering: (1) a rather fine- 
grained, very uniform-textured, dark reddish kind ; and (2) a metlium-grained, uniform-textured, pinkish-gray 
quartzose kind, containing colorless, glassy, and pink translucent quartz, pink orthoclase, and fine black brilliant 
mica. Both kinds appear like handsome building or ornamental granites. No definite bedding structure is to be 
seen. 

Three-quarters of a mile west of Neillsville, at the crossing of Black river, on the S. W. quarter of Sec. 15, 
T. 24, E. 2 W., fine-grained, light pinkish, slightly gneissoid, and very quartzose granite is exposed, with a vertical 
dip and E. W. strike. This rock is very hard and compact, and appears to be a fine ornamental granite. 

The gneissoid and red granites of Black and Yellow rivers resemble each other very closely, and appear to be 
directly continuous with each other underneath the sandstone, which nearly everywhere between the two rivers is 
the surface rock. Occasionally the crystalline rocks come to the surface in the interval, and are then of the same 
character as on the rivers ; as, for instance, on O'Neil's creek, in Sees. 1 and 2, T. 24, E. 1 W., Clark county, where 
red granite is exposed ; and on a high bluff in the IST. E. part of T. 23, E. 2 E., whose upper portions are reported to 
be of red granite with sandstone layers at lower levels. 

The amount of these reddish ornamental granites of extraordinarily fine quality occurring onYeUowand Black 
rivers and in the intervening country appears to be very great. 

The following table indicates the location, size, nature, etc., of the various Archaean outcrops in the Silurian 
area of the state : 

AECH^AJSr OUTCROPS WITHIN THE SILURIAN AREA. 



Xo. on 
the Fig. 



Name of outcrop. 



County. 



Approximate area. 



Nature of rock. 



Distance 
from main 
Archjean. 



Baraboo bloffa . 

Lake mills 

Portland 



24,25 
33,36 



vn 

VIU 



XI 

xn 

TTTT 
XIV 
XV 
XVI 
XVII 

xvm 

XIX 



Necedah 

South bluff 

North bluff. 

Observatory hill. 

Moundville 

Marcellon 

Marquette 

Pine bluff 

Pine bluff 

Berlin 

Montello. - - 

Spring lake 

Marion 



Waupaca . . . 
Mukwa.. — 
Iron mound : 

No.l 

No. 2 

No.3 

No.4 

No.5 



17,20 
14,15 



13 E 
13 E 



10 E 
9E 
10 E 
HE 
HE 
13 £ 
HE 
13 E 
10 E 
HE 



12 E 
14 E 

3 W 
iW 
4W 
3 W 
3 W 



Sauk and Columbia. 

Jefferson 

Dodge 

>Juneau 

Wood 

Wood 

Marquette 

MarqUette 

Columbia 

>Green Lake 

Green Lake 

Green Lake 

Green Lake 

Marquette 

Waushara 

> Waushara 

Waupaca 

Waupaca 

1 

>Jack8on 



75 square miles 

20 acres 

^6 square mile . 
J square mile . . 
3 square miles . 
i square mile . . 
i square mile . . 
^ square mile . 
^e square mile . 
IJ square miles 
^ square mile . . 
3^ square mile . 
i square mile . . 
-^s square mile . 
i square mile. . 
^ square mile . . 
J square mile . . 
J square mile . . 



^B to i square mile . . 



Low. 
50 to 75 



200+ 
200+ 



Quartzite, quartz-porphyry, clay- 
schists, and quartz-schists. 

Quartzite 

Quartzite 



Quartzite 

Quartzite 1 

Quartzite? 

Quartz-porphyry. , 
Quartz.porphyry . . 
Quartz-poi-phyry . . 
Quartz-porphyry. . 
Quartz-porphyry . , 
Quartz-porphyry . . 
Quartz-porphyry.. 

Granite 

Granite 



Granite 

Granite, etc . 
Granite 



Ferruginous quartz-schist. 



Baraboo bluffs. — On the northernmost portions of the northern of the Baraboo ranges at the lower narrows 
of the Baraboo river, T. 12, E. 7 E., and also for a short distance to the westward, a great thickness of quartz- 
porphyry is to be observed. This porphyry resembles that of the several small porphyry areas of the adjoining 
portions of Columbia, Marquette, and Green Lake counties, and proves at once that we must regard these areas 
as part of the same formation as that which appears in the Baraboo ranges. 

On Sees. 23 and 20, T. 12, E. 7 E., Sauk county, the Baraboo river passes the north quartzite range in a 
gorge known as the lower narrows of the Baraboo. The passage is nearly half a mile in width, the level bottom 
extending to the foot of the clifis on either side. The cliffs rise 400 feet above the river, and show finely the great 



240 



BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 




beds of quartzite aud associated strata. The gorge is much wider than needed by the small stream that now 
occupies it, aud may, as already suggested, have beeu at one time used by the Wisconsin, as the valley of Devil's 
lake seems to have been. It is unlike the latter valley iu having been, in part at least, formed first before the 
^ ^^ Potsdam period, as indicated by the way in which horizontal sandstone and 

conglomerate ledges occur around the heads of steep ravines that extend 
dowu the cliff toward the main gorge. 

Beginning with the north eud we find, forming the north face of the 
range, iu bold northward-sloping ledges, quartz-porphyry about COO feet 
in width. This porphyry is for the most part dull red to pinkish on the 
weathered surface, which is a good deal altered, often iron-stained, and 
has generally a whitish undercrust. The least altered specimens show 
a brownish-pink matrix, through which are scattered, very thickly, large 
facets, up to one-eighth of an inch iu diameter, of bright red cleavable 
feldspar, and, more sparsely, minute facets of a white kind. In nearly all 
specimens a few small greenish-black blotches, apparently composed of fine 
mica scales, occur, as also small iron-stained cavities, which often show 
linings of minute quartz-crystals. The porphyry is very distinctly bedded, 
showing an E. W. strike, and a dip of 58° to 60° N. Toward its lowest 
portions, and higher up on the bluft', it becomes gradually more slaty in 
character, the feldspar facets, though very numerous, becoming at the 
same time less well defined, aud the surfaces of the laminae becoming 
covered with a soft, greasy mineral. This finally changes to a distinct schist, (a) about 80 feet wide, containing 
a large proi)ortion of the soft mineral, and allied to the greasy quartz-schists occurring at Devil's lake, but without 
transverse cleavage. Continuing the ascent of the bluff southward quartzite is seen lying immediately underneath 
the schist aud forming the body of the ridge to the foot of its southern slope. At first this quartzite is much 
veined and seamed with reticulating veins of white quartz, in which flue specular iron is occasionally to be seen. 
Marcellon. — On Sec. 7, in the town of Marcellon, Columbia county, on each side of the road in the south half of 
the section, are two low, rounded hills, 40 to 60 feet in height, of quartz-i^orphyry. The rock ex^iosures are large and 
are much rounded and weather-worn, being separated into numerous bowlder-like masses by wide-open, earth-filled 
joints. The weathered surfaces have a prevailing pinkish tinge, giviug the idea that the rock is largely composed of 
l^ink feldspar. On obtaining a fresh fracture, however, only a very few, sparsely scattered, minute feldspar faces are 
to be seen, the mass of the rock being composed of a brownish to blackish compact matrix. Two general varieties 
occur, one presenting a light brownish color, showing a tendency to flake off in fragments that are translucent on 
the edges, and containing no distinguishable feldspar crystals, the other having a dark gray to black matrix, in which 
are to be seen a few distinct crystals of feldspar and numerous copper-colored points of iron-sesquioxide. The rock 
has nearly the hardness of quartz, aud fuses only with the greatest difficulty. A more siliceous character as 
compared with other quartz-porphyries of the state is thus indicated, and the indication is borne out by the 
content of silica — 76.98 per cent. — as shown by analysis. We have evidently, iu this case, a porphyry which, in 
its large contents of silica and in the sparseness of its feldspar crystals, approaches the true felsites (petrosilex 
halleflinta). Quite a distinct and uniform set of bedding joints occurs, the strike being K 32° E., the dip 65° to 
75° K W. Numerous cross joints traverse the rock, and, on weathered portions, cause it to fly into smooth-faced, 
angular fragments at the least blow of the hammer. The surrounding country is occupied by the Potsdam 
sandstone, which is exposed at many points. 

Observatory Eill. — Six miles north of the Marcellon outcrop, in the S. E. quarter of Sec. 7, in the town of 
Buflalo, Marquette county, a knob of quartz-porphyry rises 250 feet above the geueral level and 490 feet above 
lake Michigan. On the flanks of the hill and up to a vertical distance above the base of 125 feet are horizontal 
sandstone ledges; above, to the top, are nearly continuous outcrops of pori:)hyry, with a not very plain N. 32° E. 
strike and 60° IsT. W. dip. These bedding directions are the same as on the Marcellon outcrop. 

MoundviUe. — Ou the edge of the Fox River marsh, at the head of lake Buffalo, on the line between Sees. 8 and 
5, T. 14, E. 9 E., MoundviUe, Marquette county, are three low, rounded outcrops of qufu'tz-porphyry. These are 5 
miles, in a direction 10° K". of W., from Observatory hill, which is the nearest Archaian outcrop. JSTo other rock 
shows in the neighborhood, the country being heavily drift-covered. The largest outcrop is on the east end of a low 
bluff 35 feet high and several hundred feet in length. There are quite marked appearances here of the same N. E. 
strike and N. 60° dip as seen at Observatory hill aud in Marcellon. The rock has a dark brown matrix, resembling 
in this regard the Marcellon porjjhyry, from which it differs, however, iu showing throughout traces of crystalline 
structure, and quite thickly scattered large brown feldspar surfaces. A few crystals are white and translucent. 
The weathered surface is often a bright pink color. Mr. Wright's microscopic examination shows that fine 
magnetite particles are abundant. Their existence is not rendered evident even by the use of the ordinary lens. 
The silica content is 72.76 per cent. 



a Thia schist is probably non-magnesian, like the schists of Devil's lalie, ordinarily called talcose. 



DESCRIPTIONS OF QUARRIES AND QUARRY REGIONS. 241 

Seneca {Pine Bluff, R. 11 E.). — A rounded elliptical knob of quartz-porphyry, 100 feet high, one-eightli of a 
mile long, and a quarter of a uiile wide, lies on the north side of the White Eiver marsh, in Sec. 2, T. 17, E. 11 E., 
Seneca, Green Lake countj'. The greatest extension of the hill is in an east and west direction. It is largely 
rocky, but there are no abrupt rock ledges, the exposures being almost entirely surfaces conforming to the general 
contour of the hill, and on a level with the surrounding sod. In places the slopes of the hill are covered with 
angular fragments apparently split off by frost. This is a peculiarity not noticed upon any of the other jjorphyry 
outcrops, and appears to be due to the large content of comparatively coarse cleavable feldspar. The hill is only 
about 2 miles south from the granite hills of Spring lake, in T. 18, E. 11 E., Waushara county. The surrounding 
country is marshy and drift-covered, and shows no outcrop of horizontal rocks. The loose fragments are many of 
them smoothed on one side, and some surfaces are most beautifully striated. Owing to tlie broken condition of 
the outcrop, no definite bedding planes were made out, though weathered specimens brought away show distinct 
traces of lamination. 

This porphyry in its least weathered i^ortions shows a light gray to whitish finegrained matrix, in which, 
with the lens, can be seen what appear to be angular grains of quartz. The glassy feldspar crystals are also 
abundant. The weathered surface is brownish, with a kaolinized uudercrust. !S"early all of the rock shows signs 
of weathering. The silica content is 7(3.39 per cent. 

JIarquette and Berlin. — The large outcrops of quartz-porphyry in Sees. 31 and 35, T. 15, E. 11 E., and Sees. 
2 and 3, T. 14, E. 11 E., near the village of Marquette, Green Lake county, were originally regarded as within the 
central Wisconsin district, of which, however, by subsequent agreement, the Fox river was made the southern 
boundary. They will, therefore, be described by Professor Chamberlin, in whose district is also the outcrop at the 
city of Berlin, Green Lake county. As the writer has examined both localities carefully, he may be permitted to 
allude to the nature of the rock of each, for the sake of comparison. In the Marquette outcrops the prevailing rock 
noticed has a black, comjiact. flinty matrix, which is streaked with white non-continuous lines. These lines are for 
the most part very prominent, and are frequently much contorted, the whole rock having a very evident parallel 
grain. The feldspar crystals are minute and sparse. The silica content is 70.29 per cent, less than that of any 
other of the Wisconsin poriihyries. The general course of the contorted laminre points to the same X. E. direction 
of strike as is observed on the Marcellon, Observatory Hill, and Mouudville outcrojis. 

The Berlin rock has a dark blaish-gTayjnatrix, much streaked with white, and having a peculiar fine, granular, 
quartz-like texture as seen under the lens. The feldspar crystals are small, grayish to brownish, and rather 
numerous. The lamination is very flue and distinct, and often contorted, and the silica content 7J:.37 per cent. 

Montello. — In the village of Moutello, on the west side of Sec. 9, T. 15, E. 10 E., Marquette county, is an elliptical- 
shaped, rounded mound of pink granite, about a third of a mile in length and 1:0 feet high. Over most of the hill the 
rock is quite uniform in a fresh fracture, though presenting a weathered surface from bright x)iuk to dull grayish-pink 
in color. The weathering is very slight, however, and the rock shows almost uo tendency to decompose. It has 
a medium grain, close texture, is of a bright pinkish color, and without sign of arrangement of the ingredients in 
lines. These are: Eather large flaked, pinkish, cleavable feldspar, predominating; somewhat granular, fine, pinkish, 
translucent quartz, abundant ; and greenish-black mica siiarsely scattered in blotches made up of very fine flakes. 
In places thin, light green, epidote-colored seams occur. Somewhat irregular northwest joints traverse the rock, 
which is, however, for the most part structureless, and is quarried by firing the pieces that crack off', presenting a 
couchoidal fracture. On the north side of the west end of the mound occurs a vertical layer 3 feet wide, trending 
is. 55° E., of a soft, greenish, highly schistose, decomposing, chloritic rock. The least weathered specimens show 
a blackish color and some tendency to a crystalline texture. The vein is weathered down for 2 or 3 feet below the 
inclosing granite walls, both of which are seen. The schistose lamina; are parallel to the walls. Greenish epidote 
seams in the rock near by have the same trend as the vein. Though this granite may be somewhat difficult to 
obtain in dressable masses, it woidd jirobably make a very handsome and durable building and ornamental stone. 

Xecedah. — Dotting the great sand plain of the Wisconsin in Juneau and Adams counties are numerous bold, 
castellated outliers of the Potsdam sandstone rising abruptly from the plaiu and coustitutiug very marked features 
of the scenery. From the same plain, and only about 3 miles west from one of the greatest of the sandstone 
bluffs — Petenwell peak — rises the quartzite hill at the foot of which the village of Xecedah is built. The rounded 
contour of this hill serves to mark it at once as dtS'ereut in nature from the sandstone bluffs of the adjoining region. 

The main Necedah bluff' lies on the X. W. quarter of Sec. 25, T. 18, E. 3 E., the town bne crossing over its 
eastern end ; it is about half a mile in length, with its greatest extension east and west, and is highest and at the 
same time most bold and rocky on its eastern end, which rises 170 feet above the street below and about 510 feet 
above lake Michigan. A short distance southeast of the main bluff, on the X. W. quarter of the S.W. quarter of 
Sec. 19, T. IS, E. 4 E., is a small, craggy hill, 75 feet high, of the same rock as that comiwsing the main hill, the 
intervening low ground being underlaid by horizontal sandstoue. 

The exposures on the main hill are mostly on the eastern and southeastern i)ortions, where in places they 

rise nearly precipitously from the lov- ground at the foot. The rock seen here is for the most part a glassy, 

translucent, subgranular, grayish quartzite, much more nearly allied to the quartzite of the Eib and Mosinee hills, in 

3Iarathon county, than to that of the Baraboo ranges. Much of the rock is quite dark gray in color, the quartz then 

VOL. IX 10 B s 



242 BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

being still glassy, but smoky-tinted. jSTumerous small cavities and seams occur lined with half crystalline quartz 
and carrying a soft, pinkish, clayey substance ; bluish-white quartz veins, § inch to 2 inches in width, and nests 
are also common, and these carry frequently fine-flaked, brilliant, specular iron, which occurs also occasionally in 
quite large masses, similar to those found in the Baraboo quartzite. No parallel grain is to be seen in this rock, 
nor any definite bedding planes. IsTumerous quite close joints occur, however, and these cause the rock to weather 
into smooth-faced, sharp-angled fragments. On the smaller bluff a very distinct parallel grain is to be seen trending 
N. 75° W., and showing a corresponding dip of 45° N. Here much of the quartzite is of a light pink color, looking,, 
on a fresh fracture, almost like a fine-grained, pinkish granite, biit the only prominent mineral is subgranular^ 
translucent, pinkish quartz. Some specimens show mica plainly in very sparsely scattered small scales. In many 
places little centers of iron-staining seem to be decomposing mica scales. Other portions of this rock are opaque,, 
white, and distinctly granular, and are seamed with fine black lines, arranged so as to show discordant stratification. 
These seams, when split open, appear to be composed of blackish mica. Bluish-white veins and nests occur here 
also. 

Marion. — In the town of Marion, T. 18, E. 11 E., Waushara county, are three low granite knobs. Two of 
these. Stone and Pine bluffs, are on the N. E. quarter Sec. 27, about two miles in a N. N. W. direction from the 
quartz-porphyry hill of the town of Seneca, Green Lake county ; and the third, a larger and bolder hill, lies on 
the eastern border of the marsh, on Sees. 12 and 13, and stretches to some extent over the line into the town of 
Warren. On all of these areas the rock observed is nearly the same, a pinkish, feldspathic granite, mottled with 
gray and green, closely resembling the Montello granite, from which it differs, however, in having a coarser grain,, 
a less close texture, and a marked tendency to decompose. Eeddish cleavable feldspar is the principal ingredient, 
occurring in facets up to one-eighth and one-quarter of an inch in diameter ; quartz is abundant, fine, granular, and 
translucent ; mica is sparse, and scattered in small greenish-black blotches. Large whitish porphyritic feldspar 
occurs. There is no sign of any arrangement of the ingredients or of any parallel grain to the rock. No definite 
bedding planes were observed on any of the outcrops, though numerous crossing joint planes occur, and quite 
regular flat slabs are sometimes obtainable. Veins of white quartz occur. The most marked characteristic of the 
rock is its tendency to weather and shell ofi' in crumbling masses. Some of the large flat surfaces are so far 
crumbled as to be penetrated readily by a horse's hoof. The rock from these outcrops would polish easily, but its 
tendency to crumble renders it less valuable than the Montello granite. 

The following regarding this state is from the report on Eastern Wisconsin, by T. C. Chamberliu: 

Mxikwa. — The isolated outlier found in the S. E. quarter of the N. E. quarter of Sec. 26, and the N. W. quarter 
of the S. W. quarter of Sec. 25, town of Mukwa, Waupaca county, lies nearest the main Archtean area. This outcrop 
seems to have been unknown to the geologists heretofore, and came to my attention through information derived 
from Mr. Carr, of New London. 

It consists of three large, and as many small, rounded, elongated, dome-like outliers, arranged nearly in a line 
trending W. 35Q to 40° N., and rising near the center to a height of nearly 70 feet. 

The rook consists chiefly of red feldspar, with which is associated a less quantity of quartz and a smaU and 
varying amount of a dark mineral, which was not seen in the distinct crj'stalline form, but which seemed to be an 

aggregation of minute blended blades of biotite. 
^^^- ^''- The crystals of feldspar are never large, seldom 

exceeding a quarter of an inch in length, and 
are usually quite minute, so that some portions, 
from which the dark mineral is absent, closely 
resemble red quartzite in aiipearance. The rock 
is intersected in various directions by veins of 
quartz. It is also cut into pyramidal masses by smooth, straight iissures, which are usually inclined at an angle of 
from 60° to 85° to the horizon. In trend these fissures constitute three groups: the first nearly north and south; 
the second nearly east and west; and the third northwest and southeast. There are also large irregular fissures, 
and occasionally points are to be observed from which an unusual number, both of the smooth and the irregular 
ones, seem to radiate. 

The rock is very little affected by weathering, and affords an excellent building material, though the form of 
the blocks is unfavorable, and it is somewhat hard to dress. 

No rock was found in contact with it, but about half a mile to the southeast, in the line of its trend, the lower 
magnesian limestone appears, into whose horizon the outcrop rises, though it lies chiefly in that of the Potsdam 
sandstone, as shown in the accomi)anyiug i^rofile. 

Berlin. — At Berlin, 30 miles south of the above, we next find an outstanding Archaean mass, (a) consisting of three 
large elongated domes arranged en echelon, bearing northeast. The rock is composed essentially of small crystals, 
of orthoclase feldspar disseminated through a peculiar crypto-crystalliue base of felsite and quartz, forming a quartz- 
porphyry. The crystals of feldspar are usually grayish before weathering, becoming reddish afterward. The base 

a Coiiip. Dr. Peroival's Report of 1856, p. 106. 



DESCEIPTIONS OF QUARRIES AND QUARRY REGIONS. 243 

in its iiu weathered state very much resembles qiiartzite, and is of dark grayish cast with a very slight reddish tinge, 
so modified by its trausluceucy as to give to the whole what may be called a water hue. Very thiu splinters may 
be fused before the blowpipe with difficulty, forming a transparent glass-like bead. Tlie effect of weathering is 
marked and peculiar. The color changes to a Ught reddish, piukish, or grayish white, and occasionally to a bright 
red, while the mass becomes opaque and finely granular, and so soft as to be easily cut. There are occasionally spots, 
streaks, or leaves of dark material in the base, which are doubtless the portions referred to by Dr. Percival as 
" interlaminated hornblende and mica". 

The rock is very uniform ia character at all points exposed. It presents an obscure parallel structure giving; 
rise to a somewhat definite system of cleavage, but traces of distinct bedding were not observed. The mass is 
traversed by extensive fissures, which are readily arranged in three groups, the predominant one of which bears 
northwest, and the smaller ones east of north and north of east, respectively, thus dividing the horizon into nearly 
equal arcs ; but none seem to be dependent upon the cleavage structure of the rock. 

Pine Bluff, E. 13 E. — Seventeen miles south of Berlin there rises out of the flood-plain of the Grand river a 
conspicuous mass of quartz-porphyry known as Pine Bluff. It ascends by steep and even precipitous acclivities 
to a height of 100 feet, and being entirely iso- 
lated from the surrounding elevations, and 
largely bare of soil and vegetation, becomes a 
striking object. The rock consists of white- 
gray and flesh-colored crystals of orthoclase ,.„„,„ ^,„ ,„,.,^ ,,„,„,. ,^,,,.^„ ,^^.^ ^^^^_ 

and of glassy feldspar set in a very hard gray l- Qnartz-porphyry, Plne Bluff. 2. Lower magnesian limestone. 3. St. Peter sandstone. 4. 
,,, i_ t^ 1 •^ 1 n-.t* .i""/. Trenton iimestone. 5. Galena limestone. 

or black quartz-felsite base. The crystals of 

feldspar vary in size from three-tenths of an inch in length downward, but are rendered conspicuous by contrast of 
color. The rock is susceptible of a very high and beautiful polish, but is wrought with difficulty on account of its 
hardness. The dip is about 20° to the east of south. Obsciue glacial strife, still preserved, testify to its endurance. 
Their direction is south 45° west. The accompanying profile exhilnts its relation to the Silurian formations, from 
which it will be seen that it rises to about the base of the Galena limestone. 

Marquette. — Xear Marquette, a little more than 12 miles west of Pine Bluff, very similar quartz-porphyries 
display themselves in more considerable force, constituting a group of jirominent hills. A portion of the rock is 
precisely identical in character with that of Pine Bluff, and the greater mass is but an unimjiortaut variation from it, 
but certain portions depart from the porphyritic character, and become almost or entirely crypto-crystalline. One 
variety of this kind very closely resembles the more homogeneous of the red Huronian quartzites, and another is 
a compact, close-textured rock, usually of dark color, but sometimes greenish. Neither of these varieties occupies 
exclusively any one horizon, but the quartzite-like variety is found in the more southern outcrops, the last-mentioned 
kind immediately north of that, the darker porphyries next, and the coarser, lighter colored ones in the most 
northerly exposures. 

The bedding is very obscure, but the laminations of certain portions and belts of particular varieties of rock 
show the strike to be northeastward. The dip is made out with much less certainty, but appears to be to the 
northward, and to vary from 15° to 45°. 

Though the Berlin porphyry differs from that of Pine Bluff and of Marquette in the absence of glassy feldspar, 
yet the close lithological alliance of the three is very evident, and they doubtless all belong to the same group of 
the Archaean series. The general strike of these formations, projected westward, encounters several similar outliers 
that are described in Professor Irving's report, and still farther southwest he has found similar quartz-porphyry 
overlying the Baraboo quartzite. There seems to be sufficient reason for regarding the latter as Huronian, .so that 
the porphyries must be regarded as a newer portion of that formation. 

All of these masses present the rounded contour of glaciated surfaces, and still bear the glacial groovings, and, 
in some cases, even remnant polished spots, and from all these trains of porphyry bowlders stretch away in the 
direction of the striae. 

Portland and Waterloo. — Thirty-five miles south of Pine Bluff, over an area entirely covered by Paleozoic rocks, 
some as recent as the Galena, we again encounter the Archaean rocks in the form of the quartzites of Portland and 
Waterloo. 

The outcrops in the town of Portland are several in number. The most southwesterly is an oval island lying 
mostly in the S. E. quarter of Sec. 33, and is entirely surrounded by lowland or marsh. The outcrop attains but a 
slight elevation, and its rounded contour shows abundant evidence of the glacial agencies that have swe^it over it. 
Xot only stri;e, but deep, broad farrows, show the direction of movement to have been S. 15° to 20° W. Bowlders 
appear in great force upon the protected side of the islaud aad doubtless thickly underlie the deep morass in that 
direction, as they appear again upon the hills beyond. Directly to the east, in Sec. 34, there is a slight exposure 
near the base of a somewhat elevated north and south ridge, of which it doubtless forms the nucleus, if not the 
chief portion. 

Less than 1 mile north of these outcrops the quartzite again discovers itself ou the brow r.nd west flank 
of the ridge facing Waterloo creek. There is no evidence that any later formatiou overlies ihe (lu.atzite between 



2-14 BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

this and tbe two preceding outcrops, and so the three will be found mapped as constituting a single Archjean area. 
A short distance farther to the north (N. W. quarter Sec. 27) the quartzite rises in the midst of a marsh-like lake, 
constituting Eockj- island. It may be characterized as a low dome covered with unsymmetrical roches moutonees. 
About 2 miles southeast, at the foot of a hill, and on the edge of a marsh, occurs a low and limited outcrop 
(Sec. 35, S. E. quarter, and Sec. 36, S. W. quarter). One-half mile to the northeast, across a marsh, there occurs 
another exposure, similarly situated in a southern extremity of a north and south ridge, and about the same distance 
to the southwest still another one may be seen, the three lying nearly in a straight line aud separated by marshe's. 
They are regarded as beiug i^rojeotiug knobs of a common area, and are so mapped. Between these and the three 
outcrops first mentioned, as also between both these aud Eocky island, later formations intervene, so that they 
must be regarded as forming three distinct, though closely associated, surface areas. 

MINNESOTA. 

[Comiiiled mainly from notes by Professor N. H. Winohell.] 

CRYSTALLINE SILICEOUS EOCKS. 

More than half of the state is underlaid by that general class of rocks — ^the crystalline — to which granite 
belongs, and consequently the state has almost every variety of crystalline rock. These rocks also exhibit all 
degrees of durability and value for building purposes. The granular crystalline rocks are generally very durable; 
and, whenever they are exposed above the drift, can be wrought with profit and with the most satisfactory results. 
While in the northern part of the state there are large exposures of very fine light-colored gi-anites, beyond the 
limits of settlements and roads, and particulaiiy at lake Sagauaga, those in the valleys of the Mississiijpi and 
Minnesota rivers are of more special and immediate interest. These have been somewhat quarried, and their products 
as building materials can be seen in some of the i^rincipal buildings in various parts of the state, as well as in cities 
outside the state. The gray granite that is quarried at Sauk Eapids, and which generally is seen in Stearns county, 
consists largely of quartz embraced in a matrix of orthoclase, with but a small proportion of mica or chlorite. 
Hence it is hard and very durable. The dark mica is biotite, aud there is but occasionally a grain of hornblende. 
This last sometimes prevails largely over all the other minerals in small areas or veins, making a very dark-colored 
and also generally a coarser-grained rock. There is also occasionally a grain of triclinic feldspar and of magnetite, 
and some minute crystals of pyrite. These minerals have a relative hardness when expressed on a scale of 10 as 
follows, 7 being the hardness of an ordinary knife-blade : 

Quartz 7 

Triclinic feldspar 6 to7 

Orthoclase 6 to 6A 

Hornblende 5 to6 

Biotite 2ito3 

Muscovite 2 to 2| 

Chlorite 1 to 2 

About one-half of the whole rock is made up of quartz, aud two-thirds of the remainder of orthoclase. About 
one-half of the rest is triclinic feldspar, aud the residue is divided between the other minerals, biotite predominating. 
It is plain to see that such an assemblage of minerals constitutes a very firm rook, and one that is rather hard to 
dress, but when once out to form and placed in a building it will endure indefinitely. The biotite, muscovite, and 
chlorite serve to make the granites easy to cut and to quarry; and particularly when they lie in sheets or in 
indistinct belts through the rock, giving it a faintly striped aspect, constituting a gneiss, the rock can be got out 
easily in large, long slabs or blocks. When these are evenly scattered through the whole rock, the rock is simply 
softened, and in quarrying the fracture will have to be more completely guided by the plug aud feather. For 
taking a polish the absence of these soft minerals enhances the value of the rock. The durability of the Sauk 
Eapids granite was tested at Washington under direction of the chief of engineers, and was found capable of 
sustaining a crushiug pressure of from 15,000 to 17,000 pounds per square inch. A quarry at Sauk Eapids has 
been longest known of all the granite quarries in the state, but it is not now (18S0) as vigorously operated as those at 
Watab or at East Saint Cloud. Blocks 12 by 3 by 11 feet thick and 10 by 4J feet by 1 foot thick have been quarried, 
and blocks as large as 26 by 22 by 5 feet thick might be moved if desired. The material is now used mainly for 
monuments, formerly also for building and for bridge construction. Among the principal structures in which this 
stone has been used are the capitol buildings at Des Moines, lo^ a (trimmings) ; the city hall, Minneapolis ; Nichols 
& Dean block. Saint Paul. 

The color of this granite, being a neutral gray, makes it suitable for a wide range of architecture. Light-colored 
and reddish granites are found at Watab, a few miies north of Sauk Eapids, aud also in a few places near Saint 
Cloud and Eockville. 

At Watab there are three principal varieties of different textures aud colors, each beiug quarried from a different 
opening, so that the stone in each quarry is uniform as to texture aud color. The red is located to the north of the 
gray granite, and is separated from it by a distinct line, a change being abrupt (within 6 inches). Although the 



DESCRIPTIONS OF QUARRIES AND QUARRY REGIONS. 245 

quarry was opened some years ago, it was not operated during 1880. This stone is being used in the construction 
of the bridge over tlie Missouri river at Bismarcli, and about 7,000 cubic yards will be used for this purpose. The 
following is a report on this stone, by Captain Edward Maguire, U. S. A., chief engineer, department of Dakota: 

Two kiiids of granite were used by the Northern Pacific Eailroad Company in the masonry work on their bridge at Bismarck; first, 
a li"ht-colored and reddish granite, found at Watab, a few miles north of Sauk Eapids, Minnesota. The quality of this stone was good, 
but its use was abandoned on account of the cost of quarrying it. The bed is very much cut up by seams, and in order to obtain the 
requisite sized blocks it was necessary to quarry about ten to one. The largest lilocks that have been quarried are 6 by 4 by -2 feet thick; 
some blocks 30 by 13 by 5 feet thick have been moved, but were cut up for transportation. The texture is rather coarse and uniformly 
crystalline. 

Captain Maguire reports an examination of gray granite from the Rock Island quarry, situated in a prairie 
abont 4 miles from Saint Cloud, and there are at least 4 and probably 10 acres of this gray granite from which 
blocks of any size or shape may be quarried. 

While the granites of Stearns county are massive or non-gneissic, those of the Minnesota valley are almost 
invariably of a laminated structure, and of a reddish color. One of the principal exceptions occurs in the large 
granite outcrop near the foot of Big Stone lake. The Minnesota Valley granites differ from the Saint Cloud granite, 
al.so, in being softer, on account of having less quartz and more of the eleavable minerals, orthoclase and mica. 
They are also easy to quarry, but they have not been much worked yet. Some of tlie recent cirts in the red granite 
near Montevideo, by the grading for the railroad, show a very superior variety of rather coarse grained red granite, 
which cannot fail ultimately to be in great demand. There are great stoneless tracts of prairie lying south and 
west of the upper Minnesota Valley region, and extend from near New Ulm to the foot of Big Stone lake. 

The so-called granite of Duluth belongs to a very different class of rocks, and is more properly styled " gabbro", 
a new term derived from Italy, and applied to an igneotis rock consisting of the trielinic feldspar, labradorite, 
augite, and a magnetic oxide of iron containing titanium. These minerals are all softer than quartz, which is 
wholly absent from the Duluth rock, but which makes up so large a part of the Saint Cloud granite. It is strange, 
thei-efore, that the Duluth rock should have been so generally regarded as harder than real granite, and 
particularly as harder than the Saint Cloud granite. The mineral augite, which makes up generally less than one- 
fourth of the whole, has a hardness of from 5 to G on the scale of 10, and labradorite is but little more. When 
this rock begins to decay, the augite changes first, making a greenish, soft mineral like chlorite, and this change 
sometimes is found to have gone on to a great depth in the rock without any change being seen in the other minerals. 
In such cases, while the rock is not much injured for building purposes, it is more easily quarried and dressed. 
While taken in a mass this Duluth rock may correctly be said to be softer than the Saint Cloud granite; it is 
tough and firm, being perfectly crystalline and compact. The magnetite in this rock sometimes becomes sa 
abundant that it spoils it for building, and even becomes an iron ore, and has attracted attention as such. The iron 
ore reported some years ago at Duluth, at Herman, a few miles west of Duluth, and at Iron lake, north of 
Grand Marais, is all of this variety, and in some cases it is pure and valuable ; but it is damaged by the presence 
of the titanium. The titanium is not so much a damage to the iron as an impediment in tlie reduction of the 
ore. At Duluth this rock has been used in some foundations, but the difficulty of dressing it, as well as of 
quarrying, has prevented its acceptance as a general building material. Its strength is about 17,000 pounds per 
square inch. 

The gabbro quarry at Diduth, Saint Louis county, is from a mountain-like range extending northeast from 
Eice's point at Duluth. It is discus.sed in geological reports of ilinnesota for 1879 and 1880, it being 2^0. 1 of the 
Minnesota Geological Survey .series. The rock is of the age called Cupriferous in Minnesota, the equivalent of the 
Potsdam in other portions of the countrj-. Blocks of as large a size as could be handled might be quarried here. 
The mass of rock is but little jointed; its texture is a irniform crystalline, and it has been used thus far chiefly in 
trimmings for buildings and for rough walls at Duluth, and some for trimmings and steps at Saint Paul. 

A trap from this formation has been quarried by the United States government to be used in the constrirction 
of breakwaters at Duluth. The stone is roughly and basaltically bedded, and it may be called imperfectly basaltic; 
its texture is uniformly crystalline; it is No. 53 of the Minnesota Geological Survey, report of 1880. It is a basaltified 
layer of igneous rock intercalated between sedimentary beds. There is an excavation made in trap-rock for the .site 
of a new school-house in Duluth, and the stone is putin the foundation and basementof that building. It is seen in 
outcrop con.spicuously in front of the engine-house in that city, and extends northeastwardly in the form of a low 
hill range or ridge; it seems to be that which forms the falls of Kinichiguaguag creek, near Duluth; it is Xo. 43 
of the Minnesota Geological Survey, report of 1880. This stone is uiassive, close, and fine in texture, sometimes 
finely porphyritic; the mass of rock is distantly jointed. 

Xo. 42 of the reports of the Minnesota Geological Survey of 1880 is nor quarried; it is so situated in many 
places near Duluth that it might be quarried with profit where a stone easier wrought than Xo. 1 of the series is 
desired. In the weather it has naturally assumed numerous conchoidal-fracture planes. These make it difficult to 
get blocks of a given size and shape, since the pieces break in dressing along the old fractures, which are not 
Ijaraliel nor perpendicular, but cross at acute angles in all ditections, like some massive shale in disintegrating. 
This rock is believed to be derived from the red .shale of the Cupriferous or Potsdam series bj" the semi-fusion incident 



246 BUILDKG STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

to the igneous ejections; other stages of crystallization, even to red granite and other less changed conditions as 
a perfect red shale, can be seen along the shore at points farther down the lake and at Duluth. Within the limits 
of Duluth it can be quarried as led gianite; it is in the hill range on the slope facing the bay, and at the quarry 
at Eice's point is associated with I^To. 1. 

In the hills back of Duluth it changes suddenly to a red granite, supposed to be derived from the fusion and 
metamorphism of the Fond du Lac red shales and sandstones when the igneous rock was poured out through 
and over them. These two kinds of rock (red syenite and gabbro) are closely intermixed in patches, sometimes of 
large area, and extend thus all the way to the northern boundary-line of the state, the red rock showing various 
stages of nietamori^hism and crystalline condition. The red granite in some places is very coarse grained and 
beautiful, something like Scotch granite, and in other places it is very iiue grained and compact, as at Duluth. It 
contains quartz, generally in large quantity, red orthoclase, and green hornblende or chlorite. 

At East Saint Cloud, Sherburne county, a massive Archaean granite is quarried for general building purposes 
and used chiefly at Saint Paul, Milwaukee, and Minneapolis. The trimmings of the United States custom-house at 
Saint Paul are of this material. There are three varieties, diifering somewhat in texture and color. The one most 
used and highly prized is of a fine-grained uniform texture and giay color. It is often slightly gneissic or laminated 
in structure, and works more easily than the others; it is probably not so durable nor firm under pressure. The 
second variety is red, and contains a good deal of quartz, but takes a finer polish. It was not qnarried during 1880 
so much as in former years, chiefly because the plant of the establishment is situated some little distance from the 
favorable exposures, but there is abundant opportunity in the neighborhood for working this red granite. The 
other variety is not now Ciuarried, but large quantities of it were formerly taken out and used chiefly as trimmings 
in the custom-house at Saint Paul, where, however, stone of both the other kinds is also to be seen. It has 
outwardly, and especially when chiseled for construction, as in the custom-house, very much the aspect of the 
gabbro quarried at Duluth, and might be mistaken for that stone on a casual examination. It has the reputation 
among the quarrymen of being very hard, and is said to require more frequent sharpening of the tools than either 
of the other varieties, which circumstance has prevented its extensive use. 

The East Saiut Cloud granite, when used for paving, is dressed roughly in blocks of about 10 by 3 by o inches 
deep. Blocks 50 by 13 by 6 feet thick have been moved; the size of blocks which may be quarried is only limited 
by the ability to handle ; blocks 20 by 6 feet and as long as 60 feet may be quarried if desired. 

There is a very firm syenitic granite near Motley, on the ];Tortheru Pacific railroad, which is similar in outward 
appearance to the Saint Cloud granite, and will furnish stone for a large tract of stoneless country west of that 
point, this being the most westerly outcrop of rock known on the line of that i-ailroad within the state. 

At Beaver Bay, Lake county, a r(?d granitized shale of Cupriferous or Potsdam formatioii (metamorphio group, 
and is one of the conditions of the metamorphosed sedimentary rocks of the Cupriferous series) is somewhat quarried 
for dock construction. The ledge lies conveniently near the docks, in the construction of which this stone was used. 
The rock was taken out in the north side of the bluffs facing the bay. The material is rather fine in texture. The 
structure of the rock is somewhat basaltified, yet jointed transversely. 

Four miles below Beaver Bay, on an island in lake Superior, a so-called red granite of the Cupriferous series is 
found, but has not as yet been quarried. It is jS"o. 811 of the Minnesota Geological Survey reports. It is believed 
to be derived from some of the original sedimentary portions of the Cui^riferous beds, and would make a very good 
building material if in the course of the settlement of the country it should become desired. The rock is uniformly 
cTystalline in texture; at most points it is little jointed, but it is occasionally imperfectly basaltic. 

There is a labradorite rock of the Cupriferous series exposed at the lake shore, 2J or 3 miles east of Beaver 
Bay, which may be used for ornamental purposes as well as for general construction. The supply is abundant and 
easily accessible. The rock seems to graduate into the gabbro exposed at Eice's point. The texture of the stone is 
uniform and coarsely crystalline ; it is bedded in some places and in others a solid mass. ■ 

At the lake shore, near the mouth of Baptism river, Lake county, there is a porphyritic felsite of the Cupriferous 
series ; it is Nos. 138 and 139 of the Minnesota geological rei^ort for 1880. The stone is porphyritic, with quartz and 
perhaps adularia, and it is indistinctly laminated and basaltic in structure. The rock is also exposed 2 miles west of 
the great palisades, on the north shore of lake Superior, Lake county ; it may possibly be nsed for ornamental 
purposes, and it illustrates the, gradual change from the red shales of the sedimentary beds of the Cupriferous to 
crystalline rock. (See proceedings of the American Association for the Advancement of Science for 18S0-'81.) In 
this locality there is also a metamorphosed shale (with adularia) of the Cupriferous series ; it is IS'o. 110 of the 
Minnesota Geological Survey. Specimens of the stone in the K"ational Museum are a brick-red in color; it is 
usually banded and porphyritic, with quartz and translucent grains that seem to be adularia. 

On Encampment island, Lake county, a hyperyte rock of the igneous group of the Cupriferous series is found; 
it has not been quarried for building purposes, but is interesting from a scientific point of view. In texture it is 
uniform and coarsely crystalline, and is irregularly jointed and bedded. On the shore of lake Superior, at Two 
Harbor bay, in Lake county, there is a dark, heavy, uniformly fine-grained rock, probably of the sedimentary group 
of the Cupriferous. It has not yet been quarried, but has a scientific interest in connection with the investigation 
of the crystalline rocks of this formation, as its outward characters have not been sufficiently distinct to indicate its 



DESCRIPTIONS OF QUARRIES AND QUARRY REGIONS. 247 

afianities so as to warrant its being classed in either tlie igneous or metamorphic group of tlie Cupriferous. In the 

Eeport of the Minnesota Geological Survey for 1880 it is placed in the sedimentary rocks (metamorphosed), but this 

point is not well established. With it many comparisons have been made, and references in field-books, whenever 

it has been seen to occur, or where a rock like it has been met with, making it a sort of datum for the mapping 

geographically of rocks in other places. 

A trap of the igneous group of the Cupriferous is quarried at Taylor's Falls, Chisago county, and used in the 

construction of foundations aud rough walls at Taylor's Falls. The walls of several business blocks at this place 

are constructed of this stone. The color is dark, almost black, and as to the texture it seems to be made of 

pyroxene crystals embracing the other minerals, these causing a spotted exterior ; otherwise the texture is itniform. 

This rock, from its proximity to INIinneapolis and Saint Paul, is of economic importance because of its adaptability for 

Ijaviug blocks, for which purpose it would supply a most durable material. It may be described as tough rather 

than hard. It is the most southerly known exposure of the Cupriferous in the state, though in Wisconsin a similar 

rock outcrops a few miles farther south, near the Saint Croix river. Some interesting copper mining has been 

excited at this point by the discovery of the native copper in the rock and along some of the ravines. It is No. 

820 of the Minnesota Geological Survey ; the rock seems to have the characteristics ascribed to melaphyre by 

Pumpelly. 

SANDSTONES. 

The red quartzite at JTew Ulm, which also is seen in Cottonwood, Watonwan, Rock, and Pipe Stone counties, is 
sparingly used for a building stone at points contiguous, and one or two car-loads are known to have been shipped 
to Minneapolis. It is the hardest stone in the state, or in the United States, probably, that can be said to have 
been used for buildiug. It consists almost wholly of quartz, the red color being due to iron oxide, which is 
disseminated among the grains, but does not enter them. As a layer embraced in this rock the material known 
as "pipestone" or catliuite is found in Pipe Stone county and other places in southwestern Minnesota. This 
rock it is very difflcult and costly to dress into dimension blocks, but it is indestructible when once placed in a 
wall. 

There is a quarry of the red quartzite in Courtland township, Nicollet county, near New Ulm, operated for 
ordinary building purposes and bridge construction, used at New Ulm and surrouudiug country. It was used in 
the construction of Sommer's block aud the residence of Mr. Frank Erd, at New Ulm. The stone varies somewhat 
as to texture, some being loose-grained and sandy, and some firm, hard, and uniform. It is evenly-bedded in 
courses varying from half an inch to i feet in thickness; the joints and water-cracks are not distinct, but rather 
frequent. There is but little systematic quarrying done at this place ; quarries are contiguous, and exhibit the same 
kind of rock. Some of the beds are shaly, and the dip about 15° toward the north-northwest. As compared with 
rocks at Sioux Tails, in Dakota, the opportunities for quarrying are greater here and the stone is much more easily 
wrought, owing to the fact that the beds are finer and softer, though it is probable that if it were to be deeply 
excavated it would be found to be firm aud of a pui-plish color within; but at Sioux FaUs a greater area of stoneless 
country surrounding the quarry will create a greater demand than ever will be felt at New Ulm. 

Next in ascending order, as building materials come the sandstones proper, if we omit the black argillyte or 
roofing slates and their associates seen at Thompson, which will be treated under "Eoofing slate". The red sandstones 
at Fond du Lac are probably the most valuable deposit, taken on all accounts, that the state possesses as a building 
stone of that kind. They are of the same formation as the New Ulm quartzite, but were less hardened at the time 
of their upheaval. They lie tilted toward the south or southeast, and are associated with and overlie a vast 
thickness of soft red shale, which passes sometimes to a shaly red conglomerate, the same that in other places 
about lake Su[)erior is in contact with the igneous rocks, and becomes copper-bearing. This red sandstone is well 
known in Milwaukee, Chicago, and Detroit. The quarries in it farther east furnished the red sand-rock used in the 
Milwaukee court-house, and a great many brownstoue fronts in that city and in Chicago were obtained from it. 
It was formerly quarried on Isle Eoyale, aud sold in Detroit as "Isle Eoyale brownstoue". While it consists almost 
entirely of quartz, the grains are not so firmly cemented or united as to render it objectionably hard. Its grain, 
color, and texture vary slightly. On Isle Eoyale, wheu quarried, it is fine-graiued and rather brittle, being more 
highly metamorphosed than at Fond du Lac. At some points it has a mottling of red and gray, or even of green, 
as at Sault Ste. Marie, at the eastern end of lake Superior, where the ship-canal is cut in it and largely built of it. 
In some places it is so loosely cemented as to crumble anil to be rendered useless for building, and in others it 
contains rounded quartz-pebbles of a nearly white color, or becomes wholly conglomeratic. At Fond du Lac 
some of all these features can be seen, but there is still at that place a great abundance of fine stone of the 
best quality. This great formation forms the southern rock barrier of lake Superior, almost without interruption, 
from Duluth to Sault Ste. Marie, but it is not always of so dark a color as it is at Fond du Lac. The famed 
" pictui'ed rocks " of the south shore are formed of it, and the Apostle islands are caused by remnants of it that 
withstood the erosion of the glacial forces. Its strength, as tested at Washington, proved to be from 4,000 to 5,000 
pounds per square inch. Several business blocks have been made from it in Duluth, aud the new Westminster 
church at Minneapolis is being constructed of it. This formation is seen not only at Fond du Lac, but (probably) at 
Pokegama falls, on the Upper Mississippi, aud in the base of the blufl's at Winona, but the most favorable and 
promising points for quarrying it are at Fond du Lac. 



248 BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

The principal quarry at Fond clu Lac has been mainly engaged in getting out and shipping stone in the rough, 
but little being dressed at the quarry. The rock has in some of its heavy beddiug stripes of light sand-rock and 
light spots in some of the brown. Sometimes scattered quartz-pebbles are seen in the light rock of the size of a pea, 
or even a lien's egg, but not much of it is conglomeratic. Lumps of red shale from 2 to 5 inches in diameter occur 
in belts coincident with the direction of the bedding. The bedding is even, in courses varying from 4 inches to 3 
feet in thickness; the joints are distinct. The stone is iised for general building purposes, chiefly at Minneapolis, 
Saint PaiU, Braiuerd, Duluth, and Fargo, Dakota, and Superior, Wisconsin. Among the buildings in the construction 
of which this stone was used are the Clark & Hunter block of Duluth, the Westminster Presbyterian church at 
Minneapolis, and some of the railroad buildings at Brainerd. There is a quarry on Missouri creek near Fond du Lac, 
the product of which is wholly shipped to Winnipeg for use by a contracting builder of that city. The Manitoba 
college is trimmed with stone from this latter quarry. 

The freestone at Hinckley is probably not of the same formation, but pertains to a higher horizon — the Saint 
Croix. It is exposed ou the banks of the stream passing through the village and at points farther down. As a 
building stone it is considerably lighter colored, or more nearly that of the Kasota stone, and more easily wrought 
than the Fond du Lac stone. It is in even, heavy beds, and can be easily got out. It is as firm and as desirable' for 
all purposes of architecture to which it is adapted as the Cleveland freestone which is so largely used. It can be 
dressed more cheaply than the Fond du Lac stone and can be cut into ornamental forms for capping or for columns. 
Its compressive strength has not been tested yet. 

The stone from this quarry is evenly bedded in courses varying from 6 to 18 inches thick ; there are but few 
joints. The Saint Paul and Duluth Eailroad Company operates the principal quarry at Hinckley, Pine county, for 
bridge construction, and the stone has lately been put into the foundations for the high bridges and trestle-work 
on that railroad along the dalles of the Saint Louis river. It is the only rock known between White Bear lake 
and the slate region of Thompson, which begins near Goose Lake station. 

At Dresbach, on the Mississippi river and the Chicago, Milwaukee, and Saint Paul railroad, in Winona county, 
sand-rock of the Saint Croix, which is the lowest sand-rock in the geological scale of Minnesota, is occasionally 
quarried for ordinary building pur]Doses and shipped to Minneapolis and Saint Paul. The stone promises considerable 
usefulness in the future, though as yet is but little quarried. The rock has been quarried to a limited extent 
also at Dakota, 2 miles north of Dresbach, and much attention has been attracted to the material at both these 
places, as it nearly resembles the Berea sandstone of Ohio, which is now largely used in first-class buildings in 
Saint Paul and Minneapolis, it being transported there by rail at considerable expense. The development of this 
industry in Minnesota, so far as Dresbach and Dakota are concerned, is due to the direct and immediate efforts and 
recommendations of the geological survey of the state in calling attention to it during 1880. There is an unlimited 
supply of this stone in the bluffs of the Mississippi river, but its best color is found only near the level of the water 
of the river. The stone is of a fine texture, and varies from a light gray to buff in color, some of it showing even 
and distinct stratification, and some being massive; it is evenly and horizontally bedded in courses from 3 inches 
to 8 feet thick. Blocks 8 by 4 by 4 feet have been quarried; and blocks as large as 20 by 8 by 6 feet, or as large 
as could be conveniently handled, might be quarried. 

The other sandstones of nearly the same geological horizon are not very good for building, being too friable. 
They are exposed in the bluffs of the Upper Mississippi below Hastings, and of the Saint Croix below and above 
Taylor's Palls, where they have been put into one or two business blocks. They are of rather coarse grain and 
friable on first quarrying, but the weather operates to harden them somewhat in the course of a few months. When 
they are finer, and mingled with an aluminous sediment, they are also somewhat magnesian. They are then fit for 
rough walls, but for first-class architecture they cannot be used, owing to the thinness of the layer and the general 
incoherency of the grain. Still in some towns this kind of stone is employed exclusively for the general home 
demand, as at Hokah and at Lake City. 

The Jordan sandstone of the geological horizon of that name in the Lower Minnesota valley is very much like 
that at Taylor's Falls, but is in a much higher geological horizon. It has been used considerably at Jordan, and 
serves a good purpose for general building, but it cannot be recommended for first-class structures. It is of a light 
color, but stained and clouded, or striped by a yellowish or rusty iron cement. It is likely that the darker-colored 
beds of this stone will be found most durable. This rock appears in the Minnesota valley, forming islands and 
rapids near Carver. If it were to be wrought along the Minnesota river, where it has been for a long time subject 
to the rusting and cementing action of the waters of the river at periods of flood, it would be found much harder 
and more valuable. The bedding is even, and in courses varying from 2 inches to 2 feet in thickness, jointing 
irregular, the texture fine, sometimes friable, and there are signs of irregular stratification. There are two principal 
varieties in the quarry; that from the bottom is of light gray or bluish color; that from the uppermost 16 feet of 
the ledge is the stone wliich has been hitherto used exclusively in building. The gray is very similar in appearance 
to the Berea, Ohio, sandstone. Among the buildings in the construction of which this stone has been iised are the 
Foss & Wells flouring- mills, at Jordan, and the City mills and the American house (fii'st story), at the same place. 

Ordinarily the Saint Peter formation is very friable, and particularly where it is freshly expof ed, or is being 
continually reduced by the action of winds or by running water. But when the river water occasionally or 



DESCRIPTIONS OF QUARRIES AND QUARRY REGIONS. 249 

periodically overflows it, the repeated evaporation of tbe water leaves a deposit of irou-rust, which on entering among 
the loose grains of the rock soou so firmly cements them, especially on being thoroughly dried, as to make a useful 
building stone. Such a process goes on in all low grounds where water evaporates without free escape, and 
generally causes a rustiness on the mud or on the dead twigs or roots of the place, or even goes so far as to form a 
bogirou ore. If a rock be exposed there it becomes more or less rusted, and if before incoherent it becomes firm. 
Although stone quarried from this formation has been put into the piers of the bridge at Fort Snelling in large 
blocks, it can hardly be said to constitute a reliable suijply of good stone for the cities of Saint Paul and Minneapolis. 
When evenly and thoroughly cemented by the iron-rust it will form a durable rock, but its liability to inequalities 
iu the hardness of the mass, to variations of color, and to the exhaustion of the supply will operate against its 
extensive use. 

At Meudota, Dakota county, sandstone rock of the Saint Peter subdivision of the Lower Silurian is quarried for 
bridge construction on the Chicago, Milwaukee, and Saiut Paul railroad. The piers of the bridge over the Mississippi 
river at Fort Snelling are built of this stone. This stone, which serves well for heavy masonry, and could be cut for 
ornamental work in structures, shows the effect of the waters of the Mississippi river in hardening the very friable 
white sand-rock, known as the Saiut Peter samlstone. The outcrop iu which the quarry is situated is in the bottom 
land of the river and rises but a few feet above low water. It is annually overflowed and has been for an unknown, 
period evidently, at least since the glacial epoch, and it is to this fact that the cementation of the siliceous grains 
is due, the evaporation of the water as summer advances leaving a sort of iron cement. It is also probable that the 
cement is partly siliceous, siuce the water.s of the river are slightly alkaline, and thus might dissolve some of the 
silica of the rock, depositing it again as a cement, i^o other such efi'ect on the Saint Peter formation is known but 
iu the valley of the Minnesota river. Above this place, the Shakopee formation is thus affected at Kasota, the 
Jordan at Yan Osser's creek, near Louisville, and the Saint Lawrence at Jessen Land ; in all cases the change of 
character being due to the interpeuetration of iron oxide on the evaporation of the water of the river. 

The stone used at and below Austin, taken from the low banks of the Cedar river, seems to belong to the Upper 
Devonian. It is believed to lie conformably over the Devonian limestones that are seen in outcrop farther down 
the river, a few miles south of the state line in Iowa. The stone itself in its natural color is of a light blue, and that 
color shows on most of the quarried blocks about the heart of the bedding, and on deep quarrying it would doubtless 
show only a blue color. Tet the stone as now used is very generally of a buff color to the depth of from half an inch 
to 3 inches, depending on the amount of weathering and oxidation. The thinner beds are altogether changed to that 
color. The texture of the stone is close, and the grain is homogeneous. Some largo slabs and blocks are sawed for 
bases to tombstones, and worked down to a very smooth surface. It is more safely sawed to any desired dimension 
than cut or broken, j-et it is not in the least crystalline. Its aspect at a distance is that of a fine-grained sandstone, 
yet it contains no apparent grit. It is so soft that it can be cut without difficulty, appearing much like an unusually 
indurated blue shale, but it hardens in use and serves a useful purpose in common buildings, but cannot be depended 
on for first-class structures. Its argillaceous composition will ultimately cause it to crumble, especially if it be 
subjected to frequent changes of moisture and dryness. 

At several points iu the banks of the ^Minnesota river between Xew Ulm and Maukato a hard, siliceous sandstone 
of Cretaceous age is exposed, which has supplied some very good building material. The layers are about 4 inches 
in thickness, and are tough and firm. They are associated with alternating layers of a friable sandstone, which 
aids in their extraction. These beds are sometimes so coarse as to justify their being designated as conglomeratic. 
The stone is very durable as a building material, but the toughness and hardness of the textiire and the thinness 
of the beds, make it more suitable for flagging than for buildiug. It is typically exi^osed on the laud of William 
Fritz, Sec. 16, T. 109, E. 29, in Nicollet county and other places near. 

LIMESTONE.S. 

The lowest limestones in the geological scale are those seen in the blufts of the Mississippi river and in the Saint 
Croix valley. They generally form the tops of the bluffs, and cause the precipitous portions, the sloping talus being 
taken up with one or more of the sandstones above mentioned. These limestone beds present a varied lithology,, 
and cause some very interesting topographical features. As a building stone they are wrought at all points where 
there is a demand (except Lake city), between Stillwater and Winona, along the Mississippi valley on the Minnesota 
side, and also at several x^laces farther west, as at Caledonia, in Houston county, Lanesboi'ough and Eushford, in 
Fillmore county, and at points in Winona county. The material they supply is iu general a magnesian limestone 
of a light buff color, a firm but sometimes vesicular or porous texture, and often having a considerable proportion 
of quartz. An analysis of a sample from Sugar Loaf, Winona, gave the following result: 

Per ceut. 

Insohible (mainly quartz) 24.21 

Ferric and aluminic oxides 3. 32 

Calcium sulphate 4. 32 

Calcium carbonate 47. 11 

Magnesium carbonate 20. 67 

Total 99.72 



250 BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

Showino- that neai'ly one-foxirtli of the whole consists of quartz. lu other places would be found less quartz; and 
this is particularly the case at Frontenac, where the rock is so eveu- grained and so free from quartz that it is sawed 
by machinery into such slabs or blocks as are wanted. The quarries at Winona and Eed Wing are in beds of this 
stone that are quite similar as to texture, being open and loose, or having small scattered cavities. In these cavities 
are sometimes linings of drusy quartz crystals. In other beds this quartz is gathered instead into nodules of chert 
or flint, which, although having a white exterior, are hard, and often gray within. This is the condition of the 
quartz in the stone at Frontenac, but these flint lumps are not common there. In other places whole beds are 
cherty and worthless for a building stone. This formation, which probably at the present time furnishes more stone 
than any other in the state, is destiiaed to be still further used for the same purpose, as it is most favorably situated 
at its exposures both for excavation and for shipment and transportation, and supplies one of the best materials for 
all purposes of architecture. It varies from a light buft' to a light drab color. When placed in a structure it has a 
lively and cheerfnl expression. At Frontenac it is cut into ornamental forms with comparative ease, and the same 
kind of beds as those at that place are found throughout the southeastern part of Goodhue county and the northern 
portion, at least, of Wabasha. It is but slightly changed after many years exposure to atmospheric influences; 
indeed it has not been in use long enough yet in the state to show any change whatever by lapse of time, although 
it is in some of the oldest buildings of the state. The homogeneity of its composition and texture, as at Frontenac, 
and the regularity and thickness of its bedding, are qualities that enable it to supply slabs and blocks of any desired 
dimensions. Its resistance to pressure, amounting to 5,000 to 7,000 pounds per square inch, is sufficient to warrant 
its use in all ordinary structures, while for door moldings and caps, for sills and water-tables, and for all trimmings 
to brick structures, it is unsurpassed. 

The limestone of the Saint Lawrence horizon, the lower portion of the great magnesian limestone of the west, 
in the vicinity of Stillwater lake, is often somewhat sihceons, and the determinations made at the Ifatioual Museum 
for this report show it to be properly sometimes a dolomite and sometimes a siliceous dolomite. A chemical analysis 
of the samples of the stone usually show a high percentage of magnesia, considerable iron, and siliceous matter. 
At a quarry of this limestone at Stillwater, on lake Saint Croix, and on the Saint Paul and Duluth railroad, the 
ledge is. about 45 feet thick, and extends still farther below. It alternates in bands of compact and of vesicular rock 
from 3 to 6 feet each, and there is about an equal amount of each kind, aU lying in horizontal courses. The coarse 
and vesicular dolomite is used for the heaviest masonry, such as bridge construction; it is in beds of from IS to 30 
inches thick, and is more firm and durable than either of the other varieties. One variety is called " sand-rock '' 
by the quarrymen, though plainly containing very little, if any, quartz sand, and has a uniform and granular 
texture. The other principal variety is most useful for general purposes; it is especially sought for and adapted 
to use for sills, water-tables, and caps, making a stone which is fine and uniform in texture, and of uniformly light 
buff color. It yields a good surface under the hammer and chisel, and is employed for bases and tombstones ; it is 
also used for ashlar, pilasters, and copings. The use of this stone thus far has been only local, and the following 
are some of the bmldings in the construction of which it has been employed: The state prison, public school-houses, 
one Catholic church, store building of Mr. Isaac Staples, Universalist church, and the Fayette-Marsh block, all 
in Stillwater. 

The Saint Lawrence limestone is ciuarried at Stockton, Winona county, for bridge construction and foundations, 
and employed in the railroad work along the Winona and Saint Peter raili-oad and in the towns on that road. The 
stone was used in the construction of the railroad round-house at Winona. In texture it is generally uniform, but 
sometimes vesicular, cherty, and geodic ; iu color it is buff; it is a dolomite containing a small percentage of iron. 
The stone is evenly and horizontally bedded iu courses usually from 9 to 25 inches. There is a coarse concretionary 
{apparently brecciated) condition sometimes seen in this formation from 25 to 100 feet in thickness, which has to be 
entirely thrown away or used as filling by the railroad. A concretionary condition occurs in isolated masses and 
nodules, and does not extend far horizontally ; at least it is not always present at any given horizon. The quarry 
is operated by the Chicago and jSTorthwesteru railroad, and most of the best stone is used in bridge and other 
construction. The Saint Lawrence is quarried also at Winona for general building purposes and flagging for local 
use; some of it is burned for Ume and shipped to Minneapolis and Saint Paul. The location of the principal 
quarry is on an eminence known as Sugar Loaf hill. The stone has been used in the construction of a Congregational 
church, an Episcopal church, and the jail at Winona. It is usually fine and uniform in texture, but some of it 
is porous and contains quartz lumps. The color is usually buff; it is evenly and horizontally bedded in courses from 
4 inches to 3 feet iu thickness ; there are signs of irregular stratification. Blocks 8 by 6 by 2 J feet thick have been 
quarried, and blocks of any size that can be handled may be quarried. The perpendicular joints are usually from 
10 to 20 feet apart. The magnesian limestones of Minnesota are generally butt' in color— at least the dolomites are— 
the only variation from buff being in some of the aluminous parts of the Trenton, when the term " dirty drab" 
might be used, perhaps. 

The Saint Lawrence limestone quarried at Eed Wing, Goodhue county, is used locally for general building 
purposes and for quicklime. It was employed iu the construction of Christ church, the Eed Wing and Diamond 
flouriug-mills, the first stories of the Saint James hotel, and the residence of Dr. A. B. Hawley, all at Eed Wing. 
It is a dolomite, fine in texture; some is A-esicular and some compact, and the color varies from buft' to light buff. It is 



DESCRIPTIONS OF QUARRIES AND QUARRY REGIONS. 251 

evenly and horizontally bedded in courses varying from 4 iuckes to 3 feet. Blocks 8 by 6 by 2.J feet in thickness have 
been quarried, and blocks of any size that can conveniently be handled may be quarried. The quarries ar Eed 
T\'iiig' do not differ much in the manner and kind of stratification, or in the quality of stone produced, from those at 
Stillwater. 

At Frontenac, in Goodhue county, this formation is quarried for general building purposes, and used to some 
extent also for bases and tombstones. It was used in the construction of Barney's block, in Saint Paul. It is here 
also a dolomite of medium fine and very vesicular texture, buff in color, and evenly and horizontally bedded in 
layers often as thick as oi feet; it is johited at irregular intervals. The dimensions of the largest block that has 
been (piarried are 11 by 7 by 5i feet, weighing IS tons ; this is about as large as can be obtained from the quarry. 
Saws and rubbing-beds are used in dressing this stone at the quarry. This stone is considered one of the best in 
the state; it is seen Lu some large first-class buildings in both Minneapolis and Saint Paul, andthe front of a large 
block in Minneapolis is being constructed of it by Mr. H. D. Wood. 

That limestone formation (Shakopee) which is wrought at Maukato. Ottawa, Kasota, Shakopee, and Saint 
Peter lies about 100 feet higher in the geological scale than the last mentioned, but it is in nearly all places where 
wrought of nearlj- the same character and as useful for all purposes, though it does not present the evenness of 
texture and freedom from quartz seen in the Frontenac stone. At Kasota the river has at some early time stained 
it in the same way that it has the Saint Peter sandstone, near Meudota, giving it a rusty pink color, or a fawn color, 
as described by Featherstonhaugh, and at the same time greater tenacity and endurance under pressure — 10,000 
pounds per square inch. For its beauty, its regularity of bedding — which is sometimes nearly 2 feet in thickness — 
and its homogeneous texture, which renders it easj- to shape into all forms, it is adapted to ornamental work as well 
as heavy masonry. It is cut, as at Maukato, into posts, sills, caps, and water-tables. For its adaptability to all 
nses it is worthy of being ranked with the Waverly sandstone, which is beginning to be imported into Minneapolis 
and Saint Paul fi'om Ohio, and it is more endui'ing even than that under the action of atmospheric changes, owing 
to the more general and abundant dissemination of the calcareous cement, while its variegated coloring and its 
more lively expression make it preferable in many kinds of work. It is used in the State Lunatic Asylum building 
at Saint Peter. The Episcopal church and the old asylum building are also constructed from it. The Baptist 
church in Saint Paul. is built of the Kasota stone. In old structures where it has been exposed for a number of 
years to the disintegrating action of the elements it shows as hard and sound as ever. It even becomes harder at 
first on exposure as the quarry water dries out. 

The Shakopee, the upper member of the Lower Magnesian, is quarried at Kasota, Le Sueur county, for general 
purposes of construction, and especially for bridges, flagging, and tombstones. It is used throughout Minnesota, 
and in Eau Claire, Madison, and Hudson, Wisconsin ; Le Mars, Sioux City, and Muscatine, Iowa ; Sioux Falls, 
Dakota, and Winnipeg, in Manitoba. The following are some of the principal buildings in the constinction of 
which it has been used : In the Insane Asylum at Saint Peter ; trimmings in Saiut Mary's church, Minneapolis ; 
Plymouth church, Minneapolis, and Gilfillau's and Odd Fellows' blocks, iu Saiut Paul. The stone is a dolomite, 
ferruginous, and contains considerable siliceous matter. Specimens of the stone at the iN^atioual Museum are 
dendritic. The stone at Kasota is all, or nearly all, stained with iron having a faintly-pinkish color, although 
originally buff. This stain comes from the flooding of the Minnesota river at early (glacial) times. The stone 
is subcrystalline and vesicidar, with signs of irregular stratification, and is evenly and horizontally bedded in 
courses from 3 to 4 feet iu thickness. Blocks 10 by 11 feet by 1 foot thick have been quarried, and blocks of 
as large size as could be convenientlj- handled may be quairied. Around the joints there is a recent penetration 
of iron and carbonaceous stain, sometimes 6 or 8 inches in the joints, having a wavy outline, according to the rate 
and ease of penetration by infiltrating water. This is usually cut away as waste in dressing blocks of the stone. 
Much of the stone at Kasota and some of the equivalent beds at Maukato have a color (designated by 
Featherstonhaugh as "fawn-color") not common to building stone. It is an accidental quahty due to the more free 
penetration or chemical retention of tlie iron of atmospheric ferrated waters. Wherever the stone of the Shaknijee 
formation is found so situated as to have been covered by the Minnesota river in its flood stages, or iu the floods 
of the glacial epoch, it is uniformly so colored. In none of its layers, when found in higher land in the interior of 
the state, is this color found, but it has usually the buff color of the weathered siliceous limestones (non-argillaceous). 
The highest-priced stone of the Kasota quarries is that which is most colored by the presence of iron, being faintly 
reddish or xJiuk. 

Near Mankato, Blue Earth county, the Shakopee limestone is quarried for railioad-bridge construction and for 
general buUding purposes, and extensively used along the line of the Chicago, Saint Paul, Minneapolis, and Omaha 
railroad, the Winona and Saiut Peter railroad, and the Chicago, Milwaukee, and Saint Paul railroad; in western 
and southern Minnesota; Eau Clau-e, Wisconsin; Sioux Falls, Dakota; Le Mars and Sioux City, Iowa; and the 
following are some of the buildings in the construction of which it has been used : The trimmings of the public- 
school buildings at Sioux Falls and Albert Lea, Miuuesota ; the jail at Blue Earth ; the state normal school and 
other schools at Mankato. The stone is here also a dolomite, containing some siliceous matter, usually ferruginous; 
buft' in color, subcrystalline, sometimes fine, close-grained, and sometimes open and vesicular, with cavities of half 



252 BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

an inch or less in diameter ; signs of irregular stratification, evenly and liorizontally bedded in layers often 6 feet 
in thickness; it is irregularly jointed, and blocks 8 by 4 feet by IS inches have been quarried, and blocks 20 by 10 
by G feet might be quarried. All the quarries in the vicinity of Maukato are in the same beds, and very nearly the 
same details of stratification are present. There is a bed of shale connected with the rock at ilankato which in 
some particular localities becomes more calcareous, and is possibly suitable for a cement. The light blue color 
which appears in the deep portions of some of the quarries indicates the original color of all the rock ; on farther 
quarrying this blue color will probably increase in amount. The Galena limestone (at first a light buff stone) 
at Jlantorville, in Dodge county, shows the same change in the deeper layers. In the quarry of the Winona and 
Saint Peter railroad, near Mankato, for quarrying convenience the layers are designated as follows, from the top 
downward : 

1st. White ledge, very fine-grained stone. 

2d. Eed ledge, harder and pinkish. 

3d. Gray ledge, coarse-looking stone. 

4th. Soft ledge, will not stand frost. 

5th. Bridge stone, coarse in texture. 

The Trenton limestone, which is largely used at Minneapolis, Saint Paul, Xorthfield, Faribault, and Chatfleld, 
and was formerly quarried at Fountain for shipment to points farther west on the Southern Minnesota railroad, 
is a bluish, rather dark colored stone, that varies in value very much at different i^laces between Minneapolis 
and the southern part of the state. At points toward the north, nearer the old shore-line of the Paleozoic ocean, 
much aluminous shale was deposited, even ia those comx)aratively quiet times when marine animals flourished and 
on their death supplied a considerable calcareous sediment. Farther south the quiet, lime-producing epochs were 
less mixed with aluminous sediment, and were separated more distinctlj' by periods of agitation when large amounts 
of shale were deposited. Hence in this formation at Minneapolis and Saint Paul the aluminous shaly ingredient is 
. distributed through the calcareous, and also constitutes heavy beds of itself, while at ]S"orthfield the calcareous 
layers are pure ; at Fountain they are almost free from alumina and sand, and at the same time in passing toward 
the south the purely aluminous beds become less frequent as the calcareous become more numerous. The cities 
of Minneapolis and Saint Paul have to depend very largely on the Trenton limestone for building material or to 
import from other j)laces. The stone itself has an attractive and substantial aspect when dressed under the 
hammer, the variegations due to the alternatiug shaly and limy parts giving the face a clouded ai:)pearance as of 
gray marble, without being susceptible of a uniform polish. Where protected from the weather the shale will 
endure and act as a strong filling for the frame-work of calcareous matter for a long time; but under the vicissitades 
of moisture and dryness, and of freezing and thawing, it begins to crumble out in a few years. This result is 
visible in some of the older buildings, in both Saint Paul and Minneapolis, and has provoked a very general 
inquiry for some suitable substitute in those cities. The natural color of the stone on deep quarrying is blue,, 
but it is often faded to an ashen drab to the depth of several feet, depending on the ease with which water and air 
find access within. The x>orous layers are apt to be most faded. The long-weathered surface is of a liglitbuflf 
color, or if iron be present in dripping water or contained in the stone as pyrites, so situated as to be oxidized, the 
color is sensibly deepened to a rusty yellow, and at the same time the stone is rendered more enduring on account 
of the ironj^ cement. This is noticeable at Minneapolis and at Saint Paul, where the old river bluffs, formed before- 
the last glacial epoch, have endured the exposure of a much longer period than the river bluffs between Fort 
Suelling and IMinneapolis that have been formed by the recession of the falls since the last giaciation. The shaly 
portions in x^articular, where closely mingled with the calcareous, are so staiued and hardened that the rock seems- 
almost another formation. It becomes separated into layers 2 or 3 inches thick. Some of the first large buildings- 
erected in Saint Paul were made largely or wholly from such iron-stained and weathered loarts of this formation,, 
and, although they do not present that uniformity of color and appearance of -solidity and strength that the dark blue- 
stone lately quarried gives to a building, the stone itself has withstood the climate and storms of this latitude more- 
successfully than later buildings constructed wholly of the blue-stone. Toward the southern portion of the state 
this changed condition is not so noticeable, indeed it is not so j)ossible. The beds are more compact and calcareous, 
and the effect of the elements is more superficial. 

In the vicinity of Saint Paul the rock is a slightly-niagnesian limestone, containing protoxide of iron. The- 
texture is fine and semi-crystalline, usually showing signs of regular stratification, evenly and horizontally bedded in 
courses from 3 to 24 inches in thickness, joints 10 to 30 feet apart; blocks 6 by 2 feet byl foot have been quarried,, 
and blocks 10 by 5 by 2 feet may be quarried. Saint Paul and vicinity is the only market, and the following are 
some of the principal buildings in the construction of which the stone has been used : The Fire and Marine 
Insurance building, the cathedral, the McQuillan block, the German Catholic church, the custom-house, and most 
of the stone buildings in Saint Paul. 

In the immediate vicinity of Minneapolis the stone contains varying amoimts of magnesia, ordinarily hardly 
sufficient to be called a maguesian limestone. The upper layers in nearly all of the quarries are made up of a 
siliceous dolomite. 



DESCRIPTIONS OF QUARRIES AND QUARRY REGIONS. 253 

The blue, sliglitly-maguesiau limestone, however, preponderates at all the quarries, and silica and protoxide of 
iron a: e nearly always present in greater or less quantity. The following is a fall section of the Trenton, as exposed 
at the Minneapolis quarries, given iu descending order : 

1. Dolomite, somewhat argillaceous, making a durable building stone, but generally not regarded as highly as 
the rock of Xo. 5; it contains numerous casts of fossils; thickness, 8 feet. 

2. Similar to Xo. 1, or gradually becoming more impure with shale; thickness, 2 feet. 
•3. Calcareous green sha'e, mainly in one bed or layer; thickness, i feet 8 inches. 

4. The last passing gradually into a calcareous shale resembling the well-known building rock of this vicinity, 
sometimes used for rough walls, distinctly set off from the nest below; thickness, 2 feet 4 inches. 

5. The regular building stone of ^Minneapolis. The shale which impairs this stone is intimate'y disseminated 
through the calcareous layers without .showing regular lamination, yet causing a mottled or blotched exterior on 
being dressed; the fossil remains are usuallj- comminuted; thickness, from 10 to 14 feet. 

C. A vesicular, less argillaceous, but magnesian and rather softer rock lying near the bottom of the blue 
limestone and generally not distinguished from it ; thickness, 18 to 24 inches. 

7. Blue shale, worthless for building; thickness, 2 feet. 

As to the texture of the Minneapolis stone it is generally fine and compact, seldom vesicular, and often 
inteilaminated with shaly belts. At some places it separates into laminne of from 1 inch to 2 inches on weathering; 
some of it is mottled with argillaceous spots, but is otherwise compact, though showing fragmentary fossils. The 
color of the stone most used at Minneapolis for construction is a light blue, and until recently it was used exclusively, 
but at present building stones from Ohio, Iowa, and Illinois are being introduced. Some of the building stones 
from other parts of the state are also being used in the city, particularly that from Frontenac and from Kasota. 
The Trenton at Minneapolis and Saint Paul splits under the weather along the dark argillaceous belts that pervade 
it, and for that reason is not now regarded as a first-class building stone. The better rubble from the upper 
layers of the Minneapolis quarries really embraces the best rock for dimeusion work, and as to quality it is as 
durable a rock as the highest priced; it is sold cheaper because of irregular shape iu fracture, rendering it unfit 
for range work. However, the quarries in the central and northern part of the city do not have this rubble, nor the 
"soap rock", which is sold for poor rubble, that layer having been denuded by the glacial and drainage forces so 
as to leave only the regular " quarry rock", which is Xo. 5 of the section before given of the Trenton at Jlinneapolis. 
The lowest layers in all the Minneapolis quarries show some variation in the composition and texture. 

The following is an analysis of the dolomitic white limestone at the Baxter quarry : 

Per cent. 

Carbonate of lime 55. .533 

Carbonate of magnesia 26. 002 

Iron and alumina 3. 075 

lusolubles IG. 220 

The blue limestone which i)revails throughout this section is present in the same quarry. While this formation 
as a building material at its northern outcrops at Saint Paul and Minneapolis is rather inferior, at its southern 
exposures it furnishes a dark blue stone of excellent quality. Xothing can be more suitable for heavy walls, and 
especially for foundations below the water-table, and for all gothic structures, than the blue limestone taken from 
the formation at Fountain, or at some of the quarries at Faribault. 

At Cannon City, near Faribault, Eice county, the Trenton limestone is a calcareous dolomite, containing 
protoxide of iron and silica; color, bluish-drab ; massive, uniform, fine, and fossiliferous iu texture; evenly and 
horizontally bedded in courses varying from 4 inches to 3 feet in thickness. Blocks 12 by 4 feet by 10 inches thick 
have been quarried, and blocks 20 by 3 feet by 15 inches thick may be quarried if desired. It is perpendicularly 
jointed at intervals. The material is used for general building purposes sometimes, and formerly for table-tops 
and work of that character. The market is at Faribault and within a radius of 20 miles of that place, where it was 
used in the construction of the Deaf Mute Asylum building, Shattuck School building. Episcopal church, and the 
public-school buildings. 

The stone from the Faribault quarries is in the same stratigraphical horizon as that in the quarries at 
Minneapolis and Saint Paul. A comparison shows that the siliceous and the argillaceous impurities seen at the 
first-named place have greatly dimiuislied in passing from north to .south. There is a shale bed underlying the 
building-stone layers and separating them from the underlying Saint Peter sand-rock. The beds themselves are 
sometimes a foot thick, but are more generally from 6 to 8 inches in thickness. On deep quarrying they combine 
into heavier layers. 

At Miuneapolis, and to some extent also at Saint Paul, there is a very different sort of stone in the Trenton 
limeiitone formation overlying the beds that are wrought, which is more euduriug than the regular building 
stone. This does not appear in the quarries near the falls, but is seen in those near the university, where the 
formation has not been so much eroded. This rock is generally rejected by builders, as already stated, and is 
confounded with the worthless shale that separates it from the regular building-stone layers. It is an impure 
limestone, contaiuing a large per ceut. of silica and alumina, and also of carbonate of magnesia. It is more correctlv 
a dolomite, resembliug iu that respect the rock at Ked Wing and at Winona, though not having the bright, cheerful 



254 BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

color of tlie stone at tliose quarries. It is subcrystalline, rough to the touch, hard, but splitting to thin lenticular 
chips under the weather. It is of a blue color within, but on exposed surfaces becomes a dirty buff. The grain is 
close, except for the cavities resulting from absorbed fossils. The fragments into which the stone weathers out are 
brittle and somewhat sonorous under the hammer. The older portion of the State university contains a large amount 
of this stone, and its superior durability can there be seen. This part of the Trenton limestone is about 8 or 9 
feet thick, and is separated from the blue-stone usually wrought by a thickness of 5 or 6 feet of worthless shaly 
rock, which builders sometimes smuggle into a wall. 

Still higher in the geological scale are limestones that appear in the southern counties, known as Upper Trenton 
and Galena. The banks of the streams that pass into Eoot river in the western part of Fillmore county and in 
southwestern Olmsted exhibit many large exposures of the Upper Trenton, and there are many quarries in it, but 
they are mainly for quicklime. They might be utilized for building stone, since the rock is heavy, firm, free from 
shale and sand, and easily accessible. The Galena beds are extensively wrought at Mantorville and at Spring Valley, 
and somewhat at other points in Fillmore and Olmsted counties, and in northwestern Goodhue county. The color 
of this rock is buff, sometimes dark buff, although on deep quarrying the heart of the beds shows that its normal 
color, like most other limestones, is blue. Its composition, like that of the rock at Red Wing and at Winona, is 
dolomitic, comprising a large percentage of carbonate of magnesia, but it is without the quartz that is found iu 
the limestones along the Mississippi, and is on that account less hard to quarry and cut, as well as less durable. 
Its texture is open, even porous, with minute cavities, and sometimes with larger openings, due to the absorption 
of fossils. In this latter case it presents a rough and forbidding aspect. This, however, is not common, the 
sedimentation having been generally so undisturbed by chemical or mechanical agencies that the layers are yet well 
preserved. The grain is crystalline and somewhat granular. Minute crystals of brown spar often line the 
cavities. It sometimes also embraces iron pyrites, which, weathering out, stains the face of the rock with iron rust. 
The granular texture seen in some parts of this formation, which is a character seen in most magnesian limestones, 
has sometimes made it pass for a sandstone. As a material for building it is a little surprising that this formation 
has not been more employed. It occurs in fine exposures in the southeastern part of Goodhue county, abundantly in 
Dodge county, as well as in Olmsted and Fillmore, along the streams, and can be extensively wrought. It furnishes 
a building material not only suitable for all ordinary uses in foundations and abutments for bridges, but one that cuts 
easily to a regular and smooth surface. Its bedding is sometimes heavy, reaching 2 or 3 feet in thickness, and the 
stone is strong enough to endure both pressure and long weathering. It is of a light and lively color, and in that 
respect has the advantage of darker-colored stone. 

The Galena limestone is quarried at Mantorville for general building purposes and to some extent for monument 
bases. The principal markets are Rochester, Mantorville, and Spring Valley. The following are some of the 
buildings in the construction of which the stone has been used : Wright's hotel, two school-houses, the court-house, 
and Ginsburg's brewery, in Mantorville. Blocks 22 by 25 by 2J feet may be quarried. The stone is evenly and 
horizontally bedded in courses varying from 6 inches to 3 feet in thickness ; joints are irregular, crossing each other 
at varying angles. The various quarries- here are near each other and furnish the same kind of rock. Mantorville 
is one of the old and important quarry towns in the state, but of late years, owing to poor wheat crops, there has 
been but little demand, and the quarries have been comparatively unproductive. The material is a siliceous dolomite 
containing iron in the form of sesquioxide. 

The limestone of Hudson River age is quarried at Clinton Falls, Steele county, near Owatonna, for walls and 
buildings, but more especially for foundations at Owatonna and in the surroundiug country. It is a siliceous 
dolomite containing protoxide of iron ; in color it is a drab; its texture is sometimes slightly vesicular, but usually 
fine and compact; shows signs of irregular stratification, and is evenly and horizontally bedded in layers from 2 to 6 
inches thick. Blocks 4 by 4 feet by 4 inches are the largest that can be quarried, on account of the frequent joints. 

The Devonian limestones are of two very different sorts. One kind is found in Fillmore county, southwest of 
Spring Valley, and particularly along the tributaries of the Upper Iowa river. This stoue in all respects except 
its more even and close texture, being without the porous features, is like the Galena limestone at Mantorville. 
Its color is the same, but its even and non-vesicular texture is enough to distinguish it from the Galena. The 
bedding is also less thick, being, when in exposure, usually less than 8 inches, though when quarried it is also in 
heavy beds. It is a yellowish, magnesian limestone, sometimes with a finely arenaceous composition, and is suitable 
for most purposes in common masonry. It is tolerably free from calcite lumps, but has some chert nodules^ It is, 
however, generally useful for a cut stone in its outcrops iu Fillmore county. It has been but little opened in 
Minnesota, principally because the region in which it occurs has not yet developed so as to create a demand for 
first-class stone for building. In Michigan and Ohio this formation supplies some of the most valuable limestone 
for buikliug. The other sort of Devonian limestone overlies the last, and is much finer grained. It is light-colored, 
or sometimes nearly white, hard, and fine. It is uniform in grain and texture, and not iu the least porous. Some 
parts of it would make a beautiful white, or nearly white, marble, if it were deeply quarried. In ordinary 
working it breaks M'ith a couchoidal surface, biit by some care a uniform cutting can be made in any direction. 
Some of the beds of this rock are about 10 inches or a foot thick, but they are more frequently about 4 or G 



DESCRIPTIONS OF QUARRIES AND QUARRY REGIONS. 255 

inches, and can then be got out in slabs of considerable size. It is a fortunate circumstance that sometimes layers 
of clay are interposed between the beds, which facilitates their being obtained in sizable blocks. The most favorable 
point for quarrying this stone is at Le Koy, in the southeastern part of Mower county. 

Limestone suitable for all purposes of building is found well exposed for quarrying along Deer creek, at 
Frankford, in Mower county. The age of this rock is not fully established, but is supposed to be of the Upper 
Silurian age. This stone is suitable for heavy masonry, being often 3 feet thick or more. The stone has about the 
same color as that at Le Eoy, but is somewhat darker. Its texture is vesicular, with abundant calcite and some 
chert, and it is apparently a magnesian limestone. 

SLATE. 

At Thompson, where the Saint Paul and Duluth railroad crosses the Saint Louis river, the Huronian slates 
have been opened for the production of roofing slate, and with very good success. This enterprise is not now carried 
on, but there is no known reason why it should not be revived and made profitable. The slate is black, hard, 
and compact, fine and uniform, contains no spots developing crystals, pebbles, or other defects, and is apparently 
of the best quality. Considerable quantities which were taken out over ten years ago have been exposed on the 
ground to the weather at that place, and sho^v no effect from such severe tests. The amount of the supply here 
is exhaustless, but of course some care must be exercised in selecting the beds for quarrying. Slates of ditferent 
grades of hardness can be obtained, which will supply material not only for roofing, but for writing slates, tables, 
mantels, and all other uses to which such slate has been applied. The locality is perfectly accessible from the south 
by the Saint Paul and Duluth railroad, and from the west by the Xorthern Pacific railroad. 

A good quarry in this slate was opened at Knife Falls, Carlton county, by the Saint Paul and Duluth Eailroad 
Company, in 1880. The quarry is at a point 3 miles north of the Xorthern Pacific Junction, near the northern 
boundary-line of Carlton county. Considerable stone was taken out, but none lias been shipped or dressed in the 
condition of roofing slate. All that has been quarried was designed for Hags, and the pieces are from a quarter of an 
inch upward in thickness and generallj- contain about 6 square feet, thougli some are larger. They are dark blue 
or nearly black, smooth and uniform, and well adapted for flagging, flooring, or niarbleizing. The form of the natural 
slabs, as determined by transverse joints, is subrhomboidal and rectangular. Xo prices or markets were 
established before the whole enterprise, which must have involved an expense of 815,000 or $20,000, was 
abandoned by the railroad company, which abandonment is said to have been brought about in pursuance of the 
policy of the company to relinquish all extraneous enterprises and conduct only railroading. This termination of 
such a movement has had a bad eifect on the reputation of the slate. Slates were quarried in 1870 on this formation 
at another point about 3 miles distant, and the weather has not yet injuriously afl"ected it where used as roofing. 
This attempt was also very expensive to the owners, and, when the financial stringency came on, it was also 
abandoned. This formation appears very abundant in Minnesota farther north and east, especially about 
Vermillion lake, where the slates are less brittle and of a light green color. 

PAVING STONE. 

For pavement in ordinary roads or in the streets of cities a variety of material has been used, but in general 
the harder and tougher kinds of rock are the best. Sandstone is altogether too soft, unless it has been hardened 
into a quartzite by some method of metamorphism. Such changed sandstone is the quartzite at Xew Ulm and 
southwestward to Eock county, and also the quartzite or cemented sand-rock of the Cretaceous below New Ulm, 
in which the cement, being principally silica, has compacted the entire mass so as to form one very tough substance. 
This lattei', however, is probably not obtainable in very large quantities, and its cemented condition is variable and 
perhaijs not extensive. Still, whatever there might prove to be would, especially in connection with the Potsdam 
quartzites of Xew Ulm and of Eock and Pipe Stone counties, furnish a sui>i)ly ample for that part of the state and 
for a large export to adjoining parts of Iowa and Dakota. The limestones of the Lower Magnesian, viz, those at 
Winona, Eed Wing, Mankato, Kasota, and Shakopee, are bett«r for paving materia! than other limestones that 
contain less silica, being firmer and harder and legs soluble by water. Of good road material Minnesota has a 
superabundance. The granites, greenstones, traps, and quartzites form the most conspicuous feature in the geology 
of the northern and eastern portions of the state. The so-called trap-rock at Taylor's Falls is the most accessible of 
the firmer kinds of stone, excepting the pebbles and bowlders found in the drift scattered nearly all over the state. 
The granite at Saint Cloud and Sauk Eapids is also accessible, and is nearly as durable. The gneisses of the Minnesota 
valley are very suitable for the same use, and the rocks of the north shore, being very largely tough dolerites, are 
superior for this purpose. Some of the best exposures are at Duluth of stone known as "Duluth granite". These 
dolerites of the north shore are wrought into rounded forms on the beach by the action of the waves, and sometimes 
the^se rounded stones alone constitute the beach. They have been carried by ship-loads from Minnesota to Chicago 
and other cities for use in paving streets. They are found in considerable numbers in grading the streets of 
Minneapolis and Saint Paul, associated with similar forms of other hard rock, and are thrown with the dump and 
buried again. A little thoughtfulness would save thousands of dollars to each city. 



256 BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

FLAGGING. 

So far as known, the state is not abundantly supplied with stone that is naturally and easily separable into 
sheets for flagging. Yet it is to be borne in mind that there has not yet been created a large demand for flag-stones, 
and that perhaps when the demand arises some of the quarries now in operation, or others, will be found to i^ossess 
a good sujDply of flag-stoues. Some of the beds most likelj^ to furnish such stone of a durable character are the 
lighter colored, or at least the thinner bedded, portions of the red quartzite at "Sew Ulm, or at some other points 
southwest of there. In the esiDOSure of this quartzite at Redstone, near Eew Ulm, some of the lower layers are 
argillaceous and thin, and can be got in large slabs, which, with i^roper handling, could be broken to shape and size 
for iiagging; but in general such beds are covered by a large thickness of firm, heavy layers of quartzite. 

The Cretaceous beds at Fritz's quarry, a few miles below IsTew TJlm, and at other places near, also will furnish 
a pretty good flagging, which it would be much easier to obtain than the stone at Eedstone, the beds being separated 
by other layers of incoherent sand-rock. There are places in the Minnesota valley, above IJ"ew Ulm, where the 
quarries would also furnish a good flagging stone, but of course, while more enduring in use, this stone would be 
more difficult to quarry. Of the limestones, or siliceous limestones, the beds of the Saint Lawrence or Shakopee 
formations are most promising. The former is in outcroj), as already stated, all along the Mississippi river from 
Winona to Hastings, and thence up the Saint Croix valley to and beyond Stillwater, and the latter is characteristically 
exposed at Shakopee, Ottawa, Kasota, and Mankato. Some of the thinner beds furnish a very superior stone for 
flagging, which is now somewhat used for that purpose. At the i^resent time it is generally broken vip for lime- 
burning or is sold as iuferior building stone. The exposures of the Saint Lawrence formation at Hebron and other 
places in Nicollet county, and at Saint Lawrence, nearly opposite Jordan, in the Minnesota valley, are also very 
favorably situated for obtaining flagging; at Saint Lawrence particularly the beds are of about the right thickness. 
Some firm slabs of flag-stone are obtained at Kasota. 

In the northern j)art of the state nothing is known that will answer for flagging, unless it be certain layers in 
the red sand-rock at Fond du Lac, or the argillite at Thompson. The former can be easily tested and readily 
obtained, but it would be rather soft for such use. It can be got in large slabs, but it would be refractory to 
work into shape and slippery in use, though very firm and durable when once laid. 

IOWA. 

ft 
By W.' J. MoGee. 

The principal sources of knowledge of Iowa geology are the three reports of Owen, (a) HaU, (b) and White, (e) 
Unfortunately, the official surveys on which these reports were based were not carried to such detail as to afford 
more than a general outline of the geological phenomena of the state, and accordingly the published information 
on the subject is much less full and accurate than could be desired. Moreover, since the last of these surveys was 
brought to a close, additional natural exposures of strata have been discovered, the number of artificial exi^osures 
has been tripled, and, in consequence, beds probably distinct from those officially recognized have been brought to 
light, aud material defects in the official maps have been detected. 

In the dozen years that have elapsed since the publication of White's report many data have beeu collected 
by different observers. These are in part scattered through various publications, but are yet mainly un])ublished. 
Among the latter are the observations I have made during the past four years, extending over the Cambrian, 
SUurian, and Devonian systems, which observations, though made in a desultory aud unsystematic manner, and 
imperfectly connected, have been drawn upon almost exclusively in the preparation of the following descriptions, 
so far as the above-named systems are concerned. The descriptions of the newer systems are based mainly on 
the works of Hall and of White, especially of the latter, though in nearly every stage the observations of these 
. gentlemen have been supplemented by my own. Since, however, careful and systematic geological work is yet 
required in every x^ortiou of the state, it is manifest that no high degree of accuracy can be claimed. Particularly 
reliable or particularly unreliable representations will be specifically indicated in the following images. A few 
modifications in the classification of the rocks have been introduced for reasons mentioned in the detailed descriptions 
of stages. Synonymy, etc., may be learned from White's report, already cited. 

a liepoi-i of a Geoloplccd Survey of TVisconsin, Iowa, and Minnesota » » * . Made uuder instructions from the United States 
■ Treasury Deiiartment. Published by authority of Congress. Philadelphia, 1852. 

h Heporl on the Geological Survei/ of the State of Iowa. * * * Published by authority of the legislature of Iowa, 1858, 
c Eeport on the Geological Survey of the State of Iowa to the Thirteenth General Assembly. Des Moines, 1870. 



DESCRIPTIONS OF QUARRIES AND QUARRY REGIONS. 



257 



GENERAL GEOLOGICAL SECTION OF IOWA. 



Gboup. {Era.) 


SIBTBM. (Period.) 


Seribb. (Epoch.) \ Stage. (Age.) 


Thicbneti. 






Glacial 




Feet. 
200 












Lower Cretaceous . ^ 
I 




50 
150 
100 

35 














Paleozoic ■ 


( 
Carboniferous < 


f 
Coal Measures \ 




325 
150 
200 








Sub-Carboniferous - -; 


Saint Louis 


80 
90 
125 
200 








D Yonian 






250 








Upper Silurian 


■Via.'ara 




50 U> 350 


° 




Lower Silurian - 


Trenton i 




20 to 125 
20 to 250 
75 to 200 








Canadian < 




80 
350 
300 


Lower Magnesian 




Cambrian 


Primordial 




100 









QUATERNARY PERIOD. 

Drift. — U.,der tbis general term are included the several beds of aqueo-cbemical, vegetal, glacial, lacustral, 
and alluvial origin, whicli represent no fewer than eight distinct deposits, and which cover the sedimentary strata 
over more than 99 per cent, of the state. While the thickness of the drift is variable, it is generally sui3Qcient to 
preclude the economical extraction of the underlying rock for industrial purposes, and at the same time to embarrass 
geological investigation, except in the deeper valleys of erosion ; and over fully one-third of the .state its depth and 
continuity are such as entirely to conceal the older strata. 

Over much of the northern half of the state erratic bowlders of granite, syenite, and other crystalline rocks 
abound in the drift, and are more or less extensively emploj'ed for building and ornamental purposes. They are 
found in greatest abundance and perfection and of largest size in Butler, Bremer, Black Hawk, and Buchanan 
counties, where, as in all the northern third of the state, they either lie upon the surface or are but partially buried. 
Farther southward they diminish in size, become wholly buried, and finally diminish in number. The large bowlders 
have been most largely worked in Buchanan county, chiefly at and near Independence ; but they are pretty largely 
employed for heavy foundations, bases, monuments, etc., at Osage, Mason City, Charles City, Waverly, Marshall, 
Eldora, and elsewhere. Smaller bowlders are also used for foundations, etc., either in their natural form or simply 
broken into irregular fragments (by blasting or by plugs and feathers), or, more rarely, dressed, in nearly every 
county in the northern part of the state, where they serve as a substitute for the inaccessible bedded rocks ; but 
the demand is so variable and the supply so limited that the industry is neither important nor permanent. 

CRETACEOUS PERIOD. 

INOCERAIMUS. — This newest stage of the sedimentary strata of Iowa consists of three conformable chalky beds, 
of which only the uppermost is sufficiently indurated to form a weak and friable limestone. It is not known except 
in the bluffs of the Sioux river in Plymouth and Woodbury counties, and it is practically worthless for purposes of 
construction, though the upper division is sometimes employed for cheap foundations, etc., in the vicinity of Sioux 
City. 

Woodbury. — The materials forming this stage are either sandstones, generally shaly and impure, or 
argillaceous, arenaceous, calcareous, or (rarely) bituminous shales. It is exposed along the Missouri and Sioux 
rivers in Woodbury county. At and in the vicinity of Sioux City the purer sandstone layers are quarried to the 
value of perhaps 81 ,000 or $2,000 per year, the product being used for common rubble, riprap, macadam, paving and 
curb .stones, etc. The material is tolerably suitable for such purposes if care is exercised to exclude the obscurely, 
shaly, or otherwise defective portions. There is .so much waste as to enhance its cost, but it can nevertheless be 
furnished at a less price than stone transported thither from better quarries. 
VOL. IX 17 B s 



258 BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

iN'iSHNABOTNA STAGE. — The Nislinabotiia stage is mainly a coarse-grained, friable sandstone, generally quite 
ferruginous, sometimes gravelly and passing into pudding-stoue, and rarely clayey. When cemented it is usually 
by iron, and it hence assumes the reddish-brown color of the hydrated sesquioxide. It is frequently obliquely 
stratified, and is generally massive or with very irregular and obscure bedding and jointage planes. It is exposed 
along the Nishnabotna river in Gass county, in Guthrie county, and in a few other localities ; the only important 
quarry being at Lewis. A few smaller quarries are operated near Lewis, and others are said to be worked in 
southeastern Guthrie county. 

FoET Dodge. — The stage to which it seems appropriate that this name should be applied is a deposit of nearly 
pure light gray, regularly-bedded gypsum, resting unconformably upon Saint Louis and Lower Goal strata, and 
Tinconformably overlain by drift, supposed to extend over an area of about 25 square miles in the vicinity of Fort 
Dodge. The bedding is horizontal, and it is generally distantly and vertically jointed. It is also finely laminated 
horizontally in alternate white and gray lines, the latter containing all the slight impurity with which it is charged. 
It is quite soft when first quarried, but hardens considerably on exposure. Some years ago it was quite extensively 
used as a building material, but it has now fallen into disrepute. Among the structures built from it are an arched 
culvert over Two-Mile creek, on the Illinois Gentral railway, and the depot building on the same railway at Fort 
Dodge, both of which were erected from 15 to 20 years ago. Four years ago the culvert was seen to be in good 
condition, and during the past season but little sign of dissolution could be detected in the depot building. 
Foundations built at about the same time are, however, reported to have given way. It is now almost exclusively 
employed in the manufacture of plaster of paris. 

I have made but few and casual observations in connection with the Gtetaceous rocks of the state, and hence 
their description is mainly taken directlj' from White's report. It is probable that much of the northwestern third 
of the state is underlain by Gretaceous strata; but the depth of the drift is so great as to prevent the actual 
determination of the geographical extent of the system. The classification adopted is that of White, except as 
regards the gypsum deposit, which is provisionally given a specific stratigraphical designation and included within 
the Gretaceous system. As shown by White, the deposit is apparently a precipitate of sedimentary character 
[Geology of Iowa, 1870, II, p. 300), and it hence must have been laid down in a basin isolated from the sea and 
subjected to gradual evaporation : and since the Gretaceous seas extended farther northeast than those of any 
other age between sub-Carboniferous and Quaternary times, it is regarded as most probable that this little inland 
basin was filled by sea-water during that period, and desiccated during the elevation that closed that iieriod in Iowa. 

The limited information as to the employment of the Woodbury sandstone for building purposes was mainly 
derived frona incidental observations made some years ago ; but from reports of a resident during the past season 
it appears that the material is used to about the same extent as at that time. 

CAREONtFEEOXJS PEKIOD. 

Upper Coal. — The materials forming this stage of the general Iowa section are, as far as known, pure, 
magnesian, argillaceous, arenaceous, and earthy limestones, generally intercalated with shaly bands and partings, 
together with shales, clays, sandstones, and a thin coal seam. The pure and magnesian limestones are regularly, 
smoothly, and approximately horizontally bedded, and generally distantly jointed by the "clay seams" of the 
quarrymen ; though the ledges, especially in the pure limestones, are independently cut up into angular blocks of 
various sizes by irregularly-ramifying vertical " dry seams", which often simulate fresh fractures. The area occupied 
by this stage is very considerable, though most of it is so deeply covered with drift that the rocks are accessible 
only along waterways. 

In addition to the quarries specifically reported on there are small quarries supplying local demands for common 
rubble (used chiefly for cheap foundations, etc.) at Glenwood, Malvern, Red Oak, Macedonia, Corning, Bedford, 
Clarinda, Numa, and Winterset, in southeastern Gass county, in southern Decatur county, and elsewhere, which 
collectively produce building material to the amount of many thousands of dollars annually ; indeed the demand 
for building stone for all except the more costly structures in the southwestern part of the state is chiefly met by 
the product of such local quarries. They are, however, so irregularly worked as to render it quite impossible to 
collect reliable statistics of their operation and product. All of these quarries are in limestone, the sandstones 
being worthless for building purposes so far as known. 

The dolomite, which occurs only at Winterset, and in a few ledges at Earlham, is light buff or grayish-buff, 
finely saccharoidal, homogeneous, tough, quite free from grit, and seldom penetrated by dry seams. It well 
resists exposure and the action of frost, and is in all respects an excellent stone. The pure limestone is whitish or 
light gray, sometimes with a bluish tinge, finely subcrystalline, the fracture being generally conchoidal. It usually 
occurs in only a few ledges at any point, intercalated with impure limestone, but is not confined to any part of the 
area of the Upper Goal rocks. It is somewhat injured by dry seams, and does not perfectly resist the action of 
frost. The impure or argillaceous portions are light buff, yellowish, bluish, and sometimes blue-black, especially 
■when freshly quarried ; is approximately homogeneous, fine, compact, and brittle, and much cut up by dry seams. 
This stone is soon destroyed by frost, especially when kept moist, as at the ground level in foundations. Both the 
pure and argillaceous phases are remarkably uniform in lithological character over the whole area of the stage. 



DESCRIPTIONS OF QUARRIES AND QUARRY REGIONS. 259 

Middle Coal. — This division of the Coal Measure series consists of shales, clays, sandstones, and limestones, 
with half a dozen thin coal seams, the limestones and sandstones occnrring in thin, discontinuous beds. Its strata 
occupy a variable, tortuous belt, bounding the area of the newer stage, but not yet satisfactorily separable, 
geographically, from the Lower Coal stage. St. John mentions ( Geology of loica, 1870, 1, p. 284:) that the limestones 
of this stage are quarried in the western part of Dallas county, and that the sandy ledges afford a fair freestone near 
Adel and south of Indianola ; but it appears, from inquiries made, without visiting these localities, that neither 
here nor elsewhere are these rocks systematically quarried to any considerable extent. 

LowEE Coal.— The lowest member of the coal-bearing rocks iu Iowa is mainly composed of shales, clays, and 
friable sand.stoues, with occasional thin layers of impure limestone and a number of valuable beds of coal, the 
■whole occupying a very considerable but extremely irregular area. Over this area (which was largely determined 
by Hall and White) the strata are tolerably uniform in character and approximately horizontal, though sandstones 
predominate toward its eastern and northern margin, and iu the isolated outliers, and the bods are apparently 
disturbed by a number of gentle parallel undulations which coincide iii direction with the principal waterways. In 
some cases certainly, and apparently in nearly all, the lines of erosion follow the auticliuals. Moreover, its 
attenuated margin is deeply lobed by the erosion of the tributaries of these streams and by all minor waterways 
which originate within its area. Accordingly it is quite possible that the terminal portions of many of the eastwardly- 
extending lobes are nearly insulated; while conversely, the Story county, Pella, and other sub-Carboniferous 
exposures may be completely surrounded by coal-bearing strata. The rock occurs in the southeastern part of Jones 
county, near Oxford, but its extent is not known. A brown sandstone also occurs in the eastern part of Delaware 
county, 5 miles south of Dyersville, and a ferruginous conglomerate is found in small quantities in the northeastern 
part of Howard county; but these exposures equally resemble the jSfishnabotna sandstone, and may ])Ossibly not 
belong to either the Cretaceous or the Carboniferous systems. 

The limestones of the stage are, so far as known, worthless for building purposes; but the sandstones, which 
are usually coarse, more or less ferruginous, heavily bedded or massive, rather distantly jointed, and often obliquely 
laminated, are quarried in many localities, chiefly near the margin of the area occupied by the stage, or in its 
isolated outliers. At Red Eock (9 miles north of Knoxville) it yields an excellent freestone of brick-red color, 
which attracted much attention a few years ago, but which is now mostly abandoned in consequence of the opening 
of quarries in superior limestone and sandstone strata of the Saint Lpuis stage in the vicinity. A less valuable 
freestone is reported to be quarried in a small way near Eipley, and in Boone county, 10 miles west of Sheldahl. 
At Steamboat Eock (4 miles north of Eldora), Eldora, near Marshall, at Kellogg, and south of Sigourney, a coarse, 
brown, friable, ferruginous sandstone, sometimes conglomeratic, which supplies local demands for common masonry, 
is quarried in a primitive manner whenever the material is called for; the aggregate annual product (excluding 
Eldora) is, on an average, about 80,000 cubic feet, worth about $2,500, but the output appears to have been less 
than usual for the past year or two. 

The sandstones of the outliers are, as a rule, superior to those of the Lower Coal area proper. At the Dutch 
colonies, in Iowa county (East Amana, Amana, Middle Amana, Hiihe Amana, West Amaua, and Homestead), 
lying from 5 to 10 miles east of Marengo, it is finer and^rmer than in the localities previously mentioned, and 
generally obliquely laminated. It is employed in the construction of the principal buildings, including mills and 
factories, in the several towns. The laborers of the colonies work the quarries whenever building material is 
required, or they are not otherwise engaged, moving about 75,000 to 125,000 cubic feet of rubble per year; but 
since this labor has no financial equi%'alent, and the product is common property, the value of the material is 
indeterminate. In the outliers of Muscatnie and Scott counties the rock is still more extensively utilized as a 
building material. In the western part of this area it is lithologically similar to that found at Amana, or somewhat 
coarser and more friable, as in the Hare and Starke quarries ; but eastward it is finer and less ferruginous, as in a 
quarry near Buffalo and the Goetsch cpiarry, in Davenport, where it is fine, uniform, clean, imperfectly cemented, 
and light buff or white in color. In the last-named quarry it reposes uncouformably upon Devonian limestone, 
both being quarried, but neither extensively. 

Satnt Loins. — This stage is made up of three distinct divisions. The uppermost of these consists mainly of 
pure limestone, sometimes brecciated or concretionary, sometimes regularly bedded, compact, finely subcrystalline, 
homogeneous and brittle, with a conchoidal fracture, and is overlain by a bed of clay, the whole being some 40 
feet in thickness. The middle member is a sandstone or freestone, usually regularly bedded, distantly jointed, firm, 
homogenous, and hard ; its thickness never exceeding 20 feet, so far as known. The lowest bed is an equally 
homogeneous, compact, regularly-bedded, distantly-jointed dolomite of unusual strength, fineness, and toughness. 
The area over which the strata of this age form the floor of the drift is not known with sufQcieut accuracy to permit of 
separating this from the older stages of the sub-Carboniferous series ; but its outcrops are known in Lee, Des Moines, 
Henry, W'ashingtou, Van Buren, Jefferson, Keokuk, Wapello, Mahaska, Marion, Story, Hamilton, and Webster 
counties; its identity in the second as well as in the last three of these counties being stated on White's authority. 

The uppermost division is the least valuable as a building material, though it is largely quarried for that 
purpose at Franklin, Mount Pleasant, Ottumwa, Chillicothe, Givin, Sigourney, Ames, Fort Dodge, Webster City, 



260 BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

and elsewhere. lu all of these localities it forms a fair, sometimes excellent, building stone. It has also been 
quarried for use in lithography, chiefly near Farmington, where the rock is similar, lithologically, to that found at 
Franklin. It is no longer used for this purpose, since it has been found to contain too many dry seams, often 
cemented by crystalline carbonate of lime. Its ordinary color is light buff, light gray, or nearly white, sometimes 
with a bluish tinge; and its normal texture, where of value as a building material, is fine, homogeneous, brittle, 
and sometimes vei-y hard, as at Ottumwa. This phase resembles the pure limestone of the Upper Goal stage. It is, 
however, impure in its northwesterly extension. At Ames and at Webster City it is generally buff or yellowish in 
color, somewhat earthy or argillaceous, and quite similar to the impure portions of the Upper Coal limestone; while 
at Fort Uodge it is almost silty in part, dark blue or black when freshly quarried, though weathering to gray, and 
very erratic and refractory under the hammer when first extracted. It need hardly be said that the stone from 
these quarries does not well resist the action of frost. Little is known of the Webster City quarry further than 
that it supplies local demands for cheaper masonry, and that it is not largely operated. The city is in part supplied 
with better stone from the Farley quarries. 

The middle division is largely quarried at Keokuk, Fairfield, Mount Pleasant, and Dudley. At Fairfield it is 
composed of siliceous sand in a calcareous matrix, and is irregularly bedded and closely jointed, rendering it 
difficult to find blocks of large dimensions ; but it is so hard, and resists disintegration so perfectly, that a door-sill in 
constant use for twenty years exhibits scarcely perceptible wear. Ten miles northeast of Fairfield a small quarry, 
used locally, is said to yield much larger blocks of similar quality. Near Oskaloosa the rock is reported to be 
much the same as at Fairfield. It is here used for millstones with partial success. At Keokuk and at Mount 
Pleasant, but especially at Dudley, the ledges are smooth, uniform, distantly jointed, and free from dry seams, 
permitting the extraction of blocks 10 by 20 feet, or larger, though it is here less hard and indestructible than at 
Fairfield. The rock is generally gi'ay or bluish-gray in color. 

The lowest and magnesian member is extracted at Keokuk, Mount Pleasant, Chequest creek (5 miles southwest 
of Kilbourne), Brighton, Washington, Givin, Ottumwa, Dudley, Tracy, Pella, Durham, and Knoxville. At 
Washington, Brighton, and Knoxville it sometimes exhibits a styolitic structure, and is in addition rather irregularly 
stratified and closely jointed. At Durham, Pella, Tracy, Dudley, Givin, Chequest, and Mount Pleasant, however, 
it is regularly and rather heavily bedded, quite homogeneous, and distantly jointed. Its color varies from bluish- 
gray at Washington and Knoxville to bluish-buff at Chequest, yellowish-buff' at Pella and Tracy, light buff' at 
Givin and Durham, and whitish at Mount Pleasant; and in texture it is finely saccharoidal or comijact, homogeneous, 
and tough, resembling in some cases the Upper Coal dolomite. At Chequest it is susceptible of a fair polish, and Is 
widely known as "Chequest marble", and at Tracy, Pella, and elsewhere it may be carved with great facility. 
The bluish tinge is reiharkably permanent, as at Washington, where fractures exposed for a number of years 
exhibited no perceptible alteration in color, and appeared almost as fresh as if just taken from the quarry. 

Keokuk. — This stage comprises two members, the upper being an irregular mass of shaly or calcareo-siliceous 
strata, abounding in geodes, while the lower consists of compact grayish or bluish limestone, generally regularly 
bedded, with shaly partings. The area covered by the rocks of this age is known to be limited, though it cannot 
yet be delineated cartographically. The only localities where these rocks are known to occur are portions of Lee 
and Des Moines counties, and a narrow belt along the Des Moines river, in Yan Buren county, where they have 
been brought to the surface by one of the gentle anticlinals already referred to, coupled with the erosion of the 
valley. The_ stage appears, from White's observations, to attenuate and perhaps disappear toward the interior of 
the state. 

The pure limestones of Keokuk age, like those of the Saint Louis and Upper Coal stages, are finely sub- 
crystalline, compact, brittle, homogeneous, and hard ; light gray, whitish, and slightly bluish in color ; but the larger 
portion is earthy or argillaceous, as is much of that of the Upper Coal. These impure limestones are buff, yellowish, 
or bluish, uniformly bedded, separated by shaly partings, which sometimes graduate into the ledges and again 
develop into considerable layers of clay ; they are distantly jointed, but much cut up by independent systems of 
dry seams ramifying through each ledge, and liable to suffer disruption and disintegration when exposed to the 
atmosphere and frost. The Keokuk strata are not extensively quarried, the imi)ortant quarries being confined 
to Keokuk and Bentonsport. 

The smaller quarries in the vicinity of Keokuk and near Bonaparte, 5 miles southeast of Bentonsport, are also 
in this stage. The material is employed to some extent for dressed caps, sills, etc., as well as for rubble, macadam, 
and other common grades of building stone. 

BuELiNGTON. — This Stage, like the Saint Louis, is made up of three well-marked beds. The uppermost division 
consists mainly of light gray, whitish, or buff, regularl.v -bedded, compact, subcrystalline limestone of approximate 
purity, with occasional clayey or shaly partings, becoming siliceous, cherty, and irregular toward the top. The 
middle member is i)redominately siliceous, but it is generally shaly, seldom sandy, and without compact and regular 
strata. The lowest division is a yellowish or grayish, compact, ])ure limestone, regularly and rather heavily bedded 
centrally, but cherty both above and below. The highest member constitutes about one-half and each of the two 
lower divisions about one-fourth of the total thickness of the stage. Its geographical extent is probably still 
less than that of the Keokuk division of the sub-Garboiiiferous rocks, since it is known only at its typical locality, 
Burlington, along lines of erosion in Des Moines and Louisa counties, and in the northern part of Washington 
county. 



DESCRIPTIONS OF QUARRIES AND QUARRY REGIONS. 2G1 

The Burlington rocks are practically identical with those of Keokuk, and are similarly used for common masonry 
and occasionally for dressed work. They are, however, extensively quarried only at Burlington. Portions of the 
uppermost division are nearly white in color, fine, compact, homogeneous, and hard, with a conchoidal or splintery 
fracture, like the so-called lithographic limestone of the Saint Louis stage. This phase has been used to some extent 
for ornamental purposes, but it contains too many incipient fractures and is too liable to unexpected disruption to 
be of special value. 

KiNDEEHOOK. — The rocks of this age, which occupy a singularly long and narrow belt, are of rather variable 
character. At Burlington nearly the whole thickness of the stage is made up of shales and clays, with a few 
unimportant beds of limestone at the top, which include oolitic and magnesian layers.- This phase is tolerably 
constant throughout Des Moines county, the dolomite forming the upper, the oolite the middle, and the shale the 
basal and principal portion. Along English river in Washington county the dolomite is considerably thicker (the 
oolite remaining inconspicuous), and, thoughratherearthy and irregularly bedded, is quarried in a small way near 
Eiverside and Kalona, yielding common and heavy rubble, locally used for foundations, well-rock, bridge-piers, 
etc. ; the average annual product of the several quarries probably falling below $1,500 in the aggregate. The stage 
is next known in Tama and Marshall counties, on both sides of the Iowa river. Here the basal sTialy division is 
mainly absent or concealed beneath the river level, not to appear again in Iowa, and the two calcareous divisions 
are of predominant importance. At Montour the oolite is heavily bedded or massive, regularly and tolerably 
distantly jointed, and gray or bluish-gray, weathering to buft'or yellowish. On the opposite side of the river the 
same oolite is less heavily and more regularly bedded, and is quarried by a number of individuals for lime and 
common rubble, the rubble supplying the vicinity and the towns of Toledo and Tama. These quarries are generally 
operated by farmers during leisure time, and yield collectively perhaps 75,000 cubic feet per year, worth about $750 
at the quarries, or $3,000 delivered. A similar phase is presented at Conrad, Grundy county, where the material 
is more extensively utilized. Near Le Grand the uppermost or magnesian bed shows a thickness of over 40 feet, 
while the oolite is mainly beneath the river. Here the dolomite is regularly and rather heavily bedded, distantly 
jointed, compact, tine, and homogeneous, and generally buff, whitish, or yellowish in color. The coarser ledges are 
here so extensively used for rubble, bridge work, dimension stone, and other purposes as to require a railway 
station for the sole use of the quarry ; while the finer ledges, which are often beautifully veined by iron peroxide, 
are sawed into slabs and shipped to distant markets for ornamental purposes, under the name of "Iowa marble". 
Near Dillon the same dolomite is unusually hard and firm, and is the sole member exposed. At and near Iowa Falls 
the two uppermost divisions of the same stage (as identified by White) again appear ; but here the limestone is 
pure, finely subcrystalline, compact, hard, and without a trace of oolitic structure, and the dolomite is remarkably 
magnesian, generally heavily but regularly bedded, though in part massive and tolerably distantly jointed. Both 
members are quarried quite largely. The purely calcareous bed here resembles lithographically the brittle white 
limestone of the Burlington, Keokuk, Saint Louis, and Upper Coal stages. Several small quarries have been opened 
in the Kinderhook strata toward and above Alden, along the Iowa river; but their product is insignificant. At 
Humboldt and Dakota both the oolitic and subcrystalline phases of the middle bed, as well as the magnesian 
division, are exposed and largely quarried. Near the headwaters of Lizard creek the purely calcareous division 
again approaches the surface over a considerable area, and is exposed in a number of localities in both the oolitic 
and subcrystalline aspects. It is here quarried in a small way by half a dozen individuals in both Humboldt and 
Pocahontas counties, the total value of the annual product falling short of $1,000. The material here ajjpears to 
be of unusual strength, liarduess, and homogeneity, is regularly bedded and not very closely jointed, and promises 
to be of great value when the quarries are properly opened and adequate means of transportation provided. lu 
addition to the foregoing there are small quarries near Ackley and Hampton which yield thinly-bedded, " shelly ", («) 
irregular limestones representing this stage, and another of like character is said to exist near Eldora, where a 
ravine cuts through the Lower Coal sandstone. The product of these quarries is trifling, and the real value of 
the material is very small since the use of it is almost an injury to the consumer. 

DEVONIAN PERIOD. 
Hamilton. — The Devonian rocks of Iowa are extremely variable, both lithographically and paleontologically, 
but our knowledge concerning them is meager. The predominant lithological phases may be enumerated and 
described in the order of their excellence: 

1. The "Old State House" dolomite. 

2. The Mason City dolomite. 

3. The Mason City limestone. 

4. The La Porte limestone. 

5. The Osage dolomite. 

6. The Buifalo limestone. 

a The convenient term " shelly " (probatly a corruption of shaly) is frequently applied by quarrymen in this state to rork which 
separates into irregular plates, generally an inch or less in thickness, and a foot or more in diameter. Such rock may not be shaly, as 
shown by the comparative purity of the Kinderhook limestone where it exhibits this phase. The phrase " excessively thin-bedded " might 
be equivalent, if Dlie limited lateral extent of the plates were also borne in mind. 



202 BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

7. The Iowa City limestone. 

8. The Waverly limestone. 

9. The Independence limestone. 

10. The Cedar Eapids limestone. 

11. The Fayette breccia. 

12. The Eockford shale. 

13. The Independence shale. 

1. The first of these is a peculiar, heavily -bedded or massive, slightly-magnesian gray limestone of remarkable 
homogeneity, toughness, and durability, largely made up of comminuted fragments of fossils, chiefly Atrypa 
reticularis. It is found at the K"orth Bend or Old State House quarry, 9 miles northwest of Iowa City, not 
visibly associated with other strata ; and only since the collection of statistics for the Census Office was completed 
has it been found to pass beiieath apparently conformable strata of limestone of the Iowa City phase at Eoberts' 
ferry. It is not known except in the immediate vicinity of the great bend in the Iowa river. 

2. The Mason City dolomite is a rather heavily and regularly bedded brown and brownish-buff, distantly 
jointed, saccharoidal, homogeneous, tough, and compact magnesian limestone, lying conformably beneath pure 
limestone strata, and only known in the deeply-eroded valleys of Lime and Willow creeks at Mason City. 

3. The third phase is a light gray or white, compact, homogeneous and brittle, finely subcrystalline, pure 
limestone, usually rather heavily bedded and distantly jointed, though considerably cut up by independent 
systems of fractures in each ledge. It closely resembles the pure limestone of the Upper Coal at Barlham, 
Stennett, Corning, and other localities; of the upper division of the Saint Louis at Franklin, Farmington, Mount 
Pleasant, Ottumwa, and elsewhere; of the Keokuk and Burlington at their typical localities; and of the middle 
division of the Kinderhook at Iowa Falls. Similar rock occm's elsewhere in occasional ledges, as at Garrison, 
Waterloo, Orchard, Floyd, Marble Eock (where the name of the town was derived from it), Osage, and Mitchell. 
The phase indeed appears to graduate into that of Iowa City on the one hand and into that of Waverly on the 
other, though it is approximately uniform throughout at Mason City. 

4. The La Porte limestone is rather heavily and regularly bedded, compact, homogeneous, rather finely 
subcrystalline, but at the same time slightly tough. It is not quite pure, is somewhat unctuous to the touch, resists 
the action of frost fairly, and resembles the Mason City limestone as regards jointing. It appears to be normally 
bluish-gray, changing to gray or whitish on oxidation ; but, as in the Saint Louis dolomite of Washington and 
Knoxville, the alteration is accomplished so slowly that partially-oxidized blocks remain distinctly mottled for 
years. A precisely similar ijhase has not been detected elsewhere, though certain ledges of the La Porte quarry are 
essentially identical with certain ledges occurring at both Iowa City and Waverly. 

5. The Osage dolomite is a somewhat earthy and slightly magnesian limestone of light buff or yellowish color, 
and of tolerably fine, homogeneous, and compact texture. It is regularly bedded, sometimes with earthy, shaly, or 
cherty partings, rather distautl^^ jointed, but sometimes independently seamed. It exhibits in a slight degree the 
tendency to become separated into angular fragments on exposure to the atmosphere, and especially to frost, 
which characterizes all of th.e inferior rocks of this stage. It is of rather variable character, and can only be 
arbitrarily separated from portions of the Waverly limestone. It occurs associated with limestones of the Mason 
City and Iowa City phases at Osage, Mitchell, Saint Ansgar, and Orchard; with the Waverly limestone at Waverly 
and Waterloo ; with the Mason City limestone at Marble Eock (where it exhibits but very slight tendency to fracture 
on exposure), and with the Iowa City, Buffalo, Independence, and Iowa City phases at Davenport. 

6. The Buffalo limestone is irregularly bedded, obliquely and rather closely jointed, blue, but weathering to 
gray within a year or two after quarrying, generally abundantly fossiliferous, and extremely hard, brittle, and 
refractory. It is quarried at and near Buffalo, where the fossiliferous portions are slightly used for ornamental 
purposes, chiefly for paper-weights, table-ornaments, and the like, large pieces of uniform character being diflicult to 
procure. It is liable to become fragmentary on exposure. A somewhat similar but less hard and pure fossiliferous 
limestone is found at Charles City and iSTashua, and unfossilifei'ous rock, resembling that of certain ledges of the 
Buffalo quarry, occur at Davenport, West Union, and in a few other localities. 

7. The phase assumed at Iowa City is that of a non-magnesian but sometimes argillaceous, fine-grained, 
subcrystalline limestone, blue or even black on fresh exposure, but rapidly weathering to gray, buff', or whitish. 
It is tolerably regularly bedded, with occasional shaly or clayey partings, generally distantly jointed, but much 
cut up by independent systems of dry seams and fractures of fresh aspect, and it is quite disposed to become 
fragmentary on exposure. It occurs at Iowa City, Eoberts' ferry, Muscatine, Atalissa, Garrison, La Porte ( in the 
five last-named localities associated with other phases), Solon, Fairfax, Marion, and elsewhere. At Bristow the 
rock is quite similar, and at Eock Falls and West Union (in part) it partakes somewhat of the character of the 
Buffalo limestone. At Iowa City and Eoberts' ferry it abounds in crystalline masses of the Hamilton corals, A. 
cervularia davidsoni and Farvosites (of two or three species), forming respectively the Bird's-eye and the Fish-egg 
varieties of the so-called Iowa City marble. 

8. The Waverly hmestone differs from the last in being more earthy, slightly magnesian, more yellowish in 
color, and still more disposed to become fragmentary on exposure. It occurs at Waverly, Shell Eock, Waterloo, 
Independence, Eaymond, Yinton, Davenport, and Chatham, generally associated with other phases. Some blocks 
obtained a nninber of years ago from thelatter locality, however, resemble the La Porte stone. 



DESCRIPTIONS OF QUARRIES AND QUARRY REGIONS. 203 

9. The Independence limestone is hard and brittle, blue, but weathering to gray, irregularly stratified or 
shelly, and regularly and closely, though often obliquely, jointed. It prevails near the eastern margin of the 
stage, as near Cresco and Lime Springs, north of Waucoma, at Fayette, Quasqueton, Independence, and in several 
smaller quarries It is usually fossiliferous, fragmentary, and somewhat similar to the Buffalo limestwne. 

10. The Cedar Eapids limestone somewhat resembles that of Iowa City, save that it is without regular jointing 
or bedding, and is so extremely fragmentary as to be worthless, except for macadam, railway ballasting, etc. It 
occurs at Cedar Eapids, west of Mount Vernon, at Atalissa, and in part of the Davenport quarries, where it is 
associated with <)ther phases. 

11. At Fayette, Quasqueton, and elsewhere, a bed consisting of angular fragments of compact, brittle limestone, 
embedded in a matrix of similar material, occurs. It is of no value for purposes of construction. 

12 and 13. Neither the Eockford nor the Independence shales yield materials that can be used for building 
purposes in their natural condition. Both are made up of shales and clays. 

It will be observed that a number of the quarries mentioned in the foregoing paragraphs are not represented 
in the tables. All of these are small, excejit a few which have been practically abandoned within a few years. 
More than thirty different openings have been visited during previous years. In the aggregate the average annual 
product of these small Devonian quarries is about 1,000,000 cubic feet, and the value of this at the quarries is about 
$32,0i!0 ; though the value of the stone used for building purposes is considerably less than this. The material has 
been used mostly for foundations and xinderpinuings; some for bridge work, flagging, sills, etc., and some for railway 
ballast and for macadam. Most of it has been used in the vicinities of the quarries; a little has been shii)ped from 
Eock Falls and from Nashua. 

The Devonian rocks of the state have been casually examined by a number of geologists in different localities, 
and have been referred to several stages, including the Chemung, Hamilton, Marcellus, Oorniferous, and Upper 
Helderberg; but in view of the meager knowledge of the several beds yet acquired, it has been deemed the least 
objectionable course to provisionally grou]) all together under the name of the single stage to which they were 
assigned by White. 

UPPER SILUEIAN PERIOD. 

Niagara. — This sole stage of the Upper Silurian, as found in Iowa, is nearly everywhere a bufl', brownish, 
yellowish, or whitish dolomite; though hard, brittle, and vesicular, non-magnesian masses of gray color, burning 
into excellent lime, occasionally appear. Considerable portions abouutf in chert, which usually exists in the form 
of nodules; but it i)ermeates the material sometimes to such an extent as to form continuous but generally vesicular 
and irregular ledges, the cavities being filled with dolomite. Other portions are friable, cavernous, vesicular, 
destitute of homogeneity, shelly, or cut up by dry seams. All such portions, which collectively constitute by 
far the greater part of the stage visible from the surface, are of course quite worthless for other constructive 
purposes than road-making. The portions extensively utilized for building material are either regularly and 
rather heavily bedded and distantly jointed, finely saccharoidal, homogeneous, and tough, and of buff, light buff, 
or whitish color, as at Farley, Le Claire, Littleport, Volga, Cascade, Clay Mills, Maquoketa (in part), Buena Vista 
(in part), Princeton, and in most of the smaller quarries of Clayton, Dubuque, Jackson, and Scott counties ; finely 
laminated horizontally, distantly jointed, and without dry seams, finely saccharoidal and tough, and of buff, 
yellowish, or whitish color, as at Anamosa, Stone City, Mount Vernon, Olin, Hale, Fairview, and Buena Vista (in 
part) ; heavily bedded or massive, distantly jointed, saccharoidal, moderately tough and firm, and brown, brownish- 
buff, or brownish-yellow in color, as at the Williams quarry (between Postville and Clermont), Waucoma, Cresco, 
Brainard, and Foreston ; irregularly bedded and jointed, somewhat friable, finely vesicular, imperfectly homogeneous, 
and varying from brown to white in color, as at Clinton, Lyons, Comanche, ^and Sabula (in part); tolerably 
regularly but variably bedded and distantly jointed, though with occasional dry seams, firm, hard, and somewhat 
brittle, buff or light buff, with veinings of oxide of manganese, as at Delhi, Monticello, Central City, Maquoketa 
(in part), Sabula (in part), De Witt, and Tipton ; or, finally, tolerably regularly bedded and not distantly jointed, 
fine, compact, homogeneous, brittle, and blue or light blue in color, as at Manchester, where alone this aspect has 
been seen. In nearly all of these phases the rock discloses occasional dry seams, which are generally straight, 
diagonal to the jointing, vertical, and discontinuous, often terminating in both directions in a single block; which 
seams may be partially or wholly cemented by crj'stalline calcite or dolomite, generally stained with iron oxide, and 
never simulate fresh fractures. Tiiey are seldom abundant in the larger quarries, but are nearly everywhere a 
source of some annoyance to the quarrymen, since they are most likely to occur in the larger blocks. The great 
imijortance of this stage as a source of building material has already been pointed out. 

The number of small quarries not represented in the tables is about 40, the average annual product of which 
is about 800,000 cubic feet of stone, valued at the quarries at about $18,000. The stone is used almost exclusively 
for foundations, i)rincipally in the vicinity of the quarries. 

LOWER SILURIAN PERIOD. 

Maquoketa. — The materials forming this stage are mainly shales and clays, with occasional irregular and 
discontinuous beds of impure limestone; none being of value for building purposes. Its strata only appear in a 



264 BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

narrow belt along the eastern margin of the Niagara stage. The stage becomes so attenuated in thickness in its 
northwesterly extension as to be quite unimportant both stratigraphically and geographically, though it can be 
traced to the north line of the state. 

Galena. — The greater part of the Galena stage consists of heavily bedded or massive and rather distantly 
jointed buff dolomite, of firm and tolerably compact texture, though sometimes vesicular or cavernous ; but its 
upper portion is more argillaceous, regularly bedded, with shaly partings, and with its ledges independently but 
distantly fissured. The area occupied by the stage is inconsiderable, though, like the Maquoketa, its attenuated 
northwesterly extension can be traced quite to the state line. The rocks of the Galena stage are extensively 
quarried only at Dubuque, but they are extracted for local consumption near Elgin, at Elkader, near Massillon 
(4 miles west of West Union), and in a few other localities; the total product of these small quarries reaching 
about 50,000 cubic feet, worth not over $1,000. Twice this amount should also be added for the small quarries at 
Dubuque not specifically reported. 

Tkenton. — In its more southerly exposures this stage is mainly composed of compact, hard, and brittle, blue 
or bluish-gray limestone, frequently rich in fossils, irregularly bedded, often shelly, rather closely jointed, and 
disposed to disintegrate rapidly. K'orthwardly it increases greatly in thickness, mainly by the addition of beds of 
clay and shale. It is occasionally buff or grayish in color iu shallow quarries (t. e., those of less depth than that 
to which oxidation has extended), destitute of fossils, and slightly argillaceous, when it considerably resembles 
the Iowa City phase of the Hamilton. The hard, brittle, fossiliferous portions, which are not greatly different from 
the Hamilton limestone as found at Buffalo and Charles City, are also generally slightly argillaceous, the clay 
appearing in irregular dirty lines or blotches after exposure. 

The rocks of the stage are largely quarried at Decorah and Waukon. At Fiorenceville they are extracted 
for rubble and dimension stone to the extent of some 30,000 cubic feet, worth about $750 annually, the material 
supplying local demands, and being moved occasionally to Cresco and neighboring towns. The rock is here fine, 
compact, and brittle, breaking with a conchoidal fracture, and ringing under the hammer. It is normally blue, 
but is bluish-gray near the surface. At a depth it is massive, but near the surface it is divided into somewhat 
irregular ledges by smooth, clean, horizontal fissures. At Bluffton (between Fiorenceville and Decorah) it is quarried 
for local use to about as great an extent, though the value of the product is probably below $500. At Elgin, 
Frankville (6 miles northwest of Postviile), Postville, and Clayton there are local quarries whose average product 
will equal that of Bluffton. 

At Bluffton, Frankville, and Clayton the dark blue, fossiliferous phase is represented ; but at Elgin and at 
Postville the rock more resembles that of Fiorenceville, though containing occasional, and sometimes abundant, 
trilobites. At Guttenberg both phases are tolerably largely quarried, perhaps half of the buildings in the town 
being constucted from Trenton limestone extracted in the immediate vicinity. The annual product of the two or 
three quarries here has been less than usual for a few years, but probably reaches 100,000 cubic feet, worth about 
$2,000. The stone is used for rubble, dimension work, and road material. A small quarry at Bnena Vista (5 miles 
below the mouth of Turkey river) has yielded material employed in the construction of a large warehouse, and a 
large amount of railroad ballasting, but the average product is below $500 per year. In addition to these there 
are many small and unimportant quarries, some of which supply but one or two consumers, scattered over the 
whole area occupied by the Trenton stage. 

Saint Peter.— This stage is literally a bed of siliceous sand of remarkable purity and uniformity. It is 
nowhere sufficiently indurated to form a valuable building material in its natural condition. 

LowEE Magnesian. — Eocks of this age only appear in and along the valleys of erosion in the northeastern 
part of the state, where they form the summits of the picturesque bluffs of the Mississippi and the Oneota rivers 
and their tributaries. The material is essentially a coarse, saccharoidal, vesicular, cavernous, and non-homogeneous 
light buff' dolomite, usually heavily but rather irregularly bedded, and without well-defined jointage planes. It is 
only rarely that the material is at the same time so firmly indurated, so free from irregular cavities and crystalline 
nodules, so homogeneous in texture, and so uniformly bedded as to be available as a building stone, and even where 
these several conditions are as favorable as they are ever found to be, the rock is rather coarse, irregular, and otherwise 
inferior. Its resistance to atmospheric action is, however, eloquently attested by the mural precipices, castellated 
battlements, slender pinnacles, and rugged declivities which combine to form the magnificent scenery for which its 
area is justly famed. It is extensively quarried only at McGregor and Lansing, though, like the Trenton, it abounds 
in unimportant quarries which sometimes supply but a single consumer. 

In Minnesota this stage has been separated into three members (Shakopee, Jordan, and Saint Lawrence) by 
N. H. Winchell, while iu Wisconsin a like number of probably not equivalent divisions ("Main Body", Madison, 
and Mendota) have been recognized by Irving; but none of these divisions can be either stratigraphically or 
geographically traced, nor have they indeed been clearly identified iu Iowa. 



DESCRIPTIONS OF QUARRIES AND QUARRY REGIONS. 



265 



PoTSDASi. — This stage is piedomiiiantly saudy, aud eousists maiuly of iiiiperfectly-cemeiited sandstones, with 
occasionally shaly intercalations which sometimes develop into considerable beds of fossiliferous shale. It is 
exposed only in the walls of the deep valleys occupied by the Mississippi and Oueota rivers and their principal 
tributaries. It is not known to be quarried except at Lansing, where it forms an inferior material for cominon 
masonry. (The Potsdam of Hull and White is the equivalent of the Saint Croix of N. H. Winchell.) 

Sioux. — As developed in Iowa, the Potsdam sandstone is made up of hard, brittle, homogeneous, and rather 
fine pink or reddish quarlzite, irregularly bedded or massive, and closely jointed, the jointage planes being frequently 
oblique to the vertical and not rectangular in the horizontal plane. It is found only in the extreme northwest corner 
of the state, and extends thence into Miunesota, where it is denominated Potsdam by N. H. Winchell. 

There is a possibility that quarries of some importance have not been reported from some of the counties in this 
state. There are 19 counties known to be so deeply drift-covered as to be destitute of exposures of bedded rocks. 
These are Audubon, Carroll, Clay, Crawford, Decatur, Dickinson, Emmet, Fremont, Greene, Harrison, Ljon, Osceola, 
Monona, O'Brien, Palo Alto, Sioux, Wayne, Winnebago, and Wright. There are 32 counties in which there may 
be some small quarries which have not been indicated, though aU possible inquiries as to their existence were 
made in passing through. These are Adair, Appanoose, Boone, Clarke, Dallas, Davis, Des Moines, Guthrie, Hamilton, 
Henry, Humboldt, Jasper, Jefferson, Keokuk, Lee, Louisa, Lucas, Madison, Mahaska, Marion, Mills, Page, Plymouth, 
Polk, Einggold, Shelby, Union, Van Buren, Warren, Washington, Woodbury, aud Worth. 

The remaining 48 counties were so thoroughly examined that it is quite certain that no important omisssions 
have been made. 

MISSOURI. 



By G. C. Broadheau. 
general geological, section. 



1 


Quaternary 


AUuTiam. 

Loess. 

Drift. 






2 


Tertiary! 


3 


Cretaceons. 








4 


Carboniferous • 


Coal Measures ^ 


Upper Coal Measures. 
Middle Coal Pleasures. 
Lower Coal Measures. 


Sub-Carboniferous. . 


Chester group 
Saint Louis group. 
Keokuk group. 
Burlington group. 


Chouteau group i 


Chonteaa limestone. 
Vermicular sandstone and shales. 
Lithographic limestone. 


5 

e 


Devonian. 


Upper Silnrian. 


7 


Lower Silurian ■ 




Feet 

60 

40 to 130 

100 to 200 

50 


Eeceptaonlite, or Gal 






Black River and Bird 






Calciferoiis f 


Magnesian limestone series ■ 


First Magnesian limestone 

First or saccharoidal sandstone. . . 

Second Ma^esian limestone 

Second sandstone 

Third Magnesian limestone 


160 
130 
200 
150 
300 
80 
300 






Fourth Magnesian limestone 




5 to 90 




8 


f 
Archtean -j 




Hnronian. 




Granite. 



266 BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

AECH^AN. 

This includes the granites and porphyries and their associated and intrusive beds in southeast Missouri. The 
granites are generally coarse in texture, feldspathic and quartzose, deficient iu mica, red in color, or else of various 
shades of gray, sometimes blending into a reddish-gray. They crop out iu massive beds iu the northern portions 
of Iron and Madison counties and in the southern part of Saint Fran5ois county, with isolated exi)0sures in Sainte 
Genevieve and Crawford counties. They aft'ord our best quality of buildiug stones. In some localities there 
is evidence of disintegration and decomijositiou on a grand scale; as, for example, 8 miles west of Fredericktown. 
At this place a well sunk 75 feet iu depth passed entirely through granitic sand. In the western part of Madison 
county, at Lloyd's, south of Blue mountain, we also find evidence of con siderable disintegration. These are probably 
due to chemical causes. * 

The phenomenon of rockiug-stones is exhibited near the Ozark quarries, 4 miles southwest from Iron Mountain. 

In the northern part of Madison county, east of the Saint Frangois river, gray porphyritic granite appears over 
an undulating district near the Iron Mountain railroad. West of the Saint Fran9ois river, the red granite rises into 
mountain peaks. 

A syenitic granite forms a " shut-in" (a) on Saint Frangois river near the Einstein mine, forming the " rapids" 
in Saint Frangois river. It is traversed at this place by a dike of black dolerite 44 inches wide bearing S. 60° W. 
A few miles north of this, also on the river bank, we find it containing numerous specks and scales of micaceous 
iron and also much pyrites. Half a mile west the granite is traversed by a narrow dike of black dolerite 11 
inches wide at the north end and 4 inches at the south end. From the north end it bears S. 32° W. for 30 feet, 
thence it gradually curves to S. 82° W. a distance of 5 feet. The adjacent granite wall has been slightly darkened 
and indurated by contact. 

At the " Lloyd" place, in Sec. 15, T. 33, E. 5 E., a shaft in decomposed syenite has revealed a vertical dike IS 
inches wide bearing northeast and southwest. Two hundred feet northwest another shaft reveals a north and south 
dike of similar rock 2 feet wide. The dike is of a gray dioritic character. A quarter of a mile east there is a 
greenstone dike 8 feet wide bearing a little west of north. Washings of sandy d6bris thrown .out show a good deal 
of deep black magnetic-iron sand. Washings in the roads at several places within a few miles also reveal a good 
deal of this sand. In the southern part of Saint Frangois county, west of Saint Francois river, a pit has been sunk 
on a rich deposit of micaceous iron APhich, being very soft, was at first supposed to be graphite. 

The granite is also sometimes traversed by quartz veins, as in Sec. 2, T. 33, E. 5 E., and Sec. 6, T. 33, E. 6 B.; 
also on Cedar creek, where very large quartz crystals have been obtained. At the Einstein "silver" mines, in 
Madison county, the rocks indicate an association of diorite and serpentine. The exact position and relation of the 
beds could not be ascertained, as all work had been suspended, but the specimens left iuclude serpentine, green, 
and violet-colored fluor, clear and white quartz, argentiferous galena, wolfram, iron pyrites, and zinc-blende. Th( 
massive rocks near the river are red and gray granite, with red porphyry just west of them. 

Only recently has much attention been directed to the quarrying of granite. There are but two quarries workec 
to any extent, the stone from which is used for paving streets and for general building purposes, principally in the 
city of Saint Louis. The stone from a quarry 4 miles west of Iron Mountain, Iron county, has been used in a 
pavement on Washington avenue. Saint Louis, for about 6 years, and the pavement is still in good order. The 
flagging around the Southern hotel, at Saint Louis, is also of this granite ; also the front of the residence of Mr. 
Charles G. Stiefel. The amount of granite which may be obtained in this locality is practically inexhaustible. The 
eastern portion is a stratum of gray granite probably a mile iu width. It has not been found farther north, but 
extends southwardly into Madison county for a distance of about 5 miles. The red or reddish-gray granite lies west 
of this, and is probably several miles in width, extending southwardly into Madison county, where it is wider in 
its east and west extension and more red in color. It extends south more than 10 miles, nearly to the moiith of the 
Little Saint Francis river. 

The granite from the quarry at Knob Lick, Saint Francois county, is a coarse, feldspatliic rock, made up of 
red feldspar and limpid quartz, with rarely a dark-colored bronze or black mica. It occasionally contains lenticula 
or ellipsoidal pockets of fine-grained, micaceous, gray granite, and these spots are often pyritiferous. Otherwise 
the quality of the rock on the whole seems good. 

On the surface there are in several places large, rounded bowlders, some 20 feet high, resting on a small 
foundation, and some rocking-stones also occur. These large masses are roughly outlined and sent to market 
for building purposes. The smaller blocks are rough-dressed into 6-inch paving blocks and shijjped to Saint Louis. 
Vertical joints sometimes occur, and a discoloration of 3 inches sometimes appears. One inch of the weathered 
crust occasionally' crumbles off. 

Feldspar has for several years been taken from the Sainte Genevieve quarries and used in glazing certain 
ironware. 

Porphyries are often exposed in Madison, Iron, Wayne, Saint Frangois, and Eeynolds counties, and form the 
highest peaks in this region, being elevated from 200 to 660 feet above the valley. The foot of these mountains is 

a A local terai eignifyiug that steep, rooky cliffs approach close to each bank of the stream. 



DESCRIPTIONS OF QUARRIES AND QUARRY REGIONS. 267 

generally flanked by porphyritic conglomerate, or limestone and sandstone of Potsdam age. The testimony of the 
rocks goes to show that previous to the formation of sandstone and limestone the country presented the appearance 
of rough porphyry knobs rising from 1,000 to 1,500 feet above the sea. In these depressions was the Potsdam sea, 
in its early ages quite tempestuous, as is evidenced by the conglomerates and coarse sandstone, chiefly formed of 
eroded fragments from the Archaean rocks. These sandstones occupied the shore-line of the Potsdam sea. In 
the course of time these waters became more quiet, and calcareous sediments with occasional sandy matter were 
formed ; but observation shows that this deposit in no place extends along the Archaean slopes over 350 feet above 
the present valleys. 

The porphyries, in their typical and most common form, seem to be a flne-grained, impalpable mixture of 
orthoclase and quartz, generally of a red, brownish, or purple color, sometimes dark gray or black, and porphyritic 
chiefly from the presence of feldspar crystals and often grains of crystallized quartz. Jlost of the porphyries on 
their edges show a shade of red; many of them are banded and show cleavage planes; iu some we find well- 
marked lines of stratification, and some even show i-ipple marks, indicating a sedimentary origin. At Pilot Knob 
the porphyry incloses rounded pebbles, and epidote, hornblende, and serpentine occur ; also beds and veins of specular 
iron represented on a large scale at Pilot Knob, Iron Mountain, and Sheppard mountain, some of the ore at the 
latter place being magnetic. Slate, resembling roofing slate iu character, occurs on Buck mountain, iu Iron 
coiruty, and dikes of diorite and dolerite are sometimes seen. 

At the so-called Tin mountain, in Madison county, the porphyry is traversed by coarse dioritic dikes and black 
dolerite, and on the waters of Captain's creek a dike of coarse syenitic greenstone, 75 feet in width, cuts the porphyry. 
In Sec. 16, T. 32, K. 6 E., there is an interesting exhibit of a series of dikes traversing dark porphyry (see Fig. 8 
in Missouri Geological Report, 1874). Against the porphyry wall on the east are lOJ feet of greenstone, next west 
a few inches of dolerite, then 4 feet of porphyry, then 2 feet of gxeenstone, then porphyry. The course of the dike is 

s. 450 W. 

In Iron county, in Sec. 9, T. 32, E. 4 E., a dike of hornblende rock, standing several feet above the general 
surface like a wall, can be traced north and south for one-eighth of a mile. On Gray's mountain, in Wayne county, 
and iu the southeast part of Iron county we find exposed beds of steatite. In the northeast part of Eeynolds 
county and the northern part of Madisou county eruptive porjihyry has been found of a gray color, and containing 
large crystals of white feldspar. 

In Iron county are found amygdaloidal rocks flanked with porphyry. The amygdules are of a white mineral. 
A few miles southward the porphyry contains blue crystals. 

A good exhibition of a dolerite dike iu porphyry is on Mine La Motte property, at Jack diggings, and there is 
another dike at a cave on Eock creek. The porphyry is generally very hard and difficult to quarry. 

SEDIMENTARY ROCKS. 

A section of the unaltered Sedimentary in connection with the Archaean of southeast Missouri is about as 
follows : 

1. Twenty feet of coarse, sometimes vitreous, sandstone, the second sandstone of Missouri geologists. 

2. One hundred and twenty-five feet chert beds, with some clay and quartzite; contains Murchisonia straparollus, 
orthoceras, and a few species of trilobites, typical of the calciferous sand-rock. 

3. One hundred to 300 feet of magnesian limestone, chert, and quartz, crystalized in drusy cavities; corresponds 
to the Third Magnesian limestone. 

4. Magnesian limestone, 100 to 150 feet. 

5. Fifty feet gritstone and lingula beds, to be referred to the Potsdam age. 

6. Ozark marble, 5 to 50 feet. 

7. Five to 90 feet sandstone and conglomerate. 

8. Porphyry, » ^ , 

9. Granite, « Archaean. 

The Lower Magnesian limestone, with the lingula beds just below, incloses the lead mines at Saint Joseph, in 
Saint Frangois county, and also the mines at Mine La Motte. The galena is found with these rocks in horizontal 
beds between the layers of limestone, or occurs as a replacement of limestone beds, or is disseminated in the 
limestone ; and these I regard as by far the richest lead deposits of the west. 

The Third Magne,sian limestone may be found over the greater part of 20 counties of Missouri, often forming 
mural escarpments along the streams, and sometimes extending to the highest hills. It is generally lead-bearing. 
It is both coarse and finely crystalline, and is often a pure dolomite of a bluish-gray or flesh color. It very rarely 
contains shale beds ; but, especially in the upper part, there are some thick chert beds. At the lead mines of 
Washington county it is often cavernous, and includes numerous drusy cavities lined with minutely-crystallized 
quartz. At some of the mines, especially those of central Missouri, it has undergone a decomposition, and quantities 
of dolomitic sand are thrown out. It is well exposed along the Osage river from 10 miles above its mouth to the 



268 BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

line of Benton county; on the Gasconade from 20 miles above its mouth to its head, and on the two Pineys. It 
is seen on Osage river, first near Castle rock ; passing up stream it gradually rises, and at the south line of Osage 
county it attains a thickness of 180 feet. It is often cavernous in the middle and lower beds, and sometimes forms 
natural bridges across streams. Many of the caves occur in this limestone, and saltpeter has been made from the 
clay deposits on the floor of the caves. Of note we might name Friede's cave, 10 miles northwest of Eolla. Other 
caves are found in Maries, Pulaski, Miller, Ozark, and in other counties of south Missouri. This formation also 
seems to be the source of many large springs in south Missouri, from which flow those bold, swift, clear streams, 
affording unsurpassed water-power. On the Osage, in Miller, Morgan, and Camden counties, the Third Magnesian 
limestone forms steep, mural escarpments and wild, picturesque scenery. 

The second sandstone lies next above; it is generally coarse, whitish, or slightly brown, tinged by iron, 
occurring more often in thick beds, and affords a good building stone. It is often the top rock on the cherty hills 
of south Missouri; and the pineries, when found, generally grow here. It is also the formation containing most of 
the iron deposits of central Missouri. 

The Second Magnesian limestone chiefly forms the Missouri bluffs from Saint Charles county to the west line of 
Cole county, often extending from the foot of the bluffs to their top. It contains very few beds suitable for building 
purposes, but the lower 25 feet are thickly bedded, some dolomitio, and with some intercalated beds of sandstone, 
affording a very good coarse building stone; for example, near Eolla, at Hermann, the Osage and Moreau, near 
Pacilic railroad, at Jefferson City, and near Stoutland, in Camden county. But above these beds there is scarcely 1 
foot in 50 feet of this formation suitable for building puri)oses. This is also occasionally lead-bearing. Most of 
the limestones in the upper half are readily acted on by frost. The middle and upper portions contain numerous 
green and drab shale beds, with many intercalations of concretionary chert, sometimes assuming curious grotesque 
forms. 

The saccharoidal or first sandstone is found along the Mississippi hills from near Sainte Genevieve via Plattin 
creek, through Jefferson county, the western part of Saint Louis county, thence up the Missouri river, chiefly capping 
bluffs nearly as far west as Jefferson City. It is also pushed up to view on Sandy creek, in Lincoln county, near 
Auburn, and on the north line of Lincoln, west of Prairieville, and on Spencer creek, Ealls county, near the Saint 
Louis. Hannibal, and Keokuk railroad. It is generally a pure white sandstone, containing 99 per cent, of silica. It 
is well exposed at Crystal City glass-works, where it is used in the manufacture of fine plate-glass. At this place it 
is pure white and soft, and about 40 feet are exposed. At Pacific, Franklin county, it is well exposed for 100 feet, 
the upper 70 feet being a pure white soft sand; the lower part is tinged with oxide of iron. Due north of this, on 
the Missouri bluffs. Saint Charles county, it is 133 feet thick. Thirty miles east of this, or a few miles west of 
Saint Louis, borings reached it at 1,300 feet below the surface. 

This sandstone is regarded as superior for glass-making, but it is often not sufficiently coherent for building 
purposes, though there are a few exceptions, namely, the stone used on the Missouri Pacific railway at Berger and 
between Hermann and Gasconade. Some quarries on the hills near by afford a beautiful pink-banded sandstone. 
Obscure fragments of a large species of orthoceras have been met with in Gasconade county, some of which 
measure 8 inches in diameter, others nearly 2 feet. 

The First Magnesian limestone is found in Pike, Ealls, Lincoln, Saint Charles, Warren, Callaway, Boone, 
Franklin, Saint Louis, Pettis, Jefferson, Sainte Genevieve, and probably in a few other counties. Its greatest 
thickness is about 150 feet. It is generally easy to work, and forms a durable building stone of some beauty. Its 
prevailing colors are drab and buff. It caps the hills at Pacific, Franklin county. Missouri college, Warren county, 
is built of it, and very good quarries can be opened near by. 

The Black Eiver and Bird's-eye formation is probably found in Lincoln, Pike, Ealls, Saint Charles, Saint Louis, 
Warren, Franklin, Jefl'erson, Perry, Sainte Genevieve, and Cape Girardeau counties, but is wanting in central and 
southwestern Missouri. The upper beds are often full of winding vermiform cavities. The lower often have minute 
specks of calcite, and are likewise varied in color and would sometimes polish into a handsome marble. Such are 
found in Warren county on the hills near aifluents to the Missouri, and are well exposed near heads of Tuque 
creek and Charette. The colors are drab, pink, purple, flesh-color, and buff. Another handsome variety found in 
Warren county has a brown appearance, with dark, almost black, winding lines, as of fucoids. Some of these 
would undoubtedly look handsome if polished, and are also durable. Ormoceras tenuifolium and other characteristic 
fossils have been found. 

The Trenton beds, lying above the Black Eiver beds, occur generally in thin layers of a bluish-drab color and 
may generally be found resting upon the Black Eiver beds. At Danville, Missouri, and on Loutre river, near west 
line of Montgomery county, also at some places in the northern part of Lincoln county, it occurs whitish or else 
variegated, with many specks of calc spar disseminated, and appears very well when polished. The upper beds 
are almost entirely made up of numerous fossils, including OrtMs, Pleurotomaria Murehisonia, with occasionally 
Geraurus pleurex anthemus. 

The Upper Trenton or Eeceptaculite limestone is found from Cape Girardeau, along the river counties, to 
Jefferson county, thence northwest to the town of Pacific and along the Missouri bluffs from Saint Charles coun ^y 



DESCRIPTIONS OF QUARRIES AND QUARRY REGIONS. 209 

to the eastern part of Warren county, thinning out westwardly. It is also found in Lincoln, Pike, and Ealls 
counties, resting on Trenton. It is quite cavernous in these counties, but in the counties, on the Missouri and 
lower Mississippi it is a good building stone, and it also burns into an excellent quality of lime. The upper beds 
are brownish-gray, the lower a white, crystalline limestone. In Warren county the upper 20 feet is a light gray, 
the lower 8 feet a dark brown limestone. Beceptaculites Oweni is everywhere found. We also find Ghcetetes 
lycoperdon and sometimes a trilobite. It corresponds in age with the Galena group of northern Illinois, but is not 
galeniferous in Missouri. 

The Hudson Eiver formation is found only in some of the counties on the Mississippi river. The beds are 
chiefly shaly, and are sometimes very pyritiferous. I regard this group as the source of most of the mineral springs 
of northeast Missouri. It affords some good flag-stone beds in Lincoln and Pike counties. 

The Upper Silurian is best developed in Perry and Sainte Genevieve counties, where occur several hundred feet 
of drab and variegated limestone, which looks handsome when polished. In Pike county we find a drab and brownish 
limestone, sometimes in very thick beds, closely resembling the Grafton beds, and as useful for building purposes. 
We find this at Bowling Green, Paynesville, and between Frankfort and Louisiana. In Warren and Montgomery 
counties and the eastern part of Callaway county there are about 20 feet of a coarse, gray, crinoidal limestone, 
which is said to be a good '-fire rock". 

The Devonian is not of sufiScient importance to take rank among building stones. It is best developed in 
Callaway county, where it affords many fine organic remains. 

Sub-Carboniferous. — In the lowest, the Chouteau or Kinderhook group, we find at its base, at Louisiana, 
55 feet of dove-colored, compact limestone, having a conchoidal fracture. This rock has every appearance of a 
lithographic limestone, and was so named by Professor Swallow. In other portions of the state the same limestone 
is represented by a thickly-bedded dolomite, and as such it is found on Sac river, in Cedar county, and at Taborville, 
in Saint Clair county. 

Above this limestone are the vermicular sandstone and shales, characterized by winding, vermiform cavities from 
northeast to southwest Missouri. It is a friable, easily-worked sandstone, sometimes affording good beds for 
building purposes. The thickness, including the shale beds, is about 75 feet. Above this is the true Chouteau 
limestone, the upper beds of a coarse, gray, and sometimes ferruginous, crinoidal limestone, containing Leptcena 
depressa and Spirifer marioncnsis ; below this is a thickly-bedded magnesian and sometimes argillaceous limestone, 
containing geodes of quartz and calcite and occasional chert beds. Where not too subject to frost action it affords 
a useful building material ; as such it is found in Pike, Lincoln, Ralls, Boone, Callaway, Pettis, Cooper, and Greene 
counties. The lower part is formed chiefly of thin layers of dove colored limestone, which was seen 100 feet thick 
a few miles west of Sedalia. 

The next above is the Burlington group, called by Professor Swallow the Bncrinital. In Saint Charles county 
we find at the top about 17 feet of chert, with alternations of red clay. The middle beds are gray and coarse; the 
lower gray and brown, generally coarse and encrinital. Crinoid stems are commonly diffused throughout, the lower 
strata sometimes abounding in well-preserved Crinoidece. This group is found at Burlington, Iowa, Quiucy, Illinois, 
Louisiana, Missouri, and is well exposed on the Mississippi bluffs in counties north of Saint Louis, and from the 
western part of Saint Charles county, in remote hills, as far as Howard. It is occasionally met with in southwest 
Missouri, in Cedar, Dade, Greene, and Christian counties, where it is often cavernous, containing large and beautiful 
caves. The streams in Greene and Christian counties owe their origin chiefly to springs in this formation. 

The upper beds of the Keokuk group are sometimes shaly, with geodes of quartz, and some of them are quite 
beautiful. Tlie lower beds are gray and bluish-gray, with lenticular and concretionary chert beds. ArcJdniedes, 
Hemipronifes crenistria, and crinoid stems are numerous, and some fish teeth are found. This is the limestone of 
Keokuk, Iowa. It is found in the central part of Saint Charles county, in Saint Louis, Boone, Howard, Monroe, and 
Cooper counties, and is especially well developed in southwest Missouri, from Henry county southwest. It is the 
lead-bearing rock of Dade, Jasper, Cedar, JSTewtou, and Lawrence, and is also found in McDonald and Barry counties. 
It is, in part, equivalent to the siliceous group of Tennessee, and is well develojjed in Benton county, Arkansas. It 
is probably .300 feet thick in its greatest thickness, and aflbrds good quarries for building purposes. The Saint 
Louis group is best developed in Saint Louis and Saint Charles, and is also fouud in Lincoln, Lewis, Clark, and 
Knox counties. It is generally a compact, dove-colored, or finely-crystalline ash-gray limestone, with generally a 
splintery fracture. It is much finer grained than any other group of the sub-Carboniferous. It is also cavernous 
in Saint Louis, Saint Charles, and Lincoln counties, as shown by occasional funnel-shaped sink-holes which 
communicate with subterranean passages. The outlets of these sink-holes about Saint Louis have generally become 
filled, and ponds are the result. The characteristic fossils are Melonites, Lithostrotion, Produotus, and Hemipronites 
crenistria, with numerous Bryozoa, with sometimes beautiful Crinoidece. The lower or Warsaw division abounds in 
Archimedes and Pentremites. 

The Chester group of 200 to 300 feet of limestone, with a sandstone, is fouud in Perry and Sainte Genevieve. 
The sandstone, often ferruginous, is found in northeast and southwest Missouri. Good quarries of this sandstone 
may be opened near Newtonia, Newton county ; near Lamonte, Pettis county ; in eastern and northern portions of 
Cedar and near Lamine, in Cooper county, and a very good quarry is worked near Sainte Genevieve. 



270 BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

The Coal Measures include the Upper Coal Measures (barren), 1,300 feet ; iliddle Coal Measures (productive), 
320 feet; Lower Coal Measures (productive), 300 feet. 

In Atchison there are exposed 180 feet of rock, including, at top, 40 feet of sandstone and red shale beds, with 
limestone and beds of calcareous shales below, containing well-preserved remains of mollusca, some of them 
presenting a strong Permian type. Below these are chiefly shale beds, with some limestone and occasionally 
sandstone, but with very little' coal or even bituminous shale. There are thicker limestone beds in the Upper 
Measures than below, and they are also better for building purposes than those of the Middle and Lower Measures. 
Nevertheless some (especially the blue limestones) contain a good deal of pyrites, and are necessarily inferior. 
Those most suitable may be quarried at Kansas City, Jackson county, and in Cass, Clay, Platte, Andrew, Holt, 
Nodaway, Atchison, Daviess, Livingston, Mercer, and Harrison counties. 

The middle series are chiefly sandstone, with some limestone beds and some coal beds of workable thickness, 
but rarely contain good beds of building stone. The Lower Coal Measures are the productive measures; they 
also contain beds of valuable sandstone for building, with numerous outcrops in southwest Missouri. Much of it 
is also suitable for making grindstones. The quarries near Miami station, in Carroll county, and near Meadville, 
Linn county, are the best in north Missouri, the others being inferior. In southwest Missouri most of the sandstones 
are bituminous. 

Recapitulating, we would briefly say that the granite of southeast Missouri is the best material for building 
pui'poses. The pure limestones are generally of good quality. But few of those of the Upper Carboniferous are 
durable, nor are many of the beds of the Second Magnesian limestone. The sandstones are most eagerly sought 
after, chiefly because they are easy to quarry and to work into shape. They also answer better for city work. 
The best include the Potsdam of southeast Missouri, found in Madison, Saint Frangois, and Iron counties. Others 
may include the sub-Carboniferons of Sainte Genevieve, Newton, Cedar, Pettis, Howard, and Cooper counties; also, 
the sandstones of the Carboniferous, found among the Lower Coal Measures of southwest Missouri, chiefly in 
Barton, Vernon, Cedar, Saint Clair, Henry, Johnson, and Carroll counties. The second sandstone along the Osage 
and on hills of southwest Missouri is also a good building stone. 

Saint Louis quaekies. — The most extensive limestone quarries in this state are located in and near the city 
of Saint Louis. The formation is the Saint Louis division of the sub-Carboniferous period. The extent of the 
quarry industry in this locality is not so much due to the superiority of the stone as to its accessibility to the 
Saint Louis market. A representative section of the quarries is shown at Mr. Moran's quarry, which shows 20 
feet of loose material; 20 feet of thin, shelly limestone, in layers from 3 to 8 inches in thickness ; 3 feet of brownish- 
colored limestone, containing some chert. From this quarry a specimen of Productus marginicinctus, a very rare 
fossil peculiar to this group, has been obtained. 

The stone from this quarry is used for the construction of foundations and other ordinary building purposes, 
and for street jiavements, especially for macadam. The stone from the best Saint Louis quarries is strong and 
durable, and is also well adapted to the manufacture of lime. Its principal use has been in the construction of 
foundations. The excavation has been carried at one quarry to a depth of 60 feet, but at present the quarry is not 
worked to a greater depth than 40 feet, 20 feet of the lower portion of the excavation being filled with water. A 
section at this quarry shows 8 feet of cap-rock; 8 feet of limestone in thin layers; 9 feet of limestone in layers 12, 
4, and 2 inches thick, and below this a massive, heavy bed of limestone ; still lower the beds are from 1 foot to 2 
feet thick, this being the most applicable for building purposes. The quarry of Mr. Philip Steifel has become 
somewhat noted for its fine mineral specimens, including calcite, pearl-spar, dog-tooth spar, millerite, and fluor-spar. 
The fluor-spar is of a yellow color; the calcite is white, or colored on the outside with millerite. In some places 
the limestone has a greenish tint from the presence of nickel-sulphide. The millerite has bunches of stray hair-like 
crystals of a bronze color, and each crystal is a delicate hair-like mineral. It has been found penetrating the calcite 
and extending from side to side in the limestone. It is also frequently found associated with the pearl-spar. 

Among the most valuable of these quarries as regards the quality of the material are three at Cote Brilliant, 
about 2J miles from the city of Saint Louis. Its development is only retarded by its being at a greater distance 
from the market than many of the other quarries. 

A section at one of these quarries shows 25 feet of loose material ; 15 feet of gray limestone, in layers about 3 
inches in thickness; 4 feet of limestone, in layers of variable thickness; 2 feet of close-grained gray limestone; 
five 3-inch layers of gray limestone; one 22inch layer of gray limestone; and 15 feet of limestone below the water 
level. 

The best layers are pure limestone, susceptible of being quite highly polished, very strong and durable, and 
quite well adapted for architectural purposes. 

The formation in the quarry of Mr. Gottlieb Eyerman pi'obably belongs to the upper portion of the Saint Louis 
group, though it may belong to the next higher, the Chester group. 

Jefferson City quarry.— The greater part of the quarry product is used at present by the Missouri Pacific 
Eailroad Company for the construction of bridges ; the small fragments are used for ballast, and small slabs are sold 
to citizens of Jefi'erson City for ordinary building purposes. 



DESCRIPTIONS OF QUARRIES AND QUARRY REGIONS. 271 

The following is a section at tbis quarry: 

1. Soil aud clay 6 feet. 

2. Unevenly-bedded limestone and chert, in thin beds, suitable for ballast only 12 feet. 

3. Fine-grained homogeneous rock, in even thin layers, locally called "cotton rock" 4 feet. 

4. Gray limestone with numerous small cells tilled with white powder 2 feet. 

^. Chert beds 2 feet 6 inches. 

6. Drab, evenly-bedded limestone, .also called cotton rock 9 feet. 

7. Gray, hard, cellular limestone, generally preferred for bridge coustructiou 10 feet. 

No. 6 is similar to the rock wliicli was used in the construction of the state-house, which was erected about 
forty years ago. It is occasionally slightly discolored with stains of iron, of which minute globules and specks are 
seen, apparently changed from pyrites. The layers from this rock are of quite uniform thickness, many of the 4:- and 
6inch layers making a very handsome paving stone. It has been quite extensively used in Jefterson City, where it 
has been termed cotton rock, by which name it is also known in other localities in this state. The prevailing color 
of this rock is drab, but in some localities it has a bluish tint, and is liable to disintegrate rapidly on exposure to 
the action of frost. Some of the drab layers also readily disintegrate on exposure to the weather. The best of the 
material needs to be quarried early enough in the season to allow the quarry water to become dried out before the 
stone is exposed to the action of frost. 

No. 7 is a harder rock, and is not well adapted for cut work, though a very desirable material for heavy bridge 
construction, for which little dressing is necessary, and for which the qualities most desirable are those of strength 
and durability. The rocks at Jefterson City may all be referred to the Calciferous sand-rock group, known in 
Missouri as the Second Magnesian limestone series. Fossils are very rarely found. A section of 200 feet may be 
seen at Jefferson, aud only a Unijida is found in the upper beds ; the other beds abound in fucoids. Lime 
manufactured from some of the layers possesses hydraulic properties. 

BooNViLLE QUARRY is locatcd ou the blnS" side of the Missouri river. Just above the railroad bridge, and about 
12 feet above the ordinary water-level in the river. When the river rises to the level of the quarry operations are 
necessarily suspended. The bluft" rises steeply above the quarry for over 100 feet, so that the quarry cannot advance 
fiir inward on account of the rapidly-increasing amount of cap-rock. The layers of stone are generallj- tolerably 
even, and from 10 to IG inches in thickness, with occasional partings of calcareous shale. A vertical section of quarry 
rock 16 feet in thickness is exposed. The strata dip slightly to the west. A little to the east, at the bridge, about 
30 feet of gray, cherty limestone are exposed, containing, as far as could be seen, only specimens of an Arch inedipora 
and a turbinated coral. The quarry rock lying above this also contains specimens oi Archimedes. 

Sedalia quarry. — The product of this quarry is used locally for foundations. The strata quarried lie at the 
junction of the Chouteau or Kinderhook group with the Burlington beds. The following is a section of the quarry : 

Loose material 5 feet. 

Gray ferruginous limestone, in two layers 5 feet. 

Buif limestone, shading to blue below 3 feet. 

Shales I to 3 feet. 

Blue limestone, with chert concretions and some masses of calcite 5 feet. 

The floor of the quarry rests on a rock similar to the lowest which has been quarried. The lowest beds are the 
least durable, the upper 5 feet of limestone being quite durable. These two layers belong to the Burlington group, 
and the beds below them to the Chouteau. 

A number of small quarries have been worked in this vicinity. From some of these blocks 4 feet thick may be 
obtained, all, however, containing more or less chert concretions aud masses of calcite. One of the older quarries 
shows much of the rock shattered by frost. 

Clinton quarry is located about 4 miles south of Clinton, Henry county. It furnishes material to the town 
of Clinton, principally for sidewalk pavements. The stone is an argillaceous limestone, and occurs in a stratum 
about 15 feet in tbickuess, and in layers from 2 to 10 inches in thickness. The thinner layers are drab-colored 
throughout; the heavier layers have a lead-blue color in the interior, and those layers which have not been exposed 
to atmospheric action also have the lead-blue color. Below this quarry rock occurs a seam of bituminous coal 4 feet 
in thickness, which is one of the best coals of southwest Missouri. Below this again there are 9 feet of blue 
shales, with ironstone concretions to the level of the water in Grand river. Similar beds occur near Brownsville, 
Sabine county, and may be referred to the same geological age. 

Kansas City quarries. — The stratum of limestone designated in the MisHouri Geological Reports as "No. 87, 
general section. Upper Coal Measures", has been quarried extensively at quarries in bluff's of Kansas City and for 
2 miles further east; also in a quarry opposite the Union depot, Kansas City, now abandoned on account of expense 
of stripping. The rock is also occasionally quarried in bluff's at and above Eosedale. Its color is generally a light 
gray, becoming locally a bluish-gray, and, when exposed, a lighter and often ferruginous gray. The middle portion 
of about 9 feet is beautifully oolitic, and is most valuable for building; it works freely and is easily dressed. 

Below Kansas City the stripiiiug at first is only a few feet, but of course increases as the operations extend 
into the bluffs. 



272 BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

Limestone No. 90, Upper Goal Measures, lying a little above, is often quarried and used for ordinary foundation 
work, while the limestone under consideration is used for general building purposes. It may be seen in the basement 
walls of the Merchants' exchange, the Journal office, and the building at Twelfth and Washington streets, Kansas 
City. It contains the characteristic coral Gampophyllum torquium (O. and S.). It is generally evenly bedded in 
layers from 6 to 16 inches in thickness, and is much used in foundations. It is apparently durable and of more 
than usual strength. Its texture is homogeneous, and often has numerously-disseminated bright calc-spar specks. 
The color in the quarry is a grayish-drab, weathering to a brownish-drab, and shows a brownish discoloration 
along the joints. 

Limestone No. 96, of Upper Coal Measures, also found here, is a bright gray rock with numerous specks and 
short lines of calcite. It contains also many fossils whose shells are of pure calcite, or else^the interior is nicely 
crystallized. The strata ar^ generally from 6 to 9 inches thick and of very irregular bedding. The entire stratum 
is 30 feet thick. An examination of the various quarries in Kansas City indicates that about 50,000 cubic yards of 
rock have been removed and used in the city during the past twelve or fourteen years. This includes from 9,000 
to 10,000 cubic yards from the bluff opposite the Union depot, 30,000 cubic yards from southwes Kansas, and the 
remainder from south Kansas. The various railroads have probably taken out and used 10,000 cubic yards not 
included in the above. 

There is quite a number of localities in Missouri where limestone has been quarried or may be quarried, beside 
those in which there are actually working quarries as represented in the tables. Three miles north of Canton, Saint 
Louis county, the Central Marble and Stone Company has recently opened a quarry in the sub-Carboniferous 
formation. The beds vary in thickness from a few inches to 8 feet. Considerable quantities of this stone have been 
quarried for bridge abutments, foundations, and for flagging. The stone has a uniform texture and gray color, but 
becomes darker on exposure to the atmosphere; and this may prove a defect if the discoloration does not go on 
uniformly. The quarries are located less than half a mile from the Saint Louis and Keokuk railroad and one mile 
from the Mississippi river. 

Near Bowling Green, Pike county, the Niagara limestone has been quarried in a small way for the past forty 
years, and has been quite largely used for bridge abutments on the Chicago and Alton railroad, and occasionally 
for the construction of buildings. A dwelling in Bowling Green, built about forty years ago, is of this material, 
and the stone still looks well and shows no signs of disintegration. There are two quarries. A section at one quarry 
shows 4 feet of soil and gravel, 4 feet of shelly limestone, and 12 feet of building stone in three layers, the upper of 
which is 2 feet in thickness, and the two lower each 5 feet thick. This stratum of building stone is separated from 
a stratum of equal thickness below by 1 foot of shales. This last stratum of building stone consists also of three 
layers, 4, 6, and 2 feet in thickness. At the other quarry about 40 feet of rock are exposed in layers from 1 foot to 
to 2 feet in thickness. The stone when first quarried has a bluish-gray color and weathers to a brownish-bufi' color. 

Near Glencoe, Saint Louis county, the Trenton limestone has in former years been quarried for building- 
purposes. There are at present quite extensive quarries still in operation, but their product is all manufactured into 
lime. At Cape Girardeau, Cape Girardeau county, is quarried the Lower Silurian limestone, most of the material 
being burned, and that which is most suitable being reserved for purposes of construction. At present some of 
this stone is being shipped for repairing the state capitol of Loviisiana, which was built of this stone, and was partly 
destroyed during the late, war. The quarry is situated about three-quarters of a mile from the wharf, on the 
Mississippi river, and the stone was at one time quite largely shipped to the south. An analysis of this rock by 
Dr. A. Litton, for the Missouri Geological Report, gave carbonate of lime, 99.57; silica, a trace; alumina, a trace. 

The total thickness of rock exposed at the quarry is about 30 feet, the upper portion being in thinner layers and 
a little darker in color than the lower. The lower portion is a beautiful white limestone, and blocks 6 feet'in 
thickness could be obtained. 

Near Eolla, Phelps county, quarrying has been done in a small way in the lower portion of the Second 
Magnesian limestone. This stone has been used for the construction of culverts and bridge abutments, and near 
the same place a thinly-bedded, hard, and durable limestone occurs which has been used for sidewalks. 

Some of the limestones in southeast Missouri have been called marbles. The Cape Girardeau limestone has 
been termed a marble by some. In the Kansas City Bevieiv of Science and Industry the marbles of southeast Missouri 
are described ; and it is given as the reason why these marbles have not been extensively developed, that they 
usually occur in beds not of sufficient thickness to furnish blocks of adequate size for the imrposes for which marbles 
are usually employed. It states that near the head of Cedar creek there are several outcrops of variegated red and 
drab marbles. A section of rocks on a southeastern branch of Cedar creek shows 10 feet of coarse magnesian 
limestone resting on 10 feet of light drab marble of fine grain traversed with brown veins. Near the mouth of 
Cedar creek, Madison county, some of the finest exposures of the most handsome varieties of marble occur. It is 
handsome when polished, and the outcrops show that it is very durable. At the head of Tom Suck creek, in 
Eeyuolds county, are thick beds of flesh-colored marble. Two miles north of Cape Girardeau, on the laud of Dr. 
Thomas Holcombe, are outcrops of variegated purplish-red limestones, with occasional calcite specks in heavy 
layers. Marbles of fine texture passing through various shades of flesh-color, yellow and green, pink, purple, 
and chocolate, all handsomely blended, are said to occur in Sainte Genevieve county. These marbles occur 



DESCRIPTIONS OF QUARRIES AND QUARRY REGIONS. 273 

in the Potsdam and Niagara formations. The Potsdam marbles are found on Stout's creek and Marble creek, in 
Iron county; Cedar creek, Marble creek, and Leatherwood creek, in Madison county; and Tom Suck creek in 
Eeynolds county. The Xiagara marbles are found in Cape Girardeau and Saint Genevieve counties. 

i^ear Mooresville, Livingston county, limestone in the lower portion of the Upper Coal Measures has been 
quarried since 1860, but the quarries have not been regularly worked. A section there shows 1 foot of soil, 4 feet 
of shelly limetone, 2 feet of clay shale, 1 foot of bituminous shales, G inches of clay shales, from 2 to 3 feet of blue 
fire-clay, and 9 feet of oolitic limestone valuable for building purposes. The rock is rather hard, quite strong and 
diu'able, and is especially applicable for heavy masonry. This same formation has also been quarried in hills 5 
miles south of Princeton, Mercer county, near the line of the Chicago, Rock Island, and Pacific railway ; also on the 
Wabash, Saint Louis, and Pacific railway. Clay county, about 8 miles from Kansas City. It may also be found near 
the base of the bluffs at Kansas City, and at several places near Pleasant Hill, Cass county, where it is locally 
termed cotton rock, and is said to withstand a higher degree of heat than many other limestones. 

At Forest City, Holt county, there are several limestone beds exposed, and also a soft sandstone, but the 
stripping is generally so heavj* that the best layers of the rock cannot be extracted with profit. Limestone also 
crops out 2 miles above Forest City, and beyond this for 20 miles no building stone occurs. 

Xear Amazonia, Andrew county, Hi feet of evenly -bedded, ferruginous gray, and somewhat oolitic limestone 
occurs. A quarry of this rock was formerly worked 2 J miles northeast of Savannah, and the stone was transported 
by wagons to Saint Joseph and used in the construction of buildings. Similar quarries might be opened near the 
line between Andrew and Buchanan counties, and the same formation also crops out near Atchison, Kansas. 

Xear Greenwood, Jacksou county, the Missouri Pacific Eailroad Company has opened a quarry, but the material 
is used principally for ballast, and only a small amount has been used for the construction of culverts. Oolitic 
limestone of the Upper Coal Measures has also been found near Greenwood, and is used for purposes of construction 
on the Missouri Pacific railroad. The stone is well adapted for rough masonry. 

Ifear Pleasant Hill, Cass county, there are several quarries situated iu different localities which have occa.sionally 
been worked. The stone has been used principally for the construction of railroad bridges and culverts, and for 
local purposes. The formation belongs to the Upper Coal Measures, and consists of a number of limestone beds, 
some of which are oolitic and some shelly. Blocks 2 feet in thickness and of any length and breadth desired may 
be obtained. 

At Neosho, Newton county, a whitish-gray oolitic limestone is quarried for lime. This stone works freely, and 
would be well adapted for purposes of construction. A coarse, dark gray limestone is also quarried near Neosho, 
some of which contains many chert concretions. 

The sub-Carboniferous limestone has been quarried for local use at Springfield, Greene county. The quarry rock 
shows a face of 10 feet in depth of coarse, gray limestone. The upper beds resemble the Keokuk limestone, and the 
lower beds are more of the Burlingtcwi tyi>e. The geological divisions recognized in Iowa, Illinois, and eastern 
Missouri cannot strictly be sustained in southwest Missouri. 

The Second Magnesian limestone has been quarried near Marshfield, "Webster county. The exposure shows 
one bed 33 inches in thickness of buff limestone. This appears to be a durable stone, easy to quarry and to dress. 
It is covered with but little cap-rock, but the stripping would be slightly increased as the excavations would be 
extended into the hill. There are two good exposures a few hundred feet apart. 

QUARKIES OF SANDSTONE. — At a quarry located IJ miles west of Miami station, Carroll county, there are two 
grades of material produced. The poorest quality contains many plant remains, and shows dark lines of fragments 
of plants, along which it is often fractured by frost. The best quality is free from these defects, and is a rather 
beautiful gray sandstone. There is a vertical face of about 70 feet exposed, the lower 45 feet being without any seam 
of bedding, but containing occasional concretionary masses of harder sandstone. At the top there is a depth of about 
6 feet of soil and clay, and below this are 20 feet of rough and sometimes shelly sandstone layers. The quarry rock 
is a rather coarse, gritty, sandstone, making an excellent building stone, and being also valuable for the manufacture 
of grindstones. The concretionai-y masses are of no value whatever. They have some argillaceous layers 
interstratified, and also contain many nice fragments of plant remains. Although there seem to be no bedding 
planes in the lower 4.3 feet, still there are a few faint, banded, dark carbonaceous streaks occurring from 6 to 12 
feet apart. The absolute percentage of waste material embraced in the concretionary masses amouuts to about 
one-fiftieth of the entire mass. The concretionary portions tlisintegrate quite rapidly on exposure to the weather, 
but the other material is very durable. This quarry has been actively worked for about fifteen years, and the rock 
has been shipped to various markets iu Missouri, Kansas, Iowa, and Nebraska. Eastwardly along the bluffs the 
rock has a more brown color, and is not so highly esteemed. 

The Warrensburg quarries are of the same geological age as the above. At the quarry of Messrs. Bruce & 
Veitch the rock when quarried often shows planes of cross lamination, and this, although otherwise of good quality, 
is not of sufficient value for shipping purposes, but is used locally for ordinary purposes of construction. 
Considerable loss results from this defect. The planes of these laminaj are separated by carbonaceous matter. 
The stone in this quarry is quite soft when first taken out, and hardens on exposure. Various openings have been 
made in this vicinity which are not now worked. From one of these 0,000 cubic yards were excavated, and 
VOL. IX IS B s 



274 



BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 



from another 500 cubic yards. Three-quarters of a mile northwest, on the land of Mr. Bunn, a coarser sandstone 
of the same geological age appears, about 20 feet in thickness, forming a solid bluff on the Blackwater for several 
hundred yards, and seems to underlie an area of about 10 acres. 

Quarries 2 miles north of Warrensburg occupy a tract of probably over 200 acres in sandstone of the Lower 
Coal Measures. The total thickness of this sandstone is over 100 feet. The quarries have not developed the 
entire thickness suitable for building purposes, only 45 feet in depth having been quarried. 

The sandstone hills are bounded on the north by Blackwater river, on the west by Post Oak creek, and on the 
east by Potts branch. Approaching Warrensburg from the north we still find sandstone, but of an inferior 
quality. In the railroad cuts and southward, and throughout the town, and for a short distance north, the rock is 
generally brown and soft, and crumbles to powder on exi^osure. It also sometimes alternates with shaly beds, 
and sometimes incloses beds of ferruginous conglomerate, and but rarely is it suitable for building purposes. 

Northwardly, as we approach the quarries, the rock is more homogeneous, the color becomes a light gray, and 
bluish-gray in deeper quarries. Concretionary masses of a harder sandstone not easy to work, in fact worthless for 
shipping, sometimes occur. These contain many carbonaceous stains and fragments of calamites and other plants. 
A trunk measuring over 1 foot in diameter, with its bark half an inch in thickness changed to bituminous coal, was 
taken out. It is supposed to belong to a coniferous tree, probably Dadoxylon aeadicum of Dawson. 

North of the Blackwater good quarries have also been opened, and over thirty years ago columns for the 
court-house at Lexington, Missouri, were cut out. Those columns are still entire, and are discolored only by time. 

The Normal School building at Warrensburg was the first structure of note in which this stone was used, but 
since then it has been largely shipped to many places, including Saint Joseph, Kansas City, and Saint Louis, 
Missouri; also Chicago, Illinois, and Lincoln, Nebraska. 

In 1871 the quarries were opened, and in 1874 one firm shipped 900 car-loads over the Missouri Pacific railway. 
A block 20 by G by 2^ feet was taken out and used in the Chamber of Commerce building at Saint Louis. The 
rock weighs 140 pounds to a cubic foot when dry, but only from 145 to 150 pounds when first quarried. It 
forms a large proportion of the face-stone of some Saint Louis dwellings, and it was also used in the Union 
Depot building at Chicago. It stands the test of time very weU. It is not known to have scaled off, but after 
long exposure it becomes darker on the surface and somewhat stained. 

The Miami and Warrensburg quarries are systematically worked by means of channeling and wedging. No 
powder is used except for removing the cap-rock. 

A quarrj' in Clinton, Henry county, furnishes stone for ordinary construction for local use. A section of the 
quarry shows 3 feet of loose material, 4 feet of sandstone in layers from 1 inch to 4 inches in thickness, and below 
this 7 to 8 feet of sandstone in layers from 2 to 3 feet in thickness. 

The Sainte Genevieve quarry is located about 1^ miles from the Mississippi river, which furnishes the means of 
transportation. Blocks of the largest size desired can be obtaiaed at this quarry. Pieces 150 feet long, 20 feet 
wide, and 10 feet thick are often channeled off and loosened with the wedges. 

The Insurance building at Sixth and Locust streets. Saint Louis, was chiefly built of this stone, including the 
figures on the top. The stone has been much tarnished by the smoke of the city. Among the other structures of 
this material are the Singer Sewing Machine building in Saint Louis, the approaches to the Saint Louis bridge, the 
arsenal at Eock Island, Illinois, and the state capitol of Iowa. Everywhere the stone has proven very durable. 
The quarry shows 25 feet in thickness of good uniform rock ; the layers, 1| to 5 feet thick, can be split readily into thin 
slabs if required. It is occasionally false-bedded, and then contains fragments of i3lant remains, chiefly carbonized. 
The thin layers are very much ripple-marked and the texture of the rock is generally homogeneous. It is soft when 
first quarried and hardens on exposure. It is a good fine grit, and a number of grindstones have been made of it. 

The geological age of the formation is the Chester group of the sub-Carboniferous. The bluffs near by show 
about 25 feet of gray limestone of the Saint Louis group lying below it. 



KANSAS. 
GEOLOGICAL SECTION. 



1 






Feet 
150 






2 






200 
260 
600 










8 






1,000 






4 


Carboniferous 




1,300 
370 
350 


i Middle Coal Measures ; Shales, coal, sandstone, and limestone. . . 
(, Lower Coal Measures : Sandstone, limestone, shale, and coal 








160 





DESCRIPTIONS OF QUARRIES AND QUARRY REGIONS. 275 

GENERAL DESCRIPTION. 

Sub-Carbonifekous. — Tli(3 sub-Carbouiferous occupies n very limited area iu the .southeast comer of the 
state, but is Iiiglily galeuiferous, as tlie lead mines iu southeast Kansas occur iu this formation. 

Carboniferous. — The Oarbouiferous, as developed iu the Lower Coal Measures of southeast Kausas, incloses 
some thick and valuable coal beds. It also inchules many beds of sandstone of an excellent quality for building 
purposes and good flag-stones. These may be found of good (piality and well exposed in Cherokee, Crawford, 
Bourbon, Neosho, Labette, Montgomery, Wilson, Woodsou, Greene, and Elk counties. 

The Middle Coal Measures include several good beds of workable coal, and coal has been mined at Oswego, 
Fort Scott, Thayer, and near Toi-onto, and in Osage county. In Bourbon and Linn counties we find several thick 
limestone beds, but the western outcrops in Greenwood county are chiefly of sandstone. 

The Upper Coal Measures in northeast Kansas include a number of limestone beds, with a good deal of shale 
and some sandstone, but in southern Kausas we find but few beds of limestone, nor do the Upper Coal Measures 
include many strata desirable for building puri)oses. 

The Permian is made up of beds of drab-blue shales, with occasional limestone strata. In the lower series we 
find many excellent beds of rock for building i>urposes; some of the strata are slightly magnesian. The middle 
beds are now very much worked; in fact quarries are now opened and successfully worked upon all the lines of 
railroad where this rock is found. The character of the rock does not materially differ in the various quarries, 
whether in northern, central, or southern Kausas. The building stone of the lower strata is not so soft as that 
higher in the series. The color is always the same shade of drab or buff. The beds are all softer than those of 
Carboniferous age; and, being at the same time durable, they are much sought after by builders. While 1 call these 
rocks Permian, I must say that the contained fossils have also been obtained from the Upper Carboniferous of 
Missouri and Kausas; in fact, I believe nearly every well-known Permian fossil of Kansas has also been obtained 
from the known Upper Carboniferous strata of Kausas City, Missouri. Lithologically the rocks seem dilferent, 
and we have mostly to be guided by their general appearance, which is very easily recognized even in small 
specimens. 

Cretaceous. — The Dakota group is easily recognized, it being composed entirely of sandstone or shales. The 
sandstones are sometimes of a dirty whit^ color, but are more often a ferruginous brown. Good specimens of fossil 
leaves of dicotyledonous plants are sometimes found; also occasional layers of clay, ironstone, and some thin 
deposits of a poor quality of coal. 

The Fort Benton group in the lower part consists of dark shales, with beds of brown limestone in the upper part, 
which are verj- much used for building puri)()ses. Although this rock is very soft, it is otherwise very durable and 
strong enough for buildings of several stories iu height. One bed, banded red or brown and buff-brown, I have 
traced from Mitchell county through Eussell and Ellsworth counties to Kush county. It is easily wrought with a 
common saw, and forms handsome walls, but is too sol't for sidewalks. 

The Niobrara group of western Kansas affords the white-chalk beds, which furnish a very handsome white 
stone, but it is too soft for many purposes. It is extensively developed iu western Kansas. This formation contains 
many rare and interesting remains of extinct vertebrata. The Tertiary is confined to northwest Kan.sas. 

The building stones of Kansas, although extensively used, are much softer than those of the states east, but, 
being easily worked, are being used now iu many cities. Most of the Permiau strata are too cellular or porous. 

Quarries. — The stone quarried near Irving is used at Atchison, Kansas City, and on the line of the Union 
Pacific railroad, which passes at a distance of about half a mile from the quarry. The rock is quarried for a 
distance of three-quarters of a mile in the bluffs south of the railroad. The upi)er or western quarry is from l.> to 
20 feet above the valley; the lower quarry is from .50 to 40 feet above it. The outer rock is blasted off and used for 
ballast on the railroad. After the stripping is taken off' a level floor is sometimes exposed from 20 to .'iO feet wide, 
and exteuding several hundred feet along the hill. The limestone ibrmation quarried here is of no great thickness. 
At the upper quarry there are 3 feet of shales and soil, and below this three layers of limestone, the first 8 inches 
in thickness and the other two each 13 inches in thickness. At the lower quarry there is 1 foot of soil, and below this 
are four layers of limestone 9, 12, 16, and 19 inches in thickness, respectively, the last sometimes divided into two 
layers. The stone is quite soft and easily (luarried, and is also easily dressed when first taken out, but hardens on 
exposure. The strata are very nearly horizontal and the beds are of quite uniform thickness. For the construction 
of railroad bridges and other like structures the stone requires but little dressing. 

From a quarry on the hill-top 1 mile southwest of Frankfort the stone is used principally for foundations, 
though a church and a school-house and some storehouses have beeu constructed of it. There are other small 
openings both to the east and to the west of it. The hill is about 150 feet high, and the quarry rock occurs near 
the summit, with shales below, while a good bed of building stone appears near the base of the hill. The beds 
here worked are apparently the same as those quarried near Irving, and dip to the we.st from 80 to 100 feet in 7 
miles. 

The Atchifson quarry furnishes stone for ordinary building purposes for local consumption. The limestone is 
here only from 4 to 8 feet iu thickness. Sometimes it is cross-laminated, when it cati only be used for common 
purpo.ses. The bedding is generally even and horizontal. 



276 BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

Stone near Manhattan is quarried cliiefly on the hill-top, about 200 feet above the valley of the Kansas river. 
A large portion of that used for the superstructure of buildings is taken out about 30 feet below the summit of the 
hUl. A section of the rocks here is about as follows: Soil, 1 foot; limestone for bridge coostruction, 16 inches; 
limestone, 11 inches; flagstone, 4 inches; two layers of limestone, 12 and 14 inches; depth not exposed, 30 feet; 
shaly, bluish limestoue, 2 feet; building stone, 1 foot; and dark shale to the base of the hill, 170 feet, with a few 
limestone beds and red shale about half-way down. 

The stone used for bridge masonry is cellular and coarser than the other, but is equally strong and durable. 
Of the stone from these quarries there have been coustructed in Manhattan an addition to the college building, 
six churches, the Adams hotel, and several fine resideuces. 

There aire about 35 common buildings in Topeka built from the stone from a neighboring quarry. They are 
all roughly built and laid in mortar. Some buildings have brick fronts, with stone in the remainder of the 
superstructure. This stone is also used in foundations. From another quarry the stone is shipped to various 
points along the Missouri Pacific railroad in Kansas and Missouri. This stone was used in the construction of the 
Congregational church and the public-school building at Emporia, Kansas, and an opera house is now being 
constructed of it in the same town. The Missouri Pacific Eailroad Company has selected this material for the 
construction of shops, one about to be built at Parsons, Kansas, and another at Sedalia, Missouri. 

The stone from a quarry near Lane, Franklin county, is used principally at Ottawa and at Garnett, and some has 
been shipped to Chicago. One of the buildings of the asylum for the insane at Osawatomie was built of this stone. 
There are two varieties of stone obtained at this quarry, one a little darker in color than the other, and more 
uniform and compact in texture. The darker-colored variety has been dressed and sent into the markets for 
several years under the name of "coralline" limestone. It is sometimes called oolitic limestone, being largely 
composed of small fossil fragments very much like the Indiana oolitic limestone and having also a similar 
appearance. This variety has a very firm, compact structure, and is susceptible of being quite highly polished. 
In the lighter- colored variety the fossil fragments are many of them larger and not so uniform in size, showing 
some evidence of stratification in alternate layers of coarser and finer material ; and the interspaces between the 
fossil fragments are not well filled, giving the stone a rather open and vesicular structure. This stone being easily 
quarried and dressed, is quite extensively used for buildings and trimmings. The quarry which is here most largely 
worked is on the point of a bluff about 100 feet in height. A branch of the Missouri Pacific railroad passes along 
the base of the hill, and provision might easily be made by which the stone could be placed on a car at the quarry, 
but at the present time it is drawn a distance of 1 mile to the station. A section of the quarry shows the following : 
Loose material, 4 feet ; vesicular buff limestone, one layer 4 feet in thickness and another 1 foot in thickness ; gray, 
irregularly-stratified limestone with some chert connections in layers from 2 to 6 inches in thickness, 6 feet ; blue 
shale in thin laminte, 1 foot; irregular layers of buff limestone, 2 feet; gray limestone, 4 feet ; and bluish-gray or 
drab oolitic limestone, 6 feet. This last has lately been most extensively used for building purposes. The layers 
are from 18 to 24 inches in thickness. These beds are all referred to the upper portion of the Carboniferous period. 
They are also well exposed along the bluffs of Pottawatomie creek from near Lane to Garnett. The upper quarry 
rock has been quarried at Greeley on the hill-top and used in railroad masonry. It has also been quarried near the 
Lawrence and Southern railroad, north of Garnett, and appears in the Marais des Cygnes bluffs near Ottawa for a 
distance of 15 miles to the east. Good specimens of fossils can sometimes be obtained from this formation. 

The geological age of the formation in which the Cottonwood quarries are located is probably the middle or 
upper part of the lower beds of the Permian period. The rocks here lie below those quarried at Marion Center 
and Florence, and are probably above the Dunlap stone. Blocks of any length and breadth desired, and 2i feet 
thick, can be obtained from these beds. The quarries are easily worked by channeling and wedging. The stratum 
of quarry rock is, however, only about 6 feet in thickness, overlaid by a few feet of thin limestone layers and shales. 
■ The stone is used for general building purposes at Kansas City, Saint Joseph, Omaha, Des Moines, Pueblo, Denver, 
Lincoln, Atchison, Leavenworth, and Topeka. The material may be seen in the west wing of the state-house 
and in the basement of the post-office at Topek ; in the basement of the depot at Pueblo ; in the court-house at 
Leavenworth ; in Creighton college at Omaha ; in the depot at Atchison ; in the JMissouri Valley Life Insurance building 
at Leavenworth; and in numerous other buildings along the line of the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe railway. 

The beds quarried at Marion Center belong to the Middle Permian, and are at a horizon above those quarried at 
Cottonwood station , as has already been stated. A general section here shows : Flag; stone layers from 2 to 6 inches 
in thickness, 5 feet; maguesian limestone, 16 inches ; yellowish-drab soft limestoue, uniform in texture, easily dressed, 
and used for the construction of buildings, 23 inches ; and drab-colored limestone, considerably fractured and 
containing numerous chert concretions, 20 feet. The material from this quariy has been used in the construction 
of the asylum for the blind at Wyandotte, and the asylum for the insane at Topeka. 

The Florence quarry is now worked only to a small extent for flagging, and occasionally some building stone 
is taken out. Most of the stone quarried is manufactured into lime and cement, the lower beds being used for 
lime. The excavations extend along the side of a hill for a distance of about 1,000 feet. A section here shows: 
Local drift, 4 feet ; dralj limestone in thin layers used chiefly for lime, including also flag-stone layers and some stone 
vrhich has been used for purposes of construction, 14 feet; below this are 6 feet of rough layers of limestone; 2 feet 



DESCRIPTIONS OF QUARRIES AND QUARRY REGIONS. 277 

of yellow sliales; aud G feet of rough limestone, sometimes apparently in two layers, with occasional cavities 
sometimes 2 inches in diameter. These strata are evidently equivalent to those at Cottonwood station, all of well- 
known Permian tjpe, with typical Upper Carboniferous fossils. This stone was used in the construction of a sugar 
factory at Sterling, Eice county, and of a church at Topeka. 

The formation quarried at Augusta probably belongs to the Upper Permiau beds. The quarry rock lies at the 
base of a hill and includes 6 feet of soft, bufi'-colored limestone in layers 1 foot and 2 feet in thickness. A few feet 
higher in the hill flag-stone layers occur 2, 6, and S inches in thickness. This stone is a little harder than the 
building-stone rock, and is used principally for sidewalks. Another bnildiug-stone quarry has been opened IJ 
miles south of Augusta, where the rock presents a favorable appearance. Although quite soft, the stone is 
sufficiently strong for all ordinary structures and is quite durable. It has been used iu the construction of some 
stone buildings at Augusta aud at Wichita. Its largest use is perhaps for foundations and trimmiugs. 

There are probably a half dozen irregularly-worked quarries of the same kind of stone around and in Fort 
Scott. It is locally used for buildings, walls, fouudations, and also for pavements. There are several houses built 
of it, and it stands the wear of from ten to fifteen years ex^wsure very well. It turns to a brownish color on long 
exposure, and it possesses all the strength required for common structures. The layers are generally separated by 
thin, brown, calcareous, shaly bands, often containiug fragments of Crinoidew and other known Carboniferous fossils. 

The following is a general section of Fort Scott strata : Limestone, i feet ; calcareous shales, 1 foot ; bituminous 
shale, i feet ; coal, 8 inches; shales and flre-clay, 3 feet ; hydraulic limestone, manufactured for that purpose here, 5 
feet; blue and bituminous shales, 3 feet; coal, 18 inches ; fire clay, 4: feet ; and shales and sandstone, about 75 feet. 

The stone quarried at Winfield has a uniform light drab or gray color, and is soft and very easily worked. It 
is quarried by means of plugs and feathers, the holes being bored with a common li-inch auger having no point. 
These holes can be bored by one mau at the rate of 6 inches in depth i)er miuute. The stone has a handsome 
ai)pearance and a good reputation for durability. It is shipped for general architectural purposes to Wellington, 
Ottawa, Leavenworth, Topeka, Atchison, aud Wichita, Kansas; and to Kansas City, Missouri. A hotel, two school- 
houses, several churches, and other buildings have been constructed of it in Winfield, where over 10 miles of 
sidewalk have also been paved with flags from the quarry of Messrs. Hodges, Moore & Co. Some of the flags 
laid down are 10 feet long and 8 feet wide, and much larger sizes can be obtained. The rock occurs in layers 
from i inches to 2 feet in thickness, and the fine even stratification allows the heavier beds to be split into thin 
flags. There are usually from 4 to 6 feet of good building stone capped by from 3 to 5 feet of rough limestone. 

COLORADO, CALIFORNIA, MONTAltfA, UTAH, ETC. 
By Williaji Foster. 

In collecting data for the following report, notes were obtained from ledges in regions where the quarry industry 
is but slight ; in some cases observations were made on ledges not yet quarried for building purposes. 

The whole line of the foot-hills in the eastern slope of the Eocky mountains, in Colorado, is of outcrops of 
sandstones which vary considerably in color and texture. They are quarried in many places both for local use and 
to ship to Denver, which is the chief market for them all. 

At Port Collins a very compact sandstone is taken out for " footings " and foundations of all kinds. It is 
especially applicable to this purpose on account of its being capable of withstanding great pressure. It is also 
split into flags for sidewalk paving, but its color makes it objectionable for superstructures, being striped with 
different shades of reddish-brown. There is another sandstone near the same locality which can be quarried in 
blocks of any size required and in any quantity ; it has a uniform light color and fine grain, and cuts almost as easily 
as chalk, but grows much harder on exposure. 

At Morrison, in Jeflerson county, are quite extensive quarries of both red and almost white sandstone of the 
Jurassic period. The white is only fit for foundations, but the red is a favorite stone for trimmings and also for 
whole buildings. It absorbs a large amount of water if left lying on wet ground, and then falls to pieces if exposed 
to frost, but it lasts well in masonry. 

At Manitou, El Paso county, an almost white sandstone of the Cretaceous period is' quarried, which is now being 
used in Denver in the construction of Tabor's new opera house; also in the new Union depot, and in many other 
buildings for trimmings. 

At Canon City, where the Arkansas river cuts through the Cretaceous beds, are two quarries just opened : 
the Branford on one side and the Berbn on the other. The stone is light greenish in color and cuts very easily, 
and is being taken out at the Branford quarry for the walls of the new court-house for Arapahoe county at 
Denver. """ 

At Coal Creek, near Canon City, is another good sound stone. Still forther south, at Trinidad, Las Animas 
county, stone is quarried and shipped to Denver. Some "Triuidad stone" was put iuto the James office building 
in Denver. A little red granite split from bowlders has been used from a locality owned by the government, the 



278 BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

Platte oauou, between Jeffersou and Douglas counties. It will not polish, on account of an excess of mica and 
hornblende. There are plenty of flue granites all through the mountains, but on account of the expense of 
working and transportation to market they are not used. 

In the immediate vicinity of the town of Oastle Eock there is a large amount of lava (rhyolite) quarried", and, as 
with other stones, Denver is the chief market. The Denver and Eio Grande Railroad Company has used a good 
deal of it for stations, etc., along the line of its road. 

The rock splits in all directions easily with a hammer, has great strength in proportion to its weight, and makes 
a very handsome building with a stone face or rubble work. It will not take a polish or even answer for nice cut 
work, as it is porous and full of soft places called " mud-holes" by the workmen. 

The only building stone which is quarried in Wyoming is at Shermau, the highest poiut on the Union Pacific 
railroad. At this point, the summit of the Black Hills, the road cuts through a very heavy body of red granite 
similar to the Scotch, but with much larger crystals. The monument to Mr. Ames is being quarried and cut at 
Sherman. Mark Hopkins, of San Francisco, had some taken out for his residence in that city, for stepe, vases, 
etc.; his tomb at Sacramento is also built of it. The stone is very hard to work, and the sharpest tools are required, 
or the crystals of feldspar will fly out instead of cutting. 

There is plenty of g«od granite iu both Montana and Idaho, but there is no demand for an article which would 
cost so much there. A little stone has been used in the roughest kind of buildings, such as storehouses, breweries, 
and for foundations of some buildings, all taken from bowlders. Utah has a great variety of fine stones fit for 
buildings — marbles, limestones, sandstones, and granites — but as yet no regularly-worked quarries. Most of the 
stoue wOrk is done by the Mormon church for its own purposes, and the bodies of rock are mostly public property 
and free to all. 

The granite in Little Cottonwood canon, used for the new temi^le in Salt Lake City, is taken from large 
bowlders which have rolled down from each side of the caiion, and are split up and loaded upon the cars. When 
the supply gets short, more are rolled down to a convenient jilace for working. The stone is a very handsome 
gray, and does not rust on exposure, but there are large, almost black, knots called "nigger-heads", through the 
bowlders, and care has not been taken to have these come on the inside of the walls of the temple, thus marring 
what would otherwise be a very handsome building. The supply is unlimited, for when all the bowlders are 
used the solid ledge may be taken; the formation extends about 3 miles up the caiion on each side. At Eed Butte, 
near Salt Lake City, in the foot-hills, is a red Triassic sandstone, which may be had in several different shades. It 
has been used for the walls of several buildings, the piers of the old Mormon tabernacle, and for the foundations of 
many buildings. It is easily obtained, as it lies on the crest and sides of quite steei) mountains and can be quarried 
and rolled down into the caBon below. The supply is so great that there will be no need of deep working for many 
years. The United States governmeut has used about 7,000 cubic yards of this stone in the construction of the 
officers' quarters, barracks, storehouses, etc., at camp Douglas. The buildings made of this rock are all of rubble 
work. A few sample grave-stones have been cut from it, and blocks of the same are used for bases to monuments 
made of other stone. As all help themselves as they wish, I was unable to get any idea of the amount used each 
year or the expense of quarrying per ton or per yard. 

In Echo canon, near Croydon, there is a quarry of red sandstone similar to the Eed Butte, and probably of the 
same age, owned by the Union Pacific Eailroad Company, and is worked by it for stone to put in bridge piers all 
along the road. It is considered very good for this purpose, as it does not shake to pieces with the jar of the 
trains. The company has allowed other parties to take stone for use in the vicinity and at Ogden, but the amount 
used in that way is small. 

From 80 to 150 miles south of Great Salt lake, marble specimens have been found, and also the rock in place, 
though not of a very good quality, owing to the beds being so twisted and shattered that it is impossible to obtain 
clear pieces of any size. Payson and San Francisco are the localities where most of the specimens have been obtained. 

At Manti, in the Sanpete valley, the Mormons have built a temple of oolitic limestone quarried on the ground. 
It has a very warm, rich, light brown color, cuts very easily, and yet holds its surface well. 

At Ogden the Episcopal church is built of a fossiliferous limestone. I was unable to get samples, as there is no 
regular work done. 

The state of Kevada has quarried some stone in the state-prison grounds at Caiion City by convict labor. The 
stone is of very coarse sand, and contains fossils of both mollusks and vertebrate animals; also the tracks of some 
animal with three toes, like a bird, very plain in the surface of the stone which forms the floor of the prison-yard. 
The tracks are 11 inches long from heel to toe, and are 23 inches apart. The United States mint at Carson, the city 
hall and county buildings, are all built of this stone, and some was taken to Eeno to form a portion of the walls of 
the state prison. The Carson sandstone is not fit for steps, floors, or any jjlace where there is much wear, as it is 
coarse-grained and soft, and in such positions has to be replaced often. It also absorbs a large quantity of water, 
making it unfit for foundations or places where it is likely to be exposed to moisture. 

At Virginia City a volcanic rock is used for engine beds at the hoisting-works, and in other places where heavy 
solid foundations are required. The rock will not take a polish, but makes fine rubble work or stone face. It 
is quite easily quarried, and when freshly taken out cuts well and grows harder on exposure to the weather. There 



DESCRIPTIONS OF QUARRIES AND QUARRY REGIONS. 279 

is no regularly-worketl quarry. Granite is also plentiful in the vicinity of Virginia City, but it is not much 
used owing to cost of working and transportation. A slab is being cut for the Washington monument. The stone 
is very heavy and of the best quality, but there is no market to encourage any one to open a quarry. The main 
part of the walls of the old state prison at Eeuo is of andesite, taken from a large body of this rock which lies 
about 2 miles north of the city, very easy of access. The rock forms the top of two low hills, which can be connected 
very easily by a side-track ^vith tlie nari'ow-gauge railroad now building from Eeuo to Oregon. Eeno has a few 
buildings, such as storehouses, built of it. 

The building-stone resources of California are immense in both quantity and quality. The granite quarries 
of Penryn, Pino, and Eocklin are worked extensively and with system. All the granite used in Sacramento and 
San Francisco, except a little from New England, comes from these quarries. 

Around the northern end of the bay of San Francisco, at Xapa, Petaluma, Bridgeport, etc., are immense beds 
of basalt of several tUfferent qualities available for the construction of buildings in the future, but now only used 
for paving stone in San Francisco, Sacramento, and neighboring cities. A few small buildings have been put 
up in the vicinity of the quarries. Ehyolite is found near Mokelumne Hill in Calaveras county, of several different 
colors. It is used so far only in the immediate neighborhood; none has been shipiied. Lake and Plumas couaties 
each has many varieties of volcanic rocks, but they have not been sufficiently investigated to determine their value 
as material for construction. On account of want of means of transportation, it will probably be some time before 
it is used except locally. 

The sandstones are also well represented, both in color and texture, all around the bay of San Francisco. At 
Armory point, just east of Benicia, the United States government has built a large arsenal of light brown sandstone 
quarried on the spot. This is all that has been used of it, though the color is handsome and the stone is very 
durable. Angel island, in the bay of San Francisco, now government property, has furnished a bluish sandstone 
which was used for the Bank of California building; and as far as I can learn, that is all of any account. 

'Sear Alameda, Livermore, Haywards, and a number of other small places, quarrying has been carried on in a 
verj' small way in sandstones of various shades of light brown and blue, mostly for the San Francisco market. At 
San Jose, near the southern end of the bay, is a quarry of light brown sandstone of several degrees of coarseness, 
unlimited in extent, and of very even color. The quarry has only lately been opened, and is now used in the 
trimmings of the new city hall in San Francisco, and for foundation and ti'immings of the State ISTormal School 
building, San Jose, and that is all. It is almost pure silica, and stands lire so well that it is used for lining blast- 
furnaces and for cupolas, forges, etc. ; it cuts verj' easily, when first quarried, into either ornamental, statuary, or 
faced stone, and grows very hard on exposure to the weather. 

California marbles are so bent and fractured by upheavals that it is hard to get pieces of any size without 
cracks and cavities. 

Thousands of dollars have been spent at Colfax in an attempt to open a deposit of drab marble and get it into 
market, but the parties failed ; some of the material was used for mantels, fireplaces, floor-tiles, etc., but the quantity 
was small and the stone not much liked, so no work has been done for some years. 

The so-called "California onyx" is the most beautiful of the marbles, and a small quantity was found at 
Suisun. This has now all been worked out. Kessler Brothers own another body of it near San Luis Obispo, and 
are now doing some very handsome work, such as counters for stores, mantels, fireplaces, vases, table-tops, etc. 
The quaiTy has not been opened long, and being far from market little has been used, and the quarry is not regularly 
worked. The owners are going to try and introduce it into the eastern cities. 

In Kern county there are marbles of many shades, but all are more or less broken and shattered, making them 
verj" hard to work. At Indian Piggings, Eldorado county, a marble has been quarried with almost white ground 
and blue streaks running through it, used a little for grave-stones, but not much liked, and is not now quarried. 

Arizona and New Mexico at the present time use very little stone for building purposes; the climate does not 
require it, and "adobe" is much cheaper. The Pueblo Indians once used cut stone in the construction of their 
dwellings, which are now in good preservation in many j)laces. 



280 BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 



chaptee yii.— stoj^e oonsteuotion in cities. 



AKRON, OHIO. 

Akron has ready access to the celebrated quarries at Amherst, Berea, and other localities. The greater part of 
its stone construction is of the sandstone quarried from local quarries, while Berea sandstone is also largely used ; 
for foundations and underpinnings the local sandstone is exclusively used. The Akron sandstone, when carefully 
bedded, makes a very durable building stone, but its strength is not very great when the pressure comes unequally 
uj)on it. Memorial Chapel building is of sandstone from Marietta, Ohio. Stone has been but little used in paving 
the streets, and sandstone from Medina, New York, is the material used for this purpose. The sidewalks are 
largely paved with Berea sandstone. 

ALBANY, NEW YOEK. 

Stone fronts in Albany are mostly of Connecticut brownstone. Ohio sandstone is used in trimmings. Granite 
from Maine has been used in some of the finer structures, such as the state capital, city hall. United States court and 
post-office buildings, and the state hall. Among the buildings in which Connecticut brownstone has been used are 
the Albany academy, cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Saint John's Eomau Catholic church, Saint Peter's 
church. Second Presbyterian church, Protestant Episcopal church, and Emanuel Baptist church. As in all the 
towns and cities on the Hudson, Albany is largely of brick ; stone is used for large public edifices and in dwelling- 
house fronts to a limited extent. The cheajjuess of brick enables them to compete successfully with stone, even in 
foundations and cellar walls. A great variety of stone has been used in the new cai>itol building ; the mass is 
Maine granite. In the interior decorations Mexican marble, Bellville sandstone, Ohio sandstone, and Lake 
Champlain marbles have been used. 

Saint Joseph's Eoman Catholic church is trimmed with Caen stone ; this material weathers badly, and does 
not stand the severe winters. The Episcopal church, State street, is trimmed with Hudson Eiver sandstone from 
Schenectady. This material comes out with natviral faces, and these are weathered to brownish and greenish-yellow 
shades of color, giving the front a highly-variegated aspect. The weatheringor fading on exposure is seen in different 
shades of color between the stone of the building proper and the tower ; the latter, of later construction, is the darker 
shade. The Second Eeformed church, a large edifice of a composite style of architecture, is of limestone of Trenton 
age. The foundations and underpinnings are built of limestone from Amsterdam, Howe's cave, Kingston, and 
Glens Falls ; also sandstone from Schenectady, Highland, and other places in Ulster county is used for this purpose. 
Tlie streets are largely paved with stone, and the materials used are bowlder or cobble-stone and granite blocks 
from New England ; the dimensions of these blocks are usually about 14 by 4 by 8 inches. The following is an 
approximate statement of the number of miles of pavement of the different materials : 38| miles of cobble-stone 
pavements, 4 of granite block pavements, and l^- of macadamized pavements ; total number of miles, 43f . Number 
of miles of unpaved streets, 89|. 

The sidewalks are largely paved with stone, and the materials used for this purpose are the Hudson Eiver blue 
flag-stone, and blue flags from the Helderberg mountain ; also some Potsdam sandstone ; the curbstones are of 
the same materials. ' 

ALLEGHENY, PENNSYLVANIA. 

What is true of stone construction in Pittsburgh is also true of it in Allegheny, as the two places are separated 
only by the Allegheny river, and the sources of their building materials are precisely the same. In rare instances 
Connecticut brownstone is used, and a very little of New England granite, principally for cemetery work, but nearly 
all the stone construction is of sandstones and limestones of sub -Carboniferous and Carboniferous age quarried west 
of the Alleghany mountains, in Pennsylvania and Ohio. 

ALLENTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA. 

The stone used for foundations and other ordinary purposes of construction in Allentown are limestones and 
hard sandstones from small quarries in the mountains near the city. Sewers are constructed entirely of brick. 
The building stone used here is limestone and the mountain sandstone, and is of the most durable quality. The 
city engineer reports that the ground in some portions of the town is unfavorable to heavy buildings on account of 
being cavernous. The bridge abutments and arches are built of limestone and quartzite from the mountains near 
the city. The streets are but little paved with stone, and the material used is cobble-stone from the river. Some 



STONE CONSTRUCTION IN CITIES. 281 

of the streets are macadamized witli limestone from the vicinity. There is but little stone sidewalk paving, and 
the material is the North Eiver and Wyoming blue-stones, but the native limestone from the Lehigh valley is 
used to some extent for this purpose. 

ALTOONA, PENJfSYLVAmA. 

The sides of the mountains near.Altoona are thickly strewn with surface rocks of different geological formations 
which furnish nearly all the building stone for cellars, foundations, terrace walls, and other ordinary building 
purposes in the town and vicinity. These surface rocks are diirable and very hard ft-om long exposure to the 
weather. On breaking them up numerous cracks are found, owing i^robably to the effects of the frequent flres 
that pass over the mountains. The material is so rough and hard as to make it extremely difiBcnlt to dress, and 
it is therefore not found practicable to use it for any other than the ruder purposes of construction, where dressing 
is not required. Material from a quarry of what is probably sandstone of Pocono (sub-Carboniferous) age, 2 miles 
from Altoona, is being introduced to a limited extent for cellar work and foundations. It breaks irregularly and 
with a conchoidal fracture. The supjjly of the material which is available is not large, owing to the amount of dip 
(about 45°) iuto the hill. For finer cut work some sandstone from Gallitzin, on the Pennsylvania railroad, west of 
Altoona, and in Cambria county, is used. It has a local use for caps, sills, bases, etc., as far east on the 
Pennsylvania railroad as Huntingdon, a distance of 60 miles. Amherst and other northern Ohio sandstones are 
employed to a limited extent for trimmings. The stone work iu Altoona is confined chiefly to cellar and foundation 
work and a few terrace walls, the ground on which the city is built being somewhat uneven. There is scarcely 
any stone work in the shape of cajis, sills, and columns, brick being used, as there is no stone in the immediate 
vicinity which would be very suitable for these purposes. The streets are paved with cobble-stones from the streams 
in the vicinity, but there is very little stone sidewalk paving. Iu front of the Logan house there was formerly 
considerable pavement, constructed of hard blue slate, which has a smooth, even surface, and presents a pleasing 
appearance when first put down, but is not durable. 

ATLANTA, GEOEGIA. 

The stone chiefly used in this city is from local quarries. Some is brought from Dixon, Alabama, and Bowling 
Green, Kentucky, for trimmings. The Stone Mountain granite is shipped west to be dressed, polished, and carved, 
and then returned. The only buildings constructed entirely of stone are the warehouses. The usual style of 
building is a foundation and superstructure of brick with stone trimmings. The United States post-office and court- 
house is built of granite from Vermont. The foundation is the Stone Mountain granite. The new county court- 
house is to be trimmed with Bowling Green limestone. Several stores are trimmed with Dixon, Alabama, stone. 
The brick is of very superior quality ; stucco is used to some extent ; the use of stone is increasing. The city has 
133 miles of streets ; of these 10 miles are macadamized, and only 7 miles have brick and stone sidewalks ; 11 miles 
of the streets are sewered, and of the sewers about one-third are constructed of stone. The city prisoners work 
the quarry, and they are employed a portion of the time in macadamizing the streets and roadways. 

The city of Atlanta has an abundant supply of rock and good granite accessible. The soil is red clay and 
furnishes secure foundations. The most durable stone is gneiss, locally called "blue granite". The Stone 
Mountain granite wears away under attrition, and has not been long enough in use to determine its wearing 
qualities. The best granite at present known in the state is in Oglethorpe county, but it has not been used much 
as yet; it resembles very much the Quincy granite of Massachusetts. The growth of Atlanta has been very 
rapid of late years, and the macadamizing of the streets has proceeded at an average rate of only one mile a year. 
Granite, chiefly from Lynch's city quarry, is used by the railroads for bridge piers and retaining- walls ; the railroad 
cut in the city is braced in this way. 

BALTIMOEE, MARYLAND. 

The rocks exposed in the immediate vicinity of Baltimore are gneiss of Archaean age, and it was this material 
that was first drawn upon for the ordinary purposes of stone construction, it being the most convenient. Baltimore 
has, since its foundation, had ready access to all the imr)ortant quarries on the eastern sea-coast, and it has drawn 
largely from tliis source. There is much of the Connecticut and New Jersey sandstone used ; and of late years 
granite from the quarries on the coast of Maine has been largely employed. In the early times of the city, stone 
brought as ballast in the numerous ships arriving was used for ordinary purposes. Another important source of 
supply in later years and at the present time is the marble quarries at Gockeysville, a short distance north of the 
city. Granite from various points in the state of Maryland has been largely used, especiallj' that quarried at 
EUicott City, on the Patapsco river ; at Woodstock, in Howard county, and at .Jones' falls. Since the city has had 
railway communication with all points in the interior, serpentine from Chester county, Pennsylvania, and Ohio 
sandstone have been largely used. 

The following are some of the most important stone structures in the city : The Eutaw Place Baptistchurch, which 
has a tower 187 feet in height; the Brown Memorial Presbyterian church, corner of Park and Townsend streets; 



282 BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

tlie Franklin Street Presbyterian church ; the city hall, and the Peabody Institute. These are all built of. marble 
chiefly from the Texas and Cockeysville quarries, north of Baltimore. The Peabody Institute exhibits the 
Maryland marble to good advantage, as care was taken in selecting the material. In several buildings a very few 
defective stones injure the effect of whole structures. The First Presbyterian church, corner of Madison and 
Park streets, is built of New Brunswick, New Jersey, sandstone. The city prisou is built of gneiss from Jones' 
falla, with marble trimmings. The Catholic cathedral is built of gneiss from EUicott City; the foundation-stone of 
the building was laid on July 6, 1806. The older monuments were erected before marble had been quarried to 
any great depth, hence the best material was not obtained. The corner-stone of the Washington monument 
was laid July 4, 1815, and that of the Battle monument September 12, 1815 ; the lettering upon the latter remains 
quite distinct, showing that this material, even when not selected with any care, stands the test of time quite 
well. The Rialto building, Second street; the Kilby building, Baltimore street; the Franklin Bank, Citizens' 
Bank, Union Bank, and the Farmers' and Planters' Bank buildings are constructed in part of marble from 
Cockeysville. The foundations and underpinnings are built of gneiss quarried in the vicinity and at Jones' falls, 
Ellicott City, and Port Deposit ; all of these places are readily accessible by water. Granites from Woodstock, 
Eichmond, Virginia, and from the coast of Maine are employed to some extent for the same purposes. In the 
construction of the Young Men's Christian Association building, the Normal School building, and the Traders' 
National Bank building, Berea, Ohio, sandstone was used. About three-fourths of the streets are paved with stone, 
the material chiefly used for this purpose being cobble-stones and gneiss from Jones' falls and Port Deposit, and 
granites from Woodstock, and from Virginia and Maine ; although brick is the material chiefly used for sidewalk 
paving, yet much of the North Eiver blue-stone shipped from Eondout;, New York, is used for this purpose. 
Granite from Woodstock, Maryland, and from Eichmond, Virginia, and gneiss from Port Deposit, Maryland, are 
also used for this purpose: the curbstones are of gneiss from Ellicott City and Port Deposit and the granite 
from Woodstock. The bridge abutments, sea-walls, and the walls of fort McHenry are constructed chiefly of gneiss 
from Jones' falls and Port Deposit. 

BANGOE, MAINE. 

The material used for the better class of stone construction in Bangor is granite exclusively, brought chiefly 
from Frankfort, Maine, and the islands of the Penobscot bay. Underpinnings are of granite. The post-offlce and 
custom-house buildings are of granite, chiefly from Musquito mountain, Frankfort. The light granite is largely used 
in the city for sills, steps, and trimmings generally. The streets are but little paved with stone, and the material 
is cobble from Mount Desert island and other islands in Penobscot bay, and some also from the vicinity of the city. 
The sidewalks are paved with brick and concrete, no stone being used for this purpose. Curbstones and crossings 
are of granite. 

BINGHAMTON, NEW YOEK. 

There is little stone construction in Binghamton, and the material used almost exclusively is limestone from 
a quarry in the vicinity of Syracuse. A little stone for railroad work comes from Nineveh. The streets are not 
paved; sidewalks are largely paved with sandstone from the Wyoming blue-stone region in Pennsylvania, and 
curbstones are of the same material. Some stone from Oxford, Chenango county, is also used for sidewalk 
pavements. 

BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS. 

By John Eliot Wouf, Assistant in Geology in Harvard University. 

HISTORICAL ACCOUNT. 

When the first settlers came to Boston, over two hundred and fifty years ago, they probably found the land on 
which the city now stands covered with an abundant supply of our New England bowlders, which were at once 
useful in the construction of buildings, just as they are now used in the country; but it seems probable that no ledge 
of rock was found in the old town, outcropping through the thick clay covering, although there has been some 
difference of opinion on this point, (a) That they began at once to use stone for houses is shown in the following 
record : " Oct. 30th, 1630. A stone house which the governor was erecting at Mystick was washed down to the 
ground in a violent storm, the walls being laid in clay instead of lime." (&) "A few houses were built of stone and 
some of brick, but these were exceptions to the general rule, until Boston had become over twenty years of age." (c) 
About 1650 Johnson says of the city, " * * * the buildings, beautiful and large, some fairly set forth with brick, 
tile, stone, and slate." 

There existed until 1864 a stone house built about this time (1650), which was early known as the " Stone house 
of Deacon John Phillips". * * * "It was built chiefly of stone, the common rocks found in the native soil of 

a Cf. Mem. Mist. Boston, Vol. I, p. 554, note. S. Godon: Mem. Jmerioan Acad., Vol. Ill, 1809, and others. 

6 Snow's Sistory of Boston, p. 40. 

c Shurtleff's History of Boston, p. 589. 



STONE CONSTRUCTION IN CITIES. 283 

the peninsula having been broken into various shapes and sizes, and laid into place in the rough form left by the 
maul of the workman, the massive chimneys, with their spacious tireplaces, constructed of large coarse bricks and 
stones of uncommon size, were, as far as practicable, on the outside of the building, and portions of the house were 
covered with thick slate stones at the top of each of the stories." («) Another writer, however, says that "the 
foundation walls were four feet thick or more; the walls above ground were two feet in thickness, and built entirely 
of small quarried stones, unlike anything to be seen in this neighborhood, and were probably brought as ballast 
from some part of Europe." {b) 

When Josselyn visited Boston, in 1G63, he found many large streets largely paved with pebble, and, near the 
common, some fine buildings constructed of stone; and Ward said in 1G09 : "The Buildings, like their Women, 
being Neat and Handsome, and their Streets, like the Hearts of the male Inhabitants, are Paved with Pebble." 
In fact for some two hundred yeai-s the streets were paved almost exclusively with cobble-stones obtained from 
neighboring beaches, and perhaps from gravel-pits, until granite blocks began to be used. Drake says that the 
jjaviug of the public streets began very early, and was made of importance after 1700; the sidewalks were also 
early paved with cobble-stones and ilag.s. {c) 

The red Connecticut sandstone was shipi)ed to Boston very early. In 1665 ordinances were passed in Portland, 
Connecticut, relating to the use of this stone by outsiders, which seems to have been used in Boston within the first 
hundred years; thus the Old Province house, erected in 1679, is described as having a flight of twenty massive red 
freestone steps ; the freestone used in 1737 in the Hancock house came from Middleto wn, Connecticut. In consequence 
of extensive fires, laws were passed in 1602 and 1699 concei-niug the construction of stone houses — that of 1692 
decreeing, "that henceforth no dwelling-house in Boston shall be erected and set up, excejit of stone and brick, and 
covered with slate or tile". It could not, however, be enforced. The old triangular warehouse which stood near 
North Market street, and was built about this time, had three turrets covered with slate, and slate was used for 
rooting very early; this was probably in part imported from Wales, in part obtained in Massachusetts. Professor 
Shaler says on this point: 

From the slates aud conglomerates of the Cambridge and Roxbury series the first quarried stones of this colony were taken. The 
■flagging slates of Quiucy, at the base of Squantum Neck, were perhaps the first that were extensively quarried. A large number of the 
old tombstones of this region were from these qnarries. The next in use were the similar but less perfect slates of Cambridge and 
Somerville ; and last to come into use were the conglomerates and granites that require much greater skill and labor on the part -of the 
quarrymen to work them. At first the field-bowlders supplied the stoue for underpinning houses and other wall work ; so that the demand 
for grave-stones was, during all the first and for most of the second century of the existence of the town, the only demand that led to the 
exploration of the quarry rocks of this neighborhood. Indeed, we may say that the exploration of the excellent building and ornamental 
stones so abundant here has been barelj- begun within the last two decades, (rf) 

In the Massachusetts records there is a letter dated 1721 describing a visit to Hangman's island in "Braintry" 
bay, and to Hough's Neck near Squantum, and a return with a cargo of 20 tons of split slate, showing how 
extensively it was used even then. The use of stone for walls, steps, and underpinning was constantly increasing, 
and we find that the inhabitants of Quiucy were alarmed at the rapid manner in which the bowlders disappeared 
from their fields, for in 1715 aud 1729-30 the town f)assed laws regulating their use. (e) 

lu 1737 the old Hancock house (taken down twenty years ago) was built of Braintree bowlders, squared and 
hammered, with red freestone trimmings from Middletown, Connecticut, aud it was slated (probably at some later 
date) with slate from Lancaster, Massachusetts. 

From 1719-51: was built King's chapel, now standing on Tremont street — at that time the greatest stone 
construction ever attempted in Boston, if not in the whole country. It was built of coarse bowlders dug out of 
the ground at both the north and south commons, Quiucy (Braintree), and then split and hammered. The bowlders 
were split up for this building, it is said, by heating the stone (by building a fire ujjon it), and then splitting it by 
letting heavy iron balls fall upon it ; in fact squared aud hammered granite had only been used a short time before 
this in Boston, as the art of working it to a smooth surface is said to have been introduced about this time by 
German immigrants who settled at Quincy. Of course granite obtained in this way was very expensive and the 
process could best be applied only to bowlders having a free side. 

When this work was finished it was the wonder of the country round. People coming from a distance made it an object to see aud 
admire this great structure. The wonder was that stone enough could be found iu the vicinity of Boston fit for the hammer to construct 
such an entire building. But it seemed to be universally conceded that enough more like it could not be found to build such another. (/ ) 

In 1774 the old powder-house was built of Braintree granite, with walls 7 feet thick ; and in 1793 the stone 
light-house was built on Light-house (or Beacon) island. 

About this time marble began to come into use for building, corresponding to the opening of the Berkshire, 
Massachusetts, marble quarries (1790), for the state-house, built 1795-'9S, is described in old books as having 
keystones, imposts, etc., of white marble ; part of this came from Boynton's quarry in West Stockbridge, Berkshire 
■county, (f/) Thus the "new almshouse", erected in 1800, had marble trimmings; and the Exchange coffee-house, 

a Shurtleff, loc. cit., p. 666. d Mem. Hiat. Boston, Vol. I, p. 5. / Chief Justice Shaw, Proc. Am. Acad., 1S59, IV, p. 353, etc. 
b Savage, Police Becord. e Pattee's Hist, of Quiucy, p. 599. g D. D. Field's History of Berkshire County, p. 275. 

c Old Landmnrks, p. 21. 



284 BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

erected in 1805-'0S, had six large marble columns or pilasters upon a rustic basement, supporting an architrave 
and a cornice of the same stone. The base of the building was of hammered granite and the basement of white 
marble. The old custom-house, built in 1810, had also marble trimmings. 

About the beginning of this century came a turning point in stone construction in Boston and the country 
generally, coincident with the changes in the method of splitting granite. According to Chief Justice Shaw {loc, 
cit.) this was determined by the introduction of the method of splitting granite by drilling holes and then driving 
in small wedges. The construction of the first part of the Massachusetts state prison in Gharlestown, finished in 
1805, seems to have been the cause for the introduction of this method of splitting granite by drilling holes and 
driving in small wedges, now universally used ; so that this building, together with Bunker Hill monument and 
King's chapel, must be regarded as of great historical importance in the development of granite construction in the 
United Slates. 

Shortly after the beginning of this century, then, granite began to be used extensively in Boston, and of two 
varieties; white granite (the so-called Chelmsford) from Tyngsborough and Westford, near Lowell, Massachusetts, 
and perhaps some from Pelham, New Hampshire, and other places — quarried generally, if not entirely, from loose 
bowlders for many years ; and the dark Quincy granite, mostly from bowlders, but a little from ledges. Thus in 
1810 the court-house (old city hall) was built of white Chelmsford stone on the site of the present building, in the 
walls of which some of the old stone has been retained ; in 1814 the ^ew South church was built of the best 
Chelmsford granite. About the same time, what is now the Congregational house, on Beacon street, was built ; the 
old Parkman house on Bowdoin square. University hall in Cambridge, and others, all of Chelmsford granite ; and 
from 1818 to 1821 the main part of the Massachusetts general hospital, with several large granite columns, was 
hammered at the state prison — also of Chelmsford stone — probably from bowlders. 

The completion of the Middlesex canal to Chelmsford (30 miles) in 1803, itself a great work, with sixteen locks 
of hewn granite, opened the way for the easy transportation of granite from the vicinity of Chelmsford, so that 
it could be delivered in the very streets of the city, and great quantities were landed at the state's prison in 
Charlestown and cut by the convicts. All, or nearly all, of this stone came from surface bowlders, as is stated, as 
late as 1820, (a.) and were split as at Quincy; in 1818 a church was built of this stone in Savannah, Georgia, and 
$25,000 worth was sold. 

In 1818-'19 there was built of this material the first stone block in Boston, still standing on Brattle street, and 
forming originally a block of fourteen buildings, part of which now form the old part of the Quincy house. Stores 
erected on Cornhill in 1817 were the first erected in the city on granite pillars, and in 1820 these were first 
substituted in brick buildings already standing. (&) In 1820 Saint Paul's church on Tremont street was built of 
Quincy granite with large columns and portico of yellow sandstone from Acquia creek, Virginia. Some yellow 
sandstone from England was used in buildings on Cornhill in 1817. 

The mill-dam connecting Boston with Brookline and Eoxbury, and built from 1818 to 1821, was considered one 
of the greatest constructions of the kind in the world. The sides of the dam are built of solid stone for 8,000 feet 
in length, from 8 to 3 feet thick, and 12 to 17 feet high, while the width between the walls varies from 50 to 100 feet. 
The stone used was Eoxbury liudding-stone and stone from Weymouth. 

In 1824 the United States branch bank was built on State street of Chelmsford granite, and has been called 
the first building constructed of large stone (the state's prison, however, should be noted); a part of this building 
still remains in its successor, the Merchants' Bank building, and the two columns in the present front were taken 
from the two in the original building, but reduced in size. These two columns were originally 24 feet high, including 
the cap, and 4 feet in diameter at the base, and were cut from a large bowlder of granite in Westford, Massachusetts. 

The next year the construction of Bunker Hill monument began (1825-1842), the greatest monument of its kind 
in the world, and marking a most important step in stone construction in this country. The architect was the well- 
known Mr. Solomon WiUard, and the master mason Mr. Gridley Bryant. To these two men is largely due the 
development of stone construction in Boston. 

After his appointment as architect, Mr. WiUard spent considerable time in looking up a quarry, and finally 
decided on the Bunker Hill quarry in Quincy, from which the stone was accordingly taken, and it was for the purpose 
of transporting to tide-water the stone for the monument that Mr. Bryant built the first railroad in America. 

From the Memoir of Solomon WiUard, by William W. Wheildon, we quote as follows: 
The opening of the Bunker Hill quarry led to the discovery and opening of other quarries, caused the building of the first railroad in 
the country, and gave an impulse to business which has adorned our cities with a class of splendid and substantial buildings, both public 
and private, which for durability and beauty are wholly unsurpassed. 

Mr. Willard felt persuaded that an improvement in the material for building purposes so decided as that which he, in fact, had 
introduced would gradually effect a change in the style of building and in the general architecture of the times. Granite, as a building 
material, excepting in a few instances, and these mostly under Mr. Willard's superintendence, Lad been used in small pieces or blocks of 

a W. Allen's Hist, of Chelmsford, Mass. 6 Snow's Sist, p. 328, note. 



STONE CONSTRUCTION IN CITIES. 



285 



moderate size for cellar walls, vrndcrpinning, posts, lintels, etc., and his first measure was to introduce the material in large hloqks, such 
as were in themselves massive and durable, which, as he saw at once, would absolutely necessitate changes in the style of architecture and 
in the character of public buildings, stores, and other substantial structures. 

Ill lS25-'26 the Quincy market was built of Chelmsford (aud Hallowell) granite, with large columns of the same 
at each end of the buildiug. Soon large buildings were put up of Quincy granite, and the construction of stone 
buildings went rapidly forward after 1830 to the present time, so that only a general mention is possible : 

The Tremont house, lS28-'29, granite; dry dock at navy-yard, 1827-'34; old Trinity church, 1828; Masonic temple 
(United States court-house), 1830-'31 ; Suffolk County court-house, 1833-36; aud the United States custom-house, 
1837-1848, may be mentioned as opening the great development iu the construction of Quincy granite buildings, 
aud as showiug how the Quincy granite supplanted the Chelmsford. In 1848 we find already thirty or forty blocks 
of granite mentioned in tlie city. The eight stone columns put in the county court-house (1835) were of importance, 
each one requiring 65 yoke of oxen and 12 horses to transport it ; and also those put up in the Merchants' exchange, 

in 1842 the largest in the city— may be meutioned. About this time there was a considerable use of the Somerville 

diabase for basements of brick buildings and of red sandstone for trimmings. About 1845 the red sandstone 
came in for fronts, and several churches, the Boston Athemeum, etc., were soon erected. The Times building on State 
street is said to have been the first building with a red-freestone frout. Eockport granite began to be used from the 
quarries about 1830, and was at first put into cellars for brick buildings, and then for posts iu North and South Market 
streets. The first buildiug of hammered Rockport stone was that of Terice How & Co., about 1846, and the Beacon 
Hill reservoir, a little later, of Eockport stone, was a very extensive undertaking. The Parker house, erected iu 
1854, was the first marble buildiug in the city. Concord granite was first used in columns iu the Boston and 
Albauy depot; the Merchants' Bank building was perhaps the first frout(1856) of Concord granite. The Washington 
building at the head of Franklin street is said to have been the first building of Nova Scotia freestone ( 1858). Within 
the last twenty-five years various other building stones have been introduced: the Eoxbury pudding-stone for 
churches, the different marbles and sandstones, and lastly the red granites. The building up of the Back bay has 
been very extensively done with sandstone fronts. The great fire in 1872 wiped out hundreds of stone buildings 
and blocks which had been erected during forty years in the business portion of the city. The buildings were 
very largely Quincy granite, Eockport, Concord, Hallowell, etc., and in their places have sprung up buildings of 
lighter-colored stone, Concord and Eockport granites, and a great proportion of buildings of the yellow sandstones 
of Ohio and the provinces, together with many marble buildings. 



STATISTICS. 

According to the assessor's list for 1880 there are about 51,000 dwelling-houses, stores, and other buildings in 
the city of Boston. The following figures can be compared with those above only approximately, on account of 
the probable differences in making the count ; for in the figures for stone buildings, what appeared to be separate 
constructions were counted as units, and several dwelling-houses may make up one stone building. There are in 
the city limits of Boston, by actual count : (n) 



Total. 



Quincy syenite (granite) 

Concord granite — two or three from Fitzwilliam, New Hampshire. 

Cape Ann ^anite 

Chelmsford granite 

Hallowell, Maine, granite 

Eollstone Hill granite, Fitchbnrg 

Jonesboro', Maine, red granite 

Vinal Haven. Maine, granite 

Somerrille di.ihase (granite) 

Frankfort, Maine, granite (?) 

Unknown granite 



Fronts, one 
Buildings. All stone. to three 



Total granite 



Marble (Vermont, etc.) 

Tuckaboe, Xew York, dolomite (marble) . 
Total marble 



Connecticut valley, Ne 
Connecticut vallev, Ne 



■ Jersey, and the provinces, red sandstone 
' Jersey, and the Ohio, part red, part yeUo 



^ sandstone. . - 



Total sandstone . 



Roxbury pudding-stone. 

Cambridge slate 

Dedham porphyry 

Unknown quartzite (?) . 



\ I 

a This is a close approximation, but cannot of course pretend to be accurate to a single building 



286 BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. ' 

Therefore between IJ and 2 per cent, of the buildings of the city are of stone. Some of the more important 
constructions of the different kinds of stone are : 

QuiNCT GRANITE. — United States custom-house (1837-'48) is constructed in the form of a Greek cross. It is 
surrounded by 32 massive stone columns, each of which is 5 feet 2 inches in diameter, 32 feet high, and weighs 
42 tons. The roof and dome are covered with granite tiles worked at Quincy ; there is said to be about the same 
amount of stone in this building as in Bunker Hill monument — 6,700 tons. The county court-house (1833-'36),; 
there were originally eight stone columns 25 feet 6 inches high and 4 feet 6 inches in diameter, weighing 50 tons 
each. Suffolk County jail (1851); there is also some stone in the building from the Eockport Granite Company. 
Charlestown state prison (1805, 1828, and 1850) ; the old part was probably in large part from bowlders ; some of the 
blocks were 9 feet long and 20 inches thick (1805). United States court-house (1830-'31) ; Masonic temple; Tremont 
house (1828-'29) ; King's chapel, 1754— bowlders ; Saint Paul's church (1820) 5 the yellow sandstone columns, etc., 
from Acquia creek, Virginia; Howard Athenseum (1846); Merchants' exchange (1842), Wigwam quarry. The 
pilasters in front of this building are the largest in the city; the large ones are 41 feet 8 inches long, 6 feet wide, 
and weigh 50 tons ; Boston Museum (1846); Merchants' National bank (in part) ; Suffolk K"ational bank; State Street 
block; State Street wharf building; United States warehouse. Union wharf; Lewis wharf building; Commercial 
wharf building; Commercial block; Long wharf building; the buildings of Hovey & Co. and of Hogg, Brown & 
Taylor; Mount Vernon church; Unitarian church, Jamaica Plain; Bowdoin Square Baptist church; Catholic 
church, Broadway, South Boston; many of the buildings in the navy-yard, Charlestown; United States dry 
dock; basements of Equitable Life Insurance and New England Mutual, and many other large buildings; lastly. 
Bunker Hill monument, from the Bunker Hill quarry. The monument has two parts, an inside and an outside y 
the outside part is in form a square pyramid or obelisk, 30 feet square at the base, and tapering gradually. A 
pyramid of stone 13 feet high tops this, so that the total height is 221 feet 5 inches. Inside the pyramid there is a 
hollow cone of stone with a circular section (diameter at base 10 feet), and between the outside wall of the cone and 
the inside wall of the pyramid are placed the stone steps. There are, therefore, four wrought stone surfaces in the- 
monument extending from top to bottom. There are said to be 6,700 tons of granite; a little of the stone inside is- 
said to be Chelmsford granite. Height of monument to the apex, 221 feet 5 inches ; height of obelisk to base of 
pyramid, 208 feet 5 inches; sides of the square, first course, 30 feet to 15 inches; height of the cone, 196 feet 9 
inches; diameter, 10 feet to 6 feet 2 inches; pyramid 13 feet high; sides of base 15 feet. 

Cape Ann gkanite. — The United States post-office (1869-'82) is the finest granite building in the city. 
The stone was all furnished from Gloucester, the basement of darker stone from the Blood quarry, and the 
superstructure from the " Old Pit" quarry. The superstructure of that part of the building first erected was taken 
essentially from one immense sheet in the quarry ; the stone is syenite. The pavement on the floor is from Swanton,. 
Vermont. Lake Champlain, Sicilian, and Sienna marbles have been used in the interior ; the roof is slate, from 
western Vermont. The Boston water-works is an immense granite structure on the side of Beacon hill; the basin 
is of Westford granite. Lawrence building, Fremont street; the building of Bigelow Kennard & Co., Washington 
street; Weslej'au hall; Commonwealth building, Water street; Saint Vincent de Paul church. South Boston; 
church of Our Most Holy Eedeeiner, East Boston; the rope- walk at the navy-yard, 1,360 feet long; South Boston 
Savings bank, and many stores on the business streets. 

CoNCOED GEANiTE. — Herald building; Transcript building; Wentworth building; Emigrant Savings bank; city 
hall ; Massachusetts Historical Society building ; Suffolk Savings bank ; Horticultural hall ; Masonic temple ; the 
Advertiser building; Merchants' National bank; National City bank; Lawrence building, Devonshire street; EialtQ- 
building; New England Mutual Life Insurance Company's building; building corner Summer and Bedford streets;-, 
building on Winthrop square; Brooks estate, Pearl street; Union Institute for Savings, Bedford street; Bowditch. 
block. South street; Odd Fellows' Memorial hall (in part), 27-50 High street; and Cruff's block on Pearl street, 
from Fitz William, New Hampshire. 

Chelmspoed GEANITE (Westfoed, etc.) — Massachusetts general hospital, the original part (1818-'21) from 
bowlders, probably hammered at the state's prison ; addition of 1846 from Westford. Quincy market (1825-'26) with? 
some Hallowell granite; two blocks of stores, north and south of the market; church of the Immaculate Conception;. 
Congregational house ; Somerset club. Beacon street ; Quincy house (old part) ; Parkman house ; part of the 
Merchants' National bank and new city hall; basin of Boston water- works. 

Hallowell, Maine, geanite. — Equitable Insurance Company's building; Odd Fellows' Memorial hall (part 
Concord) ; some in Quincy market ; Mutual Life of Maine, Tremont street ; National Bank of the Eepublic ; large 
block in Winthrop square (in part). 

EoLLSTONB Hill, Fitchbueg, Massachusetts. — Fitchburg depot (1847). 

Jonesboeo', Maine (Bod well Granite Company), red granite. — Wellington Brothers' building and Nevin 
Brothers' buUding, on Chauncey street; the Morse block. South street; and the Preston building. Summer street. 

Saint George, New Brunswick, red granite. — Bedford building. Summer and Bedford streets. 

ViNAL Haven, Maine, eeddish geanite (Bodwell Granite Company). — Building corner Kingston,. Bedford,, 
and Columbia streets. 



STONE CONSTRUCTION IN CITIES. 287 

ilEDFORD OR SOMERVILLB BLACK GRANITE (diabase). — Frout, comer Harrison avenue aud Way street. 

PORPnYRITIC GRANITE FROM FRANKFORT, MAINE.— Gcrilisll block (1849). 

Marble. — Goldthwaite & Co.'s store, Washington street : from Sutherland Falls, Vermont ; Commonwealth 
hotel, Continental block, Washington street, Boston Penny Savings bank : from Pittsford, Vermont; Parker house, 
on School street (ISoi): from Rutland, Vermont; Blackstone S^ational bank. Commonwealth Insurance Company: 
from Pittsford, Vermont; Bowdoin building, Bedford building. Summer aud Bedford streets: from Sutherland Falls, 
Vermont; Eogers' building, hotel Comfort: from Paitland, Vermont; building corner Franklin and Pearl streets: 
from Sutherland Falls, Vermont; Saint Cloud hotel, hotel Dartmouth: from Eutland, Vermont; old part of hotel 
Vendome, Italian marble; Richardson building, Devonshire street: from Lee, Massachusetts; block of stores on 
Pearl street (Nos. 113-151) : from Alford, Massachusetts. 

TucKAHOE, Xew York, marble (dolomite). — Sears' building; McCidlar & Parker's building; Mason & 
Hamlin Organ Company's building; Chandler's building, Devonshire street; large building corner Devonshire 
aud Franklin streets; New York Mutual Life Insurance Company's building, one of the finest stone buildings in 
the country: from the quarry at Tuckahoe, New York; Montgomery building, Summer aud Chauncey, hotel 
Vendome (new part) : from Tuckahoe, New York. 

Red- sandstone from Connecticut valley and New Jersey. — Church of the Messiah, Florence street 
(1S18) : fi-om New Jersey ; 681 Washington street : from Lougmeadow, Massachusetts ; Evans house : from 
Portland, Connecticut ; hotel Pelham : from Portland, Connecticut, and New Jersey ; Brewer building : from 
Connecticut; Boston Athenteura : from Little Falls, New Jersey; Second Unitarian church, Boylston street: 
from Newark, New Jersey ; Arlington Street church : from Belleville and Little Falls, New Jersey ; five houses 
on Mount Veruon street : from Portland, Connecticut ; and gi-eat numbers of fronts in the Back bay and elsewhere. 

Red sandstone from the Provinces. — Wilde buildings, New Washington street: from Mary's Point, New 
Brunswick ; buildings of Palmer, Batchelder & Co., Jordan, Marsh & Co., Boylston bank, Young Men's Christian 
Union, Boylston street; Chauning building, Frankhn street; Howard buildings. Arch street; Richardson's 
building, Federal street: from Bay View, New Brunswick; Bristol building, Boylston street: from Wood's Point, 
New Brunswick ; bank building in Charlestown : from Bay View ; Liberty building : from Wood's Point ; buildings 
of Currier & Chamberlain, Washington street, aud Minot, Hooper & Co., Kingston street: from Mary's Point; 
many fronts in Back bay and elsewhere. 

Yellow to white sandstone from Bbrea and Amherst, Ohio, and from Nova Scotia and New 
Brunswick, etc. — Saint Paul's church (1820), columus, etc.: from Acquiacreek, Virginia; Wilde buildings: from 
Caledonia, New Brunswick; Associates' building (Leopold Morse & Co.): from Berea, Ohio; buildings of Palmer, 
Batchelder & Co. : from Caledonia, and Marj's Point ; Shreeve, Crump & Low : from Amherst and Berea, Ohio ; 
R. H. White & Co.: from Amherst, Ohio; Boylston Bank building: from New Brunswick Freestone Company ; 
Dobson's building : from Amherst, Ohio ; Call & Tuttle, 459 Washington street : from Caledonia, New Brunswick ; 
hotel Boylston: from Amherst and Berea, Ohio; Young Men's Christian Union: from Amherst, Ohio; Tremont 
National bank: from Bay View; Simmons' building: from Berea, Ohio; Metropolitan National bank: from 
Amherst, Ohio; Angelo building: from Ohio; Minot, Hooper & Co.: from Bay View; Harvard College building, 
Arch street : from Amherst, Ohio ; Richardson's building, Federal street : from Bay View ; Rice, Kendall & Co., 
Federal street: from Berea; Alexander building, Washington street, and Sargent's block, Lincoln street: from 
Mary's Point and Caledonia, New Brunswick; extension Young's hotel : from Caledonia, New Brunswick ; Rand, 
Avery & Co., Mason building (trimmings) : New Brunswick freestone. 

Roxbury conglomerate or pudding-stone. — First church, Marlborough and Berkeley streets; Brattle 
Square church; Central Congregational church, Eeilseley and Newbury streets; Emanuel church, Newbury street; 
new Old South church; Second Universalist church; Tremont Street Methodist Episcopal church ; cathedral ot 
the Holy Cross; Saint James (Episcopal) church; Mission church, Tremont street; Saint Peter's church, 
Dorchester ; Saint Columbkille church, Brighton ; Saint John's church and the Bussey institution, Jamaica Plain, 
and several others. 

SoMERViLLE OR CAMBRIDGE SLATE. — Saint Francis de Sales church, Charlestown. 

Dedham porphyry or felsite. — Trinity church, from Mr. Bullard's quarry, Dedham. 

The city has been very fortunate in having close at hand such an excellent stone as the Roxbury conglomerate 
for certain purposes. It has been used almost entirely for churches, the stone being so laid up that the exposed 
surface is that of a natural joint, the rusty-brown color of which is very effective iu massive buildings ; but of 
course this use of joint surfaces adds to the expense. 

In the trimmings of buildings the red sandstones of Connecticut valley, of New Jersey, aud of the provinces 
have been universally used with brick, and also the yellow sandstones to a considerable extent, while the granites 
have been used somewhat, especially in the large brick buildings. With the Roxbury conglomerate red and yellow 
sandstone are used, but the Catholic churches seem to prefer Rockport granite. The new Old South is trimmed with 
yellow sandstone iTom Amherst, Ohio, and red sandstone from Lougmeadow, Massachusetts. Quiney, Rockport, and 
Concord granites are the most used for trimmings and supports ; also granite from Spruce Head and Hallowell, Maine. 
The new Boston aud Albany depot is trimmed with two shades of the gneiss from Monson, Massachusetts. The 



288 BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

Mechanics' Charitable Association's new building has steps, etc., from Sullivan. Maine. The Boston and Albany 
Eailroad round-house, East Boston elevator, etc., are trimmed with granite from Braggville, Massachusetts. In 
Gilraan «& Cheney's building, Charlestown, granite from Deer Isle, Maine, has been used. Red granite from 
Westerly, Ehode Island, has been used in some churches. Coarse porphyritic granite (Frankfort, Maine) has been 
used in houses on Harrison avenue. 

Marble has been used for trimmings in some large buildings, and the Tuckahoe dolomite a little, e. </., in a house 
■opposite the state-house. The blue or dove marbles have been used in several buildings of white marble ; that in 
the Sears and Montgomery buildings is from Dover, New York ; another dove marble (Eogers and other buildings) 
comes from Rutland. The gray marble from Isle La Motte, lake Champlain, has been used for trimmings in a few 
buildings (Summer and Pearl streets). In the Richardson building on Federal street the beautiful green serpentine 
from Chester, Pennsylvania, has been used with marble, but it has crumbled badly with the exposure ; the same 
stone used in Philadelphia has stood well (University of Pennsylvania buildings). The Hudson River blue-stone 
lias been used for trimmings with Tuckahoe marble in the bxiilding corner Devonshire and Franklin streets. 
The bright red sandstone from Potsdam, ISTew York, has been used a little (columns and trimmings of house Myrtle 
aud Hancock streets, and in Eajmor block, in Union street). 

For polished granite ornamentation there has been a considerable use in columns on the exterior of buildings 
;(red Scotch, Saint George, I^ew Brunswick, Red Beach, and Jonesboro', Maine) ; dark red and pink Quincy and 
gneiss columns (new Old South church). In Wellington Brothers' and Nevin Brothers' buildings are polished 
columns of Vinal Haven, Maine, granite. In the Wentworth buildiug are columns of the porphyritic Shap granite 
.(English) ; in the hotel, Boylston avenue, some very beautiful columns of red Quincy ; the darli may be seen in the 
Tremont National bank. Providence depot, and many other buildings. In the Herald and Bedford buildings may 
be seen polished Saint George granite, Scotch and Jonesboro' in many others. At No. 55 High street, in the Mason 
building, the Bedford building, and elsewhere the underpinning or granite supports are of polished work. 

For foundations the granites of Quincy and cape Ann, together with Cambridge slate and Roxbury stone, are 
used. The Somerville diabase was extensively used forty years ago, and about forty-five years ago the rails of the 
Lowell railroad from Boston to Medford were laid on a foundation of this stone from Dane ledge, Somerville. 

For underpinning, Quincy, Rockport, and Concord granites are generally used ; red and yellow sandstones also 
very extensively in dwellings. In Charlestown the Somerville slate and in Roxbury and Jamaica Plain the 
conglomerate are largely used, on account of the proximity to the ledges. Hallowell, Spruce Head, Vinal Haven, 
Deer Isle, and other granites have been used. In the very old houses one sees generally the white Chelmsford 
granite, looking very rough, as the bush-hammer had not been invented forty years ago. At that time the 
Somerville diabase was very extensively used for underpinning in Tremont and Hanover streets, Harrison avenue, 
and in the neighborhood of the Charles Street jail. In many of these old streets the Connecticut sandstone was 
i:)rofusely used, and, being of poor quality then, shows the effects of the frost very plainly. Marble and Hudson 
River blue-stone have also been used. The handsome granite basement of the Art Museum building is from Mr. 
-Corliss' quarry at Randolph, Massachusetts. 

Posts and walls are made generally from the varieties of granite— Quincy, Rockport, and Concord; mainly 
for posts. Spruce Head diabase, etc.; the granites and sandstones for steps; for walls, Quincy, Rockport, Concord, 
and Chelmsford sandstone, conglomerate, and slate. 

. As mentioned before, the streets were early paved with the cobble-stones from the beaches, and these were 
generally used until about ISiO, when Mr. Willard laid the first paving blocks of Quincy granite in front of the 
Tremont house ; they were very large at first — 18 inches by 14 feet — but became smaller until about a foot square. 
For a while (1856) blocks of trap from Bergen hill, New Jersey, were used, until in 185S Mr. Henry Barker, of 
Quincy, introduced the small granite ijavers which have since been universally used. At iiresent the i)aving stones 
come from Rockport, Quincy, and the Maine quarries — all of granite. Granite curbs were used long ago ; at present 
Quincy and Rockport furnish most ; some are of Hudson River blue-stone. There are 355 miles of public streets and 
about 410 miles in all ; of these 67 miles are paved. 

Sidewalks were flagged or paved in this century. Before the North River flagging came into use in the city, 
quantities of the Bolton, Connecticut, flagging (a mica-schist, wearing down easily) were laid down. Pemberton 
square is still largely flagged with these, and many other places in the city, where it still lingers. At present, 
while brick is generally used, the business streets are flagged with North River stone and granite flags, the granite 
principally from Rockport and Quincy. Red sandstone flagging is used once or twice. For crossings. North River 
stone and granite ; a great deal of the granite comes from the old-fashioned paving blocks. For the catch-basins 
of the sewers Rockport granite is largely used. In some of the old city sewers pudding-stone has been used for 
side walls, and especially for culverts ; in some cases tlie old brick sewers were covered on top with slate. In the 
improved sewerage construction at Moon island considerable masonry has been used in the piimping station — the 
granite from cape Ann, Quincy, and Mount Desert. 

The reservoir of the Boston water-works on Beacon hill has been described. At the Chestnut Hill reservoir 
the lining is trap and pudding-stone with a cap of Douglass mica-schist. The East Boston aud South Boston 
reservoirs are lined with Quincy granite. The Parker Hill reservoir has a pudding-stone wash-wall with cap of 



STOXE CONSTRUCTION IN CITIES. 289 

grauite from Graniteville, Massachusetts. The Mystic reservoir has a granite cap. The Sudbury Eiver couduit 
crosses Charles river over a bridge 475 feet long, of granite from the Cape Aan Granite Company ; and the Wabau 
Valley bridge of the sau)e, 53(5 feet long, is from Spruce Head and Ueer Isle, Maine. Three dams are built of 
Farmington and Caj^e Ann granite, etc. 

The abutments of the Boston bridges are of granite from Quincy, cape Ann, and various other places; the 
West Chester Park bridge, for instance, is of Milibrd, Cape Ann, Deer Isle, and Mount Desert grauite. For the 
walls and abutments and otlier stone-work of railroads, granites, pudding-stone, diabase, slate, etc., are used ; the 
Braggville granite, was'used quite largely by the Boston and Albany railroad. 

For the sea-walls surrounding the city, Eockport and Quincy granites, Somerville diabase, pudding-stone, etc., 
have been used. In the sea-walls built extensively in the harbor on Galloup island. Point Allerton, Long island, 
etc., granite has been used — a great deal from Biddeford and Bamebrush, Maine. 

Forts Winthrop, Warren, and Independence, in the harbor, are of granite from Quincy, Eockport, and other 
quarries. Boston Light and Minofs Ledge light-houses are of stone. 

EooFI^^G. — The John Hancock house and old state-house were slated from Lancaster ; but the Welsh slates 
were used in Boston probably two hundred years ago. The Lancaster quarry furnished great amounts of slate to 
the city after the Eevolution, and the slate quarries near Brattleboro', Vermont, furni.shed slate early in this century. 
About thirty-five years ago the slates from western Vermont and the Maine slates came into use for roofing, and 
their use has steadily increased until very little Welsh slate is now used. At or after the time of the war, slate 
from Buckingham county, Virginia, was used in many buiklings of the city. At the present time the roofing slates 
used come from Piscataquis county, Maine, and from Vermont, Pennsylvania, New York, and Wales. The green, 
red, and purple slates of western Vermont, and New York state, etc., are extensively used. We may mention the 
following examples: Trinity church (in part). Clarendon Baptist church, and Saint Mary's cathedral: from 
Brownville, Maine; new Latin school:- from Monson, Maine; cathedral of the Holy Cross, Park Street church, and 
Bowdoin Square church : Welsh-Penrhyn ; navy-yard buildings : Maine and Welsh ; Lowell Eailroad station and 
city hall, Charlestown: Pennsylvania .slate; post-ofBce, and Eastern Eailroad station: Vermont slate; Baptist 
church in Cambridge : Virginia slate. 

The use of slate by marbleizing for mantels, chimney-pieces, tables, etc., began about thirty years ago ; and it 
is used for tiling, slabs, etc., as elsewhere in the country. 

Ornamental marbles were in use at least thirty-five years ago in Boston ; the " black and gold '', Bardillo, and 
Italian dove were most used then, and the others gradually came in — the German marbles last. The use of the 
blue marbles of Dover, Pittsford. and Eutland in the exterior trimmings has been mentioned ; some of the other 
veined marbles have been .slightly used (Sears building), and the Winooski Vei-mont marble in columns (Masonic 
temi)le), and black marble (Parker house). In the interiors of buildings the ornamental marbles have been 
frequently used, and in great variety, e. g., the Art Museum, New York Mutual, Herald, Marlborough, and many 
other buildings ; and of course considerably for mantel-pieces, soda fountains, etc. The following have perhaps 
been most used in the city : 

Yellow Sienna : Italy ; Saint Baume, Jaune Fleuri, and Lumachelle, France. 

Black: from Glens Falls, New York, and elsewhere. 

Eed : Lisbon, Portugal ; Victoria or Irish red ; Griotte, France and Spain ; Echaillon, France ; Formosa and 
Bougard, Germany ; Brocatello, Italy ; East Tennessee, red, brown, chocolate, and pink ; rouge and garnet, France; 
Laraucolin, France ; red and pink, etc., from lake Champlaiu. 

Green : Geneva. Alps, Campagna, and the Marie, New Y'ork, marble (columns in entrance to Art Museum). 
The red slate is used with the colored marbles. 

Blue : Dover, Eutland, and Pittsford. In tilings, slate, red slate, Italian and Vermont white marbles, Lake 
Champlaiu black marble, and the Swanton red marble are largely used. 

The monuments and statuary distributed through the parks and squares of the city have necessitated a 
considerable employment of stone. The Hamilton statue on Commonwealth avenue, of gray granite, is said to have 
been the fir-st in the country made of gi'anite (1865). 

The soldiers' and sailors' monument, on the common, and that of Charlestown, are of granite from Hallowell, 
Maine. The Dorchester soldiers.' monument, on Meeting-House hill, is of Gloucester red granite. 

The Ether Monument group of statuary in the public garden is of Concord granite, as is also the Good 
Samaritan group of statuary; the figures on Horticultural hall are of Fitzwilliam, New Hampshire, grauite; the 
pedestal of the Franklin monument, city hall, and the Warren statue. Bunker hill, are of Eoxbury, Vermont, 
serpentine; the polished bases of the Winthrop and Prescott statues are of Jonesboro', Maine, red granite; also 
fhat of the Emancipation group. Quincy granite is used for the Adams, Washington, and many other bases; the 
soldiers' monument in Jamaica Plain is of Clark's Island, Maine, granite, with Quincy base; and the statue of 
•losiah Quincy, city hall, has a green verd-autique base. 

One of the earliest applications of stone was in the city cemeteries. The principal old burying-grounds, those 
of King's chapel, Copp's hill, the Granary, Charlestown, and Eoxbury, are much alike in the kinds of stone used. 
Some of the oldest tombstones are of porphyritic greenstone taken, presumably, from bowlders. The Welsh slate 
VOL. IX 19 B s 



290 BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

was extensively used (often to be told by lines of color crossing the slabs) with American slate, foreign and American 
marble, and saudstone. In the King's Chapel ground may be noted the apparently early use of marble: a small 
tomb of shell marble reads 1702 ; the Winthrop tomb is supported by four marble columns. The Granary burying- 
ground is much similar; red, green, and blue slate tombs have been used principally. The Franklin monument is of 
Quiucy granite. At the large cemetery of Copp's hill we find much the same stones — red and greenish, Welsh, 
bluish American marble, yellow and red sandstone, and Vermont slate. In the Charlestown cemetery the John 
Harvard monument is of Quincy granite (1828). 

The weathering of the stone in these old places is noteworthy. The Welsh slates, some of which have stood 
two hundred years, are often almost unaltered, looking very fresh ; the greenstone tombs have also stood the 
weather well. In a slate slab at Copp's hill, having alternations of sandy layers parallel to the surface of the slab, 
one of these sandy layers has been eaten out, leaving the unsupported thin layer of slate to cave in ; the slates are 
occasionally cleaned by the weather. The red and yellow sandstones, when standing upright, have almost always 
crumbled or scaled off, and the marbles have suffered. One case of this is a vertical slab at Copp's hill, about forty 
years old, of a coarse marble ; below the ground it retains largely its original smoothness, but above the ground, on 
the northeast exposure, the action of the rain and atmosphere has dissolved out the cement of the grains of the 
marble, leaving the isolated grains sticking out like sandpaper; on the sheltered side there is a marked difference. 
Another large imported marble monument, some seventy years old, has weathered so that the shells embedded in 
the marble stand out in relief, and the stone is also covered with fine cracks, which, widening and admitting the 
black soot from the air, give it a peculiar appearance. 

In the recent cemeteries of the city there has been an immense consumption of stone for monuments and 
curbing. 

In Mount Auburn, in Cambridge, marble has been most used for monuments, and there are many line pieces of 
statuary made from it ; the Italian marble for the finer pieces, Vermont marble somewhat, and the pink Tennessee 
marble. Since the introduction of granite-polishing at our quarries there has been a great increase in the 
proportion of granite monuments. Quincy granite has been used since the opening of the cemetery, and there are 
many polished monuments of this stone. The light Mason, ISew Hampshire, granite is abundantly used here in 
polished monuments and curbing; also the Eockport granite and that of Concord. There are some fine monuments 
and tombs of Hallowell gi-anite (the Sphinx and the Charlotte Cushman monument). Westerly granite has been 
somewhat used. Polished red-granite monuments are plentiful — Scotch, New Brunswick, and Maine. The Shap 
granite is used in a few cases; also some other granites. There are several tombs and monuments of the Somerville 
diabase, and a recently-polished one of diabase from Maine (Addison Point'?). Both yellow and red sandstones 
have been used. The Winter monument consists of a large shaft of soap-stone coming, I believe, from a quarry in 
the east part of Andover forty years ago. 

The weather shows its effects at Mount Auburn as elsewhere. Some of the old marble tombs have the 
roughened surface (by solution of the lime) previously mentioned ; others, however, have stood as long without 
the same evidence of changes, especially the fine-grained marbles. In one tomb of a medium coarse white marble, 
in a course at the top part of the structure, the marble has disintegrated as follows : On the corner pieces and 
sides the marble cracks almost imperceptibly ; along these cracks the cement of the grains (or some of the grains) 
is slowly dissolved out, leaving the coarse grains, and these finally crumble off' in powder. As this continues, 
whole lumps are loosened and fall off, breaking into powder ; in this way one of the corners has entirely crumbled 
to loose grains which may be taken up by the handful. The tombs made of the different granites have been 
slightly affected by the weather, consisting in a change of color; this is most marked in the Quincy; the light 
granites occasionally show a rusting of the feldspar. The diabase tombs have turned a rusty brown, the change 
apparently occurring in the black minerals (augite, mica, etc.), while the feldspar whitens. It is very noticeable 
here that grains of pyrite in the stone are generally bright, without patches of rust about them ; one large shaft 
of the stone, finely bushed, has been little affected by the weather. Many of the red-sandstone tombs have 
exfoliated considerably ; there is one curious case of a large tomb of this stone in which ivy had been ti-ained up 
the face of the stone, but the continual peeling oft" of the layers afforded the tendrils no support. 

Forest Hills cemetery. — The marbles are generally white Italian, bases often of Vermont marble. There are 
some very large tombs of marble ; in one of them the Tuckahoe, New York, marble is used. There are a number of 
very beautiful monuments of the polished white Westerly, Ehode Island, granite; many of Concord, Quincy, and 
Eockport granite. The Randolph, Massachusetts, granite, with greenish spots, has been used in several polished 
monuments, and a gneissoid granite also. There are many fine examples of red granites — Scotch, Saint George, and 
Maine. A black granite (diabase) from Addison Point, Maine, has been recently used in a polished monument. 
The brownish-red Quiucy is used in some beautiful shafts; also Shap granite; occasionally red and yellow 
sandstones; Eockport, Concord, Quincy, and other granites for curbing. 

In Mount Hope cemetery there has been nearly a similar use of stone. The Odd Fellows' monument, with largo 
carved granite figures, is of Hallowell granite with two courses of polished red granite ; on the posts in front are 
two polished spheres of Quincy. The Army and Navy monument is a large structure of Concord granite; marble is 
used extensively as before — Quincy, Eockport, Concord, Mason, New Hampshire,Westerly, Eandolph, etc. There are 



STONE CONSTRUCTION IN CITIES. 291 

several monuments of Aberdeen granite, jSTew Brunswick red, etc. The Vinal Haven, Maine, reddish granite has 
been used in polished work, and Hallowell granite also. For curbing, Quincy, Eockport, Hallowell, Chelmsford, 
Milton, and Randolph granites. The red Tennessee marble in a few monuments. 

At Woodlawn cemetery, in Everett, besides Italian, Vermont, and Tennessee marbles, Quincy, Hallowell, and 
others are used. There is considerable use of Vinal Haven granite; in one tomb there is the combination of 
Vinal Haven red, Spruce Head white, and black granite (diabase), all from Maine. Shap granite and the red 
granites are frequent. There is a shaft of dark soap-stone, probably from Andover. 

Weatheking of stones. — The climate of Boston must be one of the most trying ones in the coiuitry for 
building stones, as far as natural atmospheric causes are concerned ; for in the winters there is a more or less 
frequent altei'nation of damp, rainy, and warm days with those of intense cold, while the rain-storms are violent- 
yet the deleterious effects of smoke and other products of certain manufactories are largely wanting; the changes 
ill the stone are hence due to the character of the stone itself, and to the defects in it; at the same time most of the 
stone buildings have not stood long enough to develop a marked change iu the stone. 

The granites have generally been affected by chemical change alone in some of the constituent minerals, as is 
evidenced by a change of color — an effect of a higher degree of oxidation of the iron ; but they have generally not 
crumbled. The Quincy granite, since it is found iu the buildings tluit have stood longest, and since it contains a 
dark feldspar, shows often the signs of change. The stone is of many shades: blue, greenish -blue, pink, reddish, 
brown-gray, and grayish-black, these being the colors of the feldspar, the mineral in which is found the change, if 
there be any. This turns liver-brown, rusted-red, yellow or white; often the whitening of the feldspar, with the 
white look of the quartz, causes the bush-surface to appear almost white. The hornblende seems less frequently 
affected, turning green and rusty brown. Some of the Quincy stone has stood for years without any very noticeable 
change of color. Perhaps the Boston custom-house shows best iu one building the differences in the weathering, 
the color remaining unchanged in some cases, iu others having become a deep brown, differing in the separate blocks, 
and even in different ends of the same block. 

The light granites (Hallowell, Concord, etc.) have naturally not changed much iu color, nor have the buildings 
been standing long. The principal change observed seems to consist in a dull whitening of the feldspar, and an 
occasional rusting of that mineral to a yellow color. The white granite from the vicinity of Chelmsford, which was 
used so extensively in Boston fifty to sixty years ago, shows almost universally in the old buildings a change iu 
the feldspar to a honey-yellow ; this is perhaps in part due to the fact that almost all this gi-anite was then quarried 
from loose bowlders, and of inferior quality to that obtained from ledges. This can be seen in the Massachusetts 
general hospital, the central part of which — erected iu 1S1S-'21, of stone derived presumably from bowlders — shows 
the yellow weathering, while the wings, of stone quarried in IS-IG, are almost unchanged (the garnets scattered 
through some of the old stone have not changed) ; part of this difference may be dne to the difference in the 
date of erection. 

A red granite from Gloucester has not rusted and faded, but it has been but little used in the city. 

The marble buildings have not been standing long and do not generally show a perceptible change, except iu 
the blackening and roughness of the surface. The veined ornamental marbles when exposed out of doors have 
generally suffered by the removal of the softer parts of the veins. This is notably shown in the pedestals, of veined 
.serpentine marble, of the two statues iu front of the city hall — one erected only four the other some twenty-flve 
years ago. The calcite veins in the serpentine have become roughened by the weather, and cracks, which widen 
so that pieces fall out, often form along them ; this is much more marked on the flat surfaces. The green 
Roxbury, Vermont, serpentine, in consideration of its twenty five years' exposure, has stood the weather well. The 
green serpentine used in one building has crumbled on the surfiace like sand. 

The red and yellow sandstones used so extensively in the city vary iu character so greatly, even iu the same 
building, that it is difficult to make general statements. Many years back a great amount of red sandstone from 
the Connecticut valley and elsewhere was brought to Bostou, and can now be seen iu many of the older brick 
houses ; it was generally coarsely stratified, and, moreover, was laid up with the stratification or layers perpendicular 
instead of horizontal, the consequence of which has been a frequent cracking, opening, and falling off of jDieces. 
Where sandstone pillars were thus made, it can often be seen how the split began at the bottom, where the free 
edges of the layers were exposed and worked up. The introduction of better and more homogeneous stone from 
the quarries of the valley, izom New Jersey, and from the provinces, and greater care by the builder, have largely 
done away with this ; yet still cases of scaling off' are seen. The other change in the red sandstones has been in 
the depth of the red color. 

The yellow sandstones of different shades from Xew Brunswick, Xova Scotia, and northern Ohio have been 
very variable in their character, the same quan-ies furnishing apparently both good and bad stones. None but 
homogeneous sandstones of this class have been in general use, and there have been two main changes by 
weathering, exfoliation, and falling oft' of pieces, owing to incoherency of the particles, giving the stone a rough 
.tppearauce ; and also rusting of the iron in the stone. The latter has been most noticeable, and occurs either by a 
uuilbrin change of color in the whole block of stone or only iu patches ; or else there are parallel layers iu the 
stone, some of which rust while others do not ; and consequently when the face of the stone is cut across these 



292 BUILDINa STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

layers we have rusty bauds crossing it at intervals. This can be seen very markedly in some of tlie buildings of 
the city, and poor selection of the stone must be partly the cause. In many buildings, however, the yellow sandstone 
has stood unchanged ; a good example of this is the Washington building, of Nova Scotia stone, erected over 
twenty years ago. 

Occasional changes of color in slated roofs are observable in the city, especially in the green slate, which often 
changes to a yellowish-red. The black slates have rusted, especially in buildings where cheap slate has been used, 
and the purjjle slate changed to reddish; but these seem rare. The Bolton mica-schist, having hard quartziferous 
tongues in the softer rock, has worn down by the passing feet, leaving these tongues in relief in peculiar shapes. 

Movements of the ground have occasionally occurred, especially in the older streets, cracking the sills, and in 
some cases two motions in oj^posite directions appear to have affected one block of stone, cracking it twice. 

BRIDGEPORT, CONNBGTIOUT. 

Portland brownstone is the material usually employed in Bridgeport for the better class of stone construction. 
Gneiss from Greenwich, and granite to a limited extent, are used for the same i)urposes. The foundations and 
underpinnings are of gneiss from the local quarries. A long line of wooden wharves along the water-front is 
backed with stone walls of very rough masonry built of the gneiss from local quarries. The west approach to the 
Central bridge across the harbor is faced with cut stone with a dressed granite coping. The intennediate piers and 
draw-pier are built of the same material. The approach is 300 feet long and 41 feet wide. The railroad draw-pier 
and east abutment are built of Greenwich stone. Bridgeport harbor and Black Rock harbor, both within the city 
limits, have each an extensive breakwater, the first of stone quarried a Jittle north of Lyme on the Connecticut river, 
a quarry not now operated. There is a substantial wall, over half a mile in length, of stone from local quarries. 
The streets are but little paved with stone ; the material used is trap-rock from New Haven. Many of the sidewalks 
are paved with North River blue-stone, and the curbs are of the same material, with some gneiss. 

BURLINGTON, IOWA. 

Most of the limestone quarried in Burlington disintegrates and exfoliates on protracted exposure to the weather 
and to the action of frost. It appears, however, to be tolerably durable when protected as in underground work. 
This imijerfection of the stone, the cost of transporting better building stone, and the cheapness of lumber and 
brick — the city having access to extensive lumber regions on the Mississippi river, which is the natural route of 
communication with the northern pineries — have very much restricted the use of stone. The banks of the 
Mississippi in this region are covered with loess or rearranged drift material suitable for the manufacture of 
brick. This has also had its effect in preventing the use of stone as a building juaterial. There are no natural 
obstacles to the use of heavy building materials. The substratum which is found at a limited depth being formed 
more or less with compact limestones, the glacial drift and calcareous clays forming the superficial soil are 
themselves so compact and firm as to largely obviate the necessity of iiaviug the streets. The city sewers are the 
most important works in which stone is employed. They are mainly constructed of limestone quarried within the 
city limits, either by quarrymen in temporary quarries, or by contractors in grading streets. There are some 
sidewalk pavements of limestone flagging from Sagetowo, Illinois, and Mount Pleasant, Iowa. 

CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS. 

The materials employed for the better class of construction in Cambridge are Quincy, Rookport, and Concord 
granites, Somerville diabase or trap, Somerville slate, and Roxburj^ conglomerate. The foundations are of slate 
from the Somerville quarry, and diabase from the same place, with some granite from Rockport and Quincy. 
The underpinnings are built of granite from Rockport, Concord, and Spruce Head, in Maine. The soldiers' 
monument on the common is built of Mason, New Hampshire, granite. For posts, the Somerville diabase, and 
Rockport, Quincy, and Concord granites have been extensively used. In the sewers the Somerville slate has been 
employed for the sides, and slate and granite for the top. For the stones at the entrance to the catch-basin 
Rockport granite and North River blue-stone have been used. There are no stone bridges of large size. In the sea- 
walls about East Cambridge the Somerville diabase has been largely used. There are about a hundred miles of 
graded streets in this city, and about 2 miles are paved with granite chiefly from Quincy ; three-quarters of a mile is 
paved with cobble-stones. A few of the sidewalks are paved with the North River blue-stone ; the curbs axe of 
Rockport granite with a very little blue-stone. 

CAMDEN, NEW JERSEY. 

The materials used for stone construction in Camden are, for foundations and underpinnings, gneiss from the 
quarries near Chester, Pennsylvania, and sandstone from Greensburg, New Jersey. For the better class of stone 
construction serpentine from Delaware county, Pennsylvania, Vermont marble, Trenton freestone, Connecticut 
brownstone, and Ohio sandstone are used. Philadelphia pressed bricks are the material chiefly used in the walls 



STONE CONSTRUCTION IN CITIES. 293 

of buildings. The Oliio saudstone, used to n limited extent, is well esteemed liere. Berea, Ohio, stone was used in 
the coustructiou of the court-house. The serpentine tends to crumble and split iu winter, and breaks under heavy 
pressure. The streets are largely paved with stone, and in the portions which are paved with rectangular blocks 
Connecticut stone is used. Much of the pavement is cobblestone from the Delaware river above Trenton, but 
thei-e is but little stone sidewalk jjavement, brick being the material mostly used for sidewalks. Slate from Lehigh 
county, Pennsylvania, is used to some extent for this purpose, and also trap-rock quarried near Lambertville ; the 
curbs are of Connecticut granite. 

CAKTON, OHIO. 

Canton is situated but a few miles from the important and extensive stone quarries located on the Massillou 
sandstone at Massillon. It is almost the only material used in stone construction in this city. In a few instances, 
where very fine carving and finishing were desired, Berea and Amherst sandstones were used, as the Massillon 
stone is too coarse-grained to answer well for these purposes. There are but four or five buildings in Canton 
entirely of stone; a few have fronts of stone as high as the second story, and quite a number have much stone in 
their composition in the way of corners and heavy caps and sills. The stone sidewalk pavement is almost entirely 
of Berea sandstone. The Massillou sandstone is not often found in layers of convenient dimensions for paving 
flags. The streets are largely jjaved with stone, cobble-stones from the drift near the city being used. 

CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA. 

The stone from the local quarries is practically worthless for purposes of construction, and the freight is such 
on the AiKimosa limestone as to render it too costlj^ to compete with brick and timber. Much of the Anamosa 
material is objectionable on account of lack of strength and durabilitj-. The Farley stone is better, being more 
nniforndy good, but the cost of shipment prevents its extensive use. Some stone has been moved from near Mount 
Vernon to Cedar Rapids within the last year or two. In some cases builders have placed Anamosa limestone on 
edge in caps, sills, corners, etc., of brick buildings with the result, which might have been foreseen, of causing its 
gradual exfoliation and separ'ation into extremely thin laminae. Much of the stone is indeed unfit for curbstones on 
account of its tendency to exfoliate on exposure. The piers of one or two bridges across the Cedar river are of 
limestone from Anamosa. Magnesian limestone of Niagara age, quarried at Stone City, Jones county, Iowa, was 
used in the construction of the Carpenter block. Third Ward school-house, city jail, and post-ofSce. There are no 
other important stone structures. Caps, sills, water-tables, etc., are of Anamosa limestone ; the bases for monuments, 
and a few curbstones, are from Farlej', although the Anamosa limestone is also used to some extent for these 
purposes. The streets are not paved ; there are a few blocks having stone sidewalk pavements of Anamosa 
limestone ; curbs are of Anamosa and Farley limestones. 

CHATTANOOGA, TENNESSEE. 

In the city of Chattanooga stone is just coming to be used to a considerable extent for purposes of construction. 
In the valley where the city is located there are two formations of Lower Silurian age, the Nashville and Trenton, 
and the Knox or Quebec dolomite. The latter has been used to some extent, but is rather cherty, though some of 
its courses apiiroach marble in quality. The stone chiefly used is that classed by Professor Saftbrd as the Maclure 
limestone, from its large fossil, Macluria magna. There are several quarries of this stone in the vicinity of the city. 
The old quarry near the Chickamauga station, of what was called by the soldiers Chattanooga marble, is in Georgia, 
and is objectionable on account of having seams in it which cause it to disintegrate by the action of frost. 

The pillars of the Union depot are built of this stone, but in additions which were made to the building the 
material was rejected and that from a local quarry was used. The growth of Chattanooga has been very rapid, and 
brick has been chiefly employed for fronts, but stone is growing daily more and more important as a material for 
construction. The pillars and ornamental parts of the court-house are of Knoxville marble, the basement of local 
stone. The only private residence entirely of stone is of a common limestone from local quarries. This stone is 
largely used for steps, caps, sills, and other trimmings ; it is also much used for foundations. The front of the old 
post-ofiice, now occupied by the offices of the Cincinnati Southern Railroad Company, is of a yellow saudstone from 
the line of the Alabama Southern railway. It is soft when first quarried, and easily wrought, but becomes hard on 
exposure and resists the action of the weather quite well.. It is easy to get good foundations in Chattanooga, as 
limestone usually lies near the surface. There are, however, marshy places that have been filled in, but a few feet 
of digging reaches the stone. Rolling-mills and blast-furnaces all have solid foundations of stone. The front of 
the First National bank is built from stone from a local quarry. The quarries from which material for foundations 
and underpinnings are obtained are situated from 2 to 8 miles from the city. The streets are macadamized with 
this same material, and there is some sroue sidewalk pavement of limestone from local quarries, with curbs of the 
same material. Piers of all the bridges iu the vicinity are constructed of this limestone. 



294 BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

CHELSEA, MASSACHUSETTS. 

There are only two buildings iu Chelsea entirely of stone (the material used is what is called " mortar-stone"), 
and two have stone fronts. Those entirely of stone are built of a calcareous roct fountl in the vicinity. There are 
two fronts of Cape Ann granite. The foundations and underpinnings are of Cape Ann and Quincy granite. But 
few of the streets are paved with stone, and the material used is Cape Ann and Quincy granite. The sidewalks 
are not j)aved with stone; curbs are of Cape Ann granite. 

CHESTER, PENNSYLVANIA. 

The only stone exposed in the vicinity of Chester is the gneiss, on which there are several quarries of considerable 
importance ; these quarries iurnish almost all the stone for building purposes in the city. In the bridge abutments, 
however, some Port Deposit gneiss is used in combination with the gneiss quarried in the vicinity. The streets are 
paved with stone to a limited extent, the material used being cobbles from the Delaware river and rubble from the 
gneiss quarries in the vicinity. Stone is but little used for sidewalk pavements, brick being ordinarily employed 
for this purpose. In such sidewalks as are i)aved with stone the North Eiver blue-stone is used. 

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 

By .T. S. F. Batchen. 
LIMESTONE. 

The principal stone used iu construction in Chicago is the Niagara limestone. The city is supplied with this 
stone from the various quarries located around Lemont, Cook county. It is brought to the city by means of canal- 
boats and is unloaded at the docks of the various quarry companies bj' means of horse or steam-power derricks. 
It is also brought from Bedford, Indiana. 

The material is used as building, dimension, and rubble stone. The first is used in buildings as cut stone, and 
is of the best quality. The dimension stone is of an inferior quality, yellowish, and generally harder than that 
used for building purposes, and is used for vault covers, flagging, curbing, and sawed window-sills ; roof-coping 
is made from a variety of this stone varying from 1-J to 3 inches in thickness. This quality of stone frequently 
contains nodules or layers of flint, which occasion some trouble in working ; in other places it assumes a siliceous, 
even flinty, character. This and its yellowish color do not, however, lessen its value for the above-named purposes. 

The stone used for rubble is generally of the second class, although frequently first-class stone too small for 
building purposes is used. This quality is the only stone used in the city for foundations. The stone when sold to 
contractors is in large blocks or slabs; these are broken into suitable pieces for .cutting by means of hand-churn 
drills, with which holes 3 or 4 inches in depth and from 4 to 5 inches apart are made in the stone, and the separation 
is made by use of wedges and feathers. Frequently the stone is stunned here and there by the pressure of the 
shoulder of the steel wedges. This part, although generally seeming as perfect as the rest Of the stone, under 
atmospheric influences frequently scales or drops off and is condemned, when it is really the fault of the handling. 

The Lemont limestone is known to some architects as Joliet limestone, but with no valid reason, as, 
although there are a number of limestone quarries at Joliet, the stone which supplies Chicago is from Lemont, Cook 
county, excepting occasionally when cut-stone contracts are let to the state penitentiary, when the stone used 
there comes from that locality. In letting contracts the stone of any i)articular quarry is seldom specified, but is 
referred to as the best quality of Joliet or Lemont limestone ; the stone from the different quarries differs very 
slightly, if at all, that from several of the quarries having a yellowish color. The stone used in the construction of 
the county part of the court-house is from the lighter-colored stone. 

The limestones of Cook county harden upon exposure to the atmosphere for any length of time, and are easiest 
worked when newly quarried. The stone also becomes slightly yellowish with age, the softer varieties being always 
the whitest, while those which have a tendency to hardness have generally a slight yellowish or cream color. Any 
stones which are very hard to work are made much softer by soaking them in water for some time, or even by 
throwing water on the stone. The Lemont quarries furnished the first stone used in construction in this city, 
and for the length of time it has been in use seems to stand atmospheric influences and sudden changes of 
temperature very well, although the stone of some buildings has a tendency to scale off here and there, more 
especially the stone cut entirely by hand iu structures which have been built for some length of time, which 
may probably be accounted for on the following hypothesis, viz : the stone when given to the workmen to 
dress, after being drafted is pointed, then axed, and then bush-hammered, the two latter tools weighing from 
8 to 12 pounds, and when used probably striking a blow of from 150 to 2U0 pounds at least, so that the part on 
which these tools have been used, although seemingly as perfect as the rest of the stone, is probably stunned to 



STONE CONSTRUCTION IN CITIES. 295 

the depth of from oue-sixteeuth to oue-eighth of au iuch, and even as deep as oue-quarter of an iuch, which ouly 
requires time and atmospheric influences to cause it to scale or drop off, showing a ragged surface ; this theory has 
been strengthened by the fact that stones in which the face has been sawed by machinery never show the slightest 
tendency to scale, while those dressed with tooth-ax and bush-hammered generally scale off, though sometimes very 
slightly. There are iu this city about 40 cut-stone yards, of whom about one-half use machinery, as saws and 
rubbing-beds. 

This limestone is never polished. The slightly-yellowish color which the stone takes after years of exposure, 
and which the poorer varieties, those which are used for vault covers, flagging, and window-sills, have when quarried, 
are probably caused by sulphide of iron, this brilliant mineral being frequently found in the natural seams and 
crevices, aud between the different strata of stone ; light greenish veins are frequently noticed in the stone similar 
to the veins in white marble. 

Quarries of this stone (Lemont limestone) at Bridgeport and along the western city limits produce large 
quantities of excellent quicklime. 

In laying the water and sewer pipes iu this part of the city the rock has frequently to be blasted to enable the 
pipes to be laid to a sufficient depth to protect them from the frost. About two-thirds of the stone used for sidewalks 
is dressed by means of steam-planers. A large amount of other stone-cutting, such as moldings on cornices, etc., is 
done by means of machinery. 

Oolitic luiestone. — Blue oolitic limestone from Bedford, and a buff-colored oolitic limestone from Avoca, 
Lawrence county, Indiana, have been used somewhat iu the city within the last few years. When stone was 
selected for the construction of the city part of the new court-house, the choice was finally awarded to this stone, 
and its being used in the city hall immediately led to its use in a number of other buildings in the city. The buff 
oolitic limestone from Avoca is not used so frequently as the blue oolitic from Bedford, in the same county, but 
this may be accounted for by the fact that the latter was used in the coustructiou of the new city hall. When first 
bnilt the structures in which either of these two stones (blue or buff oolitic limestone) were used looked very well, 
but in a short time they became dark and dirty looking, more especially the buildings in the business or commercial 
part of the city. 

Sandstone. — The sandstone known by the general name of Waverly sandstone or Ohio freestone is brought 
to the city from the various quarries at Berea, Columbia, Berlin, Amherst, Waverly, and other i)laces iu the state of 
Ohio, and is used in some of the largest structures in the city. That from Berea and Amherst, of a bluish-gray 
color, is very largely used in the mills and factories of the city for grindstones. What is known as blue Columbia 
sandstone, from Columbia, Ohio, although furnishing one of the finest building stones used in the city, is remarkable 
for the rapidity with which it will become stained with rust (ferric oxide). In sawing the stone into slabs the greatest 
care is necessary ; the sawing of the blocks is generally begun early in the day, so that they can be sawed entirely 
through without stopping; when taken from under the saw-blades the cut which the saws have made is well 
washed with clean water. When the stone was first used in the city, or when sawed by parties unacquainted 
with this peculiarity, the saws were often allowed to remain at rest between the slabs over night ; when the slabs 
wei'e removed and opened up, a stain of iron rust the full length and breadth of the saw blade, and which 
l)euetrated the stone from one-third to one-half of an inch, was found, which could only be removed by cutting out 
the part stained. The laying of a wet chisel or anj' piece of wet iron on the stone for a few hours is sufficient to 
cause a similar stain. 

Sandstone from Buena Vista, Ohio, has been used in the construction of the Chicago custom-house, and for a 
number of other buildings in the city. In the custom-house the stone contains large numbers of spots of iron 
pyrites, resembling those found in Aux Sable stone. They are removed by cutting out the spot with a chisel and 
then filling the cavity with a mixture of stone dust and liquid shellac, which very soon falls or crumbles out, 
leaving the original cavity. The stone also stands exposure very poorly, splitting or falling off in large scales 
or flakes aud crumbling away until the original sharp outline is completely lost; the scales which fall off have the 
peculiarity of being exactly the same on the upper and lower sides; and should the stone be what is known as 
<li-oved, the scale follows exactly the depressions which the chisel has made. Several attempts have been made to 
coat or paint the stone with some composition which would protect it from the air, but have not been very successful. 

Sandstone from Aux Sable, Grundy county, Illinois, is used somewhat for building purposes. It is of a light 
grayish-white color, and is very easily dressed — in fact the easiest of any used in the city. It contains large 
quantities of small scales of mica. The stone contains sometimes iron pyrites ; the iron under atmospheric influences, 
and especially when wet, causes the stone to stain with iron rust wherever the pyrites appear ; if the stone is 
protected from the action of water and air no rust stain appears. 

A number of buildings have been constructed in which this stone is used, together with Lemont limestone, as, 
for instance, caps of limestone and the keystone of Aux Sable sandstone. The contrast afi'orded by the two stones 
has a very pleasing effect. Aux Sable stone, when crushed to a fine powder and mixed to a thick dough with 
■water, forms a very good fire-brick lining for furnaces, etc. 

Brown or mottled sandstones, from Lake Superior, ilichigan, were introduced about 1870. The stone is generally 
of a rich, deep, reddish-brown color, and may be favorably compared with the brown freestones of Connecticut and 



296 BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

jSTew Jersey. There are, however, some exceptious, the stone of some quarries being very coarse and grittj", and 
sometimes containing iiinty i^ebbles varying in weight from a few grains to two or three ounces ; these are generally 
very loose, and when struck by the chisel in cutting the stone fly out, leaving a cavity which has to be filled with 
a mixture of brownstone dust and liquid shellac. The varietycoutainiug these pebbles also contains numbers of 
cavities or pockets filled with clay, iron ore, or a reddish clay, which with water forms a reddish mud. These 
defects are only found in stone from particular quarries, and can be altogether avoided. The quarries which 
l^riucipally supply the city are those at Marquette and at L'Ause, Michigan; the stone since its introduction has 
been very generally used and is we'll liked. A peculiarity of Michigan brown sandstone is the fact that the stone 
from almost every quarry is spotted here and there with white spots (generally round), varying in size from the 
size of a small pea to 12 or 18 inches in diameter, though the latter are not very frequent. Various means have 
been tried to color the spots the same as the rest of the stone, but without success, as whatever is used is soon 
washed out when exposed to the weather. These spots appear to be of exactly the same composition as the rest of 
the stone, with the exception that they are uncolored and appear as if they had been touched by a drop or globule 
of some oil which had xjrevented the adhering of the coloring matter which had colored the rest of the stone; in 
this they resemble that which takes place in obtaining oleographs of the different oils, as in Tomlinson's cohesion 
figures. 

Within the last two or three years stones as regularly spotted as possible to obtain have been used as a building 
stone, which gives the building a mottled red and white appearance, which looks very well. The spots seem to stand 
as well as the colored parts of the stone. 

Brown sandstones from Portland and Middlesex, Connecticut, and from New Jersey, are used in a number of 
instances but not in large quantities. Those of Michigan are much more used. The cost of worJnng all the 
sandstones used in Chicago during frost is double wliat it cost to dress the same stone during warm weather — as 
the stone which, during warm weather, is a freestone and very easily dressed, under the influence of frost becomes 
hard, dense, and tough, becoming like lead. Should the weather be very cold the cutting of the stone is entirely 
discontinued. No matter how dry it may be the advent of frost causes it to become harder and tougher in working. 
The frost does not appear to have any permanent effect, as on the return of warm weather it again resumes its- 
normal aijpearance. Machinei'y is not used at all in the dressing of sandstone excepting to saw it into 4-, C-, or 8-inch 
slabs. 

Granites. — Granites are pretty generally used for ornamental purposes, as for columns, pilasters, monuments, 
and in one or two instances for sidewalks ; but there is only one building constructed entirely of granite in the city — 
that of the Chamber of Commerce — and one other constructed with granite front. Those principally used are blue or 
grayish granite from Aberdeen, and a reddish granite or syenite from Peterhead, Aberdeenshire, Scotland ; granites 
largely used for monuments and columns and caiJS from the Chicago and Wisconsin Granite Comi^any, Waterloo, 
Jefferson county, Wisconsin; the Westerly Granite Company, Westerly, Ehode Island; from the quarries at Fox 
island and Hallowell, Maine, and from Henrico countj', Virginia, and Moundville, Marquette county, Wisconsin. 
None of these granites aie used in any large quantity, but only here and there, excepting those of Fox island aud 
Hallowell, Maine, which are used in the Court-house and the Chamber of Commerce buildings. 

Marbles. — The marbles of Eutland, Vermont, are largely used in interior work, as mantels, tiles, etc., together 
with red marbles from Tennessee, Mexican onyx, Belgium black from Brussels, and several marbles from Italy. 

All the prominent buildings of Chicago have been erected since the fire of October 9, 1871, and are therefore 
comparatively new. 

In using the stone from the Lemont, Cook county, quarries it is brought to the city during the summer in large 
quantities, so as to be seasoned before the approach of frost. Thousands of dollars' worth of this stone are lost 
annually to contractors who have ijurchased stone which has been quarried too late (or what is known to the trade 
as greenstone), and which a sudden sharp frost causes to crack and burst in every direction, and making it 
worthless for any puri^ose. When the stone is once seasoned no amount of cold has any effect on it. In some 
instances if the stone is not disturbed till warm weather the cracks appear to close up. 

Stone-woek of some of the prominent public and private buildings. — The court-house consists of 
two parts, the county part and the city i)art. The county part is chiefly constructed of Lemont limestone. The 
columns and other granite work are of Fox Island, Maine, granite. In the construction of the city part Bedford, 
Indiana, oolitic limestone was used; the foundations are of Lemont limestone; columns and other granite work 
of Fox Island, Maine, granite. The interior ornamental stone-work is chiefly of marble from Eutland, Vermont. 
Cook County hospital is constructed of Lemont limestone. The custom-house and post-office building is of Buena 
Vista freestone from the quarry located near the Ohio river, about 100 miles above Cincinnati ; there were used 
467,445 cubic feet of rough Buena Vista stone ; there were used in the pier foundations 48,731 cubic feet of Lemont 
limestone; foundations of Lemont limestone; the stoue used for vault covers aud sidewalks is Maine granite. 
John B. Sherman's residence is of blue sub-Carboniferous sandstone from Columbia, Ohio; foundations of Lemont 
limestone, with polished columns of granite from Quincy, Massachusetts. The Chamber of Commerce building 
has a superstructure chiefly of granite; three fronts are of Fox Island, Maine, granite, and the rear wall is of 
Hallowell granite; foundations of Lemont limestone. The Palmer house is of Amherst, Ohio, sandstone; Lemont 



STONE CONSTRUCTION IN CITIES. 297 

limestoue foundations. . The Mackiu hotel is of Amherst, Ohio, sandstone; foundations of Lemont limestone. The- 
Grand Pacific hotel, on the block bounded by Clark, Jackson, Quiucj", and La Salle streets, ha.s three fronts 
of Amherst, Ohio, stone ; foundations of Lemont limestoue. The Sherman house, corner of Clark and Eandolph 
streets, is of sandstone from Kankakee, Illinois, which is injuriously affected by reason of the iron pyrites in its 
composition ; foundations of Lemont limestone. The First National bank has marble counters and floor-tiling of 
red Tennessee and Eutlaud, Vermont, marble; in the sufierstructure blue oolitic limestone from Bedford and buff 
oolitic sandstone from Avoca, Indiana, were used; the foundations are of Lemont limestone; the granite work is 
of Jonesboro', Maine, red granite. Saint Luke's hospital : blue oolitic limestoue from Bedford, Indiana ; foundations 
of Lemont limestoue. Saiut Paul Universalist church : Lemont limestone. "West Side water- works: cut stone is 
Bedford, Indiana, oolitic limestoue ; foundations of Lemont limestone. ZSTorth Side water-works : rock-faced with 
Lemont limestone; foundations of same material. Academy of Music : Lemont limestone. Northwestern Eailway 
depot: sandstone from a quarrj- belonging to this road on lake Huron was used; foundations of Lemont limestone. 
Haverly's theater: Lemont limestoue. Depot of Chicago, Eock Island, and Pacific, and Lake Shore and Michigan 
Southern railroads is rock-faced with Lemont limestone; foundations of same material. The Union League 
club-house: brown sandstone from Springfield, Massachusetts; the underpinnings are of the Bedford, Indiana, 
blue oolitic limestone ; foundations of Lemont limestone. Central Music hall: Lemont limestone; foundations of 
same material ; the interior ornamentation is of Eutland, Vermont, marble and Mexican onyx ; the polished columns 
are of granite from Eed Beach, Maine, and Quincy, Massachusetts. In the Stephen A. Douglas monument the 
foundation and tomb, tlie coping, sidewalk, and terrace wall are of Lemont limestone ; the j^edestals and other 
granite work of Fox Island, Maine, granite. The armory of First Eegimeut, I. N. G.: Lemont limestone. Office 
of the Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy Eailroad Company, corner of Franklin and Adams streets : Bedford,. 
Indiana, blue oolitic limestone; foundations of Lemont limestone; sidewalks of the latter material; white Italian 
statuary marble, black marble from Brussels, Belgium, and red Tennessee marble were used. Calumet club-house: 
Bedford, Indiana, limestone ; foundations, Lemont limestone. Chicago university : rock-faced with Lemont limestone j 
foundations of the same material. A. G. Byram's residence : Avoca, Indiana, oolitic limestone ; foundations of Lemont 
limestone. M. L. Wilson's residence: Lemont limestone ; foundations of sfime material. Block of residences from 
1200 to 1210 State street : Amherst, Ohio, sandstone ; foundations of Lemont limestone. Store 302 west Madison 
street: Buena Vista, Ohio, freestone; foundations of Lemont limestone. Store on Wabash avenue, near Van Bureu 
street: Lemont limestone. Eesidence, Adams and Lincoln streets: Lemont limestone. Eesidence corner of Eush 
and Illinois streets: Berlin, Ohio, sandstone; foundations of Lemont limestone. Wickerson residence: Amherst, 
Ohio, sandstone; foundations of Lemont limestone. Eesidence, o49 and 551 west Van Bureu street : Lemont limestoue 
and granite from Peterhead, Aberdeenshire, Scotland ; foundations of Lemont limestone. Eesidence, Adams street, 
near Lincoln street : Lemont limestone. Williams building, Wabash avenue and Monroe street, Amherst, Ohio, 
.sandstone; foundations of Lemont limestone. Taylor building, 140 Monroe street: Bedford, Indiana, oolitic limestone; 
foundations of Lemont limestone. Adams building, Adams street and Wabash avenue: Amherst, Ohio, sandstone ; 
foundations of Lemont limestone. Eesidence of C. P. Libby : brown sandstone from Marquette, Michigan ; foundations 
of Lemont limestone. Eesidence of W. F. Storey, Chicago Times, in process of construction: blue marble, Pittsford, 
Vermout; foundations of Lemont limestoue. Boise block, northeast corner of State and Madison streets: partly of 
Lake Superior brownstone and i^artly of stone from the bed of Oswego river, New York; the two kinds of brown 
sandstone from these localities, so widely distant from each other, are .so much alike that they are used together 
indiscriminately ; they are both of Potsdam age ; foundations of Lemont limestone. B. P. Moulton's residence, 
Niueteench street and Prairie avenue : brown sandstone from jMiddlesex, Connecticut ; foundations of Lemont 
limestone. Potter Palmer's residence : ashlar of brownstone from Portland, Connecticut, and granite from Marquette 
county, Wisconsin ; trimmings of Amherst, Ohio, sandstone ; underpinnings of limestone from Trinity bay, Canada ; 
foundations of Lemont limestone. Houore block : Lemont limestone ; Howland block: Cleveland, Ohio, sandstone; 
foundations of Lemont limestone. Merchants' building, northwest corner of La Salle and Washington streets : 
Buena Vista, Ohio, stone; foundations of Lemont limestone. Dore block: BueuaVista, Ohio, sandstone; foundations 
of Lemont limestone. Eeid block : Lemont limestone. Union building, southwest corner of La Salle and Washington 
streets: sandstone from An Sable, Grundy county, Illinois; foundations of Lemont limestone. Speed block, on 
Dearborn street, between Madison and Washington streets: Bedford, Indiana, oolitic limestone; foundations of 
Lemont limestone. Booksellers' row: Lemont limestone. Montauk block: Bedford, Indiana, oolitic limestone; 
foundations of Lemont limestoue. Grannis block. Dearborn, between Washington and Madison streets: Bedford,. 
Indiana, oolitic limestone; foundations of Lemont limestone; columns of gray granite from Quincy, Massachusetts, 
and red granite from Peterhead, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Borden block, not thwest corner of Dearborn and 
Eandolph streets : Berlin, Ohio, .sub-Carboniferous sandstone ; foundations of Lemont limestone. Eyersou building, 
corner of Washington avenue and Adams -street : Bedford, Indiana, oolitic limestone ; foundations of Lemont 
limestone. Schufeldt residence. Dearborn street and Lincoln 2'ark : green serpentine from Chester county, 
Pennsylvania ; foundations of Lemont limestone. This is the only building in Chicago constructed of Chestei 
county, Pennsylvania, serxjentine. 



298 BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

CINCINNATI, OHIO. 

Cinciimati is built on ground of the great limestone formation which takes its name from this city, and which 
is sufliciently durable for foundations when kept below the surface of the earth. In some places in the city the 
ground is unfavorable to heavy building, as the shales in the hill slopes give way under heavy pressure. For the 
better class of stone construction sandstone from Portsmouth and the Amherst and Berea quarries, and limestone 
from Dayton from different points in Indiana, and from the home quarries, and granite from Maine and from 
Missouri are used. For foundations and underpinnings, beside the limestone quarried in the vicinity, some 
limestone from Dayton and from points in Indiana, and freestone from the vicinity of Portsmouth, are used. The 
abutments of bridges over the Ohio river are built of limestone from the home quarries and from Dayton, from 
points in Indiana, and sandstone from the vicinity of Portsmouth. The streets are largely paved with cobble-stone, 
but many of the streets and roadways are macadamized with the native limestone. There is considerable stone 
sidewalk pavement, and the material used for this purpose is the freestone from the vicinity of Portsmouth ; also, 
to a limited extent, limestone from the home quarries and from Dayton, and of late years the remarkably even- 
Ijedded limestone of the Helderberg formation from Greenfield, in Highland county, has been largely used. The 
following are some of the principal structures in Cincinnati, with the stones used in their construction : In the 
custom-house, limestone of Niagara age and granite from Missouri and from Vinal Haven, Knox county, Maine, 
were used; in Pike's opera house, the Gibson house, and Shillito's block, freestone from Scioto county was used; 
in the Sinton building. Trust Company's bank, and Johnson's building, freestone from Eockville, Adams county, 
was used. 

CLEVELAND, OHIO. 

Cleveland is situated within easy reach of all the celebrated quarries of thfe Waverly sandstone in northern Ohio, 
and nearly all of its stone construction is of this material. The Amherst sandstone is used almost exclusively for the 
superstructure of stone buildings. The Euclid blue-stone has not been used in any important structures. In the 
construction of the city hall, sandstone from Independence, Cuyahoga county, was used ; Beckman's buildings, 
Exchange buildings, hotel Madison, Bronson's block, and the court-house, are of Berea stone. The soldiers' 
monument is of granite from Woodbury, Washington county, Vermont. The Amherst stone is deemed liere the 
best for superstructures and trimmings of buildings; the Berea stone best for bridge-building purposes; the east 
Cleveland building stone best for foundations and underpinnings; the Euclid blue-stone best for sidewalk paving; 
the Medina sandstone, from Medina, New York, is used in a few structures; foundations aud underpinnings are of 
local sandstones. The streets are largely paved with stone, and the material used for this purpose is the Medina 
sandstone. The sidewalks are nearly all paved with stone, and the material used is blue-stone from Euclid and 
Newburgh; also to some extent sandstone from Berea. The stone commonly used for curbstones is the Medina* 
sandstone, while bridge piers and abutments are mostly built of Berea sandstone. The stone used in the construction 
of the Cleveland viaduct is from the Berea quarries. 

COLUMBUS, OHIO. 

Columbus is built mostly on ground made by the glacial drift, which covers a considerable portion of the 
surrounding country. The greater portion of the site of the city is on ground well elevated above the Scioto river, 
affording facilities for drainage, and the drift formation furnishes cobble-stones for street pavements aud gravel for 
roadways. That portion of the site, however, which lies west of the Scioto river is on a low, alluvial bottom, but 
little elevated above the surface of the river, and i^rotected by levees which prevent its inundation when the waters 
of the I'iver are high. In the extreme western portion of the city limits the Corniferous limestone forms a rather 
abrupt bluff, and on it are located extensive quarries, where most of the material used for all building purposes in 
Columbus is obtained. This material was used in the construction of the Ohio state-house, and in the colonnade 
surrounding the building the columns are constructed of blocks from a coiirse of this limestone which comes from 
near the bottom of the ledge. The walls of the Ohio state prison are also of this stone. The sandstone from the 
Waverly formation is used to some extent, and the material is obtained at Berea, near Portsmouth, Black Lick, and 
Eeynoldsburg. The Dayton limestone of Niagara age is used in a few instances, chiefly for trimmings. Saint 
Joseph's cathedral is built of stone from the Waverly conglomerate, quarried near Lancaster, and some of the material 
obtained from the Newark quarries is also used. It is worthy of remark here that there are three formations, the 
exposures of which pass north and south within a few miles of Columbus, all being important sources of building 
material. Beginning at the east, appears the Waverly conglomerate, next westward the lower Waverly. There 
is then an interval of several miles of Hudson shales, after which, immediately west of Columbus, the great ledge of 
Corniferous limestone is exposed, of good quality for general building purposes, and readily accessible to the city. 
Among the other prominent stone structures in Columbus are the Ohio blind asylum, built of Waverly sandstone 
quarried near Eeynoldsburg, 10 miles east of Columbus; Trinity church and the Kelly residence are of Waverly 
sandstone from Piketon, Pike county; First National Bank building, McCune block, and Nuthoff block are of 
Waverly freestone from Rush township, 12 miles from Portsmouth ; and the basement aud trimmings of the 
Ohio state university are of Amherst freestone. 



STONE CONSTRUCTION IN CITIES. 299 

COXGORD, NEW HAMPSHIRE. 

The seven stone buildings in Concord are constructed of the well-known Concord granite, the quarries of which 
in the vicinity of the city furnish nearly all the material for stone construction at this place. All tbe buildings 
erected of stone in Concord and iu Nashua are in excellent condition — no discoloration or decomposition, though 
the joints in the Concord quarries carry a slight discoloration down to the lowest depth. The substratum is 
occasionally rock, but usually sand. Brick is the most common material used for building purposes in these 
cities. The fact that stone construction is more expensive than that of brick or wood rules it out of use here, except 
for some public buildings. The following is a list of the stone structures in Concord: The state-house, state ])ri.son, 
■church in West Concord, Ward & Humphrey's storehouse, two dwelling-houses, and Saint Paul's school building. 
The street in front of the Phoenix block is paved with Concord granite. There is much concrete used for street 
paving and sidewalks ; the curbs are of granite from the native quai-ries. 

C LTMBERLANU, MARYLAND. 

The only stones used for construction in Cumberland are Medina and Oriskany sandstones, of which there Is 
an abundant supply in the immediate vicinity, and limestone quarried at Iron's mountain, on the old town road, 
about 3 miles from Cumberland. The chief uses to which stoue has been put in the vicinity of Cumberland have been 
in the construction of canal walls and locks and dams. The Erett's Creek aqueduct, below the town, is also a good 
specimen of f-tone masonry, and is constructed of the limestone from Iron's mountaiu. The Medina or white sandstone 
is an admirable building stone. It is fine-grained, easily worked, and especially adapted to situations of exposure 
to the changes of the weather, as it neither scales nor crumbles. One of the finest churches (Presbyterian) is built 
entirely of this material, which is used in foundations, underpinnings, walls, sills, curbing, street-crossings, steps, 
and for capping walls which are built of other stone. The Oriskany or yellow sandstone ranks next as an available 
building stone for use here, and several quarries have been opened within the city limits. This is quite soft and 
is much more easily worked than the Medina stotie, but does not stand exposure so well, and is not as durable. Of 
it also one of the principal churches, the Episcopal, is built. Where great weight is to be sustained, as in the 
foundations in the city hall, the Medina oi' white stone has been preferied; but for underlain nings, walls, window- 
caps, and for nearly every jjurpose, the Oriskany stone has been largely employed. Dressed, for stone fronts, it has 
beeu used to decided advantage in two of the handsomest residences; and in the Rose Hill cemeterj- monumental 
shafts and vaults have been built of it. 

But little limestone has been used here as a building material. The stoue of which the Chesapeake and Ohio 
canal locks, etc., are built was procured 3 miles from Cumberland, and is very durable. The iron sandstone, so called, 
is an iron ore, or rather a ferruginous sandstone, containing about 18 per cent, of metallic iron. This peculiar 
material has been made use of to a limited degree, notably in an extended wall on Washington street, capped 
with white sandstone. It is extremely hard, forms a structure of great durability, and is found in the vicinity. 

DAVENPORT, IOWA. 

Luinber is cheap, and excellent brick may be manufactured in unlimited quantities from the loess which caps 
the river bluffs. The stone found in the vicinity is either of a very uniform quality or of the fine, compact, non- 
magnesian character of the purer strata of the Hamilton formation in Iowa ; which stone is hard, closely -jointed, 
and refractory under the hammer, and in part liable to suffer disintegration under atmospheric agencies, chiefly 
from the action of frost. Stone brought from other localities is a relatively costly material. There are no local 
circumstances unfavorable to the use of any good building stones, and the rock substratum beneath much of the 
■city is peculiarly suitable for the foundations of heavy structures. There are no docks, wharves, fortifications, or 
breakwaters, and no stone sewers. There is an iron bridge across the Mississippi at this jjoint, the piers at the 
Davenport end being of stone. Trinity church is built partly of limestone from the city quarries. The streets are 
largely macadamized with the local limestone, and a few of the sidewalks are paved with Anamosa and Joliet 
limestones. 

DAYTON, OHIO. 

There are small isolated areas of what is called the Dajton limestone, which is of Niagara age, exposed iu the 
vicinity, and it is on this formation that the celebrated Dayton quarries are located. The court-house and bridges 
over the canal and the Miami river are built of stone from the Dayton quarries. Sandstone from Portsmouth 
and Berea is used to a considerable extent, chiefly for trimmings. The streets are largely macadamized with 
limestone from the Dayton quarries, and a few streets are paved with cobble-stones. Many of the sidewalks are. 
paved with local stone. 



300 BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

DENVEE, COLORADO. 

riie Windsor hotel and the Union depot are of rhyolite, the latter trimmed "with Morrison sandstone. The 
Union Pacific freight depot and the Denver and Eio Grande deijot are of rhyolite. The only other stone nsed for- 
building purposes in Denver is sandstone from CaDon City, Manitou, Fort Collins, and Trinidad. The quarries near 
this place lie at the foot of the moimtains to both the north and the south of the city. The stones are white and red 
sandstone obtained from the lower horizons of the Cretaceous ; some of the white sandstones are possibly from the 
Jura. A light pinkish-gray rhyolite which has broken through the Tertiary strata half-way between Denver and 
Colorado Springs is a favorite building stone in Denver; it seems to w-ear well, is easily worked, but will not stand 
fire. The streets are not paved; a few sidewalks are paved with sandstone flags from Fort Collins; curbs are of 
the Morrison sandstone. Bridge piers on Cherry creek and Platte are of rhyolite from Castle Eock. 

DBEBY, CONNECTICUT. 

The material chiefly nsed in Derby for stone construction is the gneiss from Ansonia. Of the twelve stone 
buildings in the city eleven are of the Ansonia gneiss and one of rubble-stone from Birmingham. There is no other 
stone used here except a very small amount of North Eiver blue-stone for sidewalk pavements and for curbstones, 
while the gniess before mentioned is used to a limited extent for the same purposes. The bridge abutments across 
the canal and the Naugatuck river are built of the Ansonia gneiss. There are no paved streets. The Ansonia gneiss 
is a good material for all ordinary purposes of construction, and is the only building stone to be found in the vicinity. 

DES MOINES, IOWA. 

Most of the building stone heretofore employed is from Earlham, all of which, except a single ledge in the Bear 
Creek quarry, is regarded as inferior. It is reported by the city engineer that certain stones from the Earlham 
quarries are durable and strong, while others undistinguishable in appearance disintegrate rapidly. It is probable 
that the rock is not sufficiently seasoned before using. The quarrymen think that little if any seasoning is required. 
Wood is a cheaper building material than stone, as the nearest quarries are so far from Des Moines that freights 
add very materially to the cost. Bubble, whicli costs one cent per cubic foot in the Earlham quarries, costs 5 cents 
per cubic foot delivered in Des Moines. Excellent building stones exist in unlimited quantities in Winterset, in 
Madison county, near Tracy and Pella, in Marion, and at Givin and elsewhere in Mahaska county, at little greater 
distance from Des Moines than is Earlham. The new state capitol now in process of construction, with the 
suijerstructure nearly completed, is the only imjjortant public building in the city. The following is a statement 
of the building stones used in the state capitol, and the number of cubic feet of each kind : 

Cubic feet. 

Granite from Grundy and Marion (bowlders) 6,()59 

Granite, Minnesota 3,034 

Granite from Iron Monntain, Missouri- l.fiOT 

Total 11,300 

Sandstone from Carroll and Saiute Genevieve counties, Missouri 284,259 

Limestone (dimension) - 172,924 

Rubble and concrete 70,136 

Total 527,319 



The rubble comes from Bear Creek quarries, 2^ miles north of Earlham ; the dimension stone to the ground-line 
comes from Wintersex, Madison county ; the limestone dimension, constituting the basement stoiy, comes from 
Northbend, Johnson county; some limestone used in the interior piers of the basement comes from Anamosa, 
Jones county, and some used in the interior columns and pillais comes from Lemont, Illinois, the quantity being 
small. A considerable quantity of limestone trom Eock Creek, Van Buren county, was used in building the 
foundation; but it was found to disintegrate so rapidly under the action of frost that it was afterward removed. 
It appears from reports of various quarrymen that small quantities of stone from localities not above mentioned 
have also been used in the construction of tJie state-house. There are no sewers except temporarj' drains. A 
system of sewerage is now in contemplation, and the paving of the streets is deferred until such sewers are 
completed. There are no wharves; but theie are two iron bridges across the Des Moines river, the piers iind 
abutments of which are of limestone, mainly from Earlham. Of the three railway bridges across the Des Moines 
river, that of the Chicago, Eock Island, and Pacific railroad has piers and abutments constructed mainly from 
Earlham limestone. The streets arc not paved with stone; there is a little sidewalk pavement, of Joliet limestone, 
with curbs of Joliet, Pella, and Earlham stone. 



STONE CONSTRUCTION IN CITIES. 301 

DUBUQUE, IOWA. 

The cityis located upon an alluvial terrace and bottom, the materials of which are sufficiently firm to support 
buildings of any weight, provided care is used in the preparation of the foundations. Lumber is cheap and 
abundant; bricks are cheaj) and are the priucipal material for buildings; but limestone from the local quarries is 
used exclusively in the construction of sewers. There is a cross-street (Seventeenth street) located in the course of 
a ravine heading in the high bluffs to the westward, and in order to prevent destructive overflows it has been graded 
below the ordinary level, paved, and flanked with walls of masonry, so that during freshets the street itself serves 
as a drainage channel. The Galena limestone from the local quarries was employed exclusively in this work. An 
extensive artificial embankment for a levee, used for a wharf and utilized as a site for many important buildings, is 
protected by riprapping, in which the same material is used. The Episcopal church is built partly of limestone 
quarried near Farley station. The material for the abutments of the railioad bridge across the river was largely 
obtained from a tunnel in Galena limestone at the Illinois end of the bridge. The building used as a custom-house 
and post-oflice is constructed of limestone of the age of the Saint Louis formation quarried at JTauvoo, Illinois. 
Five per cent, of the street area is paved with the limestone from local quarries, and other streets are macadamized 
with the same material ; except on the main street there is but little sidewalk pavement, and the material used is 
limestone from Auamosa and Farley, in Iowa, and Jobet, Illinois, and to a very limited extent the blue limestone 
of Trenton age from quarries 15 miles north of the city, on the Wisconsin side of the river. 

EASTOX, PENNSYLVANIA. 

Easton is situated on moderately uneven ground, portions of the town being located on low ground on the banks 
of the Lehigh and the Delaware rivers, the junction of which is here, but the greater part is built on ground 
considerably elevated above the rivers. The surface everywhere oflers firm and secure foundations. The limestone 
quarried in the vicinity is the material used for all ordinary purposes of construction. It is about the lowest 
limestone in the geological scale within the limits of Pennsylvania, being probably the bottom of the Siluro- 
Cambrian formation. The brownstone quarries of Triassic age located in New Jersey are readily accessible from 
here, and are considerably drawn on for building material by Easton. The principal stone buildings are Pardee 
hall, of Trenton sandstone, with Ohio sandstone trimmings ; several churches are also of Trenton sandstone, and 
the front of the jail is of the same material. The Wyoming blue-stone from near Meshoppen is now being introduced 
for trimmings. The stone sidewalk pavement is not extensive, and the materials used for this purpose are Wyoming 
blue-stone, and North Eiver and Lehigh slate. Curbstones are of native limestone. 

ELIZABETH, NEW JEESEY. 

In the business parts of the city, in the large buildings, brick is mostly used, although there are many of wood; 
^3l\t private residences are almost exclusively frame buildings. Brownstone is used in trimmings and in cellar walls 
and foundations, but not to so great an extent as brick. Saint John's Protestant Episcopal church is a fine 
example of brick trimmed with stone. Dark red sandstone was formerly used for gra\e-stones in the cemetery 
of this church, and these old stones are beginning to scale off. Several bridges over the river are built of sandstone, 
but these are small. Of streets opened and graded the total length is 79 miles ; of paved streets, 20 miles ; 
rectangular-block pavements, part granite and part trap-rock, 13 miles ; tlie greater part of the trap-rock is from 
the Hudson County quarries. Of the three stone structures the most prominent is the Westminster Presbyterian 
church. 

ELMIEA, NEW YOEK. 

The materials used for stone construction in Elmira are, for foundations and underpinnings, sandstone from the 
local quarries ; for the better class of work, sandstone from the local quarries and limestones from Syracuse. The 
quarries of sandstone in the vicinity supply all the railroad work, except that in which heavy stone is needed, in 
which case the material comes from Unionville and Waterloo. The streets are not paved with stone, with the 
exception of two blocks, which are paved with Medina sandstone. But few of the sidewalks are paved with stone ; 
the material used is blue-stone from Trumansburglu 

EEIE, PENNSYLVANIA. 

Three stone structures in Erie are constructed of Medina and Amherst sandstone and Sanduskj- limestone, 
"with one building of marble from Dorset, Vermont. The material for foundations and other rough purposes is a 
eaudstone of the Upper Devonian age quarried in the immediate vicinity, and a sandstone of sub-Carboniferous 
age quarried at Corry, in Erie county. Sandstone quarried at Leba?uf, in the same county, is used to some extent 
for foundations and bridge abutments, flagging, caps, and sills. The streets are largely paved with stone, the 



302 BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

material most used for this purpose beiug the Medina sandstone; rubble is also used to a considerable extent. 
Sidewalks are but little paved with stoue, and the material used is chiefly blue-stone from Euclid, Ohio; the Berea^ 
Ohio, sandstone being also employed to some extent. The material commonly used for curbstones is the Medina 
sandstone. The stone from the quarries along the lake shore east of Erie, used for foundations, is a rather inferior 
material, but as it can be obtained at small expense, it is employed quite extensively for the underground portions 
of foundations ; but some of it is not capable of withstanding the action of frost. 

EVANSVILLB, INDIANA. 

In the western part of the city the ground is unfavorable to building, as quicksand underlies the surface; but 
in the eastern and central parts this unfavorable condition does not exist. There is but one building entirely of 
stone, but ninety-nine buildings have stone fronts. The materials used in these buildings are the Bedford and 
Ellettsville limestones. Limestone of the sub-Carboniferous age, from the vicinity of Spencer, Owen county, wa& 
employed in the construction of the custom-house. The foundations and underpinnings are of limestone quarried 
in the vicinity of Evansville. The streets are but little paved with stone, and the material is the limestone from 
the various points in Vanderburgh county, in which the city is situated. The sidewalks of the business streets are 
usually paved with the Bedford limestone, with crossings of limestone from North Vernon, Indiana. Curbs are of 
Portsmouth, Ohio, sandstone, as in the case of most of the other important towns on the Ohio river; the wharves 
here are constructed of cobble-stones on the banks of the river. 

FALL RIVER, MASSACHUSETTS. 

About 40 structures in Fall River, mostly mills, are of stoue, the material used being granite from local quarries. 
Among the buildings of Fall River granite is the city hall. The new post-office and custom-house building is of 
granite in part from Westerly, Rhode Island. The mills before spoken of are, comparatively speaking, handsome 
structures, and the material of which they are built was quarried by the builder as it was needed in their 
construction. Some of the material in these structures is surface rock taken from the fields in the vicinity and 
from the outcrops of granite ledges. A portion of one of the streets is paved with granite blocks from the Fall River 
Granite Company's quarries in Freetown, and some streets are paved with cobble-stone from the drift in the vicinity. 
A few of the sidewalks in the older portions of the city are paved with the North River flags, and the curbstones 
are granite from Fall River quarries. 

FITCHBURG, MASSACHUSETTS. 

There are only two buildings in Fitchburg entirely of stone ; the court-house and the Episcopal church are 
both built of granite from Fitzwilliam, New Hampshire. There are two stone fronts built of granite ft'oiii the local 
quarries. The Fitchburg granite comes from RoUstone hill, about half a mile distant from the railroad station. 
Foundations and underpinnings are of Fitchburg and Fitzwilliam granite. There is but little stone street 
pavement, and the material used is the Fitchburg granite ; sidewalks are not paved with stone, and curbs are of 
granite from local quarries. 

FORT WAYNE, INDIANA. 

There are but five stone buildings reported in the city. Limestone from White House, Ohio, is perhaps next 
in importance for foundations to that of the Wabash, Indiana. Limestone from the state is used to some extent 
for foundations of small structures. Stone is used to a considerable extent for paving sidewalks, though brick is 
used to a much greater extent. The Amherst, Ohio, sandstone was formerly used almost exclusively for the different 
purposes for which sandstone is commonly employed in this city — monument bases, caps, sills, and trimmings in 
general — but the Buena Vista sandstone is used almost exclusively now, because it is obtained here at a little lower 
price. The sandstone from Stony Point, Michigan, is considered by some builders to be equal in quality to the 
Amherst stoue, but its brown color is objectionable to some. Foundations and underpinnings are of the Wabash 
limestone, and to a limited extent, some stone from Stony Point. The streets are macadamized with Wabash 
limestone, and a few of the sidewalks are paved with sandstone from Berea, Ohio, and limestone from Joliet, 
Illinois ; the curbs are of the Joliet limestone ; bridge abutments are built principally of sandstone from Stony 
Point, Michigan. 

GALVESTON, TEXAS. 

A few foundations in this city are built of stone brought in ships as ballast from various parts of the world, 
and all that has thus far been employed proves substantial and durable. The city is built on a sand-bank, and 
the usual manner of preparing the foundations of the largest buildings is simply to remove the top soil, which is 
only a few inches thick, and, provided there is no danger of the sand wasting from under, every inch deeper is 



STONE CONSTRUCTION IN CITIES. 303: 

considered money thrown away. In sinking an artesian well recently silt was struck at 720 feet: all above this 
was sand, shell, and clay, or beds of silt in varying thicknesses. The United States government is using for the 
jetties the calcareous sandstone from a quarry 9 miles from Brenham, on the Gulf, Colorado, and Santa Fe railroad ;. 
also limestone from points on the East Texas railway. Both of the above stones make reliable masonry, and they 
are used on the railroad for bridge abutments and piers; they are rather porous. The ship ballast used so muck 
for foundations and underpinnings comes chiefly from the northern United States, from Canada, and from 
Euroi)e. There are but 20 square yards of stone street pavement in the city, and this is of cobble-stone brought 
as ship ballast. A few sidewalks are paved with sandstone, blue limestone, and granite from Connecticut, 
and from Germany and England. 

GLOUCESTEE, MASSACHUSETTS. 

The six structures entirely of stone and the four stone fronts in this city are built of Gloucester granitCi. 
The only stone used for any purpose, with the exception of a few perches of lintel stone from New Brunswick, is 
granite from the quarries within the city limits. The streets are but little paved with stone, the material being the 
Gloucester granite ; the sidewalks are not paved with stone, and there are some curbs of the granite from the 
local quarries. 

HAREISBURG, PENNSYLVANIA. 

Brown saudstoue of the Triassic age is largely used in Harrisburg. Some of it comes from the Connecticut 
valley and some from Goldsboro', York county, but at present it is nearly all obtained from Hummelstown,. 
Daui)hin county, which is but a shoit distance east of Harrisburg. The climate here is rather severe on the 
brownstone, from whatever locality it comes. In buildings of this material it was noticed that blocks at the base, 
where more subject to sudden alternations of dampness and frost, are scaling off in thin flakes, while the stone 
higher in the wall remains unatt'ected. The stonework about the base of the Pennsylvania State Capitol building 
is of brownstone from Goldsboro', York county, the superstructure being of brick ; the brownstone is scaling oft 
rapidly, due probably in a great measure to unskillful handling, as well as to the eftects of damp and frosty 
atmosphere Many of the stones are set up edgewise, instead of being laid as in the quarry. The Hummelstowu 
brownstone is steadily increasing in use hei'e. Front street, facing the Susquehanna river, seems to be the locality 
in this city most severe on building stones; the street is more exposed to rapid alternations of damp and cold 
weather than the other parts of the city. The material mostly used for the rougher building purposes, such as 
cellar walls and foundations, is the blue magnesian limestone quarried in the immediate vicinity, and most of the 
stone buildings are of this material. It is quite durable, the weather having apparently no effect ou it, except to fade 
it to a ligbt color; it is hard and brittle, and not readily susceptible of a flue dressing. Several private residences 
are built of blocks of this limestone of irregular shape fii-mly cemented together, and the effect is very pleasing^ 
One of these, the hou.se of Hon. Simon Cameron, was built by the founder of Harrisburg a century ago. In trimmings,, 
curbing and steps, the Amherst, Ohio, sandstone is used in a few instances, but its use here is of recent date; the 
material as yet show.s no sign of being affected by the elements. One building, the Dauphin County prison, is- 
built principally of a gray, conglomeratic sandstone quarried several miles south of Harrisburg, near the- 
Susquehanna river. The building was constructed in 1S40, and the stone in the walls has been redressed several 
times since its construction; this is made necessary by the constant scaling off of the dressed surface in thin flakes. 
It was thought to be a most substantial material at first, but its vulnerable character is now so generally recognized 
that it is no longer (juarried for building purposes. For underpinnings, steps, base courses, caps, and sills, Conewago 
granite, a dolerite quarried from the trap dikes which cut the Triassic formation at various places, is used to a 
considerable extent. The quarries which supply Harrisbiu-g with this stone are principally those at Collins station, 
Lancaster county, and York Haven, York county. The material is practicallj- indestructible, but its somber, dead 
color restricts it to uses in which tine eftect is not desired. The abutments of bridges crossing the Susquehanna river 
here are constructed of the magnesian limestone quarrieil at Bridgeport, opposite Harrisburg ; the abutments are 
repaired in places with patches of Hummelstown brownstone. The Dauphin County soldiers' monument is built of 
the trap-rock called Conewago granite; the superstructure is of Maryland marble, and the figure surmounting the 
column is of Carrara (Italian) nuirble. For curbs, base courses, caps, sills, etc., Conewago granite and Montgomery 
county and Maryland marbles are all used to a considerable extent. One new house is being trimmed with the - 
Wyoming blue-stone, a handsome, finegrained and uniform, rather light blue sandstone from Meshopijen, Wyoming 
county. The new post-office building, in course of construction, has a foundation of Conewago granite from 
Collins station, Lancaster county; the exposed part of the foundation is of Old Dominion granite, a biotite 
granite quarried near Kichmoud, Virginia, and a superstructure of granite from Bluehill, Maine; the latter two 
materials resemble each other very much. The streets are but little paved with stone, and that most used for 
this purpose is cobble-.stone from the Susquehanna river. There is but little sidewalk paving; the material used is 
the North River blue-stone, well known through the eastern states as a paving material. For roofing. Peach 
Bottom slate from the slate district in York county and the adjoining district of Maryland, is most exteusivelj 
used, and slate from Lehigh and Northampton counties is also used for the same purpose. 



304 BUILDINa STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT. 

As the celebrated quarries of brownstone in the Connecticut valley are of easy access to Hartford, this is the 
source from which the city draws most of its material for stone construction. A few buildings are constructed of 
marble from East Cauaau, and granite from Westerly, Rhode Island, is employed to a considerable extent; and in 
one building granite from Glastonbury is used. There are three or four stone bridges across Park river, and a 
retaining- wall about 500 feet in length and 20 feet high along the same river, all of Portland brown sandstone. 
The state capitol is by far the most important of the marble structures, the others being simply the fronts of 
three blocks of buildings. Many blocks in the walls of the state-house are of crumbly material; flakes can be 
taken from them and rubbed to powder between the fingers. Limestone from Glens Palls, New York, is used in 
some of the inside stone-work of the state-house. lu the United States custom-house and post-oifice granite from 
Saint George, Maine, was used. Light gray granite from Hallowell, Maine, was used in the construction of the 
monument to General Stedman. The streets are nearly all telfordized or macadamized with trap from quarries 
immediately southwest of Hartford. Sidewalks are largely paved with the North River blue-stone, and Bolton 
flagging-stone, is used to some extent. The curbstones are of gneiss from quarries in Glastonbury, and of North 
River blue-stone. 

HAVERHILL, MASSACHUSETTS. 

The 15 buildings enumerated in Haverhill as having stone fronts are merely faced with Maine or New 
"Hampshire granite for the first one or two lower stories. The one building constructed entirely of stone is a fine, 
large summer residence of an inferior quality of granite taken from the hill upon which the house stands. 
Foundations and underpinnings are of Cape Ann and Maine granite. There is a little stone street pavement of 
•Cape Ann granite ; the sidewalks are not paved with stone ; curbs are of Cape Ann granite. The piers of the 
bridge across the Merrimack river are of Maine granite. 

INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA. 

The stone most used in Indianapolis for the ordinary purposes of construction is the limestone from Indiana 
quarries. The sub-Carboniferous sandstone from near Portsmouth, Ohio, has been employed to a considerable 
extent. The Niagara limestones from Decatur and the neighboring counties may be used as ashlar in the construction 
of the walls without much dressing, causing a very considerable saving in mason work. 

The Putnamville siliceous limestone lies in even courses from 4 inches to 2 feet in thickness. It is a silicate 
of lime, and resists the action of the elements admirably. Specimens exposed to extreme variations of temperature 
for forty-six years still retain the chisel marks as fresh as when first dressed ; and a door-step of a college resisted 
the daily foot-wear for fifty years, with wear of less than one-sixteenth of an inch. 

The oolitic limestone when soiled is quickly made bright- and clean by the inexpensive process of brushing with 
steel or wire brushes. True, smooth, highly- colored stone tiles of the best quality are made here of this material. 
The piers and abutments of bridges and cell walls of jails are largely constructed of Niagara limestone from Decatur 
county, and Indiana oolitic limestone is used for the same purpose. The approaches to the tunnel under the railroads 
ou Illinois street are built of Niagara limestone from Decatur county. Siliceous limestone of the sub-Carboniferous 
period, quarried at Putnamville, was used for foundations, curbs, and paving flags some years ago, and has shown 
valuable qualities for resisting the action of weather, time, and fire. Its use was discontinued by reason of a more 
easy access to other quarries. The new state-house, when completed, will contain 410,000 cubic feet of Niagara 
limestone and 520,000 cubic feet of oolitic limestone. The foundations and underpinnings are of the Niagara and 
Devonian limestones quarried in Decatur and Jennings counties, and the sab-Carboniferous from Owen county is 
used to a limited extent. Granite from Hurricane island, Maine, was employed to some extent in the stone-work of 
the capitol, and limestone from North Vernon, Jennings county, was used in the construction of the Indianapolis 
arsenal. In such streets as are paved the cobble-stones are used exclusively. Sidewalks are largely paved on the 
business streets with Niagara limestone from Decatur county, and artificial cement is used to a limited extent. 
Curbstones are of Decatur County limestone. 

ITHACA, NEW YORK. 

About the only material used for stone construction in Ithaca is thesandstone quarried in the immediate vicinity. 
•Cornell University buildings are of stone from quarries near them; some in fact are within the grounds of the 
university. The trimmings are of Berea, Ohio, sandstone, Lockport limestone, and Medina sandstone, from Albion. 
The streets are not paved with stone ; the sidewalks are largely paved with blue-stone from quarries near the city, 
with curbstones of the same material. The total amount of stone construction in Ithaca is small, only 15 buildings 
being reported as constructed of this material. 



STONE CONSTRUCTION IN CITIES. 305 

KEOKUK, IOWA. 

The stone buildings thus far erected are among the largest of the city. The sandstone of Sonora, Illinois 
appears to be an excellent and durable building stone. Quarries of similar material are found on the Iowa side of 
the Mississippi, near the mouth of the Des Moines river, and also 5 or G miles above Keokuk, which have been 
operated only a short time. The abutments and piers of the railway bridge across the Mississippi are of arenaceous 
limestone from Sonora, Illinois. The stone used in the construction of the Des Moines Eapids canal is mainly from 
the same locality, though in part from temporary quarries of similar stone near Na.shville, Iowa. The stones for 
foundations and underpinnings and the ruder purposes generally is limestone of sub-Carboniferous age quarried 
within the city limits; this material was used in the construction of the opera house (foundations) and the Keokuk 
Elevator ComiJany's elevator. The streets are not paved, but some of them are macadamized with the local stone. 
A few of the sidewalks are paved with limestone from within the city limits. 

KINGSTON, jSEW YORK. 

Of the stone buildings 34 are old dwelling-houses. These are generally li stories high, and are built of 
surface rock, mostly limestone and graywacke ; some few are stuccoed. As good examples of durability we may 
mention the old Senate hoiise, built by Wessells & Tenbrook in 1676. The Hasbrouck and Bruyn houses are also 
very old. Hard surface stone used in these buildings have suffered scarcely any change such as weathering might 
induce. Of the more prominent buildings the Ulster County court-house was erected in 1818, and still looks bright 
and clean; the First Reformed church is the largest and most costly stone building in the city ; it is built of a dark 
slate-colored grit or graywacke found in the neighborhood. The stone is thinly-bedded, but looks well. The 
Second Reformed Church building is of limestone ; the material is much disfigured by the brown and dirt-colored 
stains due to the weathering of the clay seams of the mass. These stains reach in all directions through the 
stone. The superiority of the surface stones which appear in the old houses is evident at a glance. This 
limestone came from quarries near the town. Ohio sandstone has been employed in the trimmings of the new city 
hall ; otherwise it has been scarcely used. . The lower portions of the city are of brick. The aggregate length of 
paved streets, according to ex-Mayor James T. Liudsley, is less than one mile, and is confined to three streets. In 
front of two blocks the street is paved with granite blocks. For the most part foundations and underpinnings are 
from the blue-stone flag quarries at Kingston and Hurley, Ulster county. Some of this work, however, is 
of limestone, blue rock, and slate quarried within the city limits. The sidewalks are largely paved with stone, 
there being about 60 miles of flagging of blue-stone from quarries at Kingston and Hurley. Curbstones are of the 
.same material. The large amount of stone sidewalk paving is due to the close proximity of the city to the most 
celebrated flag-quarry region in the country. 

LA FAYETTE, INDIAJfA. 

Stone used for building purjioses in this city is almost exclusively limestone from the quarries of Decatur, 
Lawrence, and Monroe counties. It is used quite extensively for trimmings ; its light color gives a fine architectural 
effect when used in connection with brick. The streets are not paved with stone, but the gutters are laid with 
bowlders gathered in the vicinity. A few of the sidewalks are paved with limestone from Greensburg, with curbs 
of the same material. 

LANCASTER, PENNSYLVANIA. 

A large percentage of the buildings in Lancaster have considerable stone in their composition, in the way of 
base courses, caps, sills, etc. Stone is used to bring the base of the houses to a level on the uneven ground, and 
brownstone from Hummelstowu, from Ephrata, in Lancaster county, and from other points is used for the purposes 
mentioned. Connecticut brownstone is employed in a few instances. The Conewago granite, from the Kellar quarry 
near Collins station, is frequently used for base courses. It is apparently invulnerable to the attacks of the elements 
Amherst, Ohio, stone is used to some extent for base courses and trimmings. 

Blue-stone from Meshoppen and other points in Wyoming county is being introduced for trimmings and is very 
highly esteemed. Montgomery County marble is well adai^ted to the construction of fronts, base courses, caps, and 
sills, for which purposes it is much employed in Lancaster. 

In the cemeteries the New England marble is employed to a considerable extent, also Montgomery County 
marble ; granite from the New England states and from Maryland, and some Scotch granite ; Hummelstown and 
Connecticut brownstone to a small extent; and for lot inclosures, Conewago granite. Some houses in the city are 
trimmed with white marble from Sutherland Falls, Vermont. For foundations and underpinnings the material 
ordinarily employed is magnesian limestone, which is quarried in the vicinity, and the old houses in the city are 
built of the same material. The streets are largely paved with stone, the greater part, however, being simply 
macadamized with the limestone quarried in the vicinity. The public square and portions of other streets are 
VOL. IX 20 B s 



306 BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

paved with granite blocks from cape Ann, Massachusetts. The sidewalks are largely paved with stone, the 
material chiefly used being Wyoming blue-stone from near Meshoppen, Pennsylvania. The N"orth Eiver blue-stone 
is also used to some extent for sidewalk paving. Lehigh County slate is used for sidewalk paving. Bridge 
abutments, culverts, and embankment walls are constructed of Siluro-Cambrian limestone quarried in the vicinity. 
The soldiers' monument is built of white marble, the base being of New England granite. The Peach Bottom slate 
is highly esteemed for roofing, and the Lehigh County slate is also extensively used for the same purpose. 

LAWEENCE, MASSACHUSETTS. 

The only important stone buildings in Lawrence are two large Catholic churches, one Congregational church,, 
and a large prison. Stone has thus far been used to a very limited extent as material for construction in Lawrence, 
except as underpinning. The factories and tenement houses are almost all of brick, while the suburban residences 
are of wood. The same may be said of Lowell and Haverhill. The material for foundations and underpinnings 
is granite from New Hampshire and from cape Ann and Westford, Massachusetts. The streets are largely paved 
with Cape Ann and Westford granite. A few of the sidewalks are paved with Cape Ann granite, and curbs are of 
the same material. 

LEAVENWORTH, KANSAS. 

The limestone chiefly used iu this city is from a 14foot bed occurring about 20 feet above the ordinary 
water-mark in the river; it is of Upper Carboniferous age, and corresponds to No. 112 of section U. C. M. (See p. 
94 of Part II, Missouri Geological Report of 1872.) Four feet above is another limestone (No. 115, Missouri section) 
which has been extensively used at Leavenworth city for sidewalks and foundations, but it often shows many sand 
tracts. Other rocks used largely at this city are from Junction City and Cottonwood Falls, Kansas. Cottonwood 
limestone was used in the construction of the court-house and the Missouri Valley Life Insurance baildiug. The 
columns of the custom-house are of red granite from Red Beach, Maine. The riverside quarries at Leavenworth 
have been abandoned on account of the cost of stripping ; at the present quarries there are from 4 to 8 feet stripping 
of earth and shales. Foundations are all rubble-stone from local quarries and from Fort Scott. The streets are 
largely macadamized with the limestone from local quarries; the sidewalks, however, are chiefly paved with brick, 
and to a limited extent with limestone from near Fort Scott. The only building constructed entirely of stone in the 
city is built of the local limestones. 

LOCKPORT, NEW YORK. 

Within the limits of this city there are extensive quarries of both sandstone and limestone, and they furnish 
all the material used for stone construction. The sandstone quarries are located on a ledge of Medina sandstone 
age, and by far the larger number of stone buildings are constructed of this material. It is used to some extent 
also for sidewalk paving and street-paving blocks. The greater part of the material for stone construction in Buffalo 
is also brought from these quarries. The limestone quarries are located on a ledge of Niagara age and on the same 
horizon as that over which the cataract of Niagara flows. 

The foundations and underpinnings are usually constructed of limestone from the local quarries, but the Medina 
sandstone is also used for these purposes to a limited extent. The streets are but little paved with stone, there 
being only a quarter of a mile of the Medina block pavement. There is but little stone sidewalk pavement, the 
material used for sidewalks being planks ; in such sidewalks as are paved with stone the Medina sandstone is the 
material used. Five double locks on the Erie canal are of limestone from local quarries and from the canal 
excavation. 

LOGANSPORT, INDIANA. 

The limestone that has been used so extensively in this city for entire buildings is taken from the quarries 3 
miles below the city, on the Wabash river. The color of the stone is gray and quite uniform, and some of the finest 
structures in the city have been built of it. Oolitic limestone from southern Indiana is used extensively for 
trimmings ; that from Stinesville is perhaps used most extensively at present for this purpose. The Amherst and 
Berea sandstones of northern Ohio were used to a limited extent for the same purposes. The Buena Vista stone 
of sub-Carboniferous age, quarried in southern Obio, has been used for ashlar. The limestone quarried in the 
vicinity of the city furnishes material for foundations and underpinnings. The sidewalks are largely paved with 
limestone from southern Indiana and sandstone from Berea, Ohio; the curbs are of native limestone. The material 
used for bridge abutments and piers is sandstone from Williamsport and Attica, and limestone from Logansport, 
and the oolitic limestone from the southern part of the state. 



STONE CONSTRUCTION IN CITIES. 307 

LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY. 

The rock exposed in the immediate viciuity of Louisville is the sub-Carboniferous limestone, which is of the 
same age as the Indiana oolitic limestones ; hence the city has a good local supi^ly of building stone which answers 
well for all ordinary purjioses of construction, and extensive use is made of this supply. For the finer purposes 
of construction the Indiana oolitic limestones are extensively used, and as the city is situated on the Ohio river it 
has ready access to the Buena Vista and other sandstone quarries near Portsmouth, Ohio, and much of this stone 
is used. The Bowling Green, Kentucky, limestone has also been very extensively employed. This limestone, like 
that of the local quarries, is of sub-Carboniferous age. The Louisville limestone, however, although taking good 
rank as far as durability is concerned, is hard and sometimes flinty, and is much more expensive to dress than the 
sub-Carboniferous limestones usually are where exposed in other places, and this fact confines its use to the ruder 
purposes. The streets of Louisville are largely paved with limestone from the local quarries, and a few of the 
sidewalks are paved with Bowling Green limestone, with curbs of the same material. The abutments of the railroad 
bridge over the Ohio were built of Utica, Indiana, stone. The wharf is constructed of cobble-stones ; the locks and 
walls of the Louisville canal are built of the local limestone ; it was also used in the construction of the custom- 
house and the city work-house. Limestone of sub-Carboniferous age, quarried near West Salem, Washington 
county, Indiana, was used in the construction of the Gait house and the city hall. Sandstone from the vicinity of 
Cannelton, Perry county, Indiana, was used in the construction of the water-works and locks. 

LOWELL, MASSACHUSETTS. 

There is quite a number of small factories, barns, and dwelling-houses in Lowell constructed of the blue 
mortar-stone taken from quarries in the immediate vicinity of the city. This material is considered more durable 
than the very micaceous granite; the disadvantage in using it for building purposes lies in the great diflSculty of 
quarrying blocks of given dimensions. The Concord granite is preferred, owing to the small amount of iron in its 
composition. There is a very micaceous gneiss quarried in the immediate vicinity somewhat used for building 
purposes, but it is liable to rust on account of the quantity of iron in its comiiosition, and it also has a tendency to 
crumble when subjected to the action of intense heat. 

The following are the diiierent building stones most used in the better class of stone construction in this city : 
Granite from Ooncord, New Hampshire; mortar-stone, quarried in the immediate vicinity; marble from Eutland, 
Vermont; granite from Westford, Massachusetts; granite quarried in the vicinity of the city; foundations and 
underpinnings are of granite from Concord, New Hampshire, Westford granite, and the various stones quarried in 
the vicinity of Lowell. A very large bridge is being constructed across the Lowell railroad of stone quai'ried in 
Westford, Massachusetts ; the Episcopal church and Saint Patrick's church in Lowell are built of stone taken from 
Livingston quarry, within the city limits. The streets are largely paved with Westford and Concord granites. 
There is some stone sidewalk paving of Westford granite, with curbstones of the same material. 

MANCHESTEPv, NEW HAMPSHIRE. 

A very few stone buildings in Manchester are constructed of granite quarried in the immediate viciuity. The 
materials usually employed in construction here are brick and wood. In the construction of the Amoskeag dam 
50,001) cubic yards of granite were used. The walls of a canal a mile in length and the piers of six bridges across 
the Men-imack river are built of granite from Bedford. These quarries are not now operated. The soldiers' monument 
was built of Concord granite. Foundations and underpinnings are of granite and gneiss quarried in the vicinity, 
from the lake gneiss formation, and the granite occurring in masses in the gneiss. There is a mile of street 
pavement of Hookset granite in blocks afoot square. There is very little stone sidewalk pavement of gneiss from the 
immediate viciuity. The sidewalk in front of the Merchants' exchange is paved with Potsdam sandstone. The 
curbs are of nati^'e granite and gneiss. 

MIDDLETOWN, CONNECTICUT. 

On account of the close proximity of the Portland quarries, which are on the opposite side of the river from 
Middletown; almost aU the stone used in this city is obtained from them. There are very few stone buildings, 
however, by far the largest use of the stone being for foundations and underpinnings. The sidewalks for the most 
part are from 3 to 4 feet apart, and they as well as the curbstones are of a kind of gneiss from the Haddam and 
Maromas quarries ; this material splits with rather a rough surface. In the principal business streets large flags of 
North River blue-stone are considerably used, and iu many spots slabs of sandstone occur, which, however, do not 
stand well under foot-wear. In buildings the dressed sandstone scales off badly when set on edge; when laid as in 
the natural bed this defect is not apparent. A large railroad bridge across the Connecticut river, at Middletown, 
has its piers and abutments built of a granitic rock taken from the quarry, worked only for this purpose, a short 
distance up the river on the east side. The streets are not paved. 



308 BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE. 

Tliere are but two buildings in Memphis constructed entirely of stone, the custom-house and the post-offtce. 
The first is built of marble from Knoxville, Tennessee ; the second, of granite from near Iron Mountain, Iron county, 
Missouri. Eight buildings are enumerated as having stone fronts, one of which is built of sandstone from Alabama, 
sis of limestone from Alabama and Kentucky, and one of freestone from near Portsmouth, Ohio. Foundations 
and underpinnings are chiefly of brick, but there are some of limestone from Alabama and Kentucky. Limestone 
is used in wharf paving and breakwater of riprap walls, of which there is now paved an area of 2,700 by 250 feet — 
equal to about 75,000 square yards. The arched culvert bridges and abutments are constructed chieflj'' of brick, 
and one arch culvert is built of limestone from Alabarna. 

The sewer system, built in 1880-'S1, is constructed for the most part of vitrified clay pijje from 6 to 15 inches in 
diameter, the main outlet being of cast-iron and brick 20 inches in diameter. Granite and sandstone quarried in 
the vicinity of Little Eock, Arkansas, are used for building purposes. Sandstone and limestone from Arkansas and 
Missouri, and limestone from Illinois, 'Kentucky, Tennessee, and Alabama are all employed in construction here. 
Most of the quarries are accessible by wiater and by railroad, and their distance from Memi^his ranges from 200 to 
250 miles. The buildings within the fire limits are chiefly of brick, with some iron. The site of this city furnishes 
good foundations for buildings of every description. About 15 miles of streets and alleys are jiaved with stone ; 
the material chiefly used for this purpose is limestone from Illinois, Kentucky, Alabama, and Tennessee, and granite 
and sandstone from the vicinity of Little Eock, Arkansas. Sidewalks are but little paved with stone, and the 
material chiefly used is limestone and sandstone from Alabama, with curbs of the same material. 

MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA. 

The following list includes the Minneapolis buildings in which stone enters as an important constituent: 

Brick buildings with limestone trimmings from the Trenton formation 179 

With Berea, Ohio, sandstone trimmings CO 

With Frontenac dolomite trimmings 13 

With Joliet or Lemont, Illinois, limestone trimmings 3 

With Fond du Lac limestone trimmings 48 

With Kasota stone trimmings ,. .. 11 

With Minnesota granite 6 

Buildings of stone or brick partly trimmed with granite 91 

Buildings of brick with Vermont marble trimmings 1 

There are perhaps 20 other brick buildings which have artificial-stone trimmings and 20 which are trimmed 
with brick of another color, or are painted so as to simulate trimmings of stone, of which no account has been 
made. This enumeration includes all stone structures ; many of them are very large, such as the Washburn A, B, • 
and C flouring-mills, the Pillsbury A flouring-mill, the university of Minnesota, and McAllister college. The list 
also embraces the Universalist church, the Irish and French Catholic churches, and the Plymouth Congregational 
church. The Trenton limestone supplied by the quarries of Minneapolis, formerly much used, is being abandoned 
as material for first-class structures, and in its place are put stones from towns in Minnesota, as well as stone from 
other states. The argillaceous character of the Trenton strata, and the thin but often lenticular banding of the 
sedimentary structure, cause the slabs and blocks of this limestone to disintegrate in sheets parallel with the 
bedding, and finally to wholly decay ; when it can be kept from exposure to the weather it answers for walls better j 
hence it is still employed in foundations and in basements that rise a few feet above the ground. It is necessary even 
in such cases that it be well bedded in mortar and protected by a good water-table. 

The use of stone as a material of construction at Minneapolis has been greatly influenced by an abundant 
supply of two other articles, as follows, viz : Cream-colored brick and pine lumber. It is becoming very fashionable 
to use red pressed brick from Saint Louis or Philadelphia or Baltimore for the fronts of first-class structures, 
trimming them with sandstone from Ohio, or limestone from Stone City, Iowa,' or Joliet, Illinois. The piers of the 
suspension bridge over the Mississippi river and its anchorages are of the Trenton limestone, from Minneapolis, 
trimmed with Minnesota granite. The piers of the two other highway bridges and of the railroad bridge across the 
Mississippi are of the same material. The arched bridge across the east channel of the Mississippi is of the same, 
but has Eed Wing rock in the angles. In several residences and business blocks artificial stone is used for window- 
caps or other trimmings, but with Trenton limestone sills, basements, and water-tables. Lemont, Illinois, limestone 
is seen in a few buildings which have other stones for trimmings. Steps and water-tables of Kasota stone are 
frequently put in buildings that have other stones for trimmings. In the Westminster Presbyterian church brown 
sandstone from Fond du Lac, Saint Louis county, Minnesota, is used. 

The streets are but little paved, and the material used is a water-worn cobble-stone from the drift. Sidewalks 
are but very little paved with stone, owing to the abundance of pine lumber and its cheapness. In such sidewalks 
as are leaved with stone, Niagara limestone, from Joliet, Illinois, Trenton limestone, from Minneapolis, and calciferous 
sand-rock, from Kasota, Minnesota, are used. The curbstones are of Minneapolis Trenton limestone. 



STONE CONSTRUCTION IN CITIES. 309 

MOBILE, ALABAMA. 

Tlie only stone building in Mobile — the custom-bouse — is built of Quincj', Massachusetts, granite. The streets 
in the business portion of the city are partially paved and macadamized with stone ballast from vessels and the 
Alabama sandstone. The sidewalks are paved with Alabama sandstone and brick ; sandstone from Colbert county, 
Alabama, is used to a limited extent for this purpose ; also the iSTorth Elver blue-stone and stone brought from 
Yorkshire, England. 

NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE. 

The stone chiefly used for fronts in the city of Nashville is oolitic limestone from Bowling Green, Kentucky. It 
is a good material, but contains petroleum which is drawn to the surface by the heat of the sun, and dust settling 
on it turns it a dark color. It is not uniform in color, but has yellow streaks. The United States custom-house is 
built of this material. The limestones of the Nashville formation are found in three principal layers ; the quality 
and aj)pearance vary iu the same layer. The quarry from which the stone for the capitol is built was abandoned 
for the reason that the material is very fossilifei-ous and the fossils (orthoceras) weather out. Some of tbe courses 
are liable to decomposition when exposed to the weather. The stone is very distinctly laminated ; it is not a pure 
limestone, but has considerable silica in its composition. It is most durable when laid iu walls, as iu the natural 
bed. The use of stone for construction is very general iu Nashville, nearly every building of any prominence 
having considerable stone in its composition, and all new stores have fronts either entirely or partially of stone. 

Stone basement stories, with the upper portions of brick with stoue trimmings, is a very common form of 
construction. The usual custom is to use the Nashville limestone below ground, and above ground a Nashville 
limestone, carefully selected, with Bowling Green superstructure and trimmings. There is a desire at present 
to substitute some other stoue for the Bowhug Green for the purposes of c. instruction in which that material is 
now used. The capitol building is constructed entirely of stone ; the pillars of the halls of the legislature and 
ornamental work, railings, etc., are of Hawkins and Knox County marbles. The stone used in the walls of the 
building is from the next to the lowest course of the Nashville formation. 

The Normal College buildings are of local stoue. The basements of the Vauderbilt and the Fisk universities 
are of Nashville stone; the copings and trimmings are of Bowling Green hmestoue, and their foundations are of 
selected Nashville limestone. The new United States custom-house is constructed entirely of Bowling Green 
limestone. 

The ruling taste here at present seems to favor white building stone ; two churches built many years ago are 
of Nashville limestone, and stuccoed to represent brownstone ; another church is built of rough Nashville limestone 
of a bluish color. No granite is used in this city for building purposes. The stone used iu cemeteries is chiefly 
Italian marble ; however, the Knoxville marble is rapidly coming into use as a material for cemetery work, as it 
seems but little aftected by exposure. There are some monuments of Quincy granite. There is a growing sentiment 
in favor of paving streets with stone, as the limestone now used iu macadamizing powders rapidly, making au 
offensive- dust in summer and mud in winter. Limestone of the Nashville, Cincinnati, or Hudson Eiver formation is 
used for every character of work except fronts ; it is frequently quarried in getting out foundations in such large 
quantities that it is given away. The walls of yards around the city are constructed of it; some with rough and 
some with dressed surfaces. Walls of buildings on the river and piers of the bridges are built of it; occasionally 
in handsome fences around large inclosures of hue residences, the corner and gate posts are constructed of Bowling 
Green limestone, and the wall around the capitol grounds is constructed of this material. 

NEW ALBANY, INDIANA. 

The percentage of stone construction in New Albany is small, the material chiefly used being brick and wood, 
with brick foundations under the frame buildings ; but so far as stone has been used here it has shown itself to be 
substantial and durable, the materials being of superior quality. There are no local circumstances unfavorable to 
stoue construction, aud the stones used are limestone from Salem, Indiana, and, to a limited extent, sandstone from 
the vicinity. The West Salem limestone was emploj-ed in the construction of the court-house. For foundations and 
underpinnings and for other ordinary purposes limestone from the vicinity is employed. The streets are largely 
paved with cobble-stone and limestone found iu the neighborhood. But few of the sidewalks are paved ; the stone 
used is limestone from New Albany and Yernon ; curbs are of the same material. 

NEWAEK, NEW JEESEY. 

Nearly all of the prominent stone structures in Newark are built of the Newark sandstone, but the elegant United 
States custom-house and post-oflice building and the large and massive county court-house are of Little Falls, New 
Jersey, sandstone. Nearly all of these buildings are large and costly structures, aud the beauty and durability of the 
stone used are exhibited to good advantage iu many of them. Some of the larger edifices are especially deserving of 



310 BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

notice. TJie extensive use of stone in Newark is to be explained from the fact that there are five quarries of sandstone 
within the city limits ; three of them are now worked, employing from 100 to 200 men, and their product is valued at 
$150,000 to $200,000 annually. , There are many large and expensive private dwellings entirely of stone, and many 
with only stone fronts. Three bridges over Second river and 24 over the Morris canal are of Newark sandstone, 
and 2J miles of the Morris canal is walled with the same material. Six railroad bridges beside wagon bridges 
over the Passaic river have piers and abutments of Newark sandstone. One large trunk sewer is built of the 
same material, as are also many walls about lawns and cemeteries. The total length of improved and graded 
streets is 176.8 miles; of streets paved with cobble-stones, 28.76 miles; paved with granite and trap blocks, 4.89 
miles ; Telford or macadamized streets, 12.21 miles ; total of stone pavement, 45.86 miles. The total length of 
streets graded and improved but not pa'ced is 130.94 miles. The narrow streets have sidewalks 4 feet in width ; 
other streets or sidewalks 5 and 6 feet in width. The material used in paving these sidewalks is the North Eiver 
blue-stone. No brick is allowed to be used for this purpose. 

NEW BEDFORD, MASSACHUSETTS. 

Of the 22 buildings in New Bedford constructed entirely of stone, 19 are of granite quarried in the vicinity, 2 
of Eocki)ort granite, and 1 of Qaiucy granite. At the entrance to New Bedford harbor is a large fort, while a smaller 
one guards the Fairhaven side opposite. They are both constructed of Gape Ann granite. Foundations and 
underpinnings are of granite from the vicinity of the city and from Eockport. The streets are largely paved with 
cobble-stone from the vicinity ; North Eiver flagging stone is exclusively used in the sidewalks; curbs are of granite 
from Eockport, in the vicinity. 

NEW BEUNSWIGE, NEW JBESEY. 

The comparative cheapness of brick has interfered with the use of stone both for building purposes and for 
sidewalks. The red sandstone quarried in the city was formerly used to a limited extent in cellar walls and 
foundations, but the quarries are now discontinued. This stone has not proved to be durable, crumbling slowly 
when exjiosed to severe frost. It is adapted to use in inside filling of walls only, and the greater durability and 
cheapness of brick have enabled the builders to dispense with it entirely. North Eiver blue-stone has a large use 
in building for steps, sills, cai)S, and other trimmings, especially in factories and storehouses. The college buildings 
aiford examplesof good and poor stones and of materials improperly laid; the old college building rear wail contains 
some soft argillaceous sandstone, which tends to split, although laid as in its bed in the quarry. In the west wall 
there are many stones which show clay-holes. The Geological Hall building has a few examples of stone from 
Connecticut quarries, which arc laid with the lines of bedding in a vertical position, and they are beginning to chip 
or scale off, although the building has been constructed only ten years. The superiority of the Newark stone is 
apparent in comparing the general effect, and in the closer examination of the single blocks as they occur in these two 
structures — the Geological hall and the Kirkpatrick chapel. The Newark stone does not show the lines of bedding 
so plainly; it is more homogeneous in its composition, and its materials are not so much arranged on lines or in 
j)arallel planes as they are in the Connecticut stone which is ordinarily put on the market here. The durability of 
the Newark stone is displayed in the old college building, erected in 1809; the corners and edges are still sharp and 
well defined. The following are some of the principal structures of stone, with the materials from which they are 
constructed : Eutgers college (main building): Newark sandstone ; Geological hall : Connecticut sandstone ; Kirkpatrick 
chapel: New Jersey sandstone ; First Eeformed (Dutch) church: gneiss from New York ; the Protestant Episcopal 
church and Saint Peter's Eoman Catholic church: New Jersey sandstone; residence of John Carpenter, residence 
of Sisters of Charity, and Bartel's private residence: Connecticut sandstone; piers of the wagon bridge over the 
Earitan river at Albany street: Gohnecticut brownstone; Pennsylvania Eailroad company's bridge (8 piers and 
abutments) : from Stanton, Hunterdon county, New Jersey, and gneiss from Conshohocken, Pennsylvania ; the locks 
of the Delaware and Earitan canal: Trenton freestone, Greeusburg quarries. These locks are 200 feet long, or 
250 feet including the wing walls ; one is a double lock. 

The following is a statement of the amount and kind of stone street iiavement in New Brunswick : 

Miles. 

Granite Mock, Westerly, Ehode Island, granite -1% 

Cobble-stone - ~-h 

Telford macadamized road of trap-rock 1-1% 

Total stone street pavement 4iV 

Nicholson ivood pavement - 1 

The sidewalk of North Eiver blue-stone laid by a street commission 8 

Curbstones, mainly of North Eiver blue-stone. 



STONE CONSTRUCTION IN CITIES. 311 

JTEWBUEGH, NEW YOEK. 

The nearest available source of building stone for Newburgli is the limestone quarries within 2 miles of the 
city. The material obtained there is used for foundations, underpinnings, and other work of that class ; Connecticut 
brownstone and Haverstraw stone are also used for foundations. Of the stone buildings in the city the oldest is 
a story-and-a-half dwelling-house constructed of siirface stones from the vicinity, and occupied by Washington 
as headquarters during the encampment at Newburgh. Saint George's Protestant Episcopal church is an old 
building of blue limestone obtained west of the city. Saint Patrick's Roman Catholic church is a new and large 
structure of blue limestone, a stone which is much disiigured by what seem to be argillaceous seams traversing 
irregularly the calcareous matrix. The darker shades of color in these clay seams give the whole a rather dingy 
appearance. The stone was obtained in part from the quarries west of the city and in part from Kingston, Ulster 
county ; the latter stone has suffered more by exposure. It resembles in this respect the stone in the Second 
Eeformed church in Kingston, and both show how much care is needed in the selection of limestone for flue work 
in prominent buildings. The First Presbyterian church, a very large, costly, and ornate edifice, constructed of 
graywacke and flagging stone quarried near Kingston, is trimmed with Ohio sandstone ; the stone has retained its 
dark color, and does not show any signs of disintegration by weathering. The other buildings are small and private 
excepting the stuccoed Eeformed Church edifice. Formerly brownstone from Haverstraw and Nyack was much 
nsed for door-steps and window-sills, but of late Connecticut brownstone and Ohio sandstone have been used almost 
exclusively, excepting the blue limestone from the neighboring quarries, which is used for rough work and cellar 
walls. Brick here takes the place of stone to a very great extent in both foundations and superstructures. The 
sidewalks are all laid with blue flagging stone; iu the older streets they are from 10 to 12 feet wide, and the stones 
are of irregular size and generally small. The more recently laid walks are G feet wide and are a single line of stone. 
The cost of paving some of the fine foot-sidewalks has been SI per linear foot. The length of sidewalks is unknown, 
but amounts to many miles. The cobble-stone pavements measm-e 10,000 feet; the average width may be 40 feet. 
In the front of a single block in Water street the pavement is Belgian block. The sidewalks are all paved with blue- 
stone from Ulster county, with curbstones of the same. 

NEWBUEYPOET, MASSACHUSETTS. 

There are but two buildings in Newburyport constructed entirely of stone, and the material used is Cape Ann 
granite. Foundations and underpinnings are usually of the same material, but Maine granite is used for the same 
purpose to a limited extent. With the exception of a very few imbUc buildings, stone is used only in the 
underpinnings and foundations. It is observed that the Cape Ann granite, the stone chiefly used here, is of a light 
color when quarried and grows dark with exposure, but does not decay. The Peabody granite becomes of a 
yellowish-brown color after long exposure to the weather. A ledge has been recently opened about 2 miles above 
Newburyport, on the Merrimack, for the purpose of extracting stone for the construction of a jetty across the 
sand-bar at the mouth of the river. The material quarried is called by the workmen common stone or trap. 
Sandstone from Springfield has been used to a very limited extent for trimmings. The little stone street pavement 
in this city is of Maine granite ; the sidewalks are not paved at all, and the curbs are of Maine and Cape Ann 
granites. 

I^EW HA VEX, CONNECTICUT. 

In New Haven, as in most of the other cities of Connecticut, the brown sandstone from the Connecticut valley 
furnishes the chief part of the material for stone construction. The other materials used are granite from Long 
Island shore, gneiss from Ausonia, trap from the East and West rocks, and sandstone from East Haven and Ohio. 
The breakwater in New Haven harbor has been built partly of coarse granite from the Branford quarries; 
considerable of East Haven sandstone has been used in bridge approaches, abutments, and piers ; some 2 or 2J 
miles in length of the side walls of the old canal, in which the railroads cross the city, are built entirelj' of East Haven 
sandstone and trap, about equal quantities of each being used, and requiring between 8,000 and 10,000 cubic yards 
of stone. Some of the Ohio sandstone used iu New Haven, notablj" in one building, contains iron pyrites, which 
oxidizes on exposure to the weather, giving the stone a soiled appearance. The only defect noticeable in the 
Portland sandstone is that it scales ofl' if laid otherwise than as in the quarry bed. The basement story of the old 
State-house is of limestone, which has crumbled very badly, and the material has not been used in any other 
structures. Brown sandstone from Newark, Essex county. New Jersey, was employed to some extent in some of 
the Yale College buildings. For foundations and underpinnings trap and East Haven sandstone are the materials 
nsed. Most of the streets are telfordized with trap from the East and West rocks. The sidewalks are but little 
paved with stone ; the material used is North Eiver blue-stone, with, in a few instances, mica-schist from Bolton 
Connecticut. The curbstones are chiefly North Eiver blue-stone, but granite has been used to a limited extent for 
the same pur^jose. 



312 BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

NEW LONDON, CONNECTICUT. 

New London is built on granite rocks. Stone for cellars, foundations, and underpinnings is quarried almost 
anywhere within the city limits. The whole of the walls of the large Catholic church, and of another large granite 
church building, are built of stone quarried on the sites of buildings, the stone for trimmings coming from one of 
the quarries at Groton. The surface stone in New London, and also in neighboring quarries, is striped in appearance^ 
not uniform, some pieces being more variegated than others. The color varies also considerably, but is always the 
same shade of gray. 

Only 1 per cent, of the buildings is of stone, which is due simply to the question of first cost. Forts Trumbull 
and Griswold are built of granite from Groton or Millstone point. 

The streets are but little paved with stone, and the material used for this purpose is the rectangular blocks of 
Groton granite. The sidewalks of the principal streets are paved with North Eiver blue-stone and some Groton 
granite. The curbstones are Groton granite. 

NEW OELEANS, LOUISIANA. 

The percentage of stone construction in New Orleans is very small. A large proportion of the houses are built 
of wood. The streets were all paved before the late war. There is one building, situated in the southern part of 
the city, entirely of rough-hewn stone from Sainte Genevieve. The custom-house is nearly all built of Quincy 
granite. Another building, on the corner of Eoyal and Canal streets, is built mostly of granite. A monument tO' 
General Eobert E. Lee is now in course of construction ; the base is of Georgia granite ; the foundation on i)iles, 
and transverse timbers in concrete; the shaft is of Knoxville, Tennessee, gray marble; and this latter material 
is very highly esteemed here. The few stone fronts are of Westchester, New York, snowflake marble and Sainte- 
Genevieve limestone ; a good deal of the latter material was formerly xised. The chief material now used for fronts, 
is iron ; the amount of stone used for purposes of construction in New Orleans since the war is very inconsiderable. 
The Westchester limestone was considerably employed before the war, and also the Sainte Genevieve limestone, for 
tombs and fronts ; at present a great deal of brick is used and stuccoed. The use of artificial stone in buildings- 
and pavements is increasing. The stone used for ornamental purposes is usually Italian marble, with some Vermont 
marble. Some Quincy granite was formerly brought to the city and used for curbstones, flagging, and purposes- 
of that nature ; as it was usually brought as ballast in ships, the expense attending its use was inconsiderable. 
The water is so near the surface in New Orleans that it is impossible to have stone foundations; the customary 
way is to lay thick planks transversely and to place the brick immediately on them ; they are sometimes creosoted,, 
but usually last well below water. This system of foundations is considered better and less expensive than driving 
piles. The sewers consist of stone- faced gutters, through which the water passes every night from the river to th& 
lake; 221,760 feet, or 42 miles, of blue-flint banquettes; 42,240 feet, or 8 miles, slate-stone banquettes; 15,840 feet, 
or 3 miles, Schillinger artiiicial stone ; in all, 279,840 feet, or 53 miles, of stone banquettes. 

The following is a statement of the number of miles of stone street pavement : 113,520 feet, or 21^ miles, of 
Quincy granite square-block pavement; 15,840 feet, or 3 miles, of other square-block pavement; in all, 129,360 feet^ 
or 24i- miles. 

The greater part of the street pavement is of cobble-stone, brought as ballast ; 42 miles of sidewalk pavement 
are of North Eiver blue-stone ; 7 miles of slate. 

NEWPOET, EHODE ISLAND. 

The materials most used in the better class of stone construction in Newport are Connecticut brownstone and! 
Newport granite. Eort Adams is built of Westerly and Fall Eiver granite, together with some of the local slate. 
The macadamized Telford road is much used in Newport and the stone employed is the local granite. Th& 
foundations and underpinnings are built of Newport granite; the streets are but little paved with stone, and 
the material used is cobble-stones from Block island and from Nova Scotia. Asphalt manufactured at Providence i» 
much used for street paving. The sidewalks in the business portions of the city are paved with Hudson Eiver flags- 
and asphalt. The curbstones are Hudson Eiver blue-stone and Pall Eiver granite. 

NEWTON, MASSACHUSETTS. 

The city of Newton includes Newton, Newton Center, Newton Upper Falls, Newton Lower Falls, Newton Valley^ 
West Newton, and Auburndale. Of the stone buildings enumerated three are churches, three private residences, and 
one mill ; one church built of Ohio sandstone was rebuilt from the old Chauncey Street church, Boston. The material 
for foundations and underpinnings is granite obtained from the bowlders found in the vicinity, with some Westford 
granite. The streets are not paved with stone; a very few of the sidewalks are paved with Westford granite, with 
curbs of the same material. 



STONE CONSTRUCTION IN CITIES. 



SI- 



NEW TOEK CITY AND BNVIEONS. 

By Dr. Alexis A. Julien. 



City. 



County. 



New Tort city 

Brooklyn, inclading "Williamsburg and Long Island City 

Castleton, etc. (Staten island) 

Jersey City, including Hudson City, Bergen City, Bayonne, and Greenville 
Hoboken, including West Hoboken, town of Union, and "Weehawken 



Kew York . 

Kings 

Kicbmond. . 

Hudson 

Hudson — 



1, 206, 590 
583, 806 
40, 000 



Xew Jersey. 



This district embraces the priucipal suburbs of the great metropolis, although the crowded trains and boats 
which constantly leave all the railroad stations and docks, especially in the morning and evening, point to the outer 
riuj^" of suburban cities and villages, in the Hudson Eiver counties, on Long island and in New Jersey, whose 
construction and enlargement chiefly depend for supply of material upon the stone- and brick-yards of New York 
island. 

The statistics embodied have been obtained from many sources, partly by direct counting of houses from street 
to street, etc., partly by the issue of circulars, and partly by personal application to stone dealers, stone-yards, etc. 

The courteous consideration with which, in general, my inquiries have been received calls for my special 
acknowledgment and thanks to a large number of persons, of whom I ought ]ierhaps specially to name the 
following : James Wells, insurance agent, 167 Broadway ; William E. Midgley, assistant secretary New York and 
Boston Insurance Company, Howard building, 176 Broadway; J. H. Langford & Co., insurance agents, 10 Pine 
street; the New York Board of Fire Underwriters; F. Collingwood, engineer in charge of New York approach, 
New York and Brooklyn bridge ; David Acker, deputy commisgioner of department of buildings, Brooklyn ; James 
A. Baker, clerk of village of Edgewater, Staten island ; J. E. Wardlaw, clerk, etc., Edgewater, Staten islaiul ; 
Miller & Simonson, West New Brighton, Staten island ; John H. Cordes, real estate agent, 163 Harrison avenue, 
Brooklyn ; Gill & Baird, John Vesey, Andrew Mills, New England Granite Works, Gillie & Walker, the Bay of 
Fundy Quarry Company, D. Hotaling, Brander, Boyd & Hutcheon, and Browne, McAllister & Co. 

In compliance with my request for specimens of stone, trimmed in accordauce with the directions of the 
building-stone department of the census, many such specimens have been sent to the National Museum at 
Washington, sometimes with a duplicate intended for the American Museum of Natural History in this city. For 
these we are specially indebted to the following firms, so far as I have been notified : New England Granite Works, 
James Morgan & Co., the Bay of Fundy Quarryiug Company, and Browne, McAllister & Co. 

My report is naturallj- divided into three parts : 

I. The buildings of New Yoi'k and adjacent cities, etc., their numbers, and common materials. 

II. The building stones of these cities, described in some detail, their localities, and examples of edifices 
constructed of each variety. Public buildings and improvements, with description of materials employed ; materials 
of pavements and roofs ; market prices of building stones. 

III. Durability of building stones in this district ; agents of destruction ; elements of .strength and durability ; 
methods of trial; means of protection and jireservation. (This will form the subject of another chapter, and will 
be found on iiages 364 to 393. 

With a field so broad, and with imperfect sources of information, my report can hardly be free from errors and 
deficiencies; but every effort has been made to avoid them so far as time and opportunity have permitted. 



"I.— THE BUILDINGS OF NEW YOEK AND ADJACENT CITIES; THEIE NUMBEES AND COMMON 

MATEEIALS. 

It may be as well to state here that the published maps used by the insurance companies, in which the position 
and approximately the material of each building are supposed to 'be laid down, are far from accurate. Not only 
have the additions and removals of buildings been in some cases imperfectly represented, but on many maps little 
attempt seems to have been made to exhibit the nature of the material {i. e., of the faces) of the buildings, whether 
brick or stone. It has been necessary to correct these points, for the purpose of the census, by personal examination 
of many districts. 

The buOding statistics have been arranged (Table I) to indicate the exact materials of construction in each city, 
and in an approximate way, the number of buildings erected for special purposes and the selection of materials 
employed for them. These figures are almost entirely derived from personal inspection and actual counting of the 
buddings in the several districts. The city of New York comprises an area of 24,893 acres, which may be divided 
into three great districts, viz : 

1. District of wholesale business houses, comprising the entire area of the island south of the line of Canal and 
Eutgers streets, from the North (Hudson) river to the East river; also the buildings along the line of Broadway up 
to Fourteenth street. 



314 BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

2. District of small stores and tenements, comprising the area north of the line of Canal and Eutgers streets, 
and east of the Bowery and Third avenue, up to the Harlem river ; also, the entire Twenty-third and Twenty-fourth 
wards, up to the northern boundary of the city at the Tonkers line. 

3. District of large stores and residences, comprising the area north of the line of Canal street, and west of 
the Bowery and Third avenue, up to the Harlem river at Spuyten Duyvil. 

In the city of Brooklyn the lines are much less sharply and easily drawn; however, three districts may be 
distinguished : 

1. District of warehouses, tenements, etc., comprising wards Fos. 2, 4, 5, and 12, and portions of Nos. 1 and 6 ; 
i. e., the area bounded by the following line : East river, Hudson avenue to Willoughby avenue ; Willoughby avenue 
to Fulton street; Fulton street to Furman street; Furman street to Atlantic avenue; Atlantic avenue to Hicks 
street ; Hicks street to Cole street ; Cole street to Clinton street ; Clinton street to Eush street ; Eush street to 
Gowanus bay ; along shore of Gowanus bay ; Buttermilk channel to Fulton street, East river. 

2. District of residences and small stores, comprising the rest of the city, including Williamsburg. 

3. District of small residences, comprising the suburb called Long Island City (population 17,117). 
The statistics of Jersey City, Hudson county, New Jersey, were gathered in two divisions : 

1. Jersey City, Including Hudson City and Bergen City, La Fayette, and Communipaw. 

2. Bayonne and Greenville. 

The statistics of Hoboken, Hudson county, New Jersey, have been gathered under three heads : 

1. Hoboken i>roper. 

2. West Hoboken and town of Union. 

3. Weehawken. 

It has been thought desirable to make this subdivision of the statistics, in reference to these small and, in many 
cases, at present unimportant places, in view of the enormous growth by which they are liable to be affected in the 
vicinity of the great metropolis. 

Finally, as a matter of general interest, and for the purpose of proper comparison with the other great cities 
of the world, all the statistics above mentioned have been summed up under the head of New York city and its 
suburbs. 

It may be here noted that a general improvement in the character of the building materials employed is 
constantly in i>rogress in all these cities, so that the number and proportion of stone buildings have in many cities 
been sensibly increased since the year 1880; to which date all the statistics in this report, so far as possible, have 
been made to conform. 

A consideration of this table iiresents the following chief points of interest : 

, NEW YORK. 

stone enters into the construction, chiefly as fronts, of 11.6 per cent, of all the buildings of the city. Of the 
entire number of stone buildings, 89.4 per cent, consist of sandstone, and the several varieties of stone occur in the 
following proportion : 

Per cent. 

Brown sandstone - 78. 6 

Nova Scotia and Ohio sandstones - 10.6 

Marble 7.9 

Granite 1.8 

Gneiss 0.9 

Foreign sandstone 0. 1 

Blue-stone and limestone 0.1 

The materials of general construction in the city occur in the following proportion to the total |^number of 
buildings : 

Per cent. 

Brick, terra-cotta, stucco, etc 63. 2 

Frame, i e., wooden in part, filled in witli brick 24.3 

Stone 11.6 

Iron , 0.9 

In the business district brick predominates (77 per cent.), and most of the marble, and somewhat less than half 
of the iron buildings occur. The remaining iron buildings are mostly found on the large business streets in the 
other districts. 

The tenement district still consists of frame buildings to the extent of 31.7 per cent., nearly half of the entire 
number in the city. Stone constitutes only 5.5 per cent, of the fronts, though largely employed in the trimmings; 
and iron and marble are rare. Brick somewhat predominates (63.6 per cent.). 

In the residence district brick also predominates (60.9 per cent.), but stone is largely used (14.6 per cent.), 
including 70 per cent, of all the stone buildings of the city. However, the district comprises, in its unsettled and 



STONE CONSTRUCTION IN CITIES. 315 

partially-biiilt areas, the greater part (55 ])er cent.) of the wooden buildings of the city. Here most of the stucco 
buildings occur, but their number (1G6) is very small, particularly in comparison with theii" abundance in the 
metropolis of England. 

BROOKLYN. 

stone is here employed in a proportion (9 per cent.) a little less than that of New York (ll.G per cent.), and iu 
mnch less variety, the Connecticut brownstone predominating (95.7 per cent.) in the entire number of stone 
buildings. This stone is employed altogether for the residences throughout the city. Very few iron buildings 
occur, but there are over three times as many stucco fronts as there are in New York. The frame buildings 
•constitute half of the entire number (50.9 per cent.), especially predominating in the outskirts, as in Long Island 
City (80.5 per cent). 

STATEN ISLAND. 

Stone enters in a very small proportion into the construction of fronts of buildings on this island (5 per cent.), 
though it is commonly employed for trimmings, walls of inclosures, and other masonry. Brick is largely employed, 
especially in the towns and villages (9.5 per cent.), but the common material is wood (90 per cent). 

JERSEY CITY. 
In the suburbs of this city the proportions of stone and brick employed are very similar to those on Staten 
island. But in Jersey City proper the predominance of frame houses is much less, the buildings amounting to 1.9 
per cent., and the brick to 25.9 per cent. The selection of the dark trap-stone from the heights behind the main 
city for the construction of many fronts or of entire buildings is a peculiar local feature. 

HOBOKEN. 

The materials of construction in the suburbs of this city, upon the top of the trap ridge, etc., are similar in 
proportion to those on Staten island and iu the suburbs of Jersey City. In Hoboken proper the proportion of 
stone buildings is large (3.9 per cent.), and the brick buildings constitute over half (52.7 per cent.) of the entire 
number. 

THE METROPOLIS. 

Finally, iu regard to the whole district, it will be seen from the table that stone enters into the construction of 
the fronts of 9.1 per cent, of all the buildings of this city, though it is employed otherwise to an enormous extent for 
foundations, trimmings, walls, copings, stoojis, etc. I have not been able to obtain suflicient data for the estimation 
of the entire import of stone into the city ; but some idea of the vast expenditui-e involved in the construction 
of our buildings may be derived from the reports of the superintendents of the building departments of New York 
and Brooklyn, and have suggested the following by a writer in the Am. Arch, and Building Neics, 1878, Vol. Ill, 
page 71 : 

It -would seem from it that the average cost of a new building in New Y'ork city has been $13,741, and that with some additions of 
■work, not formerly reported to the superintendent, the aggregate sum spent in adding to the plant and material on Manhattan island 
has reached the enormous sum of about $350,000,000. 

From the annual reports of the committee on the fire patrol to the New York board of fire underwriters, of 1881 
and 1882, the statistics given below have been extracted : 

Number of buildings iu New Y"ork city south of Fifty -ninth street : 

South of Canal street, west of Broadway 3,555 

South of Canal and Rutgers streets, east of Broadway 6,993 

10, 553 

Lower district, south of Canal street: 

Between Canal and Fourteenth streets, west of Broadway 10, 219 

Between Canal and Fourteenth streets, east of Broadway 16, 481 

26,700 

Lower central district, between Canal and Fourteenth streets : 

Between Fourteenth and Fifty-ninth streets, west of Fifth avenue 20, .559 

Between Fourteenth and Fifty-ninth streets, east of Fifth avenue .„. 13, 256 

33,815 

Upper central district, between Fourteenth and Fifty-ninth streets: 

North of Fifty-ninth street, west of Fifth avenue 6, 372 

North of Fifty-ninth street, east of Fifth avenue 12,374 

Upper district, between Fifty-ninth street and Harlem river 18, 746 

New York city, Battery to Harlem river 89,814 



316 BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. ' 

The area comprised by the enumeration does not include that of the Twenty-third and Twenty-fourth wards 
north of the Harlem river, and the total, therefore, falls below that of the last column of the table given on page 
329. The materials of construction are reported as follows : 

Brick, with stone trimmings and in part with stone facings 64,783 

Brick and frame 3,616 

Frame - 21,415 

Total 89,814 

Of this number the stores amount to over 5,300, whose value, at an average of but $100,000 each, might be 
estimated at $53,000,000. 

Another enumeration of the number of buildings in New York city is now being carried on by committees of 
the fire department, but will not probably be completed for many months. 

II.— THE BUILDING STONES. 

A. VAEIETIES, LOCALITIES, AND EDIFICES. 

The series of buildings employed in New York and adjacent cities is rich and varied, comprising materials 
derived by water carriage from most of the sea-ports of New Brunswick and New England, and from many points 
along the Hudson river, and by railway from the interior of all the New England and middle states, even as far 
west as Indiana. 

The only careful description of our American building stones yet made is found in the report of Dr. J. S. 
Newberry on the building stones displayed at the exposition at Philadelphia in 1876, and it will suffice for the 
object of this report to quote freely from the descriptions of varieties there given. It may be also remarked that 
from time to time various building stones have been brought to this market from numerous quarries of limited extent 
which have soon become exhausted ; e. g., the granite from Dix island. So large is the number of building stones, 
and so scattered are the sources of information concerning them, that some of subordinate importance may very likely 
not be included in the following list. In most cases prominent examples are given of the use of stone in the larger 
or public buildings of the city, both as ashlar for fronts and as the trimmings of buildings mainly constructed of brick. 

The materials most commonly in favor for facings of the fronts of our buildings consist of red pressed brick, 
which is glaring and offensive to the eye ; white marbles, which are at first too bright, but soon assume a dirty 
cream- colored tinge of discoloration; drab or olive-gray freestones, which rapidly become discolored by blackish- 
gray stains on fronts exposed to the north and east, and brown freestones or brownstones, very generally used for 
the ashlared fronts of residences. This latter stone presents rather a somber and cheerless aspect under a cloudy 
sky on a winter day, and imparts a great monotony to the appearance of our cross-streets ; nevertheless, under 
the bright sky and brilliant atmosphere of many days of spring and winter, and above all of the summer in New 
York, it is not trying to the eye nor glaring like brick or marble or the light-colored granites and freestones. 

The following details have been gathered partly from my own observation and that of my assistants, but for 
many particulars, especially in regard to examples of construction, I have been indebted to various persons, and 
I have not been able to verify them all : 

Feeestone (sandstone). — Shepody mountain, Hopewell, Albert, New Brunswick. Pale olive-green, and of 
medium fineness ; uniform texture and tint, and of good strength ; is a durable and serviceable stone, generally 
admired for its color (J. S. Newberry). Derived from the Millstone Grit formation. Examples of construction. 
(See Freestone of Dorchester, New Brunswick.) 

Freestone (sandstone). — Mary's Point, Albert, New Brunswick. Colors, salmon, olive, and dark brown. 
Derived from the Lower Carboniferous formation. Examples of construction : The Eeformed church, corner of 
Fifty-seventh street and Madison avenue; the fence surrounding Central park, the bridges, fountain, basin, and 
most of the freestone masonry in the park ;. also the similar masonry in Prospect park, in Brooklyn. 

Freestone (sandstone). — Wood Point, Westmoreland county. New Brunswick. Color, dark brown. Examples 
of construction. (See below.) 

Freestone (sandstone). — Sackville, New Brunswick. Derived from the Lower Carboniferous formation. 
Examples of construction. (See below.) 

Freestone (sandstone). — Harvey, New Brunswick. Derived from the Lower Carboniferous formation. 
Examples of construction. (See below.) 

Freestone (sandstone). — Dorchester, New Brunswick. Derived from the Lower Carboniferous formation. 
Examples of construction : Stoops and part of trimmings of Normal college. Sixty-eighth street and Lexington 
avenue; building of New York Historical Society, corner of Second avenue and Eleventh street; part of the wall 
and bridges in Central park. Trimmings of the Academy of Music, Montague street, Brooklyn. 

Freestone (sandstone). — Weston, New Brunswick. Derived from the Lower Carboniferous formation. 
Examples of construction : Part of the wall and bridges in Central park. 



STONE CONSTRUCTION IN CITIES. 317 

Freestone (sandstone). — Keuuetcook, Hants county, Nova Scotia. Colors, olive and blue. Derived from 
tlie Lower Carboniferous formation. It is also used for grindstones. Examples of construction. (See below.) 

General examples of the construction in the "Xova Scotia" stone: Churcli in Twenty-fifth street, east of Fifth 
fivenue ; hotiel Bristol, Forty-second street, near Fifth avenue; churches: Madison avenue, near Fifty-seventh street ; 
Fourteenth street, west of First avenue; Fourteenth street, west of Sixth avenue; Fifteenth street, east of Third 
avenue ; Sixth avenue, near Fifteenth street ; Twenty-first street, east of Second avenue ; Thirty -fourth street, east of 
Seventh avenue; Forty-second street, west of Seventh avenue; Lexington avenue, near Forty-sixth street; 
Lexington avenue, near Sixty-third street; Seventy-sixth street, east of Third avenue; Eighty-ninth street, east of 
Madison avenue ; bank, Broadway, Brooklyn. 

Freestone (sandstone). — East Lougmeadow and Springfield, Massachusetts. Derived from the Triassic 
formation. 

Freestone (brown .sandstone or brownstoue). — Portland, Connecticut. "Some varieties are laminated in 
structure and liable to exfoliate when used as ashlars and set on edge." This stone imjjarts a somber monotony 
of tone to the architecture of our cities. Color light to dark reddish-brown, inclining to chocolate ; texture varying 
widely in fineness, but usually coarser than the similar freestone from Belleville, New Jersey. Examples of 
construction are abundant in the residences throughout our cities, e. g., on the northwest corner of Fifty-seventh 
street and Fifth avenue : Academy of Design, in Brooklyn, Montague street, west of Fulton. 

Freestone (sandstone). — Middletown, Connecticut. Derived from the Triassic formation. Examples of 
construction : Trinity church, corner of Clinton and Montague streets, and the Methodist E^jiscopal church, 
on northwest corner of Clinton and Pacific streets, in Brooklyn. 

Eed sandstone. — Potsdam, New Tork. The oldest of all the sandstones, belonging to the Potsdam period of 
the Lower Silurian formation. Color, a warm reddish brown, slightly mottled and striped with white ; structure, 
decidedly laminated, in thin parallel sheets, often crossed obliquely by obscure fissure lines of lighter color. It is 
quite refractory, and has been used for lining of iron furnaces. Examjiles of construction: Quoins, trimmings, 
and basement of residence in Fifth avenue, near Thirty-fifth street; dressings, string-courses, etc., of building of 
Columbia college, Forty -ninth street and Madison avenue. 

Brown sandstone. — Oswego, New York. Example of construction : Part of first story of Masonic temi^le, 
Twenty-third street and Sixth avenue. 

Freestone (brownstone). — Newark, New Jersey. Examples of construction: Churches on corner of Forty- 
eighth and Fifty-fifth streets and Fifth avenue; the synagogue, on Fifth avenue; church on corner of Madison 
avenue and Fifty-fifth street; Trinity Church school, on Church street; Trinity chapel, on Houston street; trimmings 
of buildings at Thirty-second street and Broadway, etc. 

Freestone (sandstone or "brownstone"). — Belleville, New Jersey. Derived from the Triassic formation. 
Colors, brownish-gray, light brown, light reddish -brown, and light orange- brown. Generally finer grained and more 
compact than the stone from Connecticut. Examples of construction : House on northeast corner of Fiftieth street 
and Madison avenue ; Church of the Messiah, northwest corner of Thirty- fourth street and Park avenue ; trimmings 
of many residences in Madison avenue, e. g., on northwest corners of Sixty-seventh, Sixty-eighth, and Sixty-ninth 
streets, etc.; Baptist Church of the Epiphany, southeast corner Madison avenue and Sixty-fourth street; two 
shades of this stone presented in the church and chaiiel, Madison Avenue Methodist Episcopal church, northeast 
corner Madison avenue and Sixtieth street ; Presbyterian church, corner Fifty-fifth street and Fifth avenue ; Jewish 
temple, corner of Fifty -fifth street and Lexington avenue, with trimmings of Ohio stone ; trimmings of Harney 
building, 10 Wall street ; Seventh Ward bank ; Mills building, corner Broad street and Exchange place, and many 
bridges in Central park; Fort La Fayette; houses on corner of Fifty-seventh and Ninety-thiid streets and Fifth 
avenue, and corner of Twenty-eighth street and Madison avenue. 

Freestone (brown sandstone). — Little Falls, New Jersey. Derived from the Triassic formation. Example 
of construction : Trinity church, Broadway and Wall street. 

Freestone (brownstone). — Base of Palisades, New Jersey. Derived from the Triassic formation. Example 
of construction : Part of the wall in Central park. 

Freestone (brownstone). — Hummels'town, Pennsylvania. This has been largely used in Philadelphia, and is 
said to be an excellent variety. Example of construction : Building on Fifth avenue, above Forty-first street. 

Freestone (sandstone). — Amherst, northern Ohio. Belonging to the Lower Carboniferous or Waverly series. 
Fine-grained, homogeneous sandstone, light drab in color, made up chiefly of grains of quartz ; color, permanent. 
An excellent building stone. Example of construction : Building corner of Barclay street and Broadway, erected 
twenty years ago. 

Freestone (sandstone). — East Cleveland, Ohio. Color, drab and dove-colored. Derived from the Waverly 
and Coal Measures. 

Freestone (sandstone).— Independence, Ohio. Color, light drab, and coarser than the stone of Amherst. 
Derived from the Waverly and Coal Measures. 

Freestone (sandstone). — Berea, Ohio. Derived from the Waverly and Coal Measures. Not quite so fine 
grained as the Amherst ; a light bluish-gray, generally a strong and durable stone, sometimes liable to discoloration 



318 BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

by decomposition of pyrites. Examples of construction: Kew York Clipper building; block on corner of Cliff and 
Fulton streets; Church of Transfiguration; west side of Sixth avenue, above Twenty- seventh streefc; Decker's 
building, in Union square; churches: One hundred and ninth street, near Madison avenue; One hundred and 
sixteenth street, near Third avenue; South Fifth street, near Canal; Bond building, on Broadway, next Trinity 
building; front of Eossmore hotel, Forty-first street and Broadway ; trimmings of house, northwest corner of Forty- 
third street and Madison avenue ; Williamsburg Savings bank, corner Broadway and Fifth street, Brooklyn, eastern 
district (with basement and pilasters of Quincy granite) ; Berea haU, Brooklyn, etc. 

BuBNA Vista freestone (sandstone).— Portsmouth, Scioto county, Ohio. This belongs to the lower part 
of the Waverly series. It is finer grained and less siliceous than that from northern Ohio, " and has generally a more 
decided bluish tint when freshly quarried, but becomes lighter and more yellowish on exposure." It varies in 
color from brown, dove-colored, banded and mottled red and yellow to black. 

Though some varieties of this stone are liable to slain and exfoliate, from the oxidation of the contained iron, as a general rule it is 
an excellent and very handsome stone, taking rank with the best and handsomest of the freestones of the country.— J. S. N. 

Feeestone (sandstone).— Waverly, southern Ohio. Derived from the lower part of the Waverly series. 

Within a few years a considerable quantity of stone, which is known in New York by the name of "Carlisle" or 
" Scotch" stone, has been brought into New York as ballast. It is not the English stone known by the former 
name in England, but comprises three varieties of Scotch sandstone, here called merely by the name of the English 
port at which the stone is shipped, Carlisle. Each stone will be separately considered : 

1. CoESBHiLL EEEESTONE (sandstone).— CorsehiU, near Annan, in Dumfries county, about 60 miles west of 
Glasgow, Scotland. Derived from the new red sandstone. Color, dark red to bright pink ; close grained ; weathers 
well, works easily, fit for ashlar, and well adapted for carving and for columns. Examples of construction : 
Trimmings of Murray Hill hotel, Park avenue and Forty-first street; stables on south side of Sixty-second street, 
between Park and Madison avenues ; house corner of Fifty-seventh street and Fourth avenue ; mantels in residence 
corner of Fifty-second street and Fifth avenue; trimmings of the Berkshire building, northwest corner of Madison 
avenue and Fifty-second street. 

2. Ballochmile eeeestone (sandstone).— Ballochmile, Forfarshire, Scotland. A little darker in color than 
the CorsehiU stone. Derived from the Carboniferous formation. Examples of construction : Two houses in west 
Seventy-eighth street; house in Fifty-seventh street and Seventh avenue. 

3. Bed peeestone (sandstone). — Gatelaw bridge, 30 miles from Ballochmile, Dumfriesshire, Scotland. About 
equal in quabty and perhaps superior in beauty to the CorsehiU stone, but much superior to the Ballochmile 
stone. Example of construction : The only building constructed of this stone is the house on southeast corner of 
Forty-second street and Fifth avenue. 

Bed sandstone.— Frankfort-on-the-Main, Germany. Example of construction: Building in Sixty-eighth, 
street, east of Third avenue. 

Blue-stone (graywacke).— Albany, Delaware, and Greene counties, New York. The Greene County stone is 
obtained from some heavier beds in the Portage group, along the base of the Catskill mountains, and is shipped at 
Maiden, on the Hudson river. 

It is one of the very best flagging stones in the world. It may be quarried in slabs of almost any desired thickness or dimensions,, 
the different layers varying much in this respect. The natural surfaces of these strata are comparatively smooth, and form a good walk 
without dressing. The stone comes from the Hamilton group of the Devonian system, and forms a belt of outcrop extending from 
Kingston on the Hudson to Port Jervis on the Eric railroad, and thence southward. It is a fine-grained sandstone, generally dark blue 
in color — whence its name — and is very strong and durable. When ground or sawed it forms a very smooth surface, and yet one that 
always has a tooth or grain which holds the foot well, whether wet or dry. In this lespect sandstones are much superior to granites and 
limestones, which become slippery and dangerous when wet. — J. S. N. 

Examples of construction : Part of the bridges and wall in Central park. 

MoNTEOSE STONE (blue-stone). — Kingston, Ulster county. New York. A variety more pinkish in color than 
ordinary blue-stone, but about the same in hardness and general characteristics. Examples of construction: Two 
stables in Fifty-first street, between Seventh and Eighth avenues; penitentiary on Black well's island; flooring of 
casemates in forts of the harbor; trimmings of National Academy of Design, Twenty-third street and Fourth 
avenue (with casing); poi'ch of house, 15 East Thirty-sixth street; house in Fifty-seventh street, two doors west of 
Fourth avenue. 

Wyoming blue-stone (graywacke and flag-stones). — Pond Eddy, Long Swamp, the Narrows, Lackawaxen,. 
near and in Pike county, Pennsylvania, and across the Delaware river in New York. This stone is mostly shipped 
to Eondout by the Delaware and Hudson canal. Thickness of the flags and beds, from 3 to 18 inches. It is used 
for window- and door-sills, step-stones, water-tables, platforms, cellar, prison, and casemate floors, sidewalks, curbs, 
gutters, the bases of tombstones, candy tables, etc. 

The blue-stoiie is the best ; when it is struck with the hammer it has a metallic ring ; and the finer the grain of the stone the better, 
because it is more apt to be smoother, tougher, harder, and truer over the face than a coarse-grained flag. — The Manufacturer and Builder,. 
1876, VIII, 138. 

Examples of construction : The basement of residences. Thirty-fourth and Fifty-eighth streets ; a building in 
Seventeenth street, on Stuyvesant square; trimmings of Produce Exchange building. 



STONE CONSTRUCTION IN CITIES. 319 

Freestone (limestone) — Caen stone (oolite) Caen. — Normaudy, France. This stone is of a jiale cream- 
yellow color, of a loose, open grain, soils the fingers like chalk, and is very friable. It is very soft when first 
quarried, but hardens on exposure; is easily worked, sawed and carved, but weathers very badly; weighs from 
lie to 142 pounds to the cubic foot. Examples of construction: The former Nassau bank, corner of Nassau and 
Beekman streets, built in 1828; the reredos in Trinity church; the Tontine building; six residences in West Ninth 
street, between Fifth and Sixth avenues, erected in 1857; the dormitory in Sixteenth street, adjoining the New 
York hospital on the Fifth Avenue side; house next to church. Fifth avenue and Tweutyuinth street; the plinths, 
bands, and cornices of church and parsonage on southeast corner of Nineteenth street and Fourth avenue; bands, 
mullions, etc., of oriels and general trimmings in Trinity cha])el. 

LniESTONE. — Lockport,New York. 

Tbis comes from tlie encrinital layer of the Niagara group, and is a gray limestone thickly set with fossils, most of -n-hich are the 
joints of crinoids. Some of these are tinged ■with red, while others have a blue or opalescent shade, all of which give an agreeable 
variety to the color of the stone. It is less hard than the true marbles, and as a consequence takes a less brilliant polish and is more 
easily scratched. When properly wrought, however, it is quite handsome, and is considerably used for mantels and otler purposes. — 
J. S.N. 

Exaeiples of construction : Lenox library. Fifth avenue find Seventieth street, and the dressings of apertures, 
bands, posts, etc., of the Presbyterian hospital, Madison avenue and Seventieth street. 

Oolitic limestone. — Ellettsville, Monroe county, Indiana. Example of construction: Office building in 
Cortland street, next to Coal and Iron Exchange building. 

Oolitic limestone ("Indiana limestone" or "Bedford' stone"). — Bedford, Lfiwrenee county, Indiana. 
Examples of construction: Residences on northwest corners of Fifty-second and Fifty-seventh streets and Fifth 
avenue; Smith building, Cortland street; lowest story of Appleby Flat building, at Seventh avenue and Fifty- 
ninth street, and a similar building at Eleventh avenue and Eighty-fourth street; Bridge building. Fourteenth 
street; rectory, on Fifty-fifth street. 

Limestone. — Kingston and Rondout, New York. Examples of construction : Part of anchorages, approaches, 
and base of towers of New York and Brooklyn bridge. 

Limestone. — Isle La Motte, lake Champlain. Examples of construction : Part of the anchorages and towers 
of New York and Brooklyn bridge. 

Limestone. — Willsborough point, lake Champlain, New York. Examples of construction: Part of anchorages, 
approaches, and base of towers of New York and Brooklyn bridge. 

Limestone. — Greenwich and Mott Haven, Connecticut. Examples of construction : Part of wall in Central 
park. 

Granite. — Bay of Fundy, Nova Scotia. 

It contains almost no mica ; is of moderately fine grain, the groundwork composed of a bright, light red orthoclase, mottled with 
perhaps one-fourth of the quantity of bluish quartz, and one-tenth or less of black hornblende. It is a very tough and compact rock, 
and takes as high and uniform a polish as any other variety of granite known. — J. S. N. 

Examples of construction : The columns of the Stock Exchange building. 
Red granite. — Calais, Maine. 

It is composed of pale red orthoclase, with a smaller quantity of a lighter feldspar, possibly albite, with quartz, hornblende, and a 
little mica. It takes a fine polish, is homogeneous in texture and color, and well deserves the good reputation it enjoys. — J. S. N. 

Granite. — Bluehill, Maine. Light gray in color, and of good texture. Example of construction : The United 
States barge-office, Battery. 

Granite. — Morgan's bay. East Bluehill, Maine. 

a compact, homogeneous, light gray granite, composed of relatively large crystals of white orthoclase, with fine grains of glassy 
quartz and specks of black mica. lu color it is one of the lightest of New England granites, and tiom the preponderance of feldspar, 
the absence of hornblende, and the granular condition of the quartz, it will work with unusual facility and will prove a handsome and 
durable stone. — J. S. N. 

The stone is handsomely mottled and susceptible of a high polish. Examples of construction : Part of the 
towers and approaches of the New York and Brooklyn bridge. 

Granite. — Spruce Head, near Rockland, Maine. 

a clear, mottled, white and black syenite, which consists of nearly equal parts of snow-white orthoclase, glassy quartz, and black 
hornblende. The constituents are firmly united, making it a strong and durable stone, which takes a brilliant polish. The quantity of 
hornblende m it and the striking contrast in color between this and the feldspar give it a peculiar bright lively tint, which renders it one 
of the handsomest of the gray granites. — J. S. N. 

Examples of construction : Part of towers of New York and Brooklyn bridge ; bridges of Fourth Avenue 
improvement ; Jersey City reservoir ; hospital building for Sailors' Snug Harbor, Staten island. 

Red Granite. — Red Beach, Maine. 

This is a fine-grained granite, of which the general complexion is reddish, but less positively so than that of most so-called red 
granites. It is composed of pale red and creamy white feldspar, with smaller masses of smoky quartz, fine grains of black hornblende, » 
and specks of black mica. It takes a good polish and is undoubtedly a strong and durable stone. In quality it will take equal rank with 
the Jonesboro, and Calais red granites, from which it diJfers chiefly in its greater fineness of mottling. — J. S. N. 



320 BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

Granite.— Hurricane island, Maine. A gray ^tone of good quality and susceptible of higli polish. Examples 
■of construction : Portions of the New York docks ; part of the towers and approaches of the ISTewTork and Brooklyn 
bridge ; part of the New York post-office. 

Geanite. — East Boston, Fox island, Maine. 

A very fine grained atone, having the general complexion of the Westerly granite, but differing from that by showing a faint 
pinkish blush in its feldspar. In this respect it resembles the "harbor granite" of Fox island, of which it is indeed only a fine-grained 
variety. — J. S. N. 

Granite.— Deer island, Maine. A light gray and biotitic granite. Example of construction: The grain 
elevator of the New York Central Eailroad. 

Granite. — Vinal Haven, Maine. Light gray and rather coarse. Examples of construction : Sailors' Snug 
Harbor, Staten island; the Butler monument at the mausoleum iu Greenwood cemetery, etc. 

Granite.— Saint George, Maine. Fine-grained and compact. Example of construction: The pedestal of the 
La Fayette monument at Union square. 

Granite.— Augusta, Maine. A compact and fine-grained granite, containing both muscovite and biotite, and 
capable of receiving a good polish. Examples of construction: Mills' building, corner of Broad street and Exchange 
place; monument to Eecorder Hackett; Roberts tomb in Woodlawn cemetery; Wood's tomb in Greenwood 
cemetery, etc. 

Granite. — Biddeford, Maine. Examples of construction: A railroad elevator in Jersey City; docks along the 
North river, etc. 

Granite. — Pownal Centre, Maine. Sometimes used for paving in New York city. 

Granite. — Harbor, Fox island, near Eockland, Maine. 

a coarse-grained, handsome mottled granite, composed of very pale pink and white feldspar, mingled with relatively fine grains of 
quartz and hornblende. Its general tone of color is reddish gray blotched with white, and quite pleasing to the eye. It takes a good 
polish.— J. S. N. 

Examples of construction : Part of the towers of the New York and Brooklyn bridge ; the basement of the 
Stock Exchange building. 

Granite. — Hallo well, Maine. 

A very light, fine-grained stone, consisting chiefly of white orthoolase feldspar, with relatively fine grains of glassy quartz, specks of 
black hornblende, and minute scales of silvery mica. This latter gives the stone a peculiar glitter and adds greatly to its beauty without 
seriously affecting its strength. Dressed surfaces are almost as white as white marble, and, where polished, the spangles of mica buried 
beneath the surface reflect the light aud sparkle like diamonds. From the small quantity of quartz and the presence of mica, the 
Hallowell granite works with usual facility, both in the quarry and under the chisel ; yet it takes a good polish and is as strong aud wiU 
prove as durable as most of the esteemed varieties of this stone. — J. S. N. 

Examples of construction : Finish of door-jambs, windows, etc., of Saint Patrick's cathedral, Jersey City 
heights; Ludlow street jail; the Tribune building; the "Halls of Justice" or "Tombs" prison, in Centre street. 

Granite. — Bound Pond, Maine. A dark gray and compact biototic granite. Example of construction: The 
Seventh Eegiment armory. 

Granite. — Clark's island, Maine. 

Granite. — Mount Waldo, Maine. 

Granite — Musquito mountain, Maine. 

Granite. — Jonesboro', Maine. Examples of construction: Part of the panels at entrance of Williamsburg 
Savings bank, Brooklyn ; the front of Welles bailding, on the corner of Broadway and Beaver streets. New York ; 
the Hunnewell building, etc. 

Granite. — ^Frankfort, Maine. A coarse, compact, and generally porphyritic gray biotitic granite. Example of 
construction : Part of towers and approaches of New York and Brooklyn bridge. 

Granite. — Mount Desert island, Maine. A light gray biotitic granite. Examples of construction : Part of 
towers and of the Brooklyn approaches of the New York and Brooklyn bridge; Metropolitan Museum of Art; fort 
Schuyler, etc. 

Granite. — ^Eadcliffe's island, Maine. Examples of construction : Bridges in Central park. 

Granite. — ^Dis island, Maine. A dark gray, compact granite. This quarry is now exhausted. Examples of 
construction : New York post-ofSice; first base-course of Saint Patrick's cathedral; court-house in City Hall park; 
part of Staats Zeitung building; fortifications in the harbor; docks at Castle Garden, and the retaining- walls for 
the basin and barge-office. 

Granite. — Concord, New Hampshire. Examples of construction : Booth's theater ; German Savings bank, 
corner Fourteenth street and Fourth avenue (basement, Quincy granite) ; part of towers and appuoaches of New 
York and Brooklyn bridge. 

Granite. — Saint Johnsbury, Vermont. 

A gray stone of excellent quality and established reputation. — J. S. N. 

Granite. — Bethel, Vermont. 

a nearly white granite of a homogeneous texture, but not highly polished. It must be an admirable stone for special uses, but it is 
probably less dirrablethan some of the more siliceous and compact varieties.— J. S. N. 



STONE CONSTRUCTION IN CITIES. 321 

Geanite. — Barre, Vermont. 

This stone has been proved by ample trial to be an excellent stone for architectural and monumental purposes. It is light gray in 
color, of medium fineness, very homogeneous, and firm. — J. S. N. 

Granite. — Cape Ann, Massachusetts. Example of construction : The dark base stone and spandrel stones of 
the towers and approaches of Xew York and Brooklyn bridge. 
Granite. — Quincy, Massachusetts. 

A well-known stone consisting of quartz, feldspar, and hornblende without mica. The color varies considerably, and affords 
opportunity for the exercise of taste in combination and adaptation to difi'erent purposes. This variation of color is due to differences in 
the feldspar of the diflerent beds. lu one it Is pale green, in another purplish-blue, and in the third pale pink. The black hornblende, 
which exists in cousiderable quantity, is the same in all, as is also the glassy quartz. The stone is susceptible of a high polish, and its 
strength and durability are amply attested by the trials to which it has been subjected. As a wliole the Quincy granite is rather 
somber in tone, and on this account i.s for many iiurposes less desirable than the lighter varieties.— J. S. N. 

Examples of construction : The Astor house ; Reformed church, in La Fayette place, corner of Fourth street; 
custom-house, Wall street, corner of William ; part of trimmings of Normal college, and Hahnemann hospital, 
Fourth avenue and Sixty-seventh street; part of Staais Zeitung building; Trybn row, between Center and Chatham 
streets. 

Granite. — Westerly, Rhode Island. 

This is a remarkably fine grained homogeneous stone, chietly composed of pale-pinkish or brownish-white orthoclase and thickly 
set with minute grains of black hornblende and occasion.il specks of black mica. It takes a fine polish, and is justly esteemed as one of 
the best granites in the country. — J. S. N. 

One variety is decidedly pinkish in color ; the others gray, fine, and coarse-grained ; all of good quality. Also 
red, white, and blue varieties. Example of construction : Part of Brooklyn anchorage of the New York and 
Brooklyn bridge. 

Granite. — Thomaston, Connecticut. 

It is lightest in color of all the granites exhibited at Philadelphia; is fine-grained, compact, and homogeneous, and is a remarkably 
beautiful and excellent stone, specially adapted to monumental work, for which it is largely used and highly esteemed. — J. S. N. 

Granite. — Millstone point, Connecticut. 

A dark gray granite of fine, homogeneous texture, showing strong contrast of color between polished and dressed surfaces. — 
J.S.N. 

Granite. — Leetes island, Connecticut. 

It is a reddish-gray, rather coarse-grained gneiss ; a handsome building stone, but taking an imperfect polish, and la not weU 
adapted to ornamental purposes. — J. S. N. 

Example of construction: Bridge over Harlem river. 
Granite. — Mystic Bridge, Connecticut. 

A very fine grained, light to dark gray granite, homogeneous in texture, and handsome. — J. S. N. 

Granite. — Stony Creek, Connecticut. 

Pale red in color, of medium grain, and consists of flesh-colored orthoclase, greenish- white oligoclase, and glassy quartz, with specks 
of black hornblende and magnetic iron. Minute points of pyrites may also sometimes be seen in it. It is a strong, compact, and 
handsome stone, having an agreeable tint, taking a high polish, and has been proved by trial to be well adapted for both construction 
and ornament. — J. S. N. 

Another variety is a gray, fine-grained stonii of good quality. Example of construction: Part of New York 
anchorage of the New York and Brooklyn bridge. 
Granite. — Umpewaug, Norwalk, Connecticut. 

This is a rather fine grained, pinkish graj' granite, homogeneous and compact ; a good building stone. — J. S. N. 

Eed granite. — Lyme, Connecticut. 

Very coarse grained, composed mostly of pale red or flesh-colored feldspar mottled with a whiter variety and glassy quartz ; it is 
also specked and streaked with hornblende. From the preponderance of eoaisely crystallized pale red orthoclase m its composition, it has 
a more uniform tint than any other red granite shown in the exhibition, and on this account, should it jjrove sound and strong, it will be 
a valuable addition to the varieties now in use for architectural and ornamental purposes. — J. S. N. 

Granite. — Niautic, Connecticut. Light gray and fine grained. Example of construction: Reservoir in Central 
park. 

Granite. — Saint Lawrence county, New York. Derived from the Laurentian formation. 

Granite. — Cornwall, New York (highlands of Hudson river). Derived from the Laurentian formation. 

Granite. — Charlottesburg, New Jersey. Example of construction : Part of the New York anchorage of the 
New York and Brooklyn bridge. 

Gray granite (Aberdeen granite). — Rubislaw, near Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. This occurs in 
large blocks, takes a flue polish, and is grayish in tint. It is of metamorphic origin, according to Haughton, and 
consists of quartz, orthocla.se, and black mica. The city of Aberdeen is built from it. 

GrAy granite (Aberdeen granite). — Rubislaw, near Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. This stone is 
considered the best, granite adapted as pavement for the traffic of London, as it is very durable and less slippery 
than most other granites. It was used in England iu the London pavements, the Portsmouth and Sheerness docks, 
VOL. IX 21 B s 



322 BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

Bell Rock light-house, Waterloo bridge, and upper side of London bridge, and in many polished columns and 
stones of buildings throughout Kew York city, Brooklyn, etc. Its weight per cubic foot varies from 165 to 166 
pounds. 

Bed granite (Peterhead granite). — Sterling Hill, near Peterhead, 30 miles from Aberdeen, Scotland. This 
is the best and most beautiful of the granites of Scotland. Its weight per cubic foot is about 166 pounds. It 
is used in the columns and building stones of numerous edifices in all the cities of Great Britain, where it is justly 
esteemed for the beauty of its color, closeness of texture, and the large blocks it yields from the quarry. It contains 
red orthoclase, albite, black mica, and quartz, and has been considered eruptive by Dr. Haughton. 

British examples of construction : Pillars of Carlton club-house; the Fishmongers' hall, London. Columns for 
interior of Saint George's hall, Liverpool. Columns in Provincial Bank of Ireland, Dublin. 

The Scotcli granites are justly esteemed for their lueauty of color and closeness and uniformity of texture. » » « The popularity 
of the Scotch granites, excellent as they are, is not due however to any superiority over the granites of the "United States, hut rather to 
their early occupation and suhsequent possession of the market. No stronger or more durable stone is likely to be found anywhere thaa 
the granites of Peterhead and Aberdeen, but they do not surpass in beauty or excellence the red granites of the Bay of Fundy and 
Gananoque, and the more esteemed varieties of red and gray granite from New England. — J. S. N. 

Examples of construction in the United States: Many polished columns and stones in the fronts and entrances 
of many buildings throughout New York, Brooklyn, etc. 

Sybnitic GKANiTB. — The granite of Syene (syenite rose d'Egypte) occupies large tracts in Upper Egypt between the iirst cataract and 
the town of Assouan, the ancient Syene, including several islands both above and below the cataract. It was extensively quarried by 
the Egyptians as far back at least as the reign of Zestos, king of Thebes, one thousand three hundred years before the Christian era, and 
fashioned into columns, obelisks, sarcophagi, and colossal statues which have lasted with but little injury down to the present day, and 
adorn the cities and public galleries of modern Europe. These quarries may still be traced at intervals, and the marks of the pick and 
chisel are still fresh. * * " It consists of large crystals of red orthoclase, sometimes in twins, and porphyritically developed, a 
little yellowish oligoclase, quartz, and dark mica, with occasionally a little hornblende. Sometimes the orthoclase crystals are of very 
larn^e size, and the whole rock extremely coarse grained. The general color of the rock is reddish, and it takes a fine polish. 

The analyses of Egyptian granite (or "syenite"), from a fragment of an antique in the collection of the 
Louvre, Paris, by Professor Delesse, yielded the following results : Silica, 70.25 per cent. ; alumina, 16.00 ; oxides 
of iron and manganese, 2.50; lime, 1.60; magnesia, potash, and soda, 9.00; water, 0.65. Examples of construction : 
The obelisk and pedestal in the Central park, New York city. The masonry at the base of the pedestal consists of 
nummulitic limestone from Egypt. 

Gneiss. — New Y'ork island. This rock occurs in two common varieties : the one biotitic, fine-grained, often 
slaty, bluish- gray in color, and consisting of quartz, plagioclase, feldspar, biotite, with more or less garnet, 
magnetite, flbrolite, etc. ; the other, hornblendic, black, glistening, slaty, and differing from the former chiefly in 
a large content or predominance of black hornblende. Examples of construction : The foundations of most of 
the buildings of the city; side walls of Saint Paul's church, corner of Broadway and Fulton street; church, 
Thompson street near Prince ; Church of the Strangers, Mercer street, near Clinton place ; All Saints church, Henry 
street, near Scannel street ; Henry Street church, Henry street, near Market street ; church, Henry street, near 
Eutgers street; church. Centre street, corner of Broome; basement of Irving hall, on southwest corner of Irving 
place and Fifteenth street ; church. Twentieth street, west of Eighth avenue ; church. Twenty-third street, east of 
Third avenue ; Bellevue hospital. Twenty- seventh street, east of First avenue ; church on southeast corner Thirty- 
eighth street and Madison avenue ; asylum for the blind. Thirty-third street, near Ninth avenue ; church, 
Thirty-fourth street, east of Seventh avenue ; church, Madison avenue, near Thirty-eighth street ; church. Forty - 
fourth street, east of Tenth avenue ; church, northeast corner of Forty-seventh street and Madison avenue ; 
church. Fifty-third street, east of Sixth avenue ; church. Seventy-second street, near Third avenue ; church. 
Seventy-fourth street and Fourth avenue; church. One hundred and seventeenth street, near Fourth avenue^ 
church, One hundred and twenty-seventh street, near Lexington avenue; part of church of the Holy Spirit, 
corner Sixty-sixth street and Madison avenue; first story of Berkshire building, on northwest corner of Fifty-first 
street and Madison avenue ; basement of New York foundling asylum, on southwest corner Third avenue and 
Sixty -ninth street; New York Juvenile Asylum, One hundred and seventy-eighth street (Kingsbridge road); 
Saint Ann's Avenue church, One hundred and fortieth street ; church, Third avenue, near One hundred and 
forty-sixth street; Saint John's college, Fordham; cemetery ofiice, Woodlawn; Methodist church, Washington 
place ; church on northwest corner Washington place and Sixth avenue ; Croton aqueduct, and the reservoirs at 
Fifth avenue and Forty-second street, and in Central park ^quarried from site) ; Church of Saint Paul the Apostle, 
Ninth avenue and Fifty-ninth street (facings, red Connecticut granite) ; foundations of the Lenox hospital. 
Seventieth street and Madison avenue ; basement of the Berkshire building, northwest corner of Madison avenue 
and Fifty-second street ; the tower, bridges, and walls in Central park. 

Gneiss. — Westchester county. New York. Examples of construction : Many bridges and walls in Central park. 

Gneiss. — Willett's Point, Kings county. New York (Long island, on the shore of the sound). Examples of 
construction: Fort Schuyler, at Throgg's Neck, Long island. In Brooklyn: Church, State street, west- of Bond 
street; church, Carroll street, south of Court street; church, Marcy avenue; naval hospital, near Harrison 
avenue; church, Fourth street, near Broadway; church, Kent street, east of Franklin a.venue. 



STONE CONSTRUCTION IN CITIES. 323 

Marble. — Swanton, Vermont. 

AU the Swanton marbles have the excellencies and defects of those of Mallett's head — that is, they are hard and somewhat difficult 
to work, but take a proportionately fine polish, which they retain longer than softer stones. The mistake is frequently made of using 
these mottled, veined, and brecciated marbles for tiling, but this sort of wear speedily betrays the difference in hardness of the several 
parts and destroys their beauty ; hence economy as well as good taste will be consulted by using for steps, thresholds, tiling, etc. , the 
monochrome marbles only. — J. S. N. 

Examples of construction. (See below.) ' 

Statuary marble. — West Rutland, Vermont. Brilliant, white, somewhat tender and absorbent, and hence 
best fitted for use when it is not exposed to the weather. Similar marbles are also brought from Rutland Centre, 
Dorset, Danby, Pittsford, Brandon, Shelburue, and JVIiddlebury, Vermont. Examples of construction. (See below.) 

Marble. — Manchester, Vermont. A rather coarse, white stone, streaked or clouded with black or gray. 
Examples of construction : Building of Drexel & Morgan, corner of Wall street and Broadway, New York ; Dutch 
Reformed church, corner of Twenty-ninth street and Fifth avenue. 

Marble. — Sutherland Falls, Vermont. 

General examples of construction in Vermont marbles : The Sutherland building, southeast corner of Sixty- 
third street and Madison avenue (beginning to be discolored bj' iron stains, chiefly derived from iron work); Savings 
Institution building on southeast corner of Clinton street and Atlantic avenue, Brooklyn. The latter building shows 
streaks of discoloration on moldings of cornices, etc. 

WiNOOSKi marble. — Mallett's head, on Isle La Motte, in lake Ghamplaiu, near Burlington, Vermont. 

It is mottled red, white, and brown, a hard stone, and somewhat difficult to work, but takes a high polish, and is very strong and 
durable. There is considerable variety la the tint of the Winooski marble, produced by the relative preponderance of the colors 
mentioned, and the size of the figure, some slabs being coarsely motled with white and brown, others chocolate and pale red, and others 
still light red, speckled, and mottled with white. — J. S. N. 

Examples of construction : The reredos of Grace church. Broadway, between Tenth and Eleventh streets. 
New York. 

Marble. — Isle La Motte, Vermont. 

These marbles are dark gray and black ; the latter is less deep in color than the Glens Falls and Lycoming black marbles, but is 
harder and stronger. It is largely used for tiling in combination with white marble or slate ; for this purpose it has been in use for 
twenty-five years, proving itself to be an exceedingly durable and serviceable stone. The " fine gray " and "coarse gray" are valuable 
building stones.— J. S. N. 

Marble. — Lee, Massachusetts. 

The Lee marble is for the most part of a uniform though not brilliant white color, is coarser grained than the Vermont marbles, 
and yet finer than those of New York. It is a strong and durable stone, but contains a little iron, by the oxidization of which it becomes 
somewhat brown on exposure. It is doubtful whether its strength and durability are materially impaired by this, and the change of 
color which it iiroduces is by some architects regarded as an excellence rather thau a defect. — J. S. N. 

It usually contains a little pyrites, but is a remarkably white marble. Example of construction : Saint Patrick's 
cathedral. Fifth avenue and Fiftieth street. 

Marble. — West Stockbridge, Massachusetts. 

It is similar in ch.aracter to that from Lee, resembling coarse loaf-sugar. — J. S. N. 

Examples of construction : The east, south, and west fronts of the old city hall, New York ; the Treasury building 
in Wall street. 

Marble. — Canaan, Connecticut. 

It varies somewhat in color and texture, some of it being very white and of fine grain, and well adapted to monumental purposes; 
the greater part, however, is bluish-white or mottled. This is harder to work, more durable, .and best suited for building. — J. •S. N. 
Marble. — Glens Falls, New York. 

This is a very dark phase of the Trenton limestone. It has been little, if at all, metamorphosed, and is simply a hard liraestono 
impregnated with carbonaceous matter, to which it owes its color. It is less hard and black than the most esteemed black marbles, but 
serves an excellent purpose for tiling, and is sometimes used for mantles and other interior decorations. Like all the black limestones, 
it will be found to lose its color and become gray by exposure to ihe weather. — J. S. N. 

Marble. — Lockport, New York. (Already mentioned under Limestone.) 

Marble. — Hastings, New York. Example of construction : The University building. University and Waverly 
places, often spoken of as " white granite". 
Marble. — Tuckahoe, New York. 

The quarries which furnish the Tuckahoe marble are located on one of the several belts of crystalline dolomite which traverse, with 
a north- northeast and south-southwest bearing, the country north of the city of New York. Of these, one reaches New York island, 
crossing the Harlem river at Kingsbridge ; another outcrops on the sound, near New Rochelle ; still others strike the Hudson above New 
York, at Hastings, Dobbs ferry. Sing Sing, etc. Several of these furnish good marble for buildiug stone — gray, bhie, or white — but none 
that is tine for decorative iiurposes. The best marbles yet obtained from these series of deposits are those of Tuckahoe and Pleasantville. 
The Tuckahoe marble is pure white in color, and much coarser in texture than any of those hitherto noticed. It is somewhat irregular 
in quality, but the better grades are highly esteemed for architectural purposes, and have been used in some of the finest buildings in the 
city of New York. » ^ » By exposure in the impure atmosphere of the city, its color changes to a light gray. This is apparently dun 
to coarseness of texture, which gives a roughness to the surface and causes the smoke and dust to adhere to it more closely than they 
would to a finer stone. — J. S. N. 



324 BUILDIlsa STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

Examples of oonstruotiou : The residence on the northwest corner of Thirty -fourth street and Fifth avenue; 
-part of Saint Patrick's cathedral, Fiftieth street and Fifth avenue ; the Stock Exchange building, and the New 
York Life Insurance building. 

SNOWi'LAiCE jviAEBLE. — Pleasantville, Westchester county, New York. 

The dolomite belt iu which the Pleasantville marble quarries are situated is one of the broadest known, being more than half a mile 
in width. It consists chiefly of bods of impure dolomite, white or banded, which contain too much siliceous matter to be available for 
building or ornament.^l jmrposes, with some layers, often of considerable thickness, of pure white marble, in part similar to that of 
Tnckahoe, and partly still more coarsely crystallized. The beds are more or less interstratified with layers of granite and gneiss, the 
■whole series standing nearly on edge among the marble layers in this locality ; the most conspicuous and valuable is that which is worked 
by the Pleasantville Laud Company, and which furnishes the "snowflake marble". This belt is about 400 feet wide, standing vertical, 
and consists throughout of pure white dolomite, almost without cloud or stain, and with no foreign matter. — J. S. N. 

This stone weathers well in New York, but is apt to become stained, especially under window-sills. Examples 
•of construction : The greater part of Saint Patrick's cathedral. New York ; Union Dime Savings bank, Thirty- 
second street, between Sixth avenue and Broadway. 

General examples of construction in Westchester marble : Block of houses on east side of Fifth avenue, between 
Fifty-seventh and Fifty-eighth street ; the National Academy of Design, Fourth avenue and Twenty -third street ; 
city hall, Brooklyn; coiirt-honse and municipal building; ('?) Grand opera house, Eighth avenue and Twenty-third 
street; (1) church on northeast corner of Twenty-first street and Fourth avenue ; Stewart's store buildings, Broadway, 
between Chambers and Eeade streets, and between Ninth and Tenth streets ; many store buildings in Chambers, 
Warren, Murray, and Barclay streets, Park place, etc. ; the United States hotel, corner of Fulton and Pearl streets. 

Marble. — Williamsport, Lycoming county, Pennsylvania. The "ebony marble" from this locality is one of 
the most beautiful of American black marbles. 

It is a jet-black stone, not quite equal to the Belgian black in purity of color and hardness, but it is very black, and takes a brilliant 
polish. It contains a few specks of jiyrites, and here and there a hair-line ring of white, marking the section of a fossil; but it works 
with great exactness, and seems to be an excellent, as it certainly is a handsome, stone. — J. S. N. 

Marble. — Knoxville, Tennessee. 

This is a highly-crystalline, compact, and hard marL)le, which varies in tint from brown to pink, but is not mottled, the color being 
■distributed in sheets and belts, so that blocks of considerable size can be taken out, which are of nearly a uniform shade. Usually the 
color is pmkish-brown, traversed by lines of blue. It is free from cracks and flaws, and takes a very uniform and brilliant polish. — J. S. N. 

Examples of construction: Ninth National Bank building; Park National Bank building; Grand Central 
hotel; Cisco building, etc. 

Marble. — Dougherty ville, Tennessee. 

The prevailing tint of the Tennessee marble is chocolate, mottled with pure white, and is very pleasing to the eye. It is also 
commended by marble-workers as being sound and strong, and it takes, for a v.ariegated marble, a high and uniform polish. — J. S. N. 

Marble. — Carrara, Tuscany, Italy. Derived from the Jurassic, Trias, and Oolite. 

The best quarries are opened along both sides of a deep valley, in which the village of Carrara is situated, and along which flows the 
Torano. In general the marble has a light bluish hue, or is white with bluish veins, such kinds being generally sawed into slabs at the 
numerous cutting and ijolishing mills situated along the course of the stream. The purer varieties, which are perfectly white, crystalline, 
and free from flaws, are quarried in blocks, sometimes 10, 12, or 14 feet in length, for statuary purposes, and drawn on strong wagons by 
teams of bullocks down to the railway station at Carrara. — Hull. ' 

Its weight per cubic foot is 168.6 pounds. Examples of construction are abundant in mantels and interior 
decoration throughout our cities, and in the tombstones iu Greenwood, Trinity, and Calvary cemeteries. 

Trap. — Palisades at Jersey City heights, Weehawken, etc., in Hudson county, New Jersey. Examples of 
•construction : Stevens' institute, Hoboken, New Jersey, and the court-house and Saint Patrick's cathedral, Jersey 
City heights. 

Trap. — Graniteville, Stat'en island. New York. This is quarried almost entirely for pavements in the cities, 
and the refuse is crushed up to macadamize roads. 

Norwood stone. — Closter, New Jersey. Example of construction : Grace Episcopal church, One hundred and 
sixteenth street, near Third avenue. 

Serpentine. — Hoboken, New Jersey. Examples of construction : Many private residences south of Stevens' 
hiU ; the wall facing part of the walk along the river; sewers and underpinnings, etc., throughout Hoboken. 

Serpentine. — Chester, Pennsylvania. This stone is cheap and durable, and hardens by exposure. 

This is a well-known coarse green building stone, quite largely used in Philadelphia .lud else-where. » * * It almost immediately 
.assumes the appearance of age, which comports well with certain kinds of architectural design, and with the purposes of certain 
structures. It is also used iu combination with other materials (brick and stone) with good eifect, so that it adds an important element 
to the resources of our architects. The color is yellowish-green, it works with great facility, is fire-proof, and is probably durable. — 
J. S. N. 

Examples of construction in serpentine and serpentine marble : Trimmings of synagogue on the southeast 
corner of Lexington avenue and Sixty-third street ; arches in Saint Bartholomew's church, Madison avenue and 
Forty-fourth street. 



STONE CONSTRUCTION IN CITIES. 325 

B. PUBLIC BUILDINGS AND IMPROVEMENTS. 

Many examples have been given of the common private edifices in whose construction the several varieties of 
building stone have been employed in this district, often, however, according to the caprice of owners and the 
hasty choice of architects. In the construction of many of the larger buildings, however, e. g., asylums, hospitals, 
etc., the sunken portion of the Hudson railroad, as well as in the public edifices, more care and judgment seem to 
have been often exercised, aud more interest is attached to the selection of materials in these cases. 

1. Public buildings. — Jlore or less reference has already been made to the materials used iu the construction 
of the United States buildings, e. (/., the post-oifice, custom-house, barge-ofiBce, etc., and further details are given 
below of the character of construction in the fortifications of the bay and sound, in their approaches to the city. 

It is sufficient to state iu reference to other public buildings that their usual materials are given below, viz : 

Prisons, bridges in parks and over the Harlem river — sandstone, limestone, granite, and gneiss. 

The sewers — gneiss from the island and vicinity, and bowlders of a large variety of rocks derived from the 
excavations in glacial drift. 

The Oroton aqueduct, the high bridge over the Harlem river, and the reservoirs in the Central park and 
Prospect park, and at Forty-second street, Xew York city — granite from New England and gneiss from the 
island. 

2. The Central park. — In the report of the superintending engineer of the Central park for the year 1863 
the following facts are given concerning the distribution of different building stones in the inclosing- walls, bridges, 
etc., within this park. 

Freestone from Albert quarry, Xew Brunswick (also walls, etc., in Prospect park, Brooklyn) ; from Dorchester 
and Weston, Xew Brunswick, aud from Xew Jersej- — vertical wall and bridges. 

Brown sandstones from base of Palisades, Xew Jersey — part of vertical wall. 

Mountain graywacke and blue-stone from Hudson river, Xew York — part of vertical wall. 

Limestone from Mott Haven and from Green wicb, Connecticut — part of vertical wall ; granite from Eadcliffe's 
island, Maine — bridges ; gneiss, in park, bridges and retaiuing-wall, and lower portion of vertical wall ; gneiss and 
white marble from Westchester county, Xew York— bridges. 

3. Fortifications. — Fort Richmond: granite from Dix island, Maine; fort Lafayette: brown sandstone (Xew 
Jersey); the fortifications at Willett's point: granite from Spruce Head, Maine; fort Schuyler (on Throgg's Xeck): 
gneiss; fort Wadsworth, on Staten island, fort Hamilton, and fort Diamond are of Maine granite, as are also the 
defenses on Governor's, Bedloe's, and Ellis islands. 

4. Xew York and Brooklyn bridge. — I am indebted to Mr. F. Collingwood, the engineer in charge of 
the Xew York approach, for the following statistics, which have been compiled from his letters : 

Materials ifserf.— Granite, from the following localities : Frankfort, Maine ; Concord, Xew Hampshire ; Spruce 
Head, Maine; cape Ann, Massachusetts: Hurricane island, Maine ; Westerly, Ehode Island ; East Bluehill, Maine; 
Stony Creek, Connecticut ; Mount Desert island, Maine, and Charlottesburg, Xew Jersey. Limestone, chiefiy from 
Eondout and Kingston, Xew York; also, from Isle La Motte and Willsborough point, lake Champlain; and from 
near Catskill, Xew York. 

Distribution. — In the anchorages the corner-stones, exterior of cornice and coping, and the stones resting on 
anchor-plates consist of granite from Charlottesburg and Stony Creek, in the Xew York anchorage, and from 
Westerly, in the Brooklyn anchorage. The rest of the material is entirely limestone, partly from Eondout, largely 
from lake Champlain. In the towers limestone was chiefly employed below the water-line, and, above it, granite 
from all the localities named, except Charlottesburg, Westerly, and Stony Creek. In the approaches the materials 
were arranged in about the same way as in the towers. 

Total quantities. — The amounts of granite and limestone employed are estimated in round numbers as follows : 





Cubic yards. 


Authority. 


Anchorages 10, 000 

Towers 85,159 

Approaches 21,000 


F. Collingwood. 

E. E. Farrington . 

F. Collinswood. 



In addition to the hewn stone considerable quantities of rubble were employed from various sources, but largely 
from Greenwich, Connecticut. 

Selection. — The reasons for selection were the following: first, soundness, in regard to durability, and freedom 
from iron ; second, color ; third, price, with reference also to facilities for prompt delivery. As a rule aU the 
cornices, parapets, and other ci'oss-cut work and band-courses were required to be light in color. The granite for 
these was largely from East Bluehill ; also from Westerly, Stony Creek, etc. On the contrary, base stones and 
spandrel stones were required to be dark. For these granite from cape Ann, etc., was used. The limestone was 
employed partly for cheapness and pai'tly on account of greater specific gravity, as weight was desirable at the base 
of the towers and iu the anchorages. 



326 



BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 



Strength. — Tests were made at the bridge works by Mr. Probasco ou a number of sami^les of stones, in blocks 
2 inches square, or with about 4 square inches of surface, with the following results : 



Kind of stone. 



Crushing weight 
per square inch. 



Frankfort, Maine Onbed 1 18,026 

do Notonbed j 15,700 

Sprnce Head, Maine Onbed ^ 14,200 to 15,875 

East BlueUn, Maine ' do 

Long Cove, Maine 

Concord, I^ew Hampshire 



Cape Ann, Massachusetts. 
do 



..do 

Not on bed- 
Onbed 



Quincy. Massachusetts 

Millstone point, Connecticut . . . 

Medina j Not ou bed, 

Hudson river : Onbed 

do Not on bed 

New York Onbed 



12, 125 to 16, 250 
14, 040 
17, 550 

12, 861 to 19, 280 

17, 875 
18, 000 to 19, 600 
17, 425 to 17, 550 

11, 880 
9, 000 to 13, 000 

11, 482 

13, 750 to 15, 550 



[These figures have been incorporated in Table II.] 

o. Roofs, pavements, and sidewalks. — Eoo/s.— Slate is veiy largely used for most roofs having a steep 
pitch. Maiiy varieties are used, which are mainly derived from the following localities : Purple and green — Poultney, 
Castleton, and PairhaVen, Vermont ; red— Middle Granville, New York, and Slatington, Lynnport, Bethlehem, etc., 
Pennsylvania. 

Pavements. — The streets of these cities are mainly paved with stone, many experiments having been made, 
particularly in New York, in reference to the selection both of the best material and most satisfactory shajJC. It is 
a well-known fact that Broadway tests xjavements more severely perhaps than any other street in the world. 

For cobble-stone pavement bowlders and large pebbles from fhe till of the island are employed. It is found 
that the pointed ends of the cobble-stones, lying downward, have a tendency to sink unequally under heavy pressure, 
and that consequently hollows form in the pavement, rendering the roadway impassable. 

The Euss pavement was first laid about the year 1853. It becomes smooth and slippery by uninterrupted 
travel. It consists of large square granite blocks, sometimes grooved, and answers temporarily, but the grooves 
are found to wear smooth at their edges. An attempt to groove the blocks already laid down led to the discovery 
that— 

The surface of these stones had, by constant rubbing with iron horseshoes and wheel-tires, aided by atmospheric action, undergone 
such a physical (or chemical) change that the hardest steel tools could not cut the grooves, and the effort had to be abandoned, (a) 

In order to increase the durability of the Euss pavement it was coustructed in two layers in some portions of 
Broadway, the lower consisting of large, irregular, angular pieces of rock laid in the earth. Elsewhere large 
flag-stones were laid below, then a layer of earth, and then the large blocks of trap or granite. However, the result 
was uusatisfactorj'. The whole of the pavement has been broken up, and the blocks split into smaller cubical pieces 
for use in Belgian pavement elsewhere. 

The stones for these [Belgian] pavements are obtained across the Hudson, where the range of basaltic rocks overlying the new 
red sandstone, and forming the eastern boundary of the state of New Jersey, contains many quarries. The Palisades, one of the natural 
wonders of the neighborhood, is a perpendicular range of basalt rocks from 300 to 600 feet high, forming the western bank of our 
beautiful river for a distance of some 20 miles. They are, in fact, a series exposed by nature, and the quarrying is going on so extensively 
there that some papers have expressed the fear that these picturesque walls will be destroyed ; but a simple calculation shows the mass 
of basalt to be so immense that it would require several thousand years of constant labor at the present rate to make any great change in 
the outline. There is paving stone enough there for all the streets of New York, Brooklyn, Williamsburg, Jersey City, Hoboken, Hudson 
City, in short of the future great metropolis, covering several hundred square miles, and yet leave enough of the Palisades to be about as 
much of a natural curiosity as they are now. (6) 

Still later, in place of basalt, a very hard kind of granite has been substituted, from the highlands of the 
Hudson, cut in flat blocks 10 by 12 inches square and 4J inches thick, set edgewise, with longest dimension across 
the line of travel. "The pavement when laid looks much like a brick wall composed of very large gray bricks." 
This form appears more satisfactory in use than any previously employed. This has been also laid down in Atlantic 
and Myrtle avenues, Brooklyn. 

Wood, concrete, and asphalt have been also used, in various combinations, on many of the streets, but in New 
Yorli with little success, ou account of the heavy wear to which they have been exposed ; in Brooklyn the results 
have been more satisfactory. An enormous amount of trap, however, has been crushed and broken for use in 
macadamizing, and is still so employed in the upper avenues of New York island and in many of the streets in the 



a Manufacturer and Builder, 1869, I, 194. 



b The Manufacturer and Builder, 1869, I, 194 ; also 1874,' VI, 157. 



STONE CONSTRUCTION IN CITIES. 



527 



Tweuty-third aud Twenty-fourth wards ; in mauy avenues and side-streets on the outskirts of Brookljn, Jersey 
Oity, and Hoboken, and many of the streets and roads on Staten island. For this purpose the supply of material 
is inexhaustible. 

Some idea of the quantity and cost of the stone and other materials that have been consumed in New York 
city for this object, may be deduced from the following estimate, made in 1874: 

Cost per 

Miles, square yard 

Macadam (Guidet improved) 22 $6 06 

Granite (granite block on trap) 26 2 70 

Trap-block 180 2 40 

Wood 14 5 00 

Cobble 83 58 

Concrete, asphalt, etc 3 3 50 

328 

Sideimlks. — All the sidewalks of New York city are paved with stone, chiefly flag-stone, and this predominates 
in Brooklyn and the adjacent cities. The following materials are used for paving: 

Bluestone or flagging, which is brought by water from the various points along the Hudson river, and by rail 
from the interior of the state, the Catskill mountains, and from Pennsylvania. The principal localities have been 
already mentioned among the building stones, under the heading of " Blue-stone". It is used both with its natural 
surfaces of cleavage, aud, in the the larger blocks, with its surfaces planed by machinery. 

Huge hewn slabs of several varieties of granite have been largely introduced into the pavements of large 
business streets, especially of Broadway, within a few years. Notwithstanding their roughly-dressed or picked 
surfaces, they are very objectionable on account of their slipperiness when wet or when covered with coatings of 
ice and slush. 

Mica-slate, from Bolton, Connecticut, etc., was formerly used in considerable abundance, before the development 
of the quarries of blue flagging. It is a white, glistering, schistose rock, resisting well the weather and ordinary 
travel ; but was mostly laid down in small blocks, whose edges and corners were first abraded or became broken by 
hard or long-continued wear, the material on the whole being too soft and slippery for this use. Examples of it 
may ^till be found in the following streets, though it is being fast taken up for replacement by blue flagging : 
Along West Nineteenth street, in La Fayette place, between Astor place and Great Jones street ; along Clinton 
and Waverly places ; in Liberty street, near Greenwich street, etc. 

Gneiss, from Haddam, Connecticut, also, like the preceding, was considerably used in the early history of the 
city. It was laid down in small square stones, about 18 inches square, with a very rough surface, and was used 
both for pavement and for coping. Probably much of the gneiss from New York island and from Willett's point 
was once employed for this purpose. 

Examples of these sidewalks may yet be found in several of the old and narrow streets below Pearl, e. g., Pine 
street, etc.- 

The curbstones in New York and adjacent cities consist entirely of stone, chiefly flag-stone, but in part hewn 
blue-stone and granite, from the localities above mentioned. 

An approximate idea of the j)revailing market prices, chiefly in the year 1882, of the stones more commonly 
employed maybe derived from the following table. The prices refer to the rough stone, per cubic foot, as delivered 
■on the dock in New York city : 

SANDSTONE. 



Locality. 



Price per ton. 



■Springfield, Maasaclinsetts 

Venice 

Portland, Middlesex county, Connecticut, - 

Middletown, Connecticut 

Belleville, New Jersey 

Newark. New Jersey 



Dorchester, New Bniuswick. 



Mary's Point, New Brunswick. 



"Wood Point, New Brunswick. 
Wallace, Nova Scotia 



Eed and brown i $11 00 

Brown j 25 00 

...do ] ! $1 00 to $1 50 

1 50 
do I $1 00 to $1 75 



{..ao — 
Drab ... 
Olive ... 
Yellow . 
f Brown. . 
< Salmon . 
I Olive ... 
f Brown . . 
lEed 



i ( Brown . 

.Kennetcook, New Brunswick ji Olive .. 

iBlue... 



15 00 



15 00 
15 00 

13 00 

14 00 
12 00 



13 00 
13 00 



1 00 to 1 60 

1 00 to 1 50 

1 05 to 1 30 

1 00 to 1 10 
1 00 

1 00 to 1 07 

90 to 1 10 



1 00 to 1 10 
1 05 



328 



BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 



SANDSTONE— Continued. 



Berlin Heights, Ohio. 
New Amherst, Ohio.. 



Cleveland, Ohio 

Independence, Oliio. 
Bnena Yista, Ohio . . 

Cincinnati, Ohio 

Berea, Ohio 

Carlisle, England . - . 
Corsehill, Scotland . 



Locality. 



Buffer yellow 

; White 

;No.lbuff 

; No. 1 hlue and light drab . 

-White 

IBlne 



95 to 
80 to 
90 to 



1 00 to 
I 00 to 



$1 00 
1 00 
1 05 
95 
1 00 
1 00 
1 10 
1 55 
1 00 
1 00 
1 10 
1 05 



To $1 20, 1874. 
To $1 20, 1874. 



Vaiied 85 cents to $1 15. 



LIMESTONE. 



Ellettsville, Indiana . 

Caen, France 

Bedford, Indiana 



$1 26 
1 50 
1 25 



Westchester county, New York., 

Canaan, Connecticut ■ 

Sutherland Falls, Vermont 



$1 50 
$1 55 to 1 70 1876. 
1 25 to 1 75 



Millstone point, Connecticut . 

Itoxbury, Connecticut 

Quincy, Massachusetts 

Westerly, Khode Island 

Mount Waldo, Maine 

Clark's island, Maine 

Spruce Head, Maine 

Bound Pond, Maine 

Granite (hammered) 



$0 60 

i to 1 25 

2 00 

1 50 

60 



1 50 
1 00 to 1 60 



Por stonee 20 feet and under. 



Foundation stone (rubble) . 
Building stone, per load — 



$0 08 to $0 10 
2 00 to 3 00 



BLHE-STONE AND FLAG-STONE. 



Wilbur, trlster county. New York 

Kingston, Ulster county, New York 

SmithTiUe, Chenango county, New York 

Skinner's Eddy, Wyoming valley, Wyoming county, Pennsylvania. 
Wyoming valley, Meshoppen, Wyoming county, Pennsylvania 



$0 70 to $1 50 

07 to 1 00 

09 to 3 60 

1 25 

1 00 to 1 50 

1 60 



For sills, lintels, etc. 
For copings (per yard). 



FLAG-STONE. 



Length in 
feet. 


Thickness, 
inches. 


Per square 
foot, cents. 


3 
4 
5 
6 

8 


2 
2 

4 


3 
4 
34 
64 
10 to 12 



"PondEddy, Lackawaxen, etc.. Pike County, Pennsylvania ; retailed at 16 cents to $1 60 per square foot. 

EOOFING SLATE. Per square foot. 

Purple or green $7 00 to $8 00 

Bed ^ 15 °» 

Black (Pennsylvania) ■* '^ *" ^ -^ 



STONE CONSTRUCTIOX IN CITIES. 329 

STATISTICS OF BUILDINGS (NUMBEES AND MATERIALS) IN NEW YORK CITY AND BROOKLYN. 





NEW YORK. CITT. 


BnOOKLTS. 


Material. 


District of 1 District of 
wholesale i small stores 
business . and tene- 
houses. ! ments. 

1 


District of 
large stores 
and resi- 
dences. 


Entire city. 


District 
of ware- 
houses, ten- 
ements, 
etc. 


District of 

residences 

and small 

stores. 


District of 

small resi- 
dences. 
Long Island 
city. 


Entire city. 


Freestone : 


566 

237 


1,598 
88 
47 


6,979 
725 
139 
13 


9,143 

1,050 

186 

13 


225 


6,377 
167 


4 


6,606 


































10 










3 

46 
61 
272 
34,157 
166 
469 
13,384 


3 

5 

204 

104 

918 

63,129 

194 

910 

24,334 


1 


1 
















149 






3 
18 
87 
23,581 
587 
67 
33,556 




3 

23 

94 

29,483 




3 4n 




5 


Marble 


686 

8,515 

5 

356 

590 


10 

20,457 

23 

85 

10,360 


7 

5,691 

51 

3 
3,926 




2U 








70 
38,430 




948 








56,419 


100, 193 


9,904 


64,444 


1,178 


75, 526 
















11, 574 
52 








6,880 


































1,591 
8,520 


1,792 
20, 480 


8,243 
34, 323 


11,626 
63,323 


233 

5,742 


6,653 
24,168 


19 
211 


6,905 
30, 121 







STATISTICS OF BUILDINGS (NUMBERS AND MATERIALS) IN THE SUBURBS AND IN THE ENTIRE METROPOLIS. 





STATES 
IBLASD. 


JEKBET CITT. 


HOBOKES. 




Material. 


Castleton, etc. 
(Staten isl- 
and). 


Jersey City 
proper, in- 
cluding Hud- 
son City and 
Bergen city. 


Bayonne and 
Greenville. 


Entire city. 


Hoboken 
proper. 


West Hobo- 
ken and town 
of Union. 


Weehawken. 


Entire city. 


New York 
city and its 
saburhs. 


Freestone : 


8 
3 


294 
4 
15 


38 


332 
4 
15 


121 

7 


21 




142 
7 


16,231 
1,231 




























































































4 
15 
12 


4 
3 




1 
3 

3 
58 
4,665 
96 
8 
15, 692 
















7 


1 




8 


1,027 


Marble 








8 


iiO 




5 




5 

1,913 

141 






716 
16 






31 


99, 906 




96 

8 

12,656 




136 ' 5 








988 
89, 475 




6,951 


3,036 




98 


4,068 






' 


Total 


7,725 


17, 532 


3,348 


20, 880 


3,497 


2,658 


129 


6,284 


210,608 




Buildings with stone fronts 


40 
2 


331 


88 


419 


135 


27 




162 


19, 075 


























42 
732 


331 
4,537 


88 
224 


419 
4,761 






162 
2,054 


19,154 
100, 991 


Total brick and stucco 


1,844 


179 


81 



330 



BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 



STATISTICS CONCERNING THE PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF THE BUILDING STONES USED IN NEW YORK CITY. 

GEANITE. 



Kind. 


Locality. 


Size of cube 
in inches. 


Position. 


Number 
of trials. 


COMPRESSIVE STRENGTH PER 
SQUARE INCH. 


Eange. 


Average. 






{ 


2 
2 
2 
2 
2 


Bed 


2. 
1 
1 

2 

1 


Pounds, 
11, 812 to 12, 020 


Pounds. 
11, 916 
17, 500 

18, 750 
13,287 
15, 062 




.do.. . . 


Bed 




Edge 










11, 700 to 14, 875 




do 


Bed 




do 




11, 892 to 14, 185 






2 




1 


15, 000 
24, 000 
15, 500 




do 










{ 


2 
2 
2 
2 




2 


13, 500 to 17, 500 
14, 200 to 15, 875 
11, 000 to 14, 425 




do 


Bed 






Bed 


2 
1 


12, 712 
14, 937 




Edge 




















11, 233 to 15, 952 
16, 218 to 16, 837 








2 
2 
2 
2 


Bed 


2 


16, 527 

17, 200 












Bed 




12, 125 to 16, 250 
16, 031 to 18, 000 






Bed... 


2 


17, 015 












{ 


2 
2 


Bed . . . 


1 
1 




18, 026 
15,700 


Do 


Edge 












Do 




2 


Bed . 


1 




14, 040 










Bo 




• 




















8, 812 to 9, 838 






do 


2 
2 
2 


Bed 


1 
















do 






18, ODD to 19, 600 












9,739 


Do 


do 








11. 730 to 15, 622 




do ■ 


{ 


2 
2. 2 to 2. 9 
1.5 
2 
2 
2 
2 
2 






14,750 




do ... 




2 
3 
2 


12, 390 to 15, 929 








29, 330 
15, 961 


Do . .... 




Bed 


12, 423 to 19, 500 
12, 861 to 19, 280 




do 


Bed 




Edge 




17, 875 
16, 300 
19,750 
16, 296 

n,6oo 

14, 687 
14, 937 








Bed 


1 
1 






Edge 






do . . 










I 


2 

2 
2 




2 
1 

1 


17, 250 to 17, 750 




do 


Bed 




Edge 






do 




15, 591 to 18, 778 
16, 187 to 18, 750 
17, 425 to 17, 550 
11, 300 to 11, 700 
8, 620 tfl 10, 412 


Do 




2 
2 
2 




2 


17, 468 


Do 






Do 






2 


11, 500 


Do 










\ 
\ 

I 


2 
2 
2 
2 
2 
2 
2 
2 
2 

1.5 
1 




1 
1 
1 
1 
2 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 


12, 500 
14, 175 
18, 126 
22, 250 
15, 376 
16,750 
18, 250 

13, 425 
12,260 
13, 370 




Edge 

Bed 














Edge 

Bed 










16, 000 to 15, 750 




Edge 

Bed 






Do : . 
















Bed 






Edge 








Do 


8, 290 to 18, 636 


Do 








6,273 


Do 


do* 






9, 666 to 10, 192 















Foreign stones for coraparieon. 



STONE CONSTRUCTION IN CITIES. 



331 



STATISTICS CONCERNING THE PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF THE BUILDING STONES USED IN NEW YORK CITY. 

GRANITE. 



Specific gravity. 


Weigbt of one 
onBio foot. 


Satio of absorption. 


Eemarks. 


1 

Iransverse 
strain. 


Autbority. 


2.600 
] 


Pounds. 

162.5 

.. 


Not noticeable 

do i 




Founds. 


Q. A. GUImore. 








.:::::::: 1 


Do. 


5 

2. 631 to 2. 660 
2.660 


164. 1 to 166. 3 
166.3 


\ 










. ...do 


do 














2.635 


166.5 






Q. A. GilUnore. 






2.750 


171.9 






Q. A. Gillmore. 






1 2.670 


166.9 









Q. A. GiUmore. 










1 






2.650 


165.6 
166.5 


Not noticeable 






Q. A. Gillmore. 
J. S. Newberry. 














2.630 


164.4 


Not noticeable 






Q. A. Gillmore. 
Probasco. 

Do. 
Probasco. 






I 










s 








































1 




















2.660 


166.2 




k db f b tin 




Q. A. Gillmore. 




^ 




2.67 








235 












2 695 j 168. 7 




kdbf brf" 




Q. A. GiUmore. 






° 












Do. 






do 


dd 1 




Do 


I 












s 

I 2. 610 

2.65 
2.646 

j 2.670 


163.2 


ltol52 






Q. A. Gillmore. 






274 


165.6 
166.9 




dd nl 


Q. A. GiUmore. 
Do. 


do 


do 












2.706 


168.7 




dd nl 




Q. A. Gillmore. 






^ 




2.835 


177.2 








Q. A. GiUmore. 








1 2. 660 
1 2.630 
1 2.645 

2.655 

1 2. 690 

1 2.580 


166.25 
164.4 
165.4 

162.2 
168.1 

161.3 




Broke auddenl 




1 Q. A. Gillmore. 


do 






Ito201 














Do. 








Do. 








Do. 














0.5 to 3.0 per cent 






V. 

























332 



BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 



STATISTICS CONCERNING THE PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF THE BUILDING STONES USED IN NEW YORK CITY— Continued.. 

GNEISS. 





Locality. 


Size of cube 
in inches. 


Position. 


Number 
of trials. 


COMPEESBIVE STRBKGTB PEK 
SQUARE INCH. 




Eange. 


Average. 






2 
2 
2 




3 

1 

1 


Pounda. 


Pounds. 
15,800 
11, 260 
12, 500 


arem 8 e 




Bed 






Edge 













Bine 

Very dark . 



Staten island, New York 

Jersey City heiglits, New Jersey. 

Palisades, New Jersey 

England* 



-do* 



Bed., 
Bed., 



20, 760 to 22, 250 



"White. . 
Blnisb. 



Carrara 

Common Italian . 
"White Italian 



Tuctaboe, New York. 



Hastings, New York 

Pleasa«tville, New York . 
Dorset, Vermont , 



.do 



Rutland, Vermont 

"West Kutland, Vermont 

Pittsford, Vermont 

Sutherland Falls, Vermont., 



-do. 



"West Stockbridge, Massachusetts . 

do 

Stockbridge, Massachusetts 

Lenox, Massachusetts 

Stockbridge, Massachusetts 

Lee, Massachusetts 



Canaan, Connecticut. 

Carrara^ Italy* 

Italy* 



Bed.. 
Bed., 



Bed... 
Edge. 



Bed. 
Bed. 
Bed. 
Bed. 



12, 050 to 12, 950 
13, 694 to 13, 711 



18, 000 to 24, 000 



1,305 to 1,375 
11, 000 to 12, 600 
11, 250 to 18, 750 
10, 243 to 11, 250 
12, 250 to 20, 000 



12, 917 to 13, 972 
7, 706 to 17, 954 
4, 958 to 8, 794 
9, 723 to 12, 600 

::, 260 to 13, 062 



SANDSTONE. 







2 

2 


Bed 


2 
1 
1 


9, 160 to 9, 412 


9,281 
4,260 
6,050 
9,250 
9,250 




do . 5 






Edge 








Freestone (brown) 




Fre to liv t 












Freestone (dark brown) , 










7, 686 to 7,828 
3, 976 to 4,932 
6, 632 to 10, 322 


























Middletown, Connecticut < 


2 
2 


Bed 


1 
1 


6,950 
6,650 




Edge 








5, 806 to 10, 928 












20, 039 
7,909 
3,137 
5,489 
7,842 
9,850 
9,150 
4,350 
4,025 






6 

1 

1.5 

2 

2 

2 

2 








Do 










Do .. 


do* 








Do 












Little Falls, New York 5 


Bed 


1 
1 

1 
1 






Edge 












Eed 


Edge 






( 





* Forei^ rooks for comparison. 



STONE CONSTRUCTION IN CITIES. 



333 



STATISTICS CONCERNING THE PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF THE BUILDING STONES USED IN NEW YORK CITY— Continued. 

GNEISS. 



Specific gravity. 


"Weight of one 
cubic foot. 


Ratio of absorption. 


Eemarka. 


Transverse 
strain. 


Authority. 


2.720 
1 2. 920 


Pounds. 

170.0 

182.5 






Pounds. 


Q. A. Gillmore. 



















2.861 
3.030 


178.8 
189.5 












































do 























Ter smaU 






Q. A. Gillmore. 
Do. 


2. 800 175. 


^ 














2. 858 178. 6 
















Do. 












Q. A. Gillmore. 


2.635 
2.683 
2.635 
2.666 
2. 661 to 2. 672 


164.7 
167.8 








Do. 




do . . 




Do. 










167.0 
















H. A. Cutting. 










¥. E. Kidder. 


































Do. 


2.713 
2.709 


169.6 
169.3 








Do. 








Do. 








Page. 


2.862 


178.9 
















Do. 












C. B. Eichardis. 












Do. 














2.69 


168.2 































SANDSTONE. 













Q. A. Gillmore. 












Do. 












Do. 
























Do. 




































C. B. Richards. 


i 2.360 


148.5 








Q. A. GiUmore. 








C. "B. Eichards. 


2.640 








425 


T. Rodman. 






.... 


Kirkaldy. 












V. 


























I 2.260 
J 2. 130 


140.6 
133.1 








Q. A. Gillmore. 
Do 

















334 



BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 



STATISTICS CONCERNING THE PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF THE BUILDING STONES USED IN NEW YORK CITY— Continued., 

SANDSTONE— Continued. 



Gray. 



BroT7ni8li-gray. 
Light drab 



Keddish browi 
Brown 



BeUeviUe, New Jersey 5 

Medina, New Xork 5 



Berea, Ohio 

North Amherat, Ohio . 



Bed... 
Bed... 

Edge. 



do. 



Cleveland, Ohio 

Berlin, Ohio - — 

East Longmeadow, Masaachusetta. 



Pounds. 
11, 700 
10, 250 
17, 250 
14, 812 
17, 725 
11, 880 



29, 000 to 41, 000 

\ 5, 775 to 6,650 

7, 000 to 8,000 
6, 141 to 8,955 



», 121 to 13, 506 
8, 062 to 8,812 
13, 520 to 14, 650 



6, 212 ! 
5,450 



14,250 ' 
12, 000 I 



SANDSTONE (BLTIE-SXONE). 







J 


2 
2 


Bed 




9, 000 to 13, 000 










U,4B2 












21, 160 to 23, 825 






2 






16,893 













LIMESTONE. 







2 
2 
2 
2 
2 
2 
2 
2 
2 

2 








11, 475 
10, 750 
25, 000 
21, 500 
13, 900 
11,050 




Edge 














Edge 






Eangston, New York 

do 


{ 








Edge 

Bed 






Do 


IB, 750 to 15, 550 






J 




10 

. 1 

3 

2 


18, 500 
18, 275 
18, 262 

3,550 


Do 


Edge 

Bed 






do 




17, 750 to 18, 775 
3,450 to 3,650 






Bed 









'foreign rocks for comparieon. 



STONE CONSTRUCTION IN CITIES. 



335 



STATISTICS CONCERNING THE PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF THE BUILDING STONES USED IN NEW YORK CITY— Contiuuea. 

SANDSTONE— Continned. 



Specific gra>-it.v. '^^„''^|{'cVoot.°'' ' Ratio of absorption. 1 Kemarks. 


Transverse Anthority. 
strain. ( ^ 


1 

1 1 2. 259 


Pounds. i • 




PmiTids. 


Q. A. GiUmore. 


150.6 




Lilac 






















Do 




















Q. A. Gillmore. 


2. 16 to 2. 19 Ho. to 136. 9 














1 


: 




J. S. Newberry. 


1 




















Q. A. GiUmore. 
























' 










Saulsbury. 
McGregory. 


r;;:;; ;:;::: 










1 









SANDSTOITE (BLUE-STONB). 



LIMESTONE. 





















Do. 


2.720 






609 


T. Rodman. 






















} 2 700 


1(»« 








Q. A. Gillmore. 
Do. 










5 ■ 
J 2.69 


168.2 








Do. 










J 2.635 
2.616 
1.900 


164.7 
163.5 
118.8 








Q. A. Gillmore. 
Do. 








C ltol9 < 


Burst without cracking; tensile strength, 160 (G. R. 
Bunnell) ; loss in dilute acid and boiling water, 6.17 
per cent. 


] 




^- ....\ 




) 





.336 BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

NORTH ADAMS, MASSACHUSETTS. 

The materials used in the principal stone structures of this city are limestone from North Adams and quartzite 
from Clarksburg, Massachusetts. The foundations and underpinnings are of local limestone and Clarksburg 
quartzite, with some blue-stone. The Catholic church and two factories are built of limestone from the local quarries. 
Dr. Babbits' residence and Mr. Pendeman's office are two small edifices built of quartzite; as this contains a little 
pyrites some of the blocks are stained. The new Episcopal church in course of construction will be of blue-stone 
and pressed brick, with Longmeadow and Ohio sandstone trimmings over the windows and doors. The steps 
to the chancel will be of marble and the interior trimmings over the windows of terra-cotta. The railroad depot 
buildings and most of the churches are built of brick. The Hoosac tunnel is at this place, but the material used 
for archways is brick. The streets are ])aved with stone, the chief part of such pavement being on Eagle street, 
where cobble-stones are used for the purpose. The sidewalk on one block in front of the Wilson house is paved 
with North Eiver blue-stone. Many of the sidewalks are paved with concrete ; the curbs are of blue-stone, limestone, 
and quartzite^ 

NORTHAMPTON, MASSACHUSETTS. 

There are but two buildings in Northampton entirely constructed of stone, and there are two others with stone 
fronts. The material used for the better class of stone construction is sandstone from Longmeadow, Massachusetts, 
and brownstone from Portland, Connecticut. One of the Congregational churches is built of the former material 
and the Smith Charities building of the latter. The materials used for foundations and underpinnings are sandstone 
and granite from quarries within the limits of the town, as both these formations are here exposed. One or two 
hundred feet of the pavement in front of the court-house is of thinly bedded sandstone from Smith's feriy ; these 
blocks frequently exhibit rows of " bird tracks " upon them. They are now very much worn and the tracks are 
becoming obliterated. There is a quarry of coarse sandstone very near the Mount Tom station, 3 miles south of 
the main village, which furnishes stone for ordinary puposes of construction in the neighborhood. The streets 
are not paved with stone, with the exception of the space fronting the court-house already mentioned, and the 
sidewalk pavement is mostly of asphalt and brick ; curbstones are of granite. The piers of the bridge across the 
Connecticut river are of sandstone from neighboring quarries. 

OGDENSBUEG, NEW YORK. 

Limestone from the quarries near this city is of good quality, blue-black in color ; and there are some examples 
of excellent stone work built of it, including range work and ashlar. Some of the structures of this limestone have 
Potsdam sandstone trimmings. These two materials when used together make a good harmony of colors, and the 
eifect is pleasing. In some portions of these quarries it is necessary to use care in selecting the material, as parts 
of it contain iron. Some of the Ohio sandstones in the structures here have discolored, while others have retained 
their original appearance. There are several stone grist-mills in the city, two of the number being trimmed with 
sandstone from Potsdam and Hammond, Saint Lawrence county; the others are trimmed with native limestone. 
There are some heavy bridge abutments all constructed of limestone from the quarries within the city limits, and 
the breakwater is constructed of the same material. The streets and roadways are macadamized with limestone 
from the local quarries, and a few are paved with Potsdam sandstone ; but few of the sidewalks are paved with 
stone, and the material used is the Potsdam sandstone. The curbstones are of Potsdam stone and limestone from 
Chaumont. 

ORANGE, NEW JERSEY. 

The cities of South and East Orange may be said to be noted for the size and elegance of their church edifices. 
They are all substantial buildings ; several of them are brick with sandstone trimmings. Sandstone is largely 
used in cemetery walls, in walls surrounding lawns and other inclosures, in steps, house-trimmings, and in cellars 
and foundations. Nearly all of it has been obtained from the quarries in the faces of Pirst mountain, 2 miles 
west of the town of Orange. The durability of the stone has been tested in the First Presbyterian church, erected 
in 1S13, and also in some of the old walls in farm-houses of the surrounding country. The town is also noted for 
its Telford or macadamized roadways, in common with all of Essex county. Many miles of the best roads found in 
the United States are in this county ; they are made of trap-rock from the large quarries in the eastern face of 
Orange or First mountain, a few miles west of Orange, which are all under the management of the Essex Road 
board, (a) 

The following is a list of prominent stone structures in Orange, with materials from which they were constructed : 
Saint Mark's P. E. church, Grace P. B. church, First Presbyterian church. Central Presbyterian church, Miinn 
Avenue church, South Orange Presbyterian church, all of Orange sandstone; South Orange P. E. church, trap- 

a See Annual Report of the State Geologist of New Jersey, 1371. 



STONE CONSTRUCTION IN CITIES. 337 

rock with sandstone trimmings, both from local quarries ; Orange Valley Congregational church, trap-rock with 
sandstone trimmings; South Orange Bajitist church, Ohio sandstone; Saint Mark's P. E. church and school, 
Mr. J. G. Barker's residence, Mr. Davis Gollamore's house, and Mr. Tome's private residence, all of trap-rock and 
sandstone, from local quarries. 

There is no stone street pavement, excepting the road-bed of the First Street horse-car road, a road which is 
paved partly with rectangular blocks of trap-rock and partly with cobblestones. The streets and roadways are 
pretty generally macadamized with trap-rock. The sidewalks are largely paved with stone, and the material used 
for this purpose is the North Eiver blue-stone, from Ulster county, New York. Curbs are of the same material. 

OSWEGO, NEW YORK. 

The Oswego gray sandstone quarried in the vicinity is a good building material, except when set on edge in 
the exterior walls of buildings, in which case it flakes off' by the action of dampness and frost. It is not suitable 
for sidewalk paving because its laminated structure causes it to separate into thin layers, when it easily breaks up 
under the action of foot-wear. Limestone from Chaumont, Jefferson county. New York, was used in the piers and 
abutments of the highway and railway bridges crossing the Oswego river iu this city ; it was also the principal 
stone used in the two dams across this river. A portion of the old breakwater now being destroyed consists of 
cut limestone from Chaumont. Fort Ontario — principally an earthwork — has some stone bastions of Oswego gray 
sandstone, and the largest and best quarry in this city is located in the fort grounds. The stone filling in the 
new breakwater cribs consists mostly of hardhead cobbles, with some quarried gray sandstone. Some red 
sandstone, found along the Oswego river about a mile south of its mouth, was used for crib-filling, but, owiug to 
its rapid disintegration by wave action, it is no longer used for that purjiose. For foundations and undei'pinnings 
the Oswego gray sandstone quarried in the immediate vicinity and some Chaumont limestone were used. There 
are but three streets paved with stone, and those chiefly with cobble. About half a mile of the 2 miles of paved 
street consists of block stone of materials from Potsdam, Jefferson county. North Eiver blue-stone from Ulster 
county, and Oswego sandstone. The sidewalks are but little paved with stone, and the material used is Cayuga 
Lake stone, with some also from Chenango and Delaware counties. The curbstones are of Chenango County 
sandstone and Chaumont limestone. 

PATEESON, NEW JERSEY. 

There are sandstone quarries in the First mountain, near Paterson, which furnish a large part of the material 
for stone construction in the city. This sandstone is used largely in cellar walls and foundations ; the quarries are 
in the eastern face of the mountain within the city limits and above the general level of the city, so that stoue is 
afforded at a low rate. A quarry at Haledon, about 3 mUes to the northwest, has furnished some material during 
the past season; this is a buff-colored Triassic sandstone resembling the Ohio sandstone. Within the city limits 
there are several old farm-houses, or structures originally built for farmers' houses, of red sandstone ; the durability of 
the material as .shown in these buildings is evidence of the value and adaptation to use in stoue construction. Some 
of them were probably built of surface rock, that is, of loose blocks found on the surface in clearing up the country 
for farming purposes. In the adjacent parts of Passaic county there are very many old houses built of the uative 
saudstone. These houses are usually low, being only a story and a half iu height. The stone in the walls is 
sometimes dressed with square edges, and in some instances it is laid up rough-dressed only; and much of it is 
coarse-grained and soft. 

The brown freestone of the Paterson and Little Falls quarries has been used extensively in the city, and there 
are many large structures of the material, among which may be mentioned the Passaic County court-house and 
jail, and the Roman Catholic church. This material has also been used in the construction of the aqueduct of the 
Water-Power Company, in the bridges over the canal, and iu abutmeuts and piers of bridges crossing the Passaic 
river; al.so largely in walls inclosing lawns and private grounds. The number of miles of graded stieets in 
Paterson is .5.3! ; of this length 2.76 miles are paved with cobble-stones ; O.IG mile with macadamized block pavement, 
the material being brought from New England; 9.44 miles with macadamized Telford pavement; the total number of 
miles of paved streets, 12..36. The sidewalks are largely paved with stone, there being about 25 miles of stone 
sidewalks, and the material used for this purpose is the North Eiver blue-stone, with some stone from Carr's, 
Sussex county. The curbs are of North River blue-stone. 

PAWTUCKET, RHODE ISLAND. 

The five stoue buildings iu Pawtucket are constructed of what is known as the ledge stone, which is quarried 
in the vicinity. Foundations and underpinnings are of blue and red slate from ledges iu the town, and bowlders 
gathered in the vicinity. Some of the underpiunings are of granite from Smithfield and Diamond Hill. All the 
mills, excepting two or three, are of brick or wood. There is one large mill made of ledge stone and bowlders 
in the vicinity. There are ledges of slate from which material is obtained for walls, underiJiDuings, etc., and 



333 BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

bowlders are somewhat used for the same purposes. The two materials most used beside brick, for post trimmings 
and sills and underpinnings in the better houses, are granites from Smithfleld and from Diamond Hill. The post- 
office front is partially of yellow sandstone, and the remainder is of brick with red sandstone trimmings, and 
several polished columns of red Aberdeen granite which resembles very much the material from Jonesboro', 
Maine. There are two stone bridges in the city ; the upper one, built in 1S5S, has two arches of granite from a quarry 
in North Providence, near Smithfleld. .The Division Street bridge is a fine granite structure of 9 arches, and is built 
of granite quarried at Sterling, Connecticut. Only the streets in the central portion of the town are paved, and 
those chiefly with cobble-stones, though in recent years granite blocks of material from Diamond Hill have been 
employed. The sidewalk paving is chiefly of brick and concrete, though Hudson Eiver flags and granite have been 
employed to a limited extent for this purpose. The curbstones are of granite from Diamond Hill and Smithfleld, 
with some Hudson Eiver blue-stone. 

PBTEESBUEG, VIEGINIA. 

There are three stone buildings in Petersburg — one, the custom-house, built of granite from the Namozine 
district, Dinwiddle county, in the immediate vicinity of the city. It is now more than twenty years since it was 
completed, and the stone is remarkably free from discoloration of every kind. That in the foundation, from the 
quarry of Dr. E. W. Lassiter, ranks with the best of biiilding stones ; and that in the superstructure is from a 
quarry now abandoned. The two fronts of Connecticut sandstone, on Sycamore street, show signs of decay ; the 
material is destructible even in this latitude. The materials for foundations and all other ordinary purposes are 
obtained from the granite quarries in the immediate vicinity. A few of the streets are paved with cobble-stone; 
there is very little sidewalk paving of granite from the local quarries, and North Eiver blue-stone, from Eoudout, 
New York, has also been used for paving. Curbstones are of local granite. 

PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA. 

That stone began to be an important element in construction in Philadelphia from its first settlement, and that 
it has always been preferred to other materials for use in the better class of buildings, we learn from old records 
that occasionally refer to the subject, and from the evidence of stoue structures of various dates still standing. 
Many of the first brick houses with stone foundations are still standing in the older parts of the city, and may be 
known by their quaint style of architecture and by the peculiar checkered appearance of their walls, which are built 
of red and glazed bricks, arranged alternately— as the Penn mansion in Letitia court, built in 1682 ; the Swedes' 
church, in 1698, and Carpenter's hall, in 1770. 

Government buildings, and college, school, church, hospital, prison, and most other public buildings are of 
stone, which has always held the first rank in the construction of the private residences of the wealthier classes. 
Stone is also used to a more than ordinary extent for caps, sills, base courses, corners, and other trimmings of brick 
buildings. One of the most noticeable features of the city, and one which adds much to its appearance of uniformity, 
is due to the custom which has long reigned hereof trimming brick buildings with plain marble caps ami sills. Of 
late years, however, the custom has not been so rigid, as Connecticut brownstone, Amherst (Ohio) stone, Hummelstown 
(Pennsylvania) brownstone, and North Eiver blue-stone have beeu extensively used for Lrimmings. 

A record in the office of revision of taxes in Philadelphia gives the following statistics : Total number of buildings 
in city in 1880, 168,176; number of stoue buildiugs in city in 1880, 10,518; percentage of stone buildings, 6. 

Of the 10,518 buildings classed as stone it is estimated that about 6,000 are constructed entirely of stone, and 
that the remaining 4,518 have stone fronts. 

Until within the last fifty years the rock formations in and near the city had furnished very nearly all the stone 
used for building purposes ; within that time Connecticut brownstone. North Eiver blue-stone. New England granite,, 
Vermont and Massachusetts marbles, Ohio sandstone, Chester county, Pennsylvania, serpentine or greenstone, 
Hummelstown brownstone, Eichmond granite, and other stones have been introduced and extensively used for the 
better class of buildings. 

The soutlieru portion of Philadelphia is built on an alluvial deposit of gravel and clay which furnishes nothing 
for building purposes except the smooth, rounded pebbles gathered on the banks of the Delaware, and which have 
been extensively applied to street paving— two-thirds, perhaps, of the pavements in the city being of this material. 

Near the central part of the city, the southern gneissic district, described by Professor Henry D. Eogers, {a) 
sets in. Of the area (129 square miles), including within the present limits of the city all not included in the 
alluvial deposit before described, excepting a few isolated exposures of steatite and serpentine, is made of this 
gneissic formation, and the ground where it prevails is gently rolling aud sometimes hilly in its features. The process 
of grading aud leveling has been going on to such an extent, especially in the more thickly settled parts of the city, 
that much of this rolling ground has been much modified in appearance. West Philadelphia, Fairmount park, 
Germantown, Manayunk, and other suburbs still retain something of their original features of surface. 

a Vol. I, First Geological Sarceu of Pennstjlvania. 



• STONE CONSTRUCTION IN CITIES. 339 

Near the Fairmount water- works cliffs of the gueiss are exposed to view, the large reservoir beiiig in fa«t built 
on a natural elevation of this stone, and most of the masonry in counectiou with the water-works is of the same 
material. 

Professor Eogers, in the report before mentioned, describes the gneiss substantially as follows : There are 
three principal varieties. The most common and typical variety is a gray-bluish rather finely laminated triple 
mixture of quartz, feldspar, and mica, the quartz for the most part white or transparent, the feldspar usually 
white and very generally somewhat chalky from incipient decomposition, and the mica black or dark brown and in 
small plates. The next most common variety is a dark bluish-gray, sometimes grayish-black, gneiss comj)osed of 
hornblende and quartz with sometimes a little feldspar, the hornblende greatly predominating. A third variety is 
a micaceous quartzose rock generally of a light gray color. Some beds of this variety contain such a predominance 
of the crystalline quartz in minute granular division, and such a subordinate quantity of mica disseminated thi-ough 
it, as to give it the character of ordinary gray whetstone. 

These three varieties of gneiss, thus described by Professor Eogers, are found in inexhaustible quantities within 
and near the limits of the city, and have been its principal resource for the ruder and plainer purposes of construction. 
It has been freely used in foundations, cellars, iuclosure and terrace walls, bridge abutments, piers, wharves, 
rubble pavements, and work of that class, as well as in the construction of private residences and church, school, 
and other public buildings. Foundation and cellar work was all of this material until within the past fifteen years. 
Conshohocken limestone has been extensively used for the same purpose ; an exception should perhaps be made also 
in favor of the Trenton brownstone, which has of late years been used to a limited extent for foundations. 

Walls of this Schuylkill gueiss, as it is sometimes called, surround the Girard College grounds, the Eastern 
penitentiary. Laurel Hill, Woodlands, and numerous other cemeteries and iiublic inclosures. Private residences 
were built of it in vicinities where it could be conveniently quarried, and in the early history of the city it was about 
the only source of supply for all purposes of stone construction, as maj' be seen by an examination of such of the 
structures of the last century and of the early part of the seventeenth century* as are yet stamliug. 

The following are among the buildings having foundations of the Schuylkill gneiss. The house in Letitia court, 
built by order of William Penn, about 1682, the oldest house in Pennsylvania, and said to be the first built within 
the limits of the city ; Old Swedes' church, built in 1098, by settlers from Sweden, and presided over for one humlred 
and thirty years by pastors sent by the court of Stockholm ; Carpenter's hall, built in 1770, and in which the first 
Continental Congress assembled in 1774; Independence hall, where the Declaration of Independence was signed 
July 4, 1776; Christ church on Second street, built in 1727, and numerous old fashioned and uow dilapidated brick 
buildings on Second street and vicinity, which was in ante-Eevolutionary days the business and fashionable part 
of the city. ' 

Although in this locality brick seems to have been the favorite material for superstructures of the more pretentious 
buildings in early times, in the more northern portions, where the gueiss was at hand in inexhaustible quantities 
houses were built entirely of this material. Such parts of the original walls of the Belmont mansion, built in 1742 
in Fairmount park, as are yet standing, are of the Schuylkill gneiss. The Mouut Pleasant mansion, so rich in historic 
associations, situated on the opposite side of the Schuylkill from Belmont, is built of rectangular blocks of the 
gneiss. It is the variety which contains considerable feldspar in its composition, and the surface of the stone where, 
exposed to the atmosphere seems inclined to roughen and crumble because of the decomposition of that ingredient.. 
The walls are covered with a heavy coat of paint, which proves to be quite a valuable protection against the 
decomposing influence of the atmosphere. This house was built about the middle of the last century by Captain 
John McPhersou, and it was purchased and occupied by Benedict Arnold while he was military governor of 
Philadelphia during the Eevolution. 

The house of John Penn, built in 1785, and still to be seen in the Zoological Gardens, is of this material and is 
also protected by a coat of paint. The effectiveness of paint in protecting the variety of this gneiss, which contains 
considerable of the vulnerable feldspar in its composition, may also be seen iu the portions of the foundations of 
Christ church which are above ground. In places where it has been abraded the roughening and crumbling process 
is going on, while the parts covered by paint remain intact. 

In Germantown, now a suburb of Philadelphia, the Dutch settlers from the first constructed their houses of 
the gneiss which underlies the locaUty. Colonel Timothy Pickering, who was present at the battle of Germantown, 
writes that most of the houses standing there at that time were of stone. Cbief Justice Benjamin Chew's stone house, 
Clivedon, which is at present occupied by his descendants, and is in a good state of preservation, was assaulted by 
the light artillery of the Americans during the battle for the purpose of dislodging several companies of British 
who had taken refuge there, but the 7nasonry proved so solid that no impression was made except to break the 
windows and doors and destroy the statuary in the inclosed grounds. 

The Woodlands, once- a private residence occupied by the Hamilton family, built of rough blocks of the 
Schuylkill gneiss about the time of the Eevolution, still stands in Woodlands cemetery. The high massive walls 
and imposing front of the Eastern penitentiary are built of the same material ; also a number of churches in the 
central and northern portions of the city. This material is geuerally very distinctly- stratified, the plates of mica 
showing quite plainly the parallel arrangement; but in the older buildings where-the stone was used, it was laid 



340 BUILDINa STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

up by the masons indiscriminately, apparently to suit their convenience, much of it being set on edge. This is 
particularly noticeable in the foundation walls of tjie Old Swedes' church. The stone seems to bear this treatment 
of setting on edge unusually well, showing but little disposition to scale off, and the practice still continues to some 
extent, as was noticed in buildings of recent date, particularly in the case of the buildings of the university of 
Pennsylvania, the foundations and basement stories of which are built of the gneiss. The treatment of setting on 
edge detracts something from the solidity and durability of a wall. Stratified rocks where used as building stone 
should invariably be laid the bed way. 

An examination of many pretentious buildings of stone in this city shows that this important principle even 
now is often disregarded, sometimes in the case of stones least capable of withstanding such treatment. In one 
instance a huge rectangular block of brownstone serving as the base of a fine Corinthian column 6 feet in diameter , 
was observed to be set on edge and already much defaced by the spalling off of the stone in thick slices. If the 
same block had been set the bed way, which it would seem could have been done quite as conveniently, no such 
injurious consequences would have resulted. Many of the stones used here for building purposes when set on edge 
will stand considerably less compression than where set bed way, as is demonstrated by crushing tests. 

Pennsylvania makble. — The next source from which Philadelphia early began to draw building material 
was the marble in the limestone basin of Montgomery county. This is a narrow isolated strip of what is called by 
Eogers the Auroral limestone, the Siluro-Cambrian limestone of Professor Lesley in the Reports of the Second 
Geological Survey of Pennsylvania, and which is so important a feature farther to the northward in the Kittatinny or 
Cumberland valley. This material appears to have been first quarried by Daniel Hitner, about the time of the 
Eevolution, or shortly afterward, (a) and from its close proximity to the city and its superiority in point of beauty 
to the Schuylkill gneiss, which had been the principal source of supply to builders up to this time, its use steadily 
increased from the first. Until 1825 it was transported to the city by teams, but about this time the completion of 
the Schuylkill canal afforded superior means of transportation and gave a great impulse to the use of this marble 
for building purposes in Philadelphia. In many parts of the city at the present time block after block may be seen 
having window caps and sills, and in many cases base courses and steps of this material. Of late years, however, 
Kew England marble is also largely used for these purposes. 

The Montgomery County marble is distinguished from the other marbles in use here by its bluish color and 
coarser texture, the peculiarities of appearance being such as to make it easily recognizable after being once observed. 
It continued to be the only material used in the better class of stone construction from the time of its introduction 
to about 1840, when a new era was entered upon by the gradual introduction of brownstone, granites,' and marbles 
from more distant points. During its reign of popularity many fine public buildings were constructed of it, among 
wtich are the Girard bank, built in 1798, the custom-house in 1819, United States mint in 1829, naval asylum in 
1830, Merchants' exchange in 1832, and Girard college, begun in 1833. The sarcophagi in which rest the bodies 
of George and Martha Washington, at Mount Vernon, were wrought of this marble. A sarcophagus for Henry 
Clay, of Kentucky, is also said to have been made of it. Its reputation for durability is of the highest, but the 
superiority in point of beauty of the marbles from Vermont and Massachusetts and the Italian marble excludes 
it from the highest class of architecture, though it is now extensively used in that large class of stone-work wherein 
beauty is a secondary consideration, as for coping, inclosures, bases of monuments, and all the less ornamental class 
of work in cemeteries. Monuments are also frequently made of it, and in point of durability they often prove equal 
or superior to those made of the finer marbles. 

Of the buildings constructed of Pennsylvania marble, the main Girard College building is by far the most 
considerable. This structure, well known as one of the finest specimens of Corinthian architecture in the world, is 
of Montgomery County marble, except the columns, bases of columns and architraves, which are of marble from 
Egremont, Massachusetts. There is much connected with this building calculated to offer a profitable subject for 
study to all who are interested in stone construction. The wide portico, extending entirely around the building, 
and supported by massive fluted columns, protects the outer walls entirely from wet, thus leaving scarcely any part 
of the building exposed to the destructive elements, excepting the marble roof and the outer steps, parts readUy 
replaced when they have yielded to the effects of time. ISo combustible material enters into its construction nor 
into that of any of the accessory buildings designed for the accommodation of its pupils, and the ample grounds 
with which it is surrounded secure it from any injurious effects that might arise from the burning of adjacent 
buildings. 

Since the transportation facilities by rail and water have enabled builders to choose their materials from a 
wide list, fashion seems to have dominated here to such an extent, as to private residences especially, that particular 
building stones have had their periods of popularity, some longer, and some shorter, when they were used for the 
better class of work to the partial exclusion of other stones. 

a Vol. I, First Geological Survey of Pennsylvania. 



STONE CONSTRUCTION IN CITIES. 



341 



The following list of some of the most important buildings, with the dates or approximate dates of construction, 
will give a general idea of the time of introduction as well as of the periods of greatest popularity of each of the 
principal building stones that have been in use here from the first settlement of the city up to the present time : 



Sohaylkill gneias. 



IN'ame of bailding. 



PeimsylvaDia (Montgomery county) marble- 



Granite from— 

Qnincy, Maesachusetta... 
Cap© Ann, Massachusetts 
Qoincy, Maasachosetts... 



Penn (Letitia) iDansion (foundation) . . 

Old Swedes' church (foundation) 

Christ church (foundation) 

Old atj.te-hous6 (foundation) 

Belmont mansion 

Mount Pleasant mansion 

Church, Saint James of Kingsessing. 

Mennonite church 

Chew house, or Clivedon 

Carpenter's hall (foundation) 

Woodlands mansion 

Solitude 

Eastern penitentiary 

Seminary of Saint Vincent de Paul . . 

Girard hank 

United States custom-house 

United States mint 

United States naval asylum 

Merchant's exchange 

Girard college 



Cape Ann, Maaaaohnsetts 

Quincy, Maasachusetts 

Cape Ann and Pox. island, Maine 

Concord, New Hampshire 

Westerly, Rhode Island 

Concord and Richmond 

Cape Ann and Quincy 

Dix island and Richmond 

Connecticut bro wnatone 



Moyamensing prison 

Woodlands Cemetery gateway 

Swaim's building, Chestnut street 

Elliot's building, Chestnut street 

Leland'a building. Chestnut street 

Jayne's building. Chestnut street 

Dunhar's building, Chestnut street 

Mellor &. Williamson's building. Chestnut street , 

Jayne's building. Third street 

Leland's building, Third street 

Cope &. Co.'s building, Market street 

Thurlow Hughes & Co.. Fifth street 

Commercial bank 

Philadelphia National bank 

American Sunday-School Union 

Pirst National bank 

Provident Life and Trust building 

Manufacturers' bank 

French, Richards & Co.'s building 

Pennsylvania Life and Trust Company building 

Pennsylvania Railroad offices 

New Masonic temple (the porch is of Qnincy granite) . 

Presbyterian Board of Publication 

Now York Mutual Life Insurance building 

Memorial hall 

Ridge way library 

New post-ofSce 

Moyamensing prison (east front) 

SS. Peter and Paul's Catholic cathedral (front) 

Saint Mark's P. E. church 

B#nk of Commerce 

Bank of North America 

Girard hotel 

Old Masonic temple 

Academ.v of Music (trimmings) 

Holy Trinity Episcopal church 

First Baptist church 

Saint Clement's P. E. church 

Fifth Baptist church 

Union League house (trimmings) 

Harrison private residence 

Sharpless Brothers' block 

Strawbridge & Clothier block 

Continental hotel 



1727 
1732 

1742 

nco 

1762 
1770 
1770 
1770 
1775 
1785 
1823 
1876 
1798 
1819 



1832 
1833. 



1835 
1850 
18j0-'60 
1850-'60 
1850-'60 
1850-'60 
1850-'6a 
1850-'60 
1850-'6O 
1850-'60 
1850-'60 
1850-'60 
1850-'e0 
1850-'60 
1850-'60 



1870 
1870 
1872 
1873 
1875 
1876 
1876 
Unfinished. 
1835 
1846 
1849 
1850 
1850 
1850 
1853 
1855 
1857 
1857 
. 1850 
1863 
1864 
1851 
1858 
1860 
1860 



342 



BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 



Marble from — 

Lee, Massachusetts 
Yermont 



Name of building. 



Farmers' and Mecbanics' bank... 

Harrab private residence 

Third National bank 

Homer & Collady block 

Dr. Jayne'a private residence 

Haffleigh's building 

White's building, corner TweKth and Chestnut streets . 

Vermont and Lee, Massachusetts ! Fidelity block. 

Vermont 

Lee, Massachusetts 

Vermont "- — 



Lee, Ma.ssachusetits 
Vermont 



Lee, Massachusetts 

Serpentine, Chester county . 



Ohio sandstone - 



Hummellstown, Pennsylvania, bro"wnstone. 



G. W. Childs' private residence 

Philadelphia Trust and Safe Deposit 

Saint George's hall (except front) 

Baker building 

New city buildings 

Beth Eden church 

University of Pennsylvania 

Memorial Baptist church 

Holy Commuuion church 

Girls' noi-mal school 

Academy of Natural Sciences 

Toung Men's Christian Association 

Academy of Fine Arts (trimmings) 

Residence of Bloomfield Moore. 

Girls' normal school (trimmings) 

Academy of Natural Sciences (trimmings) 

Second He formed Episcopal church 

Horticultural hall (trimmings) 

New city building (trimmings) 

Saint Agatha's church, Roman Catholic (partly) 

Saint Luke's Episcopal church (partly) 

Academy of Fine Arts (basement) 

Holy Communion church (trimmings) 

Academy of Natural Sciences (basement) 

Philadelphia library (u-immings) 

Eiiilding corner Fourth and Chestnut (trimmings) 

Building corner Third and Walnut (trimmings) 

Building corner Fifth and "Walnut (trimmings) 

Building corner Twenty-second aud Walnut (trimmings) . 
Building comer Eighteenth and Spruce (trimmings) 



1854 
1855 
1863 



1871 
1874 
1876 
1879 

Unfinished. 
1868 
1871 
1874 
1875 
1876 
1876 
1868 
1870 
1875 
1876 
1876 
1878 
1881 

TJnfinished. 



1870 
1875 
1876 
1877 
1882 



GrBANiTE. — The Moyameiising prison, built (1835) in gotliic castle style, principally of Quincy granite, was 
probably the first building in Philadelphia in which granite was used. There is a streak of rust on the outside of 
the wall running down from each embrasure of the battlement, caused apparently by the streams of water 
directed through these openings in rainy weather. Parts of the wall protected from the streams of water retain 
their original color, a little dulled by time. 

Among the most notable buildings of granite in Philadelphia are : 

The new Masonic temple, Norman style of architecture, said to be the finest structure belonging to the order in 
the world. The porch is a very elaborate and ornate piece of work of Quincy granite. 

The Eidgeway Library, Grecian architecture, situated in the center of ample grounds so as to be protected from 
injury by the burning of adjacent buildings — an advantage not possessed by some of the fine structures of granite 
here. 

Memorial hall, erected to commemorate the one hundredth anniversary of the independence of the United 
States, is of the modern renaissance style of architecture, and cost $1,500,000; it has also extensive grounds 
surrounding it in Fairmount park. 

The new post-oifice building on Chestnut street, a most beautiful structure of the French renaissance style, is 
approaching completion, aud will cost when finished about $4,000,000. 

The particular kinds of granite from which the buildings above mentioned are constructed are given in a list of 
the granite buildings. Cape Ann and Quincy are the kinds of granite most used in Philadelphia for general building 
purposes — the Quincy, which takes a superior polish, for the more ornamental work, and the Cape Ann for rougher 
work. 

The polished red-granite columns in the fronts of many of the business and public buildings are mostly of Bay 
of Fundy granite ; Maine, Quincy pink, and Aberdeen Scotch granite being also used to some extent for the same 
purpose. The bluish-gray polished columns are of Quincy granite. Concord, New Hampshire; Westerly, Rhode 
Island ; Dix island, Maine ; Richmond, Virginia, and other points have also furnished considerable of that material 
for general building purposes in Philadelphia. 



STONE CONSTRUCTION IN CITIES. 343 

Connecticut brownstone. — That portion of the Philadelphia County prison formerlj- used for the debtors' 
department was built about 1835, of Connecticut brownstone, and is among the iirst, if not the very first, instance 
of its use as a building material in Philadelphia. The nature of the stone seems to have been but little understood 
by the builders, as the blocks are nearly all set on edge, evidently for the purpose of mating the material " go " 
as far as possible, as well as to faciUtate the dressing. The blocks are exfoliating and separating into layers. 
Occasional blocks set the bedway are still sound. Experienced builders here say that this stone should be 
quarried before the winter, so that it may receive a certain seasoning, in order that the frost acting on the natural 
dampness within a block on being first quarried may not disintegrate it. In the old Masonic temple. Chestnut 
street, builc of Connecticut brownstone in 1853, the rather slender carved ornamentation of the cathedral style 
of architecture at the top of its front had to be removed on account of its falling off piece by piece. This 
disintegration was probably due to the exposed position at the top of a high building and to the slender character 
of the work. 

The principal use of this stone here has been for fronts of private residences, three-fifths or more of the fine 
stone fronts of private residences on Walnut, Chestnut, Spruce, and other principal streets being of this material 
One of its most noticeable characteristics is the fresh, new appearance which it always retains, and in buildings here, 
where the material has been handled properly, it has shown itself to bo substantial and durable. It is estimated 
that, including the Trenton, New Jersej-, and the Yardleyville and Hiimmelstown, Pennsylvania, with the Connecticut 
brownstone, the geological formation to which they all belong (generally ascribed to the Triassic period), has 
furnished the material for about one-fourth of the whole number of stone buildings now standing in Philadelphia. 
The materials from this formation quarried at tlie different places above mentioned, and used in Philadelphia, 
though having some characteristics in common, are widely different in some respects. The Connecticut stone is of 
a lively and pleasing reddish-brown color; that from Trenton, New Jersey, and Yardleyville, Pennsylvania, known 
as the Trenton brownstone, is of a dull, grayish-brown color, and the Hummelstown stone a peculiar bluish-brown. 
The Trenton brownstone has been much used here for rubble work in the walls of school buildings and churches, 
and for foundations. The facility with which it is transported by water down the Delaware favors its use. 

The Hummelstown brownstone, the hardest and most compact of all these brownstones, has been introduced 
here within the last fifteen years, and is used principally for trimmings in buildings of other stones and in brick 
buildings, giving a very pleasing effect. This stone as yet shows no evidence of disintegration in any of the buildhigs 
in which it has been used, and has the reputation here of being quite substantial and durable. 

Veemont and Massachusetts makble. — Though many of the more pretentious public edifices in this city 
were constructed before the introduction of the New England marbles, the most considerable of them all, the new 
city building now in course of construction, is of Lee, Massachusetts, marble, similar to that in the wings of the 
Capitol at Washington. Pennsylvania marble is used in some of its inner arched passage-ways, Ohio sandstone 
for some of its trimmings, Bay of Fundy red and Quincy granite for polished columns, and Eichmond granite for 
foundation walls. It is estimated that the cost of this building when completed will be $10,000,000. 

The Fidelity block. Baptist Publication Society's building. Third National bank, private residence of G. W. 
Childs, esq., that of Dr. Jayne, the Philadelphia Trust and Safe Deposit building, Guy's hotel, and many other 
equally fine buildings, have been constructed of the Vermont and the Lee, Massachusetts, marbles during the last 
twenty years. Quite a large proportion of the Vermont marble used here is for trimmings of houses and for 
monumental and other cemetery work. 

Ohio stone. — Ohio stone, as it is called here, quarried in the Berea grit of the sub-Carboniferous period, at 
Amherst, Berea, and other places in northern Ohio, has been much used in Philadelphia for fronts of private 
residences and for trimmings and ornamental work. The Young Men's Christian Association building, the Second 
Eeformed Episcopal church, pyramid of the Gardel monument in Mount Vernon cemetery, and canopy over the 
soldiers' monument at Girard college are some of the structures of the Ohio stone in Philadelphia. 

Chester County serpentine. — The green serpentine of Chester county, Pennsylvania, was quite popular 
in Philadelphia a few years back, and was extensively used in the construction of churches, school buildings, and 
private residences, especially in West Philadelphia. It is proving here to be substantial and durable, but there is 
much difference of taste concerning its color and general appearance. It is customary to trim buildings of the 
serpentine with brownstone, Ohio, and other building-stones. The buildings of the university of Pennsylvania 
aire the most extensive constructed of this stone. 

Foreign building stones.— Foreign building-stones have not been used in Philadelphia for outside work 
except iu rare instances. There is a front on Walnut street of red sandstone from Carlisle, England, and colored 
i Italian, Lisbon, German, and other foreign marbles have been used slightly for inside ornamental work; the 
principal part of this work, however, is of Tennessee marble, with some Lake Champlain marble. Occasionally a 
block of fine statuary marble is imjiorted from Carrara, Italy, and for cemetery work the Serivezzia Italian marble 
is quite extensively used, though it has been rapidly giving place to the Vermont marbles. 

The Pictou sandstone, quarried in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, a stone resembling the Ohio very much in 
color, is not at present used in Philadelphia, though a number of business houses and private residences were built 
of it between 1850 and 1860. 



344 BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

Use of vaeious stones.— The following estimates received from the most reliable sources accessible show 
approximately the extent to which some of the principal building stones have been used iu Philadelphia during 
1881 : 

Cubic feet. 

Granite .' 250,000 

MarWe 135,000 

Serpentine (Chester county) 50, 000 

Connecticut brownstone 25, 000 

Pennsylvania marble 25,000 

Italian marble (cemetery work) 25,000 

Hummelstown brownstone 21,000 

Ohio sandstone 20,000 

The following are estimates of the amounts of some of the principal stones used for paving, rubble work, 
foundations, inside ornamental work, etc., in Philadelphia during 1881 : 

North River blue-stone (Pennsylvania and New York), used for sidewalk paving sq^uare feet . . 1, 000, 000 

Conshohocken limestone, foundations aud bridge abutments cubic feet.. 200,000 

Schuylkill gneiss, foundations and rubble work do 150, 000 

Trenton brownstone, foundations aud rubble work do 75, 000 

Vermont colored marble, inside ornamental work, tiling, etc do 4,000 

Tennessee marble, inside ornamental work ; do 2,500 

Of the 10,518 stone buildings, including those with stone fronts, within the present limits of the city, it is 
estimated that about one-fifth of the number are constructed of Schuylkill gneiss ; one-fifth of Penn sylvania and New 
England marble ; one-sixth of Connecticut brownstone ; one-twelfth of Trenton brownstone; one tenth of Chester 
County serpentine; one-tenth or less of granite; and the remainder of Ohio sandstone, Hummelstown brownstone, 
Pictou sandstone, and a few others. Owing, however, to the number of large public buildings, such as the Girard 
college, new city hall, custom-house, mint, naval asylum, etc., in which marble has been used, and to the custom 
of trimming brick buildings with marble, the quantity of that material used is probably much greater than that of 
any of the others mentioned. 

Granite being the material used in many large structures, such as Memorial hall, new post-office. Masonic 
temple, and Kidgeway library, the quantity of it used here will also reach a high figure. 

The estimates of the number of buildings of each kind of stone, though carefully made, cannot lay any claim 
to accuracy, but it is believed that with other data given they are sufficiently close to give a good general idea of 
the extent to which those materials have been used for purposes of construction in Philadelphia. 

Cemeteries. — For the better class of monumental and other cemetery work Vermont marble, Italian marble, and 
granite from various places are all extensively used in Philadelphia. 

The use of granite for the more expensive monuments is steadily gaining ground ; Quincy, Cape Ann, Fox 
Island, Hallowell, Westerly, and Richmond granites are some of the stones used. 

Montgomery County or Pennsylvania mai'ble is extensively used for bases, curbing, coping, inclosures, etc., and 
occasionally for monuments. 

Schuylkill gneiss is used to some extent for the rougher parts of the cemetery work. Ohio stone and Connecticut 
brownstone are used in a few instances for monumental work. 

Among the most notable of the many elegant monuments and tombs in the different cemeteries are : The Kane 
tomb at Laurel Hill, in which lies the body of the celebrated Arctic explorer. It is excavated in a bed of the 
Schuylkill gneiss and faced with massive granite blocks in Egyptian style. The monument to T. Buchanan Eead, 
at Laurel Hill, a polished granite monolith 30 feet in height; the Gardel monument, in Mount Vernon cemetery, 
consisting of a pyramid of Berea, Ohio, stone, with life-size statuary, executed at Bruxelles ; the Drexel mausoleum, 
of marble, in Woodlands cemetery ; granite shaft in Woodlands cemetery to Admiral Charles Stewart. 

In the church-yard of the Old Swedes' church the first tombstones were of soap-stone quarried at Wissahickon, 
on the Schuylkill, a short distance above Philadelphia. Several of these stones yet remain, bearing dates from 1708 
to 1773, and the inscriptions are yet quite legible in most instances, while many of the inscriptions on the marble 
stones of much later date are effaced. The process of decay in the case of the old marble head-stones appears to 
be by the dissolving of the carbonate of lime by exposure to the weather, leaving a rough surface, caused by the 
projection of the more siliceous particles, which finally fall off; the process is repeated, and in time the inscriptions 
are effaced. Some of the fine marble monumental work of late years in the new cemeteries is protected by canopies 
of stone. 

The soap-stone was also used for tombstones in the yard of Christ church contemporaneously with its use in the 
Old Swedes' church, and it may be stated that the same material was used for steps, trimmings, etc., until the 
Pennsylvania marble was introduced for those purposes in the latter part of the last century. The soap-stone was 
used for trimmings in Christ church, the old state-house, and other buildings of an early date. It is soft and easily 
wrought, but is of unequal hardness on account of having lumps of imperfectly-crystallized serpentine in its 
composition, causing it to wear unequally, hence it was rejected as soon as the better-adapted Pennsylvania 
marble came into use. 



STONE CONSTRUCTION IN CITIES. 345 

The graves of Benjainiu Frauklin and Ms wife Deborah, in Christ Church yard, Arch street, have. ,1 phiiu 
horizontal slab, apparently of Hituer's white Pennsylvania marble, bearing simply the names of the deceased. The 
stone is undergoing the same process of decay as the other old marble tombstones before described. 

Bridges. — The Delaware not being bridged at Philadelphia, on account of the interference it would offer to 
navigation, the bridge work is confined to the Schuylkill. 

In Christian Street bridge Cape Aim granite is used ; Girard Avenue bridge, Maine granite ; Fairmount bridge. 
Fox Island granite ; Pennsylvania Railroad bridge, Girard avenue, partly of Trenton browustone — granite and 
Schuylkill gneiss being also used. Conshohocken limestone, Port Deposit stone, and Conewago granite (trap or 
diabase) from near Harrisburg have also been used in bridge abutments. The Schuylkill gneiss was the first 
material used here for the construction of bridge abutments. 

Roofing. — Slate for rooting is quite extensively used in Philadelphia, there being abundant supplies of the 
material within easy reach. Lehigh slate from Lehigh and Northampton counties, and Peach Bottom slate from 
York county, near Mason and Dixon's line, are extensively used. 

The Lehigh slate quarried from strata of Hudson River age resting on the Siluro-Cambrian formation of the 
great valley known in different parts of it as the Kittatinuy, Cumberland, or Shenandoah, is the least expensive 
and most extensively used. The Peach Bottom slate of Archrean age, of excellent quality as I'oofing slate, is 
much used for roofing the better class of buildings. 

street paving. — On the 24th of November, 1718, the common council resolved that — 

Whereas several oftho iuhabitauts of the city have voluutarily gone iuto the paving of ye Keunel to the middle of the streets before 
their re«iiective tenements with iiebble-stoue, and many .are leveling to follow their example. }5nt for as much as what is already done 
is very much damnified by the excessive weight of carriages, and will be every day more and more, unless some means are speedily taken 
to prevent the same, an ordinance is bronght to prevent the cartmen and others their carrying such excessive loads. 

We learn that the first regular paving of a street was due to an accident. A man on horseback being mired and 
thrown from his horse, breaking his leg, a subscription was raised and the street paved with pebbles from the 
river bank. In 1719 many sidewalks were being paved with brick, and the cartway with cobblestone. 

In 1750 the grand jury represented the great need of paved streets, " so as to remedy the extreme dirtiness 
and miry state of the streets"; but the first general effort worthy of mention to pave the streets was made in 
1761-'02, and even then the only means ai)plied to the purpose was that produced by lotteries. 

The extreme inconvenience of unpaved thoroughfares was much felt from the beginning, and such old records 
as are now accessible show that frequent spasmodic attempts to remedy the defect were made, but for a long time 
little was done, and that little not of a substantial or permanent character. 

Some of the streets had their channels or gutters in the middle. In cases where the streets were elevated and 
had a gutter at each side, they were defended by posts, curbstones not ha\ing yet come into use. 

The fii-st curbstones were set in Water street, from High street (now- Market) to Arch street, about 17S6-'88. 
They were of the Schuylkill gneiss, and some of them yet remain, though in a much worn and battered condition. 

For the middle of the street, cobble- and rubble-stones continued to be about the only material used until 1848, 
■when cubical blocks of granite having an edge of about a foot began to be introduced ; Chestnut street in front of 
the custom-house and post-office was paved with the cubical blocks about this time. For some years these large 
cubical blocks were quite popular for paving purposes. In 1852 an ordinance was passed requiring owners of lots 
to ser heavy granite curb.stones between the sidewalk and street where paved with cubical blocks. 

In 1854 the mayor was authorized to expend $50,000 in jjaving streets with the cubical blocks. The cubical- 
block pavements, though unsurpassed in regard to solidity and durability, soon came to be objectionable, since 
the surface of the large blocks wore smooth, and hence afforded but au uncertain foothold for horses. This 
difficulty was sought to be remedied by using small (Belgian) blocks 4 inches square, and a secure foothold for 
horses was thus obtained, but experience soon showed that with a width of about 4 inches the length of the 
block might be increased to a foot or more, thus securing a more solid pavement without sacrificing any other 
merit. 

Some of the cubical-block pavement, so much of which was laid when in the zenith of its popularity, about 
thirty years ago, still remains in Chestnut and some other principal streets. 

The following statistics were obtained at the oflice of the commissioner of highways and from other reliable 
sources : 

Number of miles of paved streets in Philadelphia 900 

Number of miles of unpaved streets in Philadelphia 1, 100 

Number of miles of granile-block pavement 50 

Number of miles of cubical, Belgian, etc. (estimated) 2 

Number of miles of cobble-stone pavement (estimated) 600 

Number of miles of rubble-stone pavement (estimated) 248 

Number of miles of pavement of Cape Ann granite (estimated) 44 

Number of miles of pavement of Eichiuoud granite (estimated) 3 

Number of miles of pavement of Port Deposit gneiss, Schuylkill gneiss, Jersey City trap, North River blue-stone, 

etc. (estimated) 5 

It will be seen by the above statistics that cape Ann, Massachusetts, is the main source of supply for granite 
blocks. The blocks are shaped at the quarry and shipped here by water. 



346 BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

Each of the principal street railways, by a late ordinance, is required to pave with granite blocks one mile of 
the street through which it runs; and this is the style of pavement now preferred. 

The standard size of this block, 12 by 4 by 6 inches deep, is not rigidly adhered to with regard to the length, 
the blocks generally varying from 8 to 14 inches in length. Experience has shown that if the width be kept at 
about 4 inches and the block laid crosswise of the street, a sufdciently good foothold is secured for horses, even 
though the length should vary considerably. The practice here is to have the block about 4 inches wide, from 8 
inches upward in length, and 6 or 7 inches in depth ; blocks of these dimensions laid on a bed of gravel seem to 
give the most satisfactory results. 

Sidewalk jjamng.—The sidewalk paving is left to private enterprise, each owner of a lot paving the sidewalks 
opposite to it according to circumstances. Brick is the main dependence for this purpose, though ISTorth Eiver blue- 
stone is used almost exclusively for the better class of sidewalk paving. The North Kiver blue-stone is now 
obtained, not only from Ulster county, Kew York, and neighboring districts on the Hudson, but from Pike county, 
Pennsylvania, where beds of flagging of the same formation, and equally well adapted to the purpose, have lately 
been developed. 

The Jforth River blue-stone has the reputation here of being perfectly adapted to the purpose of sidewalk paving. 
It is readily quarried in flags of the required thickness ; the surface is even, the material so hard that there is no 
perceptible yielding to foot- wear, and there is a peculiar grit that prevents the surface from becoming slippery. It 
is estimated that there are 100 miles of stone sidewalk paving in the city, the greater part of which is of this 
stone, which was introduced here as early as 1835, or thereabout. During 1881 about 1,000,000 square feet of 
North Eiver blue-stone was used in Philadelphia for sidewalk paving, and thicker layers of the material are used to 
some extent for trimmings of houses. The estimate given includes stone brought both from the New York quarries 
and from those near Pond Eddy and Shohola, in Pike county, Pennsylvania. 

The sidewalks in front of some of the larger business houses on Chestnut street are paved with large flags of 
Cape Ann, Eichmond, and other granites, which flags serve also as vault covers. It is found necessary to "ridge" 
the granite flags, as otherwise they become so slippery as to afford but an insecure foothold for pedestrians. 

Slate from Lehigh county, Pennsylvania, has also been made use of to some extent for sidewalk paving. A 
good example of its conduct when used for flagging is seen in front of Independence hall, where the material is 
used. Such parts of the pavement as remain whole have a very even surface ; but the slates, being laminated or in 
layers adhering together, are rapidly shelling or separating into thin plates by the action of water and frost. 

The Wyoming blue-stone is also used for sidewalk paving to a limited extent, but the flags from the upper layers 
of these quarries are generally laminated, and, like the Lehigh slate, are disintegrated by water and frost, though 
the lower layers furnish material free from this objection, and which is in every way excellently adapted to the 
purpose of paving. The best curbstones iu use here are of granite about 8 inches wide, 2 feet deep, and from 6 
to 10 feet and ui^ward in length. 

Asphalt is but little used for paving in Philadelphia, and is mostly confined to some walks in Eairmount park, 
and a few small areas laid by private individuals. 

PITTSBUEGH, PENNSYLVANIA. 

Several important buildings were constructed of the local stone (Morgantown sandstone of the Second Geological 
Survey of Pennsylvania), quarried within the limits of Pittsburgh, before its destructible nature was understood. The 
stone in all these buildings is being rapidly disintegrated by the action of the atmosphere. The native stone, 
however, in the construction of by far the greater part of the cellar and other underground work, is still used, and 
is thought to be durable when protected from the atmosphere. 

Sandstone from Baden, Beaver county, Pennsylvania, a material easily dressed and durable, is largely employed 
for foundations. Caps, sills, etc. The color of this stone is locally called "pepper and salt", owing to the presence 
of little brown specks of iron oxide throughout it. This characteristic renders it readily distinguishable from other 
Beaver County stones ; its texture is rather coarse. Sandstone from Homewood, in the same county, is largely 
used for bridge abutments and for other rough building purposes. It is hard to dress, and hence is not a favorite 
where fine work is required. It is a durable stone, resisting the action of the atmosphere quite well. The Homewood 
sandstone is a well-known horizon of the Lower Coal Measures. 

The quarries at Freeport, Pennsylvania, which formerly furnished considerable building stone at Pittsburgh, 
are not operated at present ; however, near the last-named place, at Lucesco, Westmoreland county, there is a 
quarry which is beginning to furnish some stone for cellars and foundations at Pittsburgh. Some of the street 
paving stone and most of the sidewalk paving stone is brought from flag quarries on the Monongahela river, in 
Allegheny and Payette counties. It is a very hard bluish-colored material, which comes out in convenient shape 
for flagging, and resists quite well the kind of wear to which it is subjected. One of the principal sources of paving 
blocks is Banning's quarry, near Connellsville, Fayette county. One or two churches and business blocks are 
built of MassiUon sandstone, which is used to a considerable extent for finer grades of work. 



STONE CONSTRUCTION IN CITIES. 347 

The Sinithfield Street Genuau cbiircli, coustructed of Massillon saudstone, shown signs of crumbling in one or 
two places. This church was constructed with two disconnected walls side by side; the outside one very thiji and 
with many of the stones on edge, the inside one undressed and carelessly put up. This is but one of many instances 
in which a stone sufters by being improperly handled rather than through defects in the material itself. 

The Ohio sandstone is employed to some extent for the more ornamental stone- work. The Allegheny court-house, 
built of the Morgautown sandstone quarried in the vicinit j-, the stone in the walls of which was rapidly disintegrating, 
was lately burned. The atmosphere of Pittsburgh is severe on building stones. In the large number of iron and 
other manufacturing establishments an immense amount of bituminous coal is consumed, and a cloud of sulphurous 
smoke continually envelops the city. At times the fog is so dense that gas must be lighted during the day. 

There are two or three buildings constructed of Niagara limestone from Lemont, Illinois, and there is one 
building — the Dollar Savings bank — with a front of Connecticut brownstonc. The streets are largely paved with 
stone, and besides the paving blocks already mentioned, which are used for the better class of street paving, cobble- 
stones from the Allegheny river are more extensively used for that purpose than any other material. There is 
considerable stone sidewalk paving, though brick is generally used for this purpose. For the portions which are 
of stone, flag-stone from points in Allegheny and Fayette counties is chiefly used. Flagging from Warren, Ohio, 
is also used to some extent; also sandstone from Baden and Homewood, in Beaver county. The wharves are 
constructed of cobble stones taken from the bed of the Allegheny river. The abutments of several of the older 
bridges across the Allegheny and the Monogahela rivers are built of the native stone quarried within the limits of 
the city of Pittsburgh. • Bridge abutments are now built of the massive sandstones from Beaver and Homewood. 
Sawmill Run wall, which holds up the embankment of the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, and Saint Louis railroad, along 
the south bank of the Mouougahela river, is built of a saudstone similar to the local stone from the railroad 
company's quarry near Walker station, Allegheny county. For all fii'st-class cemetery work granite is preferred, 
owing to the peculiar severity of the atmosphere. 

PITTSFIBLD, MASSACHUSETTS. 

The following is a list of stone buildings iu Pittsfield, with the materials of which they are constructed : The 
Berkshire County court-house, of white marble from Sheffield ; the public library', of Longmeadow granite ; the 
house and bam of Mr. Thomas Allen, of Quincy granite; one house built of limestone from New York; farm-house 
of Mr. A. A. Eice, of cobble-stone found in the vicinity. 

There are no important quarries here, and surface stone, stated by Professor C. H. Hitchcock to be of Cambro- 
Silurian limestone of the Berkshire valley — called the Stockbridge limestone by Professor Emmons — is found in the 
vicinity and is used for foundations and underpinnings. There are also some small limestone quarries from which 
the material is obtained for these purposes. The soil everywhere is full of rough limestone blocks of quartzite — 
cobble-stone of Potsdam sandstone age, according to Professor Hitchcock — and where cellars are dug much of the 
stone taken from the excavations is broken and used for the walls. In many places in the vicinity the limestone 
ledge crops out, but has never been quarried to any great depth. The streets are not paved with stone, exceptiug 
the gutters, which are usually paved with cobble-stones. The sidewalks of about half a mile of the business streets 
are paved with North Eiver blue-stone, and the remainder of the sidewalks with concrete. The curbtsones are a 
blue flagging, said to have come from Catskill, with some limestone from a local quarry. 

PORTLAND, MAINE. 

The material chiefly used for the better class of work is granite from Hallowell, Biddeford, Spruce Head, and 
Yarmouth. Next in importance is the Nova Scotia sandstone, used for fronts. There are four churches built of 
material obtained from rough granite bowklers found in the vicinity of Portland ; one building is of Vermont marble. 
Stone for foundations, cellar walls, and work of that class, is rough granite bowlders obtained in the immediate 
vicinity of the city ; underpinnings are of granite from Biddeford, Yarmouth, and Spruce Head ; iu the steps, 
posts, and basements of better houses, thefollowing granites appear to have been used : Spruce Head and Biddeford, 
quite extensively; also Portsmouth, and Hallowell granites; Yarmouth and Hallowell granites are used in fronts, 
sills, and trimmings. The Spruce Head granite is especially conspicuous by its patches and its freshness even after 
a long exposure. One old building is fronted with Quincy granite. The granite from the Maine Central quarry at 
North Jay has been used only in the trimmings of the Maine Central Railroad office. Iron railings in the elaborately- 
wrought granite supports invariably discolor the blocks; even the smallest piece of iron at a considerable height 
discolors everything below it. Part of the bieakwater in the harbor is built of granite from mount Waldo and 
Bluehill. Forts Preble, Gorges, and Scammel are of granite from Mount Waldo, Biddeford, Spruce Head and 
perhaps other places. The post-office is a large and beautiful building of Vermont marble, with fluted columns, and 
considerable carved work, the best being of Hallowell granite. The custom-house is a very beautiful granite building 
of Hallowell and Concord granite, the main building being of Concord, while the towers are of Hallowell granite. 



348 BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

The city liall, quite a large structure, has a front of fine yellow sandstone from Nova Scotia and a basement of granite. 
Several churches and the Emory block are built of granite, chiefly from Hallowell ; also, some are built of irregular 
pieces of sappy slate and mica-schist picked up in the vicinity of Portland, with granite trimmings; one or two of 
these have square blocks of quarried granite interposed, which give them a peculiar appearance. The Centennial 
block has a front of red and yellow Nova Scotia sandstone, and two beautiful polished granite columns of material 
from Eed Beach, Maine. The county jail is built of Biddeford granite. Stone is now used exclusively in paving such 
streets as are paved, and the material formerly used for this purpose was cobble-stones from Cranberry islands and 
East Maine; the material now used is granite blocks from Yarmouth, Hallowell, and Fox island. There is a small 
amount of stone in sidewalk pavements, of Hudson Eiver flags, but brick is the material chiefly used for paving. 
The curbstones are of granite from Falmouth and the vicinity of Portland usually, but granites from Yarmouth and 
Hallowell, and some from Spruce Head, were so used. 

POTTSVILLE, PEISnsrSYLVANIA. 

Pottsville is very picturesquely situated close to the foot of the mountains and partially on their sides, all of 
the ground on which the city is situated being uneven, thus making considerable stone- work necessary for bringing 
the bases of buildings to a level, and also for terrace walls and other purposes necessary in cities built on very 
uneven ground. Montgomery County marble has been used to some extent for steps, base courses, sills, and other 
trimmings; also some Vermont marble for the same purposes. Ohio sandstone was used for trimmings in the 
Miners^ Journal building, a fine structure of brick. New England granite has been used in a few important business 
buildiugs for steps. Goldsboro' brownstoue is used in two or three buildings for trimmings; it approaches 
Connecticut brownstone in color more nearly than does the Hummelstown of the same formation. 

In several buildings the bad effects of placing the stone edgewise instead of the bed way are manifested by the 
disintegration of the material. Edging proves to be particularly injurious to the brownstone — less so in the case of ' 
marble, still less so with the Pottsville conglomerates and laminated granites; but it is desirable to avoid the 
practice in all cases, as experience proves. The Henry Clay monument, on the side of the hill above the Miners' 
Journal building, is of iron with base of Pottsville conglomerate, a material abundantly exposed near Pottsville. 
The largest stone structure in the city is the Schuylkill County prison; the front of this building is of Trenton 
brownstone of Triassic age; the architecture is of the castellated style, and the side and rear walls are constructed 
of Pottsville conglomerate. 

For cemetery work New England and Italian marble, brownstone occasionally, and some granite, have been 
used. Besides the stone buildings enumerated there are about 200 buildings with considerable stone in their 
structure in the way of base courses, caps, sills, lintels, and steps. Hummelstown brownstone has been the stone 
chiefly used for trimmings, it being easier of access than any other stone good for that purpose; it proves here to 
be substantial, durable, and in every way satisfactory for trimmings. A large rectangular block of this stone was 
observed serving as steps in front of a business house; although It has been in place twelve years and subjected 
to continued foot-wear, but little impression has yet been made on it. 

None of the streets are paved with stone. The city is so situated that there is perfect drainage in almost all 
parts, and the gravelly nature of the soil is such that the streets are naturally firm. and the need of ijaving them 
with stone is not urgent. There is, however, considerable stone sidewalk pavement, chiefly of the sandstone 
quarried in the vicinity. The North Eiver blue-stone is used to a limited extent for the same purpose. The 
curbstones are of the native Pottsville conglomerate. The abutments of the small bridges needed are of Pottsville 
conglomerate. The slate roofs are principally of Lehigh County slate. 

POTJGHKEBPSIE, NEW YOEK. 

Stone found in the vicinity of Poughkeepsie, either in small quarries or in excavations of various kinds, is a hard 
blue limestone suitable for rough work only. As to durability, however, it is indestructible by the ordinary 
action of the elements. The only stone used here that has shown signs of disintegration is the brownstone, much 
of which comes from Connecticut. Sills and lintels of this material show signs of disintegration after the lapse of 
years. Besides the materials already mentioned as used in stone construction, limestone from Westchester county, 
Ohio sandstone, and gneiss fiom the vicinity are employed. For foundations and underpinnings hard, blue limestone 
and other rocks from the small local quarries and from various excavations are used ; for underpinnings dressed 
sandstone and blue-stone are used to a limited extent. Two and a half miles of the principal streets are paved with 
large cobble-stones, and there are 300 feet of Belgian block pavement. Sidewalks are largely paved with stone, and 
the material used for this purpose as well as for curbing is the North Eiver blue-stone. Blue-stone and bowlders are 
used in the construction of buildings, docks, wharves, and bridge abutments. 



STONE CONSTRUCTION IN CITIES. 349 

PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND. 

The foundations in the city of Providence are generally from the so-called ledge stone from the great quarry in 
Cranston and smaller ones in North and East Providence, a slate of great strength in resistiug strains. It is very 
hard to break across the grain. In digging for foundations in this city miry ground is occasionally struck, and 
quicksand is often encountered. The great length of blocks attainable and the strength of the slate make it very 
serviceable for filling up such ground, because the slate does not break into smaller pieces by the strain upon it. 
In the case of the Providence gas-house the reason given for making the dome of great size is said to be the 
desirability of relieving the pressure on the lower parts of the building on account of the unfavorable condition of 
the ground. In the older buildings the Quiucy granite and Connecticut sandstone are chiefly used for underpinnings, 
especially the latter; and the NipmucI;. stone and Smithfleld granite are also used to a considerable extent for this 
purpose. The other granites were brought into use lately, and have been extensively employed also. In one or two 
bouses a blue-stone, probably of Hudson River age, has been used. As regards the sidewalks, Providence uses 
much concrete. The Bolton, Connecticut, flags were once employed very extensively and are still found, but none 
are sold now iu the city. Very often there exists in them tongues of harder rock in the soft blue schist, and by 
the wearing of frost and water the stone becomes grooved in a very jieculiar manner, with the tongues standing 
out as ridges. This softness and want of homogeneousness must be serious defects. In old times large amounts 
of crossings, flags, and even curbs were hauled into the city from Nipmuck ledge, from near Coventry; they are 
distinguished from others by their yellow look. The same stone has been used in some old dwelling-houses; it 
has quite a large proportion of muscovite, with much less biotite in layers, and hence splits quite smoothly, so that 
it is designated by Providence ai'chitects as " natural face" stone. Trimmings of white and blue Vermont marble 
are used in one or two buildings, and artificial stone has also been used. Tuckahoe dolomite is used in one front 
and for trimmings in one or two buildings, and two old posts before a house are capped with this same material. 
There is a great tendency in the newer buildings to use fine red brick with j'ellow sandstone trimmings. The finest 
stone structure iu the city is the new city hall. It is built of Hurricane' Island, Westerly, aud Concord granites. 
The basement up to the pencil mark is of Hurricane Island granite ; above this the front and right sides are all 
Westerly except the columns, which are Concord granite ; the back and left sides above the basement are Concord 
granite. The granite slabs on the sidewalk of the new city hall, obtained from the Cape Ann Quarry Company, 
are claimed to be tlie largest granite flags quarried in this country. The dimensions are from 22 to 23 feet long, 5.J 
to 8 feet wide, and 1 foot deep ; some are from 10 to 12 feet wide, but the width is usually less. These difi'erent 
granites haraiouize perfectly'. The building is said to have cost $1,400,000. Polished columns of Westerly granite 
support the lamps. The stone in the soldiers' and sailors' monument in front of the city hall is of AVesterly granite ; 
the United States post-ottice and custom-house of Quincy granite ; the Providence athemeum has front and columns 
of Quiucy granite and sides of Smithfleld granite. In front of it is a very beautiful drinking fountain, said to be 
of Light Concord granite, and two handsome polished columns of Quincy pink granite. The new court-house just 
opposite is a magnificent brick building extensively trimmed with red sandstone, partly carved, and in the entrance 
tstaud six polished columns, two of red Westerly, two of blue Westerly, and two of Diamond Hill granite. The 
arcade runs from street to street, and was erected in 1828. The twelve large columns are made of Smithfleld 
granite, and must have been a large undertaking at that time. 

The high school is of brick with yellow sandstone trimmings; it has a high basement built of Westerly granite 
and polished columns of red Westei'ly and Quincy pink granites; the Roger Williams monument is of Westerly 
granite ; the new Catholic cathedral, the most imposing stone building, is entirely of brown sandstone ixom Portland, 
Connecticut; Grace church is built of Little Falls, New Jersey, sandstone; the First Congregational church is of 
granite from Smithfleld ; All Saints' Memorial church and Saint Stephen's church are of Connecticut bi'ownstone ; 
Saint Mary's church is of granite from Westerly, Diamond Hill, and Northbridge ; the Central Congregational 
church is of Connecticut brown sandstone ; Sayles Memorial church at Brown's university is of red Westerly 
granite trimmed with Connecticut brown sandstone; Saint Xavier's academy is an old stone building made of 
material from Nipmuck ledge, Coventry, Rhode Island ; the Providence Savings institution was built twenty-seven 
years ago of Quincy granite; there is a handsome private residence near the Friends' .school-house built entirely 
of cut red and white Westerly granite ; Saint Patrick's church is built of rough stone from the vicinity ; the gateway 
of the North burial-ground is built of Diamond Hill granite; in Grace Church cemetery the posts, coping, etc., are 
made of West Greenwich granite; the Dexter asylum has an immense stone wall of natural-faced stone from 
Nipmuck, in the vicinity of Providence; the old state prison is built chiefly of Quincy granite; the Burgess 
building is fronted with Tuckahoe dolomite ; the Richmond building is of brick trimmed with olive sandstone, and 
has red and gray polished granite columns ; the Wilcox building has some carved and polished work of Westerly 
granite in its composition ; the Aldrich house has a front of white limestone which came from the city of Montreal, 
Canada ; each block was sent on dressed into the proper shape and numbered. This quarrj' is said to be within 
the limits of Montreal. Saint John's church is built of bowlders and natural-faced stone from the vicinity of 
Providence; the building is trimmed with red sandstone. The College Library building of Brown university has a 
basement of Sterling- granite; it is built of brick trimmed with yellow and blue sandstone. There are also red 



350 BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

and gray polished granite columns, probably from Red Beach, Maine, and Diamond Hill. The granite in the 
pumping-station is from Westerly ; there are two wharves in which granite was used extensively ; in one the material 
is from Diamond Hill and the other from Pascoag, Rhode Island. 

There are 135 miles of recorded streets; 16 miles of this length are paved with granite blocks and cobble-stones; 
the material is from Diamond Hill and Westerly, Rhode Island, from Connecticut, and some from Maine granite 
quarries. 

The sidewalks are but little paved with stone, concrete being usually the material employed for this purpose. 

In such sidewalks as are paved with stone the Hudson River flags are used, with occasionally granite from Diamond 

Hill and Smithfield, gneissoid granite from Nipmuck, Rhode Island, and flags from Bolton, Connecticut. The 

curbstones are of granite from Diamond Hill, Smithfield, Westerly, and ISTipmuck ; and Hudson River blue-stone 

' is used to a limited extent for this purpose. 

QUINCY, MASSACHUSETTS. 

The seven stone buildings in this place are constructed of Quincy granite. All the stone used for building- 
is obtained from the quarries within the city limits. The streets and sidewalks are not paved with stone, but 
there are some curbs of the material from the local quarries. Among the important stone buildings are the town 
hall, the Unitarian church, and the school building. 

READING, PENNSYLVANIA. 

Quarries of the Siluro-Cambrian formation are operated within the limits of Reading for local building- 
purposes. The material at this point, however, is used onl^' for the rougher building purposes, such as foundations, 
underpinnings, etc. Stone is not used to any great extent ; there is an abundance of brown sandstone south of 
the town, the northern edge of the formation which furnishes the brown sandstone i^assing within a short distance 
of it. No extensive quarries of this material are being operated in the neighborhood ; what stone is needed for 
local use in Reading and vicinity is obtained from the surface bowlders. Much of the material in this locality 
is a conglomerate, and only the surface bowlders have as yet been made use of; consequently the stone, well 
seasoned and tested by the weather before being used, proves to be durable. The buildings of this sandstone are 
usually in a good state of preservation. For the better class of stone construction Hummelstown brownstone is the 
material most used. The stone used for bridge abutments and arches is the brown sandstone already mentioued ; 
none of the streets are paved with stone; some of the sidewalks are paved with Hudson River blue-stone, but the 
amount is small. The curbstones are made of local limestone and Hudson River blue-stone. Bricks of good quaUty 
are manufactured in the vicinity, and the Philadelphia pressed brick is also being largely used. 

RICHMOND, INDIANA. 

Stone is but little used in the construction of buildings in Richmond, and is chiefly confined to foundations ; 
the material employed for this purpose is the Cincinnati blue limestone, outcrops of which are found along a creek 
in the ^^cinity. The stone from this formation at nearly every point where it is exposed or quarried shows itself to 
be lacking in the important quality of durability, and its use here has demonstrated that after a comparatively 
short exposure to the atmosphere it begins to weather. The ground on which the city is built furnishes secure 
foundations, and there are no conditions of topography or of climate that are especially unfavorable to the extensive 
use of stone as a building material, although the stone from the Cincinnati formation quarried in the vicinity is used 
for foundations and for the ruder purposes generally ; the twenty stone buildings are constructed of Berea, Ohio, 
sandstone of sub-Carboniferous age. The streets are not paved with stone, and the sidewalks but very little ; the 
material used in such streets and curbings as ase paved is limestone from New Paris, Ohio. 

RICHMOND, VIRGINIA. 

There are but five buildings in Richmond constructed of stone, four entirely of stone and one front. In two of 
the buildings granite quarried in the vicinity is used ; and in the walls of two buildings stone from surface bowlders 
found in the vicinity is used, while one building is of Quincy, Massachusetts, granite. There is a one-story building 
on Main street, between Nineteenth and Twentieth streets, which has stood for more than a century ; it is constructed 
of bowlders of granite rock, and has no significance in an inquiry concerning stones used in construction, except 
to show the durability of these bowlders. The stone used in a church on Grace street was obtained from a quarry 
below the city, but it has been practically abandoned. The stone used in the custom-house came chiefly from the 
Old Dominion Granite Company, and there is scarcely any change perceptible in the material since it was laid in 
the walls of the building. The pedestal of the Washington monument is constructed of granite fi'om the Tuckahoe 
district, Henrico county. The piers of the five bridges across the James river at Richmond were constructed of 



STONE CONSTRUCTION IN CITIES. 351 

stone quarried for the most part on the island in the river and along the right bank of the river not far from the 
ends of the bridge. There are several docks where this material is also largely used. The granite quarried near 
Kichmond ranks with the best granites, and it has been used in the construction of many important public buildings 
throughout the country, notably the superstructure of the new State, War, and Navy Department building in 
Washington, District of Cohimbia. In the business portions of the city the streets are paved with cobble- and 
rubble-stones fi'om the vicinity. The sidewalks are but little paved with stone, and the materials used are the 
mica-schist from Lynchburg, and North Eiver blue-stone shipped from Eoudout, New York. The curbstones are of 
the local granite. 

EOOHESTEE, NEW TOEK. 

The materials used in stone construction in Eochester are, for foundations and underpinnings, limestone from the 
local quarries, and to a limited extent sandstone from Ohio and from Albion, New York. For the better class of 
stone construction, Ohio sandstone, Medina sandstone from Albion, and granite and limestone from the vicinity, are 
all used. By far the larger number of stone buildings are constructed of limestone from the vicinity. For piers 
and work of that class done by contract Waterloo limestrfne is used. The streets are largely paved with Medina 
sandstone rock from Albion, New York ; and there is considerable stone sidewalk, the material used being Medina 
sandstone and Hudson Eiver blue-stone. Ciu-bstones are principally of the latter. 

EOME, NEW YOEK. 

Most of the buildings in Eome are of brick or wood — largely of brick. The foundations and underpinnings 
are built of limestone and sandstone quarried at Higginsville aud Verona, Oneida county. For the better class of 
stone construction sandstones from Verona and Potsdam, New York, and limestone from Onondaga and Oneida 
counties are used. There is little stone street pavement ; the material used is cobble-stone. There are about 12 
miles of stone sidewalk pavements of sandstone from Cayuga county, New York, and Hudson Eiver blue-stone. 
There is but little curbing. 

EUTLAND, VEEMONT. 

As there are quite celebrated marbles quarried in the immediate vicinity of Eutland, that is the chief material 
used in stone construction. Considering the convenient source of supply for building stone the number of the 
stone buildings in the city is not large, there being only twelve constructed entirely of this material aud one front 
of marble. The following are some of the principal stone buildings in the vicinity : Two mills at Sutherland Falls 
are built of marble quarried at that place ; the Episcopal church is constructed of gray limestone ; the Catholic 
church is of limestone taken from the lot upon which it is built ; the old jail, now used as a dwelling, is also of 
limestone; the Chatterton dwelling-bouses near Sutherland Falls are of limestone; Sheldon & Slason's 2 mills, 
store, and office are of West Eutland marble ; the Catholic church, H. H. Brown's store and office, the mill of Gilson 
& Wopdfin, aud that of the Manhattan Company are of the same material. 

The population of Eutland is scattered over a wide area, the principal village being comparatively small. 
The unusual number of stone buildings is due to the proximity of the marble quarries. This material is used not 
only for the better class of construction, but also for foundations and underiiinnings, and for all ordinary purposes. 
The location of the quarries is north and west of the town. Slate from Fair Haven and Chester, Vermont, is also 
employed to a limited extent for foundations and underpinnings. The streets are not paved with stone, and about 
a mile of sidewalk pavement is of marble and slate, and a little of granite from Chester, Vermont. The curbstones 
are of marble, slate, and granite. 

SAINT PAUL, MINNESOTA. 

In the enumeration of stone buildings in Saint Paul every business front having separate numbers, though 
included in the same block with others, was counted as one building, and the number of stone buildings given in 
the tabulation includes every stone structure whether large or small. The use of stone in Saint Paul has exceeded 
that in Minneapolis on account of the ease of quarrying and its accessibility, and the comparatively greater cost 
of wood. The great lumber mills are at Minneapolis, and their products would have to be hauled by wagon or by 
steam a distance of ten miles to make them available at Saint Paul. The following is a list of Saint Paul buildings 
■with materials of which they are constructed : 

Structures with brick walls and Berea sandstoue fronts i 

Structures with brick walls and Saint Paul limestone trimmings 208 

Structures with brick walls and Kasota calciferous sand-rock trimmings 107 

Structures with brick walls and Fronteuac dolomite trimmings 49 

Structures with brick walls and Foud du Lac limestone trimmings 7 

Structures with brick walls aud Berea, Ohio, sandstone trimmings 30 

Structures with brick walls and Vermont marble trimmings 1 

Structures with brick walls partly trimmed with Minnesota granite 27 



352 BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

The state capitol now in process of construction is to consist essentially of Eed Wing pressed brick, with 
trimmings of the dolomite from Frontenac. At the base of the building one course of brown sandstone from Fond 
du Lac, Minnesota, will show about 10 inches ; the unexposed part of the foundation is of the blue dolomite from the 
upper part of the Trenton formation, at Saint Paal, which is a much better stone than the beds of this formation 
that are usually quarried for building purposes. Some of the principal buildings of the city that deserve enumeration 
are the following: The market building, built of brick, trimmed with Kasota stone; Baptist church, built wholly 
of Kasota stone; the cathedral is wholly of Saiut Paul limestone; the McMullen block and the Fire and Marine 
Insurance building are of Saint Paul limestone ; the Drake business block is of brick, trimmed with Kasota stone 
and granite ; the business block of Auerbach, Pinch & Van Slyke, of brick, trimmed with Frontenac stone; the 
Manheimer business block and. the German- American ba;nk are of brick, with Ohio sandstone fronts; the Saint 
Paul Episcopal church is built of Saint Paul limestone ; the United States custom-house is of Saint Paul limestone, 
with Saint Oloud, Sherburne county, granite trimmings ; the Saint Paul rolling-mill is of Saint Paul rock, with 
Kasota trimmings; the Presbyterian House of Hope church and the piers that support the bridge over the 
Mississippi river are of Saint Paul limestone; the trimmings of Lindeke's, Warner & Sherman's, Barney's, 
Gilflllan's, and Odd Fellows' blocks are of the magnesian limestone from Frontenac, Goodhue county, Minnesota; 
the front of the Mchols & Dean block is of granite from Sauk Eapids, Minnesota. 

The streets are but little paved with stone, wooden blocks having been chiefly used for this purpose. The 
sidewalks in the business parts of the city are very generally paved with Saint Paul limestone and granite from 
Minnesota, sandstone from Ohio, and the calciferons sandstone of Kasota. Curbstones are of the Saint Paul 
limestones. 

SALEM, MASSACHUSETTS. 

In the few buildings in Salem in which stone enters as an important ingredient, Cape Ann granite, Peabody 
granite, and Springfield sandstone are the materials used. Foundations and underpinnings are of Cape Ann and 
Peabody granites. There is considerable stone street pavement of Cape Ann and Maine granites. Sidewalks are 
not paved with stone, but the curbs are of Cape Ann and Peabody granites. 

SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH. 

The assembly house is built of Cottonwood granite, and the old tabernacle has piers of Eed Bud sandstone. 
The new Mormon temple is to be constructed of the Cottonwood granite. On account of the greater cost, stone is 
used to only a limited extent ; brick, adobe, and wood being well adapted to the climate and much less expensive 
than stone. Of the forty stone buildings in the city the Eed Bud sandstone was used in the construction of over 
thirty, and three or four were built of granite quarried in Little Cottonwood canon ; and in such foundations as 
are built of stone these materials are employed, though bricks are chiefly used for foundations. The streets and 
sidewalks are not paved with stone. 

SANDUSKY, OHIO. 

The city of Sandusky has a much larger percentage of stone buildings than any other city in Ohio. Of 
buildings entirely constructed of stone it has absolutely by far the largest number of any Ohio city, owing to the 
cheap and abundant supply of good building stone within the limits of the city, which constitutes a great limestone 
quarry covered with but a very shallow layer of soil or earth. The stripping rarely amounts to 2 feet, and below 
there lie from 8 to 10 feet of easily-quarried, strong, and durable limestone of good color, and in every way adapted 
to all building purposes. In early days it was the cheapest building material accessible, and so came to be used in 
many of the houses first built in the city. 

The white limestone that lies immediately below the blue is reached but in a single city quarry ; this is a massive 
stone fit for dimension work and well adapted to cutting, but the great supply of it comes from Kelley's island and 
point Marblehead. The blue limestone from the city quarries is largely used in the construction of piers and 
docks in the vicinity, and also for flagging, but it is not very well adapted to this use ; it is laid in blocks or 
slabs from 4 to 8 feet square, not very smooth until polished by wear, and then becoming dangerously smooth. 
The stone of the city all proves very durable and the best of foundations are secured at small expense. The 
Sandusky court-house is of the Massillon sandstone. The streets and roadways are chiefly macadamized with 
broken blue limestone. 

SAN FEANCISCO, CALIFOENIA. 

The first stone structures in San Francisco were two buildings erected in 1854, of granite brought from China, 
quarried and dressed in that country. In the years 1856-'57 the granite quarries of Folsom were opened, and the 
fronts of several buildings on Montgomery and Battery streets were constructed of it. In 1865 th e Bank of California 
building was erected of a beautiful blue sandstone quarried at Angel island, in the bay of San Francisco ; it holds its 
color and surface well. The earthquake of 1868 made some cracks in the walls and gave rise to the belief that the 



STONE CONSTRUCTION IN CITIES. S53 

stone was weak, and that stone in general was not fitted for use in this region. The United States mint has a 
basement of granite and walls of sandstone, from New Castle island, in the gulf of Georgia, British Columbia. 
There are six iiuted columns, 27 feet high by 5 feet 6 inches at the base and 4 feet 6 inches at the top, of New 
Castle sandstone. The new city hall is the most extensive building in San Francisco. The walls are of brick, but 
the foundation is of rubble from Angel island. Considerable granite is used in the basement and steps from the 
quarries at Eocklin and Penryn, near the American river, in Placer county. The window-sills, key-stones, and 
balustrade are of sandstone from San Jos(5, in Santa Barbara county; the corridor lloors are marble from Vermont 
and Massachusetts, and black marble from Glens Falls, Xew York. The Penryn granite, from the quarry of 
Griffith & Griffith, was emi)loyedin the construction of the basement of the United States mint, water-table of new 
city hall, dry-dock at Mare island, the new Stock Exchange and the Real Estate Associates' buildings. The peojile 
are afraid of stone buildings on account of their being cracked by earthquakes, and most of the large business 
buildings are of iron. The foundations and underpinnings are of granite, rubble from the vicinity of the city and 
from Folsom and Penryn and Napa, and sandstone from San Jos6. There are about 46 miles of streets paved with 
cobble-stones, basalt, and granite from Sonora and Penryn. A few of the sidewalks are paved with granite from 
Folsom, and Vermont slate. Curbs are of granite from the various quarries which supply the city with this material. 
There are 11,000 feet of sea-wall constructed of rubble from Telegraph hill. The San Francisco dry-dock is 
constructed of granite from Folsom. The terrace walls and basements of the buildings of Messrs. Stanford, 
Hopkins, and Cooks are built of basalt from Soi.'ora. Penryn granite is largely used in brick and iron structures 
as steps, sills, stairways, and window-caps. 

SARATOGA, NEW YORK. 

The stones used in Saratoga are mostly blue limestone from rocks of Trenton age quarried near the town. 
Foundations are built of this stone. Ohio sandstone and Connecticut brownstone are used for trimmings in some 
of the large buildings. Brick has been employed in the construction of the large hotels and other public buildings. 
JMost of the streets are macadamized with cobble-stone and broken limestone. Broadway has about three-quarters 
of a mile of cobble-stone pavement. The sidewalks are mainly laid with brick, excepting in the business part of 
the town, where the North River blue-stone and a little Vermont marble are laid on tne curbs of the cross sidewalks 
with blue limestones from the vicinity. 

SAVANNAH, GEORGIA. 

The nearest stone quarry to the city of Savannah is located near Milledgeville, in this state, distant about 175 
miles. The granite at that point is excellent, but being difficult to work on account of its hardness, no systematic 
effort to introduce it here has been made. Most of the granite is in use for steps and window- and door-sills, brought 
from Stone mountain, near Atlanta. The Presbyterian church is a large granite building, with a wooden steeple 
The custom-house is built entirely of granite. These are known as stone buildings, and the materials in both case 
came from Quincy, Massachusetts. Cobble-stone for ])aving material comes as ballast from northern ports. Only 
the birsiness streets are paved, and the materials used are the cobble-stone and Hudson River blue-stone from New 
York. A few of the sidewalks are paved with the Hudson River flags. 

SCHENECTADY, NEW YORK. 

Stone is rarely used in this county except for foundations, and there are not many opportunities of judging of 
the character of the material used in stone construction. In one or two instances. Saint George's church, forexample, 
the stone from the local quarries when properly laid has proved to be of most excellent quality. It makes, when 
carefully laid in foundations, very regular faces, and preserves its rich color for an indefinite period ; however, when 
improijerly handled by the masons, as when set on edge, it is liable to exfoliate to such an extent that it becomes 
necessary to substitute new blocks of stone. It may be so handled as to form substantial and durable walls in stone 
structures. All the streets are paved with cobble-stones, from 4 to 6 inches in diameter, found on the surface of the 
ground in the vicinity. The sidewalks are paved with stone 5 feet wide and 2 inches thick, from the Helderberg 
formation. 

SCRANTON, PENNSYLVANIA. 

The Coal Measures are eroded from the mountain ridges on either side, leaving the Seral-Conglomerate Pocono 
sandstone and Catskill sandstone exposed on their sides and crests. These sandstones furnish most of the stone 
for ordinary purjioses of construction in the city. 

The amount of stone construction is but trifling ; the most important building — the new court-house — is now in 
course of construction, and is located in what was once a deep swamp ; the foundations are 30 feet in depth and 
constructed of the Seral-Conglomerate quarried at Shanty hill, in the vicinity of Scranton. The superstructure is 
to be of Catskill sandstone quarried in the mountain ridge just west of Scranton, and the heavj^ trimmings of 
Devonian limestone from near Syracuse, New York. 
VOL. IX 23 B s 



354 BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

For bridge abutments the Catskill sandstone quarried in the mountains near Scranton is used; it is extremely- 
hard, withstanding exposure, and is easily quarried iu regftlar blocks suitable for the purpose. Only two streets 
are paved with stone, and the material used in these instances is cobble-stone from the stream. There is considerable 
stone sidewalk paving, and the material for the purpose is brought from Nicholson, Wyoming county, Pennsylvania; 
also some from Brandt, Susquehanna county ; Lehigh slate is used to a limited extent for the same purpose. The 
curbstones are Catskill sandstone quarried in the vicinity. 

SPEINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS. 

Brick is largely used for the purposes of construction in Springfield, to the exclusion of stone. In addition to- 
the number of stone buildings enumerated which are biiilt of Longmeadow sandstone and Monson granite, those two 
materials are frequently employed for sills, cornices, and other trimmings. A few buildings have trimmings of 
Ohio sandstone ; none of these materials show signs of decay, as the stone structures are all of recent date. The 
upper part of the city is built on terraces of stratified sand ; the lower part has some foundations in clay, and in 
places piles are driven before laying foundations ; these are thought to be in the old channel of the river on the lower 
terrace; some settling has been noticed under the spires of two churches, but this is attributed to faulty construction 
and not to the ground. The foundations and underpinnings are chiefly of Longmeadow sandstone. The streets are 
macadamized with trap from Westfleld, and a few of the sidewalks are paved with Hudson Eiver flags and granite 
flags from Monson. Curbstones are of Monson gneiss and Longmeadow sandstone. 

SPEINGPIELD, OHIO. 

Stone from the upper or Springfield division of the Niagara formation is quarried iu the vicinity of this city, 
and is used for the less ornamental classes of construction. The stone from the quarries here is chiefly used in 
rough work, such as cellar walls, bridges, sewers, and the like. The Episcopal church edifice, on High street, 
Springfield, is built of this stone in the rough, and displays fine architectural effect. The Central high school 
was built of limestone from the local quarries. As very few buildings of this kind have been put uj) in this city, 
scarcely any judgment can be made of the Springfield stone ; for other and rougher work it has stood the test of 
time for half a century or more. The site of the city is well adapted to buildings of weight ; indeed but few feet in 
depth would place buildings upon solid strata of the Niagara limestone. The Portsmouth and the Berea sandstones 
have both been used to a limited extent for trimmings. But few of the streets are paved, and those are paved with 
cobble-stones and macadamized with the local limestone. Sidewalks are but little paved with stone, and the 
material used is the Springfield and Dayton limestones ; also to a very limited extent the Berea and Portsmouth 
sandstones. For bridge abutments, sewers, and work of that class the limestone from the home quarries is employed. 
Whether it is set on edge or as in the natural bed seems to make less difference with this material than with most 
building stones. 

STEUBENVILLE, OHIO. 

Material for all stone construction in this place is quarried in the vicinity from the .beds of sandstone in the 
Upper Coal Measures. The material is durable and comparatively pleasing in appearance, and is used for caps, 
sills, corners, and other trimmings. The Jefferson County court-house is the only building of importance in which 
stone from a distance is used ; this structure is built of Amherst, Ohio, sandstone. Of the buildings enumerated 
as having stone fronts, none have fronts entirely of stone. The principal church and McGowan's block are built of 
sandstone from local quarries. Considerable of the cemetery work, such as monuments, bases, and inclosures, is 
made of sandstone from a local quarry. This material is susceptible of fine carving, though it is of rather coarse 
texture. The wharves in Steuben ville are constructed of cobble-stones taken from the Ohio river at low water. 
The abutments of the Pan Handle Eailroad bridge across the Ohio river at this point, and the water- works, are 
also constructed of the local sandstone. In such streets as are paved cobble-stones from the Ohio river are the 
material used. There is but little stone sidewalk pavement, and the material for this purpose is obtained from 
local quarries. 

TAUNTON, MASSACHUSETTS. 

In the vicinity of Taunton there are several small ledges which are worked occasionally for a short time when 
wall stones are needed for some particular building. The irregularity with wliich these openings are worked does 
not admit of their being enumerated with important quitrries. Their product is a bluish "wall" or "mortar" 
stone, similar to a material quarried near Lowell, Massachusetts. Of the eight stone buildings in Taunton three 
are bnilt of granite from Acushnet, and five of the " mortar" stone from the vicinity. The foundations and 
underpinnings are of the local mortar stone and Acushnet granite. The streets are but little paved with stone, the 
material used being cobble from the fields iu the vicinity. A few of the sidewalks are paved with Acushnet granite, 
and curbs are of the same material. 



STONE CONSTRUCTION IN CITIES. 355 

TERRE HAUTE, INDIANA. 

Stone is but little used iu this city, but that emploj'ed comes from quarries that furnish the best building stone 
in the state — those of Bedford, Ellettsville, and Stiuesville. There is no building constructed entirely of stone, 
and the number of stone fronts, chiefly of the materials above mentioned, is about 100. Brick is used for foundations 
because of its cheapness, the impression here being that a stone foundation costs as much as an entue building 
constructed of wood. Sandstone that may be found near is not suitable for use in construction. 

TOLEDO, OHIO. 

Toledo is so situated as to have ready access by water to noted quarry regions, such as Amherst and Berea, 
Kelley's island, point Marblehead, and other places in the vicinitj' of Sandusky. The stone for the rougher 
building purposes is the limestone from Sandusky, point Marblehead, and vicinity ; that for the better class of 
construction is chiefly sandstone from Amherst and Berea. In one building constructed of the Sandusky limestone 
the wall has been broken by frost, to which it is said to have been subjected before the material was out of the 
quarry long enough to be thoroughly seasoned. Out of 140 miles of sidewalk there are 3.6 miles paved with stone ; 
the total length of the streets is 271 miles ; total length of pavements iij miles, of which 7;^ miles are jiaved with 
Medina sandstone ; 4 miles with small bowlders picked up from the surrounding country ; 3 miles macadamized 
with sandstone ; 34 miles paved with cedar blocks ; and 27 miles are paved with plank. Some of the sandstone 
used in the outside walls of buildings has been set on edge, consequently the color resulting from weathering is 
not uniform. 

TOPEKA, KANSAS. 

The stone found in the vicinity of Topeka is an impure limestone suitable for foundations, underpinnings, 
and work of that class. The other materials used here to a limited extent are sandstone from Warrensburg, 
Missouri, and limestone from Cottonwood, Chase county, and from Junction City. This latter can be sawed with 
an ordinary tooth-saw, is full of chert concretions, and is subject to discoloration when exposed ; it is not now used. 
The Cottonwood limestone is a good, strong, substantial material ; it can be obtained in masses of from one to five 
cubic yards, and is now being used for the foundation of the main building of the state capitol. 

Saiford limestone is a very fine material, composed almost wholly of shells in an unbroken state, takes a good 
polish, and is quite durable; it is used for steps, trimmings, and curbing. 

The Warrensburg sandstone is gray in color and is used for fronts, but in other phices to a greater extent 
than here, and has given satisfaction. A red sandstone found in Colorado, near Pueblo, is used for trimmings; 
it forms a fine contrast with native limestone. The streets are not paved with stone ; the sidewalks are paved 
with a flagging of a slate formation found in Osage county and sandstone flag.ging from near Fort Scott, Kansas. 
The college building, female seminary, and the state insane asylum are built of native stone (maguesian limestone 
of Permian age) found iu the vicinity of Topeka. This material is not suitable for fine trimmings. The west wing 
of the state capicol was built of limestone from Cottonwood quarry ; the United States post-oflice buildings, now in 
course of erection, are of the soft limestone found iu Crowley county. The east wing of the state-house was built 
of limestone from Junction City, Davis county. 

TRENTON, NEW JERSEY. 

Among the stone buildings of Trenton the most prominent are: Of Ohio sandstone: The United States 
government building. Of Trenton sandstone : The state capitol, the state prison. Saint Mary's Roman Catholic 
cathedral, Warren Street Presbyterian church. State Street Presbyterian church, Prospect Street Presbyterian 
church. State Street Methodist Episcopal church, Clinton Avenue Baptist church. Bishop Scarborough's residence, 
James Moses' residence, John Moses' residence, Richie's private residence, the Pennsylvania Railroad depot. 
Of Connecticut brownstoue: The front of Taylor hall. 

Of the buildings enumerated, the United States government building is a new structure and presents a fine 
appearance. The brown sandstone or freestone of the Greensburg quarries, sometimes known as Trenton freestone, 
is very largely used for house trimmings, as sills, lintels, caps, and steps ; also for table-tops, etc. Montgomery 
county, Pennsylvania, marble is also used to some extent for trimmings with Philadelphia and Trenton pressed 
brick, but the use of the freestone is increasing while that of the marble is diminishing. North River blue-stone is 
also used to some extent for the same purposes. Trenton is very largely built of brick, as Philadelphia and Trenton 
pressed or front brick ai'e conveniently had, and at comparatively low rates, being less expensive than stone. 

The Pennsylvania Railroad Company's bridge crossing the Delaware river has abutments and piers of 
Greensburg brownstone ; the abutments and piers of the wagon bridge over the Delaware are also constructed of 
the same material, as are the locks, walls, and feeder of the Delaware and Raritan canal. 

The majority of the streets are paved; and in such streets as are paved, stone from Lambertville, New Jersey, 
and some granite are used. 



356 BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

The followiuff is a statement showing the extent of stone pavement in Trenton : 

"^ Feet. 

Belgian block 14,170 

Cobble-stones 2,880 

Telford macadamized — - 3, 000 

There is considerable sidewalk pavement on the principal streets, and the material used is blue-stone from the 
North Eiver quarries, and stone from the quarries at Medford, Hunterdon county, New Jersey. North Eiver 
blue-stone is used for curbs. 

TEOY, NEW TOEK. 

The materials used for stone construction in Troy, for foundations and underpinnings, are shale, quarried in 
the vicinity, and similar material quarried near Schenectady. For the better class of stone construction Connecticut 
brownstoue from Portland, limestone from the Upper Aqueduct quarry and from near Niskayuua, are the principal 
materials. The bridge abutments are of shale and Upper Aqueduct limestone; some limestone is also brought 
from the Lower Aqueduct quarry, but it is not as durable as the Upper Aqueduct limestone. The streets are largely 
paved with granite blocks from Clarke's island, Maine, and from Weehawken, New Jersey. The sidewalks are 
largely paved with blue-stone, brought chiefly from Maiden, New York; and mica-schist from western Massachusetts 
is used to some extent for the same purpose. Curbs are of blue-stone from Maiden, New York. 

UTICA, NEW YORK. 

There is an abundance of good building stone within a short distance of Utica, and until recently the rates of 
transportation have made brick a cheaper building material. The sandstone of the immediate vicinity has been 
used most largely for foundations, but at present, for heavy buildings the limestone of the Trenton formation is used. 
The sandstone is not durable enough for lieavy foundations ; it was largely used in former years as stone for cross- 
walks and the like, but was found to flake under heavy traflc. There are no peculiarities of the ground that render 
it difficult to use stone for building purposes, but, owing to the comparative cheapness of brick and lumber, it has 
been considered expensive. There are within the limits of the city sixteen iron bridges over the Erie canal, the 
abutments of which are binlt of limestone from Little Palls, New York; also three bridges over the Chenango canal, 
the abutments of which are built of Cayuga sandstone. There is one block in the city faced with marble. The 
weigh-lock and house of the Erie canal is of Little Palls limestone. Por foundations and underpinnings for the 
rougher purposes of stone construction sandstone from the local quarries is used ; also, to a very limited extent, 
limestone from Canajoharie, New York. The streets are largely paved with stone, and the material used is cobble- 
stone ; also Medina sandstone, and stone from Hammond, New York. The sidewalks are largely paved with Cayuga 
sandstone and Hudson Eiver blue-stone. , 

i 
WATEEBUEY, CONNECTICUT. 

The stone quarried in and about Waterbury is a coarse, hard, granitic rock, and is irregular in many respects as 
to color, hardness, and general appearance, though most of it is very hard, and there are i)laces in some of the 
quarries where blocks, regular as to shape and uniform in texture, may be extracted. It is an excellent stone for 
foundations and for cellar walls, but, unless selected with great care, it is of little use for other purposes. The streets 
are not paved; about half a mile of the sidewalks is paved with North River blue-stone, with curbs of the same 
material. 

WATEETOWN, NEW YORK. 

Watertown lies on both sides of Black river, whose rapid currents have worn a channel through the limestone 
rock, composed of blue limestone, Birdseye and Trenton. Some of the fine churches and grist-mills and factories 
were built of limestone, but at present brick is used in the construction of such buildings, it being less expensive, 
although the limestone is easily worked and very durable. 

The limestone rock is very much grooved and striated in places by the passage of glaciers, esiiecially where 
they cross the Black river. The Lorain shale, so-called by geologists, is native in the town of Lorain ; the rocks of 
the county present an interesting field for geologists. There are exposures here of the Ujjper and the Lower Silurian 
rocks. The limestone rock of the Black Eiver valley is studded with fossils of animal life that existed only in 
the sea; cephalopods are bedded in the blue limestone, which is comparatively pure carbonate of lime, but is 
very brittle; otherwise it is durable and susceptible of a fine polish. There is in this vicinity what is called 
Scotch granite, and also a marble known as Carrara marble. They are iirobably so called from their resemblance 
to the Aberdeen Scotch granite, and to the rare Carrara Italian marble, respectively. These were lately 
discovered in large quantities, which lay in perpendicular strata. Talc is found in large quantities and is being 
manufactured; it lies generally between Archaean rocks, and often unconformable to those which are in regular 
strata', and make beautiful flagging stones for sidewalks. 



STONE CONSTRUCTION IN CITIES. 357 

WASHINGTON, DISTEICT OF COLUMBIA. 

The formations in the vicinity of Washington are made up chiefly of sand, gravel, and clay, with some isolated 
bowlders detached from the primitive rocks lying u> the north and west. North of Eock creek the rocks of Archjean 
age are exposed, and ledges of mica-schist of this age have been quarried in and about Georgetown since the first 
settlements were made. It has been employed chiefly for the ruder purposes of construction, such as foundations, 
terrace walls, rubble pavements, and work of that class. The most important structure built of it is the new 
Georgetown College building. It was employed in the foundations of the Executive mansion, the Treasury building, 
and in those of most of the other public buildings in which the Acquia Creek sandstone was used for superstructure. 
A chapel in Oak Hill cemetery, built after the style of the time of Henry VIII, is of this material, trimmed with 
Seneca sandstone. 

Mr. George P. Merrill, of the Smithsonian Institution, made careful field observations and examined specimens 
and microscopic sections of the diflereut varieties of this rock, and reported as follows : 

The rock quarried in the viciuity of Washingtou, and of which the walls of Georgetowu college and various other public buildings 
are composed, is a compact mica-schist of a structure and texture varying from coarsely schistose, splitting easily into thin sheets, and a 
fine-grained massive rock in which the individual ingredients are so evenly commingled that all traces of stratification are lost. The 
essential constituents are quartz and mica, the latter being biotite of a deep green color. 

Under the microscope numerous accessories are found to be present, among which are epidote, apatite, garnet, magnetite, and 
rutile, the first-named being the most abundant, while the rutile occurs only as small occular crystals penetrating the quartz granules. 
A plagioclastic feldspar is occasionally met with, and in this case the rock approaches gueiss iu constitution. The chief objection to the 
use of this rook for architectural purposes lies in the fact that it frequently contains a large .•jmount of pyrite or inn bisulphide. On 
being exposed to the air this pyrite becomes oxidized, and the rock disintegrates, or at best is badly stained or discolored. It is this same 
ingredient that renders many of our sand and lime stones unfit lor use, they becoming streaked and spotted with nnsightly spots of a 
rusty red color after being exposed a short time to atmospheric agencies. 

Iu conclusion, I would say that there seems no reason why this rock should not be utilized for building purposes, provided sufficient 
care be exercised iu selectiug only such portions as are entirely free from this deleterious substance. 

On the Potomac river, 40 miles below the city, at Acquia creek, there is a ledge of light gray and rather coarse 
sandstone, and quarries of the material were purchased by the United States go\'ernmcnt in 1791 for the purpose 
of using it in the construction of the public buildings ; the Executive mansion aud other older buildings are of 
Acquia Creek sandstone. 

The Executive mansion, or "White House", wns commenced iu 1792. On September 19, 1793, the corner- 
stone of the Cai)itol building was laid by "Washington himself, aud the central or older portion is constructed 
entirely of Acquia Creek saudstoue from the government quarries. This material was used in the construction of 
all the important public buildings that were commenced up to 1S37. The list includes the Executive mansion, the 
central or old part of the Cai)itol building, the old portion of the Treasury building, the old portion of the Patent 
Office bui'ding, aud the foundation of the city hall. The Van Ness residence, at the foot of Seventeenth street, 
was also built of it in 1S02. 

About 20 miles north of the district, on the Potomac river, the southern edge of the Triassic, or new red 
sandstone, formation crosses the river, and at this point furnishes the material called "Seneca sandstone", the 
equivalent of tlie Connecticut brownstoue. 

The stone at the mouth of Seneca creek was used in the construction of the Smithsonian Institution building; 
the N'ational Eepvblivan building, now used as the Pension Oflflce ; the District jail; the front of the Prcedmau's 
Bank building, now occupied by the Department of Justice; Lincoln hall; portions of the terraces about the 
Capitol, Treasury, and other public buildings ; the United States prisou ; the Memorial Lutheran church ; aud iu 
the trimmings of the chapel in Oak Hill cemetery. When the Chesapeake and Ohio canal was built, in the early 
part of this century, the Seneca sandstone was much used for locks and dams, especially in that portion of the 
canal lying near these quarries. In these various situations it has shown remarkable wear aud endurance of 
exposure. This canal constitutes a convenient aud inexpensive method of transportation from the Seneca quarries 
to Washington. 

The three materials described, the Potomac mica-schist, the Acquia Creek sandstone, and the Seneca sandstone, 
from their close proximity to Washington and accessibility by water, may be said to constitute the local suijjjly of 
building stone. 

Washington has access by water to all the important quarry regions of the Atlantic coast, and of late years 
building stones from the localities named below have been used more or less extensively : Granite from the coast of 
Maine; from cape Ann, Massachusetts; Westerly, Ehode Island; Woodstock, Maryland; and from near Eichmond, 
Virginia. Marbles from Eutland aud Sutherland Falls, Vermont; Montgomery county, Pennsylvania; Tuckahoe, 
Westchester county. New York; Lee, Massachusetts. Hudson Eiver blue-stone from Ulster county and vicinity, iu 
New York. Brownstone from Portland aud other places in the Connecticut valley ; from Belleville and New 
Brunswick, New Jersey ; Hummeistown, Pennsylvania, and Manassas, Virginia. Slate from Vermont, New York, 
Pennsylvania, and BiKjkiugham conuty, Virginia. Gneiss from Port Deposit, Maryland, and sandstone from Nova 
Scotia. 

The materials from distant points began to be introduced about 1840, as at that time the stone from the 
goverument quarries at Acquia creek which had been used in the construction of so mauy important public and 



358 BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY 

private buildiuga Wiis found to h& so inferior iu point of durability and general appearance that the quarries were 
abandoned and^other sources were looked to. An examination of the buildings constructed of the Acquia Creek 
sandstone shows that numerous clay-holes have appeared, caused by the disintegration of portions of the rock 
from exposure to the atmosphere. Experience with this stone has proved that within a few years, unless constant 
attention is given to it by filling the clay-holes and covering with a coat of paint, the stone becomes iiimsy and 
unpresentable. All the public buildings in which it was used are painted, both for the sake of preservation and to 
make them harmonize with the white marbles and light-colored granites that have been used in the construction of 
additions and extensions, as the exigencies of the public service required- the buildings to be enlarged. The two 
wiu"S of the Capitol are bnilt of Lee (Massachusetts) i^narble, excepting the columns, which are of Cockeysville 
(Mal-yland) marble. The style of architecture is Corinthian. 

There is quite a variety of stones used in tu,' interior decoration of the Capitol. The eastern stairway leading 
to the o-alleries of the Senate Chamber, the eastern and western stairways leading to the galleries of the Hall of 
Representatives, and the walls of the Senate reception-room (Marble room) are of polished Tennessee marble. There 
are Ionic columns of breccia or variegated Potomac marble in the apartment of the Supreme Court of the United 
States ■ the National Statuary hall, formerly used as the Hall of Kepreseutatives, has a circular colonnade of shafts 
of this' material surmounted by capitals of Carrara marble executed in Italy. This stone, when highly polished, 
presents to the eye an apparently rough and broken surface, which delusion is only dispelled by touching it. 

The western stairway to the gallery of the Senate Chamber is of Italian marble, and the statuary in and about 
the Capitol is chiefly of Carrara and Serivezzia Italian marbles. 

G-reenough's colossal statue of Washington, in the east park, weighs 12 tons, and was executed in Florence, 
Italy. The stones used in the terraces, walks, and inclosure-walls about the Capitol are of Seneca sandstone. Lake 
Champlain marble, North Eiver blue-stone, Eock Creek mica-schist, granite from Maine, Massachusetts, Richmond, 
Virginia and. other places, and the sub-Carboniferous sandstone from northern Ohio. 

The old portion of the Treasury building, commenced in 1836, was constructed of the Acquia Creek sandstone, 
with foundations of Potomac mica-schist. The extensions made to the northeast and west sides of the building 
-were beo-un in 1855. The material used in the extension is Dix Island, Maine, biotite granite, with foundations of 
Port Deposit gneiss. The style of the building is Grecian-Ionic. The granite shafts of the colonnades are 
monoliths. Opposite the north front is an ornate fountain of circular shape, 12 feet in diameter, cut from a solid 
block of granite. The following materials were used in the walls of the lower story: Stylobate; base. Isle La 
Motte, Vermont, marble (magnesian hmestone); moldings, Bardigho veined marble from Serivezzia, Italy; styles, 
dove-colored marble (magnesian limestone) from Pittsford, Vermont; panels, yellow sienna Italian marble; dies, 
Hawkins County, Tennessee, marble (limestone) ; above stylobate, pilasters and panels, white-veined Itahan marble ; 
styles, yellow sienna Italian marble; panels, Bardiglio veined marble from Serivezzia ; cornice, white- veined Italian 
marble; upper story, stylobate, same as lower; above stylobate, as in lower story, except the panels, which are 
Pyreunean breccia. 

The State, Wak, and Nayy building.— The stone used iu the superstructure is a light gray biotite granite, 
quarried near Richmond, Virginia; the basement being of Vinal Haven, Maine, granite. The interior walls of the 
basement of the southeast wing are built of Seneca sandstone. The tihug of the corridors and passages is of white 
and black Vermont marble and Lehigh, Pennsylvania, slate. The tiling in nearly all the public buildings in 
Washington is of the same materials. 

There is an example of marble interior decoration in the library of that portion of the building assigned to the 
Navy Department; the walls of the library are of the following materials : Alps green or verde- antique, a kind of 
serpentine, yellow sienna Italian marble, French griotte marble, and Lake Champlain red mottled marble. 

The General Post-office.— The post-ofiace is of Corinthian style of architecture. The B-street portion, 
constructed in 1839, of West Chester, New York, suowflake marble (dolomite), was the first important structure iu 
Washington built of marble. In 1855 an extension to the north of the building was commenced, and the material 
used was marble from Cockeysville, Maryland, with portions of the foundations and facing of the court of granite. 
The columns of the extension are marble monoliths. 

The Patent Office building.— This is considered quite a good specimen of Grecian-Doric style of architecture, 

and covers 2| acres of ground. The original building, commenced in 1837, is of Acquia Creek sandstone. In 1849 

' the extension, built of Cockeysville, Maryland, marble, was begun. This extension was added to the northeast 

and west sides in such a way as to inclose a quadrangle, the walls of which, and the sub-basement of the whole 

edifice, are built of Maine, Quincy, Massachusetts, and Woodstock, Maryland, granite. 

The Smithsonian Institution.— The Smithsonian building is constructed of the Seneca sandstone. An 
examination of the building at the present writing shows it to be firm and substantial, and practically unaffected 
by any agencies, whether atmospheric or otherwise, except that Mr. Owen described the color of the stone when 
first quarried as a lilac gray, whereas it is now of a deeper and darker red color, due to its nature. In occasional 
nooks and corners in shaded portions of the building moss has appeared on the surface. It should be stated, 
however, that stone which is to be used for building purposes should be carefully selected. The top courses and 



STONE CONSTRUCTION IN CITIES. 



559 



others mauifestly iuferior should be rejected. A little observation reveals that many building stones, especially 
sandstones, acquire an unfavorable reputation by lack of care in not rejecting the unfit portions, as in nearly all 
quarries there are layers close to the surface, and sometimes in deeper portions, whicli are defective and unfit for use. 

The building is in style of architecture Xorman, dating about the end of the twelfth century, and ranks as one 
of the best specimens of this style now in existence. The different portions of the edifice, examined separately, 
are unlike in appearance, yet the general effect is pleasing and harmonious. 

The Washington monument. — According to the original design of the Washington monument, an obelisk 
600 feet in height and 55 feet square at the base was contemplated. The original foundation was 80 feet square and 
IC feet 8 inches in height, 7 feet 8 inches extending below the surface. The wall of the obelisk is 15 feet in thickness 
at the base, gradually tapering at the rate of a quarter of an inch to the foot on the outside, the inside being 
perpendicular. The work is now rapidly progressing according to the original design, except that it is proposed 
to limit the height to 525 feet. The old foundation was pronounced defective by a board of engineers, and was 
enlarged to 126 feet 6 inches square, a work which was completed in 1880, and was done by excavating 70 per cent, 
of the earth from beneath the monument and introducing a mass of concrete 13 feet 8 inches in thickness. The 
great height of this structure, together with the marshy nature of the ground in its vicinity, made it necessary to 
use more than ordinary precautions in constructing a foundation that could be considered secure. The exterior 
walls of the shaft are of marble from Cockeysville and Texas, Baltimore county, Maryland, though in the beginning- 
some Lee, Massachusetts, marble was used. The interior walls are chiefly of granite from different places on the 
coast of Maine. In a report made by Colonel Thomas L. Casej-, corps of engineers. United States army, engineer 
in charge of the construction of the monument, to W. W. Corcoran, esq., chairman of the joint commission for the 
completion of this structure, dated July 27, 1878, is found the following table. So extraordinary a taet of stability 
is given to the stone by the great weight of the superstructure, that it will be watched closely by builders and 
engineers as time determines its endurance : 



Distance 

of Joint, 

from top in 

feet. 


Contents in i 


Average weight per cubic foot of masonry in 


j Weight in 


Pressure in tons (2,240 pounds) per 
squ.ire foot. 


Distance of 

■■line of 

resistance " 

from axis 

in feet. 


StabUity 
nnder action 




Least. 


Mean. 


Greatest. 


of the wind. 


25 


i 


•First division 169. S pounds. ■ 

■ Second division 107. 8 poimdfi. ■ 

■ Third division 105.8 ponuds. ■ 










0.603 
1.052 
1.676 
2.087 
2.224 
2.383 
2.607 
2.779 
2.899 
2.892 
2.869 
2.889 
2.928 


29.454 


50 
100 
150 
171. 66 
21)0 
250 
300 

343.66 
350 
400 . 
450 
500 


13, 555 
34, 719 
63, 957 
79, 239 
101, 674 
148, 298 
204, 273 
261, 191 
272, 369 
366,268 ! 
470, 495 
585, 476 


2. 297, 630 

5, 684, 973 

10,840,728 

13, 431, 081 

j 17, 195, 713 

' 25, 019, 140 

34.411,997 

1 43, 903, 655 

, 45,816.912 

61, 385. 397 

78. 666. 278 

97,264.244 


2.67 
4.41 
5.85 
6.44 
7.14 
8.35 
9.54 
10. 56 
8.28 
10.09 
11.76 
13.38 


2.96 
5.23 
7.24 
8.08 
9.12 
10.90 
12.63 
14.11 
11.51 
13.84 
16.03 
18.02 


3.26 
6.04 
8.64 
9.72 
11.09 
13.44 
15.73 
17.66 
14.73 
17.60 
20.30 
22. 658 


17. 378 
11.529 
9.758 
9.360 
8.983 
8.610 
8.452 
8.417 
8.481 
8.902 
9.190 
9.413 



The mean pressure per square foot upon the lower joint is 18.02 tons, and the maximum pressure brought upon 
any square foot of the lowest joint under the action of the wind is 22.658 tons. The crushing weight of the marble, 
as determined by the board above mentioned, is 517 tons per square foot. 

Nearly 200 memorial blocks were sent by the different states of the Union, b.y corporations, lodges, societies, 
individuals, and foreign countries, to decorate the interior walls of the monument. Blocks of granite came from the 
various regions of N"ew England, Virginia, Maryland, California, Minnesota ; marble and limestone from Vermont, 
Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, Ohio, Kansas, Missouri, Iowa, 
Illinois, Mississippi, and Canada; and sandstone from the Triassic brownstone quarries of Connecticut and New 
Jersey. The following are some of the stones received from foreign countries : A block from the tomb of Napoleon, 
island of St. Helena ; block of Grecian marble from the temple of Esculapius, presented by the officers of the United 
States steam frigate Saranac; block from Foo-chow, China; lava from Mount Vesuvius; sandstone said to be from 
the original chapel built to William Tell in 1358, on lake Luzerne, Switzerland; red .syenite (granite) from the 
Alexandrian library in Egypt ; porphyritic biotite granite from the Swiss Confederation ; gray biotite gneiss from the 
empire of Brazil; Grecian marble from the governor and commune of the islands of Paros and Naxos, Grecian 
archipelago; marble from the Ottoman empire; a block of peculiar and characteristic greenish stone from China; a 
highly -polished block of red granite from Bremen; Grecian marble from the kingdom of Greece; a head carved 
between two and three thousand years ago by ancient Egyptians for a temple erected in honor of Augustus, on the 
banks of the Nile, and set in a block of Italian marble. 

Some of the contributions from corporations, societies, and individuals in this country are of Italian marble. 



360 



BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 



In tbe following list will be found some of the principal stone structures in Washington and vicinity, with 
kinds of stone ased in their construction : 



1. AcQuiA Ceeek sandstone. 
Executive MaDsion. 
Capitol buildinp (old portion). 
"Van Ness resideiiue. 
City Hall foundation. 
Treasury building (old portion). 
Patent Office building (old portion). 
Van Ness mausoleum. 

2. Potomac mica-schist. 

Foundation of Executive Mansion. 
Foundation of Treasury building. 
Foundation of Wasbington Monument. 
Cbapel in Oak Hill ctmetery. 
Georgetown College (new building). 

3. Seneca sandstone. 
Smithsonian Institution. 
Chapel at Soldiers' Home. 

Chapel in Oak Hill cemetery (trimmings, front). 
Department of Justice, formerly Freedman's Bank. 
District jail. 

National Republican office, now Pension Office. 
School-house, Second and Potomac streets. 
Lincoln Hall. « 

Cabin John's bridge, parapets and coping. 
Memorial Lutheran church. 

Sub-basement south wing State, War, and Navy Department builAing. 
Center Market (foundations). 

4. Westchesteu County, New York, marble. 
E-street portion of the General Post Office building. 

5. COCKEYSVILLE, MARTI.AND, MARBLE. 

Exterior walls of Washington Monument. 
Columns of the Capitol extension. 
Extension of Patent Office building. 
General Post-Office building (extension). 
Ascension church. 
Dormitory at Soldiers' Home. 

6. Lee, Massachusetts, marble. 
Portion cf the exterior walls of the Washington Monument. 
Capitol extension. 

7. Maine granite. 

Interior of Wiishington Monument. 
Extension of Treasury building. 
Basement of new State Department building. 
Quadrangle of Patent Office building. 

8. QuixcT, Massachusetts, granite. 
Patent Office interior walls, foundations, and basement (partly). 

9. Woodstock granite. 
Foundation of the Patent Office building (partly). 
National Museum (foimdatiou). 

Masonic Temple (foundation^. 

10. Port Deposit gneiss. 
Foundation of Treasury building (extension). 

Saint Dominick'a church. 

11. Belleville, New Jersey, brownstohe. 
Corcoran Art Gallery. 



12. Manassas, Virginia, bhownstone. 

District jail (trimmings). 

13. Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, marble. 

Stone-work at Botanical Garden. 

Sarcophagi containing bodies of George and Martha Washington, at Mount 
Vernon. 



Eesidence of Benja 



14. Cape Ann 
1 F. Butler. 



15. Connecticut ukownstone. 
Foundation and trimmings of E-street Baptist church. 
Saint Marc hottl. 
Arlington hotel (front). 

Columbia Institution for the Deaf and Dumb (trimmings). 
Masonic Temple (partly). 
Kesideuce of Senator William Windom. 
Kesidence of Lieutenant Broadhead (trimmings). 
Metropolitan church. 
Agricultural building (trimmings). 
First Presbyterian church. 

16. Nova Scotia sandstone. 

Masonic Temple (trimmings). 
Colonization building (front). 
Kiggs house. 

17. KicHMOND, Virginia, granite. 

State, War. and Navy building (superstructure). 
Bureau of Engraving and Printing (foundation). 

18. Ohio sandstone. 
National Hepublican building, now Pension Office (trimmings). 
Baltimore and Ohio depot (trimmings). 
Lewis Johnson & Co.'s bank. 
British Legation building. 
National Museum building. 
Ex-Governor A. K. Shepherd's block, opposite Farragut statue (Buena Vista 

stone). 
Portland flats. 

Capitol grounds, inclosure-walls (partly). 
Columbia lustitution for the Deaf and Dumb (trimmings, partly). 

19. Hummelstown brownstone. 

Kesidence of Hon. James G. Blaine (trimmings). 
Kesidence of Senator John Sherman (trimmings). 
Residence of Senator J. D. Cameron (trimmings). 
Kesidence nf Jerome Bonaparte (trimming.s). 
Bureau of Engraving and Printing (ti 



20. Chester County serpentine. 
Kesidence on Fourteenth street. 
Kesidence on Iowa circle. 

21. Vermont marble. 
Floors of National Museum building (Swanton Lyonnaise marble). 
Walls of library of Navy Department (partly). 
Walla of cash-room in Treasury Department (partly). 
Corcoran mausoleum, Oak Hill cemetery. 

22. Cheat Eiver, West Virginia, sandstone. 
Catholic institution between Twelfth and Thirteenth streets. 



STONE CONSTRUCTION IN CITIES. 



361 



Stone pave3IENTS. — In the report for the year ending June 30, 1880, Lieutenant F. V. Green, United States 
engineer corps, assistant to the engineer commissioner of the District of Columbia, gives the following interesting 
facts concerning the condition of the streets of Washington on the 1st of July, 1880 : 



Asphalt and concrete (coal tar) 

Stone block 

Rough stone , 

Macadam , 

Gravel 

"Wood 

Unimproved 

Total 



Square yards. 



981,348 


40.66 


411, 774 


14.87 


559, 051 


18.04 


215, 330 


7.45 


644, 993 


31.31 


509,481 


22.10 


1, 799, 541 


95.62 


5, 121, 518 


230. 05 



It is stated that there were in all 1,188,597.47 square yards of wooden pavements, aggregating a length of 
nearly 50 miles, and costing $4,003.744 ; that in 1878 there were, exclusive of paving between railway tracks, 790,000 
square yards, or 34 miles, of wooden pavements ; and that on June 30, 1882, these pavements had been partially 
replaced to the following extent : 



Years. 


1 WITH ASPHALT. 


WITH GBANITE. 


WITH ASPHALT BLOCK. 


TOTAL. 


Square y-ards. 


Cost. 


Squ-ire yards. | 


Cost. 


Square yards. 


Cost. 


Square yards. 


Cost. 




i 
104, 022. 52 


$200,900 18 
104, 143 17 


56,993.24 
45, 084. 28 '] 


$129, 657 32 
87, 390 42 


1 
1,093.35 

3, 214. 08 ! 


$2, 661 61 
6, 349 51 


162, 109. 11 
116,261.27 


$333, 219 H 
197, 883 10 


1879-1880 


67,962.91 


Total 


171,983.43 


305, 043 35 


102,077.52 i 


217, 047 74 


4,307.43 


9, Oil 12 


278, 370. 38 


531, 102 21 



The proportion of stone to asphalt laid in two years, from July, 1878, to July, 1880, is as 10 to 17. 

The granite-block pavement here is laid on a foundation of gravel and sand, and the joints are filled with cement 
of coal tar and gravel, as before stated. Of the 18 miles of stone-block pavements 7 miles are composed of North 
Eiver blue-stone and the balance of granite. The granite comes from various quarries in Maine and cape Ann, 
Massachusetts, from Westerly, Ehode Island, and from Eichmond, Virginia. The texture of the diiferent varieties 
is quite dissimilar ; the flner-grained stones make a smoother surface for a pavement and the coarser ones a more 
durable surface. Of the 17.50 miles of rough stone pavements 8 miles are composed of cobble (quartz or sandstone 
drift) and the remainder of rubble, mostly the so-called blue-rock or mica-schist, of Eock creek. A small amount 
of rubble is of the Seneca stone, which, owing to its more ready attrition, does not prove to be well adapted to 
paving purposes, excepting for sidewalks. 

The macadam pavement is mainly of the mica-schist from Eock creek, but part of it is broken cobble-stone 
and a part of it flint-stone — that is, quartz found in seamy ledges in the mica-schist formation. 

WHEELING, WEST VIRGINIA. 

The site of Wheeling is very narrow, on account of the abrupt hills, situated a short distance back from the 
river, which oblige the city to extend itself to a great length along the stream, as the hills are too abrupt to furnish 
sites for buildings. The material used in stone construction is the Coal-Measure sandstone quarried in the immediate 
vicinity, and on the opposite side of the river, in Belmont county, Ohio. This is of sufficiently good quality to 
answer for all ordinary inirposes of construction. For the soldiers' monument in course of construction the 
material used is granite obtained from the New England Granite Works at Hartford, Connecticut. Strictly speaking, 
there are no stone fronts in the city, but there is considerable stone in basement stories, corners, and other 
trimmings. The abutments of the suspension bridge across the Ohio river at Wheeling are constructed of sandstone 
from the local quarries. The wharves are constructed of cobble-stones gathered from the river at low water, and 
the streets are nearly all paved with this material. There is a small amount of stone sidewalk paving, and the 
material used is sandstone from the local quarries and from Bueua Vista, Ohio ; the Bnena Vista stone comes 
already sawed to the proper dimensions for paving purposes ; it stands foot-wear well. The local stoue, from its 
coarser and more granular and friable structure, wears away more rapidly under foot-wear. 



WILKESBAEEB, PENNSYLVANIA. 

Wilkesbarre is located in the celebrated Wyoming valley, which lies between two ranges of the Allegheny 
mountains, the sand.stone of Catskill age being abundantly exposed on their sides and much used in Wilkesbarre 
for purposes of construction. This material is very durable, but hard and expensive to dress for fine work. One 



362 BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

of the principal qnarries of tins stone is situated in the mountains 7 or 8 miles east of Wilkesbarre; for the better 
class of trimmings Wyoming blue-stone from Meshoppen is now used almost exclusively, though considerable 
Catskill red sandstone is also employed for caps, sills, and trimmings generally. The Luzerne prison in Wilkesbarre 
is the most important stoiie structure of the place. It is built of Campbell's ledge stone, a siliceous conglomerate 
of a rich buff color, very substantial and durable. Several fine private residences in Wilkesbarre are constructed 
of it. There are some buildings trimmed with limestone from near Syracuse, New York. The material chiefly used 
for foundations and underpinnings is the Catskill red sandstone from the mountains in the vicinity. The Seral- 
Conglomerate, also quarried near, is used to a less extent for the same purpose. Only two or three streets are paved 
with stone, and the material used is cobble-stone from the Susquehanna river. The sidewalks are largely paved 
with stone, the material being the Catskill red sandstone before mentioned, and considerable Wyoming blue-stone 
from Meshoppen. Lehigh slate is also used to a limited extent for the same purpose. The curbstones are of Catskill 
red sandstone and Wyoming blue-stone. The bridge abutments in the bridges crossing the Susquehanna river are 
of Catskill red sandstone. 

WILLIAMSPOET, PENNSYLVANIA. 

There is no good stone for the better class of construction quarried near Williamsportj and where stone caps, 
sills, etc., are wanted they are brought from Hummelstown, Pennsylvania, almost exclusively, although someBerea 
and Amherst stone have been used for trimmings in one building. The Lycoming County court-house is trimmed 
with Nova Scotia sandstone, which nearly resembles the Ohio sandstone ii| color and texture. Afew buildings have 
steps of the Montgomery County marble ; the steps of the court-house are of New England granite, and are becoming- 
slippery from foot-wear. In the cases of the North Eiver blue-stone, Wyoming blue-stone, Ohio stone, and others 
having a sandy grit, there is no tendency to become slippery. The siliceous conglomerate, probably of Serai or 
Pottsville Conglomerate age, quarried at Ealston, Lycoming county, is the stone most used for steps and base courses ; 
it is quite durable, does not become slippery, and seems to give entire satisfaction. It resembles the conglomerate 
at Pottsville quite closely. The stone most used for curbing is an even-bedded, slaty stone, easily quarried in 
suitable shapes for curbing-; one piece being observed which was 30 feet long and one foot square at the end, 
resembling a hewn log. For bridge abutments rough stone from the mountains in the vicinity is used. Stone has 
heretofore been comparatively little employed at this place. Only one street is paved with stone and the material 
is rubble from the vicinity. There is but a limited amount of stone sidewalk jjavement; the- material most used is 
Wyoming blue-stone from near Meshoppen. Red and light-colored flags quarried in the vicinity are also used for 
this pui'pose, and there are a few flags of Ohio sandstone. 

WILMINGTON, DELAWARE. 

The building stones used in Wilmington are the Connecticut, Ohio, and New Jersey sandstones; marble from 
Cockeysville and Texas, Maryland; serpentine from Chester county, Pennsylvania; and granites from Brandywine 
creek, near the city. This last is the most convenient source of supply for the city for ordinary purposes, such as 
foundations and underpinnings, and for stone street pavements. The sidewalks are not paved with stone ; the 
curbs are granite from Brandywine creek. The Cockeysville marble and the serpentine from Chester county are, 
however, in easy distance from the city, and have been used extensively. The court-house and a large church are 
constructed of the serpentine before mentioned, and also a building of Connecticut sandstone. The material in the 
walls of this building was set on edge, and it exfoliated badly. The following buildings are constructed of the 
Brandywine stone : Saint John's Protestant Episcopal church, Market street, and the houses of William Brinckly, 
Kennet street; Edward Mclngalls, Eleventh and Jefferson streets; Joab Jackson, Eleventh and Washington 
streets; William Bush, Browne street; and Edward Tatnall, Market street. 

WINONA, MINNESOTA. 

Taking into consideration the location and readiness of access to the quarries and the quality of the material, 
there is no possibility of obtaining a better supply of building stone for use here than material found at Winona, 
Red Wing, a'nd Stillwater. The stone when freshly quarried is easily wrought, but becomes hard by weathering. 
The railroad bridge, the jail, the sheriff's residence, and the piers and abutments of Winona bridge across the 
Mississippi river, are built of Winona limestone. Most of the business blocks are of red brick made near Winona. 
Some Ohio sandstone has been lately imported for trimmings. Among the other stones used for trimmings are the 
sandstone from Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, and the lime-rock from Frontenac and Kasota. The streets are not 
paved \7ith stone, and there is but very little stone sidewalk pavement; the material used for this purpose is lime- 
rock from Winona. 

WOONSOCKET, RHODE ISLAND. 

In this place stone is very little employed as a material of construction. The quartzite aiud mica-schist, 
especially from the local quarries, have been largely used in building the mills, many of which are stuccoed. 
Northbridge, Massachusetts, granite and Diamond Hill granite are considerably used for underpinnings in the 



STONE CONSTRUCTION IN CITIES. 3G3 

better bouses. Curbs and crossings are usually of the Xorthbridge granite; walls are built largely of tlie local 
quartzite, wbicli forms the poor man's stoue of Woonsocket. The cobblestones used in some of the buildings are 
found in the vicinity ; iu one or two structures Connecticut browu sandstone is employed. 

WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS. 

The houses here are mostly brick and frame structures. The main street contains most of the stone buildings. 
The local quarrj- known as Millstone ledge was some time ago given by its owner to the citizens for their free 
use; it is, however, njostly quarried by one man. The stone is good for common uses, but is not quite uniform in 
texture, and is too much stained for finer buildings or trimmings. The Arnold row of stores, built of this stone, 
exhibits its durability, and at the same time its rather unattractive appearance. The firm, sandy clay which forms 
the site of the city furnishes good foundations. The proportion of houses to inhabitants is large on account of 
the many small frame structures designed for the accommodation of factory emjiloyes. The foundations and 
underpinnings are of local gueissoid granites from the Millstone ledge. The principal business streets are paved 
with granite from Fitzwilliam, New Hampshire, and Westford, and the streets and sidewalks are usuallj- paved 
with local and Fitzwilliam granites. The curbs are of the gneiss from the Millstone ledge. There are nearly 
2 miles of stoue arch sewers and bridge abutments built of the material from the local quarry. The Fitzwilliam 
granite is largely brought here by the proprietor of a local quarry. The Messrs. Norcross have constructed tine 
resideuces of the Longmeadow sandstone. 

YONKERS, NEW YORK. 

The stones in the vicinity of Yonkers available for buililiag purposes are the trap bowlders and a very rough 
gneiss-rock, good ouly for foundations. For the better class of stone construction brownstone from Portland, 
Connecticut, and Ohio sandstone are used. There is an aqueduct some 300 feet long and 40 feet high faced with 
partly rough and partly dressed stoue, the rough material of which is broken bowlders of trap, aud the cut stone 
is gneiss from a local quarry. There is also about the town a great deal of retainiug-wall made almost entirely 
of broken bowlders of trap. All these bowlders, of which there seems to be an unlimited supply, are found on or 
near the surface of the ground, enough being usually found in digging the cellar to build the fouudatiou walls, 
and often underpinning also. The streets are to some exteut macadamized with limestone from Tomkins Cove 
aud with trap-rock and crushed bowlders. This style of paving is known as the Telford paving ; iu some localities 
the sidewalks are largely paved with North River blue-stone, as are all the cities which are within easy reach of the 
bluestoue region. Curbstones are also of this material. 

YORK, PENNSYLVANIA. 

The Siluro-Cambrian limestone, quarried in the vicinity of York, furnishes all the material that is used for the 
construction of cellars, foundations, street paving, aud road macadamizing. The Coldsboro' brownstone from the 
Triassic formation in York county is used to a considerable extent. Of the marbles used for caps, sills, curbing, etc., 
considerable comes from Cockeysville aud the town of Texas, near Baltimore, Maryland, some from Montgomery 
county, Pennsylvania, and some from Vermont and Massachusetts. The Gettysburg granite, a trap-rock precisely 
similar to the Conewago granite, is much used iu York for stei)s, bases, caps, aud sills. It is quarried on the battle- 
field at Gettysbiu-g. The limestone quarried in the vicinity is the only stone used near York iu the construction of 
bridges. There is a canal wall constructed of it. For steps and curbing, beside the Goldsboro' brownstone, which 
is principally used, considerable Gettysburg granite is used; also some Richmond, Virginia, granite; marble from 
Cockeysville, near Baltimore; some Montgomery County marble, and, occasionally, Connecticut brownstone. For 
base courses Gettysburg granite is used to some extent ; for caps, sills, etc., Cockeysville marble, Montgomery 
County marble, New England marble, and some Gettysburg granite. For hall-ways aud office floors, black and 
white marble tiling prepared iu Philadelphia is used. One building is trimmed with the Amherst, Ohio, stone. 
The streets are nearly all macadamized with the native limestone. Sidewalks are but little paved with stone, and 
the material chiefly used is the native limestone. Peach Bottom slate, however, is used for this purpose in a few 
iustances. The curbstones are of Goldsborc^* brownstone. 

ZANESVILLB, OHIO. 

The sources for building stone are a ledge of Coal-Measures sandstone, quarried iu the immediate vicinity. This 
ledge is a solid mass, about 40 feet in thickness, .so that the supply is abundaut ; by far the larger part of the stone 
in and about Zanesville is of this material. It is used exclusively iu the construction of canal locks, house 
fouudatious, excepting occasioually the top courses, and it furnishes a considerable part of sidewalk pavement. 
Two or three of the oldest buildings iu Zanesville are constructed entirely of this stoue. It proves to be durable 
iu the -walls of buildings, but does not resist foot-wear so well. The stone work of the Clarendon hotel is of the local 
sandstone. An abuudauce of this material, the ease with which it may be worked, and its fair quality for all 
ordinary building purposes, give it the first place iu importauce among the building stones found iu the 
neighborliood. Another source of supply is the ferriferous limestone near the same horizon. 



3G4 BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 



Chapter VIII.— THE DURABILITY OF BUILDING STONES IN NEW YORK 

CITY AND VICINITY, (a) 

By Alexis A. Juliew, Ph. D. 

The ravages upon our building stones, by that complex association of forces which we call "the weather'', are 
dangerous and rapid. The indications of interest in regard to the serious results, which are sure to come within 
a short period, are feeble and evanescent. A brief discussion of the main facts and of the principles involved may 
aid in forming a basis upon which future investigations may rest. The commissioners, appointed by the Department 
of the Interior " to test the several specimens of marble offered for the extension of the United States Capitol ", 
said in their report of December 21, 1851 : 

Thougli tlie art of building has been practiced from tlie earliest times, and constant demands have been made in every age for the- 
means of determining the best materials, yet the jirocess of ascertaining the strength and durability of stone appears to have received' 
but little deiiuite se entilic attention, and the commission, who have never before made this subject a special object of study, have been: 
surprised with unforeseen difficulties at every step of their progress, and have come to the conclusion that the processes usually employed 
for solving these questions are still in a very unsatisfactory state. 

Over thirty years have passed since these words were written, and the same methods are still largely in use,, 
although new instruments and processes and rich discoveries concerning the structure of stone have been made 
available within a quarter of a century. The facts presented have been gathered from many sources published 
and unpublished, aud from long personal observation. It is but a question of time when careful and thorough 
investigation for the purpose of determining the best means to avert the coming destruction will be called for. It 
is necessary first to understand the number and the character of the natural foes which are making this deadly 
attack. 

All varieties of soft, porous, and untested stones are being hurried into the masonry of the buildings of jSTew 
Tork city and its vicinity. On many of them tlie ravages of the weather and the need of the repairer are axjjjarent 
within five years after their erection, and a resistance to much decay for twenty or thirty years is usually considered 
wonderful aud perfectly satisfactory. 

Notwithstanding the general injury to the appearance of the rotten stone, and tbe enormous losses annually 
involved in the extensive repairs, painting, or demolition, little concern is yet manifested by either architects,, 
builders, or house-owners. Hardly any department of technical science is so much neglected as that which 
embraces the study of the nature of stone, and all the varied resources of lithology in chemical, microscopical, and 
physical metliods of investigation, wonderfully developed within the last quarter-century, have never yet been, 
properly applied to the selection and protection of stone as used for building purposes. 

The various suburbs and vacant districts have been gradually approaching a character sufficiently settled tO" 
justify the erection of entire and numerous blocks of private residences, huge buildings for business ofSces in the 
lower part of the city and for family flats in the central and upper wards, besides large numbers of ijublic edifices^ 
storage houses, manufactories, etc. The failure of stone to resist fire in the business district, and the offensive 
results of discoloration or serious exfoliation, which the poor durability of many varieties of stone has rendered 
manifest in all parts of the city, have already largely diminished its proportionate use, in reference to brick. 
Nevertheless great quantities of stone of many kinds are yet introduced, as ashlar or the trimmings of apertures, 
iuto the buildings now iu progress, and will soon be further employed, if the present activity in building be 
continued, not only in the private enterprises already mentioned, but in others of more lasting and pubhc 
importance; e. g., the projected improvements and additions in connection with our water sujiply, as aqueducts 
and reservoirs; the new bridges proposed over our rivers; the replacement of our rotting wooden docks by more 
permanent structures; and perhaps, we may hope, the huge pedestal to support tbe statue of Liberty on an 
island iu our harbor. As tbe kinds of building stone brought to tliis market for these purposes are increasing in 
jiumber and variety, and their selection aud mode of use, as it seems to me, are irregular and indiscriminate, 
whether from the ignorance or the carelessness likely to prevail iu a busy, mouey-getting comuinuity, it woidd 
appear proper that a voice of warning should now be heard, calling attention to the dangers involved in the use of 
bad stone or the bad use of good stone; in the enormous waste and expense soon required for repairs iu our 
severe climate, or iu tbe consequent disuse of stone in favor of brick, by a uatural reaction, to tbe injury of the 
beauty and comfort of our city. 

a From the commercial relations of New York to the (juarries of this country aud of foreigu countries, and from the enormous scale 
on which the practical value of buildiug materials is tested in that city, this chapter, though local iu title, forms the best available 
nummary upon the durability of building stone for the United States, and is therefore iilaeed in the present order. 



NEW YORK CITY AND VICINITY. 3G5 

There are three classes in the community to which such a warning is addressed: 

1. A considerable number of house-owners, to whom it seems to come too late, since they have already expended 
tens of thousands of dollars in temporary repairs, patching and painting decayed stone, and many of whom have 
doubtless made rash vows to use hereafter, in construction, brick, iron, terra-cotta, wood — anything but stone. 

l'. House-owners, not yet aware of the coming dilapidation, and who can yet take precautious to delay or 
prevent its arrival— or others about to build, and who have implicit faith in the eternity of building-stone, since 
it comes from the "everlasting rock", or at least in a duration which will last their lifetimes — and also a certain 
proportion of builders and architects willing to learu, and who have much to learn, since the practical scientific 
study of building stones is yet to be made. 

3. And lastly, the architects, builders, and contractors, who know all about the subject, or who do not care 
what happens to the houses thej' build, and that large part of our population who never expect to own any houses. 
To all these the decay of the stone in this city is a matter of indiHerence, and the quotation i^resented below — 
'• scarcely a public building of recent date will be in existence a thousand years hence" — few of them, indeed, over 
a century or two, in fair condition — is only a matter of jest. 

1.— EFFECTS OF WEATHERING UPON THE BUILDING STONE OF NEW YOEK, ETC. 

In foreign countries the subject of the attack of atmospheric agencies on building stones has received much 
attention, particularly within the last half century, and much earnest effort, though as yet ill-systematized and 
ill-regulated, has been exerted for their protection by means of the new light and facilities of modern sciences. 
The contrast between the durability of the stone buildings erected in modern and in the most ancient times is 
strongly marked : 

t lu modern Europe, and particularly in Great Britain, there is scarcely a public building, of recent date, whioli will be in existence 
a tbousand years hence. Many of the most splendid works of modern architecture are hastening to decay in what may be justly called 
the infancy of their existence, if compared with the dates of puljlie buildings that remain iu Italy, in Greece, in Egypt, and the E.ast. — 
GwiWs Encyclopedia of Architecture. 

In England this is largely due to the general use of soft freestones, both sandstones and, especially in London, 
eartliy, loosely compacted limestones. Before the erection of the houses of parliament a royal board of commissioners 
was appointed for the selection of the proper building stones, and a large amount of information was collected on 
the subject of the modes and rapidity of weathering of the various building stones throughout the United Kingdom. 
So difftcult and novel, however, was the investigation that the results obtained have been only partially successful, 
both in the selection of the stone, and, on its incipient attack by the atmosphere of London, in the artificial means 
suggested for its preservation. Onlj- last year the statement was made, in reference to the building of the royal courts 
of justice, just erected and inaugurated in London : 

What will be the fate of its exterior carvings and frettings after another fifty years of London smoke, all of us can tell. The same 
may be said of a thousand other buildings, great and small, that the past generation of Londoners has raised as monuments of its own 
ignorance of the simplest conditions of good building. They carve their fronts with carvings of flowers and fruit, which iu a year the 
soot will blacken past recovery, and iu live years corrode beyond recall. 

We see important aLd costly edilices restored iu the lifetime of the architects who designed thera, and jjalaces parched with cement 
and painted over every three or four years, before their builders have passed away. » » * j^o remedy has been found for the decay of 
soft calcareous stone in our smoky cities ; and yet, in our childish helplessness, we continue to use it daily aud year after year, as if we 
had no warnings of the folly of doing so. (a) 

In a recent investigation of the subject, founded largely on a study of the stone monuments in the grave-yards 
of Edinburgh, Dr. A. Geikie, of the geological survey of Great Britain, has pointed out that in a town the weathering 
action ditfeis from that which is normal iu nature; on the one hand in the formation of sulphuric acid from smoke, 
causing more rapid decay of stone- work ; on the other in the inferior range of temperature in towns and less severe 
action of frost. 

Dr. Geikie also found that sandstones, if siliceous, were sometimes only roughened in two hundred years. When 
colored the destruction goes on by solution of cement, or of the matrix in which the particles of silica are embedded, 
e. g., clay, carbonate of lime, and iron and hydrous and anhydrous ferric oxide. In this material he estimated the 
rate of lowering to amount to three-quarters of an inch in a century. 

In the stone of the buildings of New York and adjacent cities the process of disintegration and destruction is 
widespread, and yearly becoming more prominent and ofieusive. 

Gneiss. — The commissioners of the Croton Aqueduct deiiartment, in their annual report for 1862, page 67, make 
the following statement : 

The retainlug-walls of the embaukmeuts in many cases require extensive rebuilding. Most of these walls have been constructed of 
the stone found in their immediate neighborhood — ofren of a very inferior aud perishable character. Thus far we have been able to keep 
these walls in comparatively good order by removing every year portions of disintegrated stone aud replacing them with durable material ; 
hut during the past year such large portions, and at so many points, are giving way iu mass, that an increased amount must necessarily 
be expended on them during the coming season. 

a The Builder, 1881, p. 708. 



366 BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

Maeble.— Italian marble has been found incompetent to withstand the severity of our climate, when used for 
outdoor work ; and of this good illustrations are shown in the pillars, once elegantly polished, in the portico of the 
church on the southeast corner of Fourth avenue and Twentieth street, etc. The same objection has been urged 
to the outdoor use of American marbles in our cities, supported at least by their rapid discoloration, but the question 
is yet unsettled. 

Professor Hull observes : 

From the maimer in wliicli the buildings and mouumeuts of Italy, formed of calcareous materials, have retained to a wonderful 
degree the sharpness of their original sculpturing, unless disfigured by the hand of man, it is clear that a dry and smokeless atmosphere is 
the essential element of durability. In this respect, therefore, the humid sky and gaseous air of British towns must always place the 
buildiun-8 of this country at a comparative disadvantage as regards durability. 

And again : 

Under a smokeless atmosphere it is capable of resisting decay for lengthened periods, though it becomes discolored. * * * The 
perishable nature of the marble when exposed to the smoky atmosphere of a British city, is evinced by the decayed state of the tomb of 
Chantrey, erected in 1830, in the "God's acre" belonging to St. John's Wood chapel. 

Another example of this decay is shown in the group of Queen Aune, etc., erected from Carrara marble, about 
the beginning of the eighteenth century, before the west front of St. Paul's, in London, England, and which has 
been covered throughout with a coat of paint in the hope of slightly retarding its inevitable decay. The dolomitic 
marble of Westchester county has been largely employed in our buildings, and some idea of its character for 
durability may now be gained. A fine-grained variety was used in the building of the United States assay-office, 
in Wall street; its surface is now much discolored, and the edges of many of the blocks show cracks. A variety 
of medium texture was employed in the hotel at the corner of Fulton and Pearl streets, erected in 1823 ; the surface 
is decomposed, after the exposure of exactly sixty years, with a gray exterior, in a crust from one-eighth to one- 
fourth inch in thickness, soft and orange-colored in section. Many crystals have fallen out of the surface on the 
weathered eastern face, producing a pitted appearance. A very coarse variety has been used in the bank building 
a-t Thirty-second street and Broadway, in large part being set ou edge ; very many of the blocks are more or less 
cracked, even in the highest story. In the United States Treasury building, in Wall street, a rather coarse 
dolomite-marble, rich in tremolite and phlogopite, was used, the blocks being laid on bed in the plinth and most 
of the ashlar, but largely on edge in the pillars, pilasters, etc. ; in the latter case vertical fissures commonly mark 
the decay, but even elsewhere a deep pitting has been produced by the weathering out of the tremolite. The 
marble used in many other prominent buildings has been improperly laid, e. g., in both of the buildings of the city 
hall, the Drexel building, at the corner of Broad and Wall streets, the Academy of Design, at Twenty -third street 
and Fourth avenue, etc. The same process of ultimate ruin in its incipient stages is abundantly shown, even in the 
marble slabs in Saint Paul's church-yard and monuments of Greenwood cemetery, by discoloration and disintegration 
of surface. In the United States hotel, on Fulton street, constructed of Westchester marble in 1823, we have the 
opportunity to study the effect of weathering for over a half century. Though presenting a good appearance at 
a distance, the stone has become pitted by the falling out of grains, especially on the east side, and is tinged a 
dirty orange by a crust of decomposition from one-sixteenth to a quarter of an inch in depth. 

The horizontal tablets, supported on masonry which has partially settled (e. g., J. G., 1821), generally show a 
slight curvature in center, only in part, possibly, produced through solution by standing lain-water. 

Dolomieu first made the observation on an Italian ma.rble, called betullio, that it possessed a degree of flexibility 
allied to that of the itacolumite of Brazil. Gwilt states {Encyclopedia of Architecture, p. 1274) : 

Some extremely fine specimens of white marble are to be seen in the Borgbese palace at Rome, which, on being suspended by the 
center on a hard body, bend very considerably. It is found that statuary marble exposed to the sun acquires, in time, this property, 
thus indicating a less degree of adhesion of its parts than it naturally possessed. 

In the white-marble veneering of the fagade of St. Mark's, Venice, the same effect has been observed by Mr. 
0. M. Burns, jr., in the lower half of a slab of veined marble, 2 inches thick, on the south side of the northernmost 
of the five portals, just behind the columns and about 6 feet from the pavement. The slab is 11 feet 2 inches long^ 
and 1 foot 6 inches wide ; it is hung to the backing by copper hooks driven into the brick- work, but the lower part, 
for a distance of 5 feet 7 inches, bulges out 2f inches from the backing. 

The exposure is directly westward, and I found that it became decidedly warm in the afternoon sun, while the backing would be 
likely to keep its temperature lower. Though the outer surface is somewhat weatherworn, I could not find the slightest tendency to 
fracture in any part. — The American Architect and Building News, 1882, p. 118. 

Also at the palace of the Alhambra, in Grenada, Spain, one of the two doors that have been christened "La 
Mezquita" exhibits an ancient facing of three slabs of marble, the upper resting as a lintel upon the two others^ 
which form uprights, 11 feet in height, 9 inches in width, and only 2J inches in thickness. At ISJ inches from the 
top of the door the slab on the right begins to curve aud to detach itself from the wall, attaining the distance of 
3 inches at about 3 feet from the bottom. From a subsidence of the material of the wall an enormous thrust 
has been exerted upon the right, and the marble, instead of breaking or of rupturing its casings, has simply bent 
and curved as if it were wood. — La Nature, 1882. 



NEW YORK CITY AND VICINITY. 367 

I uave also becu informed at Sutlierlaud Falls aud other quarries near Rutland, Vermont, that the bending 
of thin slabs of marble exposed to the sunshine in the open air, and accidentallj- supported only at the ends, has 
been there repeatedly observed. 

Fleurian de Bellevue discovered a dolomite possessed of tlie same property in the Yal-Levautine, of Mount 
Saint Gothard. Dolomieu attributed the property to "a state of desiccation which has lessened the adherence of 
the molecules of the stone", and this was supposed to be confirmed by experiments of De Bellevue, who, on heating 
inflexible varieties of marble, found that they became flexible. 

This change, however, cannot be connected with the remarkably small content of water existing in marbles, 
but with a peculiarity of their texture, which has been briefly discussed by Archibald Geikie [Proc. Roy. Soc. Edinh., 
18S0), in an interesting investigation on the decay of the stones used in Scotch cemeteries. He has pointed out 
that the irregular and closely-contiguous grains of calcite which make up a white marble are united by no cement, 
and have apparently a very feeble coherence. 

It appears to me probable also that their contiguous crystallization has left them in a state of tension, on 
account of which the least force applied, through pressure from without, or of the unsupported weight of the stone, 
or from internal expansion by heat or Irost, produces a separation of the interstitial planes in minute rifts. Such 
a condition permits a play of the grains upon each other and considerable motion, as illustrated iu the commonly- 
observed sharp foldings of strata of granular limestones, without fractures or faults. In such cases, also, I have 
observed that the nmtual attrition of the grains has been sometimes sufficient to convert their angular, often 
rhomboidal, original contours into circular outlines, the interstices between the rounded grains being evidently 
filled up by much smaller fragments and rubbed-off particles; e. (j., iu the white marble of the anticlinal axis at 
Sutherland Falls, Vermont. 

These results are confirmed by the appearances, familiar to all lithologists, in the study of thin sections of 
marble, the latent interstices between the grains of calcite having been often developed by the insinuation of films 
and veiulets of iron-oxide, manganese-oxide, etc. While a polished slab of marble fresh from the stone-yard may 
not be particularly sensitive to stains, after it has been erected aud used as a mantel-piece over a fire-place, its 
increased absorption of ink, fruit-juices, etc., becomes strongly marked. On this property are founded the 
processes, always preceded by heat, for the artificial coloring of marbles. 

In the decay of the marble, largely Italian, in the atmosphere of Edinburgh, Geikie has recognized three 
phases : 

1. Loss of polish, superficial solution, and production of a rough, loosely-granular surface. This is effected, 
Geikie states, by "exposure for not more than a year or two to our prevalent westerly rains". The solution of the 
surface may sometimes reach the depth of about a quarter of an inch, and the inscriptions may become almost 
illegible in sixteen years. 

In our own dry climate, however, these results do not appear. The polish often survives ten years in our city 
cemeteries, and even for over half a ceutiu-y, near the ground, iu the suburban cemeteries ; iu one instance, at 
Flatbush, it has remained intact for over 150 years, on the tombstone of F. and P. Stryker, dated 1730. Inscriptions 
are decipherable iu Saint Paul's cliurch-yard back to the date of 1798, but about one-tenth are illegible or obliterated ; 
the latter effect was never seen in a single instance on the suburban stones, and is evidently due to the acid vapors 
in the rain waters of the city. 

2. Incrustation of the marble with a begrimed, blackish film, sometimes a millimeter in thickness, consisting 
of town-dust, cemented by calcium sulphate, aud thorough internal disintegration of the stone, sufflcient, after a 
century, to cause it to crumble into powder by very slight jjressure. 

Neither the crust nor any deep disintegration has been observed in the oldest marble tombstones iu the cemeteries 
of New York ; their absence is plainly attributable to the inferior humidity of our atmosphere and the absence of 
smoke from soft coals. 

3. Curvature and fracture, observed in slabs of marble, firmly inserted into a solid frame-work of sandstone. 
This process consists in the bulging out of the marble, accompanied with a series of fractures, and has been 
accomplished by expansion due to frost. Tombstones are never constructed in this way in our cemeteries ; but the 
curvature of horizontal slabs, observed -in Saint Paul's church-yard, produced by the sagging of the supporting 
masonry beneath the center of the slab, is simply indicative of the flexibility of the material. 

Geikie states: 

The results of my observatious among our burial-grounds show that, save in exceptionally sheltered situations, slabs of marTile 
exposed to the weather iu such a climate and atmosphere as that of Edinburgh are entirely destroyed in less than a century. Where 
this destruction takes place by simple comparatively rapid superficial solution and removal of the stone, the rate of lowering of the 
surface amonuts sometimes to about a third of an inch (or, roughly, 9 millimeters) in a century. Where it is effected by internal 
displacemeut, a curvature of 2| inches, with abundant rents, a partial etfacement of the inscription, and a reduction of the marble to a 
pulverulent condition, may be produced in about forty years, and a total disruption and etfacement of the stone within one hundred. It is 
evident that white marble is here utterly unsuited for out-of-door use. 

My own conclusion, from observations in New York, is that, in the cemeteries within the city, the polish on 
vertical slabs is usually destroyed in about ten years; that the inscriptions are only in small ijart effaced within 
from thirty to fifty years, and are for the most part perfectly legible on the oldest tombstones, dating 1798; and that. 



368 BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

although the reduction of the surface to a loose grauular condition may reach the depth of ten millimeters, the 
actual lowering of the surface seldom exceeds 5 or C millimeters, the internal disintegration is never sufficient 
to affect sensibly the strength of the stone during the periods of exposure which have been noted, and a slight 
flexure, perhaiJS to the amount of 12 or 15 millimeters, sometimes affects the center of horizontal slabs, 2 meters in 
length. 

In the cemeteries without the city the polish may often survive near the ground, on the faces of vertical 
slabs, for over one hundred and fifty years, as the granulation of the surface rarely exceeds a depth of 3 or 4 
millimeters; and all the inscriptions remain perfect on the oldest vertical tombstones, suffering partial effacement 
only on horizontal slabs. 

Although these facts show the far greater durability of marble in our dry and pure atmosphere, the frequent 
obliteration of inscriptions, the general, and often rapid, granulation of the surface, and the occasional Assuring 
of slabs, show that the decay of marble — in the varieties hitherto long used in K"ew York city — is steady, 
inevitable, and but a qiiestion of time; and with Geikie, I, too. am convinced that, if unprotected, such materials 
are utterly uusuited for out-of-door use, at least for decorative purposes or cemeteiy records, within the atmosphere 
of a city. 

SA]SfDSTONE. — In regard to brownstone there seems to be a common if not universal oi)inion — but, in my own 
view, too hasty, and by no means established — which is presented in the following quotation : 

The days of browustone fronts for the better class of houses are probably numbered. A thia veneering of soft stone, hooped on 
to a brick wall, adds almost nothing to the strength of a building. On the exposure of the brownstone fronts for sixty or eighty 
years to the severity of our climate, in the opinion of intelligent stone-cutters, the majority of them will be in ruins, and the remainder 
much dilapidated. 

In the widely-quoted opinion of one architect, this stone is of no more use for architectural work in this region 
than so much gingerbread. 

Even the brown sandstone of tbe city hall, originally of a very superior quality, and the crumbling cornices, 
lintels, etc., of numberless houses which line some of the other streets of the city, evince the progress of the decay. 
It makes no very great difference whether the stone is laid parallel or perpendicular to its grain. In the former 
case its destruction is more rapid ; in the latter, rottenness soon appears in the lintels, columns, cornices, and other 
projecting portions of the edifice. Several of the fronts along Fifth avenue, some of them less than ten years old, 
already look frightful to the experienced eye of an honest stonecutter. 

In regard to the name " IvTova Scotia stone", it may be well to explain that it originated many years ago, when 
grindstone dealers obtained their supplies from some small surface quarries located in and near Nova Scotia. As 
that stone was of a yellow color, the stone trade has persisted ever since in calling every light-colored stone coming 
from anywhere in that section "Kova Scotia stone". However, 95 per cent, of the imported stone is derived from 
jSTew Brunswick (probably 85 per cent, from Dorchester), and the remainder from Nova Scotia and other points. 
The popular name has been applied to light-colored stones of every quality, quarried at various points of 
eastern Canada, over a wide section of country, hundreds of square miles in extent, and variously worked out at 
tide-level, under tide- water, from exposed reefs running out into the sea, or, as at Dorchester, New Brunswick, 
from a hillside 900 feet high and a quarter of a mile from tidewater. The small quarries usually work out only 
such stones as they can obtain from outcropping ledges and bowlders, and these are apt to be of bad and varying 
color, more or less full of iron and other defects ; for example, the surface quarries of Hillsboro', New Brunswick, 
long since abandoned, used in the houses in Forty-second street near Madison avenue, in Second avenue near Fifty- 
fifth street, some of the bridges in Central park, etc. At the quarries of Dorchester, New Brunswick, it is stated 
that from 35 to 50 feet of inferior rock and debris are first stripped off to reach the sound rock which is sent to this 
market. The introduction of this stone into the city as a building material has been too recent to allow any measure 
of its durability. A little exfoliation may be, however, distinguished near the ground line, and on the sides and 
posts of stoops, in many cases, xllso, in panels, under heavy projecting moldings, cornices, etc., where the sun 
has no chance to reach and dry up the dampness, the stone molders away slightly over the surface. In the 
cemeteries it is rarely or never used ; in one example, possibly of this material, in Saint Paul's church-yard, 
(W. J. M., 1841), the decay is plainly beginning around the carvings. The discoloration of good varieties of the 
stone would be very slow to affect vertical surfaces, properly protected by drips ; but on sloping, horizontal, or 
shaded surfaces, especially near the street-level, street-dust is sure to lodge and cling, all the more after the surface 
becomes roughened by a slight disintegration ; while the rough usage to which the stone of balustrades and stoops 
is always subjected in a busy street, renders this, as well as all other soft varieties of freestone, liable to chipping 
as well as offensive discoloration (e. gr., in the courses, trimmings, and posts of the church on the corner of Forty- 
second street and Madison avenue, etc.), and unsuitable for use near the ground line. 

These freestones from New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, largely employed in our cities, rarely exhibit a 
laminated structure, and, though a softer stone than the Triassic sandstone just referred to, is rarely affected by 
exfoliation to any extent, partly perhaps because its introduction into this district has been much later than that 
of the brownstone. Many instances occur, however, where already an exfoliation has taken place, especially near 



NEW YORK CITY AND VICINITY. 369 

the ground line and on peculiarly exposed surfaces, sufficient to mar offensiveij^ the appearance of the masonry. 
This is exceptional it is true, but only a proper investigation or a far longer trial — as yet little exceeding twenty- 
five years — will establish the tituess of this stone for this climate. 

So also the freestone from Amherst, Berea, etc., Ohio, has been used to considerable extent, and in one building 
(on the corner of Broadway and Barclay streets) has stood well for twenty years. Its rich content of quartz, said 
to reach 97 per cent, in the buff stone from Amherst, renders this one of the most promising, in regard to durability, 
of all the freestones of the sandstone class yet introduced hei e. Buildings constructed of this material in this 
city since 1857 (e. g., on the corner of Barclay street and Broadway, on the corner of Howard and Crosby streets, 
etc.), show no decay, but only discoloi-ation. In other instances (e. </., rows of houses on Fiftieth street, west of 
Fifth a^'enue, on Madison avenue between Thirty-fourth and Forty-third streets, etc.) the blackened discoloratiou 
and frequent chipping of edges of the soft stone are quite offensive. On the other hand, it must be admitted that 
a stone which cleans itself by the disintegration of its surface, the grains dropping out and so carrying away 
the dirt, as in the poorer and softer varieties of brownstone or of I^ova Scotia stone, is by that very action still 
more objectionable from its want of durability ; and the discoloration of the Ohio stone is offset, at least in iiarfc, 
in the best varieties, by their hardness and iiromise of durability. Nevertheless, all these light-colored freestones 
from New Brunswick or Ohio, as well as the light-colored limestones from Indiana, etc., and the light-colored 
granites from New England, are all open to the special objection of most offensive discoloration (described beyond) 
shown here in abundant instances as in the cities of the west. This is more likely to affect inclined than vertical 
surfaces, and those near the level of the street, i. e., within the reach of deposit of street dust; and the objection 
might be largely obviated by our builders by discarding the light-colored stones of all kinds from projections 
(cornices, dressings of doors and windows, etc.), and from our stoops, where the additional softness of some 
varieties renders them liable to disfigurement from wear and blows (e. g., the blocks of Nova Scotia stone frojits in 
Madison avenue, above Thirty-fourth street). 

Medina sandstone. — This material is of recent introduction (e. g., Baptist church on Fifty-seventh street, 
west of Sixth avenue), and its true durability cannot yet be estimated. 

Blue-stone (graywacke). — This stone is yearly coming into more general use, and, though somewhat somber 
in tone and difficult to dress, seems likely to prove a material of remarkable durability. In one building in 
Twenty-fourth street, between Madison and Fourth avenues, its condition appears to be excellent, after fifteen 
years' exposure perfectly retaining the tool marks. The variety reported to come from the" Wyoming valley (e. g., 
in the building on the north side of Union square) is reallj'' derived, as I am informed by Professor H. L. Fairchild, 
from Meshoppen, Pennsylvania. 

The blue-stone or graywacke of central New York and of Pennsylvania has not only been of general use as a 
flag-stone, but, in compact varieties, has been yearly coming into greater use in our cities for the purpose of water- 
tables, ornamental bands, window-sills, etc., and, although not a freestone, has recently been introduced even for 
the fronts of residences (e. g., on northwest corner of Madison avenue and Seventy-second street). It is likely to 
be one of the strongest and most durable stones, in my opinion, and, to judge by its weathering in outcrops, will be 
liable, only after a long exposure, to a reddish-brown discoloration. 

LiBiESTONE. — The Lockport limestone has been used to a small extent in this city, unfortunately for buildings 
of importance, since it is a loosely comjiacted mass made up of fragments of shells, corals, etc., extremely liable to 
disintegration, apparently more from the action of frost than any other cause. To this stone may be applied the 
observations of Professor F. A. Abel on the fossiliferous bands in the stone of the island of Portland, (a) 

Though petrifactions were shown hy the results of experiments to impart, in many instances, gre.it additional strength to the stone 
they frequently give rise by their existence to cavities, sometimes of considerable size, which not only serve to weaken those particular 
portions of the stone, but may also, if they exist in proximity to exposed surfaces of a block of stone, promote its partial disintegration 
by the action of frost. 

The Lockport stone has evidently owed its rapid disintegration within ten years, wherever used in this city, 
in part to its careless mode of introduction into masonry. Thus, in the building of the Lenox library, at Seventieth 
street and Fifth avenue, about 40 per cent, of the material is set on edge, e. g., the alternate receding courses of the 
ashlar, trimmings of apertures, gate-posts, etc. Consequently it betrayed decay long before the completion, 
fragments falling out of the face of the stone fi-om the arris of cornices and bands, etc. In the abundant trimmings 
of the same stone in the building of the Presbyterian hospital in the vicinity the same disintegration is displayed, 
the surfaces peeling off and filled with fine and deep crevices, and the uiiright posts, e. g., near the entrance archway 
or porte-cochere on the south side, in which the beddiug-laminse stand on edge, are already seamed throughout 
with long cracks, which betoken their steady destruction. 

The oolitic stone from EUettsville and Bedford, Indiana, shows an almost immediate and irregular discoloration, 
said to be produced by the exudation of oU. The oolite from Caen, France, has also been used in many buildings, 
and, unless protected by a coating of paint, has shown decay in several instances. Mr. G. Godwin, of London, has 
stated ((Soc. o/ Arte, 1881), that "the Caen stone which was sent to this country (England) could not now be 

a The Builder, London, 1863, Vol. XXI, p. 859. 



370 BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

depended on, and ought not to be used for external work ". The extensive decay of this, with other oolitic and 
magnesian limestones, in the walls of Westminster abbey, has recently caused great alarm, and will necessitate the 
renewal of its outer masonry at enormous expense. 

One of the most thorough investigations, in regard to the porosity of a series of American building stones, was- 
made by Dr. T. S. Hunt in 1864, and with the following conclusion {Chemical and Geological Essays, p. 164): 

Other things being equal, it may probably be said that the value of a stone for building purposes is inversely as its porosity or 
absorbing power. From the results given on 39 specimens, the following may be here quoted as pertinent to stones used in New York 
city: 

"So. of specimens. Absorption. Percentage. 

1. Potsdam sandstone, hard and white 0.50 to 3.96 a 

2. Medina sandstone 3.31 to 4.04 

3. Ohio sandstone 9.59 to 10.22 

3. Caen limestone 14.48 to 16.05 

Of course the proviso, "other things being equal," covers a great deal of important ground, including the 
solvency of the material of a stone in the acidified rain-waters of a city. Some of the most impervious and non- 
absorbent readily decompose; while others, which are porous or even cellular, may afford an excellent resistance 
to decay. But judged in regard to both points, porosity and solvency, the Caen stone may be safely rejected 
hereafter as unfit for our climate. 

Other limestones, oolitic or fine granular, have been brought into use in small quantity, but remain as yet 
untested by the conditions of our climate. 

Gkawite. — As to granite, its tendency to decomposition, termed the " maladie du granit" by Dolomieu, depends 
chiefly upon climatic conditions. These differ vastly, it is well known, in this region and in that of the great 
granite-builders, the Egyptians. The obelisk of Heliopolis has stood for three thousand years, and is still in good 
condition. So, too, the obelisk of Luxor had stood for forty centuries in Egypt without being perceptibly affected 
by that climate, but since its transport to Paris, in the reigu of Louis Philippe, it is reported as the result of but 
forty years' exposure — 

It is now full of small cracks, and blanched, and evidently will crumble into fragments before four centuries have passed. 

We have transported another obelisk, " Cleopatra's Needle ", from Egypt, and, in defiance of the still greater 
dangers incident to our severe climate, have erected it, covered with delicate carvings, upon a hillock in Central 
park, exposed to our blazing sun, pelting rain, and biting frost, often successively within twenty-four hours — a 
monument to the public ignorance in regard to the protection of even our prized possessions — that indifference of 
our community to the practical value of science which was exemplified through its officials by wantonly paving the 
walks of the same park with the fragments of the restoration casts of Saurians, after their construction for three year* 
by Waterhouse Hawkins. Granite is also found in many other of our larger buildings, both public and private,, 
but as few of these exceed forty or fifty years iu age, and all contain the most durable varieties of that stone, the 
effects of weathering are only beginning to appear. The bluish variety from Quincy, Massachusetts, has been 
used in many buildings and rarely shows as yet many signs of decay. In the United States custom-house, on Wall 
street, most of the huge blocks appear laid "on bed", but, nevertheless, show some pitting in places, by the attack 
and partial removal of the larger grains of hornblende. In the church at Fourth street and Lafayette place, erected 
in 1830, a little exfoliation has been produced by street-dust on the faces of some steps. In the Astor house, at 
Barclay street and Broadway, no decay was observed. 

In the fine-grained granite from Concord, New Hampshire, employed in the building on the southeast corner of 
Twenty-third street and Sixth avenue, many of the blocks are set on edge, but the only change yet seen is that of 
discoloration by street-dust and iron oxide from the elevated railway. 

The light-colored and fine-graiued granite of Hallo well, Maine, has been used for the construction of the city 
prison, the "Halls of Justice" or "Tombs", in Center street. This stone consists of a white feldspar, which 
predominates, a grayish-white quartz, which is abundant, and a considerable quantity of a silvery white mica, 
thoroughly intermixed. The rock possesses several properties — fineness of grain, homogeneity of structure, and 
freedom from iron, as shown by the color of the feldspar — likely to render it durable; the only unfavorable 
conditions are the i)redominance of feldspar and the laminated structure. The rock is a granitoid gneiss, with 
lamination often clearly marked; these markings at once show to the eye that most of the blocks are set, not on 
bed, but irregularly on edge. 

The building is square and occupies an entire block. On a study of the weathering the south face was found to 
present an exfoliation to the depth of from one-eighth to one-quarter of an inch at many points, up to the very summit 
of the building, particularly on the sides of tbe i)illars at the southeast entrance, on the ashlar near the southwest 
gate, under and over the cornice and string-pieces. In some places the stone was loosened or jjeeled off in sheets 
of the area of a square foot. The west front presents much exfoliation all over the surface, though always thin; it 
seems to begin chiefly along and near the joints. In places fragments have separated from the corners of the 
blocks. The north front exhibits very little exfoliation ; so also the east front, in a few small scattered spots. 

a Usually about 1. 



NEW YORK CITY AND VICINITY. 371 

The exfoliation appears to be the result directly of the sun's heat, exerted most intensely on the southern and 
■western sides of the building. An examination of the disintegrated material shows but little decomposition ; a little 
kaolin may be distinguished in films, but the bulk of the feldspar, the weakest constituent, remains with bright 
facets, without change in color or luster. It is by no means characteristic of the " maladie (hi granit", first described 
by Dolomieu and later studied by Dr. T. Sterry Hunt; but here the action seems to be mainly and simply a 
disintegration of the grains, initiated by expansion under the sun's heat, during the summer, and developed by the 
expansion caused by frost daring the winter. An architect of the city recently stated that he had built several 
large granite offices, and considered Quincy granite the most durable of all building material. He thought the 
weathering of granite would hardly amount to one thirty-second of an inch in a hundred years. According to that 
calculation many buildings might hope for a longer span than the thousand years spoken of by the professor. 

However, it is a well-known fact that the weathering of granite does not proceed by a merely superficial wear, 
which can be measured or limited by fractious of an inch, but by a deep insinuation along the lines of weakness, 
between grains, through cleavage-planes, and into latent fissures. Thus, long before the surface has become much 
corroded or removed, a deep disintegration has taken place, by which large fragments are ready for separation by 
frost Itom the edges and angles of a block. When directly exposed to the heat of the sun an additional agency 
of destruction is involved, and the stone is suddenly found ready to exfoliate, layer after layer, concentrically. As 
yet we have little to guide us in the estimation of durability in years, since the best known granite monuments are 
those which have been exposed to the exceptionally mild climate of Egypt; but even there some exfoliation has 
been noticed, e. g., on the inner walls of the so-called Temple of the Sphynx. 

In the cemeteries within the city and on Long island much granite is now used in slabs and monuments, but 
its introduction has been everywhere of too recent a date to afford any measure of its durability. Geikie remarks: 

Traces of decay in some of its feldspar crystals may be detected, yet in no case that I have seen is the decay of a polished granite 
surface sensibly apparent after exposure for fifteen or twenty years. Even the most durable granite will probably be far surpassed in 
permanence by the best of our siliceous sandstones. But as yet the data do not exist for making any satisfactory comparison between 
« them. 

Gneiss. — The oldest building in this city in which this material lias been used appears to be that of Saint 
Matthew's Lutheran church, on the northeast corner of Broome and Elizabeth streets, erected in 1841. The stone 
is the micaceous gneiss, in part hornblendic, from excavations on the island, with trimmings, string-pieces, etc., of 
brownstoue, the latter, as usual, being in a state of decay. On the west front the gneiss is in excellent condition, 
occurring in small blocks, mostly laid on the bedding plane. In the south front many of the quoins are set on edge 
and are much decayed along the joints, sometimes with splitting or exfoliation, fracture of corners, and irregular 
chipping out of the surface to the depth of one-half to one inch below the level of the projecting cement joints. 

Seepentine. — This rock has been of limited application as a building material, but the evidence thus far is 
not in favor of its durability in a city. For example, the serpentine of West Galwaj^, Ireland, called "Connemara 
marble", has been used both externally and internally in the new museum of Trinity college, Dublin, but "does not 
withstand the influence of a smoky or gaseous atmosphere". " Small tablets let into the outside wall of the museum 
have become tarnished within the space of ten years ". In Hoboken this stone has been used to some extent for 
unimportant masonry, and shows in places discoloration and disintegration. 

Other stones which may prove to be more durable, and as yet rarely exfoliate, have already,- however, become 
more or less disfigured by discoloration. In the ISTova Scotia and Ohio sandstones this is universally seen in black 
films, streaks, and blotches, of which both the cause and the means of removal are but little understood. The 
marbles used for house fronts also soon assume a dirty yellow hue. This is sometimes produced by the exudation 
of salts of iron, as in the walls of the new court-house ; sometimes by the adherence of smoke and street-dust. It 
has been removed by occasional scraping of the whole surface of the building, as has already been done on the old 
court-house, the new cathedral at Fiftieth street, etc. 

2.— EXTEENAL AGENCIES OF DESTRUCTION. 

The external agencies which slowly but insidiously and steadily accomplish the disintegration and destruction 
of our building stones are of three classes, chemical, mechanical, and organic. 

A. CHEMICAL AGENCIES. 

These chiefly consist of acids which attack and dissolve every constituent of stone except quartz, but, with 
particular rapidity, any stone into which carbonates enter as chief constituents or as cementing materials. Thus 
the abundant solution of lime from the stone as well as the mortar of one of our marble buildings may be shown 
by catching some of the rain-water which trickles down its sides, and adding a few drops of ammonium oxalate, 
the solution becoming clouded by a milky-white precipitate of calcium oxalate. The following may be enumerated : 

Sulphur acids, i. e., sulphurous and sulphuric acids. — Of these Dr. Angus Smith found in the rain 
of Manchester from 1.4 to 5.6 grains per gallon. The gases are daily absorbed into the atmosphere of a large city 



G72 BUILDING STONES AND THE QUAERY INDUSTEY. 

from the consumption of illuminating gas, coal, and all kinds of fuel, the decomposition and oxidation of refuse 
organic matter and sewer-gas, the residuary gases belched forth from the chimneys of dye works, chemical works, 
and numerous other manufactories, etc. 

As coal seldom contains less than one-lialf per cent, of sulplrar, and frequently one per cent, or more, every ton of coal when 
burned produces from 30 to 60 pounds of oil of vitriol. When one considers the enormous quantities of coal that are consumed in cities, and 
the correspondingly great quantities of this corrosive agent that are thus disseminated in the atmosphere, -we would naturally expect 
to iind appreciable evidence of its effects on building stones, (a) 

These efi'ects are likely to be most marked in a large city like London or New York, and on certain stones, 
e. g., the earthy or oolitic limestones and marbles. In London they are revealed in the magnesian sulphate, which 
imparts a bitter taste, and even forms an efSorescent crust of white crystals upon the disintegrated portions of 
the Portland stone, and in the caloium'sulphate, amounting to 3.4 to 4.6 per cent, in the decayed crust of the Caen 
stone. (&). Little limestone has yet been introduced into New York, and the durability of a variety in a village or 
small town elsewhere gives no measure of its fitness to resist the corrosive agencies in the atmosphere of our cities. 

Caebonic acid.— This is a universal product of combustion, but is indeed derived from all the sources above 
mentioned, as well as from the respiration of millions of men and animals. Dr. Smith found the air of Manchester 
to contain 0.04 to 0.08 per cent, of carbonic acid, while that of the highlands of Scotland contained but 0.03 per 
cent. The researches of Daubr6e, T. S. Hunt, and others, have shown the active action which this gas exerts in the 
corrosion of the feldspar of granites. 

IsTiTEic ACID. — Traces of this acid have been commonly found in the atmosphere and falling rain, but most 
perceptibly during and after thunder storms. It has been suggested that " every flash of lightning not only 
generates nitric acid — which, in solution in the rain, acts on the marble — but also, by its inductive effects at a 
distance, produces chemical changes along the moist wall, which are at the present time beyond our means of 
estimating, (e) 

So far as its formation is due to electrical agency, it probably increases during the summer ; but it is also one 
of the products of oxidation of the gases arising from the decomposition of organic matter, ammonia, and nitrates, 
and from our numerous gas works. 

Hydrochloric acid. — This corrosive agent Dr. Angus Smith found in the rain of Manchester, to the amount of 
1.25 grains per gallon. It is derived from the fumes of bleaching works, chemical works, potteries, and many 
factories, and from vicinity to the sea. 

Carbolic, hippuric, and many other ORG-AiSfic acids derived from smoke, street-dust, sewer-vapors, etc., 
have not been hitherto recognized, bat, in my opinion, are among the most constant and efflcient agencies in the 
corrosion of the building stones of a city. Whether they are present in the atmosphere and falling rain is still a 
matter of conjecture, though I think it probable ; but no series of analyses has yet been made to determine the 
exact constitution of the air and rain-water in our cities. However, there can be no doubt of their presence, 
possibly in the smoke and unconsumed carbon which attach themselves to our rougher stones (freestones, marbles, 
etc.), certainly in the street-dust, chiefly ground -up horse manure, which is blown against our buildings and remains 
attached to their surfaces, often to a considerable height above the street level. That the corrosion thus resulting 
is due not merely to mechanical friction, but mainly to chemical action, is shown by the fact that it is sometimes 
most active on a surface which is sheltered from the rain, and to which the crust of dust can adhere more 
persistently. For example, I have noticed that the vertical faces of the steps of Quincy granite beneath the 
portico of the church on the northwest corner of Fourth street and Lafayette i^lace, perfectly sheltered from the 
rain, and but little exposed to the wind, have been sometimes covered with a film of street-dust beneath which 
the smooth-dressed surface of the granite is deeply corroded, iDceling off to the touch of one's fingers in flakes from 
2 to 5 millimeters in thickness. As to the foundations of buildings, these are exposed to the quiet action of the 
vegetable acids derived from the decomposition of plants and of the humus of the soil. 

Oxygen. — This constituent of the atmosphere, especially in its more active form, ozone, attacks the suli^hides 
(e. </., the pyrite in the Vermont roofing slates and in the marble of Lee, Massachusetts, etc.), and, more slowly, 
the ferrous silicates in certain minerals (e. g., the chlorite, biotite, hornblende, augite, etc., in our granites, gneisses, 
traps, etc.). The resulting oxygenation and hydration may be expected to produce expansion and a tendency to 
loosening of the constituents of a stone. 

Ammonia is another product of animal life and decomposition, the fumes of factories, and atmospheric reactions, 
whose existence in the air and rain-water has been proved, and which must do its part in the disintegration of 
stone. 

Common salt (sodium chloride) is constantly present in the atmosphere along the sea-board, and must affect 
the solubility of the cement of porous sandstones, etc. An English observer, however, considers that sea air is 
not injurious to stone, instancing Sandysfoot castle, near Weymouth, of which the stone is in perfect condition, 
although erected on the sea-shore and constantly washed by the spray since the time of Henry VIII. A comparison 
of the forms of decay of stone observed in the cemeteries within this city and in those nearer the ocean, e. g., at 
New Utrecht, yielded no evidence of any results, attributable to this agency, in greater actiop at the latter locality. 

a C. H. Porter: Paper on Building Stones, p. 24. Albany, 1868. c U. S. Commi88ion,1851. 

i J. Spiller, Eep. Brit. Assoc. Adv. Sci., 1867. 



NEW YORK CITY AND VICINITY. 373 

B. MECHANICAL AGENCIES. 

Some of these are probably, in our climate and conditions, the most efficient of all in the wear and disintegration 
of our building stones. 

Frost. — The action of severe frost on stone must be usually one of the main causes of its rapid decay. Two 
elements are involved — the friability of the material and its power of absorption of moisture. The action may be 
expected to be most active where a material is repeatedly saturated with moisture, rain-water, or water derived 
from the thawing of snow and ice, and alternately frozen and thawed. The violence of the force resulting from 
the congelation of water within the pores of a stone may be understood from a recent estimate, that the effect 
produced by the freezing in a closed vessel, as it takes place very suddenly, resembles the blow of a hammer of 12 
tons weight upon every square inch. However, the disintegration of our brownstones cannot be attributed entirely 
or mainly to this powerful agency, since the same decay is in progress in southern sea-ports where this brownstone 
has been used as a buildiug stone; and I have been consulted by a correspondent at New Orleans in regard to the 
best means to arrest this decay in brownstone fronts there. 

On other stones, e.g., marble, this force may exert a very slow action; the exiieriments of Professor Joseph 
Henry and the calculations of Captain {now General) M. C. Meigs have shown the depth of exfoliation, after fifty 
alternations of freezing and thawing by artificial means, to amount to very nearly the ten-thousandth part of an 
inch, (a) 

Variations in temperature. — The constant variations of temperature from day to day, and even from hour to hour, give rise to 
molecular motions which must affect the durability of the material of a building. Kecent observations on the pendulum have shown that 
the Bunker Hill monument at Boston is scarcely for a moment in a state of rest, but is constantly warping and bending under the influence 
of the varying temperature of its different sides. (6) 

The climate of New York must be far more trying than that of England, as the temperature may vary 120° or 
more in a single year, and even 70° in a single day, with many repetitions of similar extremes during the spring 
and fall, and sometimes diuing the winter months. The intensity of the direct rays of the sun, particularly in 
summer, and the frequent passing showers of cool rain-water faUing upon the heated surfaces, are important 
elements in the attack upon the building stones. 

The experiments of Colonel Totten, reported by Lieutenant William H. C. Bartlett in 1832, on the exijansion and 
contraction of building stones by variations of temperature, yielded the following results, for the linear expansion, 
in fractions of an inch, of one inch of stone for 1° of Fahr. : 

Granite bowlder at Buzzard's bay 0. 000004825 

Marble, Sing Sing, New York 0.000005668 

Sandstone, Chatham, Connecticut 0.000009532 

To apply these results to the case in question, let us suppose two coping stones, of 5 running feet each, to bo laid in midsummer, 
■when they have a temperature of 96° Fahr. ; in winter their temperature may safely be assumed at zero, so that the total variation of 
temperature will be 96°. 

The distance by which the ends of tho stones would be separated would amount, for granite, to 0.0277?2 inch, giving a crack a 
little wider than the thickness of common pasteboard. For marble, this crack would have a width of 0.03264, nearly twice the thickness 
of common pasteboard; and for sandstone 0.054914, nearly three times the thickness of pasteboard. These cracks are not only distinctly 
visible, but they allow water to pass freely into the heart of the wall. The mischief does not stox) here : by this constant motion, back 
and forth, in the coping, the cement, of whatever kind the joints might be made, would be crushed to powder, and in a short time be 
totally washed by the rains from its place, leaving the whole joint open. 

Wind. — A gentle breeze dries out the moisture of a building stone and tends to preserve it, but a violent wind 
wears it away by dashing sand-grains, street-dust, ice particles, etc., against the face. The extreme of such action 
is illustrated by the vast erosion of the sandstones in the plateaus of Colorado, Arizona, etc., into tabular mesas, 
isolated jiillars, and grotesquely-shaped hills, by the erosive force of sand-grains borne by the winds; in the 
window-panes of houses on Nantucket island, converted into ground-glass by flying sand ; and in the artificial 
process of manufacture by the "sand-blast", carried on in our cities. A violent wind also forces the rain-water, 
with all the erosive acids it conveys, into the pores of stones, carries off the loosened grains from the surface, and so 
keeps fresh surfaces of stone exposed. 

In this climate, buildings are most attacked by weathering agents on their north, northeast, and east fronts 
(the very reverse of the conditions prevailing in Great Britain), and, in this view, it is of course important to select 
stone of the greatest durability for the fronts into which the prevailing wind thus drives the rain, i. e., those ou 
the west sides of the avenues and the south sides of the cross-streets in Xew York city. 

Again, the swaying of tall edifices by the wind, whose amount can only be appreciated by ascent of our church 
si^ires during a gale, must cause a continual motion, not only in the joints between the blocks, but among the grains 
of the stones themselves. Many of these have a certain degree of flexibility, it is true, and yet the play of the 
grains must gradually increase and a tendency to disintegration result. 

Rain. — The attack of rain on building stones depends upon its solvent action, partly due to the solvent agencies 
before mentioned, which it conveys, and upon its mechanical effect in the wear of pattering drops and streams 

a Joseph Henry, On the Mode of Testing Building Mateiial. 6 United States Commission, 1851. 



374 BUILDING- STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

trickling down the face of a building. In dry weather a stone is therefore less attacked, chiefly because the 
destructive acids cannot penetrate so deeply. The proportion of rainy days, and above all of frequent alternations 
of dry and rainy days, in any climate must exert a great influence on the durability of stone. 

Professor Hull states : 

In India, ancient temples formed of laterite — a modern deposit of gravel cemented by lime — are still in perfect preservation. 
Such examples, and many more wMoli might be produced, all go to prove that even in regions subjected to very heavy periodical rains, 
provided the air be pure and free from acids, buildings of even friable and calcareous materials are capable of withstanding atmospheric 
disintegration for a lengthened period. Eains which fall at long intervals, though with tropical violence, do not act so injuriously on 
stone structures as those lessv iolent but more frequent, (a) 

CjiYSTALLiZATiON BY EFFLOEESCENCE. — This effect, too, must largely depend upon the climatic conditions — 
alternations of dryness and moisture — ^to which reference has just been made. Examples of efflorescence of various 
salts, sulphates of magnesium, sodium, etc., are by no means uncommon in Kew York city and vicinity, though 
more frequently on brick than stone, walls covered with snow-white powdery coatings having been observed in 
basements of stores in South street, in cellars of residences in West Fifty-second street, etc. The expansion 
produced by such an exuding crust is likely, slowly but surely, to disintegrate aud loosen scales and flakes from 
the surface of stone. 

In an important investigation of this subject by Mr. Wenworth L. Scott, of London, the following results were 
obtained : (b) 

Thirty-seven specimens of salt, collected from the surface of various building materials, were determined as 
follows : 

Thirty-oue, sulphate of sodium (and traces of other salts). 

Three, mainly sulphate of sodium, and of magnesium and aluminium. 

Two, mainly sulphate of sodium, with various phosphates and nitrates of sodium and calcium (never over 18 
per cent, of the whole). 

One, sulphates of sodium and potassium, with small amount of nitrates, and much sodium chloride. 

With regard to the preventive means, » * * j cannot help denouncing the too free use of resinous, oleaginous, or tarry matters, 
as my own experiments have shown me that, in the event of fire, the walls of a building treated with such substances would iniiame the 
moment their temperature was raised to about 200°. 

He suggests the prevention of upward percolation of moisture by a seam of asphalt, laid on every wall when 
2 to 4 feet from ground, as used in St. James' hall, etc., London. He has cured the efflorescence of sulphate of 
sodium or magnesium by application of a weak solution of barium chloride. 

Sulphate of ammonium has not an injurious effect until it meets with substances capable of converting it into 
the sodium salt. 

Sulphurous acid or sulphite of ammonium exerts no harmful effect, but rather a preservative influence, occurring 
in too small quantity to produce efflorescence. The process of osmosis in building materials has been greatly 
exaggerated, and is probably very slow. It is important that mortars should be carefully chosen, that they may 
not contain efflorescent salts. 

Peessttre. — A large number of experiments have been carried on to determine the crushing weight of building 
stones, and the strength thereby indicated. However, 

It is generally laid down that the compression to which a stone should be subjected in a structure should' not exceed one-tenth of 
the crushing weight as found by experiment. Practically, however, the compression that comes upon a stone in any ordinary building is 
never sufficient to cause any danger of crushing. * » » xhe working stress allowed in practice upon ashlar blocks should not exceed 
one-tweutieth of the crushing weight, (c) 

Nevertheless it may be expected that when an ashlar block has become weakened by weathering, the rapidity 
of its disintegration and decay may be hastened by the superincumbent pressure, especially if unequally applied 
by the settling of the foundations. 

Feiction. — This agency of wear most commonly affects pavements, sidewalks, stoops, the facing of piers, etc. 
It may be derived from the impact of human feet, of wheels, or of the hoofs of animals; the handling of freight; the 
removal of dirt, snow, and ice; the flow of tidal currents; the blows of the waves of the bay and river, etc. 

FiEE.— The fierce trials to which building materials of all kinds have been subjected, in the great fires in 
Chicago and in Boston, during the last decade, have shown that there are none, not even brick, which can withstand, 
in the form of thin walls, without wari:)ing or utter destruction, the tempest of flame evolved from the great magazines 
of combustibles gathered on every side in an American city. 

It is a remarkable instance of the i)revailing ignorance on this subject that there exist many varieties of 
sandstone {e. <;., the buff freestone from Amherst, Ohio, etc.), graywacke, aud perhaps other rocks, which possess a 
fire-proof character that enables them to resist a white heat, as the linings and hearths of iron-furnaces, aud which 
would seem to specially fit them for the ashlar of buildings desired to be fire-proof, or at least the window-sills, etc., 
of business buildings, storage houses, etc. It must be considered, however, that experiments are highly desirable to 

a Building and Ornamental Stone8, p. 312. 

6 On Salification, etc., Jour. Soc. Arts, 1860, Vol. IX, p. 274. 

c Notes on Building Construction, p. 6. 



NEW YORK CITY AND VICINITY. 375 

•determine the character of resistance of these and other stones, not only to the lateral application of flames or 
radiation of intense heat, when exijosed in a building with a backing of brick, but also to the alternations, rapid 
and violent, of sudden expansion and contraction, produced by the sudden application of cold water from the streams 
of fire-engines upon the heated masonry. So far as present observations have gone, however, in regard to such 
sandstones, I see no necessity to reject the abundant materials supplied by nature, and will present additional reasons 
CD a later page. 

C. ORGANIC AGENCIES. 

These are of a vegetable nature, in their attack upon the materials of building construction on land, and of 
animal nature in regard to the erosion of submarine walls. 

Vegetable gkowths. — In regard to the influence of lichens on the durability of stone, very opposite views 
are held. On the one hand, it is acknowledged that, in the case of marbles and limestones, some lichens exercise 
a decidedly corrosive action, and Professor J. 0. Draper, in a paper on the decay of stone and brick in New York 
■city, maintains that the same " minute lichen. Lepra antiquitatis, grows with remarkable freedom on such hygroscopic 
rocks as the sandstones, as any one may satisfy himself on examining the houses on the cross, or east and west, 
streets of our city ". (a) 

So far as my observation has gone, lichens are markedly absent from the decayed stone-work of this city, and 
it is probable that the reference. appUes to some other form of vegetation. Thus they never occur in the church- 
yards of Trinity church and Saint Paul's chapel, though found abundantly in those of New Utrecht and Flatbush ; 
e. g., three species were distinguished upon a single tombstone (Eutgert Deuyse. 1795) at New Utrecht. On their 
removal, the surface of the stone beneath is not found corroded, but only retains a fresh color. 

In a report on the selection of the oolitic limestone used in the houses of parliament in London, the subject 
has been thus discussed by one of the commissioners : 

A question lias frequently been raised witli reference to the eftect of veget.ation on the surface of stone-work. By attentively 
■examining the magnesian limestone buildings of this part of the country, it would appear that lichens exercise a sort of pernicious 
influence. At Bolsover castle, the keep of which seems to be constructed with magnesian limestone, similar to that of Steetley, wherever 
lichens have vegetated on the exterior of that edifice, decomposition has certainly taken place ; and where they were then growing, upon 
removing them, we found that the surface of the stone, for about one-sixteenth of an inch in thickness, was reduced to a state of white 
powder. In such instances the lichen seems to possess some inherent power of chemically acting upon the stone ; but whether the plant 
appropriates only the carbon to its own use and leaves the lime and magnesia, or whether it takes up the carbonate of lime and rejects 
the carbonate of magnesia, is a question of great interest, although it has not yet been investigated by a scientific observer. (J) 

The opposite view, advocating their beneficial influence, is represented in the following quotations : 

Lichens are in many cases a protection from the weather, and tend to increase the durability of the stone, (c) 

In the report on the selection of stone for the houses of parliament it is stated : 

Buildings situated in the country appear to possess a great advantage over those in populous and smoky towns, owing to lichens, 
-with which they almost invariably become covered iu such situations, and which, when firmly established over their entire surface, seem 
to exercise a protective influence against the ordinary causes of decomposition of the stoue upon which they grow. 

Many blocks of stone quarried at the time of the erection of St. Paul's, in London, but left in the quarries, and 
BOW covered by lichens, still retain their sharp edges and tool marks beneath the lichens, while those on the 
■exposed fronts of the cathedral are now moldering away. 

The sandstone of Tintern abbey (thirteenth century), in part laminated, is covered with gray and green lichens, 
and is, for the most part, in perfect condition. In Tisbury church (thirteenth and fourteenth centuries) the ashlar, 
-constructed of calciferous limestone, is, where undecomposed, covered with lichens. 

The exact action of the lichens needs investigation, and will doubtless be found to differ widely according to 
the species and the material on which they grow. Few of our buildings in this district are sufficiently old to 
present much growth of this kind. 

There is another vegetable growth, however, that of the confervm, of which no notice seems to have been taken, 
but which flourish in damp weather all the year round, in New York and vicinity, upon shaded surfaces of our 
freestones, often coloring the vertical faces of the steps and the sides of stoops, and the lower portion of the ashlar, 
near the ground-line, and under the shadow of heavy copings and cornices, especially on the north shaded fronts 
of the houses on the south sides of the streets. Upon brownstone their eroding influence is shown in the common 
roughening of the dressed surfaces. Upon the Nova Scotia or Dorchester stone their action is apparently still 
more active, as shown in abundant instances on the walls and carved work throughout Central i)ark, e. g., the 
pillars of Albert quarry stone at the head of the steps at the end of the mall, where shaded surfaces are alternately 
seen colored green with confervce, and again bare and crumbling, at different seasons of the year, and have needed 
frequent redressing. It may also be remarked that the heavy growth of vines trained up over the fronts of houses, 
sometimes seen in this city, would be apt to favor such growths and the decay of soft freestones. 

The well-known destructive agency of the roots of grasses and higher plants on the durability of masonry is 
fortunately not a danger to be considered in our American cities. 

a The Manufacturer and Builder, 1872, IV, 170. 

6 C. H. Smith ; Lithologn, or Observations on Stone used for Building, p. 26. 1845. 

c Xoteson Build. Const., Part III, 10. 



376 BUILDING STONES AND THE QUAERY INDUSTRY. 

Boring molltjsks, sponges, etc. — The serious danger of the attack of these forms of animal life may be 
illustrated by the following example : 

A limestone from Creston, near Plymouth, England, Tvas originally employed in the construction of the Plymouth breakwater, hut 
thie boring moUusks {Pholas dactylns) so perforated the stone, between high and low water, that it was thought necessary to replace the 
blocks by granite, (o) 

Little masonry is yet exposed in our bay and along our river fronts to the attack of these enemies; but the- 
cargoes of Italian marble sunk off the harbor, which have been found thoroughly perforated and honey-combed by 
such agency, e. g., that of a steamer sunk iu 1871, and the similar erosion of the gneiss of Westchester county, 
aloDg the sound, by marine sponges, as pointed out by Mr. J. D. Hyatt, of the ISTew York Microscopical Society,, 
indicate the dangers which may be in store for the bases of the piers of the jS"ew York and Brooklyn bridge, aud 
for the masonry which will be hereafter introduced into our piers and docks. Birds also serve as destructive 
agencies ; the sparrows aud other small birds by their droppings deposited in abundance on cornices and projecting 
moldings, and the pigeons, as in the London Exchange building, by pecking away the cement between the blocks 
of masonry. 

3.— mTEEN^AL ELEMENTS OF DURABILITY. 

The durability of a building stone depends upon three conditions, the chemical and mineralogical nature of its- 
constituents, its i)hysical structure, and the character and position of its exposed surfaces. 

A. CHEMICAL COMPOSITION. 

In this view the following conditions need consideration : 

Solubility. — The presence of calcium carbonate, as in the more calcareous forms of our Westchester dolomitie 
marbles, and in the earthy limestones (e. g., that from Indiana recently introduced), is likely to render such materials 
liable to rapid attack by acid vapors. On the other hand, in England pure dolomite is considered extremely durable 
as a building stone, as is shown, for example, in the Norman part of the Southwell church, in Yorkshire. 

The hydrated form of ferric oxide which acts as the cement in all the Triassic sandstones (e. g., the brownstone 
of New Jersey and Connecticut) is far more soluble, and so may be more easily removed, to the injury of the stone, 
than the anhydrous or less liydrated ferric oxide predominating in the cement of our Potsdam sandstone and many 
foreign sandstones, which seem likely on that account to be better resistants to disintegration. The sandstones 
whose cement is siliceous (e. g., the Graigleith stone of Great Britain, and some varieties, almost quartzitic, of our 
own Potsdam sandstone in this state) are likely to be the most durable, and hereafter the m6st sought for, where- 
durability is appreciated, in spite of their difficulty in working and dressing. 

Tendency to oxidation, hydration, and decomposition. — In the case of a roofing slate, the presence 
of a sulphide (e. g., marcasite, more decidedly than pyrite) is likely to be very injurious; in a granite or marble 
(e. g., the marble of Lee, Massachusetts, in the new court-house, New York city) the results may be confined to the 
discoloration and less objectionable. Nevertheless there are abundant instances, which yet need investigation, in 
which the pyrite occurs in a highly-crystalline condition, even in roofing slates, by which it has been enabled to 
resist decomposition during centuries. If the pyrite is uniformly and minutely distributed in small quantity, its- 
presence may be even advantageous ; thus, the marbles of Berkshire county, Massachusetts, when first cut, are cold 
graj", but by long weathering acquire a tint of exquisite warmth and transparency, {a) 

The biotite in many of our. granites seems peculiarly liable to decomi)osition, and apparently to the weakening- 
of the surrounding stone. The brown freestones of New Jersey and Connecticut contain everywhere minute scales 
of biotite, though in much less proportion than that of muscovite, and the freestones of New Brunswick contaia 
similar scales of a chlorite; both minerals in a state of decomposition more or less advanced. 

The orthoclase, which largely enters into the composition of the Triassic and the Carboniferous sandstones, and 
of all the granites in this market, is the feldspar of most ready decomposition. It is found, on microscopic examination 
of a brownstone or granite, in various stages of alteration, from a mere dimming of its cleavage planes to a cloudy 
or opaque mass of the usual structure, and finally to a siliceous shelly network, with its interstices filled with iron 
oxide. In this condition the mineral has lost all its strength and ability to resist either pressure or atmospheric 
attack, and a stone in which it prevails must have reached the last degree of disintegration aud decay. 

The albite, oligoclase, and other feldspars are much better resistants to decomiDOsition, and their abundance in 
granite or sandstone may be an important element in their durability. 

INCLOSUEE OF FLUIDS AND MOISTURE. — The thorough drying of a stone before, and the preservation of this 
dryness after, its insertion into masonry are commonly recognized as important adjuncts to its durability. But the- 
exact nature of the process of seasoning, and of the composition of the " quarry-sap" thus removed by thorough 
drying, have never been investigated. The " quarry-water" may contain little else than ordinary well-water, or may 
be a solution more or less nearly saturated, at the ordinary temperature, with carbonate of calcium, silica, double 
salts of calcium and magnesium, etc. ; in the latter case, hardening results by the drying and an exact knowledge 
of its nature might throw important light on the best means for the artificial preservation of stone. 

a Gwilt's Mncyc. Arch., p. 493. a Am. Arch, and Building Ifewa, 1881, X, 13, 17. 



NEW YORK CITY AND VICINITY. 377 

Again, water may exist in large quantity in chemical combination in the silicates (e. g., chlorite, kaolin, etc.), or 
in the hydrated iron oxides which constitute the cement of a building stone. Many hydrates of ferric oxide are 
known to exist, and of these a considerable number occur in nature, in concentrated form, as ores. 

We do not yet know how these or other hydrates of ferric oxide are isolated or mixed in their distribution 
through the brown sandstones. I have elsewhere (a) pointed out the probability that, to a large extent, the red 
cement of the sandstones of most recent or Tertiary age may be probably referred to limonite or limnite, e. g., those 
found iu eastern Kew Jersey and to the southward along the Atlantic and Gulf sandy plateau ; that of the 
sandstones of the Mesozoic period to turgite and limonite (possibly in part gothite?), e. r/.,the brownstoues of New 
Jersey and Connecticut ; and that of the bright red sandstones of the Carboniferous and older rocks to anhydrous 
ferric oxide, e. g., the red freestones of New Brunswick and of Scotland, the red sandstones of Potsdam, New York, 
etc. However, these distinctions cannot be drawn sharply, and the subject awaits investigation. Changes in the 
degree of hydration are constantly going on in stones of this character, and the absorption of water may exert a 
force for expansion and disruption. In regard to the vast amount of water feebly locked up in combinations such 
as these, the query has been recently offered : 

We venture to suggest, as a subject for careful chemical analysis how far the existence of water or the elements of water, not a» 
moisture, hut as chemically combined with lime, magnesia, or other elements in a stone, may render it susceptible to the attacks of 
frost. (&) 

The more recent results of microscopic lithology have also established the tact that certain minerals, especially 
the quartz, in very many of our most common building stones abound in small cavities partly or wholly filled with 
fluids, viz, water, brine, and liquid carbon dioxide. These cavities vary in size from microscopic minuteness up to a 
diameter of several millimeters, and are often very abundant, so that a fragment of quartz clouded by them may 
explode on the application of heat. The varieties of our building stones in which they are known to particularly 
abound are the following : Brownstone — New .Jersey and Connecticut ; freestone— Dorchester, New Brunswick j 
biotitic gneiss and fibrolitic gneiss— New York island and Westchester county ; granite— Quincy, Massachusetts, 
Clark's island, Maine, Mount Beatty, Connecticut, Fitzwilliam, New Hampshire, Saint Lawrence county. New 
York, etc. 

The question of the influence of these cavities on the durability of the rock, when exposed to frost or to the 
intense heat of the summer sun or to fire, is one that yet awaits investigation. The violent explosions which attend 
the exposure of granites to fire, as illustrated iu the great fires of Chicago and Boston, may imply some connection, 
in part, with the sudden expansion and rupture of such inclosed fluid cavities; while the similar action of frost 
seems to be suggested by the interesting paper of Mr. W. E. Hidden on the fracture of quartz with liquid cavities 
in North Carolina, (c) 

B. PHYSICAL STRUCTURE. 

This varies widely in the crystalline and sedimentary rocks; but three conditions, common to both, will be first 
discussed, then two confined to the former class, and finally two confined to the latter. 

Size, foem, and position of the constituent funerals. — It has been established that the resistance to 
compression — and it may be supposed in some degree the durabihty— of a finely-granular rock exceeds that of a 
coarsely-crystallized variety of the same. Dr. J. S. Newberry has also pointed out that " mica is soft and fissile, and 
hence is an element of weaknesss. Where it exists in any consideral)le quantity the stone is easily cruslied and 
unfit for use ". 

The scales of mica in a laminated sandstone, e. g., the common micaceous variety of brownstone, lie birgely in 
the plane of lamination, and diminish the strength of the rock when pressure is applied in the direction of the latter 
plane, e. </., on edge, on account of the feeble adherence between their surfaces and the rock in contact. So also 
when used as ashlar, the expansion caused by frost tends to produce the first separation along those planes. 

However, both in a granite and in a freestone, it is probable that a moderate amoitnt of mica — mrtch more an 
abundance of a tough and fibrous mineral, like hornblende, augite, fibrolite, etc.— may serve as an excellent binding 
material, like hair in mortar, and add to the strength of the rock, if uniformly mixed, with little or no parallelism 
of planes. Peculiarities of crystallization iu crystalline rocks or of arrangement of tabular flakes of minerals 
in sedimentary rocks may also produce a coincidence in the position of planes of stronger cleavage, e. g., of feldspar 
in granites or in feldspathic sandstones, which will diminish both the strength and durability of a rock. The 
disintegration of the freestones of the Triassic age is favored by both these couditions— abundance of mica and 
parallel position of feldspar plates. 

Porosity.- Bischoff has thrown much light on the percolation of water through the interstices and fissures 
of rocks. Even in the densest crystalline rocks, as trap and basalt, spots of moisture can be discovered on freshly 
fractured surfaces, generally connected with minute fissures. In the loosely-cemented material of the freestones the 
percolation must be far more free. 

o On the Geological Action of the Humus Acids, Froc. Am. Ass. Adv. Sci., 1878. 

h The Builder, 1882. 

c Trans. JS. Y. Acad. Set., I, 1882. 



378 BUILDINa STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

The excessive porosity of a building stone thickens the layer of decomposition which can be reached by the 
acids of the atmosphere and of the rain, and also deepens the entrance of the frost and its work of disintegration. 
This is illustrated, in the case of brownstone, in numberless instances throughout New York city, in the sills and 
lintels of windows, the projecting string-courses of stone in brick buildings, the steps of stoops and sills of doors, 
etc., with their edges rounded, their material pitted, honey-combed, fretted, and furrowed by the ridges of projecting 
or eroded laminae, or the whole mass of the stone worn away flush with the front of the house, e. g., in the older 
brownstone houses of the district styled "Greenwich village", in ^he Eighth ward, and in the old streets on 
the east side of the city. Even, too, in houses less than ten years old, the flat ceilings of the porticos, surfaces 
which appear to be perfectly sheltered from the weather, are peeling away into successively-loosened layers, 
■e. g., in the houses on the west side of Fifth avenue, between Forty-sixth and Fiftieth streets. In aU these cases 
we plainly see the eflect both of rain, and, above all, of water, derived from the thawing of the snow which is caught 
and rests upon the projecting ledge of stone, soaking down into the spongy mass below during the day, and again 
partially thrust out by the expansion of freezing during the night. With a light-colored stone an unusual and 
undesirable power of absorption is often indicated by its discoloration in streaks and circular patches. Several 
kinds of discoloration may be distinguished, all more or less dependent on the absorptive character of the stone. 
The one consists of a white calcareous efflorescence, very common in new masonry, in blotches spreading around 
the joints, and doubtless derived by permeation of the stone with solutions of calcium carbonate from the fresh 
mortar or cement. It appears to be usually of a temporary character, disappearing after a few years. This is 
sometimes seen in brownstone, but more frequently in the Ohio and the New Brunswick freestones; e. g., in the fronts 
•and stoops of most of the houses first built of that stone in Madison avenue above Fifty-fourth street, etc. Another 
form of discoloration is due merelj- to the street-dust and soot which are deposited upon the projections of a stone 
front. It results in long gray or blackish streaks, running down the front at either end of the window-sills and from 
below the line of projecting bands and cornices, and as a general blackish-gray discoloration of the surfaces of 
sheltered moldings of apertures, the pediments of porticos, etc. 

The earlier stages of this discoloration may be easily studied in numerous instances among the older buildings 
■constructed of light-colored freestone, e. g., in the houses on the northwest corner of Sixth avenue and Twenty-ninth 
street, and between Thirty-seventh and Thirty-eighth streets, and in the building on southeast corner of Christopher 
street and Greenwich avenue, etc.; the sloping window-sills of the orphan asylum at Fifth avenue and Fifty -first 
street are thus blackened, while the vertical faces of the same stone in the fagade are washed clean and uncolored. 

A similar discoloration affects most of the varieties of white marble used in our city, e. g., in several buildings 
■on the north side of Murray street, between Church street and West Broadway; in the new court-house on Chambers 
street; the cornices, sills, and seams of the rusticated stone-work of the Union Dime Savings bank, at Sixth avenue 
and Thirty-second street. 

Another form of discoloration, commonly associated with the preceding in the same light-colored freestones, 
■presents black stains and streaks, whose material has not yet been identified, but apparently consists of manganese- 
oxide, probably derived from the decomposition of the feldspar and chlorite in the rock. This is of a more permanent 
and objectionable character, increasing both iu extent and depth of color with the age of the masonry. Its progress is 
most rapid on stone surfaces exposed to the prevailing winds and rains, i. e., the northeast. An illustration of this 
•appears in the church on the corner of Fifty-seventh street and Madison avenue, whose faces fronting the south 
and west are entirely free from discoloration, while the spire, freely exposed above, is beginning to be tinted all 
around and from top to bottom. 

Other forms of discoloration are shown in yellowish stains on the light freestones, certainly due to iron, and in 
.films of confervous growth, which are green during rainy and damp weather, and become blackish-gray when dry. 

Hardness and toughness. — Eesistance to weathering does not necessarily depend upon hardness, since some 
soft rocks of peculiar composition (e. g., some steatites, chlorite schists, etc.) are known to withstand atmospheric 
attack very well. However, a hard material of close and firm texture is, iu those qualities, specially fitted at 
least to resist friction and artificial wear, as in stoops, pavements, sidewalks, and road metal, and the natural 
friction of rain-drops, dripping rain-water, the blows of the surf, etc. The graywacke and blue-stone of New York 
and Pennsylvania, is, in the form of flagging, unexcelled for paving, etc.; and no reason is apparent why its thicker 
beds should not be further applied as a material for ordinary construction. So far as yet introduced for this 
purpose, within a few years past, it preserves perfectly the arris in dressings, quoins, etc., without either chipping 
or discoloration. 

Crystalline structure. — Experience has shown that the crystalline structure in a stone is a better 
resistant to atmospheric attack than the amorphous. The following statement is made concerning this characteristic 
in an oolitic limestone of England: 

The Steetley stone is remarkable for its light specific gravity, great power of absorption, and yet extremely durable ; its resistance 
"to atmospheric influences may be attributed to its beautifully sparkling crystalline structure, ■without having any dusty incoherent 
matter iu its formation, the crystals being all well cemented together, (o) 

a C. H. Smith, op. cit., 32. 



NEW YORK CITY AND VICINITY. 379 

It is also well illustrated in New York city in the better class of crystalline building stones, e. g., the granite 
Tjuildings in Murray, Warren, and other of the older streets, the Astor house, etc., which are not yet perceptibly 
affected by the tooth of time. The same fact is generally true with the sedimentary rocks also, a crystalline 
limestone or good marble resisting erosion better than an earthy limestone. Only the oolitic varieties of the latter 
seem to possess, in that structure, an advantage over those that are entirely earthy or amorphous. The durability 
■of a limestone like that of Indiana, recently introduced into this city, must depend upon these couditious. So, too, 
the highly -crystalline varieties of the Potsdam sandstone, in New York, Wisconsin, etc., abounding in glittering 
facets which the microscope reveals to be in part quartz crystals of exceeding minuteness, may be expected to have 
in that respect a greater likelihood of durability, if well cemented, than the ordinary variety made up of rounded 
grains. 

Tension of the grains. — A crystalline building stone (e. </., granite, gneiss, marble, etc.) is made up almost 
entirely of imperfect crystals of its constituent minerals (of calcite, in a marble — of quartz, feldspar, etc., in a 
granite) closely compacted together, originally with intense mutual pressure. Sometimes no cement intervenes, but 
any two grains remain in close contact at an impalpable invisible line. Such a condition must be sensitive to very 
slight influences, the surfaces of the grains in a building stone being alternately pressed still more tightly together 
or separated to disruption, e. g., by variations of temperature, above all at the extremes of severe cold and frost, 
of burning sunshine, and of fire. A good illustration is found in those marbles which seem to contain no cement in 
their interstices, e. g., the coarse Tuckahoe marble, which soon becomes seamed with cracks, as in the building on 
the corner of Thirty-second street and Broadway. 

In England it has been found that — 

All varieties of Carrara marble have perishable qualities which ought to preclude them from being ever applied to external purposes 
in this country. After exposure to the weather for thirty or forty years, disintegration through its entire mass, but mostly on or near the 
anrface, evidently takes place ; after the lapse of about a century, more or less, according to the quality of the marble, the entire 
substance falls into a kind of sparkling sand, (a) 

Frequent changes of temperature also tend to destroy Carrara marble more rapidly than atmospheric influences ; thus the mantel of 
A chimney-piece is invariably disintegrated long before any other part. 

Contiguity of the grains. — The principle which obtains in the application of an artificial cement, such as 
glue, in the thinnest film, in order to gain the increased binding force, by the closest approach of the cemented surfaces, 
finds its analogy in the building stones. The thinner the films of the natural cement, and the closer the grains of 
the predominant minerals, the stronger and more durable the stone. One source of weakness in our brownstones 
lies in the separation of the rounded grains of quartz and feldspar by a superabundance of ocherous cement. Of 
•course, the further separation produced by fissures, looseuess of lamination, empty cavities and geodes, and excess 
of mica, all tend to deteriorate still further a weak building stone. 

Homogeneity. — A great difference of the hardness, texture, solubility, etc., in the material of the grains of 
a rock and of their cement, or of the successive laminae, renders the weathering unequal, roughens the surface, 
and increases the sensibility of the stone to the action of frost. So also softer patches, of more easily decomi^osed 
veins and layers in the stone, produce unequal weathering, hollows, furrows, and projecting ridges. Even a 
hard crystalline and otherwise durable stone may be materially weakened by these defects. Illustrations of this are 
found in the same varieties of the dolomitic marbles, with irregularly mixed constituents, from the old quarries at 
Kingsbridge, on New York island, and in Westchester county. 

C. CHARACTER AIs'D POSITION OF SURFACE. 

The rough or polished condition of the surface of the stone, its inclination from a vertical plane, and the position 
in which it stands with reference to the sun and to the prevailing direction of the wind, all constitute important 
elements of its durability. 

Smooth dressing or polish. — It is generally assumed, and rightly, in the climate of New York, that 
a smooth or polished surface tends to protect a stone by facilitating the rapid discharge of rain-water from its 
surface. The present condition of most of our smoothly-dressed granite fronts seems to confirm the general accuracy 
of this opinion. Nevertheless some anomalies occur. It has been observed in London that, in the modern buildings, 
decay progresses far more rapidly than in the ancient, and it has been queried whether this may not in some way 
be due to the application of machinery. 

A series of observations by Professor Pfaff, of Erlingen, Germany, in reference to granite, syenite, etc., have 
shown, among other results, that the superficial loss in a century, by exposure to the weather, may amount, on 
unpolished granite, to 0.007C""", on polished granite to 0.00S5""'". 

These conclusions in regard to the moie rapid weathering of polished granite yet need confli-mation by more 
extended observations in other localities. But an investigation is yet needed to determine whether the vibration 
of the surface of a stone, produced by the jar of the machinery employed in sawing or polishing, as well as the 
brui.sing produced by the friction of the sand, diamond-saws, etc., and still more, the strain and pressure produced 
by the impact of the' blows of chisel and hammer, in smooth and rough dressing, do not produce superficial changes 
of tension, minute fissures produced by the separation of surfaces of feeble adherence (e. g., on smooth planes of 

a Gwilt's £Bcyc. of Arch., p. 491. 



380 BUILDINa STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

tabular flakes of feldspar, scales of mica, etc.), cracks in brittle minerals (e. g., quartz), microscopic clefts along 
cleavage planes (e. g., of tlie feldspars), slight disruption of grains from the adhering cement, etc. If these actions 
do occur in stone-working, and especially if they reach a sensible depth, as I believe, they may partly account for 
the anomalous loss of polish and rapid peeling away of successive layers from the surfaces of dressed granites and 
freestones. The very dressing, so agreeable to the eye, may actually present the surface of the weaker stones in 
the worst possible condition to resist atmospheric attack. 

On the other hand, a roughness of the surface favors the deposition of street-dust, smoke, etc. In France — 

The beautiful marble sculptures of the park of Versailles will, within the nest fifty years, become, through its means, unsightly 
and ugly masses of dirt, and eventually he irretrievably lost. Dr. Robert recently called attention io the fronts of the Bourbon and Mazarin 
palaces, that of the legislators, the mint, and others, which by this influence are hastening to decay, and even more rapidly in proportion 
as the' ornamental carvings promote the deposition of dirt and dust, (a) 

It has been shown that in New York these substances have been observed to exert a deleterious influence by 
chemical corrosion of the stone on which they rest. Being chiefly organic in material and absorbent of moisture 
they also furnish a suitable nidus for the growth of minute plants, e. (/., lichens, confervw, mosses, etc., whose erosive 
action has been already mentioned. However, there is no doubt that under certain circumstances, not yet understood, 
a crust of dirt, smoke, and soot may act as a preservative to the stone, as observed by E. G. Eobins and A. Billing, 
on St. Paul's and on Hanover chapel, London, on the church of St. John's, in Southwark, etc. ; the same is true 
also of at least some of the vegetable growths — certain lichens which flourish in the dusty deposits. 

Inclination and position. — Sufficient reference has already been made to the influence of these conditions 
in many ways on the durability of stone. The illustrations are without number throughout the older streets of our 
city, in the decayed state of those surfaces of stone which are horizontal, and on which rain-water, slush, snow, and 
ice may rest ; of those on the south side of cross-streets, and the west side of the avenues running north and 
south, which are exposed to the driving rain of northeast gales, etc. Thus, in the towers of the church on the 
northwest corner of Clinton and Pacific streets, Brooklyn, the brownstone on its front, which faces the east, is 
peeling off in patches in many places, while the south face of the towers remains apparently unattacked. 

Again, on surfaces which are liable to be water-soaked, but which may be sheltered from the sun and wind, 
the moisture does not quickly dry out, and here especially the decay may be very rapid. The soffits of arches and 
lintels, the shady sides of window-jambs, and the shady parts of carvings, etc., are among the first portions of a 
building to decay. From this cause, or from the leaking of a rain-water leader, the surface of a whole pilaster may 
peel off, as in the building on the southeast corner of Eighteenth street and Fourth avenue, New York. 

Method op pointing op masoney. — The admitted energetic agencies of decay — frost, solution, hydration, 
etc. — have been largely favored by the imperfect and hasty construction of the masonry throughout the city, its 
joints when new often admitting a trowel. A cement-mortar of poor quality is largely employed, and, soon dropping 
out, the joints are often allowed t6 remain open for years. The atmospheric attack is thus made, as it were in 
flank, directly through the exposed edges of the outer laminae of the stone, and the decay rapidly affects the stone 
to a considerable depth, several inches in many cases, and even throughout the entire block, although the exfoliation 
may appear superficial. 

Erection on edge op lajviination. — Instances are very rare iu this city where the stone has been laid "on 
its bed", with a deliberate regard to its durability: e. g., a few houses on Fifth avenue above Fifty-first street,' the 
new wings of the Astor library, etc. On the other hand, from mere convenience in construction, many buildings, 
especially of our older churches, are fortunately so constructed, the blocks having been small and square and 
conveniently so laid. In some instances (e. g., the cliurch on the southeast corner of Thirty-fifth street and Fifth 
avenue) blocks occur iu both positions and in both are affected by incipient decay; in others [e. g., the church on 
southwest corner of Twenty-first street and Fifth avenue) the blocks, although all on bed, are often deeply decayed. 
In the old city hall, erected in 1812, the north face, although on the side usually least affected by decay, presents 
the brownstone of its ashlar set on edge and exfoliating in entire sheets, often traversed by fissures across the 
lamination, parallel to the joints. Notwithstanding these warnings, most of our newest edifices exhibit the same 
faulty construction : e; g., the sandstone (from Massachusetts) iu the trimmings and even i^artly in the pillars of the 
Union League Club building, on Fifth avenue, the fine new residences iu the upper jiart Of Madison avenue, the 
trimmings etc., in the huge new buildings for " flats " and business offices throughout the city, often nine to eleven or 
more stories in height, iu whose walls the crushing force exerted upon this soft stone must be excessive. 

ExposuEE to the sun. — Again, subjection to wide differences of temperature on different faces, e. </., those 
produced by the burning heat of our summer sun on the western faces of buildings, renders the stone liable to crack 
from unequal contraction and expansion, and produces, on a laminated rock, separation along the planes of lamination, 
and, on a comiiact rock, an exfoliation in concentric crusts allied to that of common occurrence in nature on outcrops 
or bowlders of grauite and trap. The former is abundantly illustrated in the marked decay and splitting observed 
on the western faces of the tombstones iu Trinity church-yard, the cemetery at New Utrecht, etc., described beyond. 
The ashlar at the base of the steeple of the church at Thirty-seventh street and Fifth aveuite is beginning to 
decay on the south side, but not on the north or east sides (the west side not beiug visible). Other examples are 

a Manufacturer and Suilder, 1871, III, p. 150. 



NEW YORK CITY AND VICINITY. 381 

seeu ou the browustone stoops of our cross (east and west) streets, where the western face of the dark stone is 
rapidly disintegrated and exfoliated, while the eastern face remains much longer iu perfect condition. The stone 
balusters of the balustrades of balconies and the sides of high stoops are, from their slender form, peculiarly 
sensitive ; they disintegrate and exfoliate rapidly ou their san-exposed sides, and become split, ragged, and reduced 
within five years to a wretched condition, especially when the bedding plane is exposed to the sun. Little rule is 
obser\'ed by stone-cutter or builder in regard to the position of planes of bedding in work of such delicate character 
as the sloue rails, balusters, and posts of stoops and balconies, the planes lying and facing in every direction, 
sometimes uniform in a particular stoop, sometimes differing — vertical, horizontal, or even sometimes oblique, and 
directed to all points of the compass — thougli in general the planes are vertical in the balusters of a stoop and stand 
either parallel or perpendicular toward the front of the building. The decay is much more rapid in the coarse 
brownstone, though apparent on the light-colored freestones, and affects the western side of balusters on the cross- 
streets and the southern side on the avenues. It seems to be somewhat delayed wherever the edges of the layers 
hajjpen to face toward the sun, i. e., to the west on cross-streets and to the south on avenues, in Kew York city. 

In general it may be stated that all the influences of driving winds, acid vapors, pelting rains, burning sun, 
etc., are less destructive by far than the quiet action of rain-water or thawing snow dripping and soaking down 
continuously from any projection or hollow in which water or snow may lodge. A good illustration is found in the 
synagogue on the southeast corner of Sixty third street and Lexington avenue, in the fresh, unaltered condition of 
all its vertical faces of light freestone, and the extensive discoloration which has attacked the face of the pediment 
of its front portico from water soaking through its roof, and the discolored streaks which run down the inner 
corners of its towers. 

4.— METHODS OF TEIAL. 

The methods now in vogue are to a large extent so superficial and empirical, so unsatisfactorily confirmed by the 
practical results attained, as to have elicited from many an opinion akin to that expressed by a member of the London 
Society of Arts. His impression was, and it was borne out by the opinions of many practical men, " that when a stone 
was once out of the quarry it was almost imi^ossible to say whether it was a good stone or a bad one ". It has long 
been recognized that there are two ways in which we can form a judgment of the durability of a building stone, 
which may be distinguished as the natural and the artificial. 

A. NATURAL METHODS. 

These must always take the precedence wherever they can be used in any locality, because they refer, first, to the 
exact agencies concerned in the atmospheric attack upon a stone, and secondly, to long periods of time far beyond 
the reach of artificial experiment. 

A memorable investigation, in which the main dependence was rested apparently upon this class of methods, 
was that instituted by the British parliament in the royal commission apjjointed in 1837 for the selection of the stone 
to be used in the houses of iiarliament. This commission consisted of four persons : the architect. Sir Charles Barry ; 
two geologists, Sir Henry De La Beche and Dr. William Smith ; and Mr. C. H. Smith, a jtractical man, well 
acquainted with the working of stone, occasionally assisted by Dr. Buckland and Professor Phillips, and, iu the 
chemical dei)artmeut, by Professors Daniell and Wheatstone. From the study of the outcrops in neighboring 
quarries and the weathering in several old buildings in Yorkshire, the commission recommended the use of the 
stone from the Norfal quarries, North Anston, ten miles east of Sheffield, and were discharged. The execution of 
this recommendation was put in incompetent and irresjjonsible hands, without government superintendence. 
Consequently the stone of the Norfal quarries having been adjudged too small for the purpose, and also those of a 
neighboring quarry, resort was finally had to a stone not covered by the report of the commission, and of this the 
houses of parliament were mainly erected in 1840. It proved of such inferior character that the decay, immediately 
setting iu, attracted attention even in 1845, and has since led to extensive and costly efforts for the purpose of repair 
and preservation. 

Examination of quarry-outcrops. — Much information of the highest value may be obtained, especially in 
the northern United States, where the results of ancient decomposition have been planed off by glacial action, 
from a study of the old natural exposures of a stone to the atmosphere at or near the quarry from which it was 
taisen, with allowance for the conditions which may there prevail at present, or which probably existed in pre- 
glacial time. However, it has been pointed out that " the length of time they have been exposed, and the changes 
of actions to which they may have been subjected, during, perhaps, long geological periods, are unknown ; and 
since different quarries may not have been exposed to the same action, they do not always afford definite data for 
reliable comparative estimates of durability, except where different specimens occur in the same quarry ". (a) Within 
the district allotted to this report only three building stones are found iu place: The trap of the Palisades and of 
Staten island, whose exposed surfaces are almost always smooth, and whose crust of disintegration, rarely reaching 
a half inch in thickness, implies a power of excellent resistance to atmospheric attack; the gneiss of Kew York 
and Long islands, which often becomes deeply discolored along some planes, but even then, in its common siliceous 
variety, retains most of its toughness and strength ; and the dolomitic marbles of the old quarries of Kiugsbridge 

a Report of Commiasion to Test Marbles far the Extension of the United Stales Capitol, p. 589, 1851. 



382 BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

and Morrissania, no longer worked, and ofWestchester county, in which a wide variation is shown on the exposures,. 
some surfaces being disintegrated to a pulverulent mass or loose sand, while others remain firm and hard. 

Examination op old masonry. — A study of the surfaces of old buildings, which have been exposed to- 
atmospheric influences for years or centuries, is one of the best sources of reliable information concerning the 
durability of stone, and frequent references to such observations have already been made in this rieport;. 
unfortunately no buildings of great antiquity have resisted the icoDOclasm of our period and remain for study. 
Following, however, the example of Professor Geikie, of Great Britain, in his study of a grave-yard of Edinburgh, 
I have made some studies in those of Kew York and vicinity. It may be remarked that the varieties of stone used' 
in cemeteries for the dead are usually for the most part identical w^.th the building material employed in the 
houses of the living at the same period. Nor could any method be devised for testing so thoroughly, by natural 
means, the elements of durability in any stone as that by which, in the form of a tombstone, it is inserted partly in 
the moist earth, entirely exposed above to the winds, rain, and sun on every side, with its bedding lamination 
standing on edge, and its surface smoothed and polished and sharply incised with inscriptions, carvings, and dates, 
by which to detect and measure the character and extent of its decay. 

The present edifice of Trinity church was constructed during the years 1841-'46 (the first building having been 
erected on that site in 1696). Saint Paul's chapel was erected in 1766, and, although this structure is older than 
that of Trinity, its cemetery is much more recent in its origin. 

Trinity church-yard, New Yorlc city, — A variety of materials is found in the tombstones of this cemetery^ 
one of the oldest inclosed in the city. The observations made on the present condition of the stones have been 
grouped together according t6 the material, disregarding as carefully as possible all stones which showed evidences, 
of repair and recutting. Most of the stones are erect, and stand with their planes in the meridian, L e., their inscribed 
faces fironting the east. 

Eed sandstone, compact, hard, and fine-grained, apparently identical with that of the church building, and 
forming the largely predominating material for the stones : Tomb of Matthew Daniel (1820), west side split off, but 
general condition otherwise good, and inscriptions sharp ; also, several tombstones in vicinity in same condition, , 
with more or less splitting along lamination on their western faces, e. g., those of John Child (1808), John Wilson 
(1805), Peter B. Ustick (1791), Jane Slidell (1770), John Waddell (1762), Joseph Penn (1763), Charles Burleigh 
(1757), and many others; tombstone of children of John and Mary Bard (1796), much eroded, and splitting on both 
sides. Two of the oldest stones, those of Jeremiah Eeding (1722) and Eichard Churcher (1681), are in very fair 
condition, the inscriptions being sharp, and only a slight tendency to splitting beginning to show on the west side 
of the top of the stone. 

Graywacke or blue-stone, probably from the Catskills or central New TOrk: Tombstone of Eemington 
Stephenson (1730), in excellent condition, but west side beginning to decay; that of Mary Corrin (1730), perfect on 
both sides ; inscriptions sharp on both stones. 

Black slate, probably imported : Tombstone of John Daley (1774), in very good condition, only a slight decay 
roughening the west side ; that of Anne Churcher (1691), both faces and edges perfect and the inscriptions sharp. 

Gray slate, perhaps from the Catskills : Tombstone of George Carpender (1730), inscription sharp, slight erosion 
on west face. 

Green hydromicaceous schist, probably from western part of Connecticut or Massachusetts : Tombstone of 
Joshua Amy (1742), in excellent condition, only the west face being slightly worn. 

White oolitic limestone, fossiliferous, probably imported from England : Tombstone of John and James Searle 
(1736), in excellent condition. 

Eine white marble, apparently from Carrara, Italy : Inscription and date obliterated, full of minute cracks on 
both faces. 

White marble, probably from western Massachusetts: Tombstone of Lars Nannestad (1807), and that of 
Alexander Hamilton (1804), both in fair condition, but worn on the north face. 

Saint Pavl's church-yard. — One variety of fine-grained sandstone predominates, dating from 1813 back to 1768. 
The finest-grained and most compact are often in perfect condition (J. J., 1768), but many coarser or more laminated 
stones, and sometimes fine and compact stones, are very badly split, and show exfoliation near the ground (A. Van 
B., 1813), sometimes with fissures across the stone (J. A., 1813). The splitting begins, as usual, near the west face 
and near the edges. 

As to marble, the stones here date from 1851 back to 1798, and consist of a coarse white marble. It weathers 
grayish-white, and becomes roughened. Only a small proportion of the stones are split. About one-tenth have 
their inscriptions entirely obliterated, and this fact, due doubtless to the acid rain-waters of the city, was not observed 
in the suburban cemeteries ; in one case (A. W., 1851) it has been largely affected in a little over thirty years. 

The old Butch cemetery at Neio Utrecht, Long island. — At this little village, which lies on the southern outskirts 
of Brooklyn, most of the tombstones are erect, in good condition, and face the east. The materials used are the 
following : 

Eine-grained sandstone, of a warm red to reddish-brown color, resembling the stone of Little Ealls, New Jersey. 
As a rule the stones of this kind are in excellent condition, especially in proportion to their fineness of grain, and 



NEW YORK CITY AND VICINITY. 353 

universally preserve the sharpness of their inscriptions. Their dates observed range from 1812 back to 1743, and 
out of twenty-five noted the following may be referred to: Jacques Denyse (1811), very fine-grained, inscriptions 
and tool marks perfect; John Van Duyue (1801), in perfect condition; Eutgert Denyse (1795), very fine-grained 
stone, inscrijition remarkably perfect, even to the finest flourishes; Jacques Denyse (1791), in good condition, a 
small fragment lost from top edge ; Jacobus L. Lefierts (1785), very fine-grained, and in perfect condition; Abraham 
Duryee (1743), stone perfectly preserved. 

Graywacke, light gray, and thinly laminated : S. Barre (1852), stone split throughout, especially on the wesfc 
face. 

Blue marble : Catharine Groenendyke (1797), stone in excellent condition, hard and smooth on the west face, 
but slightly roughened and pulverulent on the east face. 

Mottled black and white marble : Mercy Grenendyck (1794) and Nicholas Grenendyck (1795), in perfect condition 
in both form and sharpness of inscription, the west undressed face being hard, but the surface of the east face, top, 
and sides being somewhat roughened and pulverulent. 

Eed laminated sandstone, probably from New Jersey: W. W. Barre (1854), the east face in perfect condition, 
but the top and west face beginning to split ; Cornelius Van Brunt (1850), the faces in good condition, but a fissure 
in the lamination behind the east face; Ann Schenck (1824), stone split along the lamination next the west face, and 
also with a vertical fissure across the lamination of the stone near and parallel to the north edge; William Barre 
(1826), and Eebecca Johnson (1821), a stone with alternating red and gray lamiuse (like that used in the Flatbnsh 
cemetery), thoroughly split up throughout, along the lamination, and with fragments lost from the top. 

White marble, rather fine grained, and for the most x^art from Vermont, stones dated from 1847 back to 1828, 
with usually their inscriptions perfect (for example, the stone of Thomas Clark, 1831), their west faces in good 
condition, but their tops, sides, and east faces more or less roughened and i)ulverulent ; the stone of J. Lefierts 
(1828), is in good condition except on the west face, which is much split, apparently by the sun. 

Granite from Quincy, Massachusetts, and Aberdeen, Scotland, in a few stones dating only from 1876 back to 
1856, and of course in perfect condition. The varieties of stone have been arranged above in about the order in 
■which they seem to have come into general use. In regard to their durability it may be stated in general : 

1. The fine-grained red sandstone, probably from Little Falls, New Jersey, has presented a remarkable resistance 
to weathering, always proportioned to its fineness of texture, generally in excellent condition after a period of more 
than a century. 

2. The laminated sandstone, brought later into use, has been a poor material, yielding miserably, apparently 
to the heat of the sun, in less than a half century. 

3. All the marbles used have resisted the sun in almost every case, but show by the roughened, pulverulent 
condition of their sides and eastern faces that their decomposition is slow but gradual, and only a question of 
sufiScient though perhaps long time. 

A point of difference between the stones of this cemetery, in an open country village on the outskirts 
of Brooklyn, and those of Trinity church-yard, in New York city, is shown in the abundance of lichens which are 
found in the former. Three varieties seem to occur: oue, a bright green, confined in its growth to the top of the 
stones ; another, of orange color, scattered over the upper part of the west face, exposed to the afternoon sunshine, 
and rarely seen on the east face ; and another of light green color, abounding as a crust over the east face. No 
particular eifect of corrosion by these growths was noticed, either upon sandstone or marble ; on their removal the 
surface beneath was found to be fresh, and had apparently been only protected from weathering. 

Flatbush cemetery. — In the old cemetery of the village of Flatbush, Long Island, on the northeastern outskirts 
of Brooklyn, the tombstones are nearly all vertical, and face the east. White marble predominates largely, but 
the oldest stones consist of sandstone. 

Eed sandstone, usually very fine grained and compact, and apparently the variety from Little Falls, New 
Jersey. The stones vary in date from 1804 back to 1754: Eebecca Suydam (1797), and Marrytie Ditmarse (1797), 
both faces of these stones in excellent condition; Hylletie Martens (1779), a light reddish-gray stone, in good 
condition, only the top being a little roughened ; Abraham Lott (1754), the inscription perfect, and only a few 
fragments chiijped from the top. 

Eed laminated sandstone, often very fine grained, largely made up of two materials, reddish-brown and light 
reddish-gray, in thin alternations from one-half to 1 inch thick. The stones vary in date from 1822 back to 1754 : Maria 
AUen (1820), with sharp inscription, but many fissures in the lamination; Peter Neefus (1820), the stone in excellent 
condition, covered with sectioits of long cylindrical markings, perhaps fucoidal ; Leffert Lefierts (1800), the stone 
traversed by fissures along the lamination, and also vertically across it in lines parallel to the edges and about an 
inch from the edge; Adriantie Lefferts (1761), like the preceding; Gelijam Cornel (1754), decidedly laminated in 
structure, but in excellent conditiou. 

Tremolitic white dolomite marble, perhaps from the old quarries of New York and Westchester counties, fine- 
grained to quite coarse in texture, and often sprinkled with grains and flakes of tremolite, sometimes several inches 
in length. The stones vary in date as follows: E. Aldworth (1851)^ the stone facing westward, and with minute 
fissures abounding over the top and the southern edge; A. Lloyd (1847), the stone in good condition, still retainiug 



334 BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

most of its polished surface, even on the tremolite; J. P. ISTeefus (1847), surface of stone rough and pulverulent, so 
that the rough, gray appearance usually distinguishes stones of this material from some distance ; Mary Van Siclen 
(1S32), the top and west face roughened one-third of the way down, the remainder being much less roughened ; W. 
Eiley (1811), smooth for a height of about a foot from the ground, and roughened above. 

Fine white marble, probably of Carrara, the stones varying in date from 1859 to 1801 ; E. Duclois (1836), 
somewhat rough and pulverulent all over the surface; IsT. E. Coweuhoven (1809) and J. Yanderbilt (1801), both 
horizontal tablets, more or less blackened in spots by a minute lichen (probably the Lepra antiguitatis), etc. 

Fine white marble, sometimes with gray streaks, probably from Vermont ; the stones are of recent date, from 
1855 to 1730 : Charity Van der Veer (1836), the entire surface of the stone pulverulent, rubbing easily off into fine 
sand; Femetie and Peter Stryker (1730), roughened down to a foot from the ground, where the polish remains. 

The lichens abound here also on the tops of the stones, but have been mostly cleaned off their faces. The 
same general conclusions may be here deduced, in regard to their durability, as in the similar varieties observed at 
I>few Utrecht. It is a curious circumstance, in all these cemeteries, that the stones display no exfoliation or decay 
near the ground, the polished surface often remaining perfect ; above, the action of the sun on the western faces, 
and of northeast storms on the eastern faces, are apparent as usual. 

B. ARTIFICIAL METHODS. 

The various text-books on building-construction describe in detail many methods of trial of building stone ; 
e. g., of solubility in acids ; of absorptive power, by soaking in water and determination of increase of weight; of 
power to resist the expansion due to frost, by actual freezing, or by saturation in saturated solution of sodium- 
sulphate (Brard's method) ; of strength to resist crushing, bending, or tension, by the application of pressure or 
force in various ways, etc. 

It is unnecessary to make any reference here to these descriptions, except in regard to their antique and 
unsatisfactory character, and to the apparent ignorance of the appliances now within the reach of students of the 
modern science of lithology, which can readily be used to reveal the true nature of a building stone and the elements 
of its durability, e. g., the study of its surface under the microscope, or of "Slices ground so thin as to be transparent, 
or of its individual mineralogical constituents separated by means of their difference in specific gravity, or by means 
of the almost endless resources of micro-chemistry. The careful and well-digested circular of the department of 
building stones, issued by the late curator of the National Museum, Mr. George W. Hawes, whose recent decease 
has been universally deplored as a great loss to science and to the work now in progress in this field, has given a 
suggestion of the wide dej)arture from the old and incomplete methods which is at last called for, in order to advance 
our knowledge of the proper application and practical use of building stones, under the light of modern discovery. 

One important method, long in use, is the determination of the absorptive powers of a stone. A granite which 
absorbs water to over half of 1 per cent, of its weight is open to the suspicion of doubtful durability. Similar 
caution needs to be observed in the choice of freestones in our own climate. 

Any sauflstone weighiug less than 130 pounds per cubic foot, absorbing more than 5 per cent, of its weigbt of water in twenty-four 
hours, and effervescing anything but feebly with acid, is likely to be a second-class stone, as regards durability, where there is frost or 
much acid in the air. 

It is here pertinent to refer briefly to some significant results obtained by Professor John C. Draper, of this 
city, in experiments on two of our most common building stones, in comparison with brick. 

Fragments of each of the materials were soaked in a saturated solution of sodium sulphate for four hours, then 
allowed to dry and crj'stallize for twenty hours, then freed from loosened material by washing off by means of a 
fine jet of water from a wash-bottle. This operation was repeated eight times, i. e., eight days, with the following 
results, the first column of figures representing the loss of substance, by weight, in 10,000 parts : 

Loss. Hatio. 

Nova Scotia stone : 441 18 

Brownstone 191 8 

Eed brick 74 3 

White brick 24 1 

As Professor Draper has pointed out, these results only tend to show that frost is not the main agent of the 
initial disintegration in the climate of New York, since it is not the Nova Scotia stone, but the brownstone, which 
suffers the most severely and rapidly from decay. 

A quicker method employed was to heat the specimens to a temperature of about 600° Fahr., and quench them, 
while hot, in cold water. This method of trial yielded the following comparative results : 

Loss. Hatio. 

Nova Scotia stone , 597 14 

Brownstone 202 5 

Redbrick 82 2 

White brick 43 1 

These results appear very significant, especially in relation to the power of brick and stone to resist the destroying 
action of great conflagrations. 



NEW YORK CITY AND VICINITY. 



385 



Again, to determine the extent of tlio action of acid vapors in the air upon the building stone, fragments of the 
same materials were digested in dihite acids, and the following results were obtained: 

Lo83. Katio. 

Brownatono ai6 30 

Nova Scotia stone 06 9 

Eed brick 33 5 

White brick 7 1 

On this subject Professor Draper remarks : 

From tills it would appear that the reason the browustone disintegrates so rapidly in our city is its greater susceptibility to the 
action of the acid products of organic dccoiiipositiou and combustion ; where the cemeating material is dissolved or weakened, and pores 
and fissures in the rock being opened, it is less liable to resist the attack of frost. The Nova Scotia stone, on the contrary, is a more 
friable material than the browustone ; yet, being less acted upon by the acid waters, it resists the process of decay better. 

On the other hand, Dr. Page has obtained the following results, by Brard's process, on 1-inch cubes of several 
building stones used in this city, which do not confirm Professor Draper's results : 



Specific gravity. 




Coarse dolomitic marble , Pleasantville, New York . 

Close-grained sandstone Little Falls, New Jersey. 

Coarse-grained sandstone 1 Connecticut 

Fine-grained sandstone ' Connecticut 

Coarse-grained sandstone Nova Scotia 

Light dove-colored sandstone Seneca, Ohio 

Hard brick 

Soft brick ; 



Many experiments have been made to determine the crushing strength of building stones, an element which 
probably bears some relationship, at least in a general way— exactly what, it has never been determined — to their 
durability. The resulrs in regard to the building stones used in New York, according to various authorities, are 
given in table on pages 3.30-3o5. The,\' have been collected from various publications, mainly the reports of 1874 
and 1875, bv General Q. A. Gillutore, on the compressive strength, specific gravity, and ratio of absorption of 
the building stones of the United States, and a report of the results (communicated to me by Mr. F. E. CoUingwood, 
an engineer of the New York and Brooklyn bridge) of the trials by Mr. ProlJasco, of the dock department of this city, 
on the stones employed in the bridge. A point yet needing investigation, but apparently as yet disregarded, is 
whether the crushing strength of a stone, as determined on the bed, may be affected, i)ossibly diminished, by the 
reversal of its original position; a fact probably of common occurrence, since the original toji of a block is rarely 
marked. 

Other experiments have been made, too limited and imperfect for quotation here, such as those by Professor 
Joseph Henry and the United States commission in 1851, and by Professor Walter 1\. Johnson in 1852, to determine 
the amount of material thrown oti' from American marbles, etc., by repeated freezing and thawing, etc. 

In this connection we may refer to the ex])erimeuts made by Dr. Hiram A. Cutting, of Vermont, on a series of 
American sandstones, in regard to specific gravity, weight, absorptive power, and resistance to fire. The results 
on varieties like those used in New York city are quoted in the following table {The Weeldy Underwriter, 1880, Vol. 
XXII, p. 288): 







1 


1 . 


e- 




• 








Local name. 


Locality. 




^ . 


Heated at 
600° F. 


Heated at 
800° 1'. 


Heated at 
900° F. 


Heated at 
1,000° F. 


Heated at 
higher temper- 
atures. 






1* 


^. 


& 


















Pounds. 


1-t- 27 
1-f 27 


Not injured. 
do 


Not iiyured- 
do 












2.168 


135.5 


Cracks badly - 
Not injured- -. 


SpoUed 

Slight injury.. 




Montroae stone 


Ulster county. New York 


2,661 


166.3 


1+314 


...do 


.. do 


StandB well. 


Freestone 


Belleville. New Jersey 


2.350 


146.8 


1+27 


...do 


...do 


Cracks 


Friable 








2.424 




1+240 
1+19 


do 


do 


do 


do 




Carboniferous sandstone. -- 


Br. PhUips, Nova Scotia 


2.353 


147.0 




...do 


Crumbles 


Cracks and 
crumbles. 




Freestone 


Dorchester, Nl-w Brunswick 


2.363 


147.7 


1+26 


...do 


Cracks 


Cracks and 
crumbles. 


...do 












1+22 
1+20 
1+18 
1+28 




Not injured. 










































Brownstone 


Hummelstown, Pennsylvania. . . 


2.346 


146.6 


...do 


.. do 


Cracks 


Crumbles 




Potsdam sandstone 


Beaaharnois, Quebec 


2. 512 


157.0 


1+ 38 


.. do 


...do 


... do 


.--.do 





* It is claimed that tliose figures understate the true ' 

-25 B s 



eight, -which is said to approximate 155 pounds. 



386 BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

5.— MEANS OF PEOTBGTION AND PEESEEVATION. 

We have uext to cousider, first, the natural principles, very commonly neglected, which should be considered 
in the construction of stone buildings in the climate of New York city, and, secondly, the artificial means which 
may yet be applied for the i^reservation of our crumbling edifices. 

A. NATURAL PRINCIPLES OF CONSTRUCTION. 

These may be simply divided as follows : 

Selection. — British architects have sometimes become so discouraged at their ill-success in fighting the 
elements for the safety of the materials they emjiloy in construction, that the recommendation has been made to 
discard the soft freestones commonly in use, and resort entirely to the " igneous rocks ", so called, in polished blocks, 
e. g., granite, basalt, serpentine, etc. 

Mr. 0. H. Smith, one of the commissioners on the houses of parliament, makes a statement (a) which is as 
applicable in the latitude of New York as in that of London. 

Tlie chief cause of defective stone being used rested -witli the architects. A young architect would like to make as much display as 
■he could for little money. To make a great show, he used a cheaj) description of stone. It was generally put into the contract that the 
hest materials only should be used, but it might be a ciirestion whether young architects, or even old practitioners, knew what was really 
good stono, .and they would not apjjly to those who did. The builder naturally preferred a soft stone, because it was easily worked and 
yielded him the largest profit. , 

Oue of the most important principles in the selection of stones for our climate is that " porous stones should not 
be used for the copings, parapets, window-sills, weather bed of cornices, plinths, strings, or other parts of a building 
where water may lodge ". Such rocks when used should be carefully tested for absorptive power; a granite which 
absorbs water to over one-half of 1 per cent, of its weight, is open to the suspicion of doubtful durability. Similar 
caution needs to be observed in the choice of freestones in our own climate. 

Any sandstone weighing less than 130 pounds per cubic foot, absorbing more than 5 per cent, of its weight of 
water in twenty-four hours, and effervescing more than feebly with acid, is likely to be a second-class stone, as 
regards durability, where there is frost or much acid in the air. 

The following statement by an English authority is of interest, not only because Caen stone has frequently been 
brought to New York in small quantities, and was once emj^loyed in construction of the fronts of the old building 
of the Nassau bank, corner of Nassau and Beekman streets, and of others, and is still used for interior work, but 
from its applicability to our native soft limestone-freestones: 

Experience proves that Caen stone will not resist the dissolving power of water charged with car-bonicacid gas ; and as the r.iin -water of 
our large towns contains a cousiderable quantity of that gas, it is not expedient to employ this stone in any situation where water is likely 
to lodge or even to be taken up by capillary action,' unless indeed the projecting parts be protected by metal. In upright walling above 
the plinths, and iu the sheltered portions of cornices, it can be employed when judiciously selected ; and in internal work, with safety and 
economy. The bedding of the stone should be observed. 

Mr. G. Godwin, F. E. S., of London, England, states, in regard to this stone, that much of it is really good, but 
affords only small blocks. That which is brought into England — 

cannot be depended on and ought not to be used iu external work. With regard to Buckingham palace, where Caen stone was used, 
that was perhaps the most remarkable failure that ever was witnessed. He recollected seeing the new front of that palace about a 
year or a year and a half after it was finished (1847), and he found many parts in a state of perfect ruin. Large masses of stone were 
in the habit of falling from the cornices, to the great danger of the sentinels below, and the result was the necessitj' of knocking off vast 
portions of the decorations and making them good with cement, painting them several times, with a frequent necessity for repeating that 
costly process. 

Again, in regard to Westminster abbey, an English writer (&) remarks : 

Of the exterior I will say nothing. All its old features had perished by the end of the seventeenth century, when they were vilely 
renewed, and this base restoration is now in its turn decayed. 

The abbey had been built about A. D. 1245, its foundations of ragstone from Maidstone, and the rest of the 
building, of several limestones (Gattou, Caen, etc., and the firestoue from Eeigate and Godstone). It was afterward 
rei)aired with Bath and Portland stones. The greater part of the exterior is now in an advanced stage of decay. 

Again there are certain rules of selection, often of local peculiarity, which are yet to be worked out, which 
refer to the adaptation of a stone to durability iu certain positions, exposures, or parts of a building. A few such 
rules may be suggested as indicated by the study of the forms of decay in this city. 

1. No temptation of cheap cost or facility of carving should permit the use — almost universal here — of a soft 
freestone in the stoops, balustrades, etc., where exposed to sun, street-dust, and wear, unless protected at least bj"" 
some artificial means. 

2. The finest-grained varieties of brownstone, with imperfect lamination, may be introduced with advantage for 
the projections and those parts most liable to decay, even where coarse material is generally employed in the 
front. 

a Jour. Soc. Arts, London, 1860, Vol. 8, p. 249. 6 Gilbert Scott: Mediwval AroMiecture, Vol. I, p. 176. 



NEW YORK CITY AND VICINITY. ^87 

3. The life of a browustouo is more apt to be prolonged iu a shady but dry exposure, e. g., on the south side of 
an east and west street, or the west side of a north and south avenue, the shady side of a stoop, etc., if care is taken 
to prevent the dripping of rain or thawing snow ; if not, this position may render it the more liable to decay. 
Accordingly, a light-colored or more durable stone may be best selected for sun-exposed faces, where possible. 

A porous absorbent stone should not be employed at or below the ground line, and the absori^tiou of moisture 
fi-om below should be prevented by the interjjosition of some impermeable material, as a damp-proof course. 
Attention to this rule would have prevented the decay which is shown at the base of most of our brownstone 
buildiugs of the earlier construction, usually to a height of one or two feet above the ground line, but sometimes 
two or three yards, as iu the building on the southeast corner of Eighteenth street and Fourth avenue; almost the 
only decay visible iu the excellent sandstone used in Trinity church, New York, is of this nature, extending about a 
yard above the ground. This experience has borne some fruit in our city, and the insertion of the close-grained 
compact graywacke or ''blue-stone", or sometimes a granite, into the base of most of the recently-erected brownstone 
fronts, even as a narrow band at the earth line, probably tends to prevent, by its less porosity, the rise of water 
into the sandstone, and so to delay its disintegration. 

Seasoning. — Vitruvius, the Eoman architect, two thousand years ago, recommended that stone should be 
quarried in summer when driest ; that it should be seasoned hy being allowed to lie two years before being used, 
so as to allow the natural sap to evaporate, and that it should be tested as to its wasting. Little regard seems now 
to be paid to this condition, the stone being hurried from the quarry into the building. 

It is a notable fact that in the erection of St. Paul's cathedral in Loudon, England, Sir Christopher Wren 
requireil that the stone, after quarrying, should be exposed to season for three years on the sea-beach, before its 
introduction into the building. No such exhibition of carefulness can be witnessed on any sea-beaches in the \'icinity 
of New York city. 

Position. — It has already been stated that, in order to resist the effects of both pressure and weathering, a stone 
should be j)laced on its "natural bed'". This usually indicates the plane of original deposition, but not always, 
contrary to the general statements of the text-books; («) for the lamination may simply be the result of the last 
period of pressure, e. {/., slaty cleavage, iu which Sorby and others have shown a rearrangement of the i)articles, 
scales, and flakes of the constituent minerals into a stable condition of parallelism. This is illustrated in the 
constitution of some varieties of our slates, schists, and "blue-stone", and the injury, caused by ueglect of this 
consideration, in the rapid decay and ruin now in progress in the ashlar of our freestone fronts. The stone of one 
of our oldest buildings. Trinity church. New York, probably owes its excellent preservation in part to the careful 
attention which was given to the position of the blocks, while iu others of comparatively recent erection, though 
constructed of small blocks of brownstone mostly laid "on bed", the surface of the stone has begun to exfoliate, but 
not so rapidly and deeply as iu occasional blocks standing on edge ; for example, many stones below the projecting 
string-courses iu the west front of the church on southeast corner of Thirty-fifth street and Fifth avenue. In many 
of the most recent buildings the proper mode of construction is seen: e. g., the blocks of gneiss in all churches of 
that material; the Indiana limestone in the house on corner of Fifty-seventh street and Fifth avenue; the Potsdam 
sandstone, usually in the uew buildings at Columbia college; the brownstone in residences at Fifth avenue and 
Fifty -first street, and in the lately-erected wings to the Astor library, etc. On the other hand, no attention is paid 
to the matter in the common stone fronts tln-oughout the city, whether brownstone or Nova Scotia stone. Many 
prominent buildings of recent erection show the same disregard of the principle, e. g., the marble ashlar of the 
Union Dime Savings bank, in which a large number of the blocks stand on edge and are in many cases fissured • 
the Lenox library, in which about 40 per cent, of the ashlar consists, in the alternate receding courses, of blocks of 
the Lockport limestone set on edge ; the Drexel building, on the southeast corner of Wall and Bi'oad streets in 
which all the white marble ashlar dressings and even the projecting quoins stand on edge, etc. Indeed, in this 
city the proper arrangement of building stones iu this respect, where apparently observed, has really been rather 
a matter of the builders' convenience, due to the small size or square form of the stones employed, thau of any 
scrupulous attention to the conditions of durability. Other phases of the principle involved in the position of stone 
in a building have been already sufficiently discussed. 

FoKM OF PKOJECTiONS. — The following statement by an English authority possesses even greater claim to 
consideration, in the exigencies of our more severe climate: 

In thia climate water will invariably accumulate upon an exposed projection, and from thence, by the natural laws of gravitation, 
will run downward upon the surface beneath. » » * xhe continued permeation by water must materially injure the durability of any 
Btructnre. Upon brick and stone, especially in winter, is this effect noticeable, when the repeated alternate freezing and thawing rapidly 
affect the quality of materials, and l)y a disintegration of particles impair the strength of the entire mass. « * * All projections from 
a building exposed to the weather should be "throated", that is, a nan-ow groove should be cut, extending the entire length, upon their 
under side. The water gathering upon the upper part of the window-sill, or whatever the projection may chance to be, flows over the 
upper edge to the lower and to the under side of the sill, when, instead of following the surface by the attraction of cohesion and finally 
running down the wall, it is stopped by the groove, and from thence falls to the ground, being unable to further continue its progress 
upon the surface. The complete efficacy of this device and the ease with which it is adopted are moat apparent, and, though it has loug 
been iu use, is rarely introduced among the specifications of an architect. (6) 



a Notes oh Build. Conetriiciion, Part III, p. 9. h The Architect, Loudon, England, 1870. 



388 BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

The severity of our climate even requires the further care that the upper surface of projections should be so 
cut as to i^revent the lodgment or long retention of deposits of either rain-water or snow. It is immediately above 
and below such deposits that the ashlar of our fronts is most rapidly corroded and exfoliated, an effect evidently due 
mainl.y to the repeated thawing and solution, freezing and disintegration, which are caused by the water, slush, and 
snow which rest, often for weeks, upon a window-sill, balcony, cornice, etc. Thus from the initial and inexcusable 
carelessness in the construction and form of the projections, and, later, the neglect of the house-owner, due to 
ignorance of the results involved, to remove the deposits of snow, etc., as fast as they accumulate on the projections, 
is derived a large part of the discoloration of the marble, Nova Scotia stone, or light-colored granite, and especially 
the exfoliation of the browustone beneath the window-sills, balconies, etc., by the water alternately trickliug down 
the front and freezing, by day and by night, for long periods. 

The benefit of this plan is well illustrated on the east, south, and west sides of the city hall of New York city, 
the heavy projecting marble cornice of the string-course above the first story being deeply undercut, and affording 
a complete protection from the rain to the line of dentiiated decoration immediately beneath it. Accordingly the 
latter displays no evidences of decay. On the other hand, the general need of this device is testified by a study of 
the course of the decay which attacks the stone fronts of our buildings. In almost all cases the first part of the ashlar 
to decay is that immediately beneath the windows. If the projecting stone sill is horizontal, or inclines slightly 
outward and downward, the rain water falling upon it, and, still more, that derived from the thawing of the snow 
which lodges in winter upon the sill, flows over the front edge of the sill, over its under surface, and down the 
surface of the ashlar to the lintel of the window below, in a band as wide as the sill above, or sometimes farthest 
along a line beneath the middle of the sill, and so produces a triangular or rectangular patch of moisture on the 
stone, with the aiDex reaching partly or entirely to the lintel of the window below. If, however, the sill inclines 
inward toward the house, the water trickles from one or both ends of the sill in a narrow band down the ashlar. 
After a storm, when the house-front has become rapidly dried, partly from the wind, partly from the free drainage down 
the lamiuation-iilanes of the ashlar standing on edge, the stone sill remains water-soaked from the horizontal position 
of its laminse, or from the thaw of the snow lodged upon it, and these triangular patches or the lateral streaks are kept 
moist, it may be, for days afterward. Throughout that portion of the ashlar, therefore, chemical action by day and the 
work of frost by night continue in progress alternately far longer than elsewhere upon the front. If the material is 
brick the surface is first discolored, the mortar removed from the joints, and at last the surface of the brick itself 
is eroded under the patches or streaks of moisture. Examples of this are seen in the brick fronts of the older 
streets. 

If marble, the surface assumes a dirty yellowish color, the joints are widened, and the surface soon becomes 
roughened. Examples are seen in the marble fronts on the north side of Murray street, between Church street 
and West Broadway, etc. 

If light-colored freestone, a blackish-gray, irregular discoloration begins, which may become very disagreeable 
to the eye, and a serious decay ensues. Examples are seen in fronts on the corner of Christopher street and 
Greenwich avenue, etc. 

If brownstone, the discoloration hardly preced.es the rapid disintegration, the surface peeling off in thin sheets 
over the triangular patches below the windows, or in long vertical streaks or bands on either side to the depth of 
1, 2, or 3 centimeters, even while the general area of the front still retains, in sharp contrast, the smooth surface of 
its original dressing. Examples of this destruction are seen in its first stages all along the lower part of Fifth and 
Madison avenues below Forty-second street, and, still farther advanced, in the older streets. 

If granite, discoloration has been often produced, but the use of this excellent material is too recent in our 
modern city to furnish the evidences, sure to follow, of deeper disintegration. 

Again, the surface of the ashlar exhibits a similar decay just above the lines of projections, e. g., of long 
business sign-boards, heavy string-courses, cornices, the lintels of doors and windows, etc., peeling off in the same 
way as the lowest courses of the front just above the ground line. This, too, seems to be chiefly due to the snow 
which lodges on these surfaces, and, in thawing, keeps moist the surface above. So, also, balconies bring speedy 
destruction to the stone surfaces beneath them, esiiecially if their flooring permits the trickling of water down the 
front, and at the same time shelters it from the sun and wind. Thus, one may see in our streets, for several days 
after a snowfall, entire blocks of the finest residences with their fronts spotted with snow on all projections, 
constantly thawing and freezing, with corroding streams of water trickling their way down the front. In most 
cases these snow deposits on window-sills, lintels, etc., could be as readily swept from their lodgment by means of 
a broom, as they are always removed from the sidewalk. The neglect — which, if a^jplied by our servants to the 
destruction of furniture within the same houses, would be denounced as slovenly carelessness — is simijly due to 
ignorance. 

It requires, therefore, but little observation of our buildings to recognize that, like the beak of the pelican 
tearing its own breast, the sills and similar projections are serving to eat away the material of the front Ijing below. 
A clear understanding of the nature and progress of the erosion, as above described, is first desirable; and this 
seems to indicate the advisability of adopting, for prevention, some simple device in regard to the window-sills, 
such as the choice of impervious material not easily water-soaked (perhaps blue-stone), cut in such form above as 



NEW YORK CITY AND VICINITY 389 

to prevent the easy lodgment of rain-water or snow, and throated with a groove underneath the projection to 
prevent the continuous trickling of water down the front. No such attention appears to be given to the character 
of the window-sills of most buildings by our architects, though the desired result has been obtained, where a 
properly throated string-course or cornice coincides with the sills of a line of windows (e. g., in many churches, in a 
new building of Columbia college, on Forty-ninth street, and also in some churches recently erected), by dispensing 
with an}' projection beneath a window and replacing it by a long slope from a narrow, protected sill into the 
vertical plane of the front — e. </., in the churches on northeast corner of Sixty-sixth street and Madison avenue, etc. 

B. AETIFICIAL MEANS OF PRESERVATION. 

Many methods, mostly empirical, have been suggested for the artificial prevention of the decay of building 
stone, wliich may be here briefly considered, particularly those which have been resorted to in New York and 
the adjacent cities. The descriptions of the processes in detail are given in the text-books, [a) and it will be 
necessary to give in this report only the details of processes locally employed. The preparations recommended for 
this purpose are of two classes, organic and inorganic, according to the nature of tlie materials used. 

1. Organic prepakations. — All the preparations of this class, depending on the application of a coating of 
paint, etc., or on the injection of fatty matters, are in their very nature of a temporary character. They have been 
properly denounced as only costly palliatives, needing frequent repetition, and, therefore, exerting au influence 
toward the destruction of delicate carving. G. E. Burnell remarks on this subject : (6) 

The olijection to oil paints consists in the fact that, iu proportion as the oils which serve as their vehicles evaporate the particles of 
the stone they originally protected become again exposed, and even the absorbent powers of Uie stone itself contribute to this action. It, 
therefore, becomes necessary to repeat the painting frequently, and thus, in the end, the delicacy of any moldings or carving mast be 
effaced. The unequal rates of expansion of the stone and of the oil paints in time of frost tend to increase the danger of irregular and 
uneqn.il exposure above attributed to the evaporation of the oil. 

Professor Ansted, F. R. S., observed on the same occasion : 

It was easy to see that if a stone could be coated in such a way that moisture could not get into it, and provided there was no moisture 
iu the stone already, the thing was done. But the difficulty was to manage this, and it arose from the fact that no paint, no substance 
that contained organic matter, could, by any possibility, be long of any use. It might last for a time, but if it was capable of being acted 
upon by the atmosphere, and became oxidized, then after a time it failed ; the surface peeled oft'aud the moisture got in. The moment 
the moisture got into the stone the mischief began, and the work of destruction would go on as much as if the stone had never been 
covered at all. The difficulty was to find some material which would form a permanent coating iipon the stone, preventing the entrance 
of atmospheric moisture, and doing so in such a manner that it was not liable to decay from the atmospheric influences to which the 
stone was exposed. 

Coal-tar. — This has a special use iu the protection of foundations of weak materials from moisture, the walls 
and masonry of tanks from acid vapors, etc. {c) New York city is fortunately provided with an abundance of 
excellent material for foundations in the underlying gneiss of the island. 

Paint. — In New York I believe this has very rarely been employed for the protection of stone, and could have 
no lasting effect. By its use in repeated coats, however, the durability of the fronts of Caen stone of several buildings 
in the lower parts of the city (e. g., the old building of the Nassau bank, the Tontine building, etc.), has been 
preserved for many years. At Washington a portion of the base of the stoue front of the old Capitol, consisting 
of Potomac marble, was found to be crumbling fi-om rapid decay, and the Secretary of the Interior reported In 
1^9 that "if left wholly unprotected from atmospheric influences for one-third of the time that marble stnictures 
are known to have stood, the noble structure would become a mound of sand". It was subsequently painted, as 
well as the marble of other public edifices, the President's house, etc. In London, paint has been employed to 
protect the Caeu stone of Buckingham palace, erected in 1847, etc. ; the Portland stone of many private and public 
buildings; the maible of monuments, e. g., that in front of Saint Paul's, etc. A coat of paint is said to last hardly 
three years. 

Oil. — This always discolors a light-colored stone, but only produces a darker shade on our brownstone. For 
this it has been applied to several buildings, e. g., the first house on south side of Fifty -fourth street, west of Fifth 
avenue ; a house in Sixtieth street, between Fourth and Madison avenues ; Trinity church, Brooklyn, etc. 

The followiug is the method employed in its application: The surface of the stone is first washed thoroughly 
clean, allowed to dry, then painted with one or several coats of boiled linseed oil. according to the taste of the 
owner, and finally with a weak solution of hartshorn in warm water to produce uniformity of tint. The oil has been 
found to sink about a quarter of an inch into the stone. Any new block afterward inserted into a front thus 
oiled, iu undergoing repairs, will need to be oiled in the same way. A front treated by this process may be 
recognized by its darker color and by the fact that during a rain the water freely runs down the surface, which 
afterward dries more rapidly than an ordinary front. The experience of several builders and house-owners testifies 
that such a coating of oil will last four and even five years, very rarely longer, then becomes grayish, partially 
disappears and requires renewal, and so on repeatedly from period to period. Whenever such a front is taken down, 
it is found also that the greasy coating interferes with the free dre.ssing of the block of stone. 

Paraffine dissolved in coal-tar naphtha (lA pounds to the gallon) and applied warm. This also discolors a 
light stone, and, although more lasting than oil, the protecting coats are gradually detached from the stone and 



a Notes on Build. Coiwtruction, Part III, etc. b Jour. Soc. Arts, Londoh, 1860, Vol. 8, p. 245. c The Mamifacturer and Builder, 1870, 1, p. 78. 



390 BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

require renewal as frequently as those of paint. An apparently better method, which has been employed in our 
western cities, consists in brushing over the surface of the stone- or brick-work with melted paraffine, and then 
deepening its penetration by heating the surface by means of a broad charcoal stove or of a flame. By this the 
oi^ter pores are thoroughly filled, with little or no discoloration; but the absence of injury to sharp edges, through 
the direct application of heat, and the permanence of the protection, are yet to be established. 

Soap and alum solutions (Sylvester's i)rocess), consisting of three-quarters of a pound of mottled or soft soap in a 
gallon of boiling water, and a half pound of alum in 4 gallons of water. In England " this has been repeatedly 
tried and answers well in exposed sitnations, but requires a fresh application about every three or four years". 

Beeswax in coal-tar naphtha, or, better, to preserve the color of the stone, white wax in double-distilled 
camphine. 

Rosin in turpentine, oil, wax, tallow, or other fatty substance, used as a boiling solution into which the stone 
is immersed and imjiregnated to the depth ordinarily of one inch after two hours. Also a solution of rosin in spirits 
of wine or naphtha, mixed with a solution of gutla-percha in naphtha. A common receipt consists of rosin, tallo -y, 
and oil, consisting of IJ pounds common rosin, 1 pound Russian tallow, and 1 quart linseed oil ; applied hot. By 
this the stone becomes water-proof, the damp cannot enter, and vegetable substances are prevented from growing 
upon it. 

However, all such wax and oil varnishes are costly, liable to rapid oxidation, and sometimes impair in a high 
degree the color and the natural characteristics of the stone. In New York city only oil and paint have been used 
for the purpose, to my knowledge, and are objectionable, not only on account of their transient effect, but because a 
surface, once so prepared, is rendered ever after incapable of absorbing preparations of the next class (inorganic), 
from which alone can be ex2)ected permanent protection of the durability of a stone. 

ii. Inorganic prbpaeations. — Water-y'.ass, potassium or sodium siiicaie (Kuhlmann's process), applicable 
only to the preservation of soft limestones and marble, or stones iu which calcium carbonate predominates. 
The surfaces are previously colored to avoid discoloration. The silicate of alkali used should not be the ordinary 
water-glass with an excess of alkali, but one with the greatest possible amount of silica, (a) . This was applied to 
the new houses of parliament, London, England, but the stone was so bad, or the water-glass so alkaline, that the 
result was not as satisfactory as was expected ; also to the Louvre and cathedral of ISTotre Dame in Pai'is, France, 
Versailles, Fontainebleau, the city hall iu Lyons, the cathedral at Chartres, etc. 

St. Charles church in Vienna, Austria, was fast going to destruction, but the decay has been arrested by means 
of this process. Potassium silicate was used, though more costly, because less likely to effloresce than the 
sodium salt ; the two coats applied were perfectly transparent and left the color and the natural qualities of the 
stone unchanged. (&) 

Water-glass and chloride of calcium or of barium (Rausome's indurating solutions). The following directions are 
given for this process : Render the surface of the stone clean and dry ; dilute the potassium or sodium silicate in from 
1 pint to 3 pints of soft water, just thin enough to be absorbed freely by the particular stone. Apply with a whitewash 
brush, say a dozen times, leaving no excess on the face, till it ceases to penetrate, and is about to remain glistening 
on the sui'face ; allow it to dry perfectly, a clear day or so ; then apply freely the solution of calcium chloride, 
brushing on lightly without froth, (c) 

Szerelmey's stone liquid. Water-glass, combined with a temporary wash of some bituminous substance. 

Petrifyiiuj liquid of Silicate Paint Company. Barium solution, followed by ferro-silicic acid, or barium solution, 
followed by calcium superphosphate ; soluble oxalate of aluminium, applied to limestones. The last thi'ee processes 
produce no efflorescence upon the stone. 

Wash of copper salts, as projjosed and used by Dr. Robert, in Paris, to arrest the formation and growth of 
vegetation on the surface of stone. The results already reported imply a considerable aid in the preservation of 
building material, and may yet be found serviceable in New York to prevent the growth of oonfervw, etc., wJiich 
find a favorite habitat as a green film upon the shaded surfaces of Nova Scotia stone, and, as especially observed 
in Central park, seem to exert a corrosive action upon them. 

In New York, various preservative preparations have been used within the last ten or fifteen years, styled " silica 
petrifying liquid", "duresco," etc., especially on the brick-work, but partly on the brownstone of many buildings 
{e.g., tlie brownstone of the Evening Post building, four years ago; the brick factory iu Twenty-eighth street, 
between Sixth and Seventh avenues; the bride -work iu the rear of the Florence flats. Eighteenth street and Fourth 
avenue; the brownstone houses on southwest corner of Thirty-ninth street and Fifth avenue; the brick-work of the 
gables and top bed of all platforms in the balconies of the Union League club in Fifth avenue, etc.). In most cases 
these preparations, so far as tried, have resulted in complete failure, not arresting the exfoliation. 

To my knowledge, no investigation worthy of the name has yet been undertaken in this city for the protection 
of its stone-work, though there is every promise that a proi)er and low-priced preservative might be discovered, 
possibly even in the refuse of some of our chemical factories. If not for the ashlar of the fronts, at least for the 

a For mode of proparation Hee The Manufacturer and Builder, 1871, III, 206: "How to jirepare soluble glass." 

h Manufacturer and Builder, 18fi9, I, 82 

c Tlie Am. Arch, and Builder, 1877, II, 21, 38. 



NEW YORK CITY AND VICINITY. 391 

hewn stones employed for window-sills, string-courses, cornices, and moldings, it would seem false economy to use 
any j)orous stone, without every condition of protection to be found, in the form of its cutting and in the application 
of a suitable artificial preservative. 

It will doubtless be found that only those stones, which possess a porous texture and strong absorptive power 
for liquids, will be found particularly available for protection by artificial preservatives. In the spongy brown and 
lio-ht olive freestones, a marble full of minute crevices, and a cellular fossiliferous limestone, a petrifying liquid 
may permeate to some depth, close up the pores by its deposits, and incase the stone in solid armor; while upon a 
more compact rock, such as a granite or solid limestone, it can only deposit a shelly crust or enamel, which time 
may soon peel oif. 

In this connection, therefore, three suggestions may be offered: 1st, that householders invoke the magic use 
of the broom on the fronts of their residences as carefully as upon the sidewalks; 2d, that house-builders insist 
upon the undercutting of all projections, and the exclusion of brackets or other supports to sills and cornices, which 
only lead to the oozing of water and a line of corrosion dowu the ashlar; 3d, that house-repairers recut the projections 
in this way, whenever possible, and entirely avoid the use of paint, oil, or otlier organic preservatives. 

If a rough estimate be desired, founded merely on these observations, of the comparative durability of the 
common varieties of building stone used in ISTew York city and vicinity, there may be found some truth in the 
following approximate figures for the " life" of each stone, signifying by that term, without regard to discoloration 
or other objectionable qualities, merely the period after which the incipient decay of the variety becomes sufficiently 
offensive to the eye to demand repair or renewal : 

Life in years. 

Coarse brownstone 5-15 

Laminated fioo brownstone -- 20-50 

Compact fine brownstone 100-200 

Blue-stone Untried, probably centuries. 

Nova Scotia stone Untried, jjerliaps 50-200 

OHo sandstone (best siliceous variety) Perhaps from one to many centuries. 

Limestone, coarse fossiliferous 20-40 

Limestone, tine oolitic (French) 30-40 

Limestone, fine oolitic (American) Untried here. 

Marble (dolomite) coarse 40 

Marble (dolomite) fine 60-80 

Marble, fine 50-200 

Granite 75^00 

Gneiss 50 years to many centuries. 

Within a very few years past it has become frequent to introduce i;ude varieties of rusticated work into the 
masonry of buildings in this city, or to leave the stone rough and undressed in huge blocks, especially in the 
basement or lowest stories, where it is under close and continuous inspection, and the results of its decay will be 
disguised by its original rough surface. Although there are certain large buildings in which such a massive 
treatment of stone may be appropriate, its common use, with stones of known feebleness or lack of durability, is a 
disingenuous evasion of responsibility and a mere confession of ignorance, want of enterprise, and despair, in 
regard to the proper selection of building material and in regard to its protection. 

Finally, it may be pointed out that many of the best building stones of the country have never yet been 
brought into this city: e. g., siliceous limestones of the highest promise of durability, allied to that employed in 
Salisbury cathedral ; refractory sandstones, like some of those of Ohio and other western states, particularly fitted 
for introduction into business buildings in the "dry-goods district", storage houses, etc., where a fire-proof stone is 
needed; and highly siliceous varieties of Lower Silurian sandstones, such as occur near lake Champlain, quartzitic 
and hard to work, like the Craigleith stone of Edinburgh, but possessing the valuable qualities of that fine stone iu 
resisting discoloration, notwithstanding its light color, and in remarkable resistance to disintegration. 

As it is, we have many and need many varieties of stone for our various objects, but do not know how to use 
them. It is pitiable to see our new buildings erected in soft and often untried varieties of stone, covered with 
delicate carvings of foliage and flower-garlands, which are almost certain to be nipped off by the frost before the 
second generation of the owner shall enter the house. It is now time for one who loves stone to express his 
indignation at the careless and wasteful way in which a good material is being misused. 

In conclusiou, it is a point worthy of attention that there is at present a strong tendency among many owners 
of propertj', and therefore many builders and architects in New York, to entirely reject or greatly limit the u.se of 
stone in construction, both in the commercial district and in that which incUules the better class of residences. 

In the commercial district granite was for some time a favorite material, and constitutes many of our most 
important buildings. Later it was largely supplanted by the white marbles brought from numberless quarries in 
Westchester county, western Massachusetts, and Vermont; but of late another change of taste and judgment has 
occurred, and it has been observed : 

The architects of the present generation found commercial New York an imitation of marble, either in cast-iron or in an actual 
veneer of white limestone. They are likely to leave it brick. 



392 BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 

This city, and, to a large extent, Brooklyn, liave passed the period in whicli frame buildings were permitted, 
though they never were as abundant as in the newer cities and towns of the west, on account of the large supply 
of brick-clays along the Hudson river, and the easy importation of bricks from Europe and from points along our 
own coast. In the reports of the fire-underwriters, the stone is disregarded as a mere veneer, and all such buildings 
are properly classified as brick. 

Less than 1 per cent, of our building material consists of stone, so that New York is now practically a city of 
brick. Examples of the preference now largely given to this material are found in many conspicuous structures 
which have recently risen in this city and Brooklyn : e. g., the storage buildings at Forty-second street and Lexington 
avenue ; the Produce Exchange building in lower Broadway ; that of the Long Island Historical Society in Brooklyn, 
etc. 

The definite character and use of many of the most important avenues and entire districts are yet unsettled ; 
and there are abundant indications of cheap display, in fragile veneer and constructions of a temporary character, 
which are rendering this a period of shams. There are evidences, however, of the gradual recognition of the practical 
business advantages, iu the way of credit and continuous patronage, which are derived from durable massive buildings, 
with solid and imposing fagades, with which the business and names of firms may yet be associated for centuries. 
The general acceptation of this idea will form the last period — that of stability — in the history of our great metropolis, 
and then there will be a proper and intelligent use and increased demand for the several varieties of stone. 

The present preference for brick is mainly due to the failure of granites and marbles to resist fire in the furious 
conflagrations in the tinder-boxes at Chicago and Boston — althougli brick walls as well become warped and useless 
iu the re-erection of the buildings— and to a conclusion which appears to me hasty and uncalled for, from tlie 
unfavorable results of the experimental and unnatural trials, in fiery furnaces, of series of our building stones, by 
several investigators. Such a conclusion seems to be unwise and unfair, so long as our present habit of internal 
construction is aptly represented by the following description : 

Our buildings are, in truth, ingenious combinations of flues, greater or smaller, mostly of combustible substance, and commonly of 
thin material, set side by side across our floors and up our walls, opening out here and there into hollow spaces walled with wood, and 
out of our reach. Every fire that occiirs gives us new warning that our way of building is unsafe. All our common methods have been 
developed in the eflbrt to attain one class of qualities— lightness, quickness, and ease of construction, and economy, or rather cheapness. 
As usually happens to people whose aims are one-sided, we have got into trouble. Our buildings do not last ; often they will not bear the 
use we put them to ; they burn like straw. Other people have found out how to buUd better thau we, but we like our own way, and we 
will learn nothing from them. We box our floors with thin plank set edgewise, our partitions with smaller pieces of the same stuff; we 
fur our walls with strips of the same. Then we case all in with thinner boards and friable plaster on still thinner lath. The building is 
a series of communicating flues partially protected outside, but wholly exposed within, through which fire and vermin may play at will, 
and through which we cannot trace them till they liave done their mischief. All this is convenient and cheap, for it is quickly put up 
and takes little material. If we use iron, as we must, we make it hollow also for strength's sake. This would do no harm if .the hollows 
were no larger than they need be, and were properly closed in ; but we build great boxes to simulate masses of stone, and we expose them 
to the fires of blazing wood which we know will destroy them. At the persuasion of underwriters we put up cornices of galvanized iron, 
which will not themselves bum, but which are thin shells turned upon wood, and will at once convey the fire behind them, (a) 

Add to all this our hatchways and elevator-shafts, by which a fire, starting in the basement, is conveyed at once 
to the attic, the beams of the wooden flooring often resting upon girders in the center of the building, as it were, a 
very house of cards — these girders, too, supported merely on slender stone piers in the basement, and on light iron 
pillars in the upper stories, and every floor filled with a mass of combustibles, especially in the "dry-goods district"; 
and we find an accumulation of materials in false and improper conditions, whose combustion will overcome the most 
refractory walls, and which should never be permitted to endanger human life and property in a so-called metropolitan 
city. On inquiry, I find among insurance men a unanimous conviction, decidedly and strongly expressed, that 
there is not in the city of Kew York a single absolutely fire-proof building — not one whose walls may not crumble 
before a storm of fire from without, or in which either flooring or partitions, or both, will not probably yield to the 
internal conflagration of their ordinary contents. A few edifices may approach the conditions required, but even 
in one of these a recent fire on the seventh floor, fed merely by offlce furniture, shriveled up the flimsy so-called 
"fire-proof" partitions and gutted the entire floor. The very material, perforated brick, which was used in these 
partitions, is still being hurried into new " fire-proof" buildings, now iu process of construction in Fiftieth street and 
elsewhere. Nevertheless, it is generally admitted that much progress and great improvement have been made, during 
the last few years, both in the choice and arrangement of building materials for the protection of our buildings 
from fire; with an enlightened 'public opinion, much more may be expected. We have, fortunately, at our very 
doors, vast tracts of fire-proof materials — the belt of brick-clays along the Hudson river, and the still more extensive 
band of clays stretching across New Jersey, excellently adapted for all varieties of bricks, terra-cotta, and tiles, 
to say nothing of the resources of our commerce in the importation of similar materials from the whole Atlantic 
coast — which we ought to and must use for interior construction as a matter of the wisest economy, and, in association 
with which, our building stones, in all their variety and enormous supply, will find their proper place. When, at 
least in the business districts of the city, the interiors of the buildings are generally supplied with a minimum of 
wood, subdivided with tile, slate, or concrete flooring and doors, and sufficient partitions of brick or terracotta, 



a The Arch, and Build. Ncivs, 1879, V, 49. 



NEW YORK CITY AND VICINITY. 393 

and roofed with tile, slate, or concrete upon fire-proof backing or supports, the nature of the stone used for the 
exterior will matter Kttle, so far as concerns protection from fire, since it will not be exposed then, as now, to the 
unnatural and unnecessary furnace-test of furious flames from neighboring buildings. 

The other objection to the use of stone, and one which has been specially prompted by the decay of the brownstone 
ashlar employed extensively in our buildings for private residence, is founded upon its lack of durability and speedy 
dilapidation or discoloration. The hasty statements of despairing architects, in denunciation of the brownstone, are 
suflticiently answered by reference to the texture of the still softer oolite, which mediiBval architects were content 
to employ, and whose fragility seems to have been at last counteracted by modern devices. When proper investigations 
shall have been made, it is i^robable that the very porosity of the stone, which now renders it particularly sensitive 
to atmospheric attack, may best avail for the absorption of some cheap and durable mineral preservative, and that 
the present use of such stone in its raw, crude, and unseasoned state will be hereafter considered merely an evidence 
of the unintelligent and wasteful way in which we now work up our materials. Surely, since our city is placed in 
a region occupied on every side by inexhaustible supplies of sedimentary and crystalUne rocks, remarkably well 
fitted for building construction, their surfaces scraped nearly bare by ice-action during the great glacial period, and 
thus most favorably exposed for economical exploitation, and the whole region is crossed by a radial network of routes 
of transportation by water and rail, at the least cost, centering in this city, the natural materials for building thus 
offered to us should not be hastily neglected or rejected, before their nature has been thoroughly understood. 



APPENDIX 



APPENDIX 



BXPOETATION OF STONE. 

Slate is now being quite largely exported to Australia and New Zealand; some to England and Germany, and 
some to South America and the West Indies. The most extensive exportations are perhaps to Australia. School 
slates are quite largely sent to Germany. Marble is exported to the British North American provinces, to the West 
Indies, and to Cuba; and the reports of the Philadelphia custom-house show that in 1878 marble was exported to 
England; in 1879 to Belgium, England, and Ireland; in 1880 to Belgium, England, and Japan. Soap-stone has 
been exported to England. Quite a large amount of Carrara marble is brought to the port of Boston and from there 
distributed to the British North American i)ro\inces. The reason why this is done under the double duty instead 
of being shipped direct to the market where it is consumed, is because large amounts of marble are shipped 
constantly to this country whUe these other markets receive but a small amount at a time ; also because ships wiU 
bring cargoes for less money to Boston than to Halifax on account of being more certain of procuring a return 
cargo. These conditions account, in part at least, for the stone of foreign production that is shipj)ed from the 
different ports of the United States. 

IMPORTATION OF STONE INTO THE UNITED STATES. 

The custom-house reports show the importation of stone iuto the United .States from nearly every country in 
the world. It is well known, of course, what stone comes from Scotland, England, Ireland, France, Germany, Belgium, 
the British North American provinces, and from Italy, and it is also knowu that onyx has been imported from Mexico, 
marble from Spain and Portugal, etc., and that marble has been imported from Sicily, granite from Norway and 
Sweden and Russia, and marble from Africa, but it is not so easy to account for the stone that is imported from British 
West Indies, Honduras, Central America, Cuba, Hayti, South America, Holland, and Turkey. 

The onlj' countries from which stone is constantly in the market in this country are Italy and Nova Scotia. 
The granite and sandstones from Scotland are imported for special orders. The same may be said of the granite 
imported from England and Ireland and the colored marbles from France and Germany — the brown sandstone of 
Germany, and the Caen stone of France. 

The statistics of the Philadelphia custom-house show a large amount of dressed marble imported from England. 
Some stone is brought as ballast from Brazil, and marble and manufactures of marble from the Danish West Indies and 
the Netherlands, Brazil, Belgium, Cuba, British West Indies, Sweden and Norway, and some manufactures of slate 
from Germany. It is also stated that marble has been imported from Nova Scotia and from Canada. Some stone 
is entered on the custom-house books as " imported manufactured product", which consists of various carved figures 
picked up by tourists in different parts of the world. This fact may account for stone imported from any country ; 
for instance, if a figure is carved in China and finds its way to Turkey, and is shipped from there to the United 
States, it will appear as the manufactured product of stone from Turkey. What the manufactures of stone are that 
have been shipiied from South America and the West Indies could not be determinetl. Marble comes mostly in the 
unmanufactured state. The cost of labor is so much less in Italy than in this country that the Italian marble, after 
paying the cost of transportation and a duty of 50 cents per foot and 20 per cent, ad valorem, can be sold in New 
Tork about as cheap as the Rutland marble. The cost oi" transportation from Carrara, however, does not differ much 
from the cost of transportation of a like amount from Rutland, Vermont. 



BUILDING STONES AND THE QUARRY INDUSTRY. 



IMPORTS AND EXPORTS OF MARBLE AND STONE, BY COUNTRIES, FOR THE YEAR ENDING JUNE 30, 1881. 

IMPORTS. 



Conntries from wliicli imported. 



Marble and 
stone, and man- 
ufactures of, 
not elsewhere 



CoTintries from ■whioli imported. 



Marble and 
stone, and man- 
ufactures of, 
not elsewhere 
specified. 



Total 

Belgium 

China 

France 

French "West Indies 

French possessions in Africa and adjacent islands 

Germany 

England 

Scotland 

Ireland 

Gibraltar 

Nova Scotia, New Brunswict, and Prince Edward island 



Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, and the Northwest territory 

British "West Indies 

Hong-Kong 

Italy 

Japan 

Mexico 

Netherlands 

Spain 

Cuba 

Sweden and Norway 

Turkey in Asia 

United States of Colombia 



Countries to which exported. 



MARBLE AND STONE. 



Countries to which exported. 



MAKBLE AND STONE. 



Total. 



Argentine Republic 

Belgium 

Brazil 

Central American states . 
Chili 



China 

Denmark 

Danish "West Indies 

FraD ce 

French "W est Indies 

Miquelon, Langley, and St. Pierre islands. 

French possessions, all other 

Germany 

England : 

Scotland 

Ireland 



Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, and the Northwest 

territory 

British Columbia 

Newfoundland and Labrador 

British "West Indies 

British Guiana 

British Honduras 



3,220 
4,581 



5,517 
194, 061 



4,131 
2,407 



23, 207 

113, 320 

5,563 



59, 942 
1,667 



13, 390 
1,577 



Hong-Kong 

British possessions in Africa and adj acent islands 

British possessions in Australia 

Hawaiian islands 

Hayti 

Italy 



Japan 

Liberia 

Mexico 

Netherlands 

Dutch "West. Indies 

Dutch Guiana 

Dutch East Indies 

Portugal 

Azores, Madeira, and Cape Verde islands - 

Euasia, Asiatic 

San Domingo 

Spain 

Cuba 

Poito Bico. 

Spanish possessions, all other 

Sweden and Norway 

United States of Colombia 

Uruguay 

Venezuela 



All other countries and ports in South America 
not elsewhere specified 



$150 
12, 003 

77, 530 



10, 948 

8,225 



14, 339 
2,969 



EGYPTIAN BRECCIA. 

The very celebrated universal breccia of Eygpt is composed of rounded pebbles of most diverse forms, color, 
and material. It occurs about 12 leagues to the east of K6n6, in the Arabian chain of mountains, not far from the 
valley of Kossier, and on the railroad going' from the Mle to the Eed sea. The Egyptians have extracted from it 
some immeuse blocks — such as the antique sarcophagus of Alexander, -which was 15 millimeters in circumference, 
and which was covered with hieroglyphics and delicate sculptures. The Eomans carried away from Egypt a 
great number of such monuments at the time of the Pharaohs, and they themselves quarried this breccia. One 
can regard the universal breccia of Egypt as one of the hardest stones, one of the richest in color, and one of the 
most beautiful. Almost all the museums in the world contain statuary or ornamental constructions of some 
kind cut from this rock. The variety which ajipears to have been most admired by the ancients had a green color. 
The essential components of this variety were fragments of argillitic schist and porphyry, with here and there a 
pebble of granite, which, being much harder than the others, rendered the rock very difficult to work. This rock 



APPENDIX. ' 399 

is not at all uncommon or confined to Egypt; a Grecian rock has been brought into the market which very closely 
resembles it. From Hainaut, in Belgium, a rock has been obtained which is nearly the same as that found in the 
Devonian formation in the southern Vosges; and at still other places this rock has been obtained. 

We can increase the list by calling attention to some of the American varieties (Boston conglomerate). 
(Delesse, p. 24.) 

CHLORITE EOGK. 

Eocks composed of chlorite are found in various parts of the world, and are used for ornamental constructions, 
especially for making smaller objects which can be turned with a lathe. These are the stones which are called by the 
Vreuch. pierres ollaires. No rocks of this nature liave thus far been brought to our attention in the United States. 
A chlorite from Potton, in Lower Canada, has been used. It is found in beds of Lower Silurian age lying 
immediately upon the Laurentiau rocks; it is associated with dolomite or serijeutine, and, like the latter rock, it 
contains some chromate of iron. (Delesse, p. 27.) 

ALGERIAN ALABASTER. 

In his geological explorations of the province of Oran, M. Ville found at Aiu Tembalek, near the Ysser, five 
deposits of a very curious alabaster. M. Delmoute, who was a marble-worker at Carrara at one time, who had 
admired this marble in ancient monuments, the origin of which was unknown to him, explored it and introduced 
it into market, and it is now called the Algerian alabaster. It is a fibrous calcite, veined and translucent, and has 
especial properties. It has a horizontal stratification, while the ordinary alabaster is concentrically banded— a 
circumstance arising from its concretionary formation in cavities, or often stalactites. Heated, it becomes brown, 
owing to its contents of iron carbonate; some specimens are red, some golden, yellowish, or brown, some pure 
white, and some a mixture of all these colors; specific gravity, 2.72S. It is so compact that it is more ditlicult to cut 
than ordinary marble. It stands the weather very well, as a column found in an ancient quarry demonstrates. It 
forms extensive beds, which are regularly and horizontally formed, having a post-Tertiary origin, since it rests on 
Tertiary deposits, and lies between layers of a sweet-water formation, or travertine, which is abundant in little 
basins in the province of Oran; and the Algerian alabaster is simply a modification of this travertine. 

The Romans, who brought the materials for decoration fro ai all parts of the world, have explored the Algerian 
alabaster upon a grand scale. The Turks also explored the same quarries, and adorned their mosques with 
materials from them. It has been used in mosaics, and even for statuary. 

ITALIAN MARBLE (CARRARA). 

According to Consul Robert W. Welsh, («) from 125,000 to 150,000 tons of marble are sent out from Carrara to 
various parts of the world every year, but it is all sold for cash. The sale of the marble, the delivery of it at the 
railway station or at Leghorn or Genoa, and the receipt of the cash equivalent, make up the entire commercial 
business of the place. 

Carrara marble is a luxury, and the demand for it depends upon the condition of "the times" in the various 
countries to which it is exported. The condition of the world has been such that the only country with which 
dealers in Carrara marble had a good trade in 1879 was the United States. 

STATEMENT OF THE EXPORTATION OF MARBLE FROM THE CONSULAR DISTRICT OF CARRARA IN THE YEAR 1879. 

Tons. ' 

Block marble 70,^70 

Sawed luarblu 20, fi^G 

Worked marble 37,538 

Total 134,434 

STATEMENT OF THE EXPORTATION OF ALL KINDS FROM 1872 TO 1879, INCLUSIVE (CARRARA). 

Tons. 

1872 11(5,0(51 

1873 117,115 

1874 117,282 

1875 121,774 

187t). 103,511 

1877 118,938 

1878 105,019 

Xa79 - 134,434 

Total 934,134 

The above statements are taken from the Corriere Carrarese. 

a Report to State Department, October 31, 1880. 



UKPARTMF.NT OF THE INTERIOR 



TENTH CENSUS OK THE UNITED STATES 







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TENTH CENSl'S OF THE UNITED STATES. 




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TKNTH fKNSI'S OF Tilt: I'NITKU STATES 




r.IMK STONE BRECCIA. 

POINT OK ROCKS. Mrj. 



DEPARTMF.NT OF THE INTERIOR 



TENTH CKN.Srs OF-l'HE rXITEU STATES 




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I SIiMV 111 lii; r vi 



INDEX TO REPORT ON BUILDING STONES. 



Page. 
A^eneieii of destruction of building stonoa, chemical, external, mechani- 
cal, and organic 371, 376 

Akron. Ohio, use of .stone in 280 

Alabaster. Algoiian 399 

Albany. XeWYork. u-^e of stone in 280 

Algerian alabaster - 399 

Allegbfiny. Pennsxl^auia. use of stone in 280 

Allontowu. Pennsylvania, use of stone in 280. 281 

Altoona, Pennsylvania, u^e of stone in 281 

Ammonia in the atuiospbere, effect of, upon the durability of building 

stones ; 372 

Amount and kinds of rocks quarried in — 

California 96, 97 

Colorado 98, 99 

Connecticut 60-63 

Dakota 98.99 

Delaware 74, 75 

Georgia 76,77 

niinoia 86,87 

Indiana 84-87 

Iowa ^ 90-95 

Kansas 96.97 

Kentucky 76,77 

Maine 52-55 

Maryland. 74,7.'^ 

MassachuaettB 54-57 

Michigan 86,89 

MinnesotA 90, 9 1 

MisBOuri 94-97 

Nebraska 96, 97 

K'ew Hampshire 58,59 

New Jersey 68.69 

New York 62-69 

Ohio : 76-85 

Penusvlrania G8-73 

Khode Island 56.57 

Tennessee 76, 77 

Vermont 58-61 

Virginia 74,75 

Washington 96. 97 

"West Virginia 74, 75 

Wisconsin 88,89 

Analysis of dark-blue slate from Llangynog, North Wales 174 

Analysis of ordinary Welsh roofing-slate (blue) 174 

Analysis of the material of the green bands in the bluish-purple slates 

of LlaubeiTis, Wales 174 

Analysis of the pui-ple slates of Nantlle. Wales 174 

Appendix 395-399 

Archsean outcrops within the Silurian area 230 

Awha?an rocks of Missouri 266, 267 

Archaean rocks of North Carolina 181-185 

Archjpan rocks of Pennsylvania 147, 148 

Arch.-piin rocks of Wisconsin 234-239 

Arizona, description of quarries of 279 

Ariitieial means of preservation of building stone 389-393 

Artilit-ial methods of trial -.. 384,385 

Atlanta. Georgia, use of stone in 281 

B. 

Baltimore. Maryland, use of stone in 281,282 

Bangnr. Maine, use of stone in 282 

Baraboo bluffs 239, 2'JO 

BasaU 24.25 

Batchcn, J. S. F., report of, oo building atones used in Chicago. Illinois. . 294 

Berea giit of Ohio 188-195 

VOL. IX 26 B s 



Page. 

Berlin, Winconsin. rock of 241 

Binghamton, New York, use of stone in 282 

Biotite granite 19, 20 

Black River valley, Wisconsin, crystalline rocks of 238, 239 

Bluestonc quarries of New York 130-135 

Bluestone, weathering, effecta of 318 

Bluffs, Baraboo 239, 240 

Bluish-purple slates of Llanberris, Wales, analysis of the material of the 

green bands in the 174 

Boston, Massachusetts, use of stone in 282-292 

Breccia. Egyptian 398, 399 

Bridge, New York and Brooklyn 320 

Bridgeport, Connecticut, use of stone in 292 

Broadhead, G. C, repoit of 265 

Brooklyn, New York, materials for buildings in 315 

Brown sandstone of New Jersey I4i 

Brownatone, Connecti<'Ut, use of, in Philadelphia 343 

Building material, influence of climate on 14 

Building materials methods of study of 

BniUHng stone, artificial means of preservation of 389-393 

Building stone of New York city, etc., effects of weathering upon the . . 365-371 

Building-stone resources of Pennsylvania 146, 147 

Building stones 316-;i36 

Building stones and slates, extent of, quarried for pui-poses of construc- 
tion in the United States, and the capital, labor, and appliances de- 
voted thereto 50. 51 

Building si ones, capacity of, to resist fire 3ti4 

Building stones, collection of spf^eimens of 1 

Building stones, decomposition of 13 

Building stones, effects of frost upon the durability of 373 

Building stones, effects of rain upon the durability of 373, 374 

Building stones, effects of sulphuric acid in the atmosplier*"- upon the dur- 
ability nf 371,372 

Building stones, effects of sulphurous acid in the atmosphere upon the 

durability of 371. 372 

I ' Building stones, effects of variations of temperature upon the durability of. 373 

I Building stones, effects of vegetable growth upon the durability of 375 

I Building stones, effects of wind upon the durability of 373 

[ Building stones, general relations of New England to the markets of the 

I United Sliites 115 

j Building stones in New York city and vicinity, durability of 364-393 

I Building stones, minerals in 4 

' Building stones of Indiana and Ohio, notes of Professor Orton on the 188-219 

Biiilding stones of Maine 1 16-123 

Building stones of Maryland, notes of Huntington. Munroe, and Single- 



ton on the. 



175 



Building stones of New England, general conditions of the 1 07-109 

Building stones of North Carolina, desciiption of the, by Professor W. 

C. Ken- and W. H. Kerr 181-186 

Building stones of Ohio and Indiana, notes of Professor Orton on the 188-219 

Building stones of Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Maine, general re- 

poitonthe 107-115 

Building stones of the United States and statistics of the qnarry industiy, 

introduction to report on the l 

Building stones of Virginia, notes of Huntington and Munroe on the 179 

401 



402 



INDEX TO REPORT ON BUILDING STONES. 



Page. 

Bnildinfi stones, position of surface of, as affecting their durability 379, 380 

Building stones, statistics of 45-105 

Building stones used in New York city, statistics concerning the phyaical 

properties of the 330-335 

Buildiuss ^D^ improvements, public 325-335 

Buildings in Philadelphia, list of 341,342 

Buildings (numbers and mateiials) in the suburbs and in the entire me- 
tropolis, statistics of 329 

Buildings of New York and adjacent cities: their numbers and com7non 

materials 313-316 

Burlington, Iowa, use of stone in 292 

Burlington limestone in Illinois 2:^3 

Burlington stage of Iowa 260. 261 

C. 

California, crystalline siliceous rocks of 06, 97 

California, description of quarries of 277-279 

Cambridge, Massachusetts, use of stone in 292 

Camden, New Jersey, use of stone in 292, 293 

Campbell, Professor J. L., description of roofing slates by 180 

Canton, Ohio, use of atone in 293 

Carbonic acid in the atmosphere, effect of, upon the durability of building 

stones 372 

Carboniferous age in Illinois 223-21^9 

Carbonilerous conglomerate of Pennsylvania 1C2-1GS 

Carbonifei"ou8 formation of Eansas 275 

Carboniferous limestone of Pennsylvania 156 

Carboniferous period of Iowa 258-261 

Carboniferous sandstone of Ohio 198-200 

Carboniferous sandstone of Pennsylvania 162-168 

Cassels, J. Lang, analysis of limestone by 213 

Cedar Rapids, Iowa, use of stone in 293 

Cemeteries in Pbilarlelphia, use of stone in 34+, 345 

Central Park, Now York city 320 

Chamberlain, Professor T. C, report of, on eastern Wisconsin 242-244 

Channeling and wedging, quarrying of stone by 35-33 

Character and position of .surface of stone as aifecting their durability. . 379-381 

Chattanooga, Tennes.see, use of stone in 293 

Chelsea, Massachusetts, use of stone in 294 

Chemical agencies of destruction of building stones 371, 372 

Chemical composition of building stones, as affecting their durability. .. 376, 377 

Chemical examination of rocks 30-32 

Chester group in Illinois 225,226 

Chester, Pennsylvania, use of stone in 294 

Chicago, Illinois, use of stone in 294-297 

Chlorite rock 399 

Cincinnati group of Ohio limestone 201, 202 

Cincinnati, Ohio, use of stone in 298 

Classification of materials of construction 12 

Clay-stones of New England 108 

Cleveland, Ohio, use of stone in 298 

Coal stage, middle, of Iowa 259 

Cockeysville marble quarries of Maryland 177 

Collection of specimens of building stones 1 

Colorado, description of quarries of 277-279 

Colorado, sandstone of 98, 99 

Colorado, volcanic rocks of 98, 99 

Columbus, Ohio, use of stone in 298 

Common salt in the atmosphere, effect of, upon the durability of building 

stones 372 

Components of granite 22 

Components of syenite 22 

Composition, chemical, of building stones, as affecting their durability.. 370, 377 

Concord, New Hampshire, use of stone in 299 

Conglomerate, Carboniferous, of Pennsylvania 162-168 

Conglomerate of New Jersey 140 

Conglomerates of New England '. 108 

Connecticut brownstone, use of, in Philadelphia 343 

Connecticut, <'ry st illine siliceous rocks of, description of the 50, SI, 60, 61 

Connecticut, granite quarries of. 127-129 

Connecticut, quarries of 126-129 

Connecticut, sandstone of, description of the 50, 51, 62, G3 

Connecticut, serpentine quarries of 129 

Connecticut, verd-antiqne quarries of 129 

Conovor, Professor Allen D., reports of 219,226,229 



Page. 

Construction, natural principles of 386-389 

Construction, selection of materials for 38G, 3S7 

Cook and Smock, Pi'ofessors, notes of, on building stones of New York 

and New Jersey 129-146 

Comifeious limestone of New Jersey 140, 141 

Oomiferous limestone of Ohio 210-213 

Cotton and Gattinger 187 

Cretaceous formation of Kansas 275 

Cretaceous period of Iowa 257, 258 

Crystalline and sedimentary rocks, physical structure of the 377-379 

Crystalline rocks of Black Eiver valley, Wisconsin 238,239 

Crystalline siliceous rocks, description of the, in — 

California 90, 97 

Connecticut 50, 51 , 00, 61 

Delaware 50, fil , 74, 75 

Georgia 50, 51, 7G, 77 

Maine 5:i, 53 

Maryland 50, 51 , 74, 75 

Massachusetts 54, 57 

Minnesota 90, 91 

Missouri , . 94, 95 

Now Hampshire 50, 51 , r8, 59 

New Jersey 50, 5 1 , 68, 69 

New York 50, 51, 62, 63 

Pennsylvania 50,51,68-71 

Rhode Island 50, 51 , 56, 57 

Vermont 50,51,58,59 

Virginia 50,51,74,75 

[, Washington 96,97 

I Crystalline siliceous rocks, microscopic structure of the 15 

Cumberland, Maryland, use of stone in 299 

S>. 

Dakota, sandstone of, description of the 98,99 

Dana, Professor J. D 127 

Dark blue slate from Llangynog, North Wales, analysis of 174 

Davenpoit, Iowa, use of atone in 299 

Dayton, Ohio, use of stone in. 299 

Decomposition of building stones 13 

Delaware, crystalline siliceous rocks of, description of the 50, 51, 74, 75 

Denver, Colorado, use of atone in 300 

Derby, Connecticut, use of stone in 30O 

Desciiption of plates illustrating quarries and quarry methods 44 

Description of quari-ies 52-99 

Descriptions of quarries and quarry regions 107-279 

Des Moines, Iowa, use of stone in 300 

Details regarding quarries llC-279 

Development of the quarry industries of the district of Rhode Island, 

Massachusetts, and Maine, general account of the 109-11& 

Dei'-onian age in Illinois 223 

Devonian period of Iowa 261-263 

Devonian sandstone of Pennsylvania 158-161 

Dewey, Fred. P., chemical examination by 30-32 



Diabase 

Dressing the various classes of rocks, general methods of 

Drift formation in Iowa ■. 

Dubuque, Iowa, use of stone in 

Durability of building stones, effects of ammonia in the atmosphere upon 
the 

Durability of building stones, effects of carbonic acid in the atmosphere 
upon the 

Durability of building atones, effects of common salt in the atmosphere 
upon the 

Durability of building stones, effects of friction upon the 

Durability of building stones, effects of frost upon the 

Durability of building stones, effects of hydrochloric acid in the atmos- 
phere upon the 

Durability of building stones, effects of nitric acid in the atmosphere 
upon the 

Durability of building stones, effects of organic acids in the atmosphere 
upon the ■' 

Durability of building stones, effects of oxygen in the atmosphere upon 



24 
41^3 



the • 

Durability of building stones, effects of rain upon the 

Durability of building stones, effects of sulphuric acid in the atmosphere 
upon the 

Durability of building stones, effects of sulphurous acid in the atmos- 
phere upon the -'■-- 

Durability of building stones, effects of variations of temperature upon 



372 

372 
373, 374 

371, 372 

371, 372 



INDEX TO REPORT ON BUILDING STONES. 



403 



Pase. 

Durability of boilding stones, effects of vegetable growth upon the 375 

Durability of bnilding stones, effects of wiutl upon the 373 

Durability of building stones in New York city and vicinity 364-393 

Durability of building atones, internal elements of the 376-381 

Dmability of gneiss, effects of weathering upon the 365 

Dnrabilit J of granite, effects of weathering upon the 370. 371 

Dutch cemetery in New Utrecht. Long Island 375 

Eastern "Wisconsin, report of T. C. Chamberlain on 242-244 

Easton, Pennsylvania, use of stone in 301 

Etist Tennessee, marbles of 187. 188 

Ediljces, localities, and varieties 31C-324 

Effects of ammonia in the atmosphere upon the durability of building 

stones 372 

Effects of carbonic acid in the atmosphere upon the dmability of build- 

JCffects of common salt in the atmosphere upon the durability of build- 
ing stones 372 

Effects of friction upon the durability of building stones 374 

Effects of frost upon the durability of building stones 373 

Effects of hydrochloric acid in tlie atmosphere upon the durability of 

building stones 372 

Effects of weathering upon bluestone 3G9 

Effects of weathering upon limestone 369,370 

Effects of weathering upon the building stone of New York city, etc 365-371 

Effects of weathering upon the durability of gneiss 365 

Effects of weathering upon the durability of granite 370. 371 

Egyptian breccia 398, 399 

Elements of durability of building stones, internal 376-381 

Elizabeth, New Jersey, use of stone in 301 

Elmira. New York, use of stone in 301 

Epidoto granite 22 

Erie, Pennsylvania, use of stone in 301, 302 

EvansviUe, Indiana, use of stone in 302 

Examination of rocks, chemical 30-32 

Examinations of thin sections of stone, optical 6 

Explosives, use of 33, 34 

Exportation of all kinds of marble from 1872 to 1879, inclusive (Carrara), 

statement of the 399 

Exportal ion of stone 397 

Exports and imports of marble and stone, by counties, for the year ending 

June 30, 1881 398 

Extent of building stones and slates quarried for purposes of construc- 
tion in the United States, and the capital, labor, and appliances de- 
voted thereto 50,51 

Extent of stone construction in some of the principal cities of the United 

States 101-105 

External agencies of destruction 371-376 

F. 

Fall Kiver, Massachusetts, use of stone in 302 

Fire, capacity of building stones to resist 364 

Fitchburg, Massachusetts, use of stone in 302 

Flagging-stone of New Jersey 144 

Flag gin g-8tono of Minnesota 256 

Flatbush cemetery on Long Island 375 

Floi ida, descnption of quarries of ISO, 187 

Foreign bnilding stone, use of, in Philadelphia 343 

Fort Dodge stage of Iowa 058 

Fortifications of New York city 320 

Foster, "William, report of 277-279 

Froet, effects of, upon durability of building atones 373 

Fiietiuu, effects of, upon durability of bnilding stones ^74 

Galena stage of Iowa .;. 264 

Galvest*in, Texas, use of stone in 302 303 

Gattinger and Cotton 187 

General account of the development of the quarry industries of the dis- 
trict of Khode Island, Massachusetts, and Maine 109-115 

General conditions of the building stones of New England 107-109 

Genei si considerations regarding the slate of Pennsylvania 173, 174 

General methods of dressing the various classes of rocks 41_42 

General relations of New England building stones to the markets of the 
United States i , ;: 



Page. 
General report on the building stones of Khode Island, Massachusetts, 

and Maine 107-llS 

General statistics of the quarrying industries of the United States 46, 47 

Genth, Professor F. A., description of serpentine of Maryland by 176 

Geological section of Iowa 257 

Geological section of Missouri 265 

Georgia, crystalline siliceous rocks of, description of the 50,51,76,77 

Gloucester, Massachusetts, use of stone in 303 

Gneiss 22,23 

Gneiss, effects of weather upon the durability of 365 

Gneiss quarries of New Jersey 139 

Gueiss used in Now York city, table of physical properties of 332 

Granite, biotite 19, 20 

Granite, components of 22 

Granite, effects of weather upon the durability of 370,371 

Granite, epidoto , 22 

Granite, hornblende 21, 22 

Gr.initc, bornblende-biotite *, 22 

Granite, muscovite _ 19 

Granite, ranscovite-biotite 20,21 

Gran ito qua n-ies of Connecticut 127-129 

Granite quarries of New Jersey 139 

Granite quarries of New York 129, 130 

Granite quarries of Vermont 126 

Granite used in New York city 330, 331 

Granite, u^e of, in Philadelphia ,338,341,342 

Granites of New England 107-129 

Green bands in the bluish-purple slates of Llanberris, Wales, analysis 

of the material of the 174 

Green Pcmd Mountain conglomerate of New Jersey 140 

H. 

Hall, White, and Owen, reports of, on the geology of Iowa 256 

Hamilton stage of Iowa 261-263 

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, use of stone in ;i03 

Hartford, Connecticut, use of stone in 304 

Haverhill, Massachusetts, use of stone in , 304 

Hawes, Dr. George "W"., introduction by 1-14 

Eawos, Dr. George W., remarks of, concerning sandstone in New Jersey. 145 

Hitchcock, Professor C. H., remarks of, on the building stones of New 

Hampshire and Vermont 124-126 

Hobokeu. New Jersey, materials of buildings of 315 

Hoboken, Nf w Jersoy, statistics of stone builclings of 329 

Hornblende-biotite gr.anite 22 

Hornblende granite '. 21,22 

Hudson River slate of New Jersey 140 

Hull. Professor, analysis of Welsh roofing slate by 174 

Hunt, Dr. T. Sterry, identification of quartz porphyry by 168 

Huntington. Professor 176 

Hnntingtou and Munroe, notes of, on the buUding stones of Virginia 179 

Huntington, Munroe, and Singleton, notes of, on the building stones of 

Maryland 175 

Hydro. '.bloric acid in the atmosphere, effect of, upon the durability of 

building stonesi 372 

I. 

Idaho, quarries of 278 

Illinois, Burlington limestone in 223 

Hlinois, Carboniferous age in 223-229 

Illinois, Chester group in 225, 226 

Illinois, de5*cription of quarries of 219-226 

Illinois, Devonian age in 223 

niinois, Keokuk group in 223, 224 

Illinois. Kinderhook group in 223 

Illinois, limestoue of 86,87 

Illinois, Lower Magnesian group of 219 

Illinois, marble and limestone of 50, 51 

Hlinois, Niag-^ra group in 221 

Illinois, quarries of Silurian formation in 219-223 

Illinois, Saint Louis group of 224, 225 

Hlinois, Saint Peter sandstone of 219 

Illinois, sandstone of 50. 51, 86. 87 

Illinois, Trenton group of 219, 220 

Importation of stone into the United States 397, 398 

Imports and exports of marble aud stone, by countries, for the year 

ending June 30, 1881 - sgg 

Indiana and Ohio, notes of Professor Ortou on the building stones of 188-219 



404 



INDEX TO REPORT ON BUILDING STONES. 



Page. 

Indiana, description of quarries of 215-219 

Indiana, limestone of 216-219 

Indiana, marble and limestone of 50, 51, 84-87 

Indiana, sandstone of 50,51,86,87 

Indianapolis, Indiana, use of stone in 304 

Influence of climate on building material 14 

Inoceraniua stage of Iowa 257 

Institution, Smithsonian 225 

Internal elements of durability of building stones 376-381 

Introduction to report on the building atones of the United States and 

statistics of the quarry industry 1-14 

Iowa, Burlington stage of 260,261 

Iowa, Carboniferous period of - 258-261 

Iowa, Cretaceous period of 257, 258 

Iowa, description of quarries of 256-265 

Iowa, Devonian period of 261-263 

Iowa, drift formation in 257 

Iowa, Fort Dodgo stage of 258 

Iowa, Galena stage of 264 

Iowa, geological section of. 257 

Iowa, Hamilton stage of 261-263 

Iowa, inoceramua stage of 257 

Iowa, Keokuk stage of 260 

Iowa. Kinderhook stage of 261 

Iowa, Lower Coal ata,ge of 259 

Iowa, Lower Silurian period of 263, 264 

Iowa, Maquoketa stage of 263,264 

Iowa, marble and limestone of 90-95 

Iowa, Middle Coal stage of 259 

Iowa, Niagara stage of 263 

Iowa, Niabnabotna stage of 258 

Iowa, Saint Louis stage of 259, 260 

Iowa, Saint Peter sandstone of 264 

Iowa, sandstone of 94, 95 

lawa, Trenton stage of 264 

Iowa, Upper Coal stage of , 258 

Iowa, Upper Silurian period of 263 

Iowa, "Woodbury stage of 257 

Irving. Professor R. D 234 

Italian marble (Carrara) 399 

Ithaca, New York, use of stone in 304 

J. 

Jersey City, New Jersey, materials of buildings of 315 

Jersey City, New Jersey, statistics of stone buildings of 329 

Julien. Dr. Alexis A 313,364 

JK. 

Kansas, Carboniferous formation of 275 

Kansas, Cretaceous fonnation of 275 

Kansas, description of quarries of 374-277 

Kansas, marble and limestone of, description of the 96, 97 

Kansas, sandstone of, description of the 96,97 

Kansas, sub-Carboniferous formation of '. 275 

Keokuk group in Illinois 223,224 

Keokuk, Iowa, uao of stone in 306 

Keokuk stage of Iowa 260 

Kerr, Professor W. C, and W. H. Kerr, descriptions of the building 

stones of North Carolina, by 181-1S6 

Kinderhook group in Illinoia 223 

Kinderbook stage of Iowa 261 

Kingston, New York, use of stone in ; 305 

Kirwan's Mineralogy 174 

La Fayette, Indiana, use of stone in 305 

Lancaster, Pennsylvania, use of stone in 305, 306 

Lawrence, Massachueetts, use of stone in 306 

Leavenworth, Kansas, use of atone in 306 

Lesley, Professor 152,153,169 

Limestone and marble, description of, in— 

Illinois 50, 51 

Indiana 50,51,84-87 

Kansas 96,97 

Iowa 90-95 

Maryland 50,51,74,75 

Massachusetts 50, 5], 56, 57 

Michigan 50,51 

Mipneeota , , 90, 91 



Page- 
Limestone and marble, description of, in— 

Missouri 94-97' 

Nebraska 96, 97 

New York 50, 51, 62, 63^ 

Ohio r 50,51 

Pennsylvania 50,51,70,71 

Tennessee 50, 51,76, 77 

Vermont 50, 51, 5S-61 

Virginia 50, 51, 74, 75' 

Wisconsin 50, 51 

Limestones and marbles 27,28 

Limestone, Carboniferous, of Pennsylvania 150 

Linaestone, Cincinnati group, of Ohio 201, 202 

Limestone, Corniferous, of New Jersey 140, 141 

Limestone, Corniferous, of Ohio 210-213 

Limestone, effects of weather upon 369, 370 

Limestone group of New Jersey, Lower Helderberg 140 

Limestone, Lower Silurian, of Pennsylvania 149 

Limestone Magnesian, of New Jersey * 140 

Limestone of Illinoia, description of the 86,87" 

Limestone of Indiana 216-219' 

Limestone of Michigan, description of the 86, 87 

Limestone of Minnesota 249-255 

Limestone of New England 107 

Limestone of North Carolina 185, 186 

Limestone of Ohio. description of the 80-85 

Limestone of Wisconsin, Lower Magnesian 230, 231 

Limestone of "Wisconsin, description of the 88, 89' 

Limestone, Ohio, Niagara group of 202-206 

Limestone, sub-Carboniferous, of Ohio 214 

Limestone, sub -Carboniferous, of Pennsylvania 155 

Limestone, Triassic, of Pennsylvania 15G 

Limestone used in New York city, statistics of physical properties of. . . 334, 335 

Limestone, effects of weathering upon 369, 370' 

Lindsley, Harrison W., notes of 126-129' 

List of buildings in Philadelphia ,. 341,342 

List of stone structures in Washington and vicinity 360' 

Llangynog, North Wales, analysis of dark-blue slate from 174 

Localities, varieties, and edifices 316-324 

Lockport, New York, use of stone in 306 

Logansport, Indiana, use of stone in 306 

LoQg Island, Flatbush cemetery on - 375 

Louisville, Kentucky, use of stone in 307 

Lowell, Massachusetts, use of stone in 307 

Lower Coal stage of Iowa 259 

Lower Helderberg limestone group of New Jersey 140 

Lower Magnesian group of Illinois 219 

Lower Magnesian limestone of Wisconsin 230, 231 

Lower Silurian limestone of Pennsylvania 149 

Lower Silurian period of Iowa 263,264- 

Lower Silurian sandstone of Pennsylvania 158 

m. 

Magnesian limestone of New Jersey 140' 

Maguire, Captain Edward, U. S. A., report of 245- 

Maine, building stones of 116-123 

Maine, crystalline siliceous rocks of, description of the 52,53' 

Maine, development of the quarry industries of 1 J 3-115 

Maine, quarries of 116-123 

Maine, report on the building stones of 107 

Maine, slate of, description of the 54,55- 

Manchester, New Hampshire, use of stone in 307 

Maquoketa stage of Iowa 2G3, 264- 

Marble and limestone, description of, in — 

Uliuois 50.51 

Indiana 50 51,84-87 

Iowa """. •'''J-^5' 

Kansas -.1 ;-- , 2^- 21 

Kentucky -.'^-^l.^G,?? 

Maryland - Vcl' rr c J 

Massachusetts : oO, 51. .ib, 57 

Michigan f^^-'] 

Minnesota o?' nv 

Missom-i v.'"^!, 

Nebraska .-^^ ^^"7 

New York 50,51,62,03 

Ohio ■''^'^1 

Pennsylvania 5n"5I'-r "7 

Tehnessee ?^' =, ' i « i, 

Vej-mont ??; m' -5"?^ 

Virginia ^"'^^'rH? 

Wisconsin aO, 51 

Marble and stone, exports and imports of, by countries, for the year end- 
ing June 30, 1881 ---.----• 398 



INDEX TO REPORT ON BUILDING STONES. 



405 



Page. 

Marbles and limestones 27, 28 

Marblesof East Tennessee 187,188 

ifarble (Canara), Italian 399 

Marble from tbo consular district of Carrara, statement of the exporta- 
tion of, in the year 1879 399 

Marble quarries of Coclteysville, Maryland 177 

Marble, Tuckahoe, of XeivTork 135-130 

Marble used in Now York city, statistics of physical properties of 332, 333 

Maryland, CockeyaviUe, marble quarries of 177 

Maryland, crystalline siliceous rocks of, description of the 50, 51, 74, 75 

Maryland, dfscription of serpentine of, by Professor.F. A. Genth 170 

Maryhmd, marble i>nd limestone of, description of the. 50, 51, 74, 75 

Maryland, notes of Huntington, Muni'oe, and Singleton upon the build- 

ins stones of ^'^ 

Maryland, sandstone of I"8 

Maryland, serpentine of - 176 

Maryland, slate of. 178 

Maryland, slate of. description of the 50, 51, 74, 75 

Massachusetts, crystalline siliceous rocks of, description of the 54-57 

Massachusetts, development of the quarry industries of. 110-113 

Massachusetts, marble and limestone of, description of the 50, 51, 5fi, 57 

Massachusetts, report on the building stones of 107 

Massachusetts, sandstone of, description of the 50, 51,56, 57 

Massachusetts, slate of, description of the 50, 51, 5C, 57 

Matenal of the green bands in the bluish-purple slates of Llanl-t-nis, 

analysis of the 174 

Materials for construction, selection of 386, 387 

Materials of buildings in Brooklyn. New York 315 

Materials of buildings in Huboken, New Jersey 315 

Materials of buildings in Jersey City, New Jersey 315 

Materials of buildings in Staten island, New York 315 

Materials of construction, classification of 12 

Materials, strength of 14 

McGee, W. J., report of 256 

Means of protection and preservation of stone structures 386-393 

Mechatiic:il agencies of destruction 373-375 

Memphis, Tennessee, use of stone in 308 

Men'ill, G. P., report on microscopic structure of building stone 15-28 

Methods of dressing the various classes of rocks, general 41-43 

Methoils of study of building materials 5 

Methods of trial, ai-tificial, of bnilding stone 384,385 

Methods of ttial, n.itural. of building stone 38I-3S4 

Methods, quarry 33-44 

Mica-schist 23, 24 

Michigan, limestone of. description of 86, 87 

Michigan, marble and limestone of 50, 51 

Michigan, sandstone of, description of 50, 51, 88, 89 

Microscopic structure of the crystalline siliceous rocks 15 

Middle Coal stage of Iowa 259 

Middh'town, Connecticut., use of stene in 307 

Minerals in building stones 4 

Minneapolis, Minnesota, use of stone in 308 

Minnesota, crystalline siliceous r^cks of, description of the 90,91 

Minnesota, flagging stone <rf 256 

Minnesota, limestone of 249-255 

Minn»-sota, marble and limestone of, description of the 90,91 

Minnesota, paving stone of 308 

Minnesot-i, sandstone of 247-249 

Minnesota, sandstone of, description of the 90, 91 

Minnesota, slate of 255 

Missouri. Archaean rocks, of 266,267 

Missouri, crystalline siliceous rocks of, description of the 94, 95 

Missouri, geological section of 265 

Missouri, marble and limestone of, description of the 94-97 

MisiM)iiri, sandstone of, description of the 96, 97 

Missouri, sedimentary rocks of 267-274 

Missouri. sub-Carboniferons formation of 269 

Mohili', Alabama, use of stone in 309 

Monroe and Huntington, notes of, on the building stones of Virginia 179 

Munrue, Huntington, and Singleton, notes of, on the bnilding stones of 

Maryland 175 

Muscovite-biotite granite 20 21 

Muscovite granite 19 



IV. 

Page. 

Nashville, Tennessee, use of stone in 309 

Natural methods of trial of building stone 381-384 

Natural principles of construction 386-389 

Nebraska, marble and limestone of, drscrintion of the 96, 97 

Xew Albany, Indiana, use of stone in 309 

Newark, New Jersey, use of stone in 309, 310 

New Bedford, Ma.ssachuseits, use of stone in 310 

New Brunswick, New Jersey, use of stone in 310 

Newburgh, New York, use of stone in 311 

Newburyport, Massachusetts, use of stone in 311 

New England, clay-stones of ]08 

New Knglnnd, conglomerates of 108 

New England, granites of 108-129 

New England, limestone of 1U7 

^(^vr Hampshire, crystalline siliceous rocks of, description of the 50, 51, 58, 59 

New Haven, Connecticut, use of stone in 311 

New Jersey, brown sandstone of 141 

New Jersey, conglomerate of 140 

New Jersey, Corniferous limestone of 140, 141 

New Jersey, crystalline siliceous rocks of, description of the 50, 51, 68, 69 

New Jersey, flagging-stone of 144 

New Jersey, gneiss quarries of 139 

New Jersey, granite quarries of , 139 

New Jersey, Green Pond Mountain conglomerate of 140 

New Jersey, Hudson Kiver slate of 140 

New Jersey, Lower Helderberg limestone group of 140 

New Jersey, Magnesian limestone of 140 

New Jersey, Oneida conglomerate of 140 

New Jersey, Onondaga limestimo of 140, 141 

NeTV Jersey, Potsda m sandstone of 140 

New Jersey, sandstone of, description of the 50, 51, 68, 69 

New Jersey, trap-rocka of 143 

New Jersey, Triassic sandstone of 141-146 

New Jersey, Upper Helderberg gronp of 140, 111 

New London, Connecticut^ use of stone in 312 

New Orleans, Louisiana, use of stone in 312 

Newport, Rhode Island, use of stone in 312 

Newtou. Massachusetts, use of stone in 312 

New Utrecht. Long Island, Dutch cemetery in 375 

New York and adjacent cities, buildings of; their numbers and common 

materials 313-316 

Erooklvn 315 

Hoboken 315 

Jersey City 315 

Staten Island 315 

The Metropolis .115, 316 

New York and Brooklyn bridge 320 

New York, bluestone quarries of 130. 135 

New York, crystalline siliceous rocks of, description of the 50, 51, 62, 63 

New York, granite quarries of '. , 120, 130 

New York, marble and limestone of, description of the 50, 51. G'2, 63 

New York, notes of Professors Smock and Cook on the building stones 

of ]2;>-i:;9 

New York, sandstone of, description of the 50, 51. 64-69 

New York, slate of. description of the - 50, 51, 68, 69 

New York, Tuckahoe marble of 135-1 39 

New York city and Brooklyn, statistics of buildings (numbers and mate- 
rials) in 329 

New York city and environs, use of stone in 313-316 

New York city and vicinity, durability of building stones in , 364-303 

New York city, Central park 320 

New York city, etc., eflects of weather upon the bmlding stone of 365-371 

New Yerk city, examples of old ni;:sonry :n 382 

New York city, fortifications of 320 

New York city, physical properties of granite used in 330,381 

New York city, public buildings of 320 

New York city, physical properties of gneiss used in 332 

New York city, physical properties of limestone used in 334. 335 

New York city, physical properties of trap used in 332, 333 

Niagara group in Illinois 221 

Niagara group in "Wisconsin • 233 

Niagara group of Ohio limestone 202-206 

Niagara stage of Iowa 263 

Nishnabotna stage of Iowa 258 



408 



INDEX TO REPORT ON BUILDING STONES. 



JSTitric acid in tke atmospliere, effect of, upon the durability of building 

atones ■; - ^'^2 

Nortli Adams, Maasaclmsetts, nse of stone in 336 

2<rortbampton, Massacliusetts, use of stone in 336 

Korth Carolina, Archaean rocks of 181-185 

North Carolina, description of the building stones of, by Professor W. 0. 

Kerr and W. H. Kerr 181-186 

North Carolina, limestone of 185, 186 

North Carolina, soapstone of 186 

North Carolina, Triassic rocks of 181, 182 

Ogdensburg, Now York, use of stone in 336 

Ohio and Indiana, notes of Professor Orton on the building stones of 188-219 

Ohio, Bereagritof 188-195 

Ohio, Carboniferous sandstone of 19S-200 

Ohio, Corniferous limestone of 210-213 

Ohio limestone, Cincinnati group of 201, 202 

Ohio limeston.-, ^Tiagaragroap of 202-206 

Ohio, limestimo of, description of the 80-85 

Ohio, marble and limestone of 50, 51 

Ohio, sandstone of, description of the 50, 51, 76-81 

Ohio sandstone, use of, in Philadelphia 342 

Ohio, sub-Carboniferoas limestone of 214 

Ohio, sub -Carboniferous sandstone of 188-108 

Old masonry in New York city, examples of 382 

Oneida conglomerate of New Jersey 140 

Onondaga limestone of New Jersey 140,141 

Optical examinations of thin sections of stone 6 

Orange, New Jersey, use of stone in 336, 337 

Ordinary "Welsh roofing slate (blue) , analysis of 174 

Organic acids in the atmosphere, effect of, upon the durability of build- 
ing stones 372 

Organic agencies of destruction 375, 376 

Orton, Professor, notes of, on the building stones of Ohio and Indiana. . . 188-219 

Oswego, New York, use of stone in 337 

Owen, Hall, and "WTiite, reports of, on the geology of Iowa 250 

Oxygen in the atmosphere, effect of, upon the durability of IjuUding 
stones 372 

P. 

Patent Office building, "Washington, District of Columbia, stone used in . . 360 

Paterson, New Jersey, use of stone in 337 

Pavements of Washington, District of Columbia, stone used in 361 

Paving, sidewalk, in Philadelphia 346 

Pavi-Qg stone of Minnesota 308 

Pawtucket, Khode Island, use of stone in 337,338 

Peach Bottom slato quarries of Pennsylvania 170, 171 

Pennsylvania, Archfean rocks of 147, 148 

Pennsylvania, building-stone resources of 146, 147 

Pennsylvania, Carboniferous conglomerate of 162-168 

Pennsylvania, Carboniferous limestone of 156 

Pennsylvania, Carboniferous sandstone of i 162-168 

Pennsylvania, crystalline siliceous rocks of, description of the 50, 51 , 68-71 

Pennsylvania, Devonian sandstone of - 158-161 

Pennsylvania, Lower Silurian limestone of 149 

Pennsylvania, Lower Silurian sandstone of 158 

Pennsylvania, marble andUmestone of, description of the 50,51,70,71 

Pennsj'lvania marble, use of, in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania 340, 341 

Pennsylvania, Peach Bottom slate quarries of 170, 171 

Pennsylvania, sandstone of, description of the 50, 51, 70-73 

Pennsylvania, serpentine of 148, 149 

Pennsylvania, slate of 168-174 

Pennsylvania, slate of, general considerations regarding the 173, 174 

Pennsylvania, slate of, description of the 50, 51, 72, 73 

Pennsylvania, soapstone of 148, 149 

Pennsylvania, sub-Carboniferous limestone of 155 

Pennsylvania, sub-Caibouifeiuu.s Mandstoneof IGl, 162 

Pennsylvania, Triassic limestone of 150 

Pennsylvania, Triassic sandstone of 156, 157 

Penpsylvania, Upper Silurian sandstone of 1. 158 

Petersburg, Virginia, use of stone in 3^8 

Philadelphia, sidewalk paving in 346 

Philadelphia, stone buildings in, list of 341,342 

Philadelphia, street paving in 34f>, 346 

i*hi]adelphift, use of Connecticut brownstone in 343 



Pago. 

Philadelphia, use of foreign building atone in 343 

Philadelphia, use of Pennsylvania marble in 340, 341 

Philadelphia, use of serpentine in 342 

Philadelphia, use of stone in 33&-346 

PhiladelphLa, use of stone in cemeteries in 344, 345 

Physical properties of gneiss used in New York city 332 

Physical properties of granite used in New York city 330, 331 

Physical properties of limestone used in New York city, statistics of 334, 335 

Physical properties of marble used in New York city, statistics of 332, 333 

Physical properties of sandstone used in New York city, statistics of. . 332-335 
Physical properties of the building stones used in New York city, statis- 
tics concerning the 330-335 ■ 

Physical properties of trap used in New York city, statistics of 332, 333 

Physical structure of tlie crystalline and sedimentary rocks 377-379 

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, use of stone in 346, 347 

Pittsfield, Massachusetts, use of stone in . . - 347 

Plates illustrating quarries and qnarry methods, description of 44 

Porphyry (porphyritic felsite) 25 

Porphyry, quartz, of Seneca, "Wisconsin 241 

Portland, Maine, use of stone in 347, 348 

Position and character of surface of stone as affecting its durability 379-381 

Position of stone in structures 387 

Position of surface of building stones as affecting their durability 379, 380 

Post-Of&ce Department building, "Washington, District of Columbia, stone 

used in 360 

Potsdam sandstone of New Jersey 140 

Potsdam sandstone of Wisconsin 229,230 

PottsviUe, Pennsylvania, use of stone in 348 

Poughkeepsie, Now York, use of stone in 348 

Preservation of building stone, artificial means for 389-393 

Preservation of atones by chemical action 14 

Principles of construction, natural 386-389 

Protection and preservation of stone structures, means of 38G-393 

-Providence, Khode Island, use of atone in 349,550 

Public buildings and improvements 325-335 

PuIjUc buildings of New York city 320 

Purple slates of Nantlle, "Wales, analysis of the 174 

Quarries and quaTry methods, description of plates illustrating ' 44 

Quarries and quarry regions, descriptions of 1 07-279 

Quarries, details regarding, in — 

California 277-279 

Colorado 277-279 

Connecticut 126-129 

Florida 180,187 

Illinois 219-226 

Indiana 215-219 

Iowa , 256-205 

Kansas 274-277 

Maine 116-123 

Maryland - 175-178 

Miciijgan 220-229 

Minnesota 244-256 

Missouri 265-274 

Montana 277-279 

New Hampshire - 124-126 

New Jersey 139-146 

New York 129-139 

North Carolina 181-186 

Ohio 188-215 

Pennsylvania 140-174 

Tennessee 187,188 

Utah 277-279 

Vermont 126 

Virginia 179-181 

Wisconsin 229-244 

Quarries, blnestone, of New York 130-135 

Quarries, gneiss, of New Jersey 139 

Qaarrios, granite, of Connecticut 127-129 

Quarries, granite, of New Jersey 139 

Quarries, granite, of New York 129, 130 

Quarries, granite, of Vermont 126 

Quarries, serpentine, of Connecticut 129 

Quarries, slate, of Vermont 126 

Quarries, verd-antiqne, of Connecticut 129 

Quarries, description of, in — 

Arizona 279 

California 277-279 

Colorado 277-279 

Connecticut 126-129 

Florida 186,187 

Idaho 278 

Illinois 219,226 

Indiana 215-219 

Iowa 256-265 



INDEX TO REPORT ON BUILDING STONES. 



407 



Page. 
Quarries, description of, in — 

Kansas 274-277 

Maine 116-123 

Tennessee i^. ^^'^ 

rtah _ 278 

Virginia - • • 179-181 

"Wisconsin 229-2^ 

"Wyoming 278 

Quarries of Silurian formation in Illinois 219-223 

Quanies of Silurian formation in "Wisconsin 229-234 

Quarries, description of 52-99 

Qnany industries of the district of Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and 

Maine, general account of the development of the 109-115 

Quanying industries of the United States, general statistics of the 46. 47 

QcaiTying industries of the United States, statistics of the, showing 
number of fiuarries and production, hy kinds of rock and by states and 

territories 48, 49 

Quarrying of slate -. 38-41 

QuarryiDg of stone by channeling and wedging 35-38 

Quarry methods 33-44 

Qnartzporphyry of Seneca, "Wisconsin 241 

Quincy, Massachusetts, use of stone in 350 

R. 

Rain, effect of. upon the durability of building stones 373, 374 

Rathbtu-n, Mr. Richard 187 

Reading. Pennsylvania, use of stone in 350 

Report on the building stones of Maine 107 

Kepoit on the building stones of Massachusetts 107 

Report on the building stones of Rhode Island 107 

Rhode Island, crystalline siliceous roi'ks of, description of the 50, 51, 56, 57 

Rhode Island, development of the- qiuirvy industries of 110 

Rhode Island, report on the building stones of 107 

Richaids, D. H., analysis of dark -blue slate by 174 

Richmond, Indiana, use of stone in 350 

Richmond. Virginia, use of stone in 350, 351 

Rochester. Xe w York, use of stone in 351 

Rock, cblorite 399 

Rock of Berlin, Wisconsin 241 

PkOcks, chemical examination of 30-32 

Rocks quarried in the different states, amount and kinds of 52-100 

Rocks, sedimentary, of Missouri 267-274 

Rocks, vcdcanic, of Colorado, description of the 98, 99 

Rogers, Professor Henry D 148, 149, 1G9 

Rogers, Professor W". B 179 

Rome, Xew York, use of stone in 351 

Roofing slate (blue), analysis of ordinary Welsh 174 

Roofing slate in rUiladcljihia 346 

Roofing slate, Welsh, analyses of: 174 

Roofing slates, description of, by Professor J. L. Campbell 180 

Rutland, Vermont, use of stone in 351 

S. 

Saint Louis group of Illinois 224,225 

Saint Louis stage of Iowa 259, 2t^0 

Saint Paul. Minnesota, use of stone in 351, 352 

Saint Pelcr sandstone of Illinois 219 

Saint Peter sandstone of Iowa 204 

Saint Peter sandstone of "Wisconsin 231,232 

Salem, Massachusetts, use of stone in 352 

Salt Lake City, Utah, use of stone in 352 

Sandstone, Carboniferous, of Ohio 198-200 

Sandstone, Carboniferous, of Pennsylvania 162-168 

Sandstone, description of, in — 

Colorado 98, 99 

Connecticut 50, 51, 62, 63 

Dakota 98, 99 

Illinois 50, 51, 86, 87 

Indiana 50, 51, 86, 57 

Iowa 94,95 

Kansas 90, 97 

Massachusetts 50, 51, 56, 57 

Michigan 50,51,88,89 

Minnesota 90, 91 

Missouri 90, 97 

New Jersey 50, 51, 6S, 69 

KewTork 50,51.64-69 

Ohio 50,51.76-81 

Pennsylvania 50,51,70-73 

"Washington 96,97 

West Virginia 50,51,74,75 

Wisconsin 88, 89 

Sandstone^ Devonian, of Pennsylvania Ija-lCl 

Sandstone, effects of weathering on 368, 369 



Page. 

Sandstone, Lower Silurian, of Pennsylvania 158 

Sandstone of Maryland 178 

Sandstone of Minnesota 247-249 

Sandstone, Ohio, use of, in Philadelphia 342 

Sandstone, Potsdam, of New Jersey 140 

Sandstone, Potsdam, of "Wisconsin 229,230 

S.andstoue, Saint Peter, of Dlinois 219 

Sandstone, Saint Peter, of Iowa 264 

Sandstone, Saint Peter, of "Wisconsin 231, 232 

Sandstone, sub-Carboniferous, of Ohio 188-198 

Sandstone, sub -Carboniferous, of Pennsylvania ■. 161, 162 

Sandstone, Triassic, of New Jersey 141-146 

Sandstone, Triassic, of Pennsylvania 156, 157 

Sandstone, Upper Silurian, of Pennsylvania 158 

Sandstone used in New York city, statistics of phyBlcal properties of . . . 332-335 

San dstones 25-27 

Sandusky, Obio. use of stone in 353 

San Francisco, California, use of stone in 352, 353 

Saratoga, New York, use of stone in 353 

Savannah, Georgia, use of stone in 353 

Schenectady, New York, use of stone in 353 

Schist, mica 23,24 

Scranton. Pennsylvania, use of stone in 353,354 

Seasoning of stone 387 

Sedimentary rucks of Missouri 267-274 

Selection of materials for construction 3S6, 387 

Seneca, Wisconsin, quartz -porphyry of 241 

Sei*pentine 29 

Serpentine of Maryland, description of, by Professor P. A. Genth 176 

Serpentine of Pennsylvania 148, 149 

Serpentine quaiTies of Connecticut 129 

Serpentine, use of, in Philadelphia 342 

Serpentine weathering, effects of 371 

Shaler, Professor N.S 3.107 

Sidewalk paving in Philadelphia 34ff 

Siliceous rocks, crystalline, description of, in — 

California 96,91 

Connecticut 50,51,00,61 

Delaware 50,51.74,75 

Georgia 50,51,76.77 

Maryland 50,51,74,75 

Massachusetts 50,51,54-57 

Minnesota 90,91 

Missouri 94,95 

New Hampshire 50, 51, 5S, 59 

New Jersey 50,51,08,69 

New York 50,51.62,63 

Pennsylvania 50,51,08-71 

Rhode Island 50,51,56,57 

Vermont 50.51,58,59 

Virginia 50,51,74,75 

Washington 96,97 

Silurian formation, quarries of, in Hlinois 219-223 

Silurian formation, quarries of, in Wisconsin 229-234 

Singleton, Munroe, and Huntington, notes of, on the building stones of 

Maryland 175 

Slate, description of, in — 

Maine .- i - 54, 55 

Marykand 50,51,74,75 

Massachusetts 50, 51, 56, 57 

New York 50. 51, 6S, 69 

Pennsylvania 50, 51, 72, 73 

Vermont 50,51,60,61 

Viriiinia 50,51.74,75 

Slate of Maryland 178 

Slate of Minnesota 255 

Slate of New Jersey, Hudson river 140 

Slate of Pennsylvania 168-174 

Slate of Virginia... 180,181 

Slnte quarries of Vermont 126 

Slate, quarrying of 38-41 

SKite-roofing in Philadelphia - 345 

Slate, Welsh roofing, analyses of 174 

Slate, working of 38-41 

Smith, A. E., remarks of, on the geology of Florida 186 

Smithsonian Institution 225 

Smithsonian Institution, Washington, District of Columbia, stone of . . 358, 359 
Smock and Cook, Professors, notes of, on the building stones of New 

York 129-13!) 

Soapstone of North Carolina 156 

Soapstone of Pennsylvania 148, 149 

Soapstono of Virginia 181 



408 



INDEX TO REPORT ON BUILDING STONES. 



Speer, F. W., report of, on quarry metliods 33-43 

Springfield, Maasachusetts, use of stone iu 354 

Springfield, Ohio, use of stone in 354 

Statement of tlio exportation of all kinds of marble from 1872 to 1879 

inclusive (Carrarii) 399 

Siatement of the esp irlatiou of marble from the consular district of 

Carrara in tli.-. year 1879 399 

St!>< en Island. Now York, miiter-als of l,uihlin,i:H of 315 

Staten Island. Ifew York, stnti,4ics of stone luiMin;;s of 329 

St;;: ■, AVar, and !N'avy Depariraents buildiiij;, Vri;sliin<j,tun, District of 

Columbia, stone of 358 

Statistics concia-nini; tlie physical properties of the building stones used 

in New York city 330-335 

Statistics of biiililings (numbers and materials) in New York city and 

Brooklyn 329 

Statistics of buildings (numb.'rs and materials) in the suburbs and in 

the entire metropolis 329 

Statislics of building j^tnnes 45-105 

Statistics of stone biuli[in;;s of Hoboken. New Jersey 329 

Statistics of the quarrying iudustries of the United States, showing 
- number of quan-ies and production, by kinds of rock and by states 

and tt-rritoiiea 48,49 

Statistics of the quarry industry, introduction to report on the building 

stones of the United States and 1-14 

Sti-ubonville, Ohio, use of stone in 354 

Stone and marble, imports and exijorts of, by countries, for the year end- 
ing June 30, 1 831 398 

Stone buildings of Hoboken, New Jersey, statistics of 329 

Stone buildings of Jersey City, New Jersey, statistics of 329 

Stone buildings of Philadelphia, list of 341,342 

Stone buildiugs of Stattn Island, New York, statistics of 329 

Stone construction in — 

Akron, Ohio 280 

Albany, New York 280 

AUeglicny, Pennsylvania 280 

Allentown, Peunsylvania 280,281 

Altooua, Pennsylvania 281 

Atlanta, Georgia 281 

Baltimore. Maryland 281 282 

Bangor, .Maine 282 

Bingham tou, New York 282 

Boston, Massachusetts 282-292 

Bridgeport, Connecticut 202 

Burlington, Iowa 292 

Cambridge, Massachusetts 292 

Camden, New Jersey 292, 293 

Canton, Ohio . 293 

Cf-dar Kapids, Iowa 293 

Cbattanoogii, Tennessee 293 

Chelsea, Massachusetts 294 

Chester, Pennsylvania 294 

Chicago, Illinois 294-297 

Ciucinnati, Ohio 298 

Cleveland, Ohio 298 

Cf'lambus, Ohio 298 

Concorrl, New Hampshire 299 

Cumberland, Maryland 299 

Davenport, Iowa 299 

Dayton, Ohio 299 

Denver, Colorado 300 

Derby, Connecticut 300 

Des Moines. Iowa 300 

Dubuque, Iowji , 301 

East«D, Pennsylvania 301 

Elizabetli, New JcMsey 301 

Elmirn.New York 301 

Erie, Pennsylvania .' 301,302 

Evansvillo, Indiana ; 302 

Fall River, Massnclmsetts 302 

Fitchburg, Massachusetts 302 

Fort Wayne, Indiana 302 

Galveston, Texns 302, 3()3 

Gloucester, Massachusetts 303 

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 303 

Hartford, Connecticut 304 

Haverhill, Massachusetts 304 

Indianapolis, Indiana 304 

Ithaca. N ew York 304 

Keokuk, Iowa 305 

Kingston. New York 305 

La Fayette, Indiana 305 

Lancaster, Pennsylvania 305 306 

Lawrence, Massachusetts ' 306 

Leavenworth, Kansas 306 

Lockport, New York 306 

Logausnoi t, Indiana 306 

Louisville, Kentucky 307 

Lowell, MaHsachusfitts '.. 307 

Manchestei, N(.'>v Hampshire 307 

Middlelowu. Connecticut 307 

Memphis, TeuTieasee " ' ' 308 

Minneapolis, Minnesota '.'.'.[ 308 

Mobile, Alabiiniii 309 

Nashville. Tenuessi-e , !",.',""."..' 309 

New Albany, Indiana 309 

Ntwaik. Now Jersey 309,310 



Stone construction in — 

New Bedford, Massachuaetta 310 

New Brunswick. New Jersey 310 

Newburjfh, New York '.'.'... 311 

Ne wburyport, Massachusetts .'.'.'.'.'.'. 311 

New HavcE, Connecticut 311 

New London, Connecticut ' 313 

New Orleans, Louisiana 312 

Newport, Rhode Island I!!" 312 

Newton, Massachusetts 312 

New York city and envi-rons 3] 3-335 

North Adams, Massachusetts ^ 335 

Northampton, Massachusetts " ' ' ! " 336 

Ogdensburg, New York *[ 336 

Oranire, New Jersny .''."' 336, 337 

Oswego, New York 337 

Paterson, New Jersey 337 

Pawtucket, Rliode Island 337 33s 

Petersburg. Virgini.i ' ;^38 

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania ].'.'.'.'. 338-346 

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 346,347 

Pittsfield, Massachusetts ' 347 

Portl;ind. Maine 347^ 3^^ 

Pottsvillc, PenTisylvania '343 

Poughkeepsip. New York 348 

Providence, Rhode Island 349, 350 

' luincy, Massachusetts 35t 

Reading, Pennsylvania 350 

Richmond. Indiana 350 

Kiohmond, Virginia 350,351 

Rochester, New York 351 

Rome, New York 351 

Rutland, Yerraont 351 

Saint Paul, Minnesota 35], 352 

Salem. Massachusetts 352 

Salt Lake City, Utah 352 

Sandusky, Oliio 352 

San Francisco, California 352, 353 

Saratoga, New York 353 

Savannah, Georgia 3-53 

Schenectady, New York 353 

Scranton, Pennsylvania 353, 354 

Springfield. Massachusetts 354 

Springfield, Ohio 354 

SteubenviUo, Ohio 354 

Taunton, Massachusetts : 354 

TeiTc Haute, Indiana 355 

Toledo, Ohio 355 

Topeka, Kansas 355 

Trenton, New Jersey 355, 356 

Troy, New York 35(; 

Utica. New York 356 

Waterbury, Connecticut 356 

Waterto w'n. New York 356 

"Washington, District of Columbia 357-361 

"Wheeling, West Virginia 361 

Wilkesbarre, Pennsylvania 361, 36L' 

AVilliamsport, Pennsvlvania 36*^ 

Wilmington, Delaware 362 

"Winona. Minnesota 362 

"VS'oonsocket, .Rhode Island 362, 363 

Worcester, Massachusetts 363 

Yonkers. New York 363 

York, Pennsylvania 363 

Zanesville, Ohio 363 

Stone construction in some of the principal cities of the United States, 

extent of 101-105 

Stone, exportation of 397 

Stone, importation of, into the United States 397, 398 

Stone in structures, position of 387 

Stone in Wasliingtou Monument, Washington, District of Columbia 359,360 

Stone of Smitb.^ouiau Institution, Washington, District of Columbia 358, 0j9 

Stone of State, "War, and Navy Departments building, Washington, Dis- 
trict of Columbia 358 

Stone, seasoning of 387 

Stone structures, means of protection and preservation of ^86-393 

Stone structures in Washington and vicinity, list of 360 

Stone used in PatentOiScc building, Washington, District of Columbia. 360 

Stone used in pavements of Washington, District of Columbia 361 

Stone used in Post-Office Department building, Washington, District of 

Columbia 360 

Stones, building 31&-336 

Stones, building, minerals in 4 

Stones in Trinity church-yard. New York city, decay of. 380 

Stones, preservation of, by chemical action 14 

Street paving in Philadelphia 345,346 

Strength of materials 14 

Study of building materials, methods of 5 

Sub-Carboniferous formation of Kansas 275 

Sub-Carboniferous formation of Missouri 209 

Sub -Carboniferous limestone of Ohio 214 

Sub-Carboniferous limestone of Pennsylvania 155 

Sub-Carboniferous s.indstone of Ohio 188-198 

Sub-Carboniferous sandstone of Pennsylvania 161,162 

Sulphuric acid in the atmosphere, eft'ect of, upon the durability of build- 
ing stones 371,372 



INDEX TO REPORT ON BUILDINa STONES. 



409* 



Solphoroua acid in the atmosphere, effect of, npon the durability of build- 

ing stones 371, 372 

Sarfaoe of building stones, position of. as affecting their durability 379, 380 

Snrface of atone, character and position of, as affecting their dnrability. 379-381 

Swallow, Professor 269 

Syenite, components of 22 

T. 

Tanntoii, Massachusetts, use of stone in 354 

Tennessee, description of quarries of 187, 188 

Tennessee, marble and limestone of, description of the 50, 51, 76, 77 

Terre Haute, lodiana, use of stone in ^ 355 

Toledo, Ohio, use of stone in 355 

Topeka, Kansas, use of stone in 355 

Trap-rocks of New Jersey , 143 

Trap used in New York city, physical properties of 332, 333 

Trenton group of Illinois 219,220 

Trenton limestone of Wisconsin 232, 233 

Trenton, New Jersey, use of stone in 355,356 

Trenton stage of Iowa 264 

Trial, methods of 381-386 

Triassic limestone of PeDnsylvania 156 

Triassic rocks of North Carolina • 181, 182 

Triassic sandstone of New Jersey 141-146 

Triassic sandstone of Pennsylvania 156, 157 

Trinity churchyard. New Tork city, decay of stones in 380 

Troy, New York, use of stone in 356 

Tnckahoe marble of New York 135-139 

V, 

Uhler, Professor P.H 176 

Upper Coal stage of Iowa 258 

Upper Helderberg group of New Jersey 140, 141 

Upper Silurian period of Iowa ■■ 263 

Upper Silurian sandstone of Pennsylvania 158 

Use of explosives 33, 34 

Use of stone in cemeteries in Philadelphia 344,345 

Use of stone in — 

Akron, Ohio 280 

Albany, New York 280 

Allegheny, Pennsylvania 280 

AUentowii, Pennsylvania 280,281 

Altoona, Peunsvlvania-.., 281 

Atlanta, Georgia 281 

Baltimore. Maryland 281,282 

Bangor, Maine 282 

Bingbamton, New York 282 

Boston, Massachn8ett6 282-292 

Bridceport, Connecticut 292 

BurliDgton, Iowa 292 

Cambridge, Massachusetts 292 

Camden, New Jersey 292, 293 

Canton.Ohio 293 

Cedar Rapids, Iowa 293 

Chattanooga, Tennessee 293 

Chelst^a, Massachusetts 294 

Chester, Pennsylvania 294 

Chicago. Illinois 294-297 

Cincinnati. Ohio 298 

Cleveland, Obio 298 

Columbus, Ohio 298 

Concord, New Hampshire 299 

Cumberland, Maryland 299 

Davenport, Iowa 299 

Davton, Obio .' . - . 299 

Denver. Colorado 300 

Derby, Connecticut 300 

Des iloincs, Iowa 300 

Dubuque, Iowa 301 

EastoB, Pennsylvania 301 

Elizabeth, New Jersey , 301 

Elmira. New York 301 

Erie, Pennsylvania 301. 302 

Evansville. Indiana 302 

Fall River, Massachusetts 302 

Fitchbnrg, Massaihnsetta 302 

Galveston. Texas 302,303 

Gloucester, Massachusetts 303 

Harrisbuig. Pennsylvania 303 

Hartford. Connecticut 304 

Haverhill. Massachusetts - 304 

Indianapolis, Indiana 304 

Ithaea. New York 304 

Keokuk, Iowa 306 

Kingston, New York 305 

La Fayette. Indiana 305 

Lancaster, Pennsylvania 305, 306 

Lawrence. Massachusetts 306 

Leavenworth, Kansas 300 

Lockpnrt. New York 306 

Logauspoi t, Indiana 306 

Louisville, Kentucky 307 

lK)well, Massachusetts 307 

Manchester, New Hampshire 307 

Hfemphis, Tennessee 308 



Page. 
Use of stone in — 

Middletown, Connecticut - 307 

Minneapolis, Minnesota 308- 

Mobile. Alabama 309 

Nashville, Tennessee 309'- 

New Al banv, Indiana 309 

Newark. New Jersey 309,310 

New Bedford , Massachusetts 310 

New Brunswick, New Jersey 310 

Newburgh, New York 311 

Newbury port, Massachusetts 311 

New Haven. Connecticut^ 311 

New London, Connecticut -■.-- -- 312 

New Orleans. Louisiana 312 

Newport, Rhode Island 312 

Newton, Massachusetts 312 

New York city and environs 313-33S^ 

North Adams. Massachusetts 336 

Northampton, Massachusetts 336 

Ogdensburg, New York 336- 

Orange, New Jersey 336, 337 

Oswego, New York _-. 337 

Paterson, New Jersev '-- 337 

Pawtucket. Rhode Island 337,338- 

Petersburg. Virginia - 338 

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 338-346 

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 346,347 

Pittsfield, Massachusetts 347 

Portland, Maine 347,348 

Pottsville, Pennsylvania 348 

Pougbkeepsie. New York 348 

Providence, Rhode Island 349,350 

Quincy, Massachusetts 350 

Reading, Pennsylvania 350- 

Richmond, Indiana 350- 

Richmond, Virginia 350,351 

Rochester, New York • 351 

Rome. New York 351 

Rutland, Vermont 351 

Saint Paul, Minnesota 351,352 

Salem, Massachusetts 352 

Salt Lake City, Utah 352 

Sandnsky, Ohio 352 

San Francisco, California 352,353 

Saratoga. New York 353 

Savannah, Georgia 353 

Schenectady, New York 353 

Scranton. Pennsylvania 353, 354 

Springfield, Massachusetts 354 

Springfield, Ohio ^ 354 

Stenbenville,Ohio 354 

Taunton, Massachusetts 354 

Terre Haute, Indiana 355- 

Toledo. Ohio 355 

Topeka. Kansas 355 

Trenton. New Jersey 355,356 

Trov, New Tork 356- 

Utica. New York 356 

"Washington. District of Columbia 357-361 

TP'atorbury , Connecticut 35ft 

Watertovfii, New York 356 

Wheeling, West Virginia 361 

Wilkesbarre, Pennsylvania 361 , 362 

Williamsport, Pennsylvania 362 

"Wilra ington , Delaware 362 

Winona, Minnesota 362 

Woonaocket. Rhode Island 362.365 

Worcester. Massac husetts 36 J 

Yonkers, New York 363 

York, Pennsylvania 363 

Zanesville. Ohio 363 

Utah, description of quarries of 278 

Utica, New York, use of stone in 356 

V. 
Variations of temperature, effects of, upon the durability of building 

stones 373 

Varieties, localities, and edifices 316-324 

Vegetable growth, effects of, upon the durability of building stones 375 

Verd-antique quarries of Connecticut 129 

Vermont, crystalline siliceous rocks of, description of the 50,51,58,59' 

Vermont, granite quarries of 126 

Vermont, marble and limestone of. description of the 50, 51, 58-61 

Vermont, slate of. description of the 50, 51, 60, 61 

Vermont, slate quarries of 12ft 

Virginia, crystalline siliceous rocks of, description of the 50, 51, 74, 75 

Virginia, description of quarries of 179-181 

Virginia, marble and limestone of. description of the 50, 51,74,75 

Virginia, notes of Huntington and Munroe npon the building stones of... 17* 

Virginia, slate of 180, 181 

Virginia, slate of, description of the 50, 51, 74, 75 

Virginia, soapstone of 181 

Volcanic rocks of Colorado, description of the 98, 9* 

Washington and vicinity, list of stone structnrea in 360 

Washington, District of Columbia, use of ytoue in 357-361 

Washington Monument, Washington, District of Columbia, stone in 359,360 

Washington territory, crystalline siliceous rocks of, description of the. . 96, 97 



410 



INDEX TO REPORT ON BUILDINa STONES. 



Wasliington territory, sandstone of, description of tlie 96, 97 

"Waterbury, Connecticut, nse of stone in 356 

■^Vatertown, New York, use of stone in 356 

■Weatliering, effects of, upon limestone 369,370 

"Weathering, eflfeota of, upon tlie durability of gneiss 365 

Weatliering, effects of, upon the durability of granite 370, 371 

Weatbering, sandstone, effects of 368,369 

Weatbering, serpentine, effects of 371 

"Welsb roofing slate, analyses of 1^^ 

West Virginia, sandstone of, description of tbe 50,51,74,75 

■Wheeling, "WesfVirginia, use of stone in 361 

White, Owen, and Hall, reports of, on the geology of Iowa 256 

"VVilkesbarre, Pennsylvania, use of stone in 361, 362 

WilUamsport, Pennsylvania, use of stone in 362 

Wilmington, Delaware, use of stone in 362 

Wincbell, Professor N. H 244,265 

Wind, effect of, upon the durability of building stones 373 

Winona, Minnesota, use of stone in 362 



Wise 
Wisconsi 
Wiscons: 
Wiscons: 



n, Archaean rocks of 234-239 

n, description of quarries of 229-244 

eastern, report of T. C. Chamberlain on 242-244 

in, limestone of, description of the '. - 88,89 



Wisconsin, Lower Magnesian limestone of 230,231 

Wisconsin, marble and limestone of 50,51 

Wisconsin, Niagara group in 233 

Wisconsin, Potsdam sandstone of 229,230 

Wisconsin, qnarriee of Silurian formation in 229-234 

Wisconsin, Saint Peter sandstone of 231,232 

Wisconsin, sandstone of, description of the 88,89 

Wisconsin, Trenton limestone of 232,233 

Wolff, John Eliot 116,282 

Woodbury stage of Iowa - 257 

Woonsoeket, Ehode Island, use of stone in 362,363 

Worcester, Massachusetts, use of stone in - 363 

Working of slate 38-41 

Wormley, Professor 197,205,206 

Wyoming, description of quarries of 278 

Y. 

Yonkers, New York, use of stone in 363 

York, Pennsylvania, use of stone in 363 

Z. 

Zanesville, Ohio, use of stone in 3*8 



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